June 27, 2018

Details
Green Party of Connecticut State Central Committee
June 27, 2018 • Portland Waverly Center, 7 Waverly Ave, Portland, CT
Minutes approved on August 8, 2018
 
In attendance: Fairfield County: David Bedell, Mike Sivak; Hartford County: Barbara Barry, Mike DeRosa (GPCT Co-Chair), Chris Reilly (GPCT Treasurer), Jeff Russell; New London: Mirna Martínez, Bud McAllister, Bob Stuller, Ronna Stuller (GPCT Secretary, recorder); Shoreline: Lynne Charles (vibe-watcher), Owen Charles (timekeeper), Alex Foster, Keith Foster, Cindy Hyland, Colin Souney, David Younng; Waterford: Emily Garfinkel, Joshua Steele Kelly (GPCT Co-Chair); At Large: Rob Barstow, Michelle Bicking, Brian Gay, Douglas Lary, Cassandra Martineau (GPCT Co-Chair, facilitator), Amy Vas Nunes, Eugene Woloszyn.
 
Quorum was met. Meeting started at 7:20pm.
 
1. Minutes of the May 23 SCC meeting: Doug moved to approve, 2nd by Josh; passed with 2 abstentions (Brian, Amy). Notes from the June 22 Executive Committee meeting: Josh moved to accept for the record, 2nd by Mike; approved with 2 abstentions (Brian, Amy).
 
2. Treasurer’s Report: Balance at the end of May was $107.64, and current balance is $101.17. Our Federal account has $1,224.12; we would like to use those funds to support candidates, but not close the account or PAC. Mike moved that we retain a balance of at least $200 in the Federal account, 2nd by Cass; passed unanimously.
 
3. GPCT chapter reports and other organizing activities
• Fairfield County: Mike Sivek will run for 120th district seat (Stratford). He was endorsed at
the special nominating meeting held earlier this evening.
• Hartford County: There are several candidates running in Hartford County, and fundraising
efforts continue; chapter is exploring interest in organizing in Enfield.
• New London: May 16 tag sale raised $491 for the NLGP. Next meeting is July 1. Regional
nominating meeting for 2CD will be held June 30 at Mansfield Library.
• Shoreline: Candidates Colin Souney (State Rep 86th) and Madeleine Leveille (State Rep
35th) have held kick-off events and were interviewed on Thinking Green.
• Waterford: Josh has been researching unopposed campaigns to find opportunities for
Greens. Waterford passed a backyard fowl ordinance, and Josh is working on getting RTM meetings livestreamed. Clean-a-thon fundraiser on August 18.
• Windham Town Committee is seeking candidates for Registrar of Voters, both in Windham and in Mansfield (where there is desperate need).
• Middletown area: Brian Gay was endorsed to run for ROV in East Hampton. Charges against Vic Lancia, related to his arrest at the Poor People’s demonstration, were dropped.
 
4. Old business:
   a. The proposed budget was discussed, and ideas for fundraising were shared. Jeff
moved, 2nd by Mirna, to table; passed with 1 abstention (Brian).
   b. Committee updates
(1) Communications/Social Media: David is posting candidate videos to our YouTube
channel; Cora continues to maintain our Twitter account; a press release on human rights abuses at the border will be submitted soon, with more in the future on state bank, student debt, renewable energy, and other topics.
(2) Dispute Resolution is working on its organization and still looking at complaints that have been submitted.
(3) Fundraising: With resources very low, several options for raising funds were discussed: passing the hat at meetings; planning a speaker event (Ralph Nader, Jill Stein, Ajamu Baraka, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Richard Wolff were suggested); hiring someone to call GPCT members (for a share of proceeds); enabling online donations. Chris clarified SEEC disclosure rules that affect us.
(4) Proposed Outreach Committee: Deferred until a written description of the purpose of the committee is available. Mike and Eugene offered to assist; Amy would like anyone interested in working on the committee to contact her.
   c. 2018 general elections
(1) Financial support for Federal candidates: Joshua made, then withdrew, a motion to allocate $450 for the US Senate race and $250 for each US House campaign. In order to allow candidates the option of pooling funds for joint activities, Joshua followed up with a motion to allocate $950 to this year’s Federal campaigns, exact distribution to be determined by the 3 candidates; second by David; passed with 1 abstention (Jeff).
(2) Financial support for other candidates: Deferred due to lack of available funds.
 
5. New business
    a. An outreach event will be held in lieu of a business meeting in July. A candidate meet-and-greet was suggested; Executive Committee will work on details.
 
6. Green Party of the US updates: There is currently an ongoing vote on process changes that is likely to fail; voting closes on July 1. Additionally, a Green Party position on decriminalizing voluntary sex workers (emulating the Nordic model) is being considered; CT representatives voted 2 for, 1 against.
 
7. Legislative updates: Doug reported that candidates still do not have the right to use the bathroom on Election Day.
 
8. Other updates and reports: Eugene recommended and reported on the book Viking Economics by George Lakey.
 
9. Upcoming local events and actions of interest
Monday, July 2: Rally and Civil Disobedience at ICE, 450 Main St, Hartford Wednesday, July 4: Boombox Parade, downtown Willimantic
Saturday, July 28: “Love in the Time of Fear” Convening, The 224, Hartford
 
Our next meeting (outreach event) will be held on Wednesday, July 25, at the Portland Waverly Center.
 
Ronna moved to adjourn, 2nd by David, passed unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 9:13pm.
 
 
Note: If you have serious disagreements with the accuracy of anything written in these minutes, please contact the secretary, Ronna Stuller, at rstuller@snet.net or 860-772-8439. If your e-mail or letter is titled “I remember things happened differently” or “I remember that this also occurred”, I will treat your correspondence (or a summary of it) as an addendum to these minutes. Such communications must be received within 6 weeks of the date of the meeting to be considered addenda. – RS

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