[Sosfbay-discuss] "Reboot the CC!" says Green uniTEA Nonaligned Movement; Proposal for GA from Bylaws Committee

[JamBoi]

Hey Gerry

TEA will be an 'Antifaction'!  In the best "pun is
mightier than the gun" (Tian's humor) fashion we will
not meet or scheme or organize in any fashion. :-) 
We'll just distribute green tea (uniTEA) at the GA and
other green meetings. ;-)  And work for unity!  Its
like a flashmob movement.  Its just spontaneously
forming.

A reboot will work because all the present faction
participaters will be booted out of the CC.  This will
break the current stalemate that has had the CC
frozen.  It will buy time for us to figure out the
cultural (and 
possibly bylaw) changes we need to enact to get us to
a better place. :-) 

Your detailed questions about the proposal that Mike
Wyman and  Marilyn Ditmanson are great, but should
probably be directed to them.  I'll forward your note
on to them...

If I had written it I would have simply said: 1) all
current CC members are off starting now, 2) anyone on
the CC currently or going back five years are
ineligible and 3) the CC will be repopulated by new
appointment/election of their various constituents as
soon as possible.  I would have kept it extremely
simple have made any immediate structural changes.

But I didn't write it, so... maybe its a case of we go
to the GA with the proposal that's been proposed
rather than the one we might wish we had. :-)  I note
that this is coming from a County Council, and we in
GPSCC could certainly take the initiative in the
future to make this kind of proposal.

Drink Green uniTEA, not factional koolaid!

Drew Johnson
Santa Clara County delegate to the GA preparing to
vote for CC Reboot!



--- Gerry Gras <gerrygras at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 
> Comments interspersed below.
> 
> 
> JamBoi wrote:
> 
> > We need Green uniTEA my sisters and brothers!  
> > 
> > Just as during the cold war when the U.S. and
> U.S.S.R.
> > selfishly treated the world as if their empires
> were
> > the only thing that matter.  India arose to lead a
> > group  of nations to 'Just say no" to the warring
> > factions, to assert a Nonaligned Movement.  
> > 
> > I think its high time for us to assert our
> > independence of these two factions and to say to
> them
> > "NO! you won't have my endorsement and you destroy
> my
> > party!"  Join those of us who refuse to be sucked
> into
> > either faction's weak and self-serving
> justification
> > for their destructive actions.  We must save our
> party
> > from the tunnel vision of these two factions.
> > 
> > This Reboot the CC action will be the first step
> but
> > it can not be considered the complete solution. 
> We
> > must alter our culture and possibly our bylaws in
> such
> > a way whereby we do not allow any group of people
> to
> > hijack the party and we do not allow the *service*
> > organization of the CC to be perverted into an
> > executive function and become a political football
> 
> > grinding us to a halt again.  Together we must
> > consider how we solve these vexing issues.
> > 
> > We can not stand idly by and allow objectionable
> > domination behavior by anyone to control our
> party. 
> > We must change our culture from one of passive
> > acceptance of any old crazy behavior from factions
> or
> > individuals to a smoothly running self governance
> > style where we uphold our 10 Key Values and turn
> them
> > into the virtues they can be.  As a party if we
> > actually contribute and add value to people's
> lives we
> > will have no problem attracting members!
> > 
> > Reboot the CC first!  Then let's put our heads
> > together to make our party functional, effective
> and
> > progressive leaders.
> 
> 
> > 
> > Drink Green uniTEA, not factional koolaid!
> > Drew Johnson
> > Santa Clara County delegate to the GA preparing to
> > vote for CC Reboot!
> > ________________________________
> > 
> > Subject: "Reboot the CC!" says Green uniTEA
> Nonaligned
> > Movement; Proposal for GA from Bylaws Committee
> > 
> > Time to drink Green uniTEA: The Team Earth
> > Antifaction! ;-)
> > 
> > I speak for the vast majority of Greens that hate
> that
> > two factions have brought our party to its knees. 
> A
> > pox on both their houses! Yet all of us are to
> blame
> > also for letting this insanity drag on and on. 
> Now we
> > have an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and
> start
> > over.  That's right, what do you do when an
> electronic
> > product fails?  Reboot!  Thankfully the Bylaws
> > Committee has prepared the following proposal for
> us
> > to start afresh with the CC.
> > 
> > The CC was always supposed to be a service
> > organization, not an executive function.  It has
> > ceased to serve ANY function.  Time to reboot!
> > 
> > Some have said 'why throw out the good apples with
> the
> > bad?'.  I say 'good apples??? Which good apples
> are
> > those?' - although I love these people as
> individuals,
> > as a collective they have utterly failed to serve
> > their function.  Time to reboot!
> 
> 
> Although I basically agree that the CC has not been
> functioning well for a long time, I ask "Why will a
> reboot improve matters?"
> 
> 
> > 
> > As John Morton <jlm108 at yahoo.com> said: "This
> party
> > belongs to not to the CC reps, not to the GA
> > delegates, not even to the 150,000 registered
> Greens
> > in CA.  It belongs to the hundreds of thousands,
> the
> > millions, who, if given the chance, would agree
> with
> > the 10 KV and commit to whatever degree to
> participate
> > in their propagation."  Time to reboot!
> > 
> > Drink Green uniTEA, not factional koolaid!
> 
> 
> Isn't TEA a faction?
> 
> 
> > 
> > Drew Johnson
> > Santa Clara County delegate to the GA preparing to
> > vote for reboot!
> > 
> > TITLE: RESOLVING THE IMPASSE: 
> > RECONSTITUTING THE GPCA COORDINATING COMMITTEE
> > 
> > PRESENTERS: Mike Wyman (mswyman at comcast.net),
> > Marilyn Ditmanson (mditmanson at sbcglobal.net)
> > 
> > APPROVED BY: Green Party of Marin county council
> > 
> > BACKGROUND: 
> > The GPCA Coordinating Committee (CC) has been
> > deadlocked since October 2006. This is a result of
> an
> > ongoing conflict that goes back to 2001. Many
> hours of
> > meetings over the past 6 years have been rendered
> > useless due to infighting around "the LA
> situation,"
> > meaning which group from LA gets to vote on the
> CC.
> > Proposals of mediation and compromise have only
> > resulted in more infighting. The number of regions
> > with contested seats has instead increased to 4.
> The
> > result is that the CC is no longer able to perform
> its
> > main function of planning plenaries.
> > 
> > This proposal reconstitutes the CC with people who
> are
> > not and have not been involved in the party
> > infighting, much as a professional committee in
> the
> > business world will be reconstituted when unable
> to do
> > its work. It is
> > reconstituted with representation more
> proportionate
> > to
> > membership, as California has promoted in the
> national
> > party.
> > 
> > Part of the CC deadlock has been caused by the
> chaos
> > around the facilitation procedures for the CC.
> Using
> > supermajority voting thresholds for facilitation
> > decisions has resulted in the following
> situations:
> > 
> > * meetings being unable to be held at all, and no
> > items even discussed in the interest of
> > consensus-building, due to lack of 2/3 approval of
> an
> > agenda
> > 
> > * facilitators taking 45-minute stacks on whether
> to
> > add 5 minutes to an item
> > * long stretches of valuable meeting time wasted
> on
> > discussions of whether to add an item to the
> agenda,
> > alter the agenda or choose a new facilitator
> > 
> > * two different voting thresholds applying based
> > solely on whether the vote itself is taken online
> or
> > during a
> > teleconference, allowing proposals to be subject
> to
> > manipulations based on voting thresholds.
> > 
> > This proposal also clarifies basic facilitation
> > procedures for GPCA coordinating committee (CC)
> > meetings in order to avoid such situations. These
> > facilitation procedures are based on two main
> > premises:
> > 1. The decision-making body has authority over its
> > agenda.
> > 2. Basic facilitation decisions, such as agenda
> > approval, agenda amendment, and addition or
> > subtraction of discussion time, are not intended
> to
> > involve whole separate consensus processes and
> stacks
> > of clarifying questions, concerns and affirmations
> on
> > the facilitation decision. (Note that the
> facilitation
> > rules passed out at plenaries do not suggest this,
> > either.)
> > 
> > This proposal is a combination of a variety of
> ideas
> > for solving the CC's problems that have been
> brought
> > forward over recent months. The presenters hope
> that
> > adoption of this proposal will finally end the
> CC's
> > infighting based on historical animosities and
> give
> > the new CC a real opportunity to do its
> > bylaws-mandated job.
> > 
> > PROPOSAL: 
> > I.The General Assembly hereby reconstitutes the
> GPCA
> > Coordinating Committee (CC)
> > 
> > a. All seats on the CC are vacant as of 30 days
> from
> > the passage of this proposal.
> > 
> > b. Per Paragraph 7-1.2 of the GPCA bylaws, the GA
> > shall
> > allocate the 16 regional representative seats
> > proportionally to the Green Party membership in
> each
> > region. This calculation shall be performed by the
> > outgoing Liaison to the Secretary of State (Larry
> > Cafiero) according to the Method of Equal
> Proportions
> > described in the appendix to the GPCA bylaws.
> > 
> > c. All regions shall announce new elections to
> fill
> > the
> > regional representative seats as soon as possible.
> > Regions must hold open, transparent elections with
> at
> > least 3 weeks notice distributed as widely as
> possible
> > in the region. Notice of upcoming regional
> > representative vacancies shall be posted to the
> county
> > contacts list as soon as possible after passage of
> > this proposal. Regions without alternate processes
> may
> > adopt temporary alternate processes for the
> purpose of
> > filling the seats in a timely manner.
> 
> 
> Hmm, if I combine the above ...
> 
> - the CC will have 16 voting members out of 20
> leaving
>    after 30 days
> - new members will only come in after the
> proportionality
>    is recomputed and announcements are made and 3
> weeks
>    go by after the announcements are made and
> elections
>    are held, practically speaking, there may be a
> lot
>    of vacant seats for awhile
> 
> 
> > 
> > d. No one who has served on the CC, or who has
> claimed
> > to serve on the CC, as representative or
> alternate,
> > over the course of the past 5 years, is eligible
> to
> > run for or fill any representative or alternate
> seat
> > on the CC for the next 2 years.
> 
> 
> I wonder if you can find 16 people who are willing
> to
> be on the CC that meet this condition. 
> Traditionally
> the Regional Rep "elections" have not been very
> contested.
> 
> 
> 
> > 
> > e.Transitional term lengths shall be varied in
> order
> > to stagger the ending dates. This depends on the
> new
> > apportionment by the Liaison, but end dates of the
> > transitional terms would be expected to fall as
> > follows:
> > 
> > Even-Numbered Years
> > 1 Emerald	January 2008
> > 2 At-large 	spring GA 2008
> > 1 San Francisco	May 2008
> > 1 Silicon	June 2008
> > 1 East Bay	July 2008
> > 3 Los Angeles	November 2008
> > 1 San Diego/Imperial	August 2008
> > 1 ORSB	November 2008
> > 
> > Odd-Numbered Years
> > 2 At-large	spring GA 2009
> > 2 Central	May 2009
> > 1 North Bay	May 2009
> > 1 East Bay	July 2009
> > 1 Monterey Bay	August 2009
> > 1 Central Coast	August 2009
> > 1 ORSB	November 2009
> 
> 
> I wonder how this scedule has been determined.
> And I suspect that some will question the motives
> for this schedule.
> 
> I may have missed something, but it seems that this
> proposal will kick the At-large Reps off and not
> replace them.  Why?
> 
> 
> > 
> > II.CC Facilitation Guidelines GPCA CC meeting
> > facilitation shall proceed according to the
> following
> > guidelines:
> > 
> > a.Proposals for CC meetings must be posted to the
> CC
> > listserv at least one week in advance of a
> scheduled
> > meeting.
> 
> 
> It's about time.
> 
> 
> > 
> > b. CC meeting agendas shall be approved by the CC
> > prior to or at the beginning of a meeting, with a
> > simple majority threshold for approval. 
> > 
> > c. Changes in announced facilitation require a
> simple
> > majority threshold for approval.
> > 
> > d. Adding time to an agenda item or altering the
> > approved agenda requires a simple majority
> approval of
> > the CC. 
> > 
> > e. Adding a last minute item that was not
> submitted to
> > the CC list one week prior to the meeting requires
> a
> > 2/3 threshold.
> > 
> > f. The CC prefers to discuss decision items on
> > teleconferences and at in-person meetings. If an
> item
> > is discussed at a meeting and scheduled for an
> online
> > vote, the threshold for that vote is the same as
> if
> > the vote had occurred during the meeting (2/3 for
> > regular meetings, 80% for a special meeting not
> > scheduled at a prior meeting at least a week in
> > advance). If an item goes to an online vote
> without
> > being discussed at a meeting, it has an 80%
> threshold.
> > 
> > g. Decisions may not be made after the regularly
> > scheduled adjournment time of the meeting unless a
> > majority (over half) decides to extend the call
> for a
> > specific amount of time. Decisions must then be
> made
> > within the time of the approved extension.
> > 
> > h. Simple majority approval votes on basic
> > facilitation decisions can be done by asking
> quickly
> > for "ayes" and "nays," and only going to a roll
> call
> > if approval is unclear.
> > 
> > i. The new CC is requested to hire a Secretary to
> take
> > thorough minutes of meetings, post them to the CC
> > list, amend them according to posted corrections,
> and
> > post the final version to both the CC listserv and
> the
> > archive of minutes. The new CC shall draft a job
> > description and hiring criteria for this position.
> 
> 
> FYI, that job has been open for a long time with
> some
> advertising and no takers.
> 
> 
> > 
> > j. The new CC shall form a schedule of its basic
> tasks
> > that follow from the GPCA bylaws and integrate
> this
> > schedule with the 2-year GPCA work plan, when it
> is
> > adopted.
> > 
> > TIMELINE: 
> > Vacancies effective upon passage. Elections may
> take
> > place starting 2 weeks after passage of this
> proposal.
> 
> 
> How can you have elections starting 2 weeks after?
> If this means voting in 2 weeks, then that violates
> the 3 week notification above.  If it means that
> notifications happen after 2 weeks, then this would
> seem to mean that voting would not happen for 5
> weeks
> which would mean at least 12 days with no regional
> reps.
> 
> 
> > Elected CC members may meet on teleconferences but
> may
> > not make any decisions until a quorum of 14 is
> > achieved. 
> 
> 
> In the past, the quorum was set at 2/3 of the filled
> seats, so this would set the threshold higher if
> there
> are empty seats.
> 
> 
> > 
> > RESOURCES:  Hiring a Secretary will require the CC
> > budgeting funds for this.
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> - Off hand the facilitation changes seem a good
> idea.
> 
> - One thing that has often been talked about, but
> noone
>    (that I know of) has ever followed through on, is
>    an orientation process / booklet for new CC
> members.
> 
> Gerry
> 
> _______________________________________________
> sosfbay-discuss mailing list
> sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
>
http://lists.cagreens.org/mailman/listinfo/sosfbay-discuss
> 


___________________

JamBoi: Jammy, The Sacred Cow Slayer
The Green Parties' #1 Blogger
http://dailyJam.blogspot.com

"To the brave belong all things"
Celt's invading Etrusca reply to nervous Romans around 400BC

"Live humbly, laugh often and love unconditionally" (anon)


 
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