From jims at greens.org Thu Feb 10 15:52:02 2011 From: jims at greens.org (Jim Stauffer) Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 15:52:02 -0800 Subject: [Sosfbay-news] Fwd: GOALS and STRATEGIES MEETING, Feb 19 Message-ID: <4D547A22.2040200@greens.org> GPCA GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR LONG-TERM PLANNING A Participatory Exercise WHEN: Saturday, Feb 19 10 am to 1 or 2 pm WHERE: Fred?s Clubhouse Willow Park Condo Clubhouse, located at the intersection of Moffett Blvd. and W. Middlefield Road, in Mountain View (500 W. Middlefield Rd. 94043) NEEDS: Some drinks and snacks would be nice. Please respond to this list if you can bring something. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Greens: The state party would like to engage county Locals in an exercise to help establish long-term goals for the party. By agreeing on a set of goals, we give the party definition and purpose. From those goals we develop strategies for their implementation. This creates projects for our Working Groups and Standing Committees, and it helps attract volunteers and donations. It?s important to be realistic when setting goals. Brainstorming exercises encourage free-thinking with no critique or analysis of suggested issues. Goal setting is different; it?s intended to derive projects that are achievable, not just desirable. We all have a list of favorite issues and a wish-list of what we?d like the party to be. But we must focus on what we can actually accomplish ? realistic goals. Locals are encourage to get together with neighboring counties for this exercise. Gathering into a group from a few counties helps the thought process. It gets us outside of our normal monthly meeting crowd and provides the synergy of a larger group. PROCESS Take notes of the goals discussed and rank or categorize them by the level of agreement or support. There is wiki that is (ostensibly) for posting comments. It?s not designed too well, but it can be used for submitting our comments. http://wiki.cagreens.org/index.php/GPCA_Strategic_Action_Plan DISCUSSION The state party wants to hear what Locals think our long-term goals should be. This requires some degree of open discussion, but the exercise must remain moderated by the theme of realistic goals. For every suggested goal, the presenter should have some idea of a strategy to implement that goal. Basically, the question to answer is, ?What should the GPCA accomplish in five years and in ten years?? Some organizing may help the discussion: Political Goals Partisan and non-partisan candidates Campaigns and ballot proposition Election reforms Internal / Party Goals Voter registration Developing county Locals Fundraising Internal structure and process REFERENCES State committee and working group people have been discussing this subject and have come up with their list of issues. These are being provided here just as a reference, they should not be used as guidance for your discussions. Its purpose is to provide input as to what volunteers at the state level see as our long-term issues. 1. Given the current recession and its detrimental effect on fundraising, should GPCA and its locals adopt a ?survival plan? until recovery is tangible (e.g. unemployment below 8%)? How would this affect all goals and strategies? 2. What are realistic voter registration goals? What attracts people to a small party? What caused the California Green registration decline of the past six years, can it be reversed? 3. Given that we have less than 1% of registered voters, what are realistic electoral strategies for a party of our size? Do we continue attempts in partisan races or focus on non-partisan races? Is there a realistic strategy for winning partisan races? 4. How do we recruit/develop electable candidates for non-partisan offices? 5. Does Prop 14 provide any potential to us? 6. Should we make a real, concerted effort to promote ranked-choice voting (i.e. Instant Runoff Voting and proportional representation)? 7. The GPCA?s decentralized structure and consensus-seeking decision process is an experiment that we?ve carried on for 20 years. Is it working well enough? Is there a good balance of responsibilities between the state party and the county parties? Should we examine giving more authority over internal business to the state party? 8. Is continuing to rely solely on volunteer labor a viable plan for growth? 9. What factors have created viable, stable Locals? What factors have caused Locals to deteriorate? 10. What resources do Locals need from the state party? What resources does the state party need from Locals? Contact Jim (mailto:jims at greens.org) with any questions or comments. From spencer.graves at structuremonitoring.com Mon Feb 14 21:51:09 2011 From: spencer.graves at structuremonitoring.com (Spencer Graves) Date: Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:51:09 -0800 Subject: [Sosfbay-news] Fwd: GOALS and STRATEGIES MEETING, Feb 19 In-Reply-To: <4D547A22.2040200@greens.org> References: <4D547A22.2040200@greens.org> Message-ID: <4D5A144D.2080100@structuremonitoring.com> Hello, All: I believe the current US and international economy provides massive opportunities for any minor party that can articulate a clear vision of how to escape from the current situation with "an estimated 7.7 million households in some stage of pre-default delinquency" in the US.(1) This is a political tinderbox that could change the face of California and the nation, in roughly the same way that the 1993 election reduced the ruling party in Canada from 169 seats to 2 essentially overnight.(2) Bill Clinton won the 1992 election partly by repeating, "It's the economy, stupid."(3) I think we can gain traction with this issue by pushing a mix of what individuals can do (a) for themselves, e.g., switch to credit unions or local-only banks, (b) to help neighbors facing difficult time with job loss and / or forcing the banks to follow the law on foreclosures, (c) pushing the California Attorney General Kamala Harris to investigate and prosecute bankers guilty of encouraging people to submit fraudulent loan applications or not following the law on foreclosures, (d) helping inform people of the politics involved and how their elected representatives voted in repealing Glass-Steagall, etc., and (e) helping people understand that the commercial media make money by distorting reality -- and would lose profitability if they honestly informed the public of how the wealthy often get returns of over $1,000 for each $1 invested in political campaigns. The Black Panther There are many other issues, but nothing with the immediacy and power of this. "Twenty-five percent (25%) of working Americans are worried about losing their jobs, [and the] overwhelming majority of Americans continue to know someone who is out of work and looking for a job".(4) Comments? Spencer Graves NOTES: (1) Barry Ritholz, "Coming Soon: 5 Million More Foreclosures" (www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/02/coming-soon-more-foreclosures). Also, "U.S. Home Foreclosures Hit New Record, but Many Face Challenge", Oct. 14, 2010, Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/10/14/record-number-foreclosures-face-challenge-court/#ixzz1DzuALkhn) (2) Wikipedia, "List of Canadian federal general elections" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Canadian_federal_general_elections) (3) "It's the economy, stupid", Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It's_the_economy,_stupid) (4) Rasmussen Employment Index, February 01, 2011 (http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/indexes/rasmussen_employment_index/rasmussen_employment_index) On 2/10/2011 3:52 PM, Jim Stauffer wrote: > > > > GPCA GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR LONG-TERM PLANNING > A Participatory Exercise > > > WHEN: Saturday, Feb 19 > 10 am to 1 or 2 pm > > WHERE: Fred?s Clubhouse > Willow Park Condo Clubhouse, located at the intersection of > Moffett Blvd. and W. Middlefield Road, in Mountain View (500 > W. Middlefield Rd. 94043) > > NEEDS: Some drinks and snacks would be nice. Please respond to this > list if > you can bring something. > --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > Dear Greens: > > The state party would like to engage county Locals in an exercise to help > establish long-term goals for the party. By agreeing on a set of > goals, we > give the party definition and purpose. From those goals we develop > strategies > for their implementation. This creates projects for our Working Groups > and > Standing Committees, and it helps attract volunteers and donations. > > It?s important to be realistic when setting goals. Brainstorming > exercises > encourage free-thinking with no critique or analysis of suggested > issues. Goal > setting is different; it?s intended to derive projects that are > achievable, > not just desirable. We all have a list of favorite issues and a > wish-list of > what we?d like the party to be. But we must focus on what we can actually > accomplish ? realistic goals. > > Locals are encourage to get together with neighboring counties for this > exercise. Gathering into a group from a few counties helps the thought > process. It gets us outside of our normal monthly meeting crowd and > provides > the synergy of a larger group. > > > > PROCESS > > Take notes of the goals discussed and rank or categorize them by the > level of > agreement or support. > > There is wiki that is (ostensibly) for posting comments. It?s not > designed too > well, but it can be used for submitting our comments. > http://wiki.cagreens.org/index.php/GPCA_Strategic_Action_Plan > > > > DISCUSSION > > The state party wants to hear what Locals think our long-term goals > should be. > This requires some degree of open discussion, but the exercise must > remain > moderated by the theme of realistic goals. For every suggested goal, the > presenter should have some idea of a strategy to implement that goal. > > Basically, the question to answer is, ?What should the GPCA accomplish > in five > years and in ten years?? > > Some organizing may help the discussion: > > Political Goals > Partisan and non-partisan candidates > Campaigns and ballot proposition > Election reforms > > Internal / Party Goals > Voter registration > Developing county Locals > Fundraising > Internal structure and process > > > > REFERENCES > > State committee and working group people have been discussing this > subject and > have come up with their list of issues. These are being provided here > just as > a reference, they should not be used as guidance for your > discussions. Its > purpose is to provide input as to what volunteers at the state level > see as > our long-term issues. > > 1. Given the current recession and its detrimental effect on > fundraising, > should GPCA and its locals adopt a ?survival plan? until recovery is > tangible > (e.g. unemployment below 8%)? How would this affect all goals and > strategies? > > 2. What are realistic voter registration goals? What attracts people > to a > small party? What caused the California Green registration decline of > the past > six years, can it be reversed? > > 3. Given that we have less than 1% of registered voters, what are > realistic > electoral strategies for a party of our size? Do we continue attempts in > partisan races or focus on non-partisan races? Is there a realistic > strategy > for winning partisan races? > > 4. How do we recruit/develop electable candidates for non-partisan > offices? > > 5. Does Prop 14 provide any potential to us? > > 6. Should we make a real, concerted effort to promote ranked-choice > voting > (i.e. Instant Runoff Voting and proportional representation)? > > 7. The GPCA?s decentralized structure and consensus-seeking decision > process > is an experiment that we?ve carried on for 20 years. Is it working well > enough? Is there a good balance of responsibilities between the state > party > and the county parties? Should we examine giving more authority over > internal > business to the state party? > > 8. Is continuing to rely solely on volunteer labor a viable plan for > growth? > > 9. What factors have created viable, stable Locals? What factors have > caused > Locals to deteriorate? > > 10. What resources do Locals need from the state party? What resources > does > the state party need from Locals? > > > Contact Jim (mailto:jims at greens.org) with any questions or comments. > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > sosfbay-news mailing list is moderated. > Post to sosfbay-news at cagreens.org > Reply to sender or sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org > http://lists.cagreens.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sosfbay-news > -- Spencer Graves, PE, PhD President and Chief Operating Officer Structure Inspection and Monitoring, Inc. 751 Emerson Ct. San Jos?, CA 95126 ph: 408-655-4567 From jims at greens.org Tue Feb 15 16:43:30 2011 From: jims at greens.org (Jim Stauffer) Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2011 16:43:30 -0800 Subject: [Sosfbay-news] Reminder: GOALS and STRATEGIES MEETING, Feb 19 Message-ID: <4D5B1DB2.9000506@greens.org> GPCA GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR LONG-TERM PLANNING A Participatory Exercise WHEN: Saturday, Feb 19 10 am to 1 or 2 pm WHERE: Fred's Clubhouse Willow Park Condo Clubhouse, located at the intersection of Moffett Blvd. and W. Middlefield Road, in Mountain View (500 W. Middlefield Rd. 94043) NEEDS: Some drinks and snacks would be nice. Please respond to this list if you can bring something. Dear Greens: The state party would like to engage county Locals in an exercise to help establish long-term goals for the party. By agreeing on a set of goals, we give the party definition and purpose. From those goals we develop strategies for their implementation. This creates projects for our Working Groups and Standing Committees, and it helps attract volunteers and donations. It's important to be realistic when setting goals. Brainstorming exercises encourage free-thinking with no critique or analysis of suggested issues. Goal setting is different; it's intended to derive projects that are achievable, not just desirable. We all have a list of favorite issues and a wish-list of what we'd like the party to be. But we must focus on what we can actually accomplish -- realistic goals. Locals are encourage to get together with neighboring counties for this exercise. Gathering into a group from a few counties helps the thought process. It gets us outside of our normal monthly meeting crowd and provides the synergy of a larger group. PROCESS Take notes of the goals discussed and rank or categorize them by the level of agreement or support. There is wiki that is (ostensibly) for posting comments. It's not designed too well, but it can be used for submitting our comments. http://wiki.cagreens.org/index.php/GPCA_Strategic_Action_Plan DISCUSSION The state party wants to hear what Locals think our long-term goals should be. This requires some degree of open discussion, but the exercise must remain moderated by the theme of realistic goals. For every suggested goal, the presenter should have some idea of a strategy to implement that goal. Basically, the question to answer is, "What should the GPCA accomplish in five years and in ten years?" Some organizing may help the discussion: Political Goals Partisan and non-partisan candidates Campaigns and ballot proposition Election reforms Internal / Party Goals Voter registration Developing county Locals Fund raising Internal structure and process REFERENCES State committee and working group people have been discussing this subject and have come up with their list of issues. These are being provided here just as a reference, they should not be used as guidance for your discussions. Its purpose is to provide input as to what volunteers at the state level see as our long-term issues. 1. Given the current recession and its detrimental effect on fundraising, should GPCA and its locals adopt a "survival plan" until recovery is tangible (e.g. unemployment below 8%)? How would this affect all goals and strategies? 2. What are realistic voter registration goals? What attracts people to a small party? What caused the California Green registration decline of the past six years, can it be reversed? 3. Given that we have less than 1% of registered voters, what are realistic electoral strategies for a party of our size? Do we continue attempts in partisan races or focus on non-partisan races? Is there a realistic strategy for winning partisan races? 4. How do we recruit/develop electable candidates for non-partisan offices? 5. Does Prop 14 provide any potential to us? 6. Should we make a real, concerted effort to promote ranked-choice voting (i.e. Instant Runoff Voting and proportional representation)? 7. The GPCA's decentralized structure and consensus-seeking decision process is an experiment that we've carried on for 20 years. Is it working well enough? Is there a good balance of responsibilities between the state party and the county parties? Should we examine giving more authority over internal business to the state party? 8. Is continuing to rely solely on volunteer labor a viable plan for growth? 9. What factors have created viable, stable Locals? What factors have caused Locals to deteriorate? 10. What resources do Locals need from the state party? What resources does the state party need from Locals? Contact Jim (mailto:jims at greens.org) with any questions or comments. From jims at greens.org Fri Feb 25 16:44:31 2011 From: jims at greens.org (Jim Stauffer) Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:44:31 -0800 Subject: [Sosfbay-news] Goals and Strategy Meeting Report Message-ID: <4D684CEF.4030702@greens.org> The report on our goals and strategy meeting last weekend is available from two sources: ** Green Party Wiki Located at http://wiki.cagreens.org/index.php/GPCA_Strategic_Action_Plan Under "General Discussion," look for the "Report from Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties" link. You can add comments in the wiki. ** Downloadable Copy A PDF copy of the report can be downloaded at http://cagreens.org/misc/G_S_Report.pdf Jim