Minutes - Steering Committee of the Green Party of Humboldt County (GPHC)

held at Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District Building in Eureka on Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Regular Meeting: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

PRESENT:
 *Greg Allen, Chair
 *Mike Cordova, Treasurer
 *Martha Devine
 *Charles Douglas, Secretary
 Zuleika Navarro
 Barbara Shults
 Shawn Tulecke

ABSENT:
 *Alma Torres (Speaker Phone Not Available)
 (*) designates Steering Committee Member

CALL TO ORDER
The meeting of December 7, 2004, was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by facilitator Martha Devine, on behalf of Chair Greg Allen.

  1. INTRODUCTIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENT
    2. Martha recalled Pearl Harbor's anniversary and how World War II differs in its legitimacy from current conflicts. In response to a question, Martha didn't think the Eureka Peace March committee was formed for a 2005 march, and that the Green Party could step in to provide support for this event to commemorate the invasion of Iraq. No objection was raised to putting this item on the next SC agenda.
  2. ANNOUNCEMENTS

    3. On Sunday, Dec. 12, 6:00 p.m. at the Marsh Commons in Arcata, the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and Veterans for Peace (VPP) will be hosting a benefit to aid in a national campaign to deliver assistance to victims of the ongoing war in Iraq. Attendees are asked to bring donations of food, blankets, portable heaters and camping stoves. These groups will also be tabling at the Arcata Co-Op on their Membership Day.

    On Tuesday December 14, 4:00 p.m. at Café Mokka, Arcata, the Election Committee will meet to choose a new chair and focus on the upcoming special election for Arcata City Council. Later that day, 5:00 p.m. at Arcata City Hall, the City Council will hold its transition ceremony when Green Party members Harmony Groves and Paul Pitino are inducted to form a new Green majority. The Mayor and Vice Mayor for 2005 will also be selected.

    Animal Advocate, hosted by Barbara Shults, makes its monthly appearance on KMUD (88.3/91.1 FM) this Thursday, 7:00-8:00 p.m. The topic will be aggressive dogs and the automatic death sentences imposed on them. Guests will include members of Bless the Beasts, Sequoia Humane Society and a local animal control officer.

    'President' Bush has nominated Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns as Secretary of Agriculture, and his deep involvement in biotechnology partnerships spells trouble for the organic foods movement.

    Green Party activist Xandra Manns, a long-time Berkeley City Planner, has been nominated for an appointment to the Eureka Planning Commission. It is believed this would be the first time a Green has achieved this level of appointive office in Eureka.

    Fred Holsea from Alameda County is organizing a northern California convergence in March or April, following a southern California convergence on the weekend of Feb. 19-20 in San Diego focused on activist training and political organizing.

  3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 30, 2004

    4. MOTION WAS MADE (Devine/Douglas) to approve the minutes of November 30, 2004 as drafted. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

  4. STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER REPORTS

    5. Mike Cordova and Zuleika Navarro reported from their trip with Richard Parker as Humboldt's delegates to the Green Party of California plenary session held in Moorpark, Ventura County on Dec. 4 & 5.

    Zuleika reported that Eureka resident Dee Brady had been approved as Co-Coordinator of the GrassRoots Organizing Working Group (GROW), despite her absence at the state plenary and at any GPHC meeting for several months. Zuleika questioned the overall effectiveness of GROW, specifically the express focus on recruiting "progressive Democrats" instead of a broader spectrum. Martha commented that local Democrats dropped their supposed interest in 'fixing' Measure M after Nov. 2. Greg suggested that Democrats were using Measure M as an excuse to bash the Green Party, despite the fact that the GPHC never approved the language formally, nor did it endorse its passage in the election. Zuleika said the plenary in general was very unorganized. Zuleika also reported on a meeting of Campaigns and Candidates which featured Peter Camejo calling upon Greens to stick to their principles, and not to become fake Greens who don't vote Green in partisan elections or who don't vote for Green issues if elected to local office. Participants also suggested more local initiatives to pair with more local candidates to implement a bottom-up strategy.

    Mike suggested that the "Greens Save America" session and much of the plenary was bogged down with procedural wrangling, allowing only the national delegate & alternate selection to occur. California's new national delegates are Peter Camejo, David Cobb, Forrest Hill and Kent Mesplay. Douglas asked that the next SC agenda include consideration of a resolution calling upon any local resident seeking higher internal office within the Green Party to be also involved at the local level with the GPHC. Mike reported that reforms to Green primary elections and national delegate selection and mandate procedures are now tied up in the Bylaws Standing Committee, but that many county and regional Green organizations report problems with internal democracy. Charles said the state party has yet to update its website to reflect the new website, phone number and contact address for the GPHC.

    Mike said many Standing Committee seats lay open, but attendance at two consecutive state plenaries is expected. The GPCA is struggling to streamline its platform process to enable more timely updates. Martha agreed to be a contact in helping write a sustainable agriculture plank of the state platform. The GPCA office is supposed to be getting automated reporting software to county organizations to assist them in meeting their FPPC requirements. The next GPCA plenary will be in the spring of 2005 in the San Fernando Valley, followed by a summer plenary in Santa Cruz.

    Mike also gave his Treasurer's Report, GPHC assets total $349, including a $20 contribution at the meeting from Martha. The debit card is en route.

    Charles reported that he had accepted employment as a reporter covering local politics for a new publication. While not legally required to do so, for ethical reasons Charles has decided to restrict his involvement in GPHC activities to support services as Secretary and website/listserv administrator, and stand aside from voting on a range of policy matters. Charles said he can no longer be a voting member of the Election or Media Committees either due to their direct bearing on policy and public relations.

    Martha reported on a conference call between Humboldt Green Genes and anti-GMO activists from Alameda, Butte, Fresno, Marin, Nevada, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz, Sonoma and Yolo counties, wherein a statewide strategy was laid out, with a statewide initiative an eventual goal, to be proceeded by organizing the "agents of social change," the farmers, and by further pursuing ordinances on the city and county level, likely in November, 2006. Martha suggested statewide gatherings are in the works, and what is most needed now is coalition-building. Mike said the union organizing drive at Sun Valley would be a good way for Greens to support farmers and build a network of resistance to practices similarly violent to labor and nature. Greg suggested the need for a Spanish-speaking liaison to the farm workers. Zuleika volunteered to serve as she is fluent in Spanish, and further plans to support union organizing efforts will be on the next agenda.

  5. UPDATE ON RECOVERY OF NECESSARY DOCUMENTS, MATERIALS AND ACCESS

    6. Barbara reported that the pager and voicemail system for (707) 444-7676 was now in Charles & Mike's name, although they must show their ID's to the company at the earliest opportunity. Martha suggested that the new number needs to be advertised more to make it worth the time. Barbara said the system was paid off through next year. Mike agreed to keep the pager, with Zuleika as alternate.

    Charles reported that the bank account, pager/voicemail, website & listservs have been completely recovered, and that the P.O. Box simply needs to be attended to by the former and current Chair at their earliest convenience. Martha related the problems surrounding the faulty list provided by County Elections, which was not a list of Green Party registrants. Mike said that other county Green Parties have reported problems with their Registrars of Voters. Barbara suggested a list of Greens be obtained that is broken down by supervisorial district. Charles reported that he's had no success reaching Dee Brady, who is still in possession of the tabling materials belonging to the GPHC. Barbara said that the materials cannot be allowed to be stolen, and suggested a formal letter to Dee by the SC. Greg and Charles agreed to visit Dee to resolve the matter.

  6. PROPOSAL TO CHANGE MEETING PLACE, TIME AND LOCATION

    7. Charles related the scheduling conflict imposed by his new job as a reporter with the first Tuesday of the month, as the Eureka City Council meets the first and third Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. Charles suggested it did little good to have the SC meeting in Eureka when Eureka's most important community meeting was happening at the same time.

    MOTION WAS MADE (Douglas/Allen) to move the place of the meeting to the second Monday of every month, to move the time of the meeting to 6:30 p.m. and to move the location of the meeting to the most optimal facility available from Humboldt County, as determined by the SC on-line. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

  7. REVIEW OF PROPOSED GENERAL ASSEMBLY AGENDA

    8. Tabled.

  8. PROPOSAL FOR PURCHASE OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE TO FACILITATE REMOTE ATTENDANCE

    9. Tabled.

  9. PROPOSAL FOR FUNDRAISING THROUGH PUBLICATION OF A BI-MONTHLY PERIODICAL

    10. Tabled.

  10. PROPOSAL FOR FUNDRAISING THROUGH A BENEFIT CONCERT SERIES

    11. Tabled.

  11. REVIEW OF PROPOSAL FOR SHARED OFFICE IN ARCATA

    12. Charles reported that the Redwood Chapter, ACLU has seemingly found alternate arrangements at the Arcata Service Center. Mike suggested the use of a virtual office as a stop-gap measure. Martha expressed doubt that on-line meetings build community in an effective way. Barbara thought the virtual office was alienating and empowered those controlling the system. Martha suggested taking out advertisements in local papers asking for some donated space for a GPHC office. Barbara suggested public service announcements, classified ads, and radio spots.

    MOTION WAS MADE (Douglas/Allen) to advertise GPHC space needs and pursue further negotiations with unnamed parties to obtain GPHC office space in downtown Arcata. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

  12. REVIEW OF ANTI-GMO PRESS CONFERENCE ON DEC. 17

    13. Greg expressed support for the two points agreed to focus upon (Town Hall meeting on exemptions to Arcata law, renewing effort for County-wide GMO ban), and suggested a call for other municipalities to adopt GMO bans be added. Shawn Tulecke related a project for his political action class and the plans of his group to call a press conference to announce the formation of a Humboldt Food Sustainability Task Force. Shawn said their goal was to build a coalition of farmers, and making a connection between petroleum politics and buying food locally and organically. Martha said it might be premature to announce a task force before the coalition-building is further accomplished. Greg said that farmers have a lot to lose with allowing this problem to intensify. Shawn said he wants to focus his energies on calling for the formation of the group now and building it up over time with CSA community-building events. Greg suggested that the Greens could co-sponsor a press conference with the new Task Force and simply allow the respective spokespersons to take turns. Martha said the Media Committee needs to be reactivated following recent resignations.

    MOTION WAS MADE (Allen/Devine) to re-activate the Media Committee under Allen, Devine and Tulecke, and empower them to issue a press release and act as spokespersons for their respective groups to hold a Joint Press Conference & Rally between the GPHC and the HFSTF on the lawn of City Hall, 736 F Street, Arcata on Friday, December 17 at Noon, the same day the Arcata GMO-ban comes into legal effect, to celebrate this victory and to call for the following:
    1. An Arcata Town Hall meeting on the two exceptions to the GMO-ban ordinance for GMO-laced food products and for research.
    2. A call for surrounding municipalities in Humboldt County to adopt their own GMO-bans using the Arcata ordinance as a model.
    3. A renewed push for a County ordinance using Arcata as a model, via coalition-building efforts involving local farmers, and eventually a ballot measure committee to wage a political campaign on behalf of a new County GMO-ban ordinance.
    MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY (DOUGLAS STANDS ASIDE)

  13. OPEN DISCUSSION

    14. Tabled.

  14. CLOSING CIRCLE

    15. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Charles Douglas, Secretary, Steering Committee of the GPHC