Minutes - GRP State Committee Meeting
Saturday, July 13th, 2013
 
Minutes were taken by Frank Jackson.  Send corrections to [email protected]
Members present:  John Andrews, Roni Beal, Brian Cady, Maureen Doyle, Danny Factor, David Gerry, Mike Heichman, Scott Laugenour, Merelice, Wes Nickerson, Gus Steeves, Dru Tarr, Elie Yarden, Jill Stein, David Spanagle, Daphne Stevens, Sean Connell, Rick Purcell, Joyce Palmer Fortune, Richard Vaillette, Siggy Meilus, Dennis Meliken, Sheryll Vaillette  
Facilitators called for order at 9:35 am.

Welcome message was provided by Dru Tar, Co- Facilitator.


Our Key committees are meeting and active, however need probably twice as many members as they already have. There are new chapters, some of which are very robust. We are still disorganized, and dont have the process to disseminate the information necessary. Politically we are at a crisis on many front. The environment, the economic, and democracy are all in danger, and our role is to ensure peoples votes actually have an effect on the way they live their lives.
We are learning to use the networks nationally, as other state chapters have similar problems, to solve our common issues. Platform Committee is doing extraordinary work, and this has great led to discussions around the carbon tax. We must provide the real solutions, as the establishment parties are not doing it.


Attendees were introduced.

Assigment of Tasks:
Minute Taker: Frank Jackson
Stacker: Gus Steeves
Vibes watcher: David Gerry
Parliamentarian: Merelice

Seating of Alternates:
Roni Beal, Sheryl Vaillette, Gus Steves
Alternates are seated by consensus

 Nominees for new State Committee Members:
Sean Connell, Frank Jackson, Siggute Meilus, Dennis Meliken
It is agreed that newly seated State Committee members cannot vote until all others have been seated
Dennis Meliken Election: 19 in favor, 1 abstention
Sean Connell: 20 in favor
Siggute Meilus: 18 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstention
Frank Jackson: 20 in favor

Agenda:
Scott suggest the agenda be posted publicly, earlier.
Proposals for Agenda Amendments:
-“Francisco White” to “Candidates”
-Action items from the last meeting

Approval of the Previous Minutes:
The approval of the minutes of the Spring Meeting were tabled to the next meeting.

Next Meeting Sunday October 20th in the Pioneer Valley Holyoke Rowes
Facilitators: Scott Laugenour, Joyce Palmer Forturne

Endorsements of Candidates:
Francisco White
Scott Laugenour and Jill Stein spoke in support of Francisco's campaign which came to the previous State Committee meeting.
Mike Heichman stated that we need to get in the habit of making our endorsements early.
Joe Carvallo
Long time party supporter, candidate for mayor, running against a 2 term incumbent, which is not transparent. Their is a plan for the middle school to close it, rather than fix it. There have been other issues of conflicts of interest. It is necessary to have a breadth of fresh air, Joe can be this breadth of fresh air.  3 unions have already given him verbal support in his bid for office.

There is an amendment proposal that if there are 100 signatures submitted by July 23rd the candidate will be endorsed on July 23rd  5-18-1
The amendment does not pass
The endorsement passes with 2 concerns raised by Scott Laugenour and MK Merelice

Mark Miller
An amendment to the proposal to endorse Mark Miller's campaign asks that he submit an application to CDLC
The endorsement passes 22-0-2
David Gerry was concerned that Mark was not present at this meeting where we took up the question of endorsement.


Proposal Ranking- occurred on paper ballots to be tallied during lunch

Officers Report
Treasurers report
The treasurers report will hopefully be bi-weekly to the AdCom
The treasurers report was given to members of State Committee in printed form
Frank suggested the reports be quarterly reports be made at each committee meeting as opposed to the biweekly one given to AdCom

Convention Report
The convention committee has been preparing the room, as well as food. However they are unsure about finding speakers.
Merelice made suggestions about speakers.
The convention committee needs help in organizing this years convention

Chapter Reports
NRGL – has met 4 times since January with 6 members on average. Officers collected their annual dues
Quin Greens- The big innitiative is individuals supporting local farmers
Boston- The chapters has been actively meeting. They have had several presentations. They hope to participate in green fest and fund-raise. They hope to hold a meet the candidates event. They have also held elections for their officers
Assabet River- The chapter has been active meeting by-monthly
Pioneer Valley- Has been active around the issues of fracking, and gas in Westfield. There will not be a casino in Holyoke, and the chapter has protected affordable housing in the city.

Committee Reports
Membership
There is a draft of the new membership document. Suggestions should me made to Brian Cady. The committee has been working on making the district maps. The committee will be purchasing the more materials.

AdCom
AdCom is working on a budget, and hopes to bring one to the next state committee meeting.

Tech
Need people to help work with Nation builder to make call lists

Platform
Platform held elections. The committee is overloaded. The committee will serve as a resource for the party, but not produce literature which is a function of the communication committee.

CDLC
There are 3 candidates announced, which were endorsed at the meeting.

Communications
Has been very inactive. Joyce is unable to do as much work as she wishes she could, however they have been able to upkeep the facebook page by regularly posting individually on it.

Action Proposals Report

Green Flags- The membership committee has agreed to teach locals how to make the flags, but also encouraging, and helping them use the flags for outreach and recruitment.
Database Improvements-The plan is to call members to get their email addresses from our members. This opens up inviting people to meetings, fundraising, asking for support for candidates.

Enhanced Database
The caller will call all those we have phone numbers for, try to make contact, and enter in a the information.
John Andrews recorded suggestions.
The Statecom hopes chapters will participate in this effort, and that they would be in contact within their region

Outreach Worksession- Brian Cady led members of Statecom in a workshop for outreach training

Proposals
Bylaws Section 7 Update
The proposal passes by consensus

Bold Action Proposal for the Green-Rainbow Party in 2014
Mike Heichman presented the proposal. Frank voiced his support, as well as Brian.

Membership Volunteer and Diversity as well as CDLC have vetted the proposal.
Sean Connell supports this as it allows us to go forward

Joyce wanted clarification of the :
-Convention Agenda must be amended
-There needs to be an individual ready to go as chairperson to lead the interest

Merelice thinks we should delete the word “slate”. Merelice is concerned about the date to start the election

Jill suggests municipal office be our priority, rather than State House. Jill also stated support for issues.
Scott stated a sponsor should be a part of the committee

Frank and Sean both agree to join CDLC to help with implementation of the proposal.

Amendment :
Local office will be stated first in section 1
CDLC will launch a working group to pursue this goal.

The Working Group will attempt to recruit one or more candidates”
“the State Committee at the January 2014 will be asked to act upon the recommendation of the working group”
Amendment : #3  reads, the CDLC will give a progress report to the January State Committee on the proposal


Vetting Proposal
Detail #1 will read “Two weeks following the previous meeting”
The proposal passes by consensus





Attachement 1 ByLaws Section 7 As passed
All mentions of “Local”, “Local Chapter”, or their plural form, in the By-Laws, will be replaced by the term “Party Chapter”

Section 7 of the current Party By-Laws are hereby deleted and replaced by the following:

7 Green-Rainbow Party Chapters

7.1 A Green-Rainbow Party Chapter is a group affiliated with and certified by the Green-Rainbow Party. As long as the Green-Rainbow Party Chapter abides by the Massachusetts and Federal elections laws, and does not undermine the purpose of the Green-Rainbow Party as stated in Section 3 of the Green-Rainbow Party By-Laws, the Green-Rainbow Party cannot interfere with the Chapter's internal affairs or decision-making process.

7.2 a Definitions
•    “Green-Rainbow Party Chapter” This is the umbrella term for all chapters which consist of 3 or more Green-rainbow members meeting regularly and affiliated with the Green-rainbow Party
•    “Student Chapters” are operated by Green-Rainbow students within specific student bodies.
•    “Regional Chapters” are operated by Green-Rainbow members that have some affiliation with a group of contiguous communities that share regional concerns.
•    “Local Chapter” are operated by Green-Rainbow members in a city, town, or neighborhood.

7.2 b Regional and Local Chapters may choose to operate as either a Political Action Committee, or Town, City, or Ward Committee as defined by Massachusetts General Law

7.2 c Regional, School, and Local Chapters may exist in overlapping geographical regions

7.3 Any Green-Rainbow party members can seek certification as a Party Chapter from the Green-Rainbow Party by submitting to the Party Secretary:
•    Minutes of the founding meeting.
•    Contact information of any officers and liaisons.
•    Party Chapter structure or By-Laws.
The Party Secretary shall submit to the Administrative Committee for approval the request for certification

7.4 Each Party Chapter must:
•    Report their activities at at-least one regular State Committee Meeting per year.
•    Notify the Party Secretary of any changes in officers, liaisons, By-Laws or structure.
•    Consult with the Party Treasurer when dispensing funds for political work.
•    Continue to have at least 3 members meet regularly.

7.5 Each Green-Rainbow Party Chapter will have one vote when voting on matters such as Article 6.6 (calling a state convention), Article 8.8 (overriding a state committee by-law change or decision), or Article 8.9 (calling a state committee meeting). It is recommended a Party Chapter abstain if its vote does not reflect a consensus or two-thirds vote of its members.

7.7 The Administrative Committee may recommend after reasonable efforts have been made to resolve the issue that the State Committee decertify a Green-Rainbow Party Chapter for failing to meet the requirements defined in Section 7.4, or failing to abide by Section 7.1.

7.8  In the event of a recommendation by the Administrative Committee to decertify a  Green-Rainbow Party Chapter, the State Committee may disaffiliate a Green-Rainbow Party Chapter by first voting to post a public notice to members giving the reasons for disaffiliation, and include a statement by the affected Party Chapter unless the Party Chapter chooses not, or cannot, provide such a statement. At the next State Committee meeting, the State Committee shall vote on whether to disaffiliate the local. If a vote to disaffiliate passes, the Green-Rainbow Party Chapter will be disaffiliated from the Green-Rainbow Party, and will no longer be considered in the Green-Rainbow Party decision-making process, or allowed to represent themselves as part of the Green-Rainbow Party structure.



Attachment 2 Bold Action Planning as passed

At the July StateCom Meeting, we will call on our membership at our annual convention in November to make important decisions about the political work of our state party for 2014. Specifically, ...

1. The major electoral focus for our state party since 2010 has been to encourage and support our members to run for local elected office, the annual convention will be asked to reconfirm this; meanwhile CDLC and AdCom will launch a working group to pursue this goal for 2014.

2.The convention planning committee is hereby charged with incorporating in the state convention agenda a focus on 2014 electoral activities and recruit member participation in the working group.

3. The annual convention will be asked to approve a proposal to establish an Exploratory Committee to recruit one or more a diverse slate of candidates for the 2014 statewide elections. The Committee will attempt to recruit members of our party to run together as a slate for the offices of US Senate, Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Auditor, Secretary of the Commonwealth and Treasurer. (Note: We will need 10,000 valid signatures-signed by any registered voter-to get our entire slate on the ballot.) A committee will be established at the convention, which will report to the CDLC, StateCom and Adcom. The January 2014 State Committee will be asked to work on the Working Group's plan.

Each potential candidate will be told that the major priority of the state party is to encourage and support our members to run for the State House of Representatives. At this time, we have no idea how many of our members will be interested in joining the slate and no idea which offices they will be most interested in running. We believe that the best strategy for now is to be open.

4. The annual convention will consider whether to take on at least one (and not more than three) major statewide issues campaign in 2014. Each campaign must demonstrate strong support from the convention and there must be sufficient volunteers to establish an organizing committee for each issue that we vote to make a statewide priority.

Attachment 3

Presented as a timeline and steps in the process for meeting facilitators.
TWO WEEKS FOLLOWING PREVIOUS STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
1. Announcement / Web Enabling
The facilitators of the State Committee meeting shall announce the meeting on the [Statecom] list and will have created the web page where proposals can be posted within two weeks following the previous State Committee meeting. The facilitators will also establish the specific deadlines (date/time) for the following steps in the proposal process.
FOUR WEEKS PRIOR TO STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
2. Submission of Proposals
Proposals will be fully-co-sponsored (by at least two current State Committee representatives). Proposals will be posted using the template provided on the web page no later than four weeks prior to the State Committee meeting. The co-sponsors will send a notice to [Statecom] providing the title of the proposal and a link to the specific proposal. Proposals that are not co-sponsored or that are posted late will not be included in the regular agenda.
3. Comments / Vetting / Discussion
Up to 72 hours prior to the State Committee meeting individual GRP members, working committees, chapters, and fellow State Committee members will use the web page to comment upon, suggest amendments, report on any working committee vetting on a proposal. Comments, vetting, and discussion should not be conducted on the [Statecom] list, although the [Statecom] list should be used to share links to significant comments, amendments, and announcements made on the web page.
72 HOURS PRIOR TO THE STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
4. Amendments:
Between 72 hours and 48 hours prior to the State Committee meeting co-sponsors of a proposal may decide to amend or withdraw their proposals based on the vetting and discussion that has taken place. If amended, the co-sponsors will make the amendments in the text of the proposal and will re-send a link to [Statecom] along with an executive summary of the amendments that were made. If the proposal is withdrawn that information will also be sent to the [Statecom] list and the proposal will be deleted from the web page.  Co-sponsors may choose to withdraw a proposal at any time prior to a call for consensus on it.
48 HOURS PRIOR TO THE STATE COMMITTEE MEETING5. Conducting a Ranking: 48 hours prior to the start of the State Committee meeting the facilitators will send an e-mail to the [Statecom] list attaching a ranking sheet for State Committee Representatives to return back via e-mail to the facilitators at least 12 hours prior to the start of the State Committee meeting. The ranking sheet will contain the title of the proposal, a link to the text, and ranking instructions.
6. Expressing Concerns:
There exists on every proposal page on the web site the ability for State Committee representatives and alternates to express concerns. Concerns about a proposal will be expressed online by any State Committee member during the vetting process up to 12 hours prior to the start of the State Committee meeting. These concerns will be addressed at the State Committee meeting following the usual process. New concerns that are made at the meeting will only be considered if they follow a material amending of the proposal.
12 HOURS PRIOR TO THE STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
7. Agenda Creation
The meeting facilitators will tabulate the ranking and expressing of concerns to determine how the proposals will be placed on the agenda.
DAY OF THE STATE COMMITTEE MEETING
By the time the State Committee meeting is called to order the ranking and the registering of concerns related to the proposals will have already taken place. Unlike the current state, the agenda will not include time for ranking and expressing concerns. The agenda that is presented for approval will already include the timing and ordering of the proposals, to include which proposals will follow an expedited round and which will follow a standard round. The results of the ranking andexpressing of concerns will be shared.