{news} minutes November 2004 SCC meeting,part 2 of 3

[edubrule]

E. REPORTS

1a. Chapter reports.

**Tolland chapter--chapter's webmaster now dividing his time between Tolland chapter and another organization;  discussion of forming a chapter centered around Manchester.

**Shoreline--1,069 votes for Colin Bennett ("good campaign, good candidate")

**Northwest--Sevigny campaign got 2400 votes (1000 more than last run); endorsed by Courant.  Will be planning Bill Davis' campaign for Congress.  Kim Herkimer, already on Parks and Recreation board, is interested in being appointed to an inland wetlands board.

**New London--has television show;  Greens from all over the state (including Ralph Ferrucci) have appeared on it.  Trying to re-start Southeast chapter.  Seeking candidates for city council and board of education races.

**New Haven--Ferrucci, Chen, and Nicholson campaigns.  Ferrucci got 3% of vote, Nicholson 8%.  Ferrucci got much media coverage and was in several debates.  The Ferrucci campaign is $1500 in debt.

**Hartford--DeRosa campaign got 11.5% of the vote.  Had event with George Michael Evica (who investigates who killed John F. Kennedy).  Planning more movies.

**Central Connecticut--little activity

**Northeast--anti-war work;  "November 3 Coalition"--how to deal with Bush administration.

**Western--involvement with filing ethics complaint against town government member(s);  joined homeless shelter coalition.

 

1b. Presentation by Ralph Ferrucci and Calvin Nicholson.  Ralph and Calvin distributed a handout, titled "Proposal for the Project for a Green American Connecticut" (Appendix 4).  They said that the CTGP must go on the offensive and attack Democrats' and Republicans' positions.  Specifically, we could run a candidate against Lieberman.  Many non-Greens oppose Lieberman;  these people could be brought into the CTGP.  We should start raising money for this work;  we should set up the New Elections Committee and the New Fundraising Committee described in the handout.

     CT is a "blue" state (voted for Kerry) but has three Republican Congresspersons, plus Senator Lieberman (a Democrat whose positions appear to be those of a Republican).

     We could run a complete slate of candidates for statewide and federal offices (non-presidential).  These candidates must present a unified message.  7,500 signatures are needed to run a candidate against Lieberman;  these same signatures would qualify the whole slate (other Congresspersons and governor).

     The Elections Committee would find candidates.  Peace groups, Muslims, African-Americans, and so on all oppose Lieberman.  Lieberman is leading the charge against affirmative action.

     The Elections Committee would have at most 25 members (large enough to encompass diverse opinions but small enough to reach consensus).   Selecting preliminary statewide candidates via an Elections Committee would be a departure from the way the CTGP has selected statewide candidates until now (via chapters).  Democrats and Republicans select their statewide candidates via such a committee;  they begin work on campaigns two years in advance.

     Our strategy has been to seek Greens who wish to run for statewide office (whichever office that be).  Our strategy should, instead, be deciding which Democrats and Republicans should be opposed by a Green and seeking Greens who wish to run for those offices.  For example, what Green will run against Lieberman?  Our strategy should include deciding what statewide officeholders labor unions would like to see replaced;  Greens would thereby gain labor support.  The Elections committee would target races for party growth--for example, the Lieberman/Green race.

     The Elections Committee will decide on primary and campaign guidelines, which will exceed state and federal standards--the major parties will attack us if we don't select candidates strictly according to CT election laws (such as filing paperwork with the Secretary of State's office).

     The Elections Committee would decide on any proposed state level referendums (for example, legalizing medicinal uses of marijuana).  Even if the referendum result were nonbinding, we could get the CTGP associated with an issue.

     Elections Committee members could not belong to any other committee--the goal is to have these people focused on elections.  Similarly, Fundraising Committee members could not belong to any other committee.  The Fundraising Committee will receive stipend of the funds raised, that is, a percentage of the funds raised (for motivation).

      The handout gives a proposed timeline.  Thus in the period 1/15/05 - 11/15/05 (corrected dates) the focus would be on deciding a statewide platform and referendums for 2006.  All Green candidates would emphasize the same issues (for example, better schools).

     In "Phase One" there would be a one-month period (May 1, 2006 - June 1,2006) in which ballot access (collecting signatures) would be the focus.  Perhaps each chapter would be responsible for "x" number of signatures.  The period May 1, 2006 - October 15, 2006 would be focused on voter registration.  A voter registration campaign would be a way of growing the CTGP.  Democrats and Republicans don't focus on voter registration.  We could reach out to groups including young people and people who have left prison.  The period May 1, 2006 - August 30, 2006 would be focused on community forums (in collaboration with local Greens' efforts).  Note that the three time periods described in Phase One are overlapping.

     Phase Two includes op-ed pieces and phone banking.  Hundreds of op-ed pieces could be written annually by Greens.  August 1, 2006 - November 1, 2006 would be a period in which to focus on writing op-ed pieces.  Our platform could be publicized through these pieces, and Lieberman and other candidates could be challenged to participate in debates.

     Discussion of Ralph's and Calvin's ideas began.  Mike expressed support for their work.  David Adams pointed out that a later agenda item for tonight's meeting is "planning/strategizing session for the state party in January".  Ralph said that he'd be interested in coming to such a session.  David said that many Greens may not agree with all the details of the plan, and that there should be dialogue within the CTGP.  The end result might be a modified plan.  Ralph said that chapters should discuss this plan, add ideas, and ultimately vote on the plan.  Calvin said that he would be willing to put the plan onto listserves for comments/suggested revisions.

     Justine pointed out that the SCC had approved an Action Plan which contains directives or suggestions on committee functioning;  Calvin/Ralph's plan may have ideas (such as "members cannot belong to any other committee", perhaps) which may be in conflict with the Action Plan.  Lindsay said that we need to study how Carl Rove works (apparently meaning that we Greens need to learn how the Democrats and Republicans plan campaign strategies).  John said that we need to have a unified direction for the CTGP;  Rove shaped the Republicans into one cohesive, unified unit.

 

2. Executive Committee.

**Asks for comments on idea of not replacing co-chair Elizabeth Horton Sheff (internal elections should occur in the spring).  No attendee objected to this idea.  Ralph suggested that a rule be added to the bylaws that in this situation the next co-chair runner-up  in the internal elections would be appointed co-chair.

**Asks for volunteers for legislative committee/taskforce (this committee is in the Action Plan and a listserve for it exists).    Mike gave examples of the possible work of this committee:  health care (single-payer) (more work to continue that done previously by Greens such as John Battista and Justine McCabe);  support legislation of environmental groups;  speak at the capitol and to legislators as if we had won November elections (we did get votes and we do have a constituency) (this could lead to press coverage).

**Asks for volunteers for internal elections committee.  Elizabeth has contacted some Greens involved in past internal elections committees;  Jean has expressed interest;  if interested in serving please contact Elizabeth.  Jean said that last year internal elections and the annual meeting were held on March 13;  she asked tonight's attendees if a similar date would be good this year;  no objections were expressed.  Jean said that further thought must be given to the question of the US Green Party representative alternate position--should the third-highest vote getter for this position in the internal elections become the alternate (as was done last year), or should people run for the alternate position?

     Karin said that our bylaws' definition of member, and the concept of mailing a ballot to all the members, causes a great deal of financial expense during the internal elections.  Jean said that when chapters submit their lists to the internal elections committee, they need to be sure to eliminate people who do not fit the bylaws definition of member--doing this would cut back our costs.  Jean asked that chapters start updating their lists for submission to the internal elections committee.

**Submitted a large (2,000-plus names) fundraising mailing to American Mailing Services, using the list of registered Greens.

**Wonders if the annual meeting would be an appropriate time to have yes/no vote(s) on bylaws issues.

 

3. Budget Committee.  Judy reported that Audrey Cole had told her that she would be contacting Chris Reilly and Bob Eaton to set up a meeting regarding auditing the CTGP books.

 

4. Office Committee.  Ed said that Lynah will be arranging a meeting of this committee.

 

5. Conflict resolution committees.  David Adams said that Charlie Pillsbury and David Eliscu have been doing conflict resolution work for the national party.

 

6. Women's Caucus.   Will be meeting soon;  invites new members;  has listserve.  National party's Women's Caucus is now accredited.

 

7. Report from US Green Party representatives.  Tom said that:

**The national Party ran a full-page ad in the New York Times in most areas of the US.  The national Party has been getting more than the usual number of "hits" to its website since the November elections.  (When Tom gets a Connecticut name from national, he sends this person a newcomer's packet giving chapter contacts, etc.)

**Cobb, the Libertarian candidate for president, and Nader are involved in forcing recounts of the presidential ballots in Ohio and other states.  This is getting the Green Party name into the news (CNN etc.)

**In response to a question from Mike, Tom said that discussions are going on within the national party on the questions of closing the national office (for financial reasons) and renewing (or not renewing) the contract of the national fundraising director.  Sustainers give the national party $10,000 per month.  Could money be better spent on projects?

 

8. VOTER (Mike).  VOTER will be meeting December 1.  Connecticut will be buying electronic voting machines;  VOTER will be working to ensure they will provide a paper trail of votes cast.  VOTER will also work on issues such as minority party ballot access.

 

F.  DISCUSSION

1. Planning/strategizing session for the state party in January.  (Agenda item from Tom Sevigny, Andy Derr, Lindsay Mathews, Bob Eaton, Colin Bennett, and Kaye Ward.)  Due to the lateness of the hour, only minimal discussion of this agenda item was done, during the presentation by Ralph and Calvin.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appendix 1  Proposed bylaws changes from BRPP committee (bylaws, rules, policies and procedures)  [Submitted by New London chapter per e-mail of 9/13/04 from Andy.]

 

4-1. CHAPTERS


4-1-A. A local chapter shall consist of Green Party members from towns and municipalities within a contiguous geographic region. No chapter shall be larger than a County and none smaller than a single town with the exception of Campus Green organizations.  

4-1-B. A local chapter may petition for affiliation with the State Central Committee upon having at least three meetings with five or more Green Party members in attendance at each of the three meetings. 
4-1-C.   A chapter may be declared inactive by a majority vote of the State Central Committee (SCC) if it has not met within the past three months.  A chapter will automatically be declared inactive if it has not sent chapter representatives to the State Central Committee meeting for three months in a row. Inactive status will begin as of the third meeting.  

4-1-D.   The State Central Committee may vote to revoke a chapter's affiliation with the CTGP if that chapter has not met within the past 6 months.

4-1-E.  An inactive chapter will be declared active again if it hold two consecutive monthly meetings monthly meetings with at least five members present and sends representatives to two successive state meetings.

4-1-F.  Chapters that have had their affiliation revoked must re-petition the State Central Committee for affiliation once the requirements detailed in 4.1.B are met.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Appendix 2  Proposed bylaws changes from BRPP Committee (bylaws, rules, policies and procedures). [From e-mail received from Tom 7/26/04;  revised per 9/13/04 e-mail from Andy.]

 

4-2  STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE

 

4-2-A. The State Central Committee (SCC) shall be the final decision making body of the Green Party of Connecticut, and shall consist of democratically elected representatives from each affiliated local chapter. 

4-2-B. Local chapters of the CTGP shall be represented at State Central Committee meetings accordingly :   Each chapter is entitled to two voting representatives, and is also entitled to an additional representative for each 100 registered Greens residing in the chapter.  Voter lists from an appropriate authority (either a town clerk or the Secretary of State) will be the final source in determining the count of a chapter's membership. If these are not obtainable the chapter shall be entitled to two voting representatives.

4-2-C.  Caucuses for under-represented groups shall be entitled to one voting representative on the State Central Committee.  Under-represented groups are defined as any grouping of Greens that has historically failed to gain adequate access to power in society at-large (i.e., women, African-Americans, youth, etc.).  Caucuses shall be established by the State Central Committee.  An individual attending an SCC meeting may cast multiple votes--one vote as a chapter representative and one as a caucus representative.

4-2-D. Representatives to the State Central Committee are responsible for disseminating information to their respective local chapters. They are also responsible for following the mandates of the local chapters they represent. 
4-2-E. The modified consensus process will be used at State Central Committee meetings. In the event consensus cannot be reached, a vote will be taken with a simple majority being needed for passage of the proposal. Changes to the bylaws need a 66% majority for passage.   

4-2-F. Quorum shall be required for votes taken at the State Central Committee meeting. Quorum shall be defined as representation (by at least one voting representative) of at least two-thirds of all active CTGP chapters, excepting Campus Green chapters and inactive chapters.
4-2-G. Chapters shall elect their representatives to the SCC once a year.  Representatives shall be eligible for re-election.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Appendix 3  Proposal on endorsing "A Cultural Evening for Palestine"
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist10.pair.net/mailman/private/ctgp-news/attachments/20041215/626e717c/attachment.html>