[Sosfbay-news] Reminder: GOALS and STRATEGIES MEETING, Feb 19

[Jim Stauffer]

      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.