SF GREEN PARTY WEEKLY 1/8/05 - 1/15/05 NEWS: - 12/27: Austria's Green Party Denounces Schwarzenegger's Actions in Tookie Williams Case - 12/28: Willie Brown the "Payola Kingpin" on Progressive Radio: Matt Smith Discusses - 12/28: Pro-Public Financing Editorial in San Francisco Bay Guardian - 12/30: Ten Good Things about Another Bad Year: Medea Benjamin Elaborates - 01/06: Mirkarimi Joins Community in Calling on Board of Ed, SFUSD to Halt Further EVENTS: - 1/09: Campaigns and Issues Working Group - 1/10: Housing and Land Use Working Group - 1/10: Meeting with San Francisco Board of Education to Consider Proposed Sunshine Package - 1/11: County Council Meeting - 1/13: Feminist Issues Working Group (changed from Jan 5) - 1/16: Protest the Execution of Clarence Ray Allen! - 1/19: Animal Advocacy Working Group (changed from Jan 5) - 1/21: Join the Green Party in Standing Up for Reproductive Rights! - 1/26: SAVE THE DATE: A Green Party for Peace (see http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1437 for details) 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: - Justin's Father's Job ************************************************************ NEWS: 12/27: Austria's Green Party Denounces Schwarzenegger's Actions in Tookie Williams Case - http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/27/ MNGISGDLRF1.DTL The Austrian Green Party called for Schwarzenegger to be stripped of his Austrian citizenship... --------- 12/28: Willie Brown the "Payola Kingpin" on Progressive Radio: Matt Smith Discusses - http://www.sfgreenparty.org/news/newsitem-start.gem?idx=1427 Matt Smith thinks Willie Brown, who is co-hosting KQKE talk show "Keeping It Real" with comedian Will Durst, should be the show's Bill O'Reilly. --------- 12/28: Pro-Public Financing Editorial in San Francisco Bay Guardian - http://www.sfgreenparty.org/news/newsitem-start.gem?idx=1430 --------- 12/30: 12/30: Ten Good Things about Another Bad Year: Medea Benjamin Elaborates - http://www.sfgreenparty.org/news/newsitem-start.gem?idx=1428 --------- 01/06: Mirkarimi Joins Community in Calling on Board of Ed, SFUSD to Halt Further - http://www.sfgreenparty.org/news/newsitem-start.gem?idx=1432 ============================== EVENTS: 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. --------- 1/10: Meeting with San Francisco Board of Education to Consider Proposed Sunshine Package WHEN: Tuesday, January 10 Meeting is scheduled to start at 7:00PM WHERE: School District headquarters, 555 Franklin, San Francisco DETAILS: The San Francisco Board of Education is due at this meeting to consider a series of Recommendations for an Open Government Policy. As fellow Green Kim Knox pointed out in her excellent article in the Bay Guardian, adoption of the package (Resolution No. 511-15A1) would be a step forward but it has some major shortcomings, including lack of a provision to penalize those who violate sunshine laws, and a period of 30 SCHOOL days (which could mean up to three calendar months, depending on the time of year) for the school district to respond to appeals by citizens denied access to district records. --------- 1/11: County Council Meeting WHEN: Wednesday, January 11 7:00PM-9:00PM WHERE: San Francisco Green Party office, 1028 A Howard St (between 6th St. and 7th St.), San Francisco DETAILS: This is the regularly scheduled meeting of the Green Party's County Council. We discuss business items and draft the agenda for the following week's General Membership meeting. This month we will discuss the lease for our office, which is up in March of 2006, revising our Active Membership list and General Membership agenda items including: - County Council elections - Working group protocol regarding endorsements - Upcoming fundraiser on Jan 26 at Z Gallery - Working Group reports and activities --------- 1/13: Feminist Issues Working Group WHEN: Friday, January 13 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. --------- 1/16: Protest the Execution of Clarence Ray Allen! WHEN: Monday, January 16 8:00PM WHERE: San Quentin State Prison. How to get there: You can park on Francisco Blvd. E. but expect to walk 1-2 Miles to get to the East Gate of San Quentin. DETAILS: Join Greens and anti-death penalty activists as we continue our struggle against the racist death penalty. Sadly, this execution has been scheduled on the birthday of Martin Luther King. This vigil honors Dr. King's memory as we protest yet another state sponsored execution. The Green Party opposes the Death Penalty under all circumstances. Dress warmly and bring a flashlight. Contact: stefanie@deathpenalty.org or 415-243-0143 --------- 1/19: Animal Advocacy Working Group WHEN: Thursday, January 19 (changed from Jan 5) 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 --------- 1/21: 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! --------- 1/26: SAVE THE DATE: A Green Party for Peace WHEN: Thursday, January 26 8:00PM until closing WHERE: Studio Z, 314 11th Street at Folsom, San Francisco DETAILS: - http://www.sfgreenparty.org/events/events-itemfromhome.gem?idx=1437 ============================== 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: Justin's Father's Job One day a fourth-grade teacher asked the children what their fathers did for a living. All the typical answers came up: fireman, mechanic, businessman, salesman, doctor, lawyer, and so forth. But little Justin was being uncharacteristically quiet, so when the teacher prodded him about his father, he replied, "My father's an exotic dancer in a gay cabaret and takes off all his clothes in front of other men and they put money in his underwear. Sometimes, if the offer is really good, he will go home with some guy and make love with him for money." The teacher, obviously shaken by this statement, hurriedly set the other children to work on some exercises and then took little Justin aside to ask him, "Is that really true about your father?" "No," the boy said, "He works for the Republican National Committee and helped re-elect George Bush, but I was too embarrassed to say that in front of the other kids." ************************************************************ 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.