For several months, your Béxar County Green Party has been working to ensure you have a voice and are able to vote for Green Candidates this November. To that end, we successfully held our Precinct Convention on March 10 and our County Convention on March 14, in accordance with the Texas Election Code. The next steps in the process are the district conventions (on 3/21) and the state convention (on 4/18). However, as the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID19) has worsened and more severe actions are required to contain the spread of the virus, the Green Party of Texas has requested that the Texas Secretary of State (SoS) allow us to hold District Conventions and our State Convention via teleconference, rather than in person as required by the election code. As of yesterday lawyers for the SoS have DENIED our requests to hold a virtual convention despite the de-facto quarantine conditions that are in effect in many parts of the state. Even while state office buildings are closing to the public and Gov. Abbott has allowed for the postponement of the May elections, the intransigence of SoS is placing us in the position of having to take legal action against them (at great cost to us) in order to safeguard the health of our members, convention delegates, and their families and communities by holding a convention by teleconference. The state convention requirement also affects the Libertarian, Democratic, and Republican parties. If SoS is telling all parties they must hold in-person conventions, such a stance is highly irresponsible. If SoS is only treating the Green Party in this manner, it is exceedingly unjust. PLEASE contact SoS: https://www.sos.state.tx.us/contact.shtml and your local legislator if you think it will help: https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/home and tell them to urge the SoS to relent on this unjust and unsafe course of action!

We have been pressuring VIA over the past few days to provide specific answers regarding actions to combat the coronavirus COVID19. They have stated that buses are being cleaned and sanitized more frequently but several drivers that we talked to have stated otherwise. We have also been calling for VIA drivers to receive free testing for the virus. Today the city government announced a new drive-up testing facility where at-risk individuals can get tested, including VIA drivers. However they will only be offering 16 tests per hour. There are over 1200 VIA drivers and many more first responders and those with a doctor’s authorization for testing. https://www.sanantonio.gov/…/Pre-Approved-Testing-Site-for-…

Thanks to the precinct delegates who attended our county convention today! We certified the results of the precinct convention and are pleased to announce our two county-level nominees: Mr. Antonio Padron for Texas House District 119 and Dr. Julián Villarreal for Texas Senate District 26. Next week, we will hold a district convention to nominate Mr. Tom Wakely for US Congressional District 21. Please continue to follow our page for more information on how you can support our candidates and get involved in the local Green Movement!

Our friend Roy Aguillon of The Carpenters Apprentice interviewed our two local Green candidates running in the November general election. This was at your precinct convention on Tuesday. Check it out! And tell your friends to VOTE GREEN in November. 💖🌳🌎

Whether it’s the coronavirus or the flu or a sick relative needing care, we need a safety net that centers the needs of workers. The current crisis serves to illustrate to all that the richest most powerful country in the world has eviscerated any semblance of a safety net for the majority of working people. The system that is currently straining to respond to this crisis is the one that was designed to protect the interests of the wealthy and those in the power in the two parties. Those of us who have been working and organizing for years for social justice know what’s at stake. We are the folks who have lacked health insurance, or who have gotten sick or injured at work and then were out of a job, or who have had to figure out how to care for a loved one who has fallen ill. The struggle is real for us, and this latest crisis be a moment of reckoning for everyone regardless of social status. And yet, some will fare better than others, and that’s why we must continue to fight for equity and justice and a total transformation of our society for the betterment of all humans, beginning with the most vulnerable and those who have the least power.

Let’s remain hopeful. The coronavirus pandemic will hopefully give people a glimpse of a world in which everyone looks out for each other especially the most vulnerable. Imagine what can happen if we avoid selfishness and act with compassion towards those who have the least? Capitalism drills into us the notion that rational self-interest is the primary driver for all actions of value. But that attitude actually makes things worse for most of us. We must center the collective good. Beyond just individual acts of compassion, we can transform our system into one that is truly just and equitable! PEOPLE and the PLANET over private profits!

Join us for our County Convention tomorrow March 14 at 10am at Coffeecionado on 502 W Mitchell. Delegates elected at Tuesday’s precinct convention will nominate our candidates whose districts are within Bexar County. We will also elect delegates to the District Convention. ¡Nos vemos allá!