LA Greens General Meeting - April 19, 2006 7:05pm
Erin Schmidt and Derek Iversen co-facilitating (until 7:15 when Derek left to procure donated food from Sante La Brea!); Linda Piera-Avila - minutes; Michelle Smith - timekeeper; Denise Munro Robb - vibeswatcher.
In attendance, in addition to those listed above: Jeff Horne, Lisa Taylor, Christine Bean Pinto, Bob Smith, Genevieve Marcus, John Wenger, Les Amer and Michael Rochmes, Joy, Will Bass, Kei Kurimoto, Deb, Adrian Serna, Daniela Pary, Barry Silver, Jack Lindblad, Howard Zazour, Tracy Larkins, Brian of LoveCraft Biofuels, camera crews from Green Living and French AP, David English, Jody Van Leuren, Jeff Horne, Lawrence Reyes, Raam, Ara Bediah, Aly Eccard, Louise Eccard, Keith Greenhouse, Alex G., Bruce Frye, Sean Fulkerson, Erika Willwrite, Amand Cunningham, Pat Wolff, Sola Wolff, Byron De Lear, Rebecca Tobias, Larry Silvermintz, Dave Ham, Rita Hart, Jonah Bay
Upcoming Events
Denise briefly outlined our upcoming fundraiser for Green candidates. Trying to get a venue with a dance floor, jacuzzi and meeting room. Derek encouraged all to get involved. Bean reminded us that Maria Armoudian has offered to perform! Bean handed out a compilation of Earth Day events for folks to partake. Very thorough! Lisa handed out info about World Fest, to be held on Earth Day, April 22, at Woodley Park in the Valley.
Guest Speakout
New comers were given their minute of fame. Most heard about our meeting and speakers either via KPFK's announcement or on the net. (One heard from her son-in-law!) One newcomer, Kei (help, Lisa!), expressed her wish for a networking relationship between the LA Greens and her org, Sterling Planet. (www.sterlingplanet.com). Sterling Planet promotes environmentally sound, renewable energy (solar, wind).
Le questionnaire
Bean asked for our input on the questionnaire which will be addressed to Greens in an effort to sharpen our group focus.
Campaigns
Genevieve, John and Michael are running for County Council Genevieve explained that the Council is the elected body in LA County, representing Greens. It is a link to the state party. But the locals are the key!
Byron De Lear and Peter Thottam's campaigns were mentioned, as was Bill Paparian's. The state constitutional races have a "Million Votes for Peace" slate. The race for Senate is contested, with three men competing.
Treasurer's Report
Denise gave us her consistently diligent report.... We paid $60 to attend the upcoming Lotus Festival. Our SBC bill was $42.64. We are getting about $50 a month from our heroic sustainers. via pay pal. Denise encouraged attendees to become sustainers. We passed the hat. We announced the Petra Kelly Scholarship. Our balance is $3563.93, with about $2108 of that designated for the scholarship.
What's on Your Mind?
This is a new part of our meeting, not to be confused with the old game show, "What's My Line?" OK, I'm dating myself!
I gave a brief update on the South Central Farmers issue. Basically trying to buy time in order to get $ to buy the farm. (Some days I feel like I'm going to buy the farm, if you know what I mean!) Watch for upcoming events to that end.
Les told us about efforts to address and possibly rescind GPUS resolution 190. Two state parties are interested in presenting an alternative. Our 13 delegates would vote on this alternative and we should communicate with them to let our views be know. (The state website lists the national delegates: www.cagreens.org)
Erin serves on the steering committee of Fair Trade LA which works to increase the amount of fair trade goods. Ox Fam and Co-op America are participants. One can use a "scorecard" and go to the market and see how a given store rates in terms of fair trade.
Discussion on sustainability
Members and guests shared views on topics related to tonight's speakers. John Wenger encouraged people to read Lester Brown's book, "Plan B 2.0" (www.earth-policy.org) and also the website www.restore-earth.org which encourages a shift of defense $ to earth saving efforts. Also, www.climate.org has a pentagon study about climate change. Thank you, John!
The thread turned to political efficacy and to that end the topic of instant runoff voting came up. Two good sites for this are: www.instantrunoffvoting.org and www.lavotefire.org
Byron made the extra effort to come to our meeting after just landing back in town from a trip to Canada. He and his campaign manager, Rebecca Tobias, met with the Rex Weyler, organizer of this year's World Peace Forum to be held in Vancouver at the end of June. Byron will be one of the speakers there! (Rex was our Earth Day speaker last year!) Byron gave an excellent stump speech about the need to end the war in Iraq and about the need for separation of buck and state.
Main Event - Alternative Fuels
Tracy Larkins opened the program telling us about her experience driving a waste vegetable oil Mercedes. Brian (help - last name?) from Love Craft Biofuels got into the nitty gritty and explained the technical aspect of converting a car to run on veggie oil. Lots of questions and interest from the audience. We adjourned and went out to the parking lot to see Tracy's car first hand.
Thanks to Sante La Brea for donating delicious wraps and other appetizers. We appreciate your generosity! Thanks also to all those who donated other items for our refreshment table and to those who gave of their time, talent and energy to make this year's LA Greens Earth Day event another rousing success! Special mention to Christine Bean Pinto for all her organizing in preparation for this evening and to Cathy McKnight for once again creating perfect graphics to highlight and enhance the theme.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Piera-Avila
LA Greens Secretary