Green Party of Connecticut
State Central Committee
September 28, 2017
Portland Waverly Center, 7 Waverly Ave, Portland, CT
Minutes, approved on October 25, 2017
In attendance: Fairfield County: David Bedell, Rolf Maurer; Hartford County: Barbara Barry, Mike DeRosa (GPCT Co-Chair), Chris Reilly (GPCT Treasurer); New London: Bob Stuller, Ronna Stuller (GPCT Secretary, Recorder); Shoreline: Owen Charles; Waterford: Bill Collins, Baird Welch-Collins (GPCT Co-Chair, Facilitator), Margaret Welch; At Large: Vic Lancia, Linda Thompson, Susan Ye, Amy Vas Nunes, Eugene Woloszyn.
Quorum was met. Meeting started at 7:09pm
1. Minutes of the July 26 SCC meeting: Mike moved to approve, 2nd by Baird; passed unanimously; Ronna will resend the link to audio file. Minutes of the August 30 SCC meeting: Linda moved to approve, 2nd by Bill; passed unanimously, with addition of note for further GPUS clarification from Josh. Minutes of the September 18 EC meeting: Bob moved to accept for the record, 2nd by Ronna; passed unanimously.
2. Treasurer’s Report: GPCT balance is $760.07; a total of $86.51 was spent for checks and 800 number. Chris reported on the current state of the budget, followed by discussion of spending priorities and fundraising ideas (tee shirts, events, dues, online donations). To reset our fiscal year to July1-June 30, we plan to approve a budget for January-June 2018 at our December SCC meeting.
3. GPCT chapter reports
Fairfield County: Stamford candidate Brian Merlen has been promoting community gardens; Cora is running for Constable with a focus on housing issues; Rolf reported on the People’s Congress in Washington DC that he recently attended.
Hartford County: To establish a presence throughout the county, meeting are being held at various sites; the September 19 meeting was in New Britain, and the next one will be in Glastonbury on October 17. Recruiting has begun for 2018 candidates, and work continues on the issues of DACA and public banking.
Shoreline: Members joined the Peace Alliance at the Guilford Parade. Upcoming activities: Platform Committee on October 6; Songs of Solidarity concert on October 8; regular monthly meeting on October 15. To support campaigns, the chapter has made videos, submitted LTEs, and purchased lawn signs.
New London: Activities are centered around Mirna and Erick’s BOE campaigns. Fundraisers have included house parties, tag sale, and campaign launch party. Canvassing and phone-banking have begun. Next meeting is Sunday, October 1.
Waterford: The chapter held a pasta dinner/trivia night fundraiser. Campaign goal is to knock on EVERY door; so far, the response has been very positive.
Middlesex County: Two meetings have been held without establishing a quorum, but core group is persisting; there is promising potential for connecting with Wesleyan students.
Northeast CT: Group is concentrating on DACA and helping raise funds. Amy will share meeting dates as they are available.
Mike expressed concerns about chapter organizing that is occurring without any communication with the state party. Baird moved that we extend an invitation to all Green Party organizing groups to attend our October and November State Central Committee meetings, 2nd by Barbara; motion passed 15 in favor, 1 opposed (Amy).
4. Old business
a. Committee updates
(1) Communications/Social Media: The Committee has had a couple meetings; next one is scheduled for October 2, 8pm. Eugene has drafted a petition to raise CT income tax on millionaires; Mike is working on an article “Thinking Outside the Box,” in addition to last month’s press release. Baird moved to authorize Eugene to have a GPCT email address for the purpose of setting up a Mailchimp account for an online newsletter, 2nd by Susan; passed unanimously.
(2) Conflict Resolution: Barbara reported that the committee met for the first time prior to tonight’s SCC meeting and reviewed documents from our state party as well as GPUS; they will continue to meet before each SCC meeting.
(3) Fundraising: Linda, Mike and Ronna volunteered to serve on the committee; a fundraiser holiday party will likely be planned in lieu of a December meeting.
(4) Bylaws: Formation of committee will be on the November agenda. David pointed out the importance of differentiating between making changes which clarify the bylaws and those that change policy.
b. 2017 municipal campaign support: Since there is a line item for campaign support in our 2017 budget, Ronna proposed that the SCC invite municipal candidates to request small grants. Following a discussion on what criteria to set for any awards, it was suggested that we table the issue for now, since no requests have been received to date.
5. New business
a. Ideas to improve meeting format: The Executive Committee has received feedback suggesting that the SCC agenda be limited to business items, and that time be set aside or after the business meeting for informal discussions.
b. Outreach meeting: Ronna proposed that the October 25 SCC meeting be focused on outreach and invited the SCC to New London to meet at the Greens’ campaign office at 243 State Street. Linda moved to direct the EC to create a brief business agenda and plan for outreach among diverse groups, 2nd by Ronna; motion passed 14 in favor, 1 opposed (Amy), 1 abstained (Susan). The meeting time was set at 6:00pm to accommodate longer driving times.
6. Green Party of the US updates
a. Mike reported that the Ballot Access Committee is focusing on Vermont.
b. A proposal to change ranked choice to yea-or-nay voting failed decisively.
7. Updates
a. DACA and Dreamers: The economic impacts of deportation were discussed, as well as ideas for what Greens can do: (1) Condemn the cancellation of DACA and criminalizing people; (2) Educate about how US trade and foreign policies created the influx of refugees; (3) Show up at actions in support of immigrants.
b. Linda reported briefly on the People’s National Convergence Conference: the groups involved, strong attendance and growning status of the Green Party. She has posted a detailed report online.
c. Upcoming events:
Listening Project, October 7, 1:30-4pm, Portland Senior Center
Songs of Solidarity, October 8 at 2pm, Guilford Public Library
8. Next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 25, at 243 State St, New London.
Baird moved to adjourn, 2nd by David, passed unanimously. Meeting ended at 9:06pm.
