Green Party of Connecticut
State Central Committee Meeting
January 15, 2020 • Lucy Robbins Welles Library, Newington, CT
Minutes, approved on February 25, 2020
In attendance: Officers: Peter Goselin (GPCT Co-Chair, facilitator), Ronna Stuller (Secretary), Bob Stuller (Treasurer, stacker); Fairfield County: not represented; Hartford County: Martha Kelly, Chris Reilly, Mary Sanders; New London: Bud McAllister, Wasaka (Mark Roberts); Shoreline: Lynne Charles (timekeeper), Owen Charles; Waterford: not represented; Windham: not represented. General chapter: David Bedell, Tina Campbell, Cheryl Curtiss, Tom Grant, Vic Lancia, Tim McKee.
Start time 6:53pm.
1. Establishment of representative voting
The pertinent section of the GPCT bylaws was distributed:
II. Party Structure and Functions:
State Central Committee: The State Central Committee shall be composed of Party officers and Chapter representatives… Each Chapter shall have one representative for each five members.
A discussion ensued on how different chapters determine membership, history and discrepancies related to representative voting, and how at-large chapter membership should be determined. Noting that the establishment of representative voting has been announced at several past meetings, Lynne made a motion, 2nd by Bud, that for purposes of SCC representation, (1) we agree to define a member, for purposes of SCC voting, as a person who has a level of involvement in their respective chapter, and (2) to determine those numbers, the secretary will record, over the next 3 meetings, of all those who participated in each chapter’s events and take an average to determine a general count of members. Tim suggested a friendly amendment that it is the duty of each chapter to report on when meetings are held and who is in attendance, and that information will be used to determine votes allotted; 2nd by Bud.
Because the discussion exceeded the 20-minute time allotment, the Chair entertained a motion to extend the time 10 additional minutes; approved unanimously, and the discussion continued.
The lengthy discussion included the following observations and concerns: that chapters might no longer be able to determine their own membership criteria; that it is unclear what kind of involvement may count towards active membership; that restricting who can vote would discourage involvement in SCC; that inconsistency of chapter practices would lead to inequitable representation. It was also clarified that the State Central Committee does not have the authority to determine membership criteria of each chapter or town committee, but does have the responsibility to make a fair determination of the number of voting representatives that each is entitled to have at the SCC. So long as chapters report their membership in good faith and the spirit of the motion, the SCC will defer to their member counts.
At the end of the extended time, a vote was taken on the motion: 10–5, with 1 abstention; motion passed.
2. Minutes
a. Minutes of the November 13 SCC meeting were approved, as corrected, by consensus.
b. Bud moved to approve minutes of the July 31 SCC meeting, 2nd by Wasaka; discussion that was centered around the content of minutes and how much detail they should include was followed by a vote: passed 10–4, with 2 abstentions.
c. Lynne moved to accept for the record minutes of the December 20 and January 3 Executive Committee meetings, 2nd by Bob; passed 9–0, with 6 abstentions.
3. Treasurer’s report: The January 10 filing has been submitted. The only expenses were for the toll-free number; this has recently been canceled, so we anticipate only one more bill. Ending balance is $772.11. Bud moved to accept for the record, 2nd by David; passed unanimously.
4. Old Business
a. Meeting dates: The next meetings were tentatively scheduled for the 3rd Wednesday of February and March, 2/19/20 and 3/18/20.
5. New Business
a. 2020 general elections, annual meeting, and internal elections
(1) There was a discussion of the GPCT process for determining delegates for the Green Party Presidential candidate. In the past, the annual meeting has also served as the convention for Presidential preference voting. Candidates have sometimes visited. Tim is on the Presidential Campaign Support Committee, which is vetting potential candidates; at this time 2, Howie Hawkins and Dario Hunter, have met the minimum requirements. We believe that Connecticut can send up to 14 delegates to the national convention, and we are encouraged to attend. Discussion included: how to choose delegates and provide credentials; proportional distribution of delegates; accommodating absentee voting on Presidential preference on our GPCT ballot; and how to encourage Greens to vote in our primary. Chair moved that we should set up a committee to further plan Presidential voting and the annual meeting; passed by consensus. Committee will include Tim, Ronna, Martha, David, Tom, Doug.
6. Due to lack of time, Green Party US reports were deferred to the next meeting.
7. Updates: Monday, January 27 – There will be a fundraiser for the Venezuela Embassy Protectors
Saturday, January 25 – Demonstrations against war with Iran in New Haven, Hartford and Stamford; we have been invited to endorse and provide speakers. By consensus, we agreed to endorse all three actions and follow up with potential local Greens to speak.
Ronna moved to adjourn, 2nd by Bud; adjourned at 8:54pm.
Note: All registered Green Party members in attendance at this SCC meeting voted on all the motions presented at this meeting, regardless of apportionment of chapter representatives.