Attending: Norman G. Kurland, Dawn K. Brohawn, Michael D. Greaney, Harriet Epstein, Kemp Harshman.

Materials Distributed: Agenda, Core Values; Code of Ethics; minutes of the 2/17/04 Excom Meeting; Volunteer profile; Patricia Hetter Kelso letter of 3/1/04; Celebration Invitation.

Meeting was called to order at 12:45 p.m. by Kemp Harshman, rotating chairman.

The Opening Prayer was offered by Kemp Harshman. The Core Values and Code of Ethics were read.

Approval of Board Minutes from Prior Meeting. A motion was made by Norman G. Kurland to accept the minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting of 2/17/04 as corrected. Dawn K. Brohawn seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

Suggested addition to the wording of the Core Values. Add “and academia” to Number 8, following “the State, the business corporation, the labor union....” So moved, Harriet Epstein, seconded by Norman G. Kurland. Present recommended change to the Board for approval.

News/Information Items

·        Illinois CIC Resolution. Norman Kurland testified on Illinois HB4626. The bill to authorize community investment corporations did not pass, but Rep. Wyvetter Younge (the bill’s sponsor) and the Chairman agreed to set up a task force to study and make recommendations regarding CICs. People from other states have expressed interest in introducing a similar resolution and bill. We need to establish guidelines for local referenda.

·        Carbondale CIC Initiative. Bill Perk has approached the National Cooperative Bank to enable the purchase by a CIC of land formerly owned by the local government that was transferred to the Carbondale Community Development Corporation, which is facing defunding. The CBDC is run by John Linehan who is positive toward the CIC approach. The CBDC’s president, however, appears to be acting with the Mayor to sell the land for a low price to a private developer. The non-profit CBDC, which has a good staff, could act as a temporary owner of the land and transfer ownership to a for-profit CIC owned by residents and possibly other equity partners, once that is set up. Norman Kurland thinks that the coop form may be able to serve many of the functions of the CIC until that entity receives legal recognition. Kemp Harshman commented that CESJ/EEI could develop model bylaws and articles of incorporation for the CIC.

·        Fr. Cassian Yuhaus effort (dinner meeting with Sen. Santorum). Fr. Cassian has contacted the Scranton office of Senator Santorum and asked for a dinner meeting with Santorum to discuss spearheading a Capital Homesteading initiative for US and Iraq. Norman Kurland will call George Bernier (Santorum’s staff) and Jeff Green (CPA).

·        Norman Kurland Radio series on Social Justice and the Just Third Way. Norman Kurland has been interviewed in a series of half-hour radio interviews with Nancy Stapp of KVON in the Napa Valley, California. Kemp Harshman commented that we can leverage this to get interviews on other shows. The last show was on social security, the next is on outsourcing. Norm will be referring people to the Capital Homesteading book and the CESJ web site.

·        Washington, DC contracts (George Jackson and Maurice Roberts). Norman Kurland has been in contact with two community leaders in the District of Columbia. George Jackson, who serves on one of the Area Neighborhood Councils, had come across the CESJ web site. He said he wanted to take CESJ’s Capital Homesteading ideas to the City Council, but there has been no further word. Through a meeting organized by UDC Professor Gordon White, Norman Kurland met with Maurice Roberts, and economic development specialist in D.C. He expressed interest in the CIC vehicle and the Equitech waste-to-energy technologies for application in some projects he’s now developing.

·        Meeting with New America Foundation. Norman Kurland and Dawn K. Brohawn had a very positive meeting with two scholars at the New America Foundation, Michael Lind and Dr. Reid Cramer. Lind has written many books and articles, including for the Atlantic Monthly. They call themselves the “radical middle” and promote “democratic capitalism.” The NAF, which is funded by a number of liberal think tanks, share many of the goals of CESJ. Their approach does not involve reform of the money and credit system, but on tax subsidies, etc. Lind agreed that their approach has some political vulnerabilities, and expressed interest in studying CESJ’s central bank reforms. Talked about co-sponsoring a conference on money. They are against the double tax on corporate profits and stress the importance of putting decisions on retirement and health care in the hands of individuals, rather than primarily through the state. While Lind was familiar with Lincoln’s Homestead Act (and calls for an analogous program for the 21^st century, he wasn’t aware of George Mason’s statement in the Virginia Declaration of Rights, calling for access to the means of “acquiring and possessing property” as a basic human right. Norm and Dawn asked them to review the Capital Homesteading book and to suggest people in their network (such as Fareed Zakaria) who might be interested in the book. The NAF was founded by the Pew Family Trusts. Pew does a lot of polling. Get them interested in a national poll on ownership. Emphasize the connection between Mason, Lincoln, Homesteading and Capital Homesteading.

·        Steve Roy (Marketing of Capital Homesteading and the Just Third Way; CESJ Affiliation). Steve Roy, a professional media producer who came across CESJ’s web site, traveled to CESJ headquarters to meet for most of a day with Norman Kurland and others in CESJ. He is interested in helping generate greater visibility for CESJ, the Just Third Way and Capital Homesteading. Steve has been in regular communication with Dawn by e-mail and has proposed the redesign of CESJ’s web site to increase its ability to raise money through memberships, donations and publication sales. His professional team includes graphic designers and web designers. He plans to submit a proposal to help us raise money to carry out an outreach campaign. He has already been sending a series of letters to prominent people (such as Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq), suggesting that they consider CESJ’s economic democratization proposals and directing them to the CESJ web site. To assist in his outreach efforts on our behalf, Steve has asked for business cards with a CESJ title (possibly “Project Manager for Marketing and Outreach). We would ask that he first become a CESJ member before granting an organizational title.

·        Oglebay Norton Employee Buyout (Update). The Oglebay Norton Employee Economic Empowerment Association (ONEEEA) has been building its membership and receiving donations to cover the upfront costs of the employee purchase of the fleet. The company is now in bankruptcy. Management would prefer to keep the fleet, but if it has to sell, they say they would prefer selling to the employees. Has always been profitable, but has declined recently due to decline in steel and other basic industries.

At this stage, the ONEEEA is the “favored buyer.” Strengths: 1. Lender (the National Cooperative Bank) is ready to provide the financing if the project is feasible; this would provide the creditors with cash. 2. A business reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer is supportive of the effort and has been given an exclusive on this story. Her articles have appeared on the front page of the paper and business section. 3. Top-flight team of experts who are working for the employees; the team includes Rich Biernacki, retired CEO of Fastener Industries, one of the world’s model ESOP companies. 4. ONEEEA is lead by a highly intelligent and articulate group of people, committed to Justice-Based Management, who are doing a superb job communicating the initiative to the other employees.

To help cover the costs of the feasibility analysis, ONEEEA has received a $25 thousand grant from the Ohio Employee Ownership Center. The National Coop Bank’s Development Corporation is providing a matching grant of up to $100 thousand to cover all the upfront costs for the acquisition, with the bank itself ready to provide a $100 million loan for the purchase. Norman Kurland had a good telephone conversation with David McKay, regional director of the United Steelworkers. We are trying to get the USW’s support, which will be vital for a long-term, post-acquisition strategy to address the problem of the industry’s shrinking customer base (the steel industry).

Four trips are scheduled for Norm, Dawn, Rich Biernacki and the professional team to meet with employee groups. Norman Kurland has already met with some of the workers, and toured the two largest vessels. He is leaving on Sunday to meet with employees. Dawn will participating in the next three trips to cover all the boats. Norman Kurland will call Lynn Williams, former President of the USW, to get his help setting up a meeting with the president, Lew Girard.

At this point, ONEEEA’s financial analyst, Dave Gustafson of CBIZ, is waiting to receive overhead figures from corporate management so he can complete his feasibility study and come up with a bid price. The ONEEEA directors and the professional team have signed a confidentiality agreement. When we get the money from the NCB we will be in a good position to get the unions to begin delivering ownership to their members, and bring their political muscle to the table in terms of supporting a demonstration of financing through the Cleveland Fed’s discount window.

Single Global Currency. Morrison Bonpasse in Maine wants to have an annual conference on global currency like the Bretton Woods conference, leading to a single global currency by 2025. His approach didn’t deal with the ownership issue, but through Dan Parker he started reading about binary economics. He felt that it would be a slow process selling binary economics, but Norm and Dan argued that without expanded capital ownership, the single global currency would not be viable or politically saleable. Bonpasse invited Norman Kurland to be an annual participant. Norm can’t go this year, but will present a paper on capital homesteading monetary reforms next year.

Decision/Follow-Up Items

·        Marketing of Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen (Patricia Kelso letter; Joe Recinos: Curt Winsor connection to Otto Reich to Colin Powell). Got a very supportive letter from Patricia Hetter Kelso regarding Capital Homesteading for Every Citizen. Norman Kurland will be sending this out to our network. We have made total purchases of 300 copies of the book. We have sold 117, given away 104, and have 79 on hand. Action items: Dawn Brohawn said that as soon as she has completed the trips to the Oglebay Norton ships, she will begin preparing a marketing letter for the CESJ network encouraging people to buy the book and get it in the hands of influence-makers and young people. The mailing will include news on our recent progress (relating to the book) and support material. Harriet has taken five copies and delivered them to libraries in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery, George Mason University. Best reception was from Alexandria. Least positive reception from Fairfax. Priority names to send the book: Alan Greenspan, Norman Ornstein, follow-up with Curt Winsor. Joe Recinos will ask Curt Winsor to set up a meeting with Otto Reich on the Capital Homesteading Program. Reich could help us get to Colin Powell. America should be challenging Chavez and Castro with the Just Third Way.

·        CESJ Iraq Proposal (Update). Covered above in report on Fr. Cassian initiative.

·        JBM Certification Process/JBM Garment Factory (Update). Kemp will be refiling the registration application to address the issues raised by the Trademark Office’s attorney. Kemp has done a lot of legal research due to contradictory regulations. They appear to be violating their own regulations. Basically a new category (standards), could generate a lot of publicity for JBM and CESJ. The Trademark Office should recognize certification marks for generic standards not related to specific goods and services.

In the Bangladesh Garment Factory project, Norm is still waiting for the lawyers to respond to the legal documents he has supplied them to help design the ESOP and JBM program. Fr. Bill has spent $10K of the first $25K provided by the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative. The ball is now in the court of the Bangladesh lawyers.

·        Ferree Social Virtues Collection (Michael D. Greaney). The collection of Ferree’s writings has been outlined and is almost complete. We found a “long lost” Ferree text from the University of Dayton bylaws and articles of incorporation. Norman Kurland said that Brother Glodek mentioned CESJ in a letter to the Marianist Order.

·        Re-investment of HH Bonds. Approved the transfer of $5,000 of HH Bonds to the Vanguard Index Fund.

·        Putting the CESJ volunteer data form to work. Tabled.

·        Focus Topic for Next Meeting. April: set for the celebration. May: discuss the April celebration and annual meeting. (Executive Committee Meeting continued, March 25, 2004)

Focus Topic: CESJ 20^th Anniversary Celebration and Annual Meeting.

·        Status Report. The invitations have been sent out on Saturday and Monday. Three payments have been received, and eight are tentative outside the core group. We need between twenty and twenty five to meet the contract. We can use the room until 4 PM (the invitation says 3:30). Dawn K. Brohawn still needs to make the food selections.

·        Agenda for annual meeting and celebration. The business meeting and planning session ends at 12:30 PM. We need to select some “bouncers” to move guests out by 4 PM, the absolute deadline. (There will be plenty of nice places to meet outside and continue conversations.) Norman Kurland asked if there is anything being prepared as a memento for the first twenty years. Harriet Epstein suggested we have greeters. We’ll bring books to sell: Curing World Poverty, Introduction to Social Justice, Social Justice Betrayed, order form for Silver Trail. The CHFEC price of $12 (includes sales tax).

Norman Kurland said we should emphasize bringing in the “next generation.” Give a quick overview of the 4-prong communications strategy. Summation. “Social Justice Tithing.” Introduce the visioning and action session. Harriet Epstein will facilitative this. Harriet suggested that we break into small groups. The vision process will ask people to imagine what it will look like when CESJ’s goals are accomplished. Dawn Brohawn suggested that the groups should each focus on one prong or on a specific target. Academia, Federal Reserve, labor Unions, Banking and Insurance, Business, Think Tanks. The groups will envision the changes the target communities would look like, assuming Capital Homesteading is successful. 1. Brainstorm on the target communities. 2. Combine and group the targets. 3. Prioritize targets. 4. Each group selects its focus target community. 5. Group picks recorder and presenter to report back in afternoon. 6. Apply four prong strategy to reaching and influencing the target.

Norman Kurland said that what is lacking in our movement is a commitment to meet regularly and work together in organized groups. Harriet said that we need to keep the vision in front of people. Create “affirmations” to reinforce the vision. Where do you fit in? What is your role in the Just Third Way? In celebration. Harriet said write an affirmation in the morning. Dawn Brohawn said we want everyone to go away from the celebration with the vision. Harriet said that we want people to make a personal connection with the vision, and a sense of responsibility to help make the vision a reality.

Soldier of Justice Awards. We need to make a final decision on this; we have approved several candidates.

·        What do we want to accomplish at this event? Gain our members’ perspectives on where CESJ should be and what it should seek to accomplish in the next 20 years.

The next Executive Committee Meeting will be combined with the Board Meeting. The next Board Meeting will be held Sunday, 18^th April 2004 at 9:30 am.

A motion to adjourn was made by Dawn K. Brohawn, and seconded by Harriet Epstein. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:50 PM.