[statecom] National Committee Proposals

Fri Apr 6 19:08:00 EDT 2007

I like this version much better than the one that allowed on line proxies.
Betts Zisk

-----Original Message-----
From: statecom-bounces at green-rainbow.org
[mailto:statecom-bounces at green-rainbow.org]On Behalf Of Yarden
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2007 6:07 PM
To: statecom at green-rainbow.org; statecom-discuss at green-rainbow.org
Cc: Adcom
Subject: [statecom] National Committee Proposals

The following proposals will be coming up for a vote in the National
Committee of the GPUS next week:

ID 272 - Allocation of Delegates to the National Committee of the Green
Party  version 2
Floor Manager: Elizabeth Arnone

Backgound
"The Delegate Apportionment Committee (DAC) was elected pursuant to
GPUS proposal 175, worked for 10 months discussing and negotiating
apportionment issues, achieved consensus, accepted amendments, and
proposed a new delegate apportionment formula in the form of proposal
256. This proposal needed 66.7% approval to pass; proposal 256 received
65% approval. Since a major issue of contention seemed to be that of
proxies, this proposal differs from the DAC proposal only in
eliminating proxies for online voting. We hope that this simple, yet
significant change, can now move us forward on this subject."

While one might have been happier had the framers' of the first version
been a bit more critical in original proposal, the current version has
been examined more carefully.  Barring serious objections, I expect to
be voting Yes.

*********************************

ID 274 - 2007 Annual National Meeting Budget
Floor Manager: Katey Culver

Barring serious objections, I expect to be voting Yes.

****************************

ID 276 - Amendment to the GPUS Rules  Procedures Rapid Endorsement
Process
Floor Manager: Rebecca Rotzler

The Proposal ID276 requires further study on my part. I submit the test
for your scrutiny,  and would especially welcome advice from people who
have served as members of the AdCom and have more experience with these
matters.

Home
Vote
Background
This proposal amends the "Steering Committee Endorsement Process"
(i.e., a rapid response endorsement process) in the GPUS Rules and
Policies in order to bring the process into compliance with other GPUS
policy, and to facilitate both a more transparent and accessible
process, while retaining the
accountability and authority designated in the original language; and
also will stipulate a clear channel for communications, decreasing the
potential for mis-communication.  This is not meant to change the
policy in regard to the GPUS National Committee as the ultimate
decision-making body, but to come up with an accessible policy for the
GPUS.

A review of voting page proposal archives and the rules makes clear
that the National Committee is the body which authorizes GPUS
endorsements, with some provision for the Steering Committee to make
endorsements or statements on behalf of he GPUS if there is a time
constraint. The current policy for rapid endorsements, however, doesn't
reflect the fact that the voting page has become the official record of
the National Committee; the fact that the voting page program does not,
for good reason, allow a proposal to go immediately into a voting
period; the unfeasibility of requesting a National Committee vote and
expecting to reach a quorum within one week of a proposal being
introduced. The National Committee is larger today than when the policy
was adopted. Further, it is not apparent that the processes currently
described in the policy have ever been used at all.

The current policy allows the SC, in consultation with GP media and
other relevant advisors, to make a rapid endorsement or statement given
a 24-hour deadline, with 80% agreeing to the need for a timely
response, and consensus regarding the content itself. The policy allows
the NC to make a 2 to 7 day decision, involving various channels of
communication and an online (listserv) decision. The third option is
for a greater than 7 day (and presumably fewer than 3 week) response,
by sending a proposal to the NC "votes" list *and* to all other
delegates and/or others for an online decision involving a quorum of NC
delegates and an 80% approval threshold. These options, if ever
utilized, would involve a huge amount of e-traffic, and a potential
confusing mess in terms of trying to figure out the timeline, possible
revisions/amendments, compiling feedback, approval, rejection, etc.
Further, given the current use of the voting page, use of the voting
page as the official record, and expectations of a more clear process
involving floor managers and online discussion, these options seem less
feasible than they may have appeared at the time they were adopted.

Proposal
That the current policy in the GPUS Rules & Procedures, 4.
STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS, be replaced with the following
amendment:

GPUS Rules & Procedures
4. STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS/ENDORSEMENT PROCESS FOR TIME
SENSITIVE REQUESTS

A. 24-48 Hour Response

The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokespeople
and other knowledgeable greens, will draft a statement, and use the
appropriate spokespeople to disseminate said statement. The Steering
Committee will also e-mail and otherwise transmit the statement to the
Green Party National Committee for comment before releasing the
statement publicly, but shall be allowed to release the statement even
without feedback. A quorum of at least 80% of all members of the Green
Party Steering Committee is necessary for determining that events
require an immediate response, and there must be an agreement among at
least 80% of all Steering Committee members on the substance of their
response.

B. Three to fourteen day response

The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokespeople
and other knowledgeable greens, shall be empowered to draft a response.
This response shall be transmitted to the National Committee for
feedback and advice. In making a final decision, the Steering Committee
will take into account recommendations and objections from the National
Committee. The Steering Committee will use the appropriate spokespeople
to disseminate said statement or response. If, at any point during this
period, response is heard from half or more member states with an 80%
majority either for approval or
rejection, the Steering Committee will be bound by that response.

C. Two to three week response.

Such proposals will follow the regular process for submission to the
voting queue, with the exception of an expedited timeline: upon
reception, the Secretary will immediately contact the Steering
Committee for approval to send the proposal on to the voting page.
There will be a one week discussion period, and one week for the vote.
The approval threshold will be unchanged from the regular policy
governing approval thresholds.

CURRENT LANGUAGE
http://gp.org/documents/rules.shtml

4. STEERING COMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT PROCESS

A. 24 Hour Response

The Steering Committee, in consultation with Green media spokes people
and other knowledgeable greens, will draft a statement, and use the
appropriate spokes people to disseminate said statement. The Steering
committee will also e-mail and otherwise transmit the statement to
Green Party representatives, the elected leadership of the State
Parties, and/or the instant response designate of the respective state
parties for comment before releasing the statement publicly, but shall
be allowed to release the statement even without feedback. A quorum of
at least 80% of the members of the Green Party Steering Committee is
necessary for determining that events require an immediate response,
and there must be a complete consensus among Steering Committee
members participating on the substance of their response.

B. Two to seven day response

The Steering Committee shall be empowered to draft a response. This
response shall be transmitted to the state parties for acceptance or
rejection along with a note stating how swiftly the Green Party
Steering Committee wishes to respond. The State Parties shall designate
a person to be the conduit for these transmissions. This person can be
a representative to the GREEN PARTY Coordinating Committee, a state
party official, or any other person that the state party designates.
The designates shall be responsible for polling the Greens in their
state as to the appropriateness of the response by whatever set of
rules their state party sets up, and transmitting that response back to
the GREEN PARTY Steering Committee. Because of the time factor, these
resolutions shall be acted upon by a pass/fail process. The GREEN PARTY
Steering Committee shall be empowered to
make a public statement if at least one half of the member states
respond to the statement proposaand at least 80% of the responses are
affirmative.

C. Greater than seven days response

Any state party that wishes the GREEN PARTY to weigh in on a
particular issue shall draft and pass a resolution according to their
own set of rules, and then pass a resolution asking that it be
submitted to the GREEN PARTY for use as a national statement on the
issue. These resolutions shall then be transmitted to the GREEN PARTY
Secretary and then forwarded to the designated representative of each
affiliated state party. The state conduits for these resolutions are
asked to poll their membership using whatever process is appropriate
for their state. Any potential changes to the resolution must be
returned to the GREEN PARTY Secretary within 5 days of the receipt of
the resolution. at which time the GREEN PARTY shall submit either an
altered or original resolution for passage. Alternately, the GREEN
PARTY Steering Committee and National Committee can propose and draft
resolutions on the issues which shall then be circulated in the same
manner as resolutions coming from state parties. Within 5 days of the
receipt of the second resolution, the designated issue's
representatives are asked to transmit their acceptance or rejection of
the resolution. At least 50% of the member states of the GREEN PARTY
must vote on a resolution, and at least 80% of the voting states must
approve the resolution before the GREEN PARTY shall be allowed to issue
a public statement.

Resources
None

References
CONTACT:  Holly Hart hhart at blue.weeg.uiowa.edu
http://gp.org/documents/rules.shtml

****************
Elie Yarden,
delegate NCMA GRP_______________________________________________
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