Election Biographies: GPUS Delegation elections for thirteen two-year Delegate terms, elected by ranked choice voting, each term running July 2017 - June 2019.
Twenty-two candidates for 13 two-year Delegate seats (listed alphabetically): Doug Barnett, Marla Bernstein, Larry Bragman, Steve Breedlove, Richard Chacker, David Cobb, Carolyn Epple, Sanda Everette, Mike Feinstein, Meleiza Figueroa, Richard Gomez, Lisa Hsu, Nashaw Jafari, Peggy Koteen, Bob Marsh, Kenneth Mejia, David Pittman, Lucy Riley, Erik Rydberg, Fernando Serrano, Phoebe Anne Sorgen, Jesse Townley
Election Biographies: GPUS Delegation elections for twelve two-year Alternate terms, elected by ranked choice voting, each term running July 2017 - June 2019.
Nine candidates for 12 two-year Alternate seats (listed alphabetically): Jan Arnold, Darryl Cherney, Angelica Dueñas, Liz Kroboth, Mimi Newton, Linda Piera-Avila, Matthew David Smith-Caggiano, Lindsay Vurek, Candice Yamaguchi
To email the individual candidates, click on their name below.
Twenty-two candidates for 13 two-year Delegate seats (listed in the order of their submission):
#Jesse Townley, Berkeley (Alameda County) - incumbent
(Application received March 26, 2017)
I’ve served GPCA on the NC as part of the Platform Committee (which I’m still on), the Coordinated Campaign Committee, and for 2 years on the Steering Committee. I’ve been an occasional member of other committees.
Serving on PlatCom since at least 2012 has been especially rewarding, as I’ve been able to help shepherd a number of GPCA platform amendments through the process and have them added to our national Platform in 2016 and earlier years. Obviously, I’ve also worked hard on helping other states amend our Platform as well.
Since I was first elected as a GPCA NC delegate in 2011, I’ve been trying to help our party improve its inter-party communication, both in the mechanics of how we communicate and in the style of how we communicate. Regarding the former, I worked closely with other GPCA and national NC members on instituting a message board in order to facilitate better internal GPUS communication. Regarding the latter, I’ve worked hard to listen more, speak sparingly, and be honest yet positive when interacting with other Greens both on-line and in person.
I’ve been honored to represent California at a handful of Annual National Meetings as well as at the 2012 Presidential Nominating Convention in Baltimore. I am planning on going to this year’s ANM in either Portland OR or Newark NJ if reelected to the GPCA National Committee delegation.
I am a thrice-elected member of the Berkeley Rent Board, and I served the past 2 years as Chair of the Rent Board during our city’s most intense housing crisis.
Being able to bring my real-world governance and electoral experiences to the national party is something I have been doing since elected in 2011 http://www.cagreens.org/officeholders/jesse-townley
Richard Gomez, Fresno (Fresno County) - incumbent
(Application received March 30, 2017)
I wish to continue to serve as Delegate for CA.
I am currently on my County's council as well as GPUS Delegate as well as a member of the Diversity Committee and 2 working groups. Now with new people, I hope to begin the excitement needed in Fresno to break out of the corporate duo-oploly.
#Erik Rydberg, Chico (Butte County)
(Application received April 5, 2017)
VISION: My vision for the Green Party of the United States is the same as it is for the Green Party of California. To grow! As a State Coordinator for the Stein/Baraka campaign I had great success in bringing Bernie Sanders supporters over to the Green Party, as well as Independents who regularly don't vote. As the Progressive Party in America the Green Party truly represents the values of the 99%. The Green New Deal is a long over due solution to America's economic crisis. The Green Party's social justice platform sets us apart from all other parties in the United States with a clear stance on the 500 broken treaties with the Native Americans, reparations for our African-American brothers and sisters and equality/equity for Women, LGBTQ, oppressed religious groups and immigrants.
EXPERIENCE
Dirstrict Delegate for Bernie Sanders, CA Dirstrict 1 — Social media expert for the Bernie Sanders campaign CA
April 15, 2016 - July 27th, 2016
Ran for District Delegate in CA District 1 for Bernie Sanders, Organized Voter Registrations in CA District 1, Worked on National, State and Local Social Media including Facebook Groups, Events, Memes, Pages and Polls, Organized Delegate travel and Contested Convention study groups, circulated petitions including Kshama Sawant’s 150,000 signature petition for Bernie to join the Green Party and the 200,ooo signature petition to remove Debbie Wasserman Shultz as DNC Chair for violating the DNC Bylaws and showing favoritism to Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. This petition resulted in the removal of DWS as DNC Chair at the DNC Convention in Philadelphia.
Stein Baraka 2016 State Coordinator, California — Jill2016.com Volunteer Organizer
August 19th, 2016 - November 8th, 2016
Led the #DemExit movement in California with interviews on Fox40 News, Action News Now and multiple radio appearances, Organized 7000+ California Volunteers on Jill2016.com, Formed Butte, Siskiyou, Kern, Nevada, Sacramento, Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin County Green Parties, Organized #NoDAPL events in Chico and Sacramento, CA. Led the Green Party Float in the Constitution Day Parade in Grass Valley, CA, Organized Jill2016 Rallies in Butte, Mendocino and Humboldt with David Cobb and Yahne Ndgo. Gave Speeches with Jill Stein, Ajamu Baraka and David Cobb in San Fransisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Davis, Willits and Arcata, California.
Green Party Standing Rock Liaison, North Dakota — International Indigenous Youth Council/Standing Rock and Occupy Inauguration Organizer
November 12th, 2016 - Current
Arrived at Oceti Sakowin November 12th, Acquired Press Pass on behalf of the Green Party with a Liaison Email from David Cobb, Guided Chris Hedges through camp on interviews with Elders, Camps and Kitchens for RT’s On Contact, Assisted the International Indigenous Youth Council on FreeRedFawn.com Action November 18th, Assisted Medics, IIYC(International Indigenous Youth Council) and Water Protectors at The Backwater Bridge Incident November 20th, Assisted IIYC at Turtle Island Action November 23rd, Gave multiple interviews with Independent Media and Radio Stations, Organized an Interview with Adam Elfers(DefundDAPL.org) and Jordan Chariton(The Young Turks) resulting in immediate $18 million dollars of divestment from the banks funding the (DAPL)Dakota Access Pipeline and a current total of $50 million dollars of divestment, Organized Interviews with the IIYC and Standing Rock Medics for the Documentary “War of North Dakota”,
Occupy Inauguration Organizer, Washington D.C. - Standing Rock/DefundDAPL.org Speakers
Organized Young Greens Youth Conference in Washington D.C. with IIYC, Jacob Falzone and James Andrews on January 18th, Organized Occupy Inauguration January 20th with Evan Duke III and Araquel Bloss, Arranged travel, housing and scheduling for speakers at O.I. including Red Dawn Foster (FreeRedFawn.com), Matene Strikes First (Winona La’Duke’s Nephew), IIYC, Chase Iron Eyes, Steven Good Man, Adam Elfers (DefundDAPL.org) and Sarah Matuszak (Standing Rock Medic). Hosted “Indigenous Struggle” on the Green News Network’s Inaugurate the Resistance January 21st featuring Adam Elfers (DefundDAPL.org) and Sarah Matuszak (Standing Rock Medic).
Standing Rock Environmental Impact Statement Coordinator, New York City - Media Contact, Event Organizer
Organized interviews with Steve Martin (Standing Rock Environmental Impact Statement Author) with Dr.Jill Stein on the Green News Network, New York Times, InsideClimate and Real Progressives. Organized #NoDAPL Rally with Steve Martin and Matene Strikes First (Winona LaDuke’s nephew) in New York City.
Reporter for Native News Online #NoLNG Stop the Jordan Cove LNG project, Klamath Falls, Oregon - Media Contact, Event Organizer, Reporter
Reported for Native News Online on the Jordan Cove LNG Open Houses March 21-24, 2017. Multiple interviews with Klamath Tribal Chairman, Hoopa, Karuk, Yurok and Modoc Tribal members. Interviewed Liuna Labor Union, Jordan Cove LNG and Veresen representatives.
PROJECTS
#NoLNG Boycott the Jordan Cove LNG project — Grassroots Organizer
Organizing Statewide and National protest and boycott of the Jordan Cove LNG project. The first proposed fracked gas export station on the west coast and 230 mile pressurized Liquefied Natural Gas(LNG) pipeline through Northern California and Southern Oregon. The Jordan Cove LNG pipeline is scheduled to run underneath the Klamath River, Rogue River and under Coos Bay, Oregon to a fracked gas export terminal to ship LNG to Japan
Green Party Album: 10 Key Values — Musician, Audio Engineer
Working with Grammy winning Musician and Producer Selon on a Green Party Album based on the 10 Key Values. Musicians include 2016 Green Party Candidate Shamako Nobel, Adam Elfers(DefundDAPL.org), Supaman, Matene Strikes First and Kor Element(Jill Stein Song Writer and MC)
#Peggy Koteen, San Luis Obispo (San Luis Obispo County) - incumbent
(Application received April 6, 2017)
1) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills within of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
-Registered Green since the early 1990s, and very active in our local for a dozen years.
-Attended NEARLY all the plenaries since I was elected as a CA delegate in May 2007. Prior to 2007, attended a handful of plenaries since 1994.
-Attend Platform Committee meetings at the Plenaries and give feedback on platform proposals.
-Regularly participate in the monthly delegate phone teleconferences.
-Participated in the 2008 Co-co meetings in Palo Alto & Fresno, though I am not an official co-coordinator.
-Went to the Chicago National Convention, Baltimore National Convention, Houston National Convention, as well as ANM in Durham (2009)
-Worked on a number of GPUS revised platform planks in 2010 and 2012.
-Vote-Nanny regularly when our delegation is not able to reach quorum during our monthly teleconferences. (I actually like this duty as I feel a bit connected to individuals when I receive the votes.)
-Initiated and coordinated the production and distribution of "Cynthia McKinney for President Yard" signs amongst cities in CA, Washington D.C., Michigan, Ohio, and Minnesota.
-Elected to the San Luis Obispo County Council since at least 1998.
-Main organizer for most all of our events here, including our many fundraisers for local as well as for statewide candidates. At my home, I’ve hosted candidates for Governor- Dan Hamburg and Peter Camejo- and for President- Joel Kovel, David Cobb, Kent Mesplay-, plus setting up their interviews on local radio, public radio, and television.
- Active organizer for Jill Stein for President locally.
- Co-Manage Facebook page for SLO Greens
2) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills outside of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
-Longtime activist.
-Director of a grassroots non-profit organization beginning in 1992 in San Luis Obispo county. I organize letter writing campaigns, demonstrations, and our booth at Farmer's Market. As director, I am the spokesperson and have been on our local CBS and NBC affiliates dozens of times, as well as our local talk show radio many dozens of times.
3) Please describe your vision for serving as GPUS Delegate, including addressing the job description for GPUS Delegate.
It is imperative that we manage to grow the Green Party with energy and endurance, as well as point out our magnificent differences to the public of our party in contrast to other so-called progressive parties.
I will actively take part in the GPUS Delegation. I would like to continue to be involved on the platform committee in CA and attend all plenaries and as many teleconferences as I am able. I hope to participate in helping to form Green Party position papers.
I am applying for the position of Delegate.
#Marla Bernstein, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County) - incumbent
(Application received April 7, 2017)
I have been a delegate on the NC for California in the past few years.
I have been on the GPCA Coordinating Committee and helped to do tasks for GPCA for a long time. I am interested in growing the Green Party, and I also have done tasks in helping maintain the Parties integrity. I hope to be involved in the GPUS delegation again.
#Doug Barnett, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County) - incumbent
(Application received April 7, 2017)
Long time registered Green. GPCA state Treasurer, 2012-2017. Treasurer, Green Party of Los Angeles County 2009-2012, 2014-present. Green Party of Los Angeles County Councilmember, 2010-present. Coordinator of Los Angeles Quaker House. Former elected member of Acton Town Council (San Bernardino County). Active with KPFK Pacifica radio 90.7 FM Local Station Board. GPUS Delegate, 2015-2017. GPUS Alternate 2013-2015.
#David Cobb, Eureka (Humboldt County)
(Application received April 7, 2017)
1) I would like to help improve the process and culture of the national Green Party. I am interested in helping to deepen our shared analysis around race, gender, class and sexual orientation.I am intersted in creating a welcoming environment for young people, and for people new to the Green Party.
2) I am a co-founder of the GPTX, and managed Ralph Nader's 2000 campaign in Texas. In 2002 I ran for Attorney General, and in 2004 I was the Green Party nominee for President. In 2016 managed the Stein/Baraka campaign.
I also served as the General Counsel for the Green Party of the United States, and filed the historic advisory opinion with the FEC that led to the recognition of the Green Party of the United States as a national party committee (other than D and R, the only parties to earn this recognition are Greens, Libertarians and Reform).
#Lisa Hsu, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County) - incumbent
(Application received April 7, 2017)
1) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills within of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
* Registered Green since January 1996
* Member, County Council, Green Party of Los Angeles County, 2006-2012; Co-coordinator, April 2009-August 2010. Member GPCA's GPUS delegation 2009-present.
See also an article about me in the Green Party in the GPUS newspaper GreenPages http://greenpagesnews.org/2009/10/14/the-colors-of-green/
2) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills outside of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
* Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies Field from the University of California at Berkeley. Focus on Media and Third World issues
* Independent Documentary Filmmaker: Produced documentary and narrative films around political and social justice issues www.revolutiontheory.com
3) Please describe your vision for serving as GPUS Delegate including addressing the job description for GPUS Delegate.
I'd like to continue representing our state party to the GPUS. This is the best way for me to be involved, as I have family obligations and can't attend many meetings and events. I have voted on almost all GPUS proposals, helping to ensure that our state party casts all of its votes.
#Mike Feinstein, Santa Monica (Los Angeles County) - incumbent
(Application received April 7, 2017)
1) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills within of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
I first registered Green in January 1990 when the ballot drive to start the current Green Party of California began; and I have been active on every level of the Green Party since November 1988, from my neighborhood to the global, and I remain so today. The list below is far from exhaustive, but gives a flavor of the range of activities that I have been involved in.
- On the local level, I have been active since November 1988, when I joined the Westside Greens. Soon afterwards, my efforts in organizing the well attended Westside Green public forums of 1989-1990, helped springboard the Westside Greens from obscurity to public visibility and effect. While tabling on behalf of my local, I have registered a couple of thousand Green voters over the years.
I have also represented the Westside Greens at national Green meetings in June 1989 (Eugene, OR), March 1990 (San Diego), September 1990 (Estes Park, CO) and August 1991 (Elkins, WV).
I remained active with the Westside Greens through 2004, when I then helped co-found a specific Santa Monica-focused local, the Santa Monica Greens, and remain active with the Santa Monica Greens today.
- On the county level, I was the first county/regional Green office coordinator, from 1989-1991 and took care of county mail and phone for about seven out of ten years between 1989 and 1999.
I was a co-founder of the Green Party Organizing Committee for Los Angeles County in 1990. After the Green Party of California gained ballot status in January 1992, I was elected to the first County Council in Los Angeles County in June 1992 and was re-elected every term since until 2002, when I took at two-year hiatus, only to return in 2004 and remain active through the present. In November 2004 I was also elected as the Co-coordinator of the Green Party of Los Angeles County, which I served til the end of my term in 2006.
- On the state level, I am one of the party co-founders of the Green Party of California. I co-organized and co-facilitated the founding meeting of the state party. I gathered over 1,000 Green registrations myself during the 1990-1991 Green Party ballot qualification drive.
Since then, I have served on a variety of state committee and working groups, including Campaigns & Candidates, Medial, Goals & Strategies, Clearinghouse, By-Laws, Electoral Reform and International. I served on the GPCA State Coordinating Committee from 1995-2001. 2006-2008 and 2011-present. In September of 2006, I was also elected as Co-Coordinator of the Coordinating Committee, based upon the following platform.
I also served on both of the GPCA's State Party Restructuring Committees (1992-1993, 1999-2000).
From 1994-1998, I was the GPCA's State Clearinghouse Coordinator. I served as a correspondent for the GPCA's first state newsletter (Green Consensus) in the early to mid 1990s and in recent years, have written for the GPCA's current state newsletter (Green Focus).
I organized and hosted the second ever GPCA state meeting (March 1990 @ LA Community College). I authored the proposal for the GPCA to join the national Green Party (November 1999). And along the way, I have documented our GPCA state party history (www.cagreens.org/history).
- On the national level, I have been active since 1989. I began by co-coordinating the national Green energy policy formation (1989-1990).
I was a founding member of the national Green Party Organizing Committee (1990). I attended the founding meeting of the Association of State Green Parties (1996), which led to the current national Green Party of the United States. I have also been an invited speaker at the founding of state Green Parties in Minnesota (1994) and Texas (1999), as well as the Campus Green Network (2001).
I was on the 1990 national Green Gathering '90 organizing committee (Estes Park, CO). In 1992, I was a member of the Media Committee, Green Gathering '92 (Minneapolis, MN). In 1996, I was co-coordinator (with Lynne Sepre) of the 1996 Green Gathering and Presidential Nomination Convention (at UCLA). In 2000, I was a member of the Media Committee, ASGP Green Party National Convention (Denver, CO). In 2001 I co-organized (with Stacy Malkan) , the press conference to announce GPUS Founding and application to FEC for Nat'l Committee Status, July 2001 (Santa Monica, CA). Overall, I’ve attended every annual national Green meeting in the U.S. since 1989 except 1993-1994 and 2009.
In 1995, I co-negotiated the deal with two others for Ralph Nader to appear on the GPCA March 1996 presidential primary ballot, the first major steps to Nader becoming the Green Party's first presidential candidate.
I organized both national Green officeholders conferences in the U.S. (1998 and 2003, both in Santa Monica), as well as the first-ever gathering of Green candidates in the U.S. (Green Parties of the West, 1993, also in Santa Monica). I was also a founding member of the national Green Officeholders Network.
I was a correspondent for national Green publications Green Synthesis and Green Letter in the early 1990s. I was the founding editor of the national Green Party newsletter GreenPages from 1997-2001 and continue today as on its Editorial Board today, with a focus on Electoral and International Green Party news.
In 1999-2000, I negotiated 90% of what became to be known as the `Boston Agreement', which led the way to consolidating different factions in the national Green movement into what became the Green Party of the United States. I simultaneously served for several years on the national Transition Committee, which established the structure on how state Green Parties are represented on the national level.
I maintained national candidate and officeholder lists for U.S. Greens from 1994 to 2003 and have documented the party's definitive election history back to 198,. I served as GPUS co-chair from August 2009 through January 20011. Today I am an member of the GPUS Bylaws Committee and International Committee ; and am an advisor to the Media, Coordinated Campaigns and Annual National Meeting Committees.
- On the international level, I was a founding member of the U.S. Green International Working Group in 1989 and have been active on the international Green level ever since.
I've attended as many or more international Green meetings than any other U.S. Green, representing both the Green Party of California and the U.S. Greens at international Green meetings on numerous occasions. In the early 1990s, I played an integral role in establishing the credibility of U.S. Greens in the international Green community, visiting and corresponding with numerous European Greens in particular.
My first role as a formal U.S. Green representative overseas was June 1990 at the European Green Coordination meeting in Brussels. In 2001, I was one of three U.S. Green delegates to the Global Green meeting in Canberra, Australia, where I cast one of three U.S. Green votes in favor of the first Global Green Charter. In 2008 I was a GPUS delegate to the Second Global Green Congress, held in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
In 1991, I was part of the organizing committee for the first CANAMEX meeting (Greens from Canada, U.S. and Mexico) and was active in the founding of its successor, the Federation of the Green Parties of the Americas. More recently, I attended Federation meetings as an observer that coincided with the founding of the Green Party in the Dominican Republic (December 2002) and Nicaragua (November 2003); and attended as a GPUS Delegate in Venezuela (November 2007) and observer in Mexico (November 1999) and Canada (November 2008).
I was also a keynote international speaker at the August 2006 Green Party of Canada national convention, as is documented in these three videos (one, two, three).
I've written a 674-page book on European Greens (Sixteen Weeks with European Greens: Interviews, Impressions, Platforms and Personalities) and am currently working on a second international Green book, on the role of Green Parties in coalition governments around the world.
- On the global level, I have been active since 1990, when I put forward the first written proposal regarding global Green cooperation and coordination, which I presented in Bonn, West Germany at the meeting of the European Green Coordination in 1990.
I was part of the international effort to organize the first Global Green meeting, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. I was an advisor to the first Global Green Steering Committee (1992-1994), including in my role creating the first Global Green Calendar, writing for the first Global Green newsletter and helping co-create and coordinate the first international Green email lists in the early 1990s.
I also served as part of the twenty-member Global Green planning committee for the 2008 Global Greens Congress.
Today I am the Content Development Manager for the Global Greens website, for which I was founding webmaster from 2002-2009. I am also a member of the Global Greens History Working Group and in this role, am writing a comprehensive global history section of Green Parties around the world all the way back to 1972.
2) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills outside of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
Municipal
• City Council, Santa Monica, 1996-2004 elected in 1996 and 2000
• Mayor, Santa Monica, 2000-2002chosen by a unanimous vote of his colleagues
Regional
• Southern California Regional Comprehensive Plan Task Force, Southern California Association of Governments, 2004-2007
• Growth Visioning Subcommittee/Southern California Compass, Southern California Association of Governments, 2001-2004
• Energy & Environment Committee, Southern California Association of Governments, 1997-2004
• Westside Council of Governments Santa Monica representative as Mayor, 2000-2002
State
• Housing Committee, California League of Cities, 2001-2002
National
• U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2002
• Central Cities Committee, National League of Cities, 2002-2004
International
• ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives) Santa Monica representative, including presentations in Johannesburg, South Africa (World Summit on Sustainable Development, 2002) and Athens (ICLEI Global Congress, 2003).
3) Please describe your vision for serving as GPUS Delegate including addressing the job description for GPUS Delegate.
I want to continue to ensure that our state party is well represented at the national level and that our national party grows as well, including by sharing skills and information with state parties not as well developed as California.
#Bob Marsh, Berkeley (Alameda County) - incumbent
(Application received April 7, 2017)
I’m a lifelong resident of Berkeley, and I’ve been an active Green since joining the Party in order to work on the 1996 Nader for President campaign. Since then I served on the County Council of the Green Party of Alameda County for more than 8 years, and as Treasurer for longer. I’ve been a GPUS delegate since 2004 and have represented California at past National Presidential Nominating conventions. I've been a member of the GPUS International Committee for 7 years and was our sole official US delegate to the 2012 Global Greens Congress in Dakar, Senegal.
Currently I am working part-time for Inveneo, a San Francisco-based non-profit that is installing communication and computing networks in poor rural communities in various African and Asian countries and Haiti. Our current project is helping to get internet access to healthcare facilities in remote parts of Liberia.
As a GPUS delegate, I will try to help make the national Party more effective and less riven by internal nitpicking disputes. Our country desperately needs a true opposition party, and the Green Party has the ideas that represent the beliefs of most Americans. Let's work together to free the minds of our fellow citizens from two-Party brainwashing.
#Sanda Everette, San Mateo (San Mateo County) - incumbent
(Application received April 9, 2017)
1) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills within of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position: I am applying for my seventh term as a delegate on this committee. I have been a Green Party member for two decades. I have served six-2 year terms as an elected county council member and have attended more than two dozen GPCA state meetings as a delegate from my county participating in various roles at state meetings.
I attended my first GPUS national meeting in Washington, DC in 2003 as an observer. I was a nominating convention delegate at the Milwaukee presidential convention in 2004 and that December ran as an alternate to the GPCA delegation and in May 2005 ran as a delegate. I attended annual meetings in Tulsa (2005) and Tucson (2006) and then was elected as the delegation co-chair. I was re-elected to the delegation in May 2007 and reelected as co-chair at our first state meeting after attending the national meeting in Philadelphia. I attended the 2008 Presidential Convention and Annual National meeting in Chicago and at that meeting, I was elected as one of the seven co-chairs of GPUS. I attended the ANM in Raleigh, North Carolina in 2009 and in Detroit in 2010. I attended the 2011 meeting in Alfred NY and the 2012 Nominating Convention in Baltimore as well as the 2013 ANM in Iowa City, 2014 in St Paul and 2015 in St. Louis. In 2016 I attended the Presidential Convention in Houston. I've also served on the GPUS Accreditation Committee for the 2008, 2012 and 2016 convention .
I am a member of the GPUS International Committee, have been an FPVA (Federation of the Green Parties of the Americas) delegate, am a member of the GPUS National Women’s Caucus, have served on the Finance Committee and on the Media Committee.
In the spring of 2011, I was encouraged to run for an at-large seat for the GPCA Coordinating Committee, and shortly thereafter became the female co-co and was recently reelected to that position. I on the GPCA Media Committee and have been the liaison from the CC.
2) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills outside of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position: In the rest of my life, I retired from teaching in 2009; I'm a permaculture designer, political/social activist since the 70's, and co-creator of the San Mateo Ecovillage. See www.greensolutions.org for more about me. I think of myself as a planetary citizen, love to travel, and am fortunate that my husband worked for United Airlines.
3) Please describe your vision for serving as GPUS Delegate including addressing the job description for GPUS Delegate: I think my record speaks to this question.
#Richard Chacker, Hermosa Beach (Los Angeles County) - incumbent
(Application received April 19, 2017)
1) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills within of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position: Member of GPLAC County Council, 2006-2010. Member GPUS delegation 2009-present.
2) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills outside of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position: Lifetime environmentalist. Surfer with love of the ocean and ocean health. Small business owner of beach surf/skate shop/restaurant. Winner of local sustainable quality awards for my business. Environmental Committee representative on the local Chamber of Commerce.
3) Please describe your vision for serving as GPUS Delegate including addressing the job description for GPUS Delegate: I would like to continue to serve as a GPUS delegate to serve the GPCA on the national level, both to advance the Green movement and ensure that the GPCA can cast its full complement of votes when needed.
#Kenneth Mejia, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County)
(Application received April 19, 2017)
(1) Your vision for serving as a delegate or alternate: My vision for serving as a delegate or alternate is to help grow the Green Party into a major political force to challenge the 2-party system. My vision is also a Green Party that has infrastructure, organization, and funding so that we can help candidates win elections, organize in our communities, and be the party that puts people, planet, and peace over profit.
(2) Any relevant prior or current positions, related experience and skills that you can apply to this position:
• Organizer for “We Can Make A Difference”, a community service volunteer group that has provided services such as serving hundreds of meals, articles of clothing, and blankets to the homeless, performing community clean ups, distributing back to-school supplies to low income families, and raising funds for tenants fighting eviction.
• 2017 Green Party Congressional Candidate in California’s 34th Congressional District of Los Angeles. Placed 7th out of 23 candidates beating 13 Democrats and ALL other party candidates (Republican, Libertarian, and Non-Partisan). We were also only 394 votes away from 4th place.
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of California. Also, was a financial auditor. Can help with oversight, budgeting, forecasting, and how we can raise funds to help grow our party.
• Currently, an Alternate Board Member on the Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council as a Community Representative. Also, used to be on the Executive Board as a Treasurer.
• Volunteer organizer for Bernie Sanders & Jill Stein in Los Angeles during the 2016 Presidential Election.
David Pittman, Sebastopol (Sonoma County)
(Application received April 19, 2017)
A couple of months ago after the debacle of our last presidential election I began searching for answers and alternatives to the root causes of our common insufferable predicament.
Having always been a somewhat disillusioned Democrat, I read from many alternative blogs and news sources. I happened upon a Chris Hedges YouTube video which really struck a chord in my deepest being. This led me to John Raulston Saul and others talking about historical factors which have led us to this predicament.
Then I landed on a YouTube video of Jill Stein and on I went to the GPUS website. Seeing the four pillars and the ten key values of the Green Party I knew I had found a platform and a party that fit my basic beliefs. These guidelines if realized would develop the world I would want to inhabit. Immediately I connected with the Green Party of Sonoma County and went to their monthly meeting. This informed me of a presentation by David Cobb at Sonoma State University and a dinner gathering afterward. I met and listened to David Cobb and was more inspired and drawn to the GP.
You are my party. I wish to be involved with your actions and the further development and growth of the Green Party in CA and the US and the world. We may be too little too late in some areas but I will go down trying to make this world a better place.
So I am throwing my hat into the ring to become a delegate to the GPUS National Committee.
Who is David Pittman? I am a very healthy, energetic male Caucasian. Please do not hold that against me as I had no
choice in this existence. I was raised in the home of a Southern Baptist Minister in small rural church communities in GA, SC, TN. I escaped at the age of 19 to the USAF then on to settle in CA where I have lived in a more enlightened world since 1972. I am near retirement from PGE where I am an electric engineering estimator and serve as the Shop Steward for ESC Local 20, IFPTE and proud to serve my Union brothers and sisters. I believe is human dignity, equality, justice, honor and respect. All people are created equal. If we do not learn to live in peace and harmony, I believe that humanity will someday destroy itself and this planet. I have 4 adult children and 5 fantastic grandchildren so my hope is that common sense and our survival instinct will prevail.
I would like to use my energy and talent inside the Green Party to work toward that goal.
#Steve Breedlove, Chico (Butte County)
I am interested in representing California at GPUS. I believe I have the background it needs. I hold very dear the Ten Key Values, social and economic justice, land and financial stewardship and the principles Earth Care, People Care and Fair Shares.
My experience is varied. I grew up in the California Gold Country (occupied Nissenan Maidu land) and my time in the mountains has continued to shape who I am. I went to Cal State Chico to get a History degree but I never immersed myself in the culture of higher earnings. I graduated in 2007 with the economy in free fall. As a last resort, I joined the US Air Force as an air traffic controller, but also studied its bureaucracy, regulatory structures and culture. Meanwhile I received an MA in International Relations—Peacekeeping, writing a thesis on the need for critical economic and political theoretical perspectives in discourses on global environmental issues. This deepened my breadth of understanding in nearly every discipline. I have since settled in Chico, work in air traffic control, and spend my time between the Butte County Council where I led the drafting of our bylaws, a project to purchase a downtown historic theater for preservation as a public art space, my spouse and two girls and my garden where I’m learning regenerative horticulture and making my family more resilient to the economic and social convulsions of late capitalism.
My political consciousness is broad and core to my character. I was born into politics watching images of Palestinian houses being razed and the Second Intifada. I was baptized when I spent three months working for a Common Ground Collective in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, learning first-hand structural poverty of urban people of color and the Cajuns, experiencing the brutality of the city jail for being out after dark and witnessing the oil industry’s power to destroy. I was married to my politics when I camped and rallied in Occupy K Street, D.C. At that time I was exploring critical theory in graduate school, and read a book from the camp’s free library(J.H. Kunstler’s Geography of Nowhere) that introduced me to peak oil, structural economic deficiencies and the study of civilizations and the political and social cycles they exhibit. I was reborn into a new way of understanding social change when I, with the steely discipline of a serviceman, was led to a police van at the White House during the sit-in that launched the Keystone XL pipeline into the national media.
I believe I would be an asset to critical, holistic and participatory dialogue within GPUS. Foremost, I am a fiercely independent critical thinker and social scientist. I believe a rural voice, with an understanding of conservative culture and millennials, but also with a background and passion for radical politics, would offer a broader range of views to discussion. For example, the Green Party platform is solid, but I believe not enough is done to communicate Green values across the political spectrum, leading to a party largely viewed as insular, naïve and urban. Further, I know Green policies would actually cut the cost of government and the deficit, but the only idea we push is replacing subsidies with other subsidies. Markets aren’t the solution, but neither is big government (a discussion of the state, capitalist relations and structural oppression exceeds the scope of this essay), nor are MMT and the dogma of the “quick fix.” The solution is broad and sweeping democratization and shrinking the scale (and therefore responsiveness) of political and economic institutions. While this statement is fully in line with Green values and the platform, most people don’t know this because we don’t articulate it. The Green Party suffers, I believe, from being too educated, by which I mean it speaks in the language of abstraction and ideas instead of prioritizing the concrete and material truths that can be more broadly comprehended. We have to understand the ideological transformation that has taken place within the context of technological change in the last several decades. Without acknowledging the dialectical process we can never hope to find the pressure points we can leverage in selling (for lack of a better term) a program that can be most simply described as “earth democracy.” We must confront the truth that the material reality of the limits to growth and ecological overshoot do not provide the ideological space for the utopianism and narratives of progress on which the liberal project depends. Our policy prescriptions are correct, but our philosophy is anachronistic. This should be glaringly obvious in the political reality now unfolding across the former liberal (and industrial) democracies of the Global North.
I thank you for the opportunity to be considered for the California Delegation and for reading as essay I could not manage to keep to one page. I hope my critique did not offend anyone’s sensibilities; I approach the subject with love and admiration for the path you’ve laid for us. I can’t help but be frustrated that the problems are so great but the solutions so simply beautiful. I truly believe a people-powered politics isn’t only possible, it is absolutely essential to confront the systemic and rapidly accelerating social, economic and ecological crises. As Gramsci famously wrote, the old world is dying and the new struggles to be born; now is the time of monsters.
May we be midwives and warriors.
#Nashaw Jafari, Escondido (San Diego County)
(Application received April 21, 2017)
1. As a Delegate to the national Green Party, I would contribute my passion for electoral reform, and socioeconomic and environmental justice. From my clinical psychology background, I believe that mental health and human rights intersect. I envision the Green Party leading the way for mental health reform and the way it is perceived and understood in our society. As an Iranian-American from a Muslim background, I want to strengthen the diversity and vision of the party that represents all Americans. Additionally, as a millennial, I often hear my friends hesitating to join the party because they don’t “trust” it and don’t know what it can help them accomplish. Therefore, I would like to assist the national party in communicating to young people how the Green Party can support them and be the best avenue to pushing progressive agendas.
2. I have been volunteering with the Green Party since August 2016. I was a volunteer in the Jill Stein 2016 Presidential Campaign in San Diego. I was canvassing captain and trained volunteers in canvassing. I have attended and continue to attend monthly Green Party of San Diego meetings, and bi-monthly working group meetings. I was a Delegate representing San Diego to the 2017 General Assembly in Bakersfield. I joined the electoral reform and GROW working committees. Additionally, I am involved in the San Diego Green Party’s efforts to develop a San Diego Progressive Alliance that will run progressive candidates in the County who do not accept corporate funding. I also initiated and am involved in the effort in restarting the monthly Green Party of San Diego Newsletter that has over 700 recipients. Some of my additional volunteering duties are assisting with events, rallies, connecting new members to volunteering opportunities, and developing education materials. Aside from my work with the Green Party, I serve as a Board Member to Community Action Partnership committee that offers grants and supports projects around San Diego County related to homelessness, education, public safety, and refugees. I also work as a mental health counselor, advocating for my clients, providing therapy, and case management services.
Lucy Riley, Richmond (Contra Costa County)
(Application received April 21, 2017)
As a rank and file member of the Richmond Progressive Alliance, I have worked on numerous local campaigns supporting progressive issues and candidates. With our 2016 city council win for Team Richmond, RPA holds a 5 seat majority on a council of seven. We now have a golden opportunity to role model our winning strategy for grassroots organizers seeking to elect progressive, activist candidates.
Presently, I am working on the RPA outreach committee, with our two term Green mayor, Gayle MacLaughlin and long term labor activist and writer, Steve Early. Our mission is to introduce the RPA story to sister city grassroots organizers who are eager to run progressive, NON - corporate funded candidates for office. Steve Early's newest offering, Refinery Town, tells the RPA story from our humble beginnings to the success story we have become. Steve's book has become an educational tool for self starter local progressives, who want to put our people power strategy to work in their town.
I am also working with Jill Stein's campaign manager David Cobb, to organize his "Movement School For Revolutionaries" in Contra Costa County. As a ten year East Bay resident, and the first ranked 2016 DNC delegate for Bernie Sanders in my home district of CD 11, I have made alliances with both Progressive Democrats and Green Party activists alike. I am also a member of the Bay Area Socialist Alternative chapter and have been asked to speak at a number of their events. I will be working to bring all of these varying activists together to work on a myriad of issues like Single Payer, free college and Fight For 15.
I was a founding member of: Bay Area For Bernie; a Facebook page which has a social media following of over 7,000 worldwide members. While the Sanders campaign was still in its infancy, our social media push for Bernie helped set the tone for his Presidential campaign. Our Facebook page was instrumental in jumpstarting an online Bernie fever. It helped enable his cash strapped campaign to engage in an unprecedented and groundbreaking online fundraising strategy: millions of donors giving small amounts of money.
As one of the first California Nurses Association member to come out strong for Sanders, I helped set the tone for scores of my sister union nurses and fellow labor organizing comrades to proudly show their support for Bernie's platform. Our parent union (National Nurses United) took notice and boldly backed their rank and files union nurses. The rest is campaign history.
Through my organizing efforts with SA, I was eager to back Kshama Sawant's strategy to support Sanders as the Green Party presidential candidate, when the DNC showed their true colors to millions of Bernie supporters. Never imagining Bernie's campaign would attain a reach of 13 million voters, I understood Kshama's strategy was to keep the Bernie energy alive in order to introduce millions of Bernie supporters to the Green Party. Socialist Alternative was very successful in organizing Green Party support, along with a small army of Demexiters, who put their support behind Jill Stein. Here in the Bay Area, I was proud to work with my local Berners who made the obvious choice to work on Jill's campaign. Suzanne Dunn, Eric Reynolds, Shari Morfin and Ida Martinac were all instrumental players in the Bay Area For Bernie campiagn and put in untold hours for Jill's campaign in California, as well. I look forward to working with these stellar activists to rebuild the Contra Costa Green Party and role model strategy for GP growth and development.
My energy as a national delegate to the Green Party will be to work towards energizing the party to support activist candidates to run for office from the school board, all the way to US congress, using the RPA model. I would be proud to serve and look forward to growing our numbers and a winning national strategy.
Meleiza Figueroa, San Pablo (Contra Costa)
(Application received April 22, 2017)
(1) your vision for serving as a delegate or alternate: It perhaps goes without saying that we are at a very pivotal and dangerous moment in history; one that makes our position as Greens incredibly important, and our work more urgent than ever before. Here in the US, as well as in Europe, the political collapse of the neoliberal ‘extreme centre’ has opened the way not just for right-wing demagogues like Trump, but also for a genuine politics of the Left. The time has come for Greens to seize the initiative and carry the banner forward, with a fearless commitment to social justice and a clear plan for the future that puts people, planet, and peace over profit.
In the last election, 57% of American voters wanted a third major party on the political spectrum; and I believe the Green Party can, and must, be the party to fill that role. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and work collaboratively with the GPCA and the National Party to help optimize our internal processes, welcome and nurture a diversity of new members, communities, and allies who share our values and enhance our mission, make strategic interventions to raise our profile in local, state and national politics, and build our capacities in order to rise to the challenge of our time. Now more than ever, it’s in our hands; and I am in it to win it - because our future depends on it.
(2) any relevant prior or current positions, related experience and skills that you can apply to this position: Currently, I am executive producer of the Green News Network, a Facebook Live video channel that is currently evolving as a spinoff project from Jill Stein’s highly successful social media platform, which amassed over 650,000 followers during the 2016 presidential campaign. Our weekly lineup of livestreams featuring Jill Stein, Ajamu Baraka, and David Cobb, as well as special broadcasts featuring GP-related events and up-and-coming Green candidates, continues to draw approximately 10,000+ viewers per show.
I also served as National Press Director for the Stein/Baraka Campaign and Recount 2016, where I was responsible for arranging Jill’s media appearances, promoting the campaign and our message through press releases and op-eds, and raising the national profile of the Green Party in the extraordinarily hostile mainstream media environment of the 2016 election season. Notable media moments from the campaign include: the days of protest at the DNC, Jill and Ajamu’s prime-time town hall special on CNN, our defiant press conference in front of Trump Tower to speak out against the blocking of the Michigan recount, and our pioneering multi-platform social media livestreams that inserted Jill and Ajamu’s real-time responses to the presidential and vice-presidential debates, reaching a total of 26 million users - the largest audience for a third-party ticket since Ross Perot was allowed to participate in the 1992 televised debates.
Aside from my campaign work, I am currently a PhD Candidate in Geography at UC Berkeley, specializing in food systems, food/agricultural policy, urban agriculture and food justice in communities of color, political ecology, peasant studies, and food sovereignty movements. As a Graduate Student Instructor in the Geography department, I have taught undergraduate classes in globalization, development studies, postcolonialism, and food/environment studies. I also have training and experience in urban planning and policy development, as well as participatory research and planning methods. At the moment, I am preparing to undertake an ambitious new research project that takes a deeper look at the political realignments that occurred in the wake of the 2016 election, and the possibilities for a progressive/radical ‘third force’ to break through in 2018 and beyond.
My experience in independent/progressive media includes: over a decade of work at Pacifica Radio as a producer and engineer, both for national programming and regular shows on KPFK in Los Angeles; lead researcher for the 2005 film “Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price”; and the Editorial Committee for LA Indymedia. I am also a recurring on-air correspondent for Free Speech TV’s “Rising Up With Sonali,” and a print contributor to Truthdig.com, Against the Current, and New Politics.
I have also been a long-time social movement activist and organizer in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. As a member of the UC Graduate Student Union (UAW 2865), I participated in several student movement struggles over the years, and served on the union’s Media Committee during the Occupy Cal protests in 2011 and the occupation of the CA State Capitol in 2012. I have also organized in the Bay Area for Black Lives Matter, Occupy Oakland and the Oakland General Strike, anti-gentrification struggles in West Oakland, and last month’s Gender Strike in San Francisco. In Los Angeles, I was active for many years in the anti-war and immigrant rights movements, and collaboratively developed/facilitated study groups for movement activists on neoliberalism, migration, cultural resistance, and the converging crises of war, capitalism, and the environment.
Phoebe Anne Sorgen, Berkeley (Alameda County)
(Application received April 23, 2017)
At this pivotal time, when massive numbers of Americans have finally realized that the duopoly will only drive us into deeper disaster, it is a relief to help the Green Party grow. In June 2016 I was elected to the County Council. I relish our meetings, helping organize our monthly Green Sunday programs, and brainstorming re growth/recruitment. I am a long-term Green who has written for and helped distribute Alameda County's renowned Voter Guides.
Running for City Council twice in Berkeley's most conservative district was a learning experience and a networking opportunity. I did quite well considering available resources, learned what it takes to win, and appreciate Greens' support. I have worked on many successful propositions and ballot measures, most recently Ca Prop 59 to end "corporate personhood" and overturn Citizens United v FEC, and Berkeley's soda fee which funds healthcare education. Mentored by amazing Berkeley City Council member Dona Spring, the Green Party official who spent the longest number of years in elected office, I walked precincts for her reelection campaigns and was her appointee on Berkeley's Peace and Justice Commission of which I was elected vice chair. Termed out after eight productive years, I then served on the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission where I headed the Committee on Underserved Communities.
My "Model Resolution to Free Democracy from Corporate Control" has been adopted by many cities and organizations. As a Peace and Justice Commissioner, I was the primary force in getting Berkeley to become the 1st city to denounce corporate personhood in 2003 ( http://reclaimdemocracy.org/personhood_berkeley_resolution_2/ ), CAFTA , Bush’s stolen 2004 election, impending war on Iran, and Citizens United in 2010. Hundreds of cities followed. I helped make Berkeley the first city to require cell phone vendors to post cell phone safety guidelines. (Big Telecom sued. Represented by Lawrence Lessig, we recently won the appeal.) With Berkeley's three most progressive Council members and their aides, I was sued for exercising our democratic right to redress of government re gerrymandering. We lost that skirmish, then won the "war" with a majority progressive Council and Mayor now for the first time in three decades. I co-founded Fukushima Response Bay Area and Alameda County Residents Concerned About "Smart" Meters.
With Greens and other progressives, my decades of work for peace, the environment, democracy, and various justice causes align perfectly with Green values. I was elected to KPFA’s Station Board and served for two years. I've organized big protests, such as at the Federal Reserve after the 2008 bankster bailout and, more recently, against the TPP in front of Senator Feinstein's office (http://www.flushthetpp.org/san-francisco-tpp-is-betrayal-rally/ ). I organized and led the march on Senator Boxer's office, and a delegation with Dolores Huerta, that convinced Boxer to join the Congressional Black Caucus in challenging GW Bush's 2nd stolen election. I made Berkeley the 1st city to become a TPP and TTIP Free Zone and got other cities to do so. Democracy, not corporatocracy! I prioritize ending structural violence (1% v 99%) and discrimination. When Junipero Serra was canonized, I inspired six women to spend all night changing the San Francisco street signs named after that genocidal racist to Toypurina, a Native medicine woman who led a revolt against the missions: https://www.popularresistance.org/street-signs-changed-after-pope-canonizes-torturer-killer/
Occupy took over my life for three months. I was active on both coasts. I often marched with Black Lives Matter. Racism + sexism + Islamo/homophobia + antisemitism etc. = classism + divide + conquer.
Arrested countless times for acts of conscience, I have organized street theater and civil disobedience, such as blocking the San Quentin gates before executions, playing the media, culminating in a de facto death penalty moratorium. My last arrests were in 2016 blocking the DNC in Philadelphia before Obama spoke and blocking the Pentagon on International Nuclear Abolition Day.
I was “Outstanding Woman of Berkeley” of 2005 and a 2015 Tom Paine Courageous Spirit awardee. All achievements were joint endeavors with wonderful people and organizations including the Green Party, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, Move to Amend, Code Pink, Ecological Options Network, Tri-Valley Cares, Ecumenical Peace Institute, Alliance for Democracy, BFUU Social Justice Committee, Berkeley Citizens Action, Wellstone Club.
On a personal note, I will explain in one word how this opera-singing music teacher evolved into an activism addict. Kids! Raising them precluded rehearsal schedules. Kids' love is a powerful force, compelling me to try to save the world from nuclear holocaust, climate chaos, GMO's, bees' extinction etc. One son is now a great pop songwriter in LA. The other did a Masters of Divinity thesis comparing MLK to Levinas and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in ethics. He helped create my biographical sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOECG-LS1CM
Extensive travels (Egypt, Morocco, China, Cuba, Palestine/Israel, World Social Forum in Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, more) and language skills will be useful in promoting the global resistance it will take to save the world. I studied in Paris for six years (where higher education is free), sing in 15 languages, speak French and Italian, and get by in Spanish. I sang and co-wrote the music, aka the universal language, on the CD "Audible Light - Mostly Rumi": http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/nicolemilner12
Our planet and civilizations are on the brink. The Green Party is the only party that is positioned nationally and internationally to bring about the necessary change for a sustainable, just world. In the US, we are the only effective electoral arm of the resistance movements. We who are in the belly of the beast must do all we can. With joy in this work, and with clever framing/outreach, the masses will join us.
Carolyn Epple, Sebastopol, Sonoma County
(Application received April 24, 2017)
1.) Vision for serving: The Greens can and must be the party of the future. We are the only party, with enough of a foothold to matter, which holds as our platform: protection of the earth, which has reached a critical point; true expansion and promotion of diversity and dismantling white privilege; eschewing corporate monies; challenging capitalism; and others. We have to challenge the rising far-right movements while recognizing their roots lie, in part, in the social inequity created by neoliberal policies.
2) Relevant prior or current positions, related experience and skills that you can apply to this position: Grant writing, education, community organizing, civil disobedience, LGBTQI identified, Commissioner, Sonoma County Commission on HIV/AIDS, Senator, Academic Senate, Sonoma State University,
* Registered Green since 1990s, I think.
* Elected Member, County Council, Green Party of Sonoma County, 2016-present;
* Education degrees: BSN, MPH, Ph.D.
* Occupation: Retired Cultural Anthropology Professor
* Activist Orgs:Remembrance Village (self-governing homeless camp) founder; Police Brutality Coalition; Community Action Coalition (recall of anti-immigrant sheriff), Occupy Santa Rosa, Sonoma County Commission on HIV/AIDS (former) and many others
#Fernando Serrano, Porterville (Tulare County)
(Application received April 24, 2017)
We are at a crucial moment in the history of the progressive movement of the United States. With the two dominant parties working almost exclusively for economic interests antithetical to working-class and middle-class people, progressives throughout the country are looking for a viable alternative. The Green Party of the United States must be that alternative. While the Green Party’s political platform makes it the only truly progressive party in the country, its current organization and internal culture need to change to better accommodate new members, with new ideas, that want to work within the party.
I, like many new members of the Green Party, don’t have an extensive background in politics. I am a Ph.D. candidate at UCLA, where I am currently completing my doctoral dissertation focusing on Latin American history. Throughout my life, I have participated with different groups in San Diego, Los Angeles, and now in Tulare County to work on social, economic, and political issues. While in the doctoral program at UCLA, I learned of the many challenges affecting students of all backgrounds, especially the excruciating reality of the high costs of attaining a college education. This, combined with other life experiences, led me to the conviction that we need significant changes in our country. For that reason, I decided to actively support the Bernie Sanders campaign. However, when it became clear that the Democratic Party was not ready for a progressive candidate, I fully supported Jill Stein, and that was when I first joined the Green Party. After the election, I engaged with local progressive groups in Tulare County and then made the determination to become an active member of the Green Party chapter in my county. In the Green Party chapter of Tulare County, I have taken the role of Outreach Coordinator with the goals of recruiting new members and establishing a strong working relationship with other California counties. I was also one of our chapter’s delegates in the most recent General Assembly. These experiences have convinced me that, with work and some changes, the Green Party is destined to become the only real choice for progressives all over the country.
I have three main goals if elected delegate to the National Meeting representing the Green Party of California. First, I want to properly represent the interests and positions of the California Green Party membership. To do so, I will try to be in close communication with as many Green Party county chapters as possible, starting with those in the vicinity of Tulare county, where I live. Secondly, my goal will be to attend the National Meeting to reach out to and work closely with delegates from throughout the country to bring about the reforms necessary to make the Green Party a strong, competitive, and viable alternative to the two dominant parties. Finally, my third goal will be to promote a direct and constant communication with delegates and county chapters from throughout the country to provide mutual support in achieving objectives at the local, state, and national levels.
#Larry Bragman, Fairfax (Marin County)
(Application received April 24, 2017)
1) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills within of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
-Registered Green since the early 1990s, and very active in our local for a dozen years.
- Elected to the Fairfax Town Council in 2003
- Attended 2004 Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a delegate;
- Co-authored Measure B, Marin County successful voter initiative to ban Genetically Modified Organisms, 2004;
- Reelected to the Fairfax Town Council 2007;
- Served as Mayor of Town of Fairfax 2007-2008;
- Co-authored the successful Town of Fairfax ballot initiative to ban disposable take out bags;
- Served on multiple local agencies as Town of Fairfax representative including Marin Telecommunications Agency; Transportation Authority of Marin; Ross Valley Paramedic Authority; Marin Energy Authority; Community Media Center of Marin.
- Reelected for third term to the Fairfax Town Council in 2011
- Served as Mayor of Fairfax in 2011-2012
- Hosted a fund raiser for Cynthia McKinney for President campaign at my home in Fairfax
- Elected as Division 3 representative to the Marin Municipal Water District, a multi- jurisdictional district encompassing multiple municipalities 2014 to present.
- Went to Standing Rock, North Dakota to assist Water Protectors and to present a resolution of the Marin Municipal Water District in support of their efforts 2016.
- Regularly participate in the Marin County Green Party activities.
2) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills outside of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
-Licensed as a California Attorney since 1982. I have represented numerous indigent criminal defense cases as well as consumer cases as plaintiff’s counsel.
3) Please describe your vision for serving as GPUS Delegate including addressing the job description for GPUS Delegate: I would like to see the Green Party grow its base and become a relevant party in shaping electoral politics locally, statewide and nationally.
I am applying for the position of Delegate.
Candidates for Alternate:
#Lindsay Vurek, Oakland (Alameda County) - incumbent
(Application received April 13, 2017)
I am currently an Alternate in Alameda County.
I have been involved with the Green Party since 1990 and was elected to the first Green Party County Council of Alameda County, CA.
I helped create the California Green Party Platform document and was very active in the State Party until about 1995, when I moved away for a while. I now am somewhat active in the local Green Party.
I am active locally and at both state and federal levels on a number of issues: primarily Food and animal protection, election and major media reform. I also made a feature length film on the longest elected Green Party member in the US -- Dona Spring.
#Candice Yamaguchi, Los Angeles (Los Angeles County)
(Application received April 15, 2017)
1) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills within of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
• Registered Green in 2012 because I felt the Republicans and Democrats were essentially one party; and the Green Party's positions on the environment, human rights, and animal rights lined up with my values and my goals in my career and as an activist
• Helped organize Green Party of California state Gathering/Campaign School, Santa Monica College, April 6-7, 2013
• Served as a periodic alternate to Green Party of LA County County Council meetings
• Elected to GPCA Coordinating Committee in June 2015 and served until an unforeseen change in my work commitments prevented me from being able to attend further Coordinating Committee teleconferences
2) Please list any prior or current positions, related experience, and/or personal and professional skills outside of the Green Party that you have, that apply to this position.
• Founded the Eco-Advocates Club at Los Angeles Valley College, 2009
• Was part of the student movement at Santa Monica College opposing two-tier education, with a focus on outreach and organizing; and participated in the protests where students were pepper sprayed, April 2012
• Primary commissioner to the Associated Students President, Santa Monica College, 2012-2013
• Co-organized lobbying trip by Santa Monica College students to the March in March in Sacramento against AB955, the two-tier education bill, March 2013
• Provided composting bins (and associated educational materials) for U.S. National Committee for UN Women conference, Santa Monica, October 2012
3) Please describe your vision for serving as GPUS Delegate including addressing the job description for GPUS Delegate: As an alternate, I plan to learn more about Greens from other states and how the GPUS National Committee functions. I hope to ensure that the GPCA can cast its full set of votes when needed. I plan to bring my focus on womens issues to national and international issues through working with the GPUS.
Darryl Cherney, Garberville (Mendocino County) - incumbent
(Application received April 15, 2017)
My life and professional experiences have included teaching, environmental and civil rights organizing, filmmaking, songwriting, touring, and radio programming. These wide-ranging pursuits have resulted in expertise and skills that are relevant for classes at HSU in the fields of communication, environmental studies, and film.
Education
1976 -1977. M.S. in Urban Education, Fordham University, with an Assistantship Award. 1972 - 1976. B.A. English Education, Fordham University. Student Teaching at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, New York, NY.
Work and Teaching Experience
2002 – present. Hokey Pokey Productions, LLC, Sole Proprietor.
• Produced Who Bombed Judi Bari (2012), a biographical and autobiographical documentary, which takes place in Northern California.
• Along with Director Mary Liz Thomson, won a CINE Golden Eagle and five film festival “Best” awards at Santa Cruz, Malibu, Long Island, Desert Rocks, and Davis.
• Screened Who Bombed Judi Bari? at forty festivals, engaged in a nationwide tour of commercial theaters, and competed in the 2012 Academy Awards competition.
• Achieved 86% overall rating in major publications, including Los Angeles Times and Variety.
• In 2004, Co-authored screenplay Timber!, a feature length film. Subsequently, developed with WGA screenwriter Jessica Sharzer a second screenplay, Redwood Summer in 2007.
1990 – Present. Environmental and civil rights activist.
• Extensive experience in organizing, fundraising, litigation, and direct action campaigns.
• From 1990 to today, a principle organizer of a victorious First Amendment litigation againstthe FBI and Oakland Police (Bari v. Doyle) resulting in $4 million award in 2002, followed by ongoing work with civil rights attorneys and fundraising to continue investigation of the bombing and attempted framing by law enforcement of Judi Bari and myself.
• From 1986 to 1999, a primary organizer and co-founder of the Headwaters Forest Campaign. • In 1999, helped found The Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and Environment to build bridges between environmentalists and labor, with a focus on timber and aluminum workers. • Founder and CEO of Environmentally Sound Promotions, a non-profit dedicated to “Music, Arts and Media for the Earth.” • As EPIC Board member, co-initiated litigation campaign against MAXXAM in 1987. • Co-founder and principle organizer with Judi Bari of Redwood Summer 1990, an Earth First! encampment dedicated to protecting old growth redwoods.
• Lobbied U.S. Congress in Washington, DC and the California State Legislature and attended numerous public hearings of various government agencies.
• Coordinated legal support for activists arrested for civil disobedience.
• Ran for 1st District Congressional Seat in 1988 in Democratic Primary.
1986 – present. Professional Public Relations. Various environmental and entertainment groups.
• Author of over 300 press releases for Earth First!, Environmentally Sound Promotions, and Hokey Pokey Productions, on subjects including the documentary Who Bombed Judi Bari?, the Bari-Cherney lawsuit against the FBI, Julia Butterfly’s 2-year tree sit, musical benefits, and environmental matters.
• Have done approximately a thousand interviews for radio, television and print media, including CNN, Donahue, and New York Times. Been interviewed for or had work referred to in at least 3 dozen books, many at length, including The Last Stand by David Harris, From the Redwood Forest by Joan Dunning, Modern Pagans by V. Vale & John Sulak, and Eco- Warriors by Ric Scarce.
1986 – Present. Professional Entertainer. • Performed original lighthearted environmental songs as Earth First! minstrel and toured universities and community centers as duo with Judi Bari, with a band, and solo. • Have produced, promoted and MC’d numerous benefit concerts, including Forest Aid between 1996 and 1998 featuring performers such as Bonnie Raitt and Bob Weir (in conjunction with Bill Graham Presents), raising tens of thousands of dollars.
2006 – 2010. Board of Governors. Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District. • Sat on committees for Pre-natal Service, CEO Job Description, and Medical Cannabis.
1987 – 2007. Radio programmer, KMUD Radio. • Programmer for The Environment Show (17 years); The Wild River Radio Show (5 years); and The Medicine Show—Healthcare and Politics (2 years). 1986. Assistant teacher. Southern Humboldt Continuation High School. Miranda, CA.
• Taught Social Studies and English 1980 – 1981. Teacher. Crown Business School, New York, NY.
• Taught Business English and Typing 1978 – 1995. Music industry work (various).
At EarthBeat! Records, produced, promoted and marketed If A Tree Falls CD At United Artists Records, employed in College Radio Promotions At Roadshow Artist Management, Assistant Manager to Gold Record recording acts in the Disco genre.
1975 – 1977. Administrative Assistant. Fordham University School of Education. • Administrative Assistant to Chairman of Department, Stuart Marcus.
1961 – 1969. Child Actor. New Sounds, Inc. • Worked exclusively for renowned “Daisy Ad” producer, Tony Schwartz.
Produced Works
• Who Bombed Judi Bari,? (Hokey Pokey Productions, 2012). 93 min. Documentary Film, Producer, Music Supervisor, Story. • Real American (Churn It Up, 2006) and five other CD’s of original music about environmental protection and other causes, much with a satirical bent. • “If a Tree Falls” (EarthBeat! Records, 1995). Compilation of songs of Forest Protection, including Bruce Cockburn, Hank Williams, Jr., Dan Fogelberg, and Buffy Saint -Marie. • “Who Bombed Judi Bari?” (Alternative Tentacles Records, 1997) Spoken word CD of excerpts from Judi Bari’s greatest speeches. Producer. • The Poetry of Matthew Hahn, (Churn It Up, 1997) Earth First! poet, now deceased. • “Not for Profit” (Churn It Up, 1994) by Marie Mason. Producer and Co-writer.
Awards
• 2012 Sempervirens Award for Lifetime Achievement, presented by EPIC, The Environmental Protection Information Center, Humboldt County, CA.
• 2012 CINE Golden Eagle for Outstanding Documentary (and 5 other film awards).
• 1989 Edward Abbey Deep Ecologist of the Year, presented by Fund for Wild Nature.
References (contact information upon request)
Gary Graham Hughes, Executive Director, Environmental Protection Information Center Estelle Fennell, Humboldt County Supervisor Randy Hayes, Co-Founder, Rainforest Action Network, Executive Director Foundation Earth Dr. Erin Kelly, Forestry Department, Humboldt State University
Dr. Braun Taylor, Professor of Religion and Nature, University of Florida Dr. Ben Holt, former Chairman of the English Department, Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, New York, NY (student teacher evaluation available) Mike Roselle, Co-Founder, Earth First!, Author Bob Barsotti, Promoter, 35 years with Bill Graham Presents Bill Benenson, Film Producer, including Last of the Hazda (2014) Johanna Rodoni, Former Humboldt Co. Supervisor and Humboldt Cattlewoman of the Year Greg King, former Director, Northcoast Environmental Center, Arcata, CA
Joanne Rand, Environmental/Spiritual performer & songwriter, Arcata, CA
#Linda Piera-Avila, Santa Monica (Los Angeles County) - incumbent
(Application received April 15, 2017)
I am a 37 year resident of Santa Monica. I have been registered Green since 1990. I am applying to serve as an alternate GPUS delegate.
I participated in the local planning group of the 1996 Green Party convention, held at UCLA, at which Ralph Nader was first nominated by the party to run on its ticket for president and Winona La Duke for vice president. I was a delegate for Mr. Nader in 2000 and more recently, for Cynthia McKinney in 2008 and for Dr. Jill Stein in 2012.
I have at various times been an active member of different Green locals, including the Los Angeles Greens and the Santa Monica Greens. I have previously served as secretary and as events coordinator for the Los Angeles Greens.
I have served as a member of the GPLAC County Council since 2008. I served as an LA County delegate to the following state plenaries: May 2005 in Sylmar, May 2007 in San Francisco, Sept., 2007 in Riverside, Sept., 2008 in Dana Point, May, 2009 in Venice and Los Angeles in 2011. I attended the 20th anniversary event of the Calif. Green Party in Berkely in Feb. of 2010.
I've served as a GPCA GPUS alternate since 2013 and have served on the GPUS Presidential Campaign Support Committee.
Along with other Greens, I participated in the early days of the "Arlington West" Iraq War memorial, held every Sunday on Santa Monica Beach. I have participated in numerous peace marches and rallies. I coordinated the Los Angeles Greens Earth Day event in 2005 at which we hosted Greenpeace founder Rex Weyler and the 2010 Earth Day event at which we hosted permaculture legend Larry Santoyo. I joined with other LA Greens to lobby LA City Council members to adopt STV voting methods.
I have volunteered on numerous Green campaigns, including Mike Feinstein's and Kevin McKeown's successful Santa Monica City Council campaigns, and Byron DeLear's congressional campaigns. This was good experience when I threw my hat in the ring and ran for public office twice: for Santa Monica City Council in 2008 and California State Assembly in 2010.(www.linda-piera-avila.org). Subsequent to my City Council run, I was appointed and served several years on the Santa Monica Urban Forest Task Force, including as Vice-Chair. I helped recruit Green Party candidates to run for statewide office in 2010, including our Lt. Gov. candidate, Jimi Castillo, and our 2010 Treasurer candidate, Kit Crittenden.
I have supported lobbying efforts in Sacramento to promote the Campaign for Old Growth and tabled many, many hours to collect signatures on the petition for said initiative.
In May/June of 2006 I participated in the encampment of the South Central Farm, providing a Green Party presence and liaison. I was quoted in a state press release regarding this issue. I currently serve on the board of the South Central Farmers Health and Education Fund. In September of 2006 I was part of a 5 member Green Party contingent that joined a larger 300 person civil disobedience action, all undergoing arrest and overnight incarceration for the sake of promoting a living wage for underpaid hotel workers in the LAX hotel corridor. In 2015 I was been part of a group of local residents who promoted passage of Santa Monica's Sustainability Bill of Rights.
More recently I have been engaged with efforts to restore the South Central Farm to its original location in Los Angeles and with supporting the water protectors as they oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline. Regarding the latter, I was part of a contingent that supported Santa Monica City Council's action to divest from Wells Fargo because of their funding of said pipeline.
Jan Arnold, Oakland (Alameda County)
(Application received April 16, 2017)
I’ve been active in the movements for peace and social and economic justice since the early 1960s, adding environmental issues in the 1980s. An independent voter since I was old enough to vote in 1964 (that is, never registered in a corporate party), I registered in the Peace and Freedom Party after moving to California in 1969, and switched to the Green Party in 1992. I’ve been especially active from 2000 on, and worked on numerous campaigns of local Oakland Green candidates. I served on the County Council of the Green Party of Alameda County (GPAC) from 2004 to 2012 and still attend most GPAC meetings. I’m a member of the team writing and distributing the Voter Guides that GPAC publishes and distributes for every election. I attended the GPUS Annual National Meetings in 2005 (Tulsa), 2006 (Tucson), 2007 (Reading), 2008 (Chicago), and 2010 (Detroit). In 2010 especially, I became actively involved in the very extensive discussions concerning many proposed national Platform amendments.
I don’t have to tell anyone who is reading this that the problems facing the world’s people and environment today are very serious. If I am elected as an Alternate Delegate from GPCA to the GPUS, I will listen closely to the younger generations and the new Green Party activists that I saw in Jill Stein’s campaigns and at the General Assembly in Bakersfield.
#Angelica Dueñas, Sun Valley (Los Angeles County)
(Application received April 18, 2017)
My hope is to help make the Green Party a more inclusive and vocal on social justice issues. It is time for the Green Party to prepare and become ready to accept the millions of disillusioned Americans. It is clear that our system is a 2 party Duopoly and it's time to change that! As an alternate I want to ensure that we have the maximum participation in our Party to make decisions and take position on issues.
I was a Bernie Sanders Delegate a the DNC (was a registered Dem for 6 months in 2016), Regional Campaign Coordinator the Jill Stein for President 2016 Campaign, a Global Young Greens Delegate at the Global Greens Conference 2017 in Liverpool representing the United States
I have a BA in Political Science and a MA in Organizational Leadership. I have been active in my community for over eight years.
I have been a member of my Neighborhood Council in the City of Los Angeles for over five years, have held two terms as President and one term as 1st Vice President.
I am one of the founding members of the new San Fernando Valley Greens in the Los Angeles area. We participate in local actions to benefit the homeless, undocumented, people of youth, environment, peace and other local matters of concern.
I am fluent in English and Spanish.
#Liz Kroboth, Oakland (Alameda County)
(Application received April 23, 2017)
(1) vision for serving as a delegate or alternate: I would like to see the Green Party emerge as a strong voice and actor in some of the most pressing social issues of our time, including demanding an end to deportations, law enforcement violence, and over-incarceration; warding off climate change; and raising pay to a livable wage. I think that by highlighting the Green Party's stance on these positions and becoming more directly involved with related social movements, we can draw more people into the party.
(2) any relevant prior or current positions, related experience and skills that you can apply to this position: I have been registered Green and active with several organizations since 2011. For 2 years, I was a local grassroots coordinator for Proposition 37, a ballot initiative that would have mandated labeling of genetically modified foods. I also served as a member of the outreach committee of the Oakland Greens, a local club of Green Party members, for approximately 2 years. I am currently finishing up a one-year term on the GPCA Coordinating Committee. In this role, I led the effort for the state party to endorse the Movement for Black Lives Platform.
My professional background is in public health, and I am currently a part-time faculty member at San Francisco State University and have another part-time job as a coordinator for a study on the health impacts of police violence. I have also led activism efforts in my roles in public health and academia. Last year, I co-authored a policy statement for the 25,000-member American Public Health Association on the issue of police violence, which was passed on an interim basis. Currently, I am working on co-organizing a study session for public health professionals on how our field can advance the Movement for Black Lives Platform.
#Matthew David Smith-Caggiano, Arcata (Humboldt County)
(application received April 24, 2017)
Green Party registration not confirmed
Introduction: I am applying to be considered for the GPUS Alternate delegation on behalf of Green Party member nominations and requests. My vision is to contribute 20+ years of knowledge and experience that will help build the Green Party movement, including 10 years of federal government service. To serve as a liaison for underrepresented groups that are affiliated with my direct experiences. These organizations include veteran, environment, medical, federal, state, local, Native American, non-profit, human rights advocacy, technology, education, marketing, advertising and more.
Bio Summary: Matt Smith-Caggiano has been involved with many different sectors of business, science, non-profit organizations and more. After 4 years of military service in the U.S. Air Force, then graduating with an environmental science degree, Matt searched for local employment in the natural resources to follow his career passion for the natural world but jobs were scarce and highly competitive. To stay in the local northern California area, Matt became involved with the real estate financing industry, where he learned many search engine optimization techniques to be competitive at the national level. Little did he know the real estate bubble was about to burst and it was one of the most difficult times to be in the real estate industry. One month before the real estate bubble busted and stocks plummeted, Matt left for Hawaii as a fishery biologist working for at the federal level for a contractor in coordination with NOAA and NMFS. While floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Matt engineered a gravity motor invention he had previously built simple prototypes of. Matt soon found employment with the Arcata USFWS Fisheries Department where he worked as a Crew Leader alongside the Hoopa and Yurok tribes. During his time in the USFWS, Matt combined his internet/ website skills with biology and created the community based website www.HumboldtFish.com. After 6 years of USFWS service, his contract expired and he began thinking about his future as a biologist. Matt began working as a property inspector while studying for the GRE in preparation for a Master’s Program. He was informally accepted into a natural resource program. While conducting property inspections throughout northern California, Matt was introduced to a local company and one of the owners decided to invest in Matt’s ideas. Matt decided to decline graduate school and pursue his endeavors as an entrepreneur.
Public Service: Matt’s experience includes over 10 years of Federal Government public service. Four years of Federal service with the Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force as an F-16 Crew Chief. While stationed for 3 years at Edwards AFB in California, Matt coordinated with aerospace industry experts from international governments as well as NASA, Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman. Matt’s experience as a Biologist includes six years of Federal government service with the Department of Interior U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Matt has also worked directly with the Department of Commerce’s NOAA and NMFS, Department of Agriculture U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Reclamation, Yurok Tribe, Hoopa Tribe, Karuk Tribe, National Parks, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, USGS, local, state and other regulatory bodies.
In addition to his Federal service, Matt currently devotes his time to public service for human and environmental rights organizations and currently serves as the Executive Director of Humboldt NORML and Vice President of the Weed for Warriors Project chapter in Humboldt County.
Matt has taken his knowledge, experience and passion to the political level and serves as a County Delegate and County Council for the Green Party of Humboldt County. He has been encouraged to give his time and energy for the greater good at a political level. The Green Party platform is an organization the Matt believes in, as the Green Party stands for no corporate campaign contributions and an electoral arm that actually represents the working class people and environment. His wife is an elementary school teacher of over 10 years and is willing to help with uplifting our education system. Matt believes in Universal Healthcare, Universal Education and Public services that could be paid for with the reduction of military spending.
#Mimi Newton, Fairfax (Marin County)
(application received April 24, 2017)
I'd like to serve my State Party as an alternate delegate to the National Party in order to help advance women's rights, sane environmental policies and a respect for diversity and social justice.
I have been continuously registered with the Green Party since the late 1980's and have been a member of the GPCA Coordinating Committee for approximately one year, after running for an unexpired term in the spring of 2016. I joined the GPCA Bylaws Committee last fall and am currently the Coordinating Committee liaison to the Bylaws Committee.
I live in Fairfax, California, in Marin County, where I am Co-Chair of the Marin Green Party. I have been an environmental attorney for almost 30 years, and now work as a hazardous waste attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in San Francisco. During my free time, I’m a Planning Commissioner for the Town of Fairfax. Prior to becoming a Planning Commissioner in 2015, I was the chair of the Fairfax Open Space Committee for many years.
I’d be honored to do everything within my power to help strengthen and grow the Green Party in the US and ensure that, when other delegates are unavailable, California continues to be well represented on the national level by its alternate delegates.