Minutes of the 7-31-07 SCC meeting of the Green Party of CT. Time: 7PM to 9PM
Place: Portland Senior Center. 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480 Phone: 860-342-6760
Voting Attendees by chapter:
Central: Vic Lancia and Beth Adams;
Fairfield: Paul Bassler, David Bedell;
Greater Hartford: Barbara Barry, Secretary of GP of CT, Michael DeRosa, a Co-chairperson of GP of CT, Steve Fournier, Martha Kelly, Christopher Reilly, Treasure of GP of CT;
New London: Kenric Hanson, Ronna Stuller,
Northeast: Jean deSmet, a Co-chairperson of GP of CT, Amy Vas Nunes;
Tim McKee. Facilitator: Jean deSmet
A. Preliminaries:
1. Introductions of voting attendees; chapters; quorum; timekeeper=Vic Lancia; ground rules.
2. Approval of tonight's proposed agenda without deletions. Additions: Hope Out Loud tabling 9-9-07.
3. Approval of minutes of 6-26-07 SCC meeting.
4. Acceptance of minutes from the 7-23-07 EC meeting.
5. Treasurer's report by Christopher Reilly: $425.00 was paid to Global Payments, as per contract, to exit from their on-line donation contract. Reason for exiting the contract: typical monthly cost was more to have this contract than were received in donations. The original contract entered in by the prior GP of CT Treasurer,
Judy Hekimer, was not forwarded to me so I did not have the contract to reaffirm what the company indicated.
B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee or members.
EC Proposal for fundraiser position: The Green party of Connecticut is seeking an energetic, self-motivated person to raise funds from its member's state wide. This independent contractor will be asked to work a minimum of 8 hours a week contacting potential contributors by phone, email and/or in person. The position requires good verbal communication skills and knowledge of Green Party political sensibilities. This person must be well-versed about state and federal fundraising regulations and requirements and will discuss all potential financial transactions with the Treasurer of the Green Party of CT and transfer all funds within 48hours of receipt. The person hired will be asked to phone potential donors from provided lists. He/She will be asked to develop, with the assistance of the Project Coordinator, a script that will draw basic information from the potential contributor and lead into a request for monetary support. The completion of a brief form after each call will be required. The person will act and collaborate about fundraisers with any local chapter of the GP of CT. Periodic progress reviews with the Project Coordinator will be scheduled to modify the script and make other improvements to the program. Compensation will be based on experience, ability, and effective fund raising efforts. Please send resume to: Green Party of CT, P.O. Box 231214, Hartford, CT 06123
Consensus: a) Suggested places for advertising for this position: websites: GP of CT; CT Job Bank, Idealist.org, monster.com, CT Dept. of Labor, Craigs list and school websites. Mike DeRosa and Martha Kelly will work to advertise the position. b)They are allotted up to $100 for the cost of ads e.g. Advocate. C) The EC will vet the candidates and select finalists to the SCC.
C. Reports:
1. 7-12-07 GPUS Meeting in Reading, PA; CTGP representatives: Tim McKee: some GPUS co-chairpersons and the secretary were elected. Former Congressional Representative from Georgia, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader were among the speakers. Both are considering running as a presidential or vice-presidential candidate for the GP in 2009. Ms. McKinney has visited and spoken to some GP state groups and is planning to come to New England soon. The Libertarians are interested in having a joint candidate for president. Perception is that the Green Parties are looking forward, would like a nationally recognized presidential candidate; run full out in all 50 states and not fold; have a candidate who can get 5% so GPUS will be eligible for federal campaign funds. International Greens were represented but not limited to: Canada ,Europe, New Zealand and Nepal.
Ralph Nader urged every state to have a GP office and paid staff.
MD: Richard Duffy and myself participated in a group of 25 people re: resolutions to impeach Bush/ Cheney.which the GPUS is actively promoting. Goal is to have at least one state legislature pass a Resolution for Impeachment. Then a Senator from that state can enter it into the Senate for the Senatorial process for impeachment can begin. Note: VT state legislature was one vote short of passing an impeachment resolution. Ballot access issues are still hurdles. Example: Ralph Nader is still trying to pay individuals in Pennsylvania from his last run for president because a PA judge required him to do so even though it is not PA law. Cliff Thornton spoke at meetings.
AVN: Greens lost ballot access in 5 states when David Cobb was the Presidential Candidate in 2006.
Discussed the following candidates for CT delegates to the various GPUS Standing Committees (total of 3 CT
Greens can be a voting member of each Standing Committee): Tim McKee for Green Pages newspaper; Colin Bennett for Diversity; Michael Westerfield for Ecoaction; Richard Duffee was reaffirmed for the International Committee and GPAX Committee; Amy Vas Nunes for the International Committee and the Platform Committee. David Bedell for the Campaign Coordinating Committee; S. Michael DeRosa for GPAX Committee.
Vote: Approval of all candidates in one vote: 9 were for the candidates; 2 against; 2 abstentions.
2. Feedback from the Process and Policy Proposals presented at the 6-26-07 SCC meeting. BB: Jerry Martin is not here so we do not know what has been presented for changes. Consensus: Defer discussion.
3. Political issues the GP of CT has addressed during the 2008 Legislative Session: Fight the Hike is still meeting and plans to present their concerns to the 2008 Legislature.
4. Distribution of the CT Green Times newspaper was done. MD: articles are needed for future publications. Consensus: reimburse Eric DeVos $100.00 for the ink to print the newspaper.
5. Possible loss of one of our website: ctgreens.com. CR: tried to register it for the GP of CT but that domain name has gone to an unknown individual. That individual has 30 days (until 8-20-07) to decide: a) reject the domain or b) make a payment to redeem it for individual usage. SF: I have a virtual dedicated server so that may be another way to host it.
6. Impeachment of Bush/Cheney: DB for Richard Duffee: the CT Democrats will have a meeting on *9-25-07 regarding how to get towns to propose and endorse town resolutions for impeachment of Bush/Cheney. A New England Summit meeting of interested people from New York and New England states, are serious about this resolution.
7. ACLU lawsuit. MD: no new information.
8. Feedback from the Internal Elections Committee of the Green Party of CT about our 4-21-07 Convention.
SF: there was no consensus among the committee members that mail-in ballots were undemocratic.
That was the opinion of Caleb Kleppner. SF: also found the IVR process and the “weighing” of candidates to be hard to follow/understand. It was not transparent. RS: it only allows registered Greens to vote. Try to have convention not on Earth Day; TM: need tighter list of list also in order to elect delegates to go to the 2008 GPUS Convention; MD: mailing ballots with candidates resumes and reasons for running is the most fair and democratic process. .
9. Chapter reports.
Greater Hartford: MD: Hope Out Loud on 9-9-07: consensus: allow $25 for tabling fee; 8-25-07 Convention to nominate local GP of CT candidates.
New London: RS: to have nominating convention; had tag sale.
Fairfield: DB: to have nominating convention.
Central: VL: Meeting is for 8-7-07; Vic Lancia to speak on 4pm radio show of WESU on 8-6-07.
Northeast: JdS: Jean DeSmet is a petitioning candidate for Willimantic 1st Selectperson (mayor) along with a slate with Republicans. Slate does not have a name, yet. Jean is not running as a Green for this position.
10.Date, place and time for next SCC meeting 8-28-07 and date, place and time of next EC meeting in 8-07.