Coordinating Committee minutes, September 9, 2013

Proposal (Brashares): Add item Decision:  Request to Endorse and Publicize Jill Stein's events in CA in September as new #5

 

 

Proposal (Shantz): Approve full agenda amended

 

Approved by consensus
 

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4) Approve minutes

- Decision: Approval of CC minutes of August 5th

 

 

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5) Decision:  Request to Endorse and Publicize Jill Stein's events in CA in September

Proposal (Brashares): Endorse Jill Stein events in CA in September and approve GPCA resources to be used to send out an announcement of her events through Nationbuilder email lists, twitter & facebook page and post on website.

 

Amendment (Feinstein, accepted by Brashares): That there be Northern and Southern California emails, that the email for Northern California be send within 24 hours, and that the content be combined with information about the GPCA endorsement process for 2014 and a funding appeal

 

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6) Decision:  Appoint Media Committee members

Appointment: Victoria Ashley

 

 

Appointment: Sanda Everette

 

 

Appointment: Mike Feinstein

 

 

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Appointment: Ajay Rai

Process proposal (Shantz): Since Rai's application had been sent to one of the Coordinating Committee co-coordinators, but not forwarded to the Coordinating Committee email list, that item be defered until later in the meeting after Rai's application is contacted and the application is forwarded.  The application was then received at 8:10pm and his application was voted upon at that time.

Approved by consensus

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8) Decision:  Appoint Media Committee CC liaison  

Appointment: Sanda Everette
 

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9) Amendment to CC Internal Rules - Attendance at GPCA General Assemblies (Feinstein)

Proposal (Feinstein): That the following new Article be added to the Coordinating Committee's Internal Procedures

 

Article 11: Attendance at GPCA General Assemblies

 

GPCA General Assemblies shall be open to attendance with first preference to County Delegates, Party Officers and members of the Coordinating Committee and co-coordinators of party Standing Committees and Working Groups; with a second preference to other GPCA members, space-permitting, who will also pay the registration fee.  The only non-party individuals who may attend shall be those invited by the Coordinating Committee, either at its own initiative or at the recommendation of other party committees, working groups or county party organizations, for purposes pertinent to the business of the GPCA.

 

 

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10) Decision:  Timing of Spring GA (Feinstein)

 

Proposal (Feinstein): That the Coordinating Committee specify the weekend of June 21-22 as the primary choice for the Spring 2014 General Assembly, with the weekend of June 14-15 as an alternative.

 

Approved by consensus

(note: Brashares dropped off the call during the vote, so she is not included in the consensus count)

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11) Decision: Review of Draft Bylaws Interpretation to Establish Process for GPCA endorsements in June 2014 primary (Feinstein)

Proposal (Feinstein): That the Coordinating Committee conceptually approve the following statement of findings/bylaws interpretation, with final approval under GPCA Bylaws 13-4 to come later, and to approve at present that the questionnaire to go to the candidates seeking endorsements be written by Mike Feinstein, Greg Jan and Alex Shantz:

 

Whereas the June 2014 primary elections are the first under which the Green Party is operating under the Top Two primary system for statewide office, a system under which it is highly unlikely that any Green Party candidate (or candidate from any other smaller, ballot-qualified party) will appear on the statewide general election ballot; and 

 

Whereas the existing GPCA procedures governing endorsements in statewide races were passed at the June 2006 Ventura General Assembly (http://www.cagreens.org/elections/endorsement-procedures) and were designed for general election endorsements under the prior system, under which the Green Party primary election winner automatically appeared on the general election ballot; and

 

Whereas at the same time, these same procedures governing endorsements state that in special circumstances, the Coordinating Committee can approve a statement of findings to clarify under which special circumstances a primary election endorsement should be held, and that "an endorsement procedure would be brought before the GPCA."; and

 

Whereas existing GPCA rules governing endorsements permit endorsing in Green Party primaries in special circumstances  (http://www.cagreens.org/elections/endorsement-procedures), under the Top Two primary system, there is no longer a Green Party primary (or other party primary) but only a single non-partisan primary with candidates from all parties running against each other, meaning there will be no primary election held among Green Party members to choose the party's nominees; and

 

Whereas the December 2011 Los Angeles General Assembly passed an amendment to GPCA Campaign Fund Support policies (http://www.cagreens.org/ga/2011-12/campaign-fund-support), that states that "until such time as the Proposition 14 elections structure is suspended or voided, the Campaign Fund Support Committee may authorize distribution of GPCA donations to candidates for office upon the certification by the Secretary of State of the candidate's qualification to appear on the "Primary" ballot."; and 

 

Whereas the criteria for awarding Campaign Support Funds (http://www.cagreens.org/committees/campaign-support/criteria) includes a requirement that any candidate to be considered for such fund must be endorsed by their county party (for a non-statewide race) or the state party (for a statewide race); 

 

Whereas endorsements of statewide candidates are made by the Standing General Assembly, according to GPCA Bylaws 7-6.2 Decision Items (http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2013-06-23#Section_7-6_Standing_General_A...) which state "The following decision items shall automatically be placed before the Standing General Assembly":   7-6.2(b) Endorsements of statewide candidates; and 

 

Whereas GPCA Bylaws 7-4 Endorsements (http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2013-06-23#Section_7-4_Endorsements) state that "A GPCA position to endorse or oppose shall require 2/3."; and

 

Whereas the Napa General Assembly in June 2013 passed a resolution (http://www.cagreens.org/resolution/gpca-candidates-2014-statewide-elections) stating that "The GPCA General Assembly declares as a goal for the GPCA in 2014 that there is a unified and coordinated slate of Green candidates for California's statewide constitutional offices such as Governor, Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer, Controller and Insurance Commissioner;

 

Therefore the Coordinating Committee approves this statement of findings and interprets GPCA Bylaws under 13-4 (http://www.cagreens.org/bylaws/2013-06-23#Article_13-3_Bylaws_Interpreta...) in order to establish the special circumstances under which the GPCA should make endorsements in the statewide races in the June 2014 Top Two primary election, including that the endorsement will be conducted by a 2/3 vote of the Standing General Assembly; and

 

Whereas there are no existing party rules governing specifically how and which candidates shall be placed before the Standing General Assembly for endorsement; and

 

Whereas in the case of the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election, where there was no party primary but only a single recall election and that under these circumstances, but without past precedent or internal rule or procedure, the Coordinating Committee chose to place Peter Camejo for endorsement via County Polling to the GPCA's County Organizations (from among four Greens running for that office); and

 

Whereas in the case of the party's presidential preference primary ballot - which is not a Top Two primary - under GPCA Rules and Procedures 1-5 (http://www.cagreens.org/rules#Section_1-5_Decision-Making), the GPCA's GPUS Delegation and the GPCAs Campaigns and Candidates Working Group may make recommendations to the GPCA General Assembly for approval by the General Assembly for recommendation to the California Secretary for State for inclusion on the GPCA's presidential primary ballot up to ten days before the General Assembly; 

 

Therefore based upon these past cases, the Coordinating Committee finds that it is appropriate for both the Coordinating Committee and the Campaigns and Candidates Working group to have the authority to recommend consideration of endorsement for one or more candidates for any/all 2014 statewide offices by the Standing General Assembly; and

 

Whereas it is normally the case that once a proposal goes to the Standing General Assembly for a vote among candidates (such as for elections to the Coordinating Committee), no new candidates are added after the discussion period begins, it is possible that viable candidates for statewide office could join the race after the discussion period begins;

 

Whereas the next General Assembly shall be November 16-17, 2013 in Santa Rosa (Sonoma County) and this could present an opportunity for party members to hear directly from potential candidates seeking the party's statewide primary endorsement before that endorsement is made; and

 

Therefore the regular six week SGA discussion period will be timed to overlap the Sonoma General Assembly (http://www.cagreens.org/announce/2014-statewide-endorsement-process), beginning on Monday. October 7 and running through Sunday, November 17, with the voting to begin Monday, November 18 and run through Sunday, November 24; and the Coordinating Committee and/or the Campaigns and Candidates Working Group to recommend candidates for consideration by the Standing General Assembly up until November 8th.

 

 

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12) Discussion: Updates on tri-partisan efforts to amend election to benefit smaller parties under prop 14 (Shantz)

Shantz reported that Assembly member Richard Gordon’s office drafted language for a bill that reflected the recommendations supported by GPCA, PFP, and LPCA; and that after a closer look several minor errors were noticed, the following errors were identified

 

1. The wording in the first draft reads "A party is qualified to participate in any primary election in connection with a party nominated office".  Under Prop 14 the only "party nominated office" is President.  "A party is qualified to participate in any primary election" is all that is needed.

 

2.  The first draft reads "At the last preceding presidential general election, a candidate for the office of President of the United States who disclosed a preference for that party on the ballot polled at least 0.33 percent of the entire vote of the state for that office."  The presidential nomination process has not been changed by Proposition 14.  The presidential candidate may not live in California, and does not have to be registered with the party.  It should read that the presidential candidate be nominated by the party and has not declined the nomination regardless of party registration and residence.  

 

According to Shantz, these two errors have been noted and Assembly member Richard Gordon’s office will be revising the draft bill to fix these errors, after which the next tri-party meeting will be held, after which we hope that the billl will be introduced in January 2014.

 

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13) Decision: Review and approval of Draft Agenda for Sonoma General Assembly (State Meeting Planning Committee)

Proposal (Shantz, on behalf of State Meeting Planning Committee members Brashares, Feinstein, Laidman, Shantz): That the attached draft agenda be approved for distribution to the county parties by the October 5th distribution deadline, with the caveat included to the county parties that the agenda could be amended by the Coordinating Committee on its October 7th teleconference.

 

Brashares: Thinks another way of ordering the agenda items on Sunday would be more effective, but doesn't feel now is the time to talk about it

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13) Report: Treasurer (Barnett) 

Barnett reported on the status of the party's finances.

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14) Report: Committees (20 minutes) 

A) Bylaws (Ashley)

no updates

B) Clearinghouse (Feinstein)

Starlene Rankin remains doing volunteer work for the Clearinghouse Commitee

C) Finance (Laidman) 

Planning for a joint meeting between Finance and Clearinghouse

Planning on email blast to ask for contributions

D) Media (Everette) 

Discussed bringing on Press Secretary in November

Added advisors to Media committee

E) Platform (vacant) 

lack of clarity yet whether there will be an agenda item for the Santa Rosa General Assembly

F) Information Technology Committee (Laidman)

discussion over working with Nationbuilder 

G) Campaign Fund Support Committee

recommendation has been made to fund Marnie Glickman, but quorum has not yet been reached on the decision

E) Fundraising Committee 

nothing to report

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15) Report: Working Groups (15 minutes) 

Campaigns and Candidates (Moorman)

relevant items were already covered earlier

Electoral Reform (vacant)

nothing to report

Green Issues (Laidman)

All-Care Alliance is having soft-launch on 9/15 in Pasadena 

Grassroots Organizing (Shantz)
have received one application for Field Organizer