News

Barry Hermanson for Congress!

Green Party member Barry Hermanson ran for US Representative of the CA12 district, in the April 8th special election to fill the seat vacated by the passing of Tom Lantos.  If no candidate receives a majority of the vote (50% + 1 vote) then the top two candidates have a runoff election, which will be on the June ballot.  We strongly encourage all San Mateo County Greens (most of San Mateo County is in CA12; the remainder in CA14), Democrats and other progressives to support Barry in the April election.  Let's keep a truly progressive point of view in play, and get him on the June ballot!

He is challenging not only the other candidates, but the entire Democratic Party to end the war and reverse the enormous spending on militarism, so that needs of ordinary Americans can be addressed.  In a state with a $16 billion dollar budge deficit, we Californians can see how better to spend the hundreds of billions currently spent on unnecessary war.

See video of Barry debating the other candidates and hold their feet to the fire on their support for massive military budgets.  Read about his history as a businessman who puts people over profits successfully . Support Barry with a contribution of a few dollars.  He's pledged to take no contribution larger than $100, and only from individuals, as is the Green Party way.

Visit Barry Hermanson's web site and see what's going on!

And remember to get out and vote on Tuesday, April 8th, if you're in CA12!

New County Council Officers for the San Mateo County Green Party

On Sunday, February 10th, the County Council appointed new officers to fill vacancies in the Council. Recently, our long-time Chairperson, Jo Chamberlain stepped down in order to take a position as Executive Director of the Coastside Land Trust.  Congratulations, Jo!

Following in Jo's footsteps is our new Chairperson, Jim Shannon, former Secretary of the County Council. Congratulations to Jim!  We're all very excited to have Jim at the head of our team.

Stepping into the role of Secretary is San Mateo Green Party veteran and former candidate for Congress, Pat Gray.  Congratulations to Pat in her latest role for the GPSMC!

Joining the ranks of officeholders is Michael Batchelder, who moved into the dual roles of County Spokesperson, and Assistant Treasurer (to be taken under the wing of our outstanding Treasurer and Michael's carpool buddy, Margaret Pye).  Good luck with the media and the money, Michael!

February 5th Green Party Presidential Primary Results

On Tuesday, February 5th, California Greens went to the polls to cast votes in the California Green Party presidential primary. Official results for the Green Party and other races can be found on the Shape the Future web site of San Mateo County Elections Office.  (Note: this page has an extremely annoying meta-refresh tag which refreshes the page every 45 seconds, which is not useful at this point, and serves only to lose your place on the page.  We have posted a copy of the page without the tag, here.)

Additional (unofficial) news and commentary can be found in a variety of locations.  A good blog for tracking results of Green races (including a very tight presidential primary race in Massachusetts) and other Green-related info is The Wilder Side.  Their presidential coverage can be found here.

 

Upcoming Events

All are invited and welcome

Wednesday June 4th, 5:30-7:30 pm. General Administration Meeting.  At Margaret's house.  Contact gpsmc@cagreens.org for more information.

For more events, see the GPSMC Calendar (click on individual events to see their details).

Other calendars of interest:


GPSMC Office

Our office space is in transition!

Our old office on 2nd Ave in San Mateo is now closed.  We are currently seeking office space in San Mateo County.  If you know of an office space for rent in San Mateo county, let us know.  We're looking for a 1st-floor space (upper-story space with handicapped access) that's close to public transportation.  Sharing space with an organization which uses office space during the day on weekdays would be beneficial.

 

The Four Pillars of the Green Party

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Democracy • Ecology • Economic Justice • Nonviolence

The Four Pillars grew out of the two fundamental principles of the German Green Party as formulated by its founders, Petra Kelly, Joseph Beuys and Heinrich Böll.

The two principles are Democracy and Ecology, or Ecology and Democracy. They are equal and the order is not important; what is important is that each imposes limits on the other.

A totalitarian state could be built on an ecological platform. If the primary ecological problem is perceived to be overpopulation, then the state could solve the problem by killing large numbers of people. This is not a Green solution because a totalitarian state is by definition undemocratic.

On the other hand, a society could decide by a democratic decision-making process to plunder the Earth for the benefit of the present generation and let the future take care of itself. This might be democratic, but it is not ecological, and therefore also not Green.

But what if a democratic decision was made to murder large numbers of people for the good of the environment? What if a decision was made to keep large numbers of people in abject poverty because the really poor use less of the Earth's resources? For these reasons the two principles were expanded to the Four Pillars.

Economic Justice was added because without some level of material well-being individuals do not have the time, education, or peace of mind to take part in society, and without such participation no real democracy is possible.

Nonviolence was added as a very broad concept. It is not simply the absence of war. Our commitment to nonviolence doesn't mean only that we should stop killing, maiming, and torturing each other (although that would be a good idea), but also that we should stop the violence that we commit on the world around us, on the biosphere, on all the forms of life on our planet. Atomic weapons are wrong not just because they kill people, but also because of the general mess they create even if never used, from the mining of uranium to the disposal of the waste, and all the steps in between.

—George McGuire, New York, September 2002