[Sosfbay-discuss] GL June: Two more Green Party Electoral Victories

[Drew Johnson]

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: [usgp-media] Two more Green Party Electoral Victories
From:    "Green Party of the United States" <office at gp.org>
Date:    Sat, May 31, 2008 02:12
To:      usgp-media at lists.gp-us.org
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Help States achieve Ballot Access

Summer is here and its time to hit the streets to get the Green Party on
the ballot!  Now is the time to gather signatures and dollars to help our
ballot access efforts.

Virginia is working hard.  They need to collect 10,000 signatures by
August 22 and they have about half in hand.  Check out
http://vagreenparty.org/petitions.html to download petitions, get in touch
with the petition drive coordinators, and HELP THE Green Party of Virginia
achieve Ballot Access.

The Ballot Access Committee continues to try and raise funds to make more
grants to Virginia and other states.  Greens can make on-line donations at
 http://www.gp.org/committees/ballot/fundraising.shtml.  You can also find
a volunteer link to help with your State's petition drive or a neighboring
state.  The Green Party relies on word of mouth advertising so please use
the "Spread the Word" link on the same page.

Other states currently petitioning include:

Pennsylvania (25,000 signatures needed by August 1)
Iowa (1,500 signatures needed by August 15)
New Jersey (800 signatures needed by July 28)

We need as much help as possible in the following states:

Ohio (5,000 signatures needed by August 21)
Kansas (17,000 signatures needed by August 4)
Kentucky (5,000 signatures needed by September 2)

If you can contribute anything - any thing at all - to these state
petition drives please contact the Ballot Access Committee co-chairs: 
Brian Bittner (brian at brianbittner.org) or Phil Huckelberry
(phil.huckelberry at gmail.com)


Green Party Officeholder Interview:
Dan Robinson

 Dan Robinson was elected to the Takoma Park, Maryland City Council in
November of 2007.  Takoma Park is a city of approximately 18,000 that
boarders the District of Columbia.  Dan Robinson is one of six
councilmembers.  When we called him, he was actually in a City Council
meeting.  We caught up with him the next day.

GL: What was the hot topic of last night's City Council meeting?

DR: The budget.  It's not necessarily fascinating but passing a budget has
to be done.  We've been meeting with residents to try and figure out what
people really want.  I'm working with staff to look at sustainability
issues.  We have people scouring the streets of Takoma Park looking for
ways to save energy.

GL: What made you decide to run for City Council?

DR: I'd done a lot things - served on committees, local activism, worked
with Takoma Park businesspeople.  I got to know a lot of people.  I wanted
to find a way to hear all sides on important issues, not just my own side.

GL: What do you do professionally and how did it help you run for office?

DR: I followed an entrepreneurial path. I've been a computer programmer
and business manager for many years.  I sold my computer programming
business to my employees and built a small office building.  It's
definitely a green building - it's as low-impact as I could make it.  I
was exposed to the realities of government while organizing the
construction of the building.  I had to work through probably 25 different
bureaucracies.

GL: Tell us a little bit about your campaign.

DR: I had a lot of help from Greens, friends, and acquaintances.  My ward
is small - only about 3,000 people - and I was able to knock on every
door.  I held a number of coffees and meetings a few times a week. 
Raising about $2,000 was enough to send a mailing to every household and
post yard signs.

Two years ago, Takoma Park initiated Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for city
elections.  Unfortunately, none of the races in November had more than two
candidates.  I thought about recruiting another candidate just so we could
see IRV in action.

GL: What has the hardest part of the experience been?

DR: People put a lot of expectations on you - some people project their
own frustrations onto you.  You have to be realistic about responding to
that.  With city matters on my mind all the time, sometimes my work
suffers.  My city council salary is $10,000 for what is basically a
half-time position.  Some people believe that City Council members ought
to be willing to work for free.  In some ways I agree, but for people who
have to make a living that would be hard.  If they had to do it for free,
only wealthy people could afford to hold office.  That's not the Green
way.

Q: What advice do you have for Greens thinking of running for office?

DR:  Get involved with community affairs.  It need to be done - just do
it.  Find a way to serve on committees as a volunteer, start something new
in town, and get to know as many people as you can.  Push for change
however you can.  Examine the budget.  Try to understand people's
motivations for why they ask for things.  People come to the council all
the time with problems they are dealing with.  We try to point that person
toward the appropriate staff member to get things resolved.  The question
we ask is "What can we do as a staff to make this person's life a little
easier?"


Two more Electoral Victories in May . . .
. . . bring Win-Rate to 61% for Year

Don Langrehr won his re-election to Blacksburg Town Council in  Montgomery
County. He finished second of five candidates for three seats  with 1,100
votes or 22.28%. This brings us to 18 wins out of 30 races for the year
maintaining a 60%  win rate for the Spring cycle.

In Lancaster, MA David Spanagel was elected as Town Moderator, . He ran
unopposed and received 328 votes or 97.04%. He used his modest $95 of
campaign contributions to send informative postcards out to about 25% of
the town's active voters. Every Postcard had the Green-Rainbow logo above
his name.

The Green Party has had 19 wins out of 31 races for the spring cycle with
a win rate of 61% so far this year. The Green Party currently has 230
elected officeholders.


Feedback wanted on New/Revised Platform Planks

The Green Party is different from the corporate parties and the difference
becomes obvious when reading the Platform.  The Platform is a dynamic
document voted on at the quadrennial convention and reveals the heart of
the party including further illumination of the ten key values.  Efforts
have been underway to revise and improve the 2004 Platform.

You can review new amendments to the 2004 Platform by going to the
following link:  http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/draft/work/. 
Please examine and submit to your State Committees for further
consideration.  All comments or objections can be submitted to the
Platform Committee until the final deadline of July 6th.

There are 4 chapters to the Platform.  One of the Platform Committee's
aims was to produce a tight Platform that candidates can use as a handy
reference, distribute at campaigns and give to other Greens.  Also, when
Greens go to events, forums, protests, etc. they can use the Platform to
recruit new Greens.

Some suggested new additions to Platform 2008 are 1) Labor - Greens
support the EFCA (Employees Free Choice Act) bill - passing through the
Congress; 2) Foreign Affairs. - Military.  See under Nuclear Weapons: 
Greens strongly oppose research and development of the US RRW (Reliable
Replacement Warhead).  In reality the RRW is a new nuclear weapon and not
in compliance with NPT; 3) Energy - (see in column 2 under Chapter III) an
upgraded as well as updated Energy plank; 4) Population - first time we
have had a plank on population other than Women's Right to Choose.  Some
of the changes have already proven to be controversial so please check on
the platform amendments to make sure you and your State can support the
revisions.

The editors of the draft are:

Chapter I:   Jenefer Ellingston  Jellingston at greens.org and Jane Zara
jjzara at aol.com

Chapter II:  Jack Ailey jjailey at comcast.net, John Ely
johnbethany at earthlink.net  and Gene Hunter hunter at pjsnet.de

Chapter III:   Wes Rolley wrolley at charter.net and Mike Ewall
catalyst at actionPA.org

Chapter IV:   Erik Douglas politicaltao at taotetao.com and Jon Olsen
joliyoka at gwi.net

You are encouraged to review the proposed changes and send comments or
objections to the Platform Committee editors listed above.  Also, please
distribute this article widely.



Support the Green Party buy from Online Store

The Merchandise Committee is pleased to offer an array of t-shirts, hats,
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union made baseball caps and our new Sunflower shirts with the four
pillars on the back, en espanol. Get ready for fall campaigns with our
brand new campaign kits and tabling kits. Available at Green Online Store:

https://secure.democracyinaction.com/dia/organizations/Greens/shop/shop.jsp?storefront_KEY=4

Register Green. Vote Green. Give Green.

The Green Party does not accept corporate donations. We depend entirely on
donations from people who are committed to building a powerful and
progressive alternative to the two corporate parties.

We ask you to challenge corporate influence in politics by supporting the
Green Party of the United States! Show your resistance to the status quo
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Please help us get out our positive, progressive values to new
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Support us today and please consider becoming a sustainer (look for the
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America is ready for the Green Party's message. But we need your help in
bringing the message to the American people!

Donate now to the Green Party
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Buy Your Green Party Card Online
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Pages, plus all of the information you need to get involved and active as
a Green. Half of your contribution will be shared with your state's Green
Party. The Future is Green!

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