SF GREEN PARTY WEEKLY 1/22/06 - 1/28/06 NEWS: - 1/13-19: Schools Are Not Out After All, Thanks to Ross - 1/14: Pelosi 'Town Hall' Meeting Disappoints; House Minority Leader Refuses to Halt War Funding or Support Impeachment - 1/17: Austrian Green Parliament Members Demand that Schwarzenegger's Citizenship be Revoked, California Greens Back Action EVENTS: - 1/21: Join the Green Party in Standing Up for Reproductive Rights! - 1/24: Transportation Working Group - 1/24: Housing and Land Use Working Group Brainstorming Session - 1/25: Public Financing Hearing - 1/25: A Citizens Assembly for Political Reform - 1/26: A Green Party for Peace - 2/2: Aimee Allison's Campaign Kick-off Party ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS: - 2006 General Membership Survey - Volunteers Needed for A Green Party for Peace (http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1437) - 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: - Kickback Mountain (http://blogs.citypages.com/canderson/2005/12/post_1.asp#comments) ************************************************************ NEWS: 1/13-19: Schools Are Not Out After All, Thanks to Ross Ross Mirkarimi delays planned closing of schools... http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2839 http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=2843 http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/news_in_brief/ school_closures_060116.shtml --------- 1/14: Pelosi 'Town Hall' Meeting Disappoints; House Minority Leader Refuses to Halt War Funding or Support Impeachment SAN FRANCISCO—Members of the San Francisco Green Party who attended today's 'town hall' meeting with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi at Marina Middle School were extremely dissatisfied with her support for funding the war in Iraq and her unwillingness to impeach President Bush. Some Greens, including well-known peace activist Medea Benjamin, held up signs urging Pelosi to stop voting to fund the war during the 'town hall'. Pelosi stressed that she voted for war funding because of the troops, but acknowledged that the soldiers still do not have sufficient protective armor. The Green Party will continue to challenge Pelosi to represent the views of her district, and are expecting to run a candidate against her in November.  Pioneer lesbian playwright Terry Baum was the Green Party's candidate against Pelosi in 2004. --------- 1/17: Austrian Green Parliament Members Demand that Schwarzenegger's Citizenship be Revoked, California Greens Back Action SACRAMENTO (January 17, 2006) – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian citizenship should be revoked for permitting death penalty executions in California, said a formal request made by Green Party members of the Austrian Parliament and supported by the International Protocol Committee of the Green Party of California late Monday. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to stop executions of Donald Beardslee, Stanley Tookie Williams – and now Clarence Allen. Greens all over the world are against the death penalty. And in Austria, the death penalty is illegal. "No Austrian citizen is legally permitted to participate in or order the execution of another human being," said the Green Party committee. The committee added that it also supports "other pertinent and appropriate sanctions which the Austrian Parliament may enact in this regard." ============================== EVENTS: 1/21: Join the Green Party in Standing Up for Reproductive Rights! WHEN: Saturday, January 21 11:00 AM WHERE: Assemble at Pier #1, Embarcadero and Market Streets, San Francisco WHAT: Demonstration to support reproductive rights.  This effort is a response to the second annual anti-choice march organized and sponsored by the San Francisco and Oakland Archdiocese. WHO: Green Party, BACORR (Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights), Code Pink, Raging Grannies WHY: The Green Party proudly supports a position of "no interference" in a woman's right to control her own body!  The Green Party is working to expand women's basic reproductive rights! --------- 1/24: Transportation Working Group WHEN: Tuesday, January 24 7:00PM-9:00PM WHERE: San Francisco Green Party office, 1028 A Howard St (between 6th St. and 7th St.), San Francisco DETAILS: The transportation working group is focusing on transportation justice - increasing public transit service to underserved communities. Please contact either co-chair, John-Marc Chandonia ( jmc@sfgreens.org ) or Sue Vaughan (susan_e_vaughan@yahoo.com) for more info. --------- 1/24: Housing and Land Use Working Group Brainstorming Session WHEN: Tuesday, January 24 7:30PM-9:30PM WHERE: La Solea Cafe, 376 19th Street between Mission and Capp, San Francisco DETAILS: The Housing and Land Use Working Group is holding a brainstorming session towards the development of a housing and land use platform. --------- 1/25: A Citizens Assembly for Political Reform WHEN: Wednesday, January 25 12:00-1:30 PM WHERE: The Commonwealth Club of California, 595 Market Street, Second Floor, San Francisco CONTACT: RSVP to Lily Ho at (916) 448-5189 or to ho@newamerica.net. New America Foundation is also sponsoring this event on January 24th in Los Angeles and January 26th in Sacramento. Please specify which event you are RSVPing for in your email. If you have questions about the panels, please contact Steven Hill at (415) 665-5044 or hill@newamerica.net. DETAILS: Election reform is badly needed. A model solution? A Citizens Assembly. Its strength lies in restoring power to the people. Speakers will include Joseph Canciamilla, Democratic Assemblyman of Pittsburg, and Green Party member Steven Hill, the director of the New America Foundation, which is sponsoring this event. To find out more, see http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1462 --------- 1/25: Public Financing Hearing WHEN: Wednesday, January 25 1:30 PM WHERE: Room 263 of City Hall (McAllister & Polk), San Francisco CONTACT: Please sign up onto the Evite so we can keep track  of whose coming: http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp? inviteId=NXJJRDMXIURAGFTJREBH&li=iq&src="#FFFFFF">  If you can't make it, please take the time to contact the Board of Supervisors to let them know this reform is important to you: http://voterownedelections.org/contact_supervisors.html For more information on Voter-Owned Elections, visit www.voterownedelections.org or call 415-596-5808. DETAILS: On December 19th, over 100 young activists, community members, and social justice advocates ensured that the San Francisco Ethics Commission unanimously approved legislation that could bring public campaign financing to the San Francisco Mayor’s race. In order to ensure that this grassroots-powered legislation is passed into law, we need to come together once again. --------- 1/26: A Green Party for Peace WHEN: Thursday, January 26 8:00PM until closing WHERE: Studio Z, 314 11th Street at Folsom, San Francisco DETAILS: Join Ross Mirkarimi, Jello Biafra, Aimee Allison, Jane Kim, Mark Sanchez, Ahimsa Sumchai, Kevin Danaher, Terry Baum and many others as we start the year to end the war in Iraq! There will also be some great music and DJS Andres Octavio, Space Invader, and Daneekah. For more details, see http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1437 --------- 2/2: Aimee Allison's Campaign Kick-off Party WHEN: Thursday, February 2 Starts 6:30PM WHERE: La Estrellita Café 446 E. 12th Street (between 4th and 5th Ave), Oakland CA 94606 COST: $10 and up at the door – this is a fundraising event. Please bring your checkbook and contribute generously. INFO: http://www.aimeeallison.org/ DETAILS: Join Aimee Allison, community members, activists, artists, and friends as we kick-off a campaign for change in the city of Oakland. Aimee Allison is launching her bid to be Oakland's next City Councilwoman from District 2, and she would like you to come celebrate and organize with her. ============================== ANNOUNCEMENTS & ACTION ALERTS: 2006 General Membership Survey The County Council is conducting a survey of San Francisco Green Party members to get your opinion on several issues to help us plan and set goals for the party in 2006. Results will be discussed at a future General Meeting. You can get a copy of the survey online at the following link, and respond to us by email: http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1464 --------- Volunteers Needed for A Green Party for Peace (http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1437) We're seeking people to help out during any part of the day or evening at the San Francisco Green Party fundraising event at Studio Z (http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1437). If interested, please contact Sue Vaughan at (415) 668-3119 or susan_e_vaughan@juno.com. --------- 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 ************************************************************ 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.