[GPSCC-chat] No on 14

[Wes Rolley]

In my last green talk column - mh TIMES, I mentioned no on 14 along with 
yes on 15 and no on 16.  I also endorsed Dr. Peter Arellano for 
Supervisor.,


On 5/23/2010 4:31 PM, Jim Doyle wrote:
> Has anyone had their letter published yet?
>
> 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.
>
>
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> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> NOTE: The Prop 14 resource page mentioned below has been updated with new
> material!
>
>
>
> Dear Greens,
>
> Below is the message which was sent out on March 21 regarding the urgent
> need to organize to defeat Prop. 14 (the so-called “Top-Two Primary”
> measure). Right now, _we especially need for local Greens to send in
> letters-to-the-editor to their local newspapers_, including both large
> and small newspapers -- hopefully starting no later than a week from now
> (and then continuing up until just before election day).
>
> A sample op-ed has been posted to our special Prop. 14 resource page,
> at: http://cagreens.org/erwg/Prop14/. Please feel free to forward the
> info below to Green Party listserves in your county, and to post it to
> Green e-mail lists. And if you can also telephone this coming week some
> of the Greens in your county who might be able to help write letters,
> then that will of course greatly increase the likelihood of getting
> letters to be sent in!
>
> Finally, within the next 4 or 5 days, please send an e-mail message to:
> earthworks_works at yahoo.com <mailto:earthworks_works at yahoo.com>
> to let us know that your county will be helping out with sending in some
> letters to the editor. We really need for there to be widespread
> participation in order for this letters-to-the-editor campaign to work!
> That is, we urgently need to reach out to millions of voters across the
> state very soon, in order to defeat Prop. 14 -- so please do everything
> you can to get lots of Greens in your county to send in letters!
>
> Thank You,
> Kendra Gonzales
> Co-Coordinator, Campaigns & Candidates Working Group
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
>
> Email sent previously on March 21:
>
> There will be a ballot measure in the June 8th Primary Election that
> would effectively abolish minor parties from the General Elections held
> in November. We are asking you to join the effort to defeat this measure
> -- Proposition 14, the “Top-Two Primary.”
>
> We have a Prop 14 resources web page at http://cagreens.org/erwg/Prop14/.
>
> At the March 2010 General Assembly of Delegates, the Green Party of
> California easily reached consensus on opposing Proposition 14. If
> adopted, all candidates for partisan office would be required to run in
> a single, combined Primary Election rather than each party having it’s
> own Primary. Voters may vote for any party’s candidate, and only the two
> highest voted candidates would proceed to the General Election. No
> longer would each party be represented in the General. In fact, the two
> candidates in the General could be from the same party.
>
> Obviously, this measure would make it extremely difficulty for minor
> parties to get their candidates – especially for statewide offices –
> seen by the voters in the General Election. There was a previous ballot
> measure proposing this “top-two” concept which the GPCA also opposed.
> The present measure made it on to the ballot by being a part of the
> “deal” to get State Senator Abel Maldonado to vote in support of the
> February 2009 budget package.
>
> Defeating Proposition 14 is a high priority for the GPCA. Because we,
> and other small political parties, constitute just a minority of the
> total voters, we must reach out beyond our GPCA membership to defeat
> this measure.
>
> Green Values speak of Grassroots Democracy and Decentralization, and in
> this spirit we ask you to join the effort to defeat this measure by
> doing the following:
>
> · Talk, blog and email your friends, family, co-workers, and groups in
> which you participate and ask them to vote No on Prop 14. Explain to
> them why it’s important. Ask them to discuss it with their other
> friends, family, etc.
>
> · Ask local organizations in which you participate to hold discussions
> on this issue and, if possible, pass their own resolutions opposing Prop
> 14. It is especially important to speak before senior citizen’s groups
> because AARP is being listed as a supporting organization on campaign
> literature that already has been mailed twice.
>
> · Write letters to the editor -- not just to the big newspapers but also
> to weekly, bi-weekly and monthly papers.
>
> We ask Local County Green Parties to focus on this issue immediately
> because absentee (mail-in) ballots will begin to be issued on or about
> May 8, 2010. The GP members in your area need to be contacted and
> encouraged to engage individually and help make contacts with other
> organizations. This is an opportunity to connect with other political
> parties locally to issue joint statements and submit joint op-ed pieces
> to the local press.
>
> There are a number of measures on the ballot, and more developing
> campaigns for November or circulating petitions for ballot measures
> which Greens already support or likely to. It is important to bring the
> Prop 14 issue to these groups and their activists – even if those
> campaigns (for various reasons) will not formally oppose Prop 14. It is
> important to bring “VOTE NO on Prop 14” signs to public rallies
> supporting Prop 15 (public financing for Secretary of State candidates),
> or opposing Prop 16 (initiative to hamper local energy commissions), or
> opposing Prop 17 (initiative that would increase auto insurance rates).
>
> Here are some “talking points”:
>
> · Proposition 14 will not result in a less partisan and more moderate
> legislature, as its proponents claim. This kind of system has been tried
> before in congressional elections in Louisiana and is currently being
> used in Washington State. In both cases, the same patterns of Democrats
> and Republicans were elected. The Washington legislature is still as
> partisan as it was before its style of “top-two” was approved.
>
> · Proposition 14 will make the General Elections less democratic because
> voters will have fewer choices on Election Day. Not only will smaller
> Parties’ candidates be eliminated – lessening the choices for
> independent (decline to state) voters – it is possible that the top two
> candidates will be from the same political party in many legislative 
> races.
>
> · Proposition 14 will likely increase the money that is spent on Primary
> Election campaigns and increase fund raising from large private donors
> and corporations. This will continue the ongoing escalation of candidate
> spending. Prop 14 would end Prop 15’s public financing experiment
> because a “top two” system would prevent other candidates from receiving
> the large portion of the public financing provided after the Primaries.
>
> The Campaign and Candidates Working Group and Electoral Reform Working
> Group has prepared material for GP tabling and networking.
> If you have questions about the above information, contact Warner
> Bloomberg at (408) 295-9353 or at wsb3attyca at aol.com
>
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