Title: CRG Needs Accessment of GRP
Sponsors: Brian Cady, Eileen Wheeler Sheehan
Vetting Committees: To Be: Adcom, Membership, Diversity and Volunteer Recruitment Committee (MDVC)
Floor Manager/Shephard: Brian Cady
Summary: Collaborative Resolutions Group will spend three program hours working with State Com and other GRP members to assess Green-Rainbow party organizational needs and opportunities for organizational development and transformation, and present the findings back to State Com.
Background: Recent months and years have seen GRP active members embroiled in various controversies, one after another. Registered GRP voter numbers drop year by year, and party splits over the years have left only one faction remaining, with other factions leaving the GRP. Recently there's been a vigorous disagreement about trans and women's rights and related policy. Can we transform the Green-Rainbow party into what Massachusetts needs now? Can we inspire the state, our registered voters and our active membership to do the policy and political work that needs to be done in Massachusetts? Can CRG midwife the rebirth of the GRP, into a dynamic, vibrant, promising and successful political party?
Text of Proposal: The list of issues said to be 'about to split the GRP' during the past few years includes COVID existence and causation, last summer's party leadership transformation/decapitation proposal, and the current trans versus women's rights issue. Previously Brian Cady understands that there were splits surrounding Grace Ross's departure, and the incorporation of a contingent of newly recruited members into statecom.
The Green-Rainbow party appears stuck 'in a holding pattern'; our registered membership numbers steadily declining, and our active membership, those doing the work, plateaued at a skeleton crew level; yet issues we've first championed have come to be central to Massachusetts political debate. The latter shows that our policies resonate with the Massachusetts public we strive to represent, yet the former two reveal that we are stymied. Our vision of leading Massachusetts to a green, prosperous, fair and good future by winning elective office seems stuck somehow, incomplete, with no effective progression towards this goal lately.
Recently Brian Cady and John Blumenstiel were asked to research conflict resolution training options for presentation to Statecom. They approached Collaborative Resolutions Group (CRG) of Greenfield, Massachusetts, which list such trainings as services it provides. In discussion with CRG executive director Debbie Lynangale, Debbie suggested that it would be best to conduct a needs assessment of the Green-Rainbow party before pursuing any individual training, hence this proposal.
Implementation: CRG will be hired to present three hours of program time with GRP members, such as Statecom; at a rate of $125 per program hour. These program hours will not be the only labor CRG does - there will be extensive preparation and research.
Financial Implications: This will cost the Green-Rainbow party $375: $125 per program hour. for three program hours.
References and Attachments: This video introduction for GRP Adcom to CRG was prepared by Debbie Lynangale of CRG: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1foHlVQfEew8EYim-S2leqe7dTFMyyyE1/view?usp=sharing
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David S. reviewed the friendly amendments:
1) Eliminate the specification of CRG as the contractor and open it up to evaluate other possible contractors before making a decision.
2) AdCom will make the final selection of contractor after considering all options, without having to get approval at another StateCom meeting.
3) AdCom is authorized to spend up to $375 on the assessment.
4) There is no deadline – AdCom can decide when to act.
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