SFGP WEEKLY For The Week of 11/11/05 - 11/17/05 Welcome to All Our New Subscribers From the Green Festival! This Week: ********************************************************** News: 11/5: A Sad Loss For The Green Party 11/6: Update From Ross Mirkarimi's Office 11/9: Greens Win Four Seats in California Nov. 8 ********************************************************** Events: 11/11: Film: Side Effects 11/13: Anti-Racism Training 11/14: Hearing for Public Financing of Mayoral Campaigns in San Francisco 11/14: Anti-Death Penalty Coalition Meeting 11/15: Board of Education Sunshine Ordinance Meeting 11/16: San Francisco Green Party General Membership Meeting ********************************************************** Announcements: Joke of the Week Ask Matt Gonzalez- Reader Questions Requested New Orleans Reconstruction Project Become A Sustainer! ********************************************************** News ********************* ********************************************************** 11/5: A Sad Loss For The Green Party 11/07/05 Source: Green Party of New Zealand The Green Party is mourning the sudden death of co-leader Rod Donald, who died at his home last night. Rod, 48, brought almost superhuman energy, drive and commitment to his work, said co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons. "He is an incalculable loss to the Green Party, to the country and to me personally. Read more at: http://www.sfgreenparty.org/news/newsitem-start.gem?idx=1397 ********************************************************** 11/6: Update From Ross Mirkarimi's Office SUPERVISOR ROSS MIRKARIMI LEGISLATION INTRODUCED - OCTOBER 25 and NOVEMBER 1, 2005 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RESOLUTIONS ÷    Resolution urging the Director of Health to delay local implementation of the State's cannabis identification card program until patients, advocates and City and State Legislators have sufficient time to petition the State Health Department to modify its card program protocols to better protect the anonymity of patients and caregivers, and physicians can be informed of their new obligations under the State card program. ÷    Resolution in support o Stanley Tookie Williamsââ¬â¢ request for Clemency. Tookie Williams has rehabilitated himself by repudiating gang life, writing nine childrenââ¬â¢s book about the dangers of gang life, mentoring youth in the CYA, writing ââ¬ÅTookieââ¬â¢s Protocols for Peace,ââ¬Â which Newark, New Jersey gangs used to broker a truce. African Americans represent 13% of the U.S. population but represent 33% of executed prisoners and 67% of death row inmates. The Death Penalty is disproportionately and unfairly applied to African Americans. ÷    Resolution commending the Hayes Valley Community Partners Halloween celebrations, including four public events: storytelling at Hayes Green, face painting at Hayes Valley Playground and Hayes Valley South Community Room, and live music at Koshland Park. A safe and festive atmosphere for kids to trick or treat and for parents to meet their neighbors is most welcome. ITEMS IN COMMITTEE ÷    Ordinance mending the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code to create a public financing program for mayoral candidates, appropriate funding for the program, etc. ÷    Urgency Ordinance approving a 16 month and 15 day extension of the interim zoning moratorium on Medical Cannabis Dispensaries. ÷    Requests that the city attorney draft legislation grants amnesty to individuals who have entered "Care not Cash" housing programs who risk losing housing due to outstanding vagrancy violations. LETTERS OF INQUIRY ÷    Graffiti Removal on 2 mailboxes on Grove Street, the first at Octavia and the second at Laguna, and on a green box and the light post at Oak and Scott. ÷    DPT report on the status of Graffiti Removal from nine street signs on Steiner between Oââ¬â¢Farrell and Turk. ÷    DPW report on the status of cleaning of drains at the following locations:      SE corner of Masonic and Frederick      SE corner of Waller and Masonic      SW corner of Waller and Masonic      SE corner of Waller and Ashbury      SE corner of Ashbury and Masonic      SE corner of Ashbury and Haight ÷    DPW report on the status of cleaning graffiti at the following locations:      Street signs on Oak and Baker      NW and SW corners of Clayton and Carl      Street signs regarding parking on Clayton between Waller and Frederick      SE corner of Haight and Clayton      NE corner of Oak and Steiner      North and South sides of Haight between Masonic and Stanyan      Public garbage cans on the NE corner of Haight and Ashbury      SW corner of Haight between Masonic and Central      Green Utility boxes at the intersection of Kezar and Lincoln IN MEMORIUM Commending the memory of Rosa Louis McCauley Parks, the renowned civil rights activist who died last week. Commending the memory of Jane Weirick, a tireless advocate for cannibas reform, who died this week at age 46. UPCOMING EVENTS: NOVEMBER 16 Park District Community Forum, 6 - 8pm at the MLK-MG Community Center. The Park Police District hold monthly community forums, in an attempt to increase participation and meaningful dialogue. Park District is organizing a Advisory Council for the community forums. For more information contact Kyle Peterson 415-571-0338. www.parkdistrict.blogspot.com ********************************************************** 11/9: Greens Win Four Seats in California Nov. 8 Greens Celebrate 19 Election Victories! 11/09/05 By: Mike Feinstein Source: http://www.gp.org WASHINGTON, D.C. -- According to early election returns, Greens have won at least 19 races in November 2005, bringing the number of Greens elected in 2005 to 34. Out of eight races in which Green incumbents ran, six won. Four out of five candidates running in California were elected; 66 Greens now hold elected office in this state. Pennsylvania reported the most Green victories (eight) on November 8, with York County counting the most county victories (four) within the state. At least 115 Green candidates competed for office across the U.S. on November 8. For more, please go to: http://www.sfgreenparty.org/news/newsitem-start.gem?idx=1398 ********************************************************** ********************************************************** Events ********************** *********************************************************** 11/11: Film: Side Effects Friday, November 11th (See theatres for show times and details) Regal Galaxy 4 Theater We are thrilled to announce that our independent feature film Side Effects is coming to San Francisco and Berkeley beginning November 11th. The movie will play at the Regal Galaxy 4 in San Francisco and the Berkeley 7. Side Effects is a satirical, insider¹s look at the daily marketing practices of the pharmaceutical industry and stars Katherine Heigl of Grey¹s Anatomy. Although fiction, the film is closely based on the writer/director¹s decade working directly for the industry as a pharmaceutical sales representative. Side Effects has been warmly embraced by the medical community, general public, and press. The movie is a fun, light, and entertaining way to learn how the industry operates behind the scenes. For more information, please contact: info@sideeffectsthemovie.com *********************************************************** 11/13: Anti-Racism Training Sunday, November 13th 4:00pm- 8:30pm 1028A Howard St. (SFGP Office) Sunday, November 13 from 4:00pm-8:30pm, an anti-racist training will be held at the Green Party office. This training is highly recommended for anyone participating in the Roadtrip for Relief to New Orleans, and is also useful for activists working on social justice issues here in SF. It is helpful if you notify us to let us know in advance that youll be attending. The training will be led by long-time anit-racist trainer, Sharon Martinas. Its BYOB, Bring Your Own Burrito. To confirm, or to contact organizers for any reason, please call or email: sfcaravan@mutualaid.org 800-743-3808 ext. 350 *********************************************************** 11/14: Hearing for Public Financing of Mayoral Campaigns in San Francisco Monday, November 14th 6:00pm- 7:30pm Ethics Commission, City Hall, Room 408 Dear friends, After months and months of hard work we're finally at the point of our first hearing for our legislation to establish public financing of elections for the mayor's race. We have been picking up endorsements from a wide cross-segment of the city, showing the broad support for this effort to bring "Voter Owned Elections" to San Francisco. Endorsers include Assemblyman Mark Leno, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi, Tom Ammiano, Gerardo Sandoval, Jake McGoldrick and Chris Daly, Common Cause, SPUR, SEIU Local 790 and United Healthcare West, Sierra Club, numerous Democratic Clubs, Upper Noe Neighbors, Senior Action Network, Green Party, Global Exchange, Asian American Political Coalition, Mexican American Political Association, Cal PIRG, Tenants Union, and many more. See the full list at http://voterownedelections.org/listofsupporters.html Next Monday, November 14, the Ethics Commission will be discussing whether to extend the public financing that we already have for Board of Supervisors to other races. Please mark the date on your calendar -- WE NEED TO SHOW STRONG COMMUNITY SUPPORT!! What: Hearing for Public Financing of Mayoral Campaigns When: Monday, November 14, 6-7:30 pm Where: Ethics Commission, City Hall, Room 408 If you wish to read more about this legislation, including the text of legislation, main talking points and more, visit http://voterownedelections.org/ I really hope you can make this important hearing, part of our ongoing efforts to make San Francisco democracy a showcase for the nation, including instant runoff voting, a watchdog Elections Commission, consolidated elections, and a robust Ethics Commission. Steven Hill *********************************************************** 11/14: Anti-death penalty coalition meeting Monday, November 14th (Meets every Monday) 6:30 pm 1663 Mission St. 4th floor San Francisco Stanley Tookie Williams, former co-founder of the Crips gang, death row prisoner and leader for peace, has been given an execution date of December 13th, 2005. The State of California wants to execute 3 people in the next few months! We need a movement to stop this injustice. The coalition is planning signature ads, media outreach, local and national events, protests and press conferences. More ways to get involved: 1. Contact Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger: State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-445-2841/Fax: 916-445-4633 To send an Email please visit: http://www.govmail.ca.gov 2. Visit www.savetookie.org and download fact sheets and petitions and get sample letters to send to the Governor 3. Contact your State Assemblymember and urge him/her to pass the California Moratorium on Executions Act (AB 1121) immediately! Look up your representative by zip code at: www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html For more information, please contact: 510-333-7966 or crystal@nodeathpenalty.org Read a related article at www.counterpunch.org *********************************************************** 11/15: Board of Education Sunshine Ordinance Meeting Tuesday, November 15th 7:00pm SFUSD, 555 Franklin St. The BOE will have its sunshine ordinance for first hearing on Nov. 15 at its regular meeting. (So it will be one of the items on the agenda.) Please contact Kim Knox (kimberleyknox@hotmail.com) *********************************************************** 11/16: San Francisco Green Party General Membership Meeting This is our monthly General Membership meeting where endorsements, policy decisions and discussions occur. Agenda: Facilitators -- Caty and Micheas 1) Intro to Green Process -- JMC, 5 2) Agenda Review and Approval - 5 3) Consent Calendar -- 5, Marc Bylaws amendment (see below). We approved this twice, but not at consecutive GM meetings. Bylaws ammendments have to be approved at consecutive meetings, so we need to start over. 4) GPCA Plenary Discussion -- 45, Christina Olague -- Proposal on lowering voting threshold: 5 min Introduction, 15 min Discussion Proposal on GPUS affiliation 5 min introduction, 15 Discussion. Other Proposals - 15 minutes. 5) Delegate Election -- 30, JMC See SFGP bylaws for election process. Plenary will be weekend of Dec 10 in Yolo. See http://cagreens.org/plenary 6) SEIU Local 790 Support - 10, Kim Knox 7) CIWG policies, discussion of process - 10, Marc 8) GM meeting time and options for December meetings - 10 9) Announcements - 10 Please view the full calendar at: http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1411 *********************************************************** Announcements ************************* *********************************************************** Joke of the Week A special cartoon: http://www.thefrown.com/frowners/becomerepublican.swf More Mad Kane! www.madkane.com An anti-choice judge who's named Sam Tells the poor and the weak they should scram. If he takes Sandra's place, All our rights he'll erase, And the wingnuts will have a grand slam. *********************************************************** Ask Matt Gonzalez- Reader Questions Requested Due to popular request, The SFGP Weekly is planning to take part in an interview with Matt Gonzalez to discuss the issues, and we want your input! The Weekly staff wants to aski him *your* questions and get real answers. We would like to print this discussion in an upcoming edition of the Weekly, but we are still arranging the date for this event at this time, so stay tuned. Please send all questions for the planned Matt Gonzalez interview to the editor at ladypest@hotmail.com, or to news@sfgreens.org, with Question For Matt as the message title. *********************************************************** JOIN THE ROADTRIP FOR RELIEF!! CLEAN-UP, REPAIR, REBUILD IN THE 9TH WARD WITH COMMON GROUND COLLECTIVE November 20-27 Common Ground Collective has called a National Caravan to arrive in New Orleans on November 20th and work over the week of Thanksgiving until November 27th. In the meantime, we are having regular planning meetings to build up to this event, and we need people to join our organizing efforts. Please contact Susan King at funking@mindspring.com to find out how you can be a part of this vital effort. Why: The concentrated efforts of this caravan will bring hope to the displaced people of New Orleans so they see that it is possible to clean-up their neighborhoods and rebuild their lives. The work of the caravan will be a demonstration of what is possible. Who: You. Your organization. Self-sustained groups that can organize themselves. We also need volunteers with specific skills: electricians, mechanics, plumbers, mold abaters, roofers, construction workers, carpenters, tree workers, lawyers, cooks and people who can train other volunteers and residents in these skills. When: We need organizers to help right now! We're asking folks in the caravan to arrive in New Orleans on November 20th and work through the Thanksgiving week until Novemeber 27th. Of course, volunteers are needed continuously and can arrive anytime. How you can help: Get on the bus. Donate a bus. Organize a bus. Donate $$$$. Donate supplies . Help raise funds, plan a fundraiser, ask your network to donate. Help spread the word. www.sfgreenparty.org *********************************************************** 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! Online: http://www.sfgreenparty.org/makeadonation/makeadonation.html Phone: 415-701-7090 ************************************************************ For more info on our activities, please see our website, http://www.sfgreenparty.org. You can also email us questions, comments, Letters to the Editor, or fan mail, at info@sfgreens.org. To send us news items (short blurb please, plain text only), email news@sfgreens.org. Please don't put these addresses on mailing lists; messages not specifically addressed to us won't go through. Submissions for Joke of the Week are welcomed by the editor at ladypest@hotmail.com