Greentings,<br>We have a very special forum on Sunday to discuss the future of the GP in CA, and on Wednesday we have our Monthly Meeting...<br><br><b>GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA GOALS AND STRATEGIES FOR LONG-TERM PLANNING</b><br>
A Participatory Exercise<br><br><b>WHEN: Sunday, March 20th - 1 to 5 pm</b><br><br>WHO: Bay Area Greens<br>San Mateo and Santa Clara Greens recently met to discuss Goals and <br>Strategies. The information sent out to them in advance of their <br>
meeting appears below. This meeting is being hosted by San Francisco <br>and Alameda Greens. Greens in all other parts of the Bay Area or the <br>state are welcome to attend. Please forward to your Green lists. The <br>
results from this meeting will be brought before the GPCA spring plenary. <br><br><b>WHERE: The Women's Building, 3543 18th Street, San Francisco - Audre <br>Lorde room</b><br>Between Valencia and Guerrero. Public transit within 4 Blocks - 16th <br>
Street BART station, #14, 22, 33 and 49 busses and the J-Church street car.<br><br>WHY: GPCA needs to hear from you. What are your concerns? What would <br>you like to see the Green Party accomplish in the coming years? What are <br>
you willing to do to make that happen?<br><br>This room will seat up to 80 people. <br><br>NEEDS: Some drinks and snacks would be nice. Please respond to <br><a href="mailto:barry@hermansons.com" target="_blank">barry@hermansons.com</a> if you can bring something.<br>
<br>The following text was written by Jim Stauffer. When you have a moment, <br>it is worth reading. For me, it is an exciting time to be a Green. <br>Corporate America is spending tens of millions of dollars trying to <br>
convince everyone that they are green. Everyone wants to be green. How <br>can we take advantage of that?<br><br>Dear Greens:<br><br>The state party would like to engage county Locals in an exercise to<br>help establish long-term goals for the party. By agreeing on a set<br>
of goals, we give the party definition and purpose. From those<br>goals we develop strategies for their implementation. This creates<br>projects for our Working Groups and Standing Committees, and it<br>helps attract volunteers and donations.<br>
<br>It?s important to be realistic when setting goals. Brainstorming<br>exercises encourage free-thinking with no critique or analysis of<br>suggested issues. Goal setting is different; it?s intended to<br>derive projects that are achievable, not just desirable. We all have<br>
a list of favorite issues and a wish-list of what we?d like the<br>party to be. But we must focus on what we can actually accomplish ?<br>realistic goals.<br><br>Locals are encourage to get together with neighboring counties for<br>
this exercise. Gathering into a group from a few counties helps the<br>thought process. It gets us outside of our normal monthly meeting<br>crowd and provides the synergy of a larger group.<br><br><br><br>PROCESS<br><br>
Take notes of the goals discussed and rank or categorize them by the<br>
level of agreement or support.<br><br>There is wiki that is (ostensibly) for posting comments. It?s not<br>designed too well, but it can be used for submitting our comments. <br><a href="http://wiki.cagreens.org/index.php/GPCA_Strategic_Action_Plan" target="_blank">http://wiki.cagreens.org/index.php/GPCA_Strategic_Action_Plan</a><br>
<br>DISCUSSION<br><br>The state party wants to hear what Locals think our long-term goals<br>should be. This requires some degree of open discussion, but the<br>exercise must remain moderated by the theme of realistic goals. For<br>
every suggested goal, the presenter should have some idea of a<br>strategy to implement that goal.<br><br>Basically, the question to answer is, ?What should the GPCA<br>accomplish in five years and in ten years??<br><br>
Some organizing may help the discussion:<br>
<br>Political Goals<br>Partisan and non-partisan candidates<br>Campaigns and ballot proposition<br>Election reforms<br><br>Internal / Party Goals<br>Voter registration<br>Developing county Locals<br>Fundraising<br>Internal structure and process<br>
<br>REFERENCES<br><br>State committee and working group people have been discussing this<br>subject and have come up with their list of issues. These are being<br>provided here just as a reference, they should not be used as<br>
guidance for your discussions. Its purpose is to provide input as<br>to what volunteers at the state level see as our long-term issues.<br><br>1. Given the current recession and its detrimental effect on<br>fundraising, should GPCA and its locals adopt a ?survival plan?<br>
until recovery is tangible (e.g. unemployment below 8%)? How would<br>this affect all goals and strategies?<br><br>2. What are realistic voter registration goals? What attracts people<br>to a small party? What caused the California Green registration<br>
decline of the past six years, can it be reversed?<br><br>3. Given that we have less than 1% of registered voters, what are<br>realistic electoral strategies for a party of our size? Do we<br>continue attempts in partisan races or focus on non-partisan races?<br>
Is there a realistic strategy for winning partisan races?<br><br>4. How do we recruit/develop electable candidates for non-partisan<br>offices?<br><br>5. Does Prop 14 provide any potential to us?<br><br>6. Should we make a real, concerted effort to promote ranked-choice<br>
voting (i.e. Instant Runoff Voting and proportional representation)?<br><br>7. The GPCA?s decentralized structure and consensus-seeking decision<br>process is an experiment that we?ve carried on for 20 years. Is it<br>working well enough? Is there a good balance of responsibilities<br>
between the state party and the county parties? Should we examine<br>giving more authority over internal business to the state party?<br><br>8. Is continuing to rely solely on volunteer labor a viable plan for<br>growth?<br>
<br>9. What factors have created viable, stable Locals? What factors<br>have caused Locals to deteriorate?<br><br>10. What resources do Locals need from the state party? What<br>resources does the state party need from Locals?<br>
<br>Contact Barry (<a href="mailto:barry@hermansons.com" target="_blank">barry@hermansons.com</a> or <a href="tel:415-664-7754" target="_blank">415-664-7754</a>) with any questions <br>or comments.<br><br>==================<br>
<p>
<b>Monthly Meeting- March 23rd, 7-8:45</b></p><p><b>Western Addition library (1550
Scott St @ Geary), in the community meeting room.</b>
</p><p>
<u>Agenda</u>
</p><p>
Beginning at 7:00 sharp, because we must clear the building at 8:45
</p><p>
7:00 pm: Introductions
</p><p>
7:05 - 7:20: SF Garbage contract - Barbara Commins
</p><p>
7:20 - 7:50: Twitter tax break - Ramses Teon Nichols
</p><p>
7:50 - 8:30: Anti-privatization discussion. Meet other groups
involved in efforts to stop privatization of City parks and public
spaces - Eric Brooks
</p><p>
8:30- 8:45: Future directions. Plan public forum?
</p><p>
All our meetings are open to the public and new members are most
welcome!
</p>==================<br><br><b>Resist the War Machine, March 19 in San Francisco</b><br>Come rain or shine, the rally will start & go at the UN Plaza from<br>
12-1:30, then march to the Westin St. Francis Hotel in Union Square.<br>
The Rally will be in commemoration of the 8th Anniversary of the Iraqi<br>
invasion and the march will be in conjunction with Local 2 and other<br>
labor groups and unions. This is a great opportunity to show<br>
solidarity with the anti-war movement, especially in light of the<br>
North Africa/Middle East uprisings; and with Labor in support of the<br>
Hotel workers and the struggle of public workers in Wisconsin,<br>
California and all over the US.<br><a href="http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/mar-19-san-francisco-resist-the-war-machine">http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home/mar-19-san-francisco-resist-the-war-machine</a><br><br>================<br>
<p>
<b>While we work out the final touches on our new website please join us over
at our Facebook Group</b>:<br>
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=62534706497&v=wall" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=62534706497&v=wall</a>
</p><p>
Contact: email <a href="mailto:cc@sfgreens.org" target="_blank">cc@sfgreens.org</a>, or phone 415-480-GPSF (480-4773). Mail (and
donations by check) can be sent to:
</p><p>
<b>
San Francisco Green Party<br>
288 Onondaga Ave, #4<br>
San Francisco, CA 94112</b>
</p><br><br>