[GPCA-SGA-Votes] Discuss ID 136 - Election: Coordinating Committee, unscheduled vacancy, one male seat, remainder of July 2017 - June 2019 (secret ballot)

[GPCA Votes]

*Please send your discussion comments to gpca-votes at sfgreens.org
<gpca-votes at sfgreens.org>*

Discussion has begun for the following GPCA SGA ranked choice vote:

Ranked Choice Vote ID #136
Ranked Choice Vote *Election: Coordinating Committee, unscheduled vacancy,
one male seat, remainder of July 2017 - June 2019*
Number of Seats 1
Ranked Choice Vote Administrators: Victoria Ashley, Brian Good, Laura
Wells, Eric Brooks, Mike Goldbeck
Discussion  02/12/2018 - 03/25/2018
Voting  03/26/2018 - 04/01/2018
Voting ends at Midnight Pacific Time

*Background*

This election is to fill one unscheduled vacancy for one male seat on the
GPCA Coordinating Committee http://www.cagreens.org/committees/coordinating,
resulting from the resignation of Paul Larudee, elected in June 2017
http://sga.cagreens.org/vote/irvdetail?pid=125 , to serve the remainder of
the two year term running from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2019. The
Coordinating Committee's Duties and Authority are found here
http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_8-1_Duties_and_Authority .

When such unscheduled vacancies occur, the Coordinating Committee shall
publish a Notice of Vacancy and Call for Candidate Submissions to the
active County Organizations, as per GPCA Bylaws 8-4.5
http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_8-4_Elections . This was
sent on February 15, 2015.

According to GPCA Bylaws 8-2.1, "The Coordinating Committee shall be
composed of up to 24 voting members, with 12 men and 12 women. Six men and
six women shall be elected each year to serve staggered, two year terms"
http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_8-2_Membership and 8-4.1
"Elections shall be conducted each year by the Standing Green Assembly
using Ranked Choice Voting with a No Other Candidate option, with the six
week discussion period beginning on the first Monday of May and the one
week voting period commencing immediately thereafter"
http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_8-4_Elections . 8-4.3(b)
adds that the election as it is posted to the Standing Green Assembly shall
include: "A full and detailed explanation of Ranked Choice Voting, an
explanation of the No Other Candidate option, and an encouragement that
delegates make their choices seriously and a reminder that they do not have
to fill all seats unless they feel there are enough qualified candidates."

Ranked Choice Voting is explained here
http://www.fairvote.org/reforms/fair-representation-voting/choice-voting •
http://www.fairvote.org/reforms/instant-runoff-voting •
http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=876 • http://www.acgov.org/rov/rcv.
Ranking 'No Other Candidate' (NOC) means once NOC passed the approval
threshold, no further candidates will be elected, other than those (if any)
who have already been elected before NOC reached the threshold.

*Candidates:*

Randy Hicks
Josh Jones
James Lauderdale
No Other Candidate


*Bio and Statement - Randy Hicks*

My name is Randy Hicks. I am a proud member of the Sacramento Green Party
and of the state and national Green Party chapters. The reason that I
joined the Green Party was due to the Democratic candidate for governor
choosing to support the death penalty during the 2002 recall election. I
have been involved in politics for 32 years supporting campaigns for
various candidates who supported progressive causes. I also believe that
after working for the Democratic party till the 2002 election, we need a
3rd party such as the Green Party that endorses and supports progressive
causes such as Single Payer Health Care and Instant Runoff elections.

I was born and raised in an progressive area of Iowa, which is a very
conservative state. I moved to Minnesota, where I received my Associates of
Art degree in Sales and Marketing. I used my degree to promote progressive
Green Party causes.

I moved to California, where I continued to support progressive causes. I
had the opportunity to join Californians for Disability Rights, Inc., where
I became active in supporting disability rights. I was then appointed by
the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors to sit on the Disability
Advisory Commission. As a member of the DAC, I learned to run meetings and
Robert's Rules of Order. In addition, I have supported many other causes
such as, environmental and economic justice, the Older Women's League.
Health Care for All California, America Civil Liberties Union, LGBTQ
rights, and introduced legislation on all of these causes to the California
State Senate and Assembly.

As a member of LGBTQ community, I have worked with the Democratic party on
LGBTQ causes. The Democratic party has only supported the LGBTQ community
when they need our votes or are forced to support LGBTQ causes. For future
generations of the LGBTQ community, the Green Party supports their causes.

As a proud member of the Sacramento Green Party, I believe that I can
represent the key values of the party at the local and state levels. In
addition, I ran for the Green Party council and won the seat. I am one of
the few Green Party members who are currently sitting on an appointed or
elected seat in Sacramento County.

What do I wish to accomplish on the Coordinating Council?

I am running for the Green Party Coordinating Council with new progressive
ideas and bring a sense of order to the GPCA. As a member of the
Coordinating Council, I also want to endorse the causes that serve all of
our Green Party members at the local, state, national levels. I also wish
to uphold all of the 10 key values of the Green Party.

As someone who has sat on the Sacramento Green Party Council and has ran
successfully as a candidate for the Sacramento County Green Party Council,
I have served all of the counties of California as a Green Party delegate
in order bring change, progress, and viability to the Green Party.

I also believe that as a member of various county and state non profits and
boards, I understand the processes needed to run a successful and organized
campaign that represents and serves the interests of members of these
organizations.

As a volunteer for various local and state government organizations who has
ran successful campaigns for elected seat, I believe that I have the
knowledge, experience, and knowhow to help the Green Party to be the party
of the future.

I would be proud to represent the Green Party of California at the local
and state levels.


*Bio and Statement - Josh Jones*

I have been active in political organizing for many years. Though a
Californian, in 2008 I canvassed door to door for weeks in Reno, NV. In
2009 I advocated for Single Payer Healthcare, writing a letter of support
to all of the U.S. Congress, the vice President and President - I was
appalled when the ACA essentially became the Heritage Foundation proposal.
I was in Occupy Davis in the winter of 2011, and was frequently on the news
dismantling the concepts of "trickle down" and "corporate personhood". I
protested at Monsanto headquarters in 2012. Some of my friends are now
known as the Monsanto 10, and I've gone to support them in court - I think
they will prevail!

During July 2015 I noticed a person named Bernie Sanders running for
President. His lefty rhetoric appealed to me and I threw in with that
campaign. I knew he was probably shilling for the Democrats, but the
opportunity to pull the masses to the left was too good to pass up! I
founded Davis for Bernie and eventually got 300 volunteers. Our local
campaign won Yolo for Bernie with $5000, to the Dems $130,000 - with a
lefty message for the people and people power. After campaigning in Reno,
NV in Oct and Nov, before the campaign, and Utah, helping run the Caucus
there, I was asked by the campaign to be Convener of the Congressional
District 3 Bernie Delegate election on May 1st 2016. After the ill-fated
primary, we went to protest at the DNC. "Jill not Hill!" was the rallying
cry.

I attended the Green Party rally for Dr. Jill Stein in Davis, and
immediately asked, "Is there an active Yolo County Green Party?" The answer
was, "No." Then let's start it! As a result I was a founding member of Yolo
Green Party County Council. Though through frustration l dipped my toe into
the Dem Party with the ADEMs, recruited 10 lefties to invade the Dem
Party(where we got 10x voter turn-out), became a Dem Party leader for 3
months, disgusted with obvious cheating and moving-the-goal-post, I
returned to the Green Party stronger and with much learned experience. I am
now a member of the Yolo Green Party County Council.

I have always been a strong advocate of sustainable energy, and worked for
4 years as a photovoltaic large array designer, as Lead Designer, at a
solar electric engineering firm. In 2010 I created the industry standard
for distributed energy generation, known on engineering plan sets as a "W"
sheet - the discipline designation. "W" stands for wind, water, and sun, in
comparison to "S" for structural sheets, or "P" for plumbing. I worked on a
committee of 113 top building industry people to do this, with, for
example, a Major in the Army Corps of Engineers, and an owner of an
architectural firm in Chicago, et al. I hope, with all of us, that
sustainable energy will prevail - I know it will.

I am a 4th generation Californian and have lived in California my entire
life. I understand our state's diverse biomes and places, and the many
types of folks who dwell here. There are many kinds of people here, both
newcomers and people of many generations; mountain folk, desert folk, beach
folk, and agricultural folk, both city people and countryside people, poor
people and rich people, scientists and corporate owners, as well as Miwok,
Pomo, and Chicanos who are often Aztlan. I think it's important to talk to
everyone: to understand their perspectives, needs, and solutions to their
experienced problems.

I think and feel that the Green Party is the party to defeat the Duopoly. I
view the Green Party as the party with the most moral basis; that it it's
the party of human rights, workers rights, labor rights, and environmental
rights. I would be honored to be elected to the Coordinating Committee of
the California Green Party. I ask that you to vote for me - to advocate for
the people.


*Bio and Statement - James Lauderdale*

I am 69 years old and retired.

I live with my wife of 30 years in the San Gabriel Valley near Los Angeles
in the 22nd State Senatorial District. We are both active in the East LA
Greens.

I have been a registered Green since 2004, where I supported Peter Camejo
in his several State and Federal election efforts. I had known Peter for
over forty years. We had met and been associated in the revolutionary
socialist movement beginning in the 1960’s.

 Before retiring in 2014, I worked for seventeen years at various
configurations of SEIU (Service Employees International Union, the largest
union of public employees in the City and County of Los Angeles) in the
capacity of organizer, and then doing administrative litigation. This
latter was as lead senior civil service advocate, defending workers who
were facing disciplinary action in the civil service system covering blue
collar workers in the City of Los Angeles as well as thirteen other cities
in LA County; I also handled disciplinary and contract violations that I
litigated through the arbitration process.

In the mid nineties I was the chief negotiator for the Registered Nurses
(SEIU) bargaining unit in Los Angeles County.
I also worked as the Arbitration Director and Negotiator for Local 132,
Utility Workers Union at Southern California Gas.
I was a delegate for three years to the Los Angeles County Federation of
Labor.

Prior to the union staff positions, I worked as Journeyman Union Carpenter
for sixteen years in Colorado and California.
I attended college at the University of Colorado but was thrown out for
antiwar activity during the 1970 Cambodia Invasion.
I became politically active around the Cuban Revolution and civil rights
movement. I belonged to the Denver chapter of SNCC in 1964. I have been a
militant, revolutionary socialist since I was fifteen.
I am from Boulder Colorado.

The work of building a ballot status, organizing party is difficult and
extremely time consuming. It requires rethinking what it means to organize,
and what it means to run and, occasionally, win. Our job is not to convince
those who rule that we are trustworthy and competent, but rather to
convince our newly emerging political base that those who rule are neither
trustworthy or competent.
Politics in this country is about the social alliances that are wound
together to create and enable class rule.
We need to stitch together a new social coalition the enables the
transition to a new rule by a new class, the class of wage earners.
Millions of these newly politicized people were energized and emerged out
of the Sanders campaign, as well as new issues that have arisen and
continue to arise. We need to organize them and enable them to exert an new
and different kind of political power.

We need to register thousands more Green voters across the state to open up
the California Green Party to being a truly statewide party. Our electoral
campaigns need to see this registration process as central.
We need to fashion a national Party out of 50 statewide parties.
We need to be an electoral vehicle for the movements that are emerging.
We need to see the Green Party as a crucial but initial part of a process
of building a party that can lead and activate millions. We have work to do.

Full details will be available shortly at:

http://www.sjcgreens.org/sga_vote_cc_vacancy_male

*Please send your discussion comments to gpca-votes at sfgreens.org
<gpca-votes at sfgreens.org>*
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