SF GREEN PARTY WEEKLY 12/18/05 - 12/25/05 NEWS: - 12/19: Public Campaign Financing Unanimously Supported by Ethics Commission! - 12/21: DEA Raids Local Pot Club EVENTS: - 1/5: Animal Advocacy Working Group - 1/5: Feminist Issues Working Group - 1/9: Campaigns and Issues Working Group - 1/10: Housing and Land Use Working Group - 1/26: SAVE THE DATE: A Green Party for Peace. Start the year to end the war with: ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS: - Public Financing for the Mayor's Race: We Need Your Help! - Earn A Living Making San Francisco A More Green and Progressive City! - How to Run For the SF Green Party County Council - Become a Green Party Sustainer! JOKE OF THE WEEK: - Never Underestimate the Power of Makeup ************************************************************ NEWS: 12/19: Public Campaign Financing Unanimously Supported by Ethics Commission! The Ethics Commission voted unanimously to send Ross Mirkarimi's public financing legislation on to the Board of Supervisors. This legislation would make politicians accountable only to the public, rather than private campaign donors; and ensure that all serious candidates, regardless of access to money, have enough resources to get their message out to the voters. The 3-member finance committee of the Board of Supervisors will soon vote whether to pass the legislation on to the full Board. Stay tuned! --------- 12/21: DEA Raids Local Pot Club Medical marijuana advocates defend pot club against the Drug Enforcement Administration, which raided the home of the club's owners. Read the whole story at http://www.beyondchron.org/news/ ============================== EVENTS: 1/5: Animal Advocacy Working Group WHEN: Thursday, January 6 7:00PM-9:00PM WHERE: San Francisco Green Party office, 1028 A Howard St (between 6th St. and 7th St.), San Francisco DETAILS: Monthly meeting of the Animal Working Group. We will discuss animal issues in San Francisco. For more information, email Rosalind Lord at rclord@seaserpent.com --------- 1/5: Feminist Issues Working Group WHEN: Thursday, January 6 7:00PM-9:00PM WHERE: San Francisco Green Party office, 1028 A Howard St (between 6th St. and 7th St.), San Francisco DETAILS: Monthly meeting of the Feminist Issues Group, which strives to define why feminism is important to Greens and to promote Green feminism in all realms of Green Party activities and in our lives. --------- 1/9: Campaigns and Issues Working Group WHEN: Monday, January 9 7:00PM-9:00PM WHERE: San Francisco Green Party office, 1028 A Howard St (between 6th St. and 7th St.), San Francisco DETAILS: Monthly meeting of the Candidates and Campaigns Working Group, a forum for reviewing candidates, ballot initiatives and measures and generating recommendations for endorsement to the General Membership; identifyng and recommending "key" campaigns and how to allocate SFGP resources accordingly; and recruiting Green candidates to run for local elected office. --------- 1/10: Housing and Land Use Working Group WHEN: Tuesday, January 10 7:00PM-9:00PM WHERE: San Francisco Green Party office, 1028 A Howard St (between 6th St. and 7th St.), San Francisco DETAILS: This month's agenda includes a presentation by Sarah Dennis of the SF Planning Department about a current project to determine the nexus impact of high-end housing in San Francisco and proposed developer mitigation fees. She'll also discuss Supervisors Daly's and McGoldrick's proposals to make changes to the currrent inclusionary housing ordinace. We'll also talk about the 2006 agenda to become more active in legislation issues, and we'll revisit proposed seminars for the upcoming year. --------- 1/26: SAVE THE DATE: A Green Party for Peace. Start the year to end the war with: WHEN: Thursday, January 26 8:00PM-11:30PM WHERE: Z Gallery (11th and Folsom), San Francisco DETAILS: Aimee Allison, Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Meghan Baker, Terry Baum, Garrin Benfield, Jello Biafra (tentative), Kevin Danaher, Rose Eger, Don Eichelberger, Matt Gonzalez, Krissy Keefer, Jane Kim, La Vache Enrageee, Leopold and His Fiction, Ross Mirkarimi, Mark Sanchez, and Ahimsa Sumchai. ============================== ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS: Public Financing for the Mayor's Race: We Need Your Help! On Tuesday October 25, Green Party Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, representing a broad-based coalition, introduced legislation that could forever change the way politics is done in San Francisco: With public financing, the public helps fund the campaigns of candidates who can demonstrate a wide base of community support by collecting a large number of small donations. In exchange candidates agree to a strict spending cap, and to limit their private fundraising. The idea is to make politicians accountable only to the public, rather than private campaign donors, and to ensure that all serious candidates, regardless of access to money, have enough resources to get their message out to the voters. To make this legislation happen, please do two things: 1. Write or call the Supervisors to encourage their support (they need hear this from as many people as possible); and 2. Ask your friends to do the same. Sample letters and contact information for the Supervisors can be found at http://www.voterownedelections.org/contact_supervisors.html To learn more about the campaign visit www.voterownedelections.org or call 415-596-5808. --------- Earn A Living Making San Francisco A More Green and Progressive City! Two years ago, former organizers for the Matt Gonzalez for Mayor campaign decided it was time to stop getting 'close but not close enough' to progressive victories like public power and Matt as Mayor, and to begin a city wide, year round, grassroots campaign that would start helping us win such victories! So in January 2004, the organization Our City was born. Since then we have helped to: - Pass the ban on old polluting diesel buses - Pass Matt Gonzalez's anti chain store law - Get the downtown hotel workers back on the job, and - Get the Police and Planning Commissions put back on SF Government TV after the City tried to pull them off. Now we are campaigning to get rid of PG&E's monopoly on our electricity service, and start running the City on renewable energy like solar and wind power instead! We have just begun hiring and training new grassroots campaigners to help us win this fight. No experience necessary. Earn $280 to $400 each four day work week learning to be a strong progressive organizer. To apply, call Eric at 415-756-8844 from noon to 2pm any weekday, or send an email to jobs@our-city.org For more information, see our web site at http://our-city.org --------- How to Run For the SF Green Party County Council County Council Candidates will be elected in June of 2006. For details on how to run, see http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1435 --------- Become a Green Party Sustainer! As you may know, the SFGP is supported by our wonderful sustaining donors -- 175 and growing. In the next 12 months we hope to double that figure, and you can help us achieve our goal by signing up to make a regular contribution to the Green Party. Our sustainer program nearly pays all of our basic monthly operating expenses, including rent and utilities on the office, and drastically reduces the amount of work needed to raise money. Our sustainers free us up to do what we're really here for - to pursue Green values through the democratic system. Sustainers also ensure that we are able to keep our office, which has hosted numerous campaigns' headquarters including the successful Prop A, Instant Runoff Voting initiative. Becoming a Green Party sustainer is easy, fun, and secure! For more information, see http://www.sfgreenparty.org/makeadonation/makeadonation.html ============================== JOKE OF THE WEEK: Never Underestimate the Power of Makeup: http://www.turnaroundamericaday.com/Humor.htm ************************************************************ For more info on our activities, please see our website, http://www.sfgreenparty.org. You can also email us questions at info@sfgreens.org. To send us news items (short blurb please, plain text only) for possible inclusion in the newsletter, email news@sfgreens.org. Please don't put these addresses on mailing lists; messages not specifically addressed to us won't go through.