Approved minutes of the January 12, 2015  6:30PM  SCC meeting at the Portland Waverly Center (i.e. the former Portland Senior Center), 7 Waverly Ave, Portland, CT 06480.

GPCT attendees by chapter:  Greater Fairfield: co-chairperson: Rolf Maurer, Cora Santaguida and David Bedell; Greater Hartford: co-chairperson: S. Michael DeRosa; treasurer: Christopher Reilly, Emily Garfinkel, Paul Gobell and Barbara Barry, secretary; Waterford:  Baird Welch-Collins.   Facilitator: Barbara Barry.   Quorum met.

1.  Consensus:  a) approved minutes of the: August 19, 2014  GPCT  2nd Nominating Convention;  the  SCC meetings of:  August 19, 2014,  September 22, 2014 and November 19, 2014;                      b) Consensus: deferred (due to time restraints) the review of the EC minutes of the: September 12, 2014  and January 7, 2015 meetings and    c) Consensus: accepted minutes of the ten  (10) GPCT Candidates teleconference meetings on July 16, 2014, July 23, 2014; August 13, 2014;  September 5, 2014;  September 12, 2014; September 19, 2014 and October 3, 2014; October 10, 2014; October  17, 2014 and October 24,  2014.                                                                                      2.  Treasurer report from Christopher Reilly:  balance: $681.47.                                                                        3.  Secretary’s report from Barbara Barry: see below minutes.                                                                                  4.  Report from our three (3) representatives to the GPUS:  Tim McKee is absent.  S. Michael DeRosa and Baird Welch-Collins stated that the GPUS voted for St. Louis to be site of the 2015 GPUS Annual Meeting.  Date and place: to be determined.                                                                                    5.  Proposals from chapters or from five CTGP Members. From the EC  a) creation of a GPCT Budget Committee ( see agenda item 12 a and b)  was approved by Consensus; and b) creation of a GPCT Outreach Committee (see  agenda item 15 a and b) was approved by Consensus.                     6.  Consensus: Deleted report about the November 4th 2014  election results of GPCT candidates because it was reviewed/discussed at the November 19, 2014 SCC meeting. 

7.  a) David Bedell reports he is seeking information from voters regarding 11-4-14 election ballot access events e.g. Rolf Maurer as WRITE-IN candidate for Treasurer: 532 of 1,046,169 i.e. 0.0005085%. b) Consensus: attendees authorized DB to act as our GPCT representative about any GPCT complaints about lack of counting of votes to the CT SEEC (State Elections Enforcement).   

8.  a) Report about the GPCT  2015 legislative agenda whichwas approved by the November 19, 2015 SCC attendees.  The GPCT Legislative Committee members (authorized by the November 19, 2014  SCC attendees) are:  Emily Garfinkel of Farmington,   Baird Welch-Collins, Waterford,   Josh Steele Kelly, Waterford,  Paul Gobell, New Britain,  Ed Heflin, Greenwich, Rolf Maurer, Stamford,  Barbara Barry, Wethersfield and S. Michael DeRosa, Wethersfield.    b) minutes of the telephonic meetings of the legislative committee on:  December 8, 2014;  December 16, 2014; December 23, 2014 and January 5, 2015.      c)  Follow-up Legislative Committee meeting for 6:30PM Tuesday, January 13, 2015 will fine tune issues and set goals for strategies the GPCT members may use to promote agenda items to CT legislators and the appropriate legislative committee members/co-chairpersons and outreach to affected constituents.   d) Volunteers and/or liaisons with organizations with similar views are needed to promote GPCT agenda.   e) SMD: just learned that all proposals must be submitted to legislators no later than noon on Friday, January 16, 2015.  f) BAB as secretary and SMD as co-chairperson will provide and follow-up with appropriate CT Legislative Committee co-chairpersons, committee members and legislators regarding all the GPCT agenda items.  g) The following GPCT  2015 legislative agenda issues have been researched and proposed:

  • CT public banking:  Ed Heflin drafted a bill. CT Legislative Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee hearing on Monday, 1-26-15.   SMD has spoken with Representative Susan Johnson who has expressed interest in CT public banking concept.
    • Urban/suburban/rural farming:  Paul Gobell and Barbara Barry proposal:                     The bill creates a 17-member food systems advisory council. The executive directors or their designees from the departments of public health, agriculture, social services, education, Veterans Affairs and pardons and paroles are six (6) of the members of the council. The remaining eleven (11) members are appointed by the governor,  Majority Leader of the Senate or his designee, the Minority Leader of the Senate or his designee, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives or his designee, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives or his designee.  Those eleven (11) appointive members are representatives of six (6) functional areas: Nutrition and health; agricultural production; food wholesalers and food retailers; anti-hunger and food assistance programs; economic development; and local government. The purposes of the council are to:

(a) Identify and use existing studies of the food system and examples of best practices, whenever possible;

(b) Support the efforts of, be a resource to, and receive input from task forces, councils, committees, UCONN School of Agriculture and Agronomy School (the science of soil management and crop production) and organizations with similar purposes;

(c) Advise and recommend actions that state and local governments, businesses(farmers and grocery stores), agriculture, local non-profit organizations, educators and consumers can take to build robust, resilient, and long-term local food economies.

(d) Develop policy recommendations regarding hunger and food access; integrating the urban food program for helping those who exist on a subsistence level regardless of whether or not they are able to participate in an urban farm.

e) To establish an urban farm microenterprise support program. The program supplies loans that expand, renovate, improve or establish new urban farm microenterprise programs. Urban farms must be owner-operated and located in areas designated as being urban.

(f) Authorized the sale and lease of unneeded public property to nonprofits for gardening and urban farming. Exempted such urban farms from property taxation and authorized such nonprofits to sell fresh fruits and vegetables and food products on the leased land, off the leased land, or both under certain conditions.

(g) Make use of abandoned property and buildings in rural, suburban and urban areas.

(h) To establish a program for troubled youth and inmates through urban gardening. This program is to help teach life lessons and job skills through gardening.                                                                                                                  The bill lists eight policy issues that the council will consider and study. The council may appoint subcommittees in the following areas: Local and regional food councils, local government, urban governments  and school districts. The council may also appoint other subcommittees. The council may accept gifts, grants, donations, or federal funds to fund the work of the council. The council will annually report its findings and recommendations, including proposals for legislation or for administrative action, to the general assembly, the governor, and the commissioner of agriculture.

  • Demilitarization of the police and increasing the professional criteria of standards for police actions/behaviors:  pending Rolf Maurer and Barbara Barry. 
  • Universal healthcare: pending from Barbara Barry.
  • Promotions of MUDs (municipal utility districts) to as many of the state’s 169 towns. Currently there are 6 MUDs and only Wallingford owns and maintains its own power lines…and it has not lost power when UI and CL&P lost power. Pending from Barbara Barry and S. Michael DeRosa.
  • Common Core Curriculum reform:  Pending from Baird Welch-Collins, Emily Garfinkel and Joshua Steele Kelly.
  • Renewable energy: Pending from Ed Heflin and S. Michael DeRosa. 
  • Ballot access:  S. Michael DeRosa.  
  • Decriminalization of cannabis and use of hemp economy: Pending from Rolf Maurer, Baird Welch-Collins and Cindy Day.  
  • CT Legislative Committee to promote the conversion of military property/businesses to renewable energy sources:  Pending from S. Michael DeRosa and Rolf Maurer.

9. (5 minutes):Report from our GPCT liaison (Tim McKee) to our alliance with NJ, NY, RI, MA, PA, OH, WV and ME regarding the Algonquin Pipeline. The energy company plans to expand the pipeline to ME seaport so fracked oil and gas may be exported.Here's a link to the Spectra Energy description of the project:  http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/New-Projects-and-Our-Process/New-Projects-in-US/Algonquin-Incremental-Market-AIM-Project/

10.  (5 minutes): Set goal about the date and deadlines for the GPCT 2015 Annual Meeting.    

11.  (15 minutes): GPCT fundraising reports:   a) December 20, 2014 Southeast GPCT fundraiser;   b) goal setting about future small GPCT regional fundraising events;   c) goal setting about future fundraiser with Harvey Wasserman, GPUS Shadow Cabinet, Secretary of Energy and anti-nuclear activist since at least Three Mile Island event…for one or two fundraising events;  d) goal setting about other possible fundraising events/ideas.                                         

12.  (5 minutes):  a) Goal setting: develop a GPCT Budget Committeeb) Goal setting: any GPCT volunteers interested in joining  Linda Thompson and Christopher Reilly on this committee or have any suggestions for this committee?

13. Consensus: a)  GPCT sponsors the “True Colors” annual LGBT event on Friday, March 20, 2015 and Saturday, March 21, 2015 at the Student Union on UCONN’s Storrs campus. There are presentations, workshops and tabling by organizations.  People come from NE and all parts of US. BW-C  and EG will table for the GPCT and have CT Voter Registration forms or registering to vote by website information. BAB will provide T-shirts for GPCT fundraising purposes.  Members are urged to invite people from the GPRI and Green-Rainbow Party of MA.   

14.  Events of interest to GPCT:   a) After the People’s Climate March: What Next for Connecticut Activists?   Sunday, January 18, 2015 at 2:00PM.  “Semesters” in the Student Center, Central Connecticut State University (CCSU),  1615 Stanley Street, New Britain, CT.  b) RM is considering:  tabling for an unknown date at Ferguson (Stamford) Public Library regarding anti-racism;  Is seeking to show a movie with Sheila Matthews of Able Child organization; and interact with Cindy Day of the HempCT organization regarding a possible event about the history of hemp use in past and currently.

15.  Consensus:  a) Goal setting to be developed by GPCT Outreach Committee members with Linda Thompson and report back to the SCC;   b) select GPCT members to be liaisons with other CT organizations with similar values to the GPCT 10 Key Values and report back to the SCC.  

16. Consensus: deferred due to time restraints:  a) goal of GPCT chapter developmentb) GPCT chapter reports:  GreaterFairfield; Greater Hartford; Greater New Haven;  Greater Norwich;  New London and Waterford, CT.  and c) written approved minutes to the CTGP secretary

17.  Consensus:  deferred due to time restraints: Reports from our (3) GPCT representatives to each (GPUS) Committee.                                                                                                                                    Accreditation (AC): reviews state chapter which petitions to join the GPUS; reviews criteria for state delegates to GPUS annual meetings and conventions.     Annual National Meeting (ANMC):  working on the 2014 GPUS Annual Meeting: Tim McKee.                             Ballot Access (BA): discussion of efforts/difficulties/strategies/successes of the state Green Parties gaining ballot access: S. Michael DeRosa and Don Alexander.    Black  Caucus.   Bylaws, Rules, Polices Procedure (BRPP): for the GPUS officers and national committees: Joshua Steele Kelly.     Coordination Campaign (CCC): distribution of GPUS money to GP public office candidates.     Dispute Resolution (DRC):  mediation of any disputes within the GPUS organization.    Diversity (DC):  strategies/actions to urge/maximize diversity within the GPUS. Don Alexander.    Eco Action (EA): develop strategies for the GPUS regarding ecological matters:  Jeff Russell.    Finance (FinCom): review/determine how to spend the money of the  GPUS organization.   Fundraising (FC): raises money for the GPUS operations.     Green Party of the US internet news: acquire and write articles for the GPUS  website.    International Committee (IC): develops/promotes GPUS positions re: world  issues. Amy Vas Nunes, S. Michael DeRosa and Justine McCabe.   Latino Caucus: Hector Lopez.  Merchandizing Committee (MERCH):  determines/acquires items for the GPUS.  Rolf Maurer.    Media Committee (MC): writes GPUS press releases.                                                                      Outreach (OC): interacts with other groups who may have similar interests of the GPUS.  Don Alexander and Linda  Thompson.                                                                                                                       Peace (GPAX): discusses/develops strategies of how the GPUS may promote peace throughout  the world. Don Alexander, Joshua Steele Kelly and S. Michael DeRosa.      Platform (PC): promotes positions on issues for the GPUS which are consistent with Green Party Ten Key Values. Amy Vas Nunes, Don Alexander and S. Michael DeRosa.     Presidential Campaign Support Committee (PCSC):  develop strategies to support any GPUS presidential candidates. Tim  McKee.        Women’s Caucus.     

18.  Consensus: next SCC meeting is to be Monday,  February 16, 2015 at 6:30PM at Portland Waverly Center.     

19.  No other suggestions.     

GREEN PARTY TEN KEY VALUES: non-violence, respect for diversity, grassroots democracy, social justice and equal opportunity, ecological wisdom, decentralization, community-based economics and economic justice, future focus and sustainability, personal and global responsibility, feminism and gender equality. 

Submitted by Barbara Barry, GPCT secretary for the GPCT EC: Linda Thompson, S. Michael DeRosa, Rolf Maurer and Christopher Reilly.

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