LA Greens General Meeting - September 21, 2005 7pm
1. Introductions (with apologies to any I missed): Bob, Gen, Linda, Christine (Newbie), Les Amer, Cathy, Danielle, Derek, Michael Rochmes, Erin, Will Yeagher, Patrick Meighan, Denise Robb, John Wingert
Denise volunteered to be timekeeper. Les Amer volunteered to be vibeswatcher.
2. Sept. 24th March: This Saturday there's an anti-war demonstration, forming at noon at Olympic and Broadway, then marching elsewhere. Attendance is encouraged. The Westside Greens will be tabling at this event. Sally and Peter (of the Westside Greens) could use some help preparing their display. If available, please show up early.
3. Danielle's Campaign: Danielle is running for the 42nd District Assembly Seat. She's looking for a campaign manager and a treasurer. If anyone's interested, please contact her.
4. Byron De Lear's Campaign: Byron is Not Present
5. Eleana Popp: Not Present
6. Tabling Report: We tabled at Sunset Junction, which is a great opportunity for exposure, and it's also volunteer-heavy (needs ~16 volunteers for the weekend). People really loved Cathy's cards, and were also quite willing to sign letters in favor of Instant Runoff Voting. Lisa will be writing a letter to Councilman Garcetti requesting that the tabling fees be lowered (they cost a couple hundred dollars). Lisa will keep us informed of future tabling opportunities.
7. IRV Report: We've been lobbying the City Council for Instant Runoff Voting through David Holtzman's group: LA VoteFIRE. We're going to start lobbying the Board of Supes. Mike Hernandez (from Parks' office) suggests that we start lobbying community groups for their support as well.
8. Oakland Greens Gathering:
*Linda: Enjoyed the workshops (Spirituality Within The Greens, Single-Payer Health Care, Electoral Reform, Clean Money, Native American Gaming). Also, Linda performed.
*Michael: Sunday there was a debate between Michael Feinstein and Peter Camejo. The debate concerned California Green campaign strategies in 2006. Camejo's recruiting a slate for statewide races. Feinstein favors running more Greens for Assembly (instead of congressional races), and producing a common platform for all Greens. Camejo differed in opinion.
Will: After the Sylmar discussion went rockily, this Oakland gathering was a non-decision meeting. "The real action was out on the Boardwalk." The Veterans for Peace booth was very moving. Will was impressed with Camejo making himself available to people from various factions. Camejo's policy issues he finds most important: "Will you or won't you free Santos Reyes?" He wants the Greens to get back to its active roots.
Lisa: The Media Workshop was really good. I hooked up with Cres, a part-time paid media person. Cres says the way you develop a relationship with press outlets is to continuously bombard them with press releases.
Bob: The Co-ordinating Committee spent all night cleaning the auditorium the day before. There was a good meeting on peak oil and water. It was one of the better meetings.
9. There will be a demonstration in front of the Glendale Hilton, in support of the workers' right to organize free of harassment. The demonstration will take place tomorrow (Thursday) at 5pm. The Glendale Hilton is located at 100 W. Glenoaks (between Central and Brand).
10. Treasurers Report: Denise has every FPPC filing since the L.A. Greens' inception. Current L.A. Greens account total: $3243.88 (however $2000 of that is set aside for the scholarship fund). We made $59 at Sunset Junction (plus more to still be added). We made $88 during the last meeting. Cathy suggested we donate money to the Louisiana Greens.
11. New Member Speakout:
Gillian: "I'm having lots of trouble with the government right now, and I wanted to come and learn more. My involvement will be more administrative, rather than going to marches." Gillian says that she's unaware of some of the terms that we're using, but hopes to come more often and eventually learn some of this stuff. Gillian has a new baby.
Christine: "I've always had an interest in social and Green issues in the world. I know I can contribute artistically, can create fliers, etc." I hope to gain a better understanding of the issues locally and globally.
John: "I'm interested in grassroots democracy and grassroots media. I want to see to what extent power is centralized here, or whether it's organized in a very grassroots, de-centralized way. When power gets centralized, an organization loses its greatest attraction to me." He's got proficiency with setting up teleconferencing, setting up spam-free email lists, and various other technological proficiencies.
12. Upcoming Ballot Propositions: The Green Party has ballot recommendations for the upcoming special election ballot measures. Linda distributed them. The L.A. Greens Elections Committee has been meeting to formulate its proposals, and will report next month.
13. Vacancies: We announce the vacancies in two positions: Events Co-Ordinator and Co-Facilitator. Erin will Co-Facilitate on a temporary basis next month.
14. Green Mediators: Via IRV (and a subsequent consensus vote) the three Green Mediators elected are Tera Little, Danielle Mead and Perias Pillay.
15. Announcements: Were not recorded because the Secretary was busy tallying IRV votes.
16. We adjourned at 9:15
