[Sosfbay-discuss] Jim Stauffer's high handedly unsubscribingmefrom regional list

[Drew Johnson]

On Wed, July 16, 2008 07:58, Caroline Yacoub wrote:
> Okay, so Tian's not on that list, and I'm not on that list. My question
> is: exactly what is this list, and why are Tian and I not on it?
>   Caroline

Hey Caroline and all,

Okay this is a valuable question.  The list in question is called the
SC-SM (Santa Clara - San Mateo) list.  Our two county parties form what is
called a 'region'  (The 'Silicon Valley' Region) for the purposes of Green
Party of California (GPCA) self governance.  It is the Silicon Valley
Region which is about to get together for the picnic you have put
together.  Theoretically a region could also provide more support,
structure and resources for candidates and campaigns as well, but mostly
its just a way to select a representative -- Regional Representative or
RR.  And note that the 14th Congression District crosses into both
counties of the 'Silicon Valley Region', so for the race that Carol
Brouillet is running, both counties need to provide support.  Currently
Jim Stauffer serves as the Alternate RR but since there is no RR other
than him he basically serves as the RR.

The Regional Representatives participate in the GPCA's Coordinating
Committee (CC).   The CC runs the day to day affairs of the GPCA in
between General Assemblies (GA).  GAs are actually the highest authority
within the GPCA, but since they are only occasional (2 or 3 times per year
-- one is coming up in August in Orange County), there needs to be a way
to get business done the rest of the time and the CC provides that
service.

Unfortunately over the past number of years the CC has been ground to a
halt by what I call the Factional Fanatics.  There are basically two
Factions that hate each other's guts and are apparently more interested in
gaining their own power and defeating the other faction than in the good
of the party.

One faction is lead by Mike Feinstein who's highest claim to fame so far
is being the former Mayor of in the LA area.  The other faction claims
that Mike Feinstein financial improprieties more than 10 years ago and
they persist in crusading against MF and his followers in the LA Region
and all over the state.  The other faction was previously led by Jo
Chamberlain who is from San Mateo ie. in our own Silicon Valley Region and
who was the RR from our region until she resigned recently which put Jim
Stauffer in the role.  Jo had previously been active in the national party
as well and served as a CoChair to the Green National Committee (sorta
like Howard Dean but with 7 Howard Deans instead of just one).  From what
I could see (admittedly from a distance) Jo provided the tactical genius
for her faction.  The rhetorical and strategic genius of that faction was
Peter Camejo (several times Green gubnatorial candidate and who ran as an
independent in 2004 as Ralph Nader's VP candidate.

Confoundingly enough I've found that all of the members of these two
factions deny being in a faction themselves and can only identify their
opponents as being part of a faction.  This includes top members of the
faction.  Mike Feinstein himself denies being a part of a faction!!!  And
denies being a leader of said faction!!!  Jim Stauffer is a fairly loyal
footsoldier of the JC/PC faction.  when  I've pointed this out to him he
exploded in anger and totally denied it.  I suppose that might be one of
the items he would call a 'lie' by me.  I suppose facing truths that Jim
is in denial about like that he's a rageaholic and that he's a key member
of the JC/PC Faction are uncomfortable I'm guessing.

There's another structure called GDI (Greens for Democratic Indepence)
that overlaps with the Jo Chamberlain/Peter Camejo faction.  GDI is
nationwide and essentially could be called Greens for Nader and Camejo
because that is pretty much their function.  They are constantly harping
on this ideological concept they have called 'One Green One Vote'.  I
won't get into it here, but I will say that while it sounds good, they
place far too much emphasis on this ideological construct and what it
boils down to is that they think the GPCA should dominate the GP-US and
deliver the GPCA ballot line to Nader.  Jim Stauffer is pretty
uninterested in national politics so I don't think he's really a part of
that national faction.

 Jim has been a long term member of the CC and indeed I think at one point
served as one of the CoChairs of the CC as well as serving as the Liaison
to the Secretary of State. So he has provided a LOT of service and has
been with the party almost since its start.

While its absolutely true that Jim is hard working and super knowledgable,
he also has these problems with his behavior as you got a sample of the
other day when he insulted you and a number of others on this list.  These
unaddressed behavioral problems make him scarey to be around and many
people report unwillingness to even put themselves in He seems to
experience temper tantrums like you wouldn't believe.  It makes our
General Meetings very unpleasant and contentious at times.  He is what
some people call a Mood Transmitter.  When he walks in the room the whole
emotional atmosphere of the room is effected (this is a phenomenon that
not everyone experiences, but I and some others certainly do and have
talked about it).

 I would also characterize him as a 'control freak'.   As we've been able
to see in these past few postings by Jim, even though he hasn't been on
the County Council literally in years he treats the Council
contemptuously and as though he were not only more powerful than a
Councilor.  He's not -- the RR is put into position BY The Council.  The
Council is directly elected by the Green Party members and so is in a
sense the most direct representatives of Grassroots Democracy and
everything else in the party including the delegates to the General
Assembly (GA) are determined by The Councils.   He also seems to hold the
opinion that whatever HE defines the purpose of the SC-SM list as should
automatically and absolutely be treated as law without reference back to
the (actually more powerful and that which he's supposed to be
accountable to) Councils.  He doesn't see a need apparently to check back
with The Councils who essentially put him into his position in the first
place and who has the right to recall, remove or replace him.

Jim has regularly demeaned Carol Brouillet (new member of The Council and
highest vote getter).  He doesn't care for her radical politics and
especially her emphasis on getting down to the truth of what happened on
9-11.  But Carol is not the only woman that Jim treats contempuously and I
would not be the only one to point out that he seems to have some kind of
issue going on with women generally.

Although he might not say it right now Tian has also been a regular target
of Jim's wrath.  Jim doesn't like that Tian can be so dominating of
meeting time since Tian expresses himself so slowly during meetings and
also that Tian sometimes reports unconfirmed rumours as fact.

Jim Stauffer's behavior is one of the primary reasons I refuse to invite
any newcomers to the General Meeting.  Why should newbies be subjected to
this unpleasantness?  It is quite possible that they will be so turned off
they will leave and never return.  It was great that he was absent at this
last meeting and frankly that might be a contributing reason it went so
well.


Green is Connection!

Drew

>
> Drew Johnson <JamBoi at Greens.org> wrote:
>   Jim's mischaracterization that this was about 'general discussion' is
> misleading and innacurate and therefore is irrelevant.
>
> Hitting a person is far from the only form of violence. Month by month we
> have been subjected to Jim's violent attitude towards any that disagree
> with him. I know for a fact that numerous people (especially women
> because of his misogynistic attitudes) have been turned off of our
> county's party and have not returned based on what you call Tian his
> 'personality'. Its not his personality. Its that he is an unrecovered
> rageaholic. He needs help but apparently doesn't take steps to get Anger
> Management or whatever it is that would address his issues. Just in the
> past few days a number of Santa Clara Greens have been abused by Jim on
> the e-mail list. This arrogant and tyrannous behavior is completely
> unacceptable of someone who we have entrusted with being our Regional
> Representative to the GPCA Coordinating Committee.
>
> Further it is not Jim's perview to arbitrarily and unilaterally take a
> GPSC County Councilor emeritus
> off any GPCA e-mail list. He is not the king of anything. He did not
> have the right to act in such an emperious way.
>
> We can not afford to continue to turn a blind eye to Jim's ongoing
> egregious toxic behavior, so we need to protect our membership by removing
> the power investing in Jim's that he is injuring other people and our
> party with.
>
> No I will not drop my requests to the County Council. Absolutely not.
>
>
> Green is Safe!
>
> Drew
>
>
> On Wed, July 16, 2008 00:37, Tian Harter wrote:
>> I gotta agree that general discussion belongs in the discussion forum.
>> I've not been on that list so I don't know a "crime" was committed,
>> but I could believe Drew would post discussion items beyond where they
>> go.
>>
>> I consider the rant below this a bit over the top. Stauffer often acts
>> grumpy, but I have never seen him hit anyone. If you allow for his
>> personality, he is a fine fellow traveler. Please cut him a little
>> slack.
>>
>> When we have an activist that wants to do the work Jim is doing quite
>> well, then is the time to vote him out of office. Until then, I say
>> "Why can't we all just get along?"
>>
>> Tian
>>
>> Drew Johnson wrote:
>>> On Mon, July 14, 2008 19:20, Jim Stauffer wrote:
>>>> Do any of you know what you're talking about?
>>>
>>>
>>> This quote is typically arrogant behavior from Jim Stauffer. It falls
>>> entirely within his typical pattern of behavior. How offensive can you
>>> get???
>>>
>>> This puts across the entirely elitist message: "Watch out people, do
>>> not
>>> cross Jim Stauffer. He knows what's best for you. Do not speak out
>>> against his outrageous rageaholic behavior because he will slap you
>>> down.
>>>
>>> I say the party can not afford to put a rageaholic into a position of
>>> power. How many have left our party because of Jim's behavior. Its
>>> worth
>>> pointing out that Jim behaves consistently in a consistently
>>> misogynistic
>>> manner. He's a white male and he knows better than you (as in the above
>>> example). Just rollover people because Jim is the tyrant and you have
>>> no
>>> right to question any of his hurtful behavior. Like Bush, he is
>>> entirely
>>> above the shackles of any kind of check on his actions. Thank you Jim
>>> for
>>> giving us a beautiful example of exactly what we Greens are working to
>>> overcome in our world today.
>>>
>>>
>>> Green is Connection!
>>>
>>> Drew
>>>
>>>
>>>> Can any of you tell me the what list he was removed from and the
>>>> purpose
>>>> of
>>>> that list?
>>>>
>>>> Have any of you read GPCA net etiquette policy
>>>> (http://cagreens.org/structure/email_etiquette.shtml) that asks for
>>>> cooperation from participants on these cost-free, advertising-free
>>>> lists
>>>> that the party provides for your use?
>>>>
>>>> And, finally, what right do any of you have to tell the small
>>>> membership
>>>> of
>>>> closed, special-purpose list who they have to allow as members and
>>>> what
>>>> messages they have to read?
>>>>
>>>> Jim
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> kaisha_marie at comcast.net wrote:
>>>>> I appreciate Drew's posts and he is the reason I'm green at all. I
>>>>> don't
>>>>> understand why his speech would be limited in any green forum. What
>>>>> are
>>>>> the rules being violated specifically?
>>>>>
>>>>> Green is unification,
>>>>> Kaisha
>>>>> Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Fred Duperrault
>>>>>
>>>>> Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:47:00
>>>>> To: Drew Johnson
>>>>> Cc:
>>>>> Subject: Re: [Sosfbay-discuss] Jim Stauffer's high handedly
>>>>> unsubscribing
>>>>> me from regional list
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I appreciate Drew's alerts, leads and his comments. I'm sure he
>>>>> informs
>>>>> and energizes many Greens who rely on the discussion list.
>>>>>
>>>>> I see no harm.
>>>>>
>>>>> Fred Duperrault
>>>>>
>>>>> Hello All,
>>>>>
>>>>> I agree with Drew. In these trying times pretty much everyone, who's
>>>>> serious about this planet and it turning GREEN someday, has something
>>>>> to say that is important. That is, information about impeachment,
>>>>> ending war, healthcare for all, mass transit, bicycling, etc., etc.,
>>>>> is all good and points towards a GREENer planet. Thus, Drew's emails
>>>>> should be looked upon as a GOOD thing that will help the GREEN party.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>
>>>>> Randy W. Sandberg
>>>>> www.ENDinjusticeNOW.com
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Jul 13, 2008, at 6:34 PM, Drew Johnson wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I vehemently protest this unilateral action by Jim Stauffer. Jim is
>>>>>> not
>>>>>> the king of the e-mail list and does not have the right to partake
>>>>>> in such
>>>>>> high handed behavior. This is not a "green" way to operate. I
>>>>>> request
>>>>>> the County Council instruct Jim to immediately reinstate my
>>>>>> subscription
>>>>>> to the regional list and make it clear to Jim that this behavior is
>>>>>> completely unacceptable.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Green is Ethical!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Drew Johnson
>>>>>>
>>>>>> County Council Emeritus and
>>>>>> Elected Delegate the Green National Committee (among many other
>>>>>> forms of
>>>>>> service I provide)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ---------------------------- Original Message
>>>>>> ----------------------------
>>>>>> Subject: [SC-SM] Unsubscribing Drew
>>>>>> From: "Jim Stauffer"
>>>>>> Date: Fri, July 11, 2008 18:12
>>>>>> To: "Regional List"
>>>>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm unsubscribing Drew Johnson from this list. He's been asked
>>>>>> several times
>>>>>> to stop posting general discussion issues, and he refuses to do so.
>>>>>> This
>>>>>> list is defined for a discussion of regional Green Party issues. The
>>>>>> GPCA
>>>>>> has a list-use policy and his actions violate it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Drew is no longer on the SC County Council, so his only purpose for
>>>>>> remaining on this list is to use it to distribute his favorite
>>>>>> discussion
>>>>>> topics.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If any of you San Mateo folks want get his posts, you can add him to
>>>>>> your
>>>>>> discussion list.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jim
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> SC-SM mailing list
>>>>>> SC-SM at lists.sonic.net
>>>>>> http://lists.sonic.net/mailman/listinfo/sc-sm