Agenda and Minutes - April 3rd, 2017
Approved May 1st
COORDINATING COMMITTEE AGENDA/MINUTES
April 3rd, 2017
7:30PM to 9:30PM
Conference Call number: (641) 715-0861
Access code: 354039
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(01) Roll call
Current Members (20, quorum is 10):
Victoria Ashley
Marla Bernstein
June Brashares
Eric Brooks
Trinidad Castaneda
Susan Chunco
Sanda Everette
Mike Feinstein
Mike Goldbeck
Bert Heuer, Co-Coordinator
Tarik Kanaana
Liz Kroboth
Ann Menasche
Mike Murphy
Mimi Newton
Ajay Rai
Lynne Sandoval
Laura Wells
Karinna Zarate
Stephen Zollman
Members Present ( ):
Victoria Ashley
June Brashares
Eric Brooks
Trinidad Castaneda
Susan Chunco
Mike Goldbeck
Tarik Kanaana
Liz Kroboth
Ann Menasche
Mimi Newton
Ajay Rai
Lynne Sandoval
Laura Wells
Stephen Zollman
Mike Murphy joined at 8:01
Marla Bernstein joined late although unclear as to what time. She estimated around 7:40 something
Members Absent ( ):
Mike Feinstein
Sanda Everette, Co-Coordinator
Karinna Zarate
Quorum @ 07:35 with 14 members present (plus 2 late arrivals after quorum call)
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(02) Roles
Facilitator: Wells
Minutes taker: Heuer
Time keeper: Zollman
Vibes Watcher: Castaneda
NOTES:
Laura discussed a "5 minute rule" for timekeeping. Each item would begin with a 5 minute limit and we would add in 5 minute increments.
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(03) Approval of agenda
NOTES:
Laura moved that we add Sadie Fulton to item 08.
Tarik asked about Platform's report. Was not received as of 1000 this morning when Agenda IV was sent out
Eric asked about Sadie's resume. It was not part of the agenda but she had sent it to Bert.
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(04) Decision: Approval of March 6th minutes,
Sponsor: Bert Heuer
Proposal: Approve the minutes for the March 6th meeting as recorded by Mimi Newton
Reference:http://www.cagreens.org/committees/coordinating/minutes/2017-03-06
NOTES:
Approved by consensus
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(05) Discussion: Affirmation of June GA Dates
Sponsor: Victoria Ashley
Background and Purpose: At the March General Assembly (3/12/17) the host committee of the next GA (Sacramento) proposed the date as the weekend of June 24/25 (with the weekend of June 17/18 as a fallback). Since then, at least one conflict has arisen with the June 24/25 deadline. Host committee organizer Nicole Castor has acknowledged the concerns and and agreed with them. It was additionally discussed that finding a good venue (that can be reserved) is the most pressing issue, and that Sacramento will then make the final decision of which of the two June weekends will work best with the venue.
Proposal: That the Coordinating Committee affirm the potential choice of the weekend of June 17/18 for the June General Assembly in Sacramento County.
NOTES:
Camp Pollock reservation avaliable 6/17 and 18,
June: reminded everyone of the decision process - originally approved for the 24th. Then date was moved since.
Tarik felt it would be a tight window
Eric asked about CalTrain
June says it's near CalExpo
Bert said he believed that the Sacto Muni ran near there (from CalTrain)
Approved by consensus
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(06) Decision: Amend Coordinating Committee Internal Procedures (10 minutes)
Proposal: See "Detail" below
Sponsor: Laura Wells
Background and Purpose: In the past, when there have been multiple candidates for open seats on a standing committee, if even a single person held an unresolved concern about an applicant, none of the applicants were appointed and instead they all went to an online vote, which is the process when there are more applicants than seats available. This changes the process in the case where there are as many or fewer applicants as there are open seats.
Implementation/Timeline/Resources: This agenda item should precede agenda items having to do with appointing applicants to Standing Committees, and if approved should be implemented immediately.
Reference:
http://cagreens.org/committees/coordinating/procedures#Article_VI_Appointments_to_Standing_Committees
Detail:
Amend Coordinating Committee Internal Procedures regarding Appointments
to Standing Committees as shown...
EXISTING CC INTERNAL PROCEDURE
6-4 Appointment
If there are as many or fewer candidates than open seats, the Coordinating Committee shall first test for consensus on the full list of candidates. If consensus exists, then all candidates shall be considered appointed. Where there is not consensus, or where there are more candidates than there are open seats, there shall commence a six day voting period through midnight, the ensuing Sunday. During this time discussion may continue on the Coordinating Committee email list. Candidates shall be appointed by ranked choice voting, per GPCA Bylaws 7-1.8. As a further test, after the ranked choice vote is tabulated, a candidate must also be ranked on at least 40% of the ballots to be appointed. Both thresholds must be met for the appointment to occur.
AMENDED CC INTERNAL PROCEDURE
6-4 Appointment
If there are as many or fewer candidates than open seats, the Coordinating Committee shall first test for consensus on the full list of candidates. If consensus exists, then all candidates shall be considered appointed. Where there is not consensus, each candidate shall be considered individually. If consensus is not reached on an individual candidate, then a voice vote shall be taken during the call with a majority threshold.
Where there are more candidates than there are open seats, there shall commence a six day voting period through midnight, the ensuing Sunday. During this time discussion may continue on the Coordinating Committee email list. Candidates shall be appointed by ranked choice voting, per GPCA Bylaws 7-1.8. As a further test, after the ranked choice vote is tabulated, a candidate must also be ranked on at least 40% of the ballots to be appointed. Both thresholds must be met for the appointment to occur.
NOTES:
Eric took over as facillitator so Laura could present.
No one asked clarifying questions
No affirmations or concerns
Approved by consensus
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(07) Decision: Appointments to Bylaws Committee
Proposal: The Bylaws Committee (and the applicants) request that the CC appoint Gloria Purcell (San Mateo County) and Jim Smith (Humboldt County) to the Bylaws Committee. Both applicants attended the Bylaws Break Out session at the March 2017 General Assembly (as well as the Bylaws Committee's March 19 teleconference). Both applicants have demonstrated a familiarity with bylaws in general and have been exposed to the GPCA Bylaws, and Rules and Procedures to a sufficient degree that the Bylaws Committee is confident that the applicants will contribute significantly to the work of the Committee.
Sponsor: Mimi Newton, CC Liaison and Co Co of the Bylaws Committee, on behalf of the Bylaws Committee (and the applicants)
Implementation/Timeline/Resources: Upon implementation, the Bylaws Committee should update the website with the current information about Bylaws Committee members as quickly as possible. No other resources are expected to be required, as the applicants were automatically added to the Bylaws Committee list serv in accordance with the IT Protocol.
References: Addendum A, Addendum B,http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_9-1_Membership (9-1.1),http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2016-07-03#Section_9-5_Bylaws_Committee (9-5.2)
NOTES:
Eric asked whether anyone knew Jim Smith. Mimi, Victoria, and Laura had met Jim Smith at the Bakersfield GA and were impressed.
Both approved by consensus.
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(08) Decision: Appointment of Nicole Montoya to the IT Committee
Proposal: Add Nicole Montoya (San Diego) and Sadie Fulton (Yolo) to the single currently open seat on the IT Committee.
Sponsor: Bert Heuer
Background and Purpose: (TBD)
References: Addendum C and P
NOTES:
Laura: Mike Goldbeck resigned his position this morning.
Bert expressed that he had met both people and they would be fine
Ajay expressed his concerns about both applicants. He felt they could assist w/o being on the IT committee itself.
Ann affrimed Nicole.
June read Sadie's application to the group. Mentioned Sadie introduced a useful app for organizing. Mentioned that the two young women would be good communicators. Also mentioned that gender balance.
Ajay asked that we add people to IT that have more experience with "heavy IT"
Eric said that it would be good to have some new people who need to learn.
Bert pointed out that sometimes it is good to teach young people and it would help us create procedure manuals.
Ajay agreed to stand aside his concerns
Both approved by consensus.
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(09) Decision Item: Appointment to Media Committee (5 minutes)
Proposal: Appoint Cassidy Sheppard (Kern County) to Media Committee
Sponsor: Laura Wells
Background and Purpose: Cassidy attended (actually facilitated) the Media Committee breakout session at the General Assembly in Bakersfield on March 12, and she volunteered to be on the Media Committee. She�s got experience; she�s demonstrated herself to be very capable; and she'�s a millennial with great ideas.
Implementation/Timeline/Resources:
Reference: Addendum D (to follow)
NOTES:
Laura: Mike Goldbeck resigned this morning.
Eric agreed to facilitate so Laura could present.
Bert and Mimi both stated that Cassidy was bright and a go-getter.
Laura commented about how well she did at facilitating "on the fly" at a meeting late Sunday.
Eric added his affirmation.
Approved by concensus
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(10) Decision Item: Appointments for Fundraising Committee
Proposal: Language TBD
Sponsor: Eric Brooks
Background: This is sent as a request for the April 3, 2017 Coordinating Committee Agenda, for a decision item to appoint 4 new members to the newly formed Fundraising Committee. I am the Liaison and therefore a Co-Coordinator of that committee. Wanda Jean Lord (Kern) has already been appointed as the female Co-Coordinator.
Detail: At the Bakersfield GA, 15 people attended the breakout for the committee of which the following four members are seeking appointment to the Committee:
Forrest Brown (Kern)
Gloria Purcell (San Mateo)
Ron Rodarte (Orange)
Erik Rydberg (Butte)
Reference: Addenda A, E, F
NOTES:
Eric: presented the names. Noted that Forrest Brown and Gloria Purcell withdrew their nomination. Affirmed Erik
June: affirmed Ron
Erik and Ron approved by consensus
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(11) Decision: GPCA Insurance Statement
Sponsor: Victoria Ashley
Background and Purpose: Background and Purpose: (To be further developed) As more counties are activated and are becoming active, more requests for liability insurance coverage are being sent to GPCA. The current process for granting coverage, what the limits are, what information is needed by underwriters, is unclear. The purpose of this agenda item is to propose a process and a statement, amended as needed, in order to create an efficient process make it easy for our county parties to ask and receive the necessary information.
Proposal: For the CC to approve a blanket statement and process on which to address requests for insurance coverage for events and meetings, and a best method to communicate the information.
NOTES:
Vitoria rephrased the proposal as "For the Coordinating Committee to affirm that the Treasurer can respond to requests from GPCA counties for insurance coverage for events and meetings without direction by the Coordinating Committee or Coordinating Committee Co-Cos. Costs would need to be paid by the county and GPCA can reimburse counties if funds are available and budgeted"
June said that we should establish a set of criteria for making such requests. Also that the T should send us a report peridlcally. Also if there is a fee for such insurance then the cost should be born by the counties
Eric wondered whether we need insurance at all for each event
Victoria wondered this as well.
Tarik said he had spoken to the Treasurer and was told that we did not need specific permission - we are insured for any function of the GPCA and whenever there is an event scheduled we just need to let the insurance company know about the event.
Mimi used to be an insurance litigator. Said it is a good idea to send a notice to the underwriter.
Ajay wondered whether or not the various requests applied to the state or to the county
Tarik answered that there is a difference between state events and county events as far as insurance is concerned.
Victoria reiterated she was trying to avoid having the CC approve every meeting of any type.
June suggested we empower the CoCo (Bert) to approve the requests for insuring events (rather than the entire CC)
Laura asked whether or not we had a decision item to approve or not approve.
Eric suggested we make a decision item at least until
Victoria restated the proposal as follows: The CC CoCo will review requests for proof of insurance and OK them to the Treasurer.
Ajay mentioned (and Bert twinkled) that should approval be granted for an event and something untoward occurred, the approver (as in CoCo) might be liable.
Laura suggested we learn a bit more about this process before carrying this proposal forward. Twinkled by many.
Victoria agreed to be the point person for information gathering.
No proposal or decision.
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(12) Discussion: The Next SGA: When, What and How
Sponsor: Victoria Ashley
Background and Purpose:(TBD)
Proposal: For the CC to exchange information on our understanding of the timeline and process to conduct the next online Standing General Assembly, what it will include, what the deadlines are, etc.
NOTES:
Victoria said she had not had time to flesh out this item but was concerned that the CC does not know enough about the SGA process.
Laura said she was recently looking at this stuff and would email some information
Eric reiterated that we really did need to get together ahead of the June elections
June thought that Laura's email would enlighted us. But the only thing that she knew for sure was that the SGA had the CC elections and the US Delegations coming up. Also that SGA delegates had to be approinted before electronic voting starts
Laura hoped that the bylaws information would tell us what we could add
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(13) Decision: Agenda Submissions: Change to Internal Procedure
Proposal (Decision item): Modify the Coordinating Committee Internal Procedures such that proposals may be submitted as late 7 days ahead of a given Coordinating Committee meeting. Accordingly, the deadline for a Co-Coordinator to post a draft agenda would be adjusted to 72 hours before that meeting. The Co-Coordinator would then post a revised draft as late as 24 hours before the meeting, if needed.
Sponsor: Liz Kroboth
Background and Purpose: I am resubmitting this item, which I withdrew from last month's agenda since the Co-Co who has been taking a lead on preparing agendas was not on the call. I am open to amendments/discussion, since the goal is to more readily include items submitted later than 2 weeks before a meeting. The current deadline of submitting items 14 days before a CC meeting is excessively long and problematic, given that there is only a month between meetings. It is especially problematic when there is an online vote following a previous meeting because it is nearly impossible to get those results back before the two-week deadline, and we may want to add an item to the agenda depending on those results.
Current deadlines for submitting items / drafting agendas as listed in the CC Internal Procedures are as follows:
-CC members submit items 14 days in advance
-Co-Co sends draft agenda 7 days in advance
-Co-Co sends revised agenda 72 hours in advance
Reference: Coordinating Committee Internal Procedures Section 3-3.2 and 3-3.5:http://www.cagreens.org/committees/coordinating/procedures
NOTES:
Eric asked for clarification
Laura restated: draft agenda out 72 hours ahead; 24 hours for revised draft additions; last draft 24 hours ahead
Bert stated that the real issue was setting the deadline for submitting draft agenda items. The rest was OK.
June supported Liz' proposal. Several twinkles.
Ann said she would support this but felt that an even shorter deadline would be good.
Approved by consensus
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(14) Decision: Elected SGA Vote Administrator Proposal
Sponsor: Eric Brooks
Background: In 2016, during applications and SGA votes for Coordinating Committee members, it was discovered that there are no formal written procedures or protocols governing the very important task of appointing/electing Vote Administrators to implement and oversee votes taken by the SGA.
Note: The text of this decision item is substantially exactly the same as similar text in the SGA Email List Moderator item recently passed (to add sections 4-5 and 4-6 to the IT protocol) with the exceptions that 1) all text regarding email list moderation has been appropriately removed and 2) dates have been appropriately changed, and most importantly 3) proposed sections 5-1.7 and 5-1.8 below contain some substantive differences because they involve deciding disputes over voting procedures and results.
Proposal: Revise the existing IT PROTOCOL of the GPCA to add section 5 as follows:
Article V. ELECTRONIC VOTE ADMINISTRATION
Section 5-1 Standing General Assembly (SGA) Vote Administrators
5-1.1 The Coordinating Committee shall elect a minimum of five nominees (with gender balance and from 5 different counties), subject to 3/5 approval by the Coordinating Committee using ranked choice voting in accordance with 7-2.4(a) of the GPCA bylaws, with the three highest ranked serving as SGA Vote Administrators to serve simultaneous two-year terms; and the next two ranked individuals to serve as Alternate SGA Vote Administrators for the same term. Terms shall run from June 1 to May 31 beginning in odd-numbered years. (For 2017 only, the CC will vote to approve the SGA Vote Administrators and alternates at one of the next two monthly meetings of the Coordinating Committee after adoption of this provision.)
5-1.2 All nominees must be Green Party members and be recommended to the Coordinating Committee by their County Council to be eligible. A call for SGA Vote Administrator applicants shall be sent to the GPCA Inform, GPCA Forum and SGA Votes Email lists by the IT Committee at the direction of the Coordinating Committee, within the first 15 days of April of each odd-numbered year. For 2017 only, the call for SGA Vote Administrator applicants and alternates shall be sent within three (3) calendar days after adoption of this provision.)
5-1.3 In the event that an SGA Vote Administrator or Alternate seat is not filled by rank choice vote, the Coordinating Committee shall conduct an on-line vote to fill the seat(s).
5-1.4 In the event of an SGA Vote Administrator mid-term vacancy, an Alternate of the same gender, if possible, shall fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term. If both alternates are the same gender, the Coordinating Committee shall select one at either their next regular meeting or by an online vote.
5-1.5 The Coordinating Committee shall conduct nominations and on-line votes to fill mid-term vacancies of Alternate seat(s) in a gender-balanced manner, and shall call for applicants to fill mid-term vacancies of Alternate seats within three (3) calendar days after becoming aware of the vacated seat(s).
5-1.6 SGA Vote Administrators may be recalled by a 2/3 vote of the SGA. The vote will be placed in the SGA voting queue with expedited process with a two week discussion and one week voting period upon request to the Coordinating Committee by six different SGA delegates from at least four different counties.
5-1.7 Where there is disagreement between SGA Vote Administrators, or a dispute has been filed, over management of SGA voting procedures or results, the threshold for SGA Vote Administrator decision-making shall be 2/3 and no fewer than two Vote Administrators in agreement for resolving the disagreement. If a Vote Administrator is not available an Alternate Administrator shall participate in the decision making in his or her place with the Alternate who shall participate being chosen at random. Quorum for all decisions shall be two.
5-1.8 Vote Administrator management of SGA voting procedures or results may be disputed by any six GPCA delegates, officers, and/or Vote Administrators from at least four different counties by filing a notice of the dispute to the Coordinating Committee, which shall immediately email the notice to the SGA Votes Email list. Vote Administrators shall decide on the dispute within two weeks after the notice of the dispute is filed. A decision by the Vote Administrators over such a dispute may be appealed by any six Green Party California delegates, officers and/or Vote Administrators from at least four different counties by filing a notice of the appeal to the Coordinating Committee. Such appeals shall be noticed by the Coordinating Committee and be voted on within one full month by the SGA, with at least one week allocated for discussion and at least one week allocated for voting by the SGA.
Reference: Information Technology Protocol: http://www.cagreens.org/it-protocol
NOTES:
Mimi thanks Eric and wondered about putting this up for a vote and asked whether or not there should be a discussion period.
June agreed about the discussion period and said that the recall should be by CC instead of the SGA
Eric asked whether or not we could wordsmith this.
June felt that we could wordsmith this during an online vote
Laura asked what would be a parameters for an online vote.
Eric asked for a week of discussion and amendments and then a week of voting.
Agreed that we would do an online vote. Discussion to continue thru Sunday the 9th (1159) and voting for the next week April 16th at midnight.
Eric expressed some concerns about the online Yes/No vote. He also wondered whether or not this needed to be ranked chioice with a None of the Above option
Tarik indicated that it was a Yes/No vote and therefore there was no need to add "none of the above"
Eric said he had issues with his email client and asked if Bert could administer the vote. Bert agreed.
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(15) Discussion: Treasurers Report, Committee and Working Group Reports
Sponsor: none
References: See Addendum G (IT), H (CCWG), J (Finance), K (Bylaws), L (GROW), M (ERWG), N (Platform)
NOTES:
Victoria stated that Doug had ordered the StateCraft sfotware w/o approval of the Finance Committee.
Tarik and Bert talked about getting the Platform committee report
June recommended that, if there are any rules for the Treasurer for expenses over a certain amount, if Victoria would send it to the CC. Also said that she had read an email from Sanda (about her illness).
Eric gave a spoken report about the Fundraising meeting. Said there was a fine open discussion. Also discussed tax-exempt status. Much discussion about company donations from "good" corporations. Wanda has withdrawn from Fundraising.
Free form discussion for 10 minutes. Susan mentioned some things about Finance; Some discussion of Budget Committee (Mike Murphy, Ruscal P) and they can use the Finance email list.
Marla announced herself and gave a "Treasurers Report" in approx 10 seconds saysing that there was an upconing Federal filing due and that Doug would take care of it.
Meeting adjoured at 9:29.
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========================= Addendum A ================================
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Application of Gloria Purcell for appointment to the GPCA Bylaws Committee (dated 19 March 2017 at 9:43 pm)
Subject: Brief Bio
Biography:
My name is Gloria Purcell. I have been married to an extremely patient man for 54 years, have four children and nine grandchildren and a close extended family. I am retired from the San Mateo County Library (SEIU), am 75 years old, and an active GPCA volunteer and member since 1990. During the mid-90's through 2000, I was on Bylaws Committee. After the restructure of the Bylaws, I lost my interest in the SC. Major family concerns, and burnout from my four campaigns--1994, 1996 and 1998 City Council and 2000 CA State Assembly-- kept me away from the GPCA for years, and my local for about seven years also. For many years I was on the GP San Mateo County Council, even when sometimes it was inactive and sometimes I was. Most recently, I was 24/7 caregiver for my mother for the last four years, and after she died in August 2016, busy with executor duties. Now I can start to be active in the GP again.
I was part of the group that started the original Bylaws and Platform for the GPCA, and the original national stab at setting up a document that would become the basis of a national platform (Eugene OR 1988 or 89), because I am interested in structural solutions to social and other problems and arrangements. It is why I like architecture and city/county planning and why I enjoyed being on the Belmont Planning Commission and the Citizens Advisory Committee to the San Mateo County Transportation Agency, approx. 1996-2000.
I hope to contribute to clarity, connectivity and openness of both process and result in our Bylaws updating. The Green Party was instrumental in forming my view of what social and governmental structure could be, and I want to stick very close to our Ten Key Values as we consider new changes. I think you all are making a great start, and hope I can keep up! Full disclosure: I am not very good with computers and don��t have a modern cellphone!
Thanks for the opportunity.
Gloria Purcell
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========================= Addendum B ================================
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Application of Jim Smith for appointment to the GPCA Bylaws Committee (dated 20 March 2017 at 8:57 am)
March 20, 2017
James A. "Jim" Smith
2626 Kelly Avenue
McKinleyville, CA. 95519
The Green Party of California Coordinating Committee:
Re: appointment to the Bylaws Committee
I am a graduate of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon and completed coursework for my teaching credential at U.C. Berkeley. I taught at several community colleges but was unable to find full time employment so I went to work for the California Department of Corrections at CTF Soledad. I found that I was spending more time and effort fighting departmental rules and policies more than teaching and accepted employment with SEIU Local 1000 as a Labor Relations Representative covering Humboldt, Del Norte, Mendocino, and Lake Counties. During this tenure I was represented by UAW Local 2350. I was a steward and served on the by-laws committee for four years. I was hired by AFSCME Council 57 and served as a business agent for several locals including Humboldt County and Siskiyou Counties where a part of my duties was to write and help implement local bylaws changes. I also organized locals in Del Norte County and several not for profit organizations on the north coast and authored bylaws for all of those entities. All of the bylaws were accepted by the National Union as adopted by the local union.
I am submitting this to you in hopes that I will be appointed to our bylaws committee.
I look forward to working with the Green Party.
In Solidarity,
Jim Smith
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========================= Addendum C ================================
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Application of Nicole Montoya
Dear GPCA Coordinating Committee Members,
When I first registered to vote in 2010, I felt like I was stuck with the dilemma of having to chose between Republican or Democrat. I figured I would be more Democrat since they were more towards the left; even though I didn't agree with a lot of their stances. Luckily for me being a Californian, I saw that I had other options on my form and Green was one of them. I quickly googled the Green Party on my phone and was thrilled to find a party that aligned with my beliefs.
I have always tried my best to do what I can to help my environment and community. Which is how I started in graphics helping local charities and schools with fliers and printouts. I attended college for a little over a year for accounting and graphic design. At that time I realized I could get things done quicker and taught myself markup languages and css to get working. I have worked as a front-end developer for over 4 years. During this time I was committed and open to learning more to better myself. I have worked with design, responsive templates, most CMSs, Git, jQuery, JavaScript, email marketing, and php. While not green, the largest site I assisted with more recently was GE automation combining it with its GE defense branch site.
I am fairly new to being active in politics. I knew whatever the outcome of this past election I would get involved. Recently I took over the maintenance of the GP of San Diego's website and email listings. At the GP General Assembly I was given the opportunity to voice my concerns about our current online whereabouts and to get involved with GROW. The CA Green's site needs to be revamped with a high dose of improved UI and that's just the beginning of the list. I feel like I can help the California Green Party renovate its current web presence; opening the door to new greens, and will benefit the IT Committee.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Nicole Montoya
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========================= Addendum D ================================
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Application of Cassidy Shppard
Hi, I'm Cassidy Sheppard. Since freshman year of high school I knew I wanted to go to school for journalism. The older I'e grown, the more I'e grown to be aware of the world around me and what is going on. I think we have a serious crisis on our hands and I believe the root of most of the problems going on in our country stem back to money. The first election I could vote in was this past election. In fact my 18th birthday was on election day. I started following Bernie Sanders in the summer of 2015 and stood by his side up until the DNC. Then I found Jill and followed her campaign because I felt she was the more radical Bernie Sanders. She was willing to say the things he wasn't.
Since then I'e started to become involved in local politics. I helped start up the Green Party of Kern County council. I have also been working with the Young Progressives Coalition of Central California. I helped canvas for a special election when a recent city council members committed suicide. If we would not have petitioned for a special election, the city council would just get to appoint someone. After receiving 1,500+ signatures the city council unanimously voted for a special election. I also started working for an organization called South Kern Sol which is a youth led media source. I made an ad that is on air currently on Radio Bilingue. The ad is about Kevin McCarthy voting record being swayed by the lobbyists and corporations funding him.
I am a current Sociology major at Taft College. I will be transferring to SFSU (fingers crossed) in fall of 2018 as a Political Science major and Cinema minor.
I would love to be a part of the Media Committee for the GPCA because I feel the world needs truth. And absolute truth is seldom found anymore. I want to ask the hard questions. My ultimate career goal is to save the world. To save the world we must save humanity. I believe that is possible through the Green Party.
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========================= Addendum E ================================
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Erik Rydberg, Butte County, California
District Delegate for Bernie Sanders in District 1, California. Standing Rock Liaison for the Stein-Baraka Campaign 2016. California state coordinator for the Stein-Baraka Campaign 2016. 530-781-2903 - rydberg3@yahoo.com
(Note: Erik also helped launch Butte and other new California Green counties into active status.)
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========================= Addendum F ================================
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Ronald Stacy Rodarte, Orange County, California
My Green Party Registration dates from my original registration in July 2003.
I've remained a registered Green since then, 14 years. I've been a member of the County Council for Many of those 14 years.
Experience
As a council member and host of the Presidential candidates over 4 Presidential election cycles and 3 midterm election cycles, our chapter has hosted speaking engagements of the candidates to raise funds. In 2015 our chapter stepped up to a higher level of production for fundraising and created an educational speaker's tour in Orange County. We raised funds to procure venues and speaker's honorarium for Dr. Richard Wolff and raised funds in a Packed house event. Observing the greater need to educate and register our county population that was rapidly becoming energized towards progressive ideas, we hosted Chris Hedges, Dr. Jill Stein and Mayor Gayle McLaughlin at a speaking event that drew a full house and made a considerably larger profit than the previous event.
Objectives for Green Party fundraising
County chapters are fundamentally non-funded. The creation of a speaker's educational tour for California chapters may offer timely, cutting edge insight into the experience of the American progressive beset by an all-out social program of repression and destruction of the commons can be a popular fundraising and informational experience that gives organizational responsibility and secures the energies of newer Green arrivals from debased "Dem-Repo" duopoly politics.
My goal is to use fundraising efforts for engaging the new registrants and prevent political drift caused by boredom and a feeling of apathy.
The first step in creating any fundraising apparatus is to create the tax-deductible entity so donors may receive value while supporting their best political interests.
The state of California has strict filing rules in place for declarations of candidate fundraising and penalties are handed out liberally. We must educate each of our county chapters to file responsibly, since one fine could debase an entire chapter due to one mistake in file protocol.
In all State fundraising efforts I feel strongly that the main objective is to assist the county chapters to create fundraising apparatus of their own and offer advice in filing the forms to the State that are due twice per year declaring fundraising activities.
Ron Rodarte
Orange County Green Party-Council Member
gruneronmail@gmail.com
213-700-8114
San Clemente, CA 92672
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========================= Addendum G ================================
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Report from IT
Meeting held on March 20
Attending were Ajay Rai and Bert Heuer (no other attendees)
Discussed a series of topics including auditing existing GPCA assets for both responsibility and jurisdiction - this including county pages, existing mailservs and other communications, and attendance issues (for IT meetings)
Next meeting will be Monday April 17th
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========================= Addendum H ================================
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*Notes from Candidates & Campaigns Working Group (CCWG) meeting held March 11, 2017 at GPCA General Assembly in Bakersfield, Kern County*
In Attendance: Christopher "America", June Brashares, Sonoma County; Julie Marie Cartwright, Kern County; David Cobb, Humboldt County; Bridget Duffy, San Mateo; Sadie Fulton, Yolo County; Richard Gomez, Fresno; Barry Hermanson, San Francisco; Jane Jarlsberg, Mendocino County; Eric Luna, San Joaquin County; Jon Mann, Los Angeles County.
Announced that the previous Co-Coordinator Rich Stone is stepping back from his role so there is an opening for the CCWG Male Co-Coordinator position.
*Decisions:*
David Cobb volunteered to serve as Male Co-Coordinator of the CCWG. CCWG group by consensus approved David Cobb as Male Co-Coordinator. NOTE: This was unanimously affirmed by the General Assembly.
*CCWG action items to support candidates*:
Barry Hermanson (San Francisco) is willing to help candidates for office fill out various forms-- FPPC, FEC, candidate statements, etc.
-> Coordinate with Kenneth Mejia's campaign to draft a call to action to ask CA Greens to phonebank.
-> conduct Movement/Campaign schools in counties where requested.
-> Sadie Fulton volunteered to help put ap on phones to enable sending texts to phone lists
*Other action items:*
->June Brashares will email to each person who attended the CCWG breakout the link to allow each to add oneself to the CCWG listserve. Link is: http://lists.cagreens.org/listinfo/gpca-ccwg_lists.cagreens.org
June Brashares serves as the liason between the state Coordinating Committee and the CCWG.
Sadie Fulton volunteered to serve as the CCWG Female Co-Coordinator if/when Pam Spevack will be stepping down.
*NEXT MEETING:
*The GPCA CCWG meets on the *4th Sunday of every month at 7:30pm*.
The next meeting will be*March 26th.
Tele-Conference call-in #: 1 (605) 475-6777 Password: 22942663
*This info will also be sent out to CCWG listserve.
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Report on the March Finance Committee Meeting
Submitted by Victoria Ashley (Solano County)
The teleconference meeting took place on Thursday March 23rd, 2017, 8 - 9:30 pm (call in number: 712-770-4700 code: 626116).
Present:
Victoria Ashley - Liaison, Co-co
Ruscal Cayangyang - Assistant Treasurer
Maxine Daniel - Co-co
Frank Lambert - Committee Member
Mike Murphy - Budget Committee Member
Absent:
Doug Barnett Treasurer, Ex-officio
Marla Bernstein
Kendra Gonzales
Tim Laidman
Bob Marsh
Main Items:
* Despite the committee's ongoing discussion of moving to a new company to use for submitting reports to the SoS, the Treasurer went ahead and paid for the next year of the existing software, without mentioning it to anyone on the committee. This was $1500 out of the less than $20k we have in the bank. The Assistant Treasurer expressed concerns, especially given our low level of funds, that the Treasurer is not communicating about purchases that significantly impact our functioning. I requested an email copy of the contract with the existing company (Statecraft) from the Treasurer, and received no response.
* We still need budget and work plans from all but one committee - Victoria will be sending out a reminder
* The Budget Committee will use the Finance Committee list (with the preface BUDGET:)
* Ruscal will be creating a new format for the June Budget which will be more user-friendly, not just a spread sheet but a report also.
* Moving our account to a credit union and moving our mailbox to the East Bay, possibly with RPA has entered the research phase
* Frank Lambert will draft a fundraising letter, since he has done them in the past.
* Mike Murphy will be looking into the SoS fine this week or next.
Date of Next Finance Committee Meeting:
Thursday April 27th at 8 pm
Call in number: 712-770-4700 code: 626116
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From: The GPCA By-Laws Committee
To: The GPCA Coordinating Committee
Date: April 1, 2017
Submitted By: Mimi Newton, Co-Co By-Laws Committee
Date of the last By-Laws Committee Meeting: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Sunday, March 19, 2017
Attendees:
Present: Vic Ashley, Mimi Newton and Laura Wells.
Absent: Michael Feinstein, Tim Laidman.
Guests/Observers: Leidianna Macias, Orange County; Gloria Purcell, San Mateo County; and Jim Smith, Humboldt County.
Any significant actions the Committee is taking: The Bylaws Committee has requested that the CC appoint Gloria Purcell (San Mateo County) and Jim Smith (Humboldt County) to the Bylaws Committee at its April 2, 2017 meeting.
Date of the next By-Laws Committee Meeting: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Sunday April 16, 2017 (Easter).
Call in number - (515) 739-1271, access code: 753142
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Here is the GROW monthly report, including the 3/28/17 teleconference notes, and the March 11-12 General Assembly breakout sessions, list of attendees. Laura, CC Liaison and co-co of GROW
GROW - Grassroots Organizing Working Group
* Met on Tuesday, 3/28/17, 7:30pm to 9:00pm
* Attendees + roles:
Anthony Krzywicki - Ventura
Beth Moore - Nevada
Carol Bouldin - San Bernardino
David Chen - Orange
Frank Lambert - Monterey
Gary Cook - Riverside
Jennifer Hall - San Joaquin
John Schmit - Stanislaus
Laura Wells - Alameda (NOTES)
Margaret Koster - Mendocino
Nassim Nouri - Santa Clara
Nicole Montoya - San Diego
Raven Playfaire - Santa Cruz
Ron Rodarte - Orange (FACILITATOR)
Ruthi Engelke - Humboldt (STACK)
Sadie Fulton - Yolo
DECISION ITEMS
* "Activate California" proposal from Sadie Fulton (Yolo County)
Approved via consensus with friendly amendments related to
(a) A budget of $30 will be set per inactive county, to fund a physical starter pack (?welcome wagon?) being sent to that county
(b) Proposal stages changed from three (Cleaning Up, Remote Outreach and Road Trip) to the first two. Road Trip was incorporated into stage 2, and will be brought to a future GROW meeting. The first stages will be enacted primarily by phone and internet communication.
ACTION ITEMS
* Everyone will figure our roles in moving the Activate California project forward
* Nassim is creating a handbook for new (and existing) counties
* Laura will provide GROW, and specifically Mendocino and Nevada, details of the new county-reactivation bylaws passed at the Bakersfield GA
* Beth and Laura will talk about getting Nevada County certified
* Laura (or possibly Brian Good or other person) will make a list of which counties have local, active admins for their FaceBook pages
* Nicole and Nassim will address questions about alternatives to current internet setup, e.g. current websites, google docs/groups, downloads, etc.
* Laura will forward announcement of state Coordinating Committee and national CA delegation elections (applications due April 24, elections in June)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETINGS
* Met on Saturday 3/11/17 in a breakout session
Attendees:
Adam Siegel (Yolo), Ann Menasche (San Diego), Anthony Krzywicki (Ventura), Beth Moore (Nevada), Carol Bouldin (San Bernardino), David Chen (Orange), Donna Phillips (Stanislaus), Fernando Serrano (Tulare), Frank Lambert (Monterey), Hebard Olsen (Monterey), Jennifer Hall (San Joaquin), Laura Wells (Alameda), Margaret Koster (Mendocino), Nashaw Jafari (San Diego), Nicole Montoya (San Diego), Penny Sheppard (Kern), Raven Playfaire (Santa Cruz), Ruthi Engelke (Humboldt), Susan Roberts-Emery (Nevada), Susan Lamont (Sonoma), Vickie Wilson (San Bernardino)
* Met on Sunday 3/12/17 in an ad hoc lunchtime session with IT and GROW
Attendees:
Adam Siegel (Yolo), Bert Heuer (Contra Costa), Brian Good (Santa Clara), David Cobb (Humboldt), Deatra Cohen (Yolo), Eric Brooks (San Francisco), Erik Rydberg (Butte), Janet Arnold (Alameda), June Brashares (Sonoma), Laura Wells (Alameda), Lisa Zapata (Alameda), Melanie Liu (Santa Clara), Nadia Nouri (Santa Clara), Nassim Nouri (Santa Clara), Nicole Montoya (San Diego), Pedro Gomez (Alameda), Rich Zitola (Santa Cruz), Sadie Fulton (Yolo), Vicente Cruz (Alameda), Victoria Ashley (Solano)
* Next meeting: 4th Tuesday, 4/25/17, 7:30 pm, 712-770-4700, Code 626116# (See draft/suggested agenda below)
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Report on Election Reform Working Group meeting at GA in Bakersfield - 3/12/17
Fifteen people attended the ERWG meeting, 13 of who were new to the ERWG. Four of the new people were interested in becoming active ongoing members of the ERWG.
We discussed the various electoral reforms that are part of our platform and that Greens care about and decided to set priorities for a possible statewide ballot initiative. Everyone understood that we would need to work with outside groups to be able to get an initiative on the ballot and run a campaign, so that compromise would probably be necessary. (At the plenary the previous day, a presentation was made on the idea of an electoral reform ballot initiative which would repeal ?top two? and institute Ranked Choice Voting statewide. A straw poll was taking regarding who supported this idea and virtually everyone present in the room raised their hand registered their support.)
The ERWG further discussed the ballot initiative idea. We reached consensus that "top two" had to go as a first priority since the Green Party is prevented from participating in the general election when most people vote. Our second priority was instituting Ranked Choice Voting which would help end fear-based/lesser-evil voting as the group felt that there is a lot of impetus for this reform at this time while other reforms we support like Proportional Representation would be a far bigger lift and we probably couldn?t get sufficient support to place PR on the ballot. We all were committed to eventually achieving Proportional Representation (see below).
Our third priority was to appeal to Berners (especially those who are not yet Green) by addressing in some fashion the problems Bernie supporters experienced in the primary election. We had a lengthy discussion about open primaries and decided against supporting them because there it would be too easy to sabotage small parties like ourselves. We reached consensus that Same Day Registration would prevent many of the problems Bernie supporters experienced and make it easier for many people to vote.
Our number four priority was to put protections in place to make sure votes were properly counted. Many of us were concerned about electronic counting of the vote and problems with the machines.
Our fifth priority was to include provisions to allow any city/county in California to adapt proportional representation if they so choose.
Some members of the group cautioned us that it might not be possible to put everything we want in one ballot initiative, and that the initiative should be as simple and straightforward as possible to maximize the opportunity of voter approval.
- Ann Menasche
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Submitted by Tarik Kanaana (Sonoma County)
The Platform Committee does not have a regularly scheduled monthly meeting but rather meets continuously via the listserve in considering platform plank language since teleconferences are not good for such discussions. It has regular in person meetings at the General Assemblies.
Next meeting: Sacramento GA, June 2017
Previous meeting date and location: March 11, 2017, Kern County GA, Bakersfield.
Minutes and attendance:
Draft Minutes 032017
GPCA PLATFORM COMMITTEE MEETING
Mar 11 2017 Bakersfield GA
Present: 1. Ruscal Cayangyang, ruscalcayangyang@icloud.com;
2. James "Faygo" Clark, FaygoDrinkit@gmail.com;
3. Deatra Cohen, artaed@gmail.com;
4. Brianna Frisbey, thecinecapri@gmail.com;
5. Anthony Fuentes, apenglish64@gmail.com;
6. Andrea Houtman, flightsdesign@aol.com;
7. Nashaw Jafari, nashawj@gmail.com;
8. Thomas Leavitt, thomas@thomasleavitt.org;
9. Lee McKusick, leemck@gmail.com;
10. Judy Pendleton, spendl@peoplepc.com;
11. Shane Que Hee, squehee@ucla.edu;
12. Lorraine Salas, keebler91711@aol.com;
13. Cassidy Sheppard, Sheppard.Cassidy@gmail.com ;
14. Jim Smith, Jimsmith@asia.com;
15. Matt Smith-Caggiano, MattSmith@greenparty2020.com;
16. Terrance Tovar, trcare@netzero.net;
17. Lisa Zapata, lisasemailaccount@gmail.com;
18. Zee(Rich) Zitola, rich@zeeprime.com.
Introductions: Everyone introduced themselves and their aspirations re the GPCA platform
Agenda Approval: Approved by consensus
Announcements: Saving the Salton Sea (?) ; Carbon dioxide (McKusick)
Report by Co-Co on Developments since last General Assembly/SGA
Workplan: Some comments on the Weather failed platform plank. Co-Co would circulate last version to reassess listserve opinion.
Discussion on GA Platform Planks
Militarism of Youth:
para 2 sent 1: €young men € changed to €œyouth €; €œillegals € changed to €œundocumented individuals €
Bullet 2: €œcitizens € replaced by €œpeople €
Bullet 3: deleted €œsuch €¦Core € and inserted €œfinish that obligation € between €œand € and €œin €.
Bullet 4: deleted. Replaced with €œThe military should be kept out of schools €.
Bullet 5: deleted €œstudent: and inserted after €œnames € €œof students under 21 €
Peace Dividend: Consensus on changes after quick review
Initiatives, Referenda, Recall: ran out of time
Election of Platform Committee Members
You must submit a written application to the CC on your background and why you want to become a GPCA Platform Committee member.
Nomination of New Platform Co-Co
Cassidy Sheppard is interested
You must submit a written application to the CC on your background and why you want to become GPCA Platform CoCo.
Planks for Next Plenary/Standing General Assembly: No time. Deferred to listserve.
Other Business: No time
Topics from GA Brainstorming Session of Mar 12: Salton Sea; No corporate funding or personhood; Standing Rock; Affordable housing; Homelessness; Water; Police violence; Transparent elections
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Dear Coordinating Committee of GPCA,
I am writing to ask you to consider me to serve on the Information Technology committee. I can offer the party a solid blend of technological competency, communications skills and a decade's worth of international activism.
I have a degree in Music Technology, which demonstrates the level of fluency, competency and comfort I have with computers and technology. I have done substantial work on the back-end of websites, WordPress blogs, mailing lists, newsletters, etc. When working as a full-time Trade Union Organizer in the UK, I was the go-to person for technological matters for my entire office.
My goal is to see the IT of the GPCA serving all of its registered members to a maximum effect. The networks we currently have are a great jumping-off point for a large outreach effort. We could also be taking greater advantage of mediums such as text messaging. I firmly believe now is the time for the Green Party to become stronger and more influential than ever before, and would like to help expand the IT infrastructure available to support us in doing so.
Kind regards,
Sadie Fulton
Yolo County Green Party
We welcome all Californians who share our Green vision to join us.
GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
PO Box 485
San Francisco, CA 94104
(916) 448-3437