LA Greens General Meeting - March 15, 2006 7:20pm
Top o' the mornin' to ya, now! The LA Greens convened this Saint Paddy's Day themed meeting at 7:20pm upstairs in the OOA office as there was a scheduling conflict and KPFK had reserved the downstairs large meeting area! (Somehow Kyle had not entered our standing reservation in the 2006 calendar.) We are now entered for the rest of 2006. Note to all concerned: in December of 2006 and every subsequent year, contact Kyle or whomever is responsible for scheduling and reserve the third Wed of each month for the following year!!!
Facilitators: Derek Iverson & Erin Schmidt
Timekeeper: Denise Munro Robb and Frances Wells
Vibeswatcher: Les Amer
Minutes: Linda Piera-Avila
Introductions were made, with each person relating how much Irish lineage they could boast. In addition to the aforementioned lads and lassies, we had in attendance: Ceil Sorenson, Jeff Horne, Bob Smith, Michael Rochmes, John Wenger, Christine Pinto, Lisa Taylor, Nici Edwards and Lisa Soto.
Guests: Tobi Dragert and Donna Warren
Donna Warren, Green Party candidate for Lt. Gov.
Donna has made the ballot - she and the other "million votes for peace" candidates got enough signatures to preclude filing fees. Donna, who is running unopposed in the Green primary, will face challengers Garamendi (D) and McClintock (R) in the general election. Donna wants to nudge people out of their "comfort zones." Donna has something for everyone who wants to help in her campaign, from walking the neighborhoods to helping with the website to brainstorming sessions. She would like to see Peter Camejo get into the gubernatorial debates. She wants to help build a movement. Donna passed out literature. Her website is: www.donnawarren.com
Other Green campaigns
Byron DeLear and Peter Thottam also got the requisite signatures. Ceil helped with signature gathering and urged everyone to stay positive. Lisa reports having helped Peter Thottam get his sigs and says that it has been easy convincing people to re-register Green in order to gather candidate signatures. Bob reports that Byron and his signature gathering assistants converted 80 new Greens, increasing the Green rolls by 7%!!! That rocks! Derek opined that the best thing to do now is to fundraise - the media measures a candidate's viability by how much money he or she has raised. Erin congratulated John and Michael for getting signatures for their runs for the county council.
Tobi Dragert - Report on the CA Clean Money Campaign
Money in politics is a problem. "Clean Money" (public funding) is the best opportunity to get somewhere. The U.S. is the only democracy in which the government does not contribute to candidates' campaigns. We have 42.3% voter turnout, one of the lowest. In countries with public funding, the turnout is 70-80%. Without public funding, the vicious cycle is set in place in which voters don't turn out and then the candidates think that people don't care, so then they in turn just cater to the big money donors. Loni Hancock has introduced AB 583 which would provide for public funding. It has been amended to include Greens in the formula. The bill has passed the Assembly and is currently in the Senate. If it passes, it will be on the ballot in 2008. It will continue to be amended on an ongoing basis. It will cost $130 million to cover an election and the funds cannot come out of the general fund, so another separate source of funding has to be found. Connecticut funds their program via "eschew" money - what is unclaimed money in gov't coffers. California currently has $5 billion in its public eschew, so one could postulate that that would cover the costs of public funding for campaigns. Another option is an oil excise tax. The price of a movie ticket, about $10 per person, is what the cost to taxpayers would be. The payoff is that then, the electeds can do OUR business, instead of fundraise or do the big money donors' business!!
Maine has had Clean Money since '95 and Arizona just recently adopted it, and elected a woman governor running on a Clean Money platform. In order to qualify, a candidate must approach constituents and get them to sign a petition and make a $5 donation. After a certain threshold has been reached, the candidate receives full funding from the gov't. If an opponent has "deep pockets" and is not observing the guidelines and raises way more than what public funding allots, then the gov't will match what the "deep pocket" candidate raises for the Clean Money candidate as well!! This levels the playing field. Tobi passed out handouts with the tables regarding specifics. According to Eric Tang, whom I emailed about how Greens would be affected, "The Clean Money funds would be available for ALL parties and all candidates. Major party candidates (parties that received 10% or more in that race in the previous year) need to collect the baseline number of $5 qualifying contributions (e.g. 500 for State Assembly, 1000 for State Senate) and then they receive the baseline funding amount. For third party candidates to receive the full funding amount, they must prove they are truly viable candidates by gathering twice the number of qualifying contributions. Or, they can qualify for 1/4 of the baseline funding amount by collecting half of the qualifying contributions.
This last amendment was requested by the Green Party because it made it easier for third-party candidates to get at least some funding and was accepted because it could be made while still keeping the bill fiscally responsible. The Green Party of California then officially endorsed the bill."
South Central Farmers report - Presenter: Linda Piera-Avila
John Wenger commented that there is an article in the upcoming Weekly about unseemly and undemocratic behaviors at the Farm. (Hmmm..strategically timed smear tactics?) Linda reported that there was a community meeting at the Farm on March 5 at which quite a few Greens were present (Tracy Larkins, Zack Beatty, Mike Feinstein, Lynne Serpe, James McKissick, Jack Neff and Jason Neville - maybe others,too). Demonstration at LA City Hall on March 10th with a press conference. Zach de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine and Julia Butterfly Hill as well as community representatives, including yours truly, addressed the group gathered and the independent media in attendance. Cool street theater was also performed when the signal was red for motorists. Musicians kept us serenaded. No substantive decision yet made, considerable posturing on the part of authorities towards eviction. Supporters are asked to call and email the mayor's office to register their support for the farmers. (info on website below) Calif. Green Party issued a press release in support of the South Central Farmers in which yours truly was quoted. Peter Camejo held a press conference at the Farm on March 9 in support of the farmers. Linda passed out flyers about the issue.
Events/Tabling/Fundraising
Denise mentioned a friend who has a place in Culver City that would be amenable to holding a fundraising event. There is space for dancing. Candidates could talk. It should be a summer event. Michael and Erin tabled at the Fair Trade LA event; Nici, too. We could talk about earth justice issues at our April meeting (for Earth Day). Possibility could be a speaker from Fair Trade. (Secretary's note: we have subsequently decided on a speaker presenting her veggie oil car instead, Tracy Larkins.) Lisa reported that we will be participating in the Lotus Festival and other Green groups can table at other events. We can't cover the whole city! Bean suggested tabling in Griffith Park, independent of any festival. Les reminded people about the Peace March this weekend in Hollywood. Greens are encouraged to attend and carry the Green Party banners.
Treasurer's report - Presenter: Denise Munro Robb
We received $37 in general donations and $15 in scholarship donations. Phone bill was $40. We have one new sustainer: Jason Neville.
Announcements:
Les Amer re: GPUS Resolution 190 (boycotting Israel). Lorna Salzman has drafted an alternative and has submitted it to various states. He may submit it to the GPLAC later. A committee has been formed to work on the wording.
Linda urged everyone to go see "Trudell" a film about Native American activist and poet John Trudell. She also had people sign the minimum wage petition if they hadn't already.
John Wenger suggested that Greens pool their resources and go in together to buy the voter database from the registrar of voters ($54). This way when candidates are desperately seeking signatures, they will know who to call and where to visit.
Lisa also suggested that candidates coordinate their efforts.
Nici announced upcoming Rock N Roll Bingo on March 223rd to benefit the South Central Farmers. Flyers passes out. Woo Hoo! Apparently the staff at the Weekly does not agree with the rumors previously mentioned! (Secretary's note: although I did not attend the fundraiser as I was painting a banner for the demonstration the next day, I did hear that it was a rousing success and the place was packed!) Nici's website is www.cardcarryingprogressive.com (Scathing tee shirts and other cool merchandise.) A percentage of her profits goes to the LA Greens. Thank you, Nici!
Erin announced that the CA Green Party General Assembly will be held April 29-30 in Ventura.
Bean urged the steering committee to meet in order to set our intent for the year so we will be focused and effective. A weekend day in May would be good.
Meeting adjourned at 8:54 to the adjoining space where Bean had spread an Irish table of plenty for us to partake and feast! Someone must have borrowed the Blarney Stone as we all waxed eloquent for quite some time and enjoyed the post meeting festivities! Thank you, Bean! Thank you to all who brought food and drink! Thank you to all who helped clean up!
Humbly submitted,
Linda Piera-Avila
LA Greens Secretary