Minutes
Green-Rainbow Party
Organizational and Spring State Committee Meeting
April 2, 2016, 130 Dartmouth Street, Boston, Massachusetts
Organizational Meeting
Present State Committee Members (Town/Region/State Senate District):
Charlene DiCalogero (Berlin/ Central/ Worcester & Middlesex)
Danny Factor (Acton/ Metro-West/ Middlesex & Worcester)
David Spanagel (Lancaster/ Central/Worcester & Middlesex)*
*--by phone.
Guests: Ian Jackson, Joyce Palmer Fortune, MK Merelice, Daphne
Stevens, Brian Cady, Roni Beal, Charlene DiCalogero, Owen Broadhurst,
William Ashley, Greg Williams, Angel Ayala, Darlene Elias, Elie Yarden, Nancy Slator,
Dawn Bennett, Manuel Pintado, David Gerry
The meeting was called to order at 9:32 A.M
It was determined that quorum of 2 was met. (There were 3 in attendance, including one by phone.)
David Gerry and Roni Beal were re-appointed as co-chairs by consensus.
Ian Jackson was re-appointed as Treasurer by consensus
Danny Factor was re-appointed as Secretary by consensus.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:37 A.M.
State Committee Meeting
Present Members (Town/Region/ State Senate District):
Ian Jackson (Arlington/ Greater Boston/ 4th Middlesex)
Joyce Palmer Fortune, (Whately/West/Hampton. Franklin & Worcester)
MK Merelice (Brookline/Greater Boston/1st Middlesex & Norfolk)
Daniel Factor* (Acton/Metro-West/ Middlesex & Worcester)
Daphne Stevens (Northampton/ West/ Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester)
Brian Cady (Boston/ Greater Boston/ )
Roni Beal (Westminster/ Central/Worcester & Middlesex)
Charlene DiCalogero* (Berlin/ Central/Worcester & Middlesex)
Owen Broadhurst (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampton & Hampshire)
William Ashley (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampton & Hampshire)
Gregory Williams, (Boston/ Greater Boston/ )
Angel Ayala, (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampton & Hampshire)
Darlene Elias, (Holyoke/West/ 2nd Hampton & Hampshire)
Elie Yarden, (Cambridge/ Greater Boston/ )
Nancy Slator, (New Salem/ West/ Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester)
Dawn Bennett, (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampton & Hampshire)
Manuel Pintado,
Arthur Wellington Conquest III, (Brookline/ Greater Boston/ 1st Middlesex & Norfolk)
John Andrews (Lexington/ Greater Boston / )
Present Alternate: Ralph Walton (Boston/ Greater Boston/ )
[Note, some member regional info needs to be added.]
*--Was State Com member prior to the meeting
Other members and alternate were appointed during the meeting
Guests: David Gerry
The meeting was called to order at 9:38 A.M
The party co-chairs welcomed everyone to this meeting.
Appointment of State Committee Members
The following twenty proportional members were appointed to the State Committee
Ian Jackson (Arlington/ Greater Boston/ 4th Middlesex)
Joyce Palmer Fortune, (Whately/West/Hampshire. Franklin & Worcester)
MK Merelice (Brookline/Greater Boston/1st Middlesex & Norfolk)
Daphne Stevens (Northampton/ West/ Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester)
Brian Cady (Boston/ Greater Boston/ )
Roni Beal (Westminster/ Central/Worcester & Middlesex)
Owen Broadhurst (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampden & Hampshire)
William Ashley (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampden & Hampshire)
Gregory Williams, (Boston/ Greater Boston/ )
Angel Ayala, (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampden & Hampshire)
Darlene Elias, (Holyoke/West/ 2nd Hampden & Hampshire)
Elie Yarden, (Cambridge/ Greater Boston/ )
Nancy Slator, (New Salem/ West/ Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester)
Dawn Bennett, (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampden & Hampshire)
Manuel Pintado,
Arthur Wellington Conquest III, (Brookline/ Greater Boston/ 1st Middlesex & Norfolk)
Daniel Kontoff (Boston/Greater Boston )
Richard Purcell, (Holyoke/ West/ 2nd Hampden & Hampshire)
David Rolde (Weston, Metro-West/
Alan Alcombright, (Savoy/ West/ Berkshire., Hampshire, Franklin and Hampton)
The following alternate was appointed to the State Committee
Ralph Walton (Boston/Greater Boston/ )
Determination of Quorum
Danny (Party Secretary) determined that with the State Com roster currently having three members, with the appointment of twenty members, State Com now has 23 members and
that the quorum is 12. Quorum was met with 18 members present.
Appointment of Members Arriving Later During the Meeting.
John Andrews (Lexington/ Greater Boston/ ) and Ralph Walton (Boston/Greater Boston
) who arrived later to the meeting were appointed to the State Committee by consensus, John Andrews as a delegate and Ralph Walton as an alternate. As a result, Danny determined that the State Com roster increased from 23 to 24 members, increasing quorum from 12 to 13. Quorum continued to be met with 19 delegates and 1 alternate present.
Merelice suggested that the GRP send out a press release stating that a new State Committee had been elected.
All State Committee members gave introductions about themselves
Choosing of Timekeeper, Vibes, Stacker and Parliamentarian
Ian was chosen as Timekeeper
Daphne was chosen as Vibes Watcher
Joyce was chosen as Stacker
Merelice and David Gerry were chosen as Parliamentarians
Danny as Party secretary assumed duties as Secretary
Approval of Agenda
Angel wanted to raise the matter of the State Committee deciding to meet more often than four times per year. Consensus was agreed to approve the agenda was one addition: that there be a ten-minute agenda item at the end of the meeting in which members can raise any topic, where Angel could raise that topic if he chooses to.
Summer, 2016 State Committee Meeting
It was decided by consensus that the Summer, 2016 State Committee Meeting will take place on Sunday, July 17th. Joyce and Daphne will co-facilitate, and the Nashua River Chapter will assist with administrative duties. The proposed location was Camelot Co-Housing in Berlin. It was suggested that Bill and Dawn might co-facilitate the October State Committee meeting, however this would not be decided until the July meeting.
Approval of Winter, 2016 State Committee Minutes
The Winter, 2016 minutes were approved with no corrections. Owen stated that he had a concern, but he would stand aside.
Introduction to the State Committee
David G. explained what our State Committee (State Com) is:
David stated that State Com is the highest collective body in the party, except for the annual State Convention. The State Committee directs the Administrative Committee (AdCom) and our working committees. The responsibilities of State Committee members include reading State Committee emails and responding, occasionally serving as co-facilitator, proposing creative proposals, and thinking about what the party is doing and how we can improve it. It is expected that State Com members be at least on one working committee (exceptions being if you are on AdCom, are candidate or a chapter co-chair, or a member of a National Committee) State Com members should also be generally familiar with our bylaws.
David explained that the GRP uses the consensus process to make decisions. One of the advantages of consensus is that the end result is one in which everyone is satisfied.
Greg commented that in order to have consensus, one needs to have the right mindset: sometimes what looks like consensus is really not. One needs often to truly lay ones position aside to reach consensus. Charlene says that for consensus to truly work, participation and ‘speaking up’ is necessary. Elie says that a conventional consensus is like habit, like going out for dinner, but a rational consensus is more difficult because it involves setting policy which requires convincing reasons. Elie said that everyone should have the opportunity to say what they think and feel.
Merelice stated that State Com members are put on two email lists, State Com Business and State Com-Discuss. Merelice asked that members please take seriously what is on the State Com business list. The Discuss list has to do with things that people should be aware of, and there is no obligation to participate. Merelice further stated that discussions can rile people, and one or two people should not dominate a discussion, so one must be aware of netiquette rules. Merelice also stated that if no consensus can be reached, the matter falls to a vote. Merelice further stated that there is a big difference between unanimity (which is not consensus) and working to a solution--- which is consensus.
Ian stated that if someone sends an email to the Business list that a decision needs to be made, you should try to participate. Ian also stated that State Com members can call for a special State Committee meeting if needed.
Manny asked for a further explanation about the difference between majority vote and consensus. Arthur and Merelice pointed out that in a consensus discussion, the minority view is heard and respected, and that consensus decisions tend to be more inclusive to people of color and women. Owen pointed out that in such a discussion, we should keep our eyes out for those who are hesitant or someone who seems uncomfortable. Elie pointed out that sometimes one person’s objection can bring on a whole new consensus.
Danny pointed out that the GRP already has listeserve guidelines which are on our website.
Appointment of Diversity Representative(s) to Administrative Committee
Arthur asked for a definition of what the GRP means by diversity representative, stating that he was concerned that the State Committee and the GRP is not diverse enough yet. Merelice stated that references to diversity in the GRP bylaws can be found in bylaws 9.6, 9.7, 8.5.3. Darlene and Angel stated that they might be willing to become a diversity representative, but there was concern stated by Charlene and Danny that we also will be asking State Com members to volunteer for working committees later in the day, and that perhaps it is a priority to populate these committees first. David G. stated that he would be more comfortable if Darlene and Angel would be willing to join a working committee before being on AdCom. It was agreed to consensus that the mater of electing diversity representatives to AdCom would be tabled until after State Com members assign themselves to working committees.
Officer and Committee Reports
Administrative Committee (AdCom) Report
Adcom submitted the following report:
Administrative Committee Report
2016 Spring State Committee Meeting
Voting Members
Roni Beal, Co-chair
David Gerry, Co-chair
Ian Jackson, Treasurer
Danny Factor, Secretary
Daphne Stevens, Diversity Representative
Nonvoting Members
Brian Cady, Membership Director
For the past 3 months the Administrative Committee has been
overseeing the regional conventions. This task was successful in 6
of the 8 regions. AdCom continues to work on seeing that a
convention will be held for the South Metropolitan and Southeastern
regions before the next State Committee meeting in July. This would
have been a much smoother process if the chapters had sent
representatives to serve on AdCom.
An initiative was taken for the 2016 Presidential Primary. The
city/town clerks of all 351 Massachusetts communities were contacted
and asked to provide unofficial results. This proved to be very
successful as nearly 200 clerks responded within 48 hours of the
primary.
During the primary there were a few complaints of voting
irregularities some of which are still being addressed.
A place has been secured for the GRP to participate in the Boston
Pride Parade on June 11.
Without a Fundraising & Finance Committee or Fundraising Director
AdCom has to perform those duties. These include writing the
letters and e-mails, the mailing and follow-up.
AdCom also has to do the work of the Communications & Media
Committee and the Communications Director. AdCom is taken up with
having to write press releases and e-mail blast, creating and
updating content on the website. Media outlets such as FaceBook and
Twitter have been left to languish.
It is clear that AdCom cannot fully attend to its responsibilities
while having to perform the duties of two other committees.
Secretary Report
Danny described his responsibilities since the last State Committee meeting. Roni has graciously agreed to be delegated to take AdCom minutes, and Danny has been archiving them. Danny has fielded phone requests from GRP members, often referring those interested in the GRP to the Membership Director. He has communicated with the state Elections Division with matters such as clarification of deadlines, misinformation about the GRP given out by certain towns, and informing them of errors in election tabulations. The matter of misinformation and errors was handled well by the Elections Division, i.e. any corrections were made timely. Per State Com’s instructions, Danny wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Commonwealth requesting that the Commonwealth better provide voters information about all of their options including the GRP. The Elections Division wrote back, refusing to change their policies.
Treasurer‘s Report
Ian submitted the following Treasurer’s Report
Description Credit Debit
State Starting Balance 6/1/2016 $3,072.80
Donations $393.07
Expenses
Fund Raising $9.15
Bank Fees $0.00
Events $0.00
Postage $9.80
Candidate Contributions $0.00
Legal $0.00
Refund $0.00
Office Supplies $0.00
Nation Builder
Internet
Participation ? Meetings $0.00
Convention ? Food $0.00
Convention ? Rent $0.00
Events $0.00
Convention ? Supplies $54.14
State Com ? Food $0.00
State Com ? Rent $0.00
Printing $0.00
Ad $0.00
State Ending Balance 6/30/2016 $3,392.78
Donations $125.00
Expenses
Fund Raising PayPal Fees $0.00
Bank Fee $0.00
Events $0.00
Postage $6.45
Candidate Contributions
Legal
Refunded Contributions
Office Supplies $0.00
Nation Builder $89.00
Internet $49.95
Participation ? Meetings $800.00
Convention ? Food $74.90
Convention ? Rent $0.00
Convention ? Speaker $0.00
Convention ? Supplies $0.00
State Committee ? Food $0.00
State Committee ? Rent $0.00
Printing $0.00 0
AD 0
Federal Ending Balance 6/30/2016 $2,946.03
Description 2016 Budget
Starting Balance 1/1/2016 $3,416.24
Donations $6,980.37
Expenses
Fund Raising $151.48 5.11% 200
Bank Fees $39.00 1.32% 70
Events $200.00 6.75% 500
Postage $247.85 6.75% 300
Candidate Contributions $0.00 0.00% 1200
Legal $0.00 0.00% 0
Refunded Contributions $0.00 0.00% 0
Office Supplies $26.74 0.90% 50
Nation Builder $719.00 24.25% 972
Internet $224.98 7.59% 500
Participation ? Meetings ? NC $0.00 0.00% 1000
Convention ? Food $519.44 17.52% 600
Convention ? Rent $100.00 3.37% 250
Convention ? Speaker $200.00 6.75% 500
Convention ? Supplies $10.04 0.34% 200
State Com ? Food $0.00 0.00% 300
State Com ? Rent $125.00 4.22% 500
Printing $150.88 5.09% 500
Ads $250.00 8.43% 500
Material (Bumper stickers, T-shirts, Poster, Buttons, etc.) $0.00 0.00% 500
$2,964.41 8642
Ending Balance 6/30/2016 $7,432.20
Prepaid Rent
Donations/Per Month for Goal 720.17
YTD Donation Target 4,321.00
Donations above YTD Target $2,659.37
Convention Net 419.01
Ian Jackson
Ian further commented that we are generally on target with our spending, however there is an increased expense for Natation Builder software.
Membership Committee
Membership Director Brian Cady submitted the following report:
State Committee members,
Since winter 2016 State Com meeting, the membership committee met monthly and distributed literature to a new member in Lynn, MA.
Attached is a chart in pdf format of recent year's membership numbers. (I hope to, by Saturday, have further-updated party membership numbers, dependent on David Gerry's skilled and arduous efforts at conversion of the recently received Mass. State data set).
Brian
Brian supplemented his report with the following email:
Membership committee members also acquired 867 new GRP member email addresses, after updating Nation Builder files with the Jan 2016 state voter rolls, converted by David Gerry into a usable format.
Brian
Brian further supplemented his report with the following e-mail:
Hi Folks,
Attached are the most recent membership numbers from the state, via David Gerry, with chart, as well as a separate chart of these numbers. One can see a discouraging and unexplained drop over the recent months. We could guess that Bernie supporters have left the GRP recently, but this is only a guess.
Brian
Date J Active J Inactive J Total G Active G Inactive G Total F Active F Inactive F Total Active Inactive Total
22/02/12 3797 1305 5102 388 159 547 36 17 53 4221 1481 5702
19/06/12 3543 1845 5388 342 194 536 30 22 52 3915 2061 5976
21/08/12 3966 1742 5708 347 198 545 29 23 52 4342 1963 6305
23/10/12 4878 1461 6339 412 172 584 32 18 50 5322 1651 6973
03/03/14 5152 1346 6498 399 133 532 35 12 47 5586 1491 7077
08/09/14 4330 2014 6344 380 162 542 36 13 49 4746 2189 6935
08/12/14 4359 1681 6040 422 139 561 34 12 46 4815 1832 6647
23/03/15 4183 1400 5583 413 104 517 32 8 40 4628 1512 6140
04/01/16 4108 1677 5785 386 120 506 32 9 41 4526 1806 6332
21/03/16 3743 1400 5143 339 98 437 32 10 42 4114 1508 5622
Ian commented via email:
But it looks to me That Green-Rainbow Party is higher in 2016 than 2012. March 2016 5143 as opposed to February 2012 5102. Thank you Brian. We need to focus on what we have control. Before we throw out theories as why the Green designation dropped in membership we should decide it is worth the effort.
Ian Jackson
Brian commented that the Membership Committee tries to increase membership, and help volunteers and increase diversity within the GRP. The Membership Director is elected at the GRP State Convention. Brian stated that it was an accomplishment that we got 860 new names into Nation Builder, since this is central to building our party structure.
Candidate Development and Legal Committee (CDLC
CDLC submitted the following report:
General activities, First quarter 2016
CDLC reorganized Dec 2015/Jan 2016. The co-chairs are Charlene DiCalogero and Nat Fortune, the administrative secretary is David Spanagel, and general members are Maureen Doyle and Jonathan Martin. Our liaison from Ad Com is David Gerry. We now meet the 4th Tuesday of the month from 7:30 -9 PM by teleconference. In our January 2016 meeting, we reviewed lists of potential and suggested candidates. We assigned (or confirmed) CDLC liaisons to names on these lists, tasked each liaison with getting updated information for the lists, and discussed how we might persuade candidates and potential candidates to stay in better contact with their liaisons!
In our February 2016 meeting, we discussed how we could be more successful in recruiting and developing candidates. We generated a series of ideas that could easily overwhelm the time available from our members and are now considering how to prioritize our efforts. Local chapters and town/ward committees will be key to the success of such efforts, which is why we have developed a Candidate Recruitment Manual and why we will offer workshops at the annual convention both for candidates and for candidate supporters. We also reconfigured our candidate and prospective candidate lists, to make it easier to distinguish and track prospective candidates, active candidates, elected officials, and former officials; to connect them with local members; and for future reference when opportunities develop, to identify their state representative and senate districts in advance. In our March 2016 Meeting, we discussed and are beginning to make changes in how we make contact with potential candidates. We hope to complete these changes by the annual convention.
Our goals are to: get more useful information from potential candidates on first contact; provide quicker responses to inquiries; publicize opportunities for working on campaigns; and
help connect candidates/potential candidates with their ward and town committees and/or chapters.
We’d also like to learn earlier from members of opportunities for entry-level offices (such as planning boards, boards of health, representative town meetings, school committees and select boards for towns and corresponding offices for cities) and plan to survey attendees at the upcoming annual convention. We would be happy to engage chapters and town/ward committees in a discussion of how we can help them to encourage, support, and identify candidates and potential candidates, as well as inform them of the resources CDLC has to offer campaigns. Items on the agenda for our upcoming meetings include the possibility of offering campaign and/or messaging schools this fall and coming year, how such a school could be structured and what would be required to make it of greatest benefit. Your input is welcome.
Elected officials who are members of the Green-Rainbow Party: We seek the help of State Com members in helping us identify people currently in elected office. We are currently aware of two select board members, seven currently serving elected town meeting/town council representatives, and one housing board representative, not counting former elected officials no longer holding office.
Green-Rainbow Party candidates for office: We are currently aware of two committed candidates and six additional prospective candidates for state representative. We are also aware of five GRP members actively considering running for local select board, city council, town council and mayoral positions. We seek your help in identifying qualified candidates for local office!
Respectfully submitted by Nathanael Fortune, CDLC co-chair.
Convention Committee
Roni stated that the Convention Committee consists of Dave Spanagel, Carol Sotoropolous, and Joyce and Roni. The convention will take place on May 21, 2016 in Worcester and the committee has also found a good possible facility for a possible Boston convention in 2017. Jonathan Simon will speak on election fraud and there will be a focus on Black Lives Matter. Roni also stated that we will need help with registration, and kitchen and silent auction. We will need volunteers to get there early.
Fundraising and Finance Committee
The committee is not active. It was agreed upon by consensus that discussion regarding the budget and the possibility of hiring a fundraiser would be tabled, to be discussed at the agenda item where the Treasurer’s report would be discussed.
Platform Committee
Bill reported that the Platform Committee’s active members are Bill Ashley, Jed Stamos, and Elie Yarden, and Danny F. acts as liaison from AdCom. The Platform Committee has been asked by State Com to advise State Com on positions that it should take on the November, 2016 Ballot Questions. Bill reported that the Platform Committee plans to make these recommendations at the July, 2016 State Com meeting, once the measures that become certified as ballot petitions are announced.
Technical Committee
David Gerry submitted the following written report:
Technical Committee Report
2016 Spring State Committee Meeting
Two updates to the state-wide voter registry data have been
received. The first for Jan. 4 and the second for Mar. 21 the latter
is stilled being processed for importing into our database.
There was one issue with lack of access to cPanel on a2hosting that
was cleared up in less than 24 hours.
The past 3 months has shown that many mailing list administrators
require training.
There is currently one outstanding issue having to do with the
mailing lists that is being tracked.
David also explained that the Technical Committee works on the look (but not the content) of the website, and handles database issues such as voter rolls.
Legislative, Action and Communications Committees
The Legislative, Action and Communications Committees are inactive, hence there were no reports from these committees
Merelice pointed out that the GRP should find ways to use GRP members as volunteers who don’t necessarily want to—or can’t be a part of a working committee but can take on a particular individual task helping the GRP.
The meeting adjourned for lunch at 12:33 p.m.
The meeting convened again at 1: 20 p.m.
A sheet was passed around asking State Com members to sign up for a working committee.
State Com members signed up for the following Working Committees:
Action: Darlene Elias, Dawn Bennett, Manny Pintado
CDLC: John Andrews, Charlene DiCalogero, Ralph Walton
Communications: Owen Broadhurst, Nancy Slator, Joyce Palmer-Fortune
Convention: Roni Beal, Joyce Palmer-Fortune
Fundraising and Finance: Bill Ashley, Ian Jackson, Merelice
Legislative: Angel Ayala, Darlene Elias, Greg Williams, Ian Jackson, Dawn Bennett
Membership: Brian Cady, Daphne Stevens, Elie Yarden, Manny Pintado
Platform: Bill Ashley
Tech: David Gerry
Regional Convention Reports
Western Region
Joyce reported that The region (almost all members of the Pioneer Valley Chapter) used GRP membership lists to advertise the convention. Outreach was made to partner groups such as the International Socialist Organization (ISO). 19 people attended and 12 were nominated to the State Committee. There were three speakers at the convention.
Central Region.
Charlene reported that the region (members of the Nashua River Chapter) did a press release announcing announcing the event and made other announcements such as at the Naomi Klein speaker event. Region members distributed fliers. About 20 individuals attended the convention. (More information contained on the Nashua River Green-Rainbow Chapter report submitted in writing—see below)
Metro West & Northeast Regions
Danny reported that emails were sent to all GRP members in our database for the regions. Coordination took place between the Assabet River Valley Chapter and the Reading Green-Rainbow Town Committee. The meeting was held in Reading. 10 members attended, 9 in person and 1 by Skype. Barbara Clancy spoke about the movement against the Trans- Pacific Partnership. Terra Friedrichs spoke about the Pass Mass Amendment. Tar Larner, a GRP elected member of the Concord Housing Authority spoke about being an elected GRP member. One member, David Rolde, of the Metro-West Region was nominated to the State Committee by consensus.
Greater Boston Region
Brian reported that speakers spoke about the Black Lives Matter movement, and police treatment of people of color, and our 10 Key values. 7 members or the State Committee were nominated.
Town and Ward Committees
Danny, the Party Secretary, reported that three town and ward committee were elected: Acton, Reading and Boston Ward 11 (Jamaica Plain). The committees will be filing the requisite paperwork with the Elections Division, OCPF, the party and their respective municipalities. The Whately town committee did not receive the requisite five votes to become a Town Committee. There is also possible interest in a possible ward committee in Holyoke. It was noted that these committees have the option of using the process of creating the committee without being elected, but simply by filing the paperwork with the appropriate offices.
Chapter Reports
Assabet River Valley
The chapter (meetings range from 3-7 people) meets twice per month, one in-person meeting per-month at the Acton Memorial Library., and once per month by teleconference. Much of the focus has been supporting Danny Factor in his State Rep. campaign, in areas such as platform development and collecting signatures. Chapter members have also been involved in community groups such as Green Acton, the local Pass Mass Amendment Group, and the local Move to Amend chapter, the Acton Commission on Disabilities, the Acton Boxborough Diversity Coalition, and the Fostering Racial Justice Group. Chapter members speak out regularly at Acton Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting, in particular on issues having to do with curbing growth and renewable energy. An Acton Green-Rainbow Town Committee was elected. The chapter’s one elected member to the Concord Housing Authority, Tar Lanner, would like to see more low-income housing in town but the housing authority seems challenged to accomplish this.
Greater Boston
Merelice stated that the chapter is struggling but had a strong regional convention. The GBC has had a lot of campaigns and that has distracted them from doing much else. The GBC is not back on track in having regular meetings yet .Merelice said that it has been suggested that the chapter could hold more activities in Jamaica Plain and Roxbury, and grow from there. Arthur and Merelice are very involved in Brookline. Dawn asked about to what extent there is contact with the African American and gay and lesbian community. Greg, Merelice and David G. gave some history of the Rainbow Coalition beginning with Mel King’s run for mayor in the 1980’s. Arthur expressed confidence that we will get there because people don’t know where else to turn as they are getting screwed. He said that we represent all the colors of the rainbow.
Nashua River Green-Rainbow Chapter
Report to State Committee for Spring 2016 Meeting
Number of chapter meetings held during this quarter: 2.5
Roster of 12 active members, officers (current GRP committee assignments):
- Roni Beal (GRP Co-Chair, StateCom rep, AdCom rep, 2016 Convention Planning Chair)
- Gordon Davis
- Charlene DiCalogero, NRGR Co-Chair 2015-16 (CDLC co-chair, StateCom rep)
- John Helfrick, NRGR Treasurer
- Mark Laserte, NRGR Co-Chair 2016-17
- Bryan Moss, elected Town Meeting Rep, Shrewsbury
- Sharon Moss, NRGR Secretary
- Karen Sargent
- Carol Sotiropoulos, NRGR Co-Chair 2016-17 (GPUS delegate, 2016 Convention Planning)
- David Spanagel, NRGR Co-Chair (StateCom rep, CDLC Admin Secretary, 2016 Convention Planning, PCWG convener from summer onward)
- Dick Vaillette (StateCom rep)
- Sheryl Vaillette
[Note: 7 of these 12 active members also represent GRP- recognized Diversity categories: women, race, immigrant/ non-English as a primary language, GLBT, youth, low-income, and disability.]
January through March were largely focused on arranging and promoting the Region 2 (Central MA) convention, which has 64 cities and towns in it.
Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos established contact with the leadership of the youth-founded and -led “Solar for Our Heroes” nonprofit, staffed by Clark U. students, and recruited them to staff an information table at our convention.
January – Carol and Charlene, phone conference with United Neighbors of Fitchburg/ Cleghorn community organizer Eric Rodriguez to discuss assisting with UNF’s public transit organizing and to ask him to consider being a speaker for the regional convention.
Feb. 23, 2016: On a last-minute basis, Charlene DiCalogero publicized and hosted a meet and greet event with one of the five GP presidential candidates, Sedinam Kinamo Cristin Moyowasifza Curry, at New City Microcreamery in Hudson. The event was well-attended by members of the NRGR, Assabet Valley, GBC and other area GRs.
March –Charlene DiCalogero and David Spanagel both won official election to the GRP State Committee on the March 1, 2016 presidential primary ballot (38 and 36 votes respectively, Worcester & Middlesex State Senate district).
Regional convention: March 5, 2016, Worcester Public Library.
Our convention by the numbers:
- Theme: “Stand Up for the 99%: Go Green in 2016”
- Two speakers: Phil Stone, Quaker Network for Ending Mass Incarceration (QNEMI); Elaine Mroz, anti-gas-pipeline activist.
- Number of media outlets sent press release or announcement, some with followup contacts: approx 46
- Number of known publications of our announcement/press release: 6, including the Clark campus groups newsletter, newspapers and event websites
- Number of folks doorknocked or called from J voter lists: 120-150
- Announcement, public events: 1, Naomi Klein talk, Clark U. (app. 350-400 att)
- Number of flyers distributed to regional libraries: 20 (= 29% of all county libraries, including the main branch of the Worcester library). Plus posted at a few businesses and Clark University.
- Number of FB posts, plus NRGR website: 3 + 1
- Number of attendees registered J, and total attendees: 14/20 (our goal was 100), (plus 3 people tabling for Solar for Our Heroes group)
- Number of additional StateCom reps elected: 1
Lessons learned (tentative list, since we haven’t yet had a post-convention wrapup):
- Teams worked pretty well for messaging/publicity, and direct contact efforts.
- Two speakers worked well. Three would have been too much to organize and too much time in the program.
- The Worcester library was a good facility; we need to do more intensive recruitment/ relationship building and publicity in the city of Worcester or wherever we hold the convention.
- Start regional convention planning earlier? Particularly for speaker recruitment, outreach to campuses and neighborhood orgs, and publicity.
- Get photos and bios of speakers early on.
- Bring ¼ page flyers to hand out at public events.
- Since we could not locate materials from 2012, we created new ones. We are working on putting these up on Googledocs so they can be retrieved for 2020.
- Keep in better touch with speakers once they’re on board.
For most of the rest of the year, we expect to be involved in a campaign for State Rep, for which we started collecting signatures in March. We are a quarter of the way to getting 200 signatures to get Charlene on the ballot in 12th Worcester.
Chapter Report submitted by Charlene DiCalogero.
Pioneer Valley Chapter
Joyce reported that the chapter is looking to have regular meetings with speakers. There is the possibility of establishing a ward committee in Holyoke. Darlene is interested in educating on Green values, such as discussing what does it means to be Green. Manny is interested in the chapter talking about the issue of student debt.
Berkshire & South Coast Chapters
Both chapters are currently inactive. Nat Fortune from the Pioneer Valley regions has made some phone calls to former members of the Berkshire Chapter. Ad Com has emailed to the Berkshire Chapter e-mail list and tried to contact members of the South Coast Chapter all with no response.
Proposal- BallotvAceees Working Group
POSTED BY IAN JACKSON 78PC ON MARCH 19, 2016 · FLAG
Sponsors: Ian Jackson
Floor Manager: Ian Jackson
Background: We should form a Ballot Access Working Group. The working group will coordinate assistance with other State Parties and Green Party US at gaining access for Federal Candidates
Ian described the benefits of the proposal as helping the Green Party gain ballot access while at the same time, the GRP forms relationships with other Green Parties, such as in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Danny, Owen and Charlene expressed concerns about creating a committee that we are not able to staff, when we have many vacancies in our established committees. John thought that the proposal creates an opportunity to engage young people and other people excited about the presidential election, and Darlene pointed out that doing this kind of work might be someone’s strength. Joyce agreed saying that she didn’t think that it would pull away from our working committees, since it is a different way of engagement. Merelice suggested amending the proposal to keep it in the context of the 2016 election and make it more specific, geographically. Manny thought that it should be a temporary committee. David G. thought that the number of electors in the states that we choose to concentrate on was relevant. Merelice proposed an amendment that would limit the proposal to the year 2016, and to “nearby states”. The amendment passed by consensus, and the proposal as amended passed by consensus both with Owen expressing concerns but standing aside.
Strategy for 2016: Supporting Presidential Nominee and State Candidates
Charlene and Danny discussed their plans to run for State Representative in their respective districts. Charlene is running in the 12th Worcester district which consists of the small towns of Berlin; Boylston; Clinton; Lancaster and parts of Northborough and Sterling. The incumbent is Harold Naughton, a long term Democrat who is often not present because he is in the military. The campaign will focus on economic and environmental issues. Danny is running in the 14th Middlesex District in a more affluent district which includes Concord, Carlisle and parts of Acton and Chelmsford. Danny’s campaign will be focus in on environmental issues e.g. climate change and combatting growth, income inequality, racial justice and democracy. Danny has two opponents, Democrat Cory Atkins who is an established incumbent who is the head of the Tourism Committee, and also a Republican opponent.
There was discussion on what the goals should be for campaign 2016. Greg thought that we should reach out to communities of color, with the message that you, too, can run for office. Greg also thought that we should hold candidate forums. John thought that we should highlight the elimination of student debt and focus on getting 3% vote in the presidential election so that the GRP does not lose official party status. Manny thinks that we should educate people so that more people know what the GRP is. Letting people know what we stand for the GRP is and what we stand for. Manny also thought that we should work on issues like racial profiling and tell people that we are working on these issues, “getting to the heart of what people need.”
Merelice said that we should develop a theme that is cohesive. Green New Deal is the closest, but it is very broad. It could be that “the system is rigged” or “People, Planet Peace and a Green New Deal.” Merelice recalled that when she ran for State Auditor being asked about the military budget. She stated that Massachusetts is a major national center for health care, and the military budget should be redirected to treat our veterans well. Merelice said that we don’t have to be producing military weapons. Merelice stated that we need to be good at social media, and would like to see in each of our campaigns, “Where’s the love?” Merelice hopes Jill will campaign in Mass. If Trump is candidate we need the spoiler argument.
She has wire frames and dowels.
David G. thought that we should follow the GPUS Congressional Campaign Committee’s recommendation on issues based on the four pillars.
Angel said that our goal should be to reach people though talking to the people, and using radio and newspapers. Angel also thought that we should also target national events, such as the upcoming Puerto Rican parade in NYC on the second Tuesday of June.
Darlene agreed with Merelice on having a cohesive theme, and wants to make it clear to others that “the GRP is the answer”, and make sure that we will be visible, creating opportunities to be in the streets.
Danny thought that each of our working committees, in particular Membership and Communications should come up with a plan in which they can best help the 2016 campaign.
Joyce thought that we could focus on this topic at out convention.
Bill stated that disaffected Bernie people are young and we need to think about young issues, especially climate disruption.
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Elie said that we should do what nobody else does. Draw the connections. You can’t deal with poverty without climate change and the reverse is true. The repudiating of student debt will get rid of the military bases. Draw the connections. Nobody else is doing it.
Time Allotted for Delegates to Bring Up other Topics
Angel thought that State Com should meet more often. Darlene suggested that State Com consider meeting every two months. Ian and Danny thought that working committees should be allowed to do most of the work. Greg thought that meeting more often was a nice idea, but a bridge too far. Merelice brought up that proposals must be posted thirty days ion advance, so 60 days comes up rather quickly. She also suggested that we see how our working committees function first, and not take time away from our working committees. Elie stated that to get a working committee functioning you often have to meet weekly. No action was taken on this matter.
Meeting Evaluations
All the evaluations of the meeting were positive. Joyce thought that it was a nice meeting and that people were polite. Roni thought that it was a wonderful meeting and she felt proud.
Bill thought that we are “great people” and Owen said “aye.” John thought it it will be a great campaign. Elie was looking forward. Angel thought we should keep working. Darlene thought it was a very good diverse meeting and we should be active. Dawn enjoyed the meeting very much. Manny said the meeting was good. Merelice liked that there were “new folks” at the meeting. Daphne thought the meeting was great, and learned a lot. Brian thought it was a good meeting. Ralph said he was glad. Greg said it was a good meeting. Charlene said she was glad to meet new people. Danny said that the new people and diversity gave him hope, and he liked how we got along.
The meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m.