[SFGP] San Francisco Green Party Weekly

[ErikaSF at aol.com]

Hello Fellow Greens,

In this update: 
1. News
2. Events

NEWS:
This past week marks the swearing-in of our own Ross Mirkarimi, who is now a 
San Francisco Supervisor representing District 5.  Ross thanks those who 
walked with him in the pouring rain to last Saturday's ceremony at City Hall, 
during which Ross received a standing ovation.  The story was covered in the San 
Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/08/B
AG13ALGCI47.DTL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/01/09/B
AGRVANKV51.DTL
For more stories on our city's newest Supervisor, see 
http://www.sfexaminer.com, 
http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com
http://www.sfgreenparty.org

And some good news to report on the school board!  Congratulations to our 
newly re-elected Mark Sanchez, who was sworn in at a packed ceremony on Friday 
January 7.  Congratulations to Eric Mar, a progressive Democrat we supported, 
who was just made Board President by his colleagues at their January 11 meeting. 
 See the news links about this story at http://www.sfusualsuspects.com

Thanks to those who joined us for Matt Gonzalez's last day.  Matt received 
many accolades from both members of the public and his colleagues.  
Photo and web stream link of Matt's last meeting:
http://sfprogress.textamerica.com/?r=1881711
Photo of revelers at Gonzalez's send-off party:
http://www.mckeethen.com/journalism/photos/IMG_0105.jpg
Read a story on Matt's legacy at http://www.beyondchron.org/ and see more 
stories about Matt's last day as Board President at 
http://www.sfusualsuspects.com.

Our own Christine Miller wrote an article about Matt Gonzalez and his 
contribution to the pursuit of tidal energy in San Francisco. 
http://www.sfcall.com/issues%202005/1.10.05/1.11.05%20miller.htm
There is also an interview with Gonzalez in the current issue of SF Call.
http://www.sfcall.com/

Take a few minutes to grade the city on parks, public works, libraries, etc.
http://citysurvey.sfgov.org/

Our members continue to use their creativity to grow our party.  The SFGP now 
has three types of buttons - some that have a peace sign, some that have 
pithy political and anti-war slogans, and some that say - San Francisco Green 
Party.  If anyone knows of a bookstore, coffeehouse, or other business that would 
like to sell these for us, would s/he please send an
email to sfgreenparty at yahoo.com.  For more about button design, contact Pat 
Gerber ppaattg at yahoo.com.
.
Check out Newsroom on AccessSF for some great local stories about SFGP and 
other topics.  See the latest show descriptions on 
http://www.accessnewsroom.com/home.html.  Their latest episode includes a segment that covered the SFGP 
Housing and Land Use Working Group's forum to discuss post-election strategies.  
As written on the program's web site, "The Greens aren't just sitting on their 
asses wailing, they're getting busy, because they know the time to act and 
get organized is now!"
Here are show days and times: 
Tuesdays at 2:00 PM 
Wednesdays at 9:00 AM
Thursdays at 2:00 PM

Attention Fox Mulder!  Little Green Men Have Landed on Earth!
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, that bastion of integrity and reason (NOT), 
has referred to those of us calling attention to voting irregularities in Ohio 
and elsewhere in the 2004 Presidential Election as "The X-Files wing of the 
Democratic Party."  DeLay also denied the possibility of ANY voting 
irregularities in 2004 OR 2000.  Read more about the historic challenge to the Ohio vote, 
and get links to the debate on C-Span at our web site
http://www.sfgreenparty.org/

In honor of the upcoming Martin Luther King holiday on January 17, CodePink 
has produced an inspiring internet flash movie that reveals just how 
out-of-sync the White House is with Dr. King's message of peace and love.  View it by 
visiting http://www.codepinkalert.org.
 
And on the happier side of the news, an engagement has been announced amongst 
our own!  County Council Member John-Marc Chandonia and San Francisco Green 
Party Spokesperson (and newsletter Editor) Erika McDonald have announced their 
engagement, and are planning to wed in the Fall of 2005.

EVENTS:
Wednesday, January 19
San Francisco Green Party General Meeting
This is the first general membership meeting for 2005. We will be discussing 
strategies, goals and vision for 2005 and beyond. Meeting will be held at the 
Green Party office, located at 1028 A Howard Street in San Francisco, and will 
begin at 7:30 PM.  Visit http://www.sfgreenparty.org for a more information.

Thursday, January 20
Don't Spend a Dime Day!
It doesn't really matter that everyone will be out spending what they didn't 
the next day - a point or two will have been made: Since our religious leaders 
will not speak out against the war in Iraq, since our political leaders don't 
have the moral courage to oppose it. On "Not One Damn Dime Day" those who 
oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national 
boycott of all forms of consumer spending. During "Not One Damn Dime Day," 
please don't spend money. There's no rally to attend. No marching to do. No left 
or right wing agenda to rant about. On "Not One Damn Dime Day" you take 
action by doing nothing. You open your mouth by keeping your wallet closed.

Saturday, January 22
Defend Women's Health and Rights!
January 22nd is the 32nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme 
Court decision that established the constitutional right to reproductive freedom. 
On the same day, anti-choice organizers will be marching in San Francisco 
against women's health and rights.  A coalition of pro-choice organizations is 
planning a counter-demonstration.
10 AM - Rally at Powell and Market Streets, San Francisco 
11 AM - March to the Embarcadero
Bring signs! Bring noisemakers! Bring friends!
For more information or to get involved, call 415-890-1020 x209 or visit 
http://www.ppaction.org/ppgg/events/demo/details.tcl 
http://www.indybay.org/womyn/
Driving? Need a ride? Visit
http://www.drivingvotes.org/rides/sfprochoice.php
To see learn more about what the anti-choice organizers are planning, visit 
http://www.walkforlifewc.com. 

Saturday, January 22
Join us for a San Francisco Green Party sponsored event, featuring a panel 
discussion "Invigorating the Progressive Movement in 2005 and Beyond".  Speakers 
include Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi, Chris Daly, Jake McGoldrick, School Board 
members Eric Mar, Mark Sanchez, and Sarah Lipson, as well as Green Party 
local candidates Lisa Feldstein, Terry Baum, and Renee Saucedo.  Light 
refreshments will be served. Cost is $5 and up, sliding scale. No one will be turned away 
for lack of funds.  This event is being held at the Canvass Gallery, located 
at 1200 9th Avenue at Lincoln in the Inner Sunset.  Time of the event is 6 - 9 
PM.

Tuesday, January 25
Please attend the Environmental Commission hearing at 5 PM in Room 416 of 
City Hall for a discussion of a resolution recommending the regulation of plastic 
bags in San Francisco. If you cannot make the hearing, please contact the 
commissioners at:
The Environmental Commission
The Department of the Environment
11 Grove Street
San Francisco, Ca. 94102
OR:
environment at sfgov.org
The commissioners are: Nia Crowder, Paul Pelosi, Jr., Christina Desser, 
Angelo King, Alan Mok, Arlene Rodriguez, and Johanna Wald.
**Note: The SFGP has not taken any formal position on this, but we have been 
discussing approving the regulation of plastic bags via e-mail.

2) Please contact the members of the Board of Supervisors and briefly tell 
them you oppose the widening of MLK Drive in Golden Gate Park. Such a position 
would agree with the transportation plank of the SFGP.
The contact information for the supervisors is below: 
"michela alioto-pier" <michela.alioto-pier at sfgov.org>, 554-7752
"tom ammiano" <tom.ammiano at sfgov.org>, 554-5144
"chris daly" <chris.daly at sfgov.org>, 554-7970
"bevan dufty" <bevan.dufty at sfgov.org>, 554-6968
"sean elsbernd" <sean.elsbernd at sfgov.org>, 554-6516
"fiona ma" <fiona.ma at sfgov.org>, 554-7460
"sophie maxwell" <sophie.maxwell at sfgov.org>, 554-7670
"jake mcgoldrick" <jake.mcgoldrick at sfgov.org>, 554-7410
"ross mirkarimi" <ross.mirkarimi at sfgov.org>, 554-7630
"aaron peskin" <aaron.peskin at sfgov.org>, 554-7450
"gerardo sandoval" <gerardo.sandoval at sfgov.org>, 554-6975

Wednesday, January 26
Join us for a free screening of the documentary film "End of Suburbia"!  The 
Transportation and Energy working groups of the SFGP are presenting a 
documentary and panel discussion about Peak Oil.  Event begins at 7 PM with the 
showing of a documentary "The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the 
American Dream."  Afterwards (starting at around 8:30), we will host a panel 
discussion on Peak Oil, with Richard Heinberg, author of "The Party's Over: 
Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies".  Other guests to be announced.  
Location is the Off-Market Theater, located at 965 Mission Street, between 5th 
and 6th Streets in San Francisco.

Warm Regards,
Erika McDonald
To have an item included in this newsletter, send email to erikasf at aol.com. 
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