Green Party of the United States
E-mail Update: May 17, 2002
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Contents:
0) So When Is That Next Issue?
1) Belgian Green Party Minister
Visits United States
2) Green Party Midterm National Convention
July 18-21
3) Maine Green Gubernatorial
Candidate Qualifies for up to $900,000
in Clean Election Funds
4) Alaska Greens Running Native
Activists for Govenor and Leut. Gov.
5) Massachusetts Green Party and
Rainbow Party Merge
6) Morrill Receives Endorsement of
John Anderson.
7) Initial Coordinated Campaign
Committee Members Named
8) Wanted: Green Party Field
Organizers
9) USGP Fundraising News
10) USGP Coordinating Committee
Watch
11) Recently Issued Press Releases
and other Media
12) England & Wales: Greens
Make Steady Progress In Council Elections
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=========================================================
0. So When Is That Next Issue?
Currently we're in discussion with
the USGP Steering Committee and Media Committee on what would be the best
schedule for this email publication. While we do want to keep you up to date on
timely Green Party matters, we don't want to flood your inbox.
If you have any thoughts on an
"ideal frequency" please send a note to alerts-m@gp-us.org
If you have material that you would
like included in this publication please email it to alerts-m@gp-us.org I can't
promise I'll always include it, but I'll try my best.
All the Best, David Pollard
=========================================================
1. Belgian Green Party Minister
Visits United States. Greens press
U.S. ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Greens
have welcomed Jean Marc Nollet,
Minister for Children's
Affairs in the Belgian government and Green Party member, who is visiting the United States for the United Nations Special
Session on Children. Minister Nollet visited Washington
yesterday and met with a
delegation of the US Green
Party to discuss the failure of the United States to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
"Childhood is the foundation
for the future potential of citizens," said Nollet.
"Childhood is when we invest our citizens with basic values of justice, equality, and equal opportunity but also, in the long term,
equality with results. Today, we should be concerned
about the development of our
blossoming young people. To
give up ratifying the Convention of the Rights of the Child is to
deny the future goals of justice and equality. Such denial scorns the adults of tomorrow and the world that we will leave to them."
The Green Party of the United
States sent a letter to President Bush
and Secretary of State
Colin Powell, urging the United States to ratify the convention
and to support a list of positions put forward by the European
Ministers in charge of childhood.
Nollet met with Gail Dixon, a former
D.C. Statehood Green Party member
of the District of Columbia School
Board, Green Party International
Committee member Anne
Anderson, and Green Party Political Coordinator Dean Myerson.
"Minister Nollet wanted to
know why the United States refuses to
participate in the
Convention," said Myerson. "The rest of the world is working to improve the situation for so many children living in poverty in the U.S.
and around the world, and the U.S. again is standing
aside."
Dixon described the poor condition
of schools in Washington to Nollet
and the challenges faced in
providing basic needs for children there, while Anderson
described the political blockages to U.S. ratification of the convention.
MORE INFORMATION
The Green Party of the United
States http://gpus.org National
office: 1314 18th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036 202-296-7755, 866-41GREEN
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2. Green Party Midterm National Convention July 18-21
The Green Party of the United
States MidTerm Convention is fast approaching. Please take a moment to look at the information presented about the Convention below,
or better yet, go to http://www.gp-us.org/convention/.
Register today, and we'll see you
there!
Green Party of the U.S. Steering
Committee:
Jo Chamberlain, Robbie Franklin,
Ben Manski, Nathalie Paravicini, Anita Rios, Tom Sevigny
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The Green Party 2002 National
Convention
July 18-21 Holiday Inn Independence
Mall 400 Arch St. Philadelphia, PA
19106 Hotel Toll-Free: 800-843-2355
http://www.gpus.org/convention.html
The Green Party of the United
States is pleased to announce that its
2002 Midterm Convention will take
place the July 18-21 in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Convention will include a campaign school, platform
discussions, skills-building workshops, committee meetings, a business meeting of the Coordinating Committee,
as well as a major rally on
Saturday night at a local auditorium.
Initial Agenda: Thursday and Friday
- Coordinating Committee business meeting Friday night - Green Party Rally
Saturday - Campaign school, diversity caucus meetings, fundraising workshop,
platform hearings, media skills workshop Sunday - Fundraising workshop,
platform hearings, media skills
workshop
Hotel Room Cost The registration
fees do NOT include the cost of staying at the hotel. $102 per night for single
or double occupancy, plus room tax. The cost of the room is NOT included in
your registration fee. Financial assistance will be available for some
attendees - details on that are forthcoming.
Staying at the hotel is not
required, but will make attending all
events easier. Some arrangements for housing with local Greens will be
made later on. Those who want to register at the hotel should call the Holiday
Inn directly (800-THE-BELL or 800-843-2355) and say they are reserving for the
Green Party Midterm Convention.
3 Steps to Register:
Choose a Registration Option
Registration with meals includes
breakfast and lunch for the days you are registering for, as well as all
conference materials.
Main Options:
Thursday and Friday $50 Total with
meals $115
Total
Additional Options:
Thu, Fri and Sat without meals $75
Thu, Fri, Sat and Sun without meals
$100
Thur, Fri, and Sat with meals $160
Thu, Fri, Sat and Sun with meals
$205
Attend only Thursday or Friday
without meals $30 per day.
Need another option? Call
866-41GREEN
Payment Options:
A) Mail. You may
pay for the event by sending a check with the appropriate amount enclosed. Send all checks to: The Green
Party PO Box 57065 Washington, D.C. 20037 Enclose a letter
specifying that you have already registered to attend the event and please list
all other persons your check is paying for.
B) Credit Card. You may pay for the event by using our
on-line credit card donation page. Be sure to donate the exact amount due for
your registration.
If you are paying for more than one
registration fee on-line, please contact us with the names of the persons who
will attend with you.
For more information please contact
Dean Myerson greenstuff@deanmyerson.org or call Toll-Free: 866-41GREEN
=========================================================
3. Maine Green Gubernatorial
Candidate Qualifies for up to $900,000
in Clean Election Funds
Jonathan Carter becomes the first
gubernatorial candidate in the
nation to finance his
campaign with Clean Election Funds.
Augusta, ME - Jonathan Carter will
announce the results of his
intensive campaign to gain
financing through Maine's Clean Election Act at a press conference on Thursday, April 11, 2002. The conference will be held at
the Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices
at 242 State Street in
Augusta, at 10:30 A.M.
Carter will be submitting enough
signatures on Thursday to surpass
the requirement to qualify
for Clean Elections funding. This will mean that he will receive up to $900,000 to finance his campaign - making him the most
highly funded Green Independent candidate at the state
level in the history of US
politics, and the first
gubernatorial candidate in the nation to finance his campaign with any sort of Clean Election Act money.
Carter states, "This amazing
show of support by the people of Maine
shows that they are ready
for their voices to be heard by the government once again. I am
going to prove that someone is listening."
In order to qualify for this public
funding, the Maine Clean Elections
Law requires that a candidate
collect 2500 $5 contributions to the fund from any registered voter
in the state. The Clean Elections Law also requires that candidates who qualify for this funding must not accept donations
from any outside entity, ensuring
that the candidate owes no
allegiance to anyone who might wish to influence future policy
decisions made at the Blaine House. Prior to qualifying, a
candidate may accept no more than $100 from any individual, and
no money from any PACs, special
interests or businesses.
Carter states, "The importance
of Clean Elections in returning our
government to the people
cannot be overstated. Citizens' voices can never be heard over the rattle of money in the change purses of special interests, PACs
and corporations. It is imperative that we bring politics back
under the control of citizens so
that the opening line to the
preamble of our great constitution, `We the people', has meaning
once again."
Carter has always practiced what he
preached about campaign finance
and all of his previous
campaigns for political office have reflected this. He has never accepted money from special interests, PACs or
large corporations and has always
limited individual donations.
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4. Alaska Greens Running Native
Activists for Govenor and Leut. Gov.
Native activists to run on Green
Party ticket CANDIDATES: Desa Jacobsson and Diane Benson seek top posts.
By Don Hunter Anchorage Daily News
(Published: May 9, 2002) Two Alaska Native activists have paired
up as a Green Party ticket for the
state's top two elective offices this fall.
It will be Desa Jacobsson's second
try to become governor, while
Diane E. Benson's run for lieutenant governor is her first bid for public office. At a press
conference Wednesday, they listed
promoting education and health care and combatting violence and racism as their top priorities.
Jacobsson contends that the needs
of the state's residents have gone
largely unfulfilled while Outside conglomerates profit from its resources. Instead of taxing
"the working poor," Jacobsson and Benson said the state should levy higher taxes on companies
that exploit its oil and mineral
resources. They said they would
encourage development of environmentally friendly light
manufacturing companies that
follow a model Jacobsson likened to Native traditions of using every bone and fiber of a subsistence food like
ducks.
By that, she said, she means
"value-added" manufacturing linked to timber, fish or mining. Artisans, for example, could fashion
mined gold into products before
shipping the precious metal out of state,
she said.
In the mid-1980s, Jacobsson was one
of the founders of a group that
tried to airlift berries to indigenous people in Finland, Norway
and Sweden after fallout from the
Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster ruined
berries there.
Jacobsson, who is Yup'ik and
Gwich'in, also is known for her
long-standing attempts to focus attention on violence against
Native women; she and Benson plan
to hold a second press conference at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks, in part to draw attention to the 9-year-old unsolved murder of
20-year-old Sophie Sergie in a campus
dormitory.
"The most important issue
facing all Alaskans is a question of
violence," Jacobsson
said. "It is our number one problem now, and unless we face this it will be our only problem in the
future."
Part of facing it is to recognize
what Jacobsson said are state- funded
dual systems of justice in Alaska -- one for rural Natives, and one for the rest of Alaskans. "Racism is alive and well in the
Legislature and in the state administration," she
said. "I, for one, am sick of this."
Benson is a playwright, poet and
actress. For the last two years, she
has been performing a
one-woman play about Elizabeth Peratrovich, an early Native
rights leader whose appeal from the gallery of the territorial Legislature in 1945 is credited with
sealing passage of a law
mandating equal rights for
Natives.
At Wednesday's press conference at
the University of Alaska
Anchorage, Benson, a
Tlingit from Sitka, said the state should treat public education as an investment, not was a welfare need.' As well as
solid instruction in the sciences and mathematics, Alaska
students also should be taught
Alaska history, she said.
"We need to believe in Alaska
. . . enough to teach our own history," she said.
=========================================================
5. Massachusetts Green Party and
Rainbow Party Merge
Massachusetts contacts: Grace Ross,
co-chair, Massachusetts Green Party, 617-91-5591 Gary Hicks, co-chair,
Massachusetts Green Party, 617-268-1703 Jenny Kastner, Stein Campaign Manager,
857-212-1062
MASSACHUSETTS GREEN AND RAINBOW
COALITION PARTIES MERGE
BOSTON - The Massachusetts Green
Party and the Rainbow Coalition Party united their memberships into a single
political entity at a statewide meeting last weekend. The merged party also endorsed candidates for state
political office: Dr. Jill Stein for Governor, Anthony Lorenzen for Lt.
Governor, and James O'Keefe for Treasurer.
"The Green Party isn't only
growing through the incremental process of persuading and registering new
members, one by one," said Ben Manski, a member of the steering committee
of the Green Party of the United States and an activist working on building
ties between the Green and Progressive Parties in Wisconsin.
"The Massachusetts merger is
the latest in a small, growing number of Green Party unifications with other
state and local parties. In 1998,
the Oregon Green and Socialist Parties merged into the Pacific Green Party. In 1999, the D.C. Green and Statehood
Parties became the D.C. Statehood Green Party."
"This is an incredible example
of people coming together to make meaningful changes in our political
system," said Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Stein. "The credibility and longevity of the
Rainbow Coalition Party will be an immensely valuable addition to the Greens as
we continue to deliver our message to the people of the Commonwealth."
The mergers of state Green Parties
and other progressive parties connects state and locally based political
parties with a national entity.
But the autonomy of state parties within the Green Party of the United
States ensures that the merged parties maintain their local focus and
character. One of the Green key
values is decentralization -- locally based governance with the active
participation of citizens; self-reliant economies and democratic workplaces
that aren't controlled by and for central authorities such as multinational
corporations, Wall Street, and international 'free trade' bureaucracies.
The Rainbow Coalition Party's
founder, Mel King of Boston, a former state representative, was on hand for the
unity agreement and praised the convention's nomination of Dr. Stein.
"Jill Stein is the only
candidate who will speak truth to power," said King. "She's the only one that makes
issues of racism and social justice integral parts of her campaign."
MORE INFORMATION
Massachusetts Green Party http://www.massgreens.org P.O. Box
1311, Lawrence, MA 01842 (978) 688-2068
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6. Morrill Receives Endorsement of
John Anderson.
Former Republican Member of
Congress and Independent Presidential
Candidate to Cite Morrill's Integrity and Dedication to Democracy. Morrill for Governor P.O. Box
7571 Reading, PA 19601 570-372-0503 http://www.michaelmorrill.org
PHILADELPHIA - Michael Morrill, the
Green Party nominee for governor
of Pennsylvania, will be
endorsed by former Member of Congress John Anderson at a
news conference on Thursday<May 2>. Anderson is perhaps best known for bolting the Republican Party in 1980 to pursue an
independent run for president.
Anderson is currently the president of the Center for Voting and
Democracy, a nonprofit advocacy organization working for more democratic election laws.
Anderson will cite Morrill's work
to open up election laws in
Pennsylvania, especially
instant run-off voting (IRV) and proportional representation (PR).
Morrill and Anderson will both discuss how these election reforms will reduce the likelihood of this year's redistricting fiasco. "We are honored to have Mr. Anderson's endorsement," said Morrill. "The
support of prominent
non-Greens such as Mr.
Anderson shows how strong our campaign is becoming and how widespread. It is appealing to Democrats and Republicans,
Greens and independents who see
our ideas as the only real solutions to
Pennsylvania's
problems."
=========================================================
7. Initial Coordinated Campaign
Committee Members Named
Just to let you all know that the
Coordinated Campaign Committee had
its first meeting last week and among other things we elected new Co-Chairs! Congratulations to Dan Johnson-Weinberger of Illinois and Juscha Robinson of Michigan.
The current composition of the CCC is:
Dan Johnson-Weinberger, IL Ed Tarvin, AR Juscha Robinson, MI Ken Sain, TX Logan Martinez, OH Penny Teal, CT Dan Kinney, PA Ben Manski, WI
Two vacancies remain. One application is pending. Women and People of Color are strongly urged to apply. If you are interested in serving on the CCC,
please let me know: manski@greens.org
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8. Wanted: Green Party Field
Organizers
Field Organizing effort revving up.
We have received many resumes for
field organizers and are starting to work through the resumes. We hope to start this project with the passage of the budget amendment,
now in front of the CC for a vote.
If you'd like to help with this
important matter please contact: National office: 1314 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 202-296-7755,
866-41GREEN
=========================================================
9. Fundraising News
April has turned out to be our best
fundraising month so far. We grossed at least $45,000
and have approximately $38,000 in our account right now. Our success has been due to three
fundraisers with Ralph Nader - 2 in
Georgia and 1 in Florida -
and the very positive response to the 1000 For 1000 Campaign, which
we started in late March. Due to
the revenue sharing concept
built into the 1000 For
1000 program, part of our income will be shared with the
states. Approximately
$7-8000 will go to the Georgia Green Party and approximately $12-13,000 to the Florida Green Party, based
on immediate donations, as well as the 1000 For 1000
pledges received at the
fundraisers. About
one-third to one-half of that will go to the state Green parties immediately, and the rest over the length of the pledge,
depending on whether it was a 1,2,3, or 4 year pledge. One person even created a new 1000 For 1000 category, pledging $10 a month for 100 months. Thanks to that Green for his long-term commitment to helping the party grow, based on
his ability to donate.
There are also many other states
that are entitled to money from 1000
For 1000 sharing donations,
from our fundraising mailings, but we don't have the
figures on that yet. Also,
the California and Massachusetts Green
Parties will receive money
from 1000 For 1000 pledges that
were received from our mailings to their registered Green
voters lists.
However, we seem to have noted a
trend that state green parties
should be aware of. People seem to be more willing to check
off the donation to the state Green Party when they are asked
to directly by a Green from their
state or at a fundraiser, then
they are from the mailings, even though we talk about the
sharing aspect of the campaign.
Although all the data is
not in on this yet, it
seems to indicate that the more a state party pushes the 1000 For 1000 campaign in their state, the more likely people are
to give the state their share when they make a 1000
For 1000 donation.
There was also a successful
fundraiser with Ralph Nader in LA at the
very end of April, but the
results of that will be reported in the next newsletter.
I encourage all state parties
interested in the 1000 For 1000
campaign to contact me so
that I can help you implement the program in your state and so that your state can get the most out of the program.
Jack Uhrich Green Party Finance
Director
To donate, go to the Green Party
website, at greenpartyus.org and
click on the Donate button.
For more information, Contact Jack
Uhrich, Finance Director, at
juhrich43@aol.com, or 803-642-9486.
To read more on the 1000 for 1000
Campaign with a message from Howard
Zinn and Noam Chomsky, visit: http://www.greenpartyus.org/donate.html
=========================================================
10. USGP Coordinating Committee
Watch
Issues Under discussion: None,
however in the next week a proposal to adopt a summary platform, and to join
the IPPN (Independent Progressive Politics Network) will begin dicussion. Ben Manski will act as
floor manager for both of these items.
http://www.greens.org/~nathalie/cc_votes/summary_platform.html
Issues currently being voted
on: Charter for the Presidential
Exploratory Committee http://www.greens.org/~nathalie/cc_votes/pec.html
Adoption of the Revised Budget, May
2002. http://www.greens.org/~nathalie/cc_votes/budget_0205.html TIER 2 Budget
allocation and appropriation procedures.
http://www.greens.org/~nathalie/cc_votes/tier_2.html
Votes announced recently:
California Delegates Seated. By a vote of 21-28-6 with 28 of 34 states voting,
the Coordinating Committee rejected the recommendation of the
Accreditation Committee that 11
expansion delegates NOT be
seated. Additionally, the Steering Committee has decided to form an ad-hoc committee to examine the policies and procedures of the Accreditation
Committee so that the recent events regarding the CA
delegation will not happen again.
This committee is not being
formed to determine who is right and who is wrong. It
simply will examine the procedures, with as much input as possible from a variety of individuals, and make a final recommendation to
the CC in Philly.
Endorsement of the May 1, 2002
Convergence in defense of Immigrants
and their Human Rights.
Vote 53-4 with 26 of 34 states voting.
http://www.greens.org/~nathalie/cc_votes/may1_2002convergence.html
=========================================================
11. Recently Issued Press Releases
and other Media
Greens Say 'No' to Bush's Marriage
Proposal. http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/pr_05_14_02.html
Belgian Green Party Minister Visits
the U.S. http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/pr_05_09_02.html
Massachusetts Green and Rainbow
Coalition Parties Merge. http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/pr_05_03_02.html
Commission on Presidential Debates
Settles Dispute, Apologizes to
Ralph Nader for Removing
Him From UMASS Campus During First Presidential Debate. http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/pr_04_16_02.html
Green Candidates Place Strongly in
State-Level Races. http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/pr_04_15_02.html
State Party Press Releases:
(Delaware) Delaware Greens to Hold
State Convention May 18th.
http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/states/de_05_13_02.html
(Wash. DC) Rehire Tom Briggs!
http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/states/dc_05_08_02.html
(Wash. DC) Greens Urge
Reinstatement of Children's Nutrition Director.
http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/states/dc_04_28_02.html
(Pennsylvannia) Morrill Campaign
Wins Ballot Access Case in Federal
Court. http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/states/pa_04_22_02.html
(Rhode Island) No More Victims,
Anywhere - Conference http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/states/ri_04_14_02.html
(Wash. DC) Statehood Greens Urge
District Residents to Say "NO!" to Del Norton's Federal Tax Exemption Bill.
http://www.greenpartyus.org/press/states/dc_04_12_02.html
=========================================================
12. England & Wales: GREENS
MAKE STEADY PROGRESS IN COUNCIL ELECTIONS
Despite a couple of unexpected
upsets, the Green Party continued its political comeback in the English local
elections of 2 May 2002.
The Green vote grew to 7% where the
Greens stood, compared with 5% in
2000. The party fielded almost 1,100 candidates, more than in any
year since 1991.
In NORWICH the Greens got their
first 2 councillors elected with 41%
of the vote, up 18%, in the constituency of Labour Party chair
Charles Clarke MP - a reflection of
dissatisfaction with New Labour and the perceptible tendency of Labour voters to switch to Green.
LEEDS Green Party got their third
councillor elected, with a 1,100
vote majority.
In BRADFORD, the Greens elected
their second councillor with 42% and
a 600 majority.
Results mixed but positive
Overall the Greens ended the night
with 5 fewer councillors
nationally - though still represented on 22 principal authorities.
OLDHAM Green Party lost a seat
(where a councillor had been elected as Labour, and had crossed the floor to
the Greens mid-term) - but
borough-wide the Greens almost tripled their vote, in the party's
best-ever Oldham result. Other northern boroughs showed similar progress:
MANCHESTER Greens narrowly missed
getting their first councillor
elected - just 83 votes behind Labour in a ward where Labour were sufficiently worried that they drafted in foreign
office minister Tony Lloyd MP to help
campaign.
SHEFFIELD Greens almost doubled
their vote, and TAMESIDE Greens got
their best ever result, with a top vote of 20%.
On OXFORD city council the Green
Group was reduced from 7 councillors
to 3. They had been in a ruling coalition with the LibDems, but
Labour swept back into control of
the council. Cllr Mike Woodin comments: "We've been punished for running an administration
that's done the Labour government's
dirty work. But we'll be back"
The Greens point out that their
steady increase in vote-share bodes
well for gains in next year's local elections and the 2004 European
elections.
Executive Elections Coordinator
Geoff Forse comments: "We're
disadvantaged both by the archaic first-past-the-post electoral system
and by the media's reluctance to
provide the public with adequate information about the Green Party and its policies.
"Our 7% vote would have been
high enough to have won a large number
of seats in a proportional system like those of most EU countries. When
Britain eventually gets electoral reform, we can expect the Greens here to gain as much representation as our
colleagues in other European Union
countries.
"In the meantime, with the
ongoing increase in our membership, and the growing popularity of our policy,
we'll continue to make steady
progress."