<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><br><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>From: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Cat Woods <<a href="mailto:cat801@mindspring.com">cat801@mindspring.com</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Date: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">October 2, 2008 11:45:16 PM PDT</font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>To: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">GPUS list <<a href="mailto:natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org">natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Subject: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><b>[usgp-nc] leaving the Green Party</b></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><font face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><b>Reply-To: </b></font><font face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">"The natlcomvotes \(aka National Committee Votes\) listserv is for decision-making and management of GP-US affairs." <<a href="mailto:natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org">natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org</a>></font></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><br></div> </div><div>WHY WE ARE LEAVING THE GREEN PARTY<br>October 2, 2008<br><br>We, the undersigned delegates to the National Committee of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS), are hereby exiting the Green Party. The movement to democratize the Green Party, which began four years ago, has failed. Furthermore, there is no provision in the structure of the party to provide recourse to its members when entrenched leaders overstep their authority or violate the values and rules of the party. The structure of the party allows grassroots democracy – the will of its members – to be disregarded in the name of “decentralization” while, at the same time, centralizing the result of its undemocratic nomination process. The net result is that state Green parties strong enough to have ballot lines are controlled by an unaccountable small clique of people outside of those states. When even the few reforms that have been adopted by the national party can be ignored with impunity, we believe that further effort on our part to work for reform would be a waste of our energy and resources.<br><br>In leaving the Green Party, we are not looking backward to the so-called “Democratic” and “Republican” parties. We learned long ago that the corporate funding and control of these two parties precludes the possibility of becoming a vehicle for needed political change. They long ago betrayed their ostensible constituencies and values. This is, in fact, why we have spent so many years working to make the Green Party into a real vehicle for change.<br><br>We now believe that a new national progressive political party must be formed – one that ensures democratic standards for its members as part of its base structure, one with an explicit mission to pose an electoral challenge to the corporate-controlled “two-party system” – in order for greater justice, peace and ecological balance to become achievable goals. We call upon those who believe in these goals to come together to create an alternative that does not spin its wheels and those of its members, that instead establishes a competent, accountable and democratic structure that strengthens and inspires its members toward those goals.<br><br>Sincerely,<br><br>Cat Woods, Green Party member of 16 years, GPUS delegate, Marin county council member<br>Ann Tompkins, Green Party member of 8 years, GPUS delegate, former Sonoma county council member<br>Marilyn Ditmanson, Green Party member of 8 years, GPUS delegate, former Butte county council member<br>_______________________________________________<br>Natlcomvotes mailing list<br>To send a message to the list, write to:<br><a href="mailto:Natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org">Natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org</a><br>To unsubscribe or change your list options, go to:<br>http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/natlcomvotes<br><br>If your state delegation changes, please see:<br>http://gp.org/committees/nc/documents/delegate_change.html<br><br>To report violations of listserv protocol, write to forummanagers@lists.gp-us.org<br><br>For other information about the Coordinating Committee, see:<br>http://gp.org/committees/nc/<br></div></blockquote></div><br><div apple-content-edited="true"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><div><div><div>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - </div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>Marnie Glickman </div><div>Executive director</div><div>Green Change</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div><a href="http://www.greenchange.org">www.greenchange.org</a></div><div>503.313.7919 w</div><div>707.313.7919 f</div><div>skype: marnieglickman</div><div><br></div><div><div>Green Change is a community of people with Green values: justice, grassroots democracy, sustainability and non-violence. We work together to share Green art, politics and culture.</div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br></div></div><br></div><br></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"> </div><br></body></html>