[statecom] Minutes from GRP August 25, 2007 Convention in Boston

[Yarden]

Larry Ely,
Thank you for the effort.  I find nothing in the minutes submitted that 
I wish to correct.  And they are helpful to me in understanding why I 
had the impression that their was no violation of an actual consensus 
in the actions taken by party members to place on the GRP primary 
ballot the names that appear on it.  While the minutes are not fully 
descriptive, they do constitute a reminder of what need not be 
re-chopped endlessly.

I believe that associating names of individuals with positions on 
strategic options, however accurately, is necessarily a good idea, 
because may encourage factionalism.  On the other hand, we a 
Green-Rainbow Party, committed to an ecological, thus inclusive, 
politics will have outgrown the politics of personal faction, and even 
more so because it is not a question of winning or losing but of 
harmonizing adaptation with our ecological goals.

In the light of the above comments, allow me to voice the hope that 
people, recognizing the fact that I was convinced by Mike Heichman to 
move from my rigid initial strategic position, No-one but a verifiable 
Green for President, that would throw down the gauntlet to the whole 
GPUS, and commit the GRP to participating in a federal election on 
those terms, to greater flexibility in
this matter, will agree that I acted in the conviction that I was 
representing a consensus about strategy that was stronger than any vote 
taken.

Having had opportunity to observe the benefits of the decision, I am 
even more of the mind that the strategic choice was the correct one.  
This in no way assures us that the in the NC of the GPUS, the 
competitive struggle for some supposed and unpredictable advantage for 
this or that possible candidate will not continue.  But, thanks to a 
revived CDLC, we are in a good position to take advantage of our 
decision to build the party, rather than emulate the behaviors and the 
noise that interferes with communication in the various bodies of the 
National Committee and makes decision-making difficult and not as 
effective as it could be.
Elie Yarden
MRGRA



On Wednesday, January 23, 2008, at 09:14  AM, Larry Ely wrote:

> Minutes from the Green-Rainbow Party Convention Saturday, August 25, 
> 2007
> Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Boston
>
> { These minutes only cover the afternoon session after I arrived at c. 
> 2:15 pm - Larry Ely, Secretary }
>
> {{ Note added 1-23-08:  I sent these minutes in the body of the email 
> on 9-12-07 to:  AdCom at green-rainbow.org and to
>     isis at isisdesign.com.  I am now resending them to AdCom, StateCom, 
> and Platform -  and also to Mike Heichman, who just requested them in 
> an email to me.  I am also sending them to Grace, John Walsh, Bill 
> Cunningham, and Wanda Boeke just to be sure they get them, as they 
> have been active engagers in GRP conversations across various topics 
> re the up-coming StateCom.  }}
>
> Mike Heichman presented an article entitled “REVISING THE JANUARY 21, 
> 2007 DECISION BY THE STATE COMMITTEE; ISSUE: WHO WILL AND WILL NOT BE 
> PLACED ON THE GRP LINE FOR PRESIDENT DURING THE MARCH 4, 2008 
> PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY”. He had expressed reservation to Elie about the 
> language adopted on January 21, and inserted language then that the 
> decision to bar an independent from the Green-Rainbow Party line 
> should be reconsidered at the next Convention. Item #3 on January 21 
> stated: “We will not, as a party, endorse or give support to 
> independent candidates of candidates of other parties.” His article 
> before the Convention wanted to change Item #3 to read: “We will not, 
> as a party, endorse or give support to candidates of other parties.” A 
> lot of confusion followed, and lots of debate. For example, there is 
> in Massachusetts an Independent Party and this was confused with 
> “independent candidates.” On the fly his article #3 was reworded (but 
> I do not have the exact language) to be recast as to whether to allow 
> unenrolled to appear on the Green ballot or not to allow unenrolled to 
> appear on the Green ballot. A vote was taken and the result was:
>     4 votes for “only Green, not unenrolled”
>   25 votes for “Green or unenrolled”
> Debate ensued in which Wanda, Elie, Grace, and Jen spoke at some 
> length. The vote was taken again.as a straw poll. This time is was:
>   7 votes for “only Green, not unenrolled”
>  20 votes for “Green or unenrolled”
> Final vote:
>   7 votes for “only Green, not unenrolled”
>  21 votes for “Green or unenrolled”
>
> Greg Garrit of Rhode Island, on the GPUS Presidential Campaign Support 
> Committee asked whether the Green-Rainbow Party was clear on the 
> procedure for communicating its decisions to GPUS (did not catch the 
> specific detail here).
>
> Jerry Kann, a Green of New York state spoke on behalf of Nader as 
> running as a Green.
>
> Cynthia McKinney is running as a Green, and spoke on her candidacy.
>
> New elected officers were announced:
>
> male co-chair: Nat Fortune
> female co-chair Merelice
> communications dir.  Eli Beckerman
> secretary  Larry Ely
> fundraising dir. nobody ran, nobody drafted, nobody elected
> membership dir.  James O'Keefe
> treasurer   Dan Melnechuk
>
> National reps. to GPUS
>
>            Elie Yarden
>            John Walsh
>            Annie Butler
>            Martina Robinson
>            Patricia O’Brien
>           Jamie McLaughlin (alternate)
>
> Submitted: 9-12-07 by Larry Ely, Secretary
>
>
>