Hi all- In the spirit of honest navel-gazing, here are some personal observations. Take or leave them as you will. IMHO, the SFGP is entirely too self-referential and hell bent on process. From the perspective of someone who has focused mostly on getting things done *outside* of the Green Party, it is disheartening to see meetings that stretch into many hours, meetings dominated by cranky, disaffected voices, and interminable process. The SFGP as a whole seems to gravitate towards all kinds of conflict: between mere shades of progressive ideology, minor differences in strategy, and loads of interpersonal conflict. The vision of what we are all working for seems to not get focused on ~ instead there seems to be conflict cropping up for some of the most minor inconsequential items. Personally, I can't deal with this much "drama", and I imagine that other folks get burnt out on it, too. As a party, we need to support each other in working to achieve a common vision we want to see happen around us. Theory is great, but let's not let it keep us from making real political progress. In City Hall, remaining politically "pure" won't get you very far. Let's make sure that the work we do as a party remains true to our 10 core beliefs, and let's also be willing to compromise on strategy to get the incremental change that will eventually get us to the vision we want. In an ideal world, people shouldn't burn out, but it does happen in politics and activism. The real tragedy is when people burn out NOT from doing the work they care passionately about for too long, but because some of the people they are working with are driving them batty. If we agree on the common vision, then we need to work together. If there are voices that continue to dominate and be unreasonable, we do NOT need to suffer fools. By constantly suffering fools, we lose activists with dedication and passion. This is a real loss. I think the FAQ sheet will be helpful for outsiders to have. As somebody who has been somewhat involved with the SFGP over the years, I don't know most of the answers to many of those questions that will be covered in the FAQ sheet. Anything the SFGP can do to open its doors to new voices, fresh blood, and different perspectives will strengthen us as a party. The SFGP can feel a bit cliqueish to an outsider ~ if we want to make folks feel welcome and feel ownership, we need to make sure that they know how things work, and are empowered to take ownership in the party. Congrats on taking a look within! I hope my observations won't get me flamed ~ just wanting to offer a mirror (albeit biased) for the process. Best, Emily Emily Drennen Executive Director, Walk San Francisco 415-431-9255 office/fax www.walksf.org 1095 Market Street #502, SF, CA 94103 Advisory Council Member, Bay Area Air Quality Management District Citizen's Advisory Committee Member, Metropolitian Transportation Agency Past Chair, SF Bicycle Advisory Committee --------------------------------- Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click.