[Sosfbay-discuss] [Fwd: [GPCA Official Notice] State Meeting Summary Report]

[Jim Stauffer]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [GPCA Official Notice] State Meeting Summary Report
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:54:13 -0700
From: County Contacts <contacts2006 at lists.cagreens.org>
Reply-To: contacts2006 at lists.cagreens.org
To: County Contacts <Contacts2006 at cagreens.org>

GREEN PARTY COUNTY CONTACTS MESSAGE

This is an announcement from the GPCA Contact List.  For more information, or 
questions related to the topic of the posting, please do not hit reply. 
Follow the contact directions
stated in the email.





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
           GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUMMARY REPORT

                  October 15, 2009


This report summarizes the decisions made at the October 10-11 General
Assembly in Cotati. Full meeting minutes will be issued in a few weeks and
posted on the “plenary” web site:  http://cagreens.org/plenary/.



                 PROPOSALS AND PRESENTATIONS

+  Approve Past General Assembly Minutes

Dana Point minutes (May 09): Approved by consensus with one stand-aside concern.
Venice, LA minutes (Aug 08): Approved by consensus with one stand-aside concern.


+  Voting Threshold Change

Subject: Change the STV voting threshold in bylaws 7-1.8 to be a variable
value when the number of candidates is less than the number of open seats.

Approved by consensus with one stand-aside concern.


+  Constitutional Convention

Subject: Authorize County Polling to take position on Constitutional
Convention Ballot Measures for November 2010 ballot.

Approved by consensus.

Mike Feinstein later gave a report on ballot measures anticipated to create
the convention, and on the two types of conventions being debated: Citizens
assembly or political appointments.



+  GPUS Delegation Report

Sanda Everett described the work of the Delegation.

Barry Hermanson reported on his experience at the annual National Meeting in
Durham North Carolina at Central North Carolina State Univ. (first state run
black college). He emphasized a strategy session conducted with the entire group.

Mike Feinstein introduced the idea of GPCA hosting the 2012 National
Convention and asked that it be put on the agenda for next General Assembly.


+  Election of GPUS Delegates

Elections were held for four candidates for delegate and four for alternate
delegate seats.
Three delegates and four alternates were elected.


+  Platform Planks

Water plank – Approved by consensus
Criminal Justice plank – Approved by consensus
Electoral Reform plank – Withdrawn


+  Bylaws, Article 2: Purpose

Subject:  Define a 'purpose' statement for Article 2 of the GPCA bylaws to
serve as the internal definition for guiding the goals and activities of the
party, it's bylaws and it's affiliated locals.

Approved by consensus after several changes offered from participants.


+  CC Elections and Committee Restructuring

Subject: Trial period to evaluate a new CC election method.

An addendum was circulated to delegates with changes to the proposal and a
summary of key items to be approved.
The plan was approved by consensus after extended discussions.


+  Scheduling Next State Meeting

A host for the next General Assembly was not decided. Four people offered to
pursue the issue with their county. A timeframe of Feb/Mar 2010 is needed.




            WORKING GROUP AND STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

+  Electoral Reform Working Group - Jane Rands

Need volunteers for the Coordinating Committee.
Electoral Reform Group will meet 10/18/09 at 7:30 PM.

Goals:
•  Focus on June ballot items: California Clean Money Campaign, Open Primary
Initiative.
•  Focusing on education: Single Transfer Voting. Want to be able to clearly
explain how it works.


+  Campaign and Candidates Working Group - Warner Bloomberg (substituting for
Kendra Gonzales, Ventura Co.)

Looking for a second coordinator for the working group.

Goals:
•  Determine what Green candidates are running for offices, and recruit
candidates for statewide 2010 elections.
•  Discuss how to poll counties on state initiatives. Create a web page that
tallies and displays votes as they are collected.
•  Come up with recommendations for funding candidates. Pass on
recommendations to the Campaign Funding Support Committee.


+  Bylaws, GROW, Clearinghouse - Michael Borenstein, El Dorado Co.

Too many vacant seats on the Bylaws Committee. Need to recruit more members.

Developing a new Strategy for GROW:
•  Focus on creating a better web presence.
•  Create liaisons with County Councils. Mail a letter to each County Council
requesting a liaison. Plan to provide help for people running for County Councils.
•  Deploy a group to gather signatures for candidates so they can avoid
registration fees.

Have monthly phone conference meetings. Will have a committee meeting in
February/March.


+  Finance Committee - Gloria Purcell (substituting)

Discussed terms of committee members and fundraising issues. Two people would
like to join the committee: Bill Meyers (Mendocino County) and Will Yeager
(Venice County). Michael Borenstein will present these candidates at the
November Finance Committee meeting.


+  Green Issues Working Group - Will Yeager, Hally DeCarion, Clark Casler

Focus on:
•  Website development - Bert Heuer,
•  Water issues - Wes Rolley, Santa Clara Co.
•  Organic gardening and biking - Will Yeager
•  Generating interest among Spanish-speaking people. Provide written content
in Spanish, and attend events in Spanish-speaking communities.

New Co-co's affirmed at the General Assembly by consensus:
Bert Heuer - Co-Coordinator; Halley DeCarion (Sonoma), Clark Castle (Orange),
and Dorothy Kemeny (Los Angeles) - Alternate Coordinators
Statement by Attendee (No WG represented) - Peter Alexander
Green Party needs to work with the California migrant community and farmers.
Create agriculture cooperatives to put people to work.




NOTE:  Photos taken by Tim Morgan at the Saturday night bonfire can be viewed
at http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackcloudbrew/sets/72157622574856044/





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