Approved minutes of 6-24-08 SCC CTGP meeting at 7PM. Quorum was met.
Portland Senior Center, 7 Waverly Avenue, Portland, CT 06480
Attendees by chapter: Central: Vittorio Lancia; Fairfield: Richard Duffee; Greater Hartford: Barbara Barry, Secretary of CTGP, Co-Chairpersons of CTGP: Steve Fournier and S. Michael DeRosa, Christopher Reilly, Treasurer of CTGP; New Haven: Jerry Martin; Northeast: Scott Deshefy; Tolland: Timothy McKee. Facilitator: Timothy McKee
A. Preliminaries:
1. Introductions of voting/non-voting attendees; chapters; quorum was met; timekeeper=Vic Lancia; ground rules.
2. Approval of tonight’s proposed agenda: deletion of vote on Proposal “B” due to lack of chapters prepared to provide feedback to SCC. Chapters are urged to be prepared to vote on this proposal at the 7-29-08 SCC meeting. One addition: endorsement of CTGP candidates.
3. Approval of minutes of 5-27-08 SCC meeting with request by Jerry Martin for the deletion of his proposal: after the first two round of delegate voting, the Co-chairpersons of the CTGP (S. Michael DeRosa and/or Steve Fournier) will oversee that proportionate representation of the next rounds of voting by the CTGP endorsed delegates at the 7-10-08 GPUS Presidential Convention..
4. Acceptance of the 6-17-08 EC meeting.
5. Treasurer’s report from Christopher Reilly: balance of $1609.48.
B. Any proposals/referendums by chapters, committee:
PROPOSAL from Fairfield County chapter. CONTACT: David Bedell, 12 Ardsley Rd, Stamford, CT 06906, 203-581-3193, dbedellgreen(at)hotmail.com
SUBJECT: Definition of party membership.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: At its February 2008 meeting, the Fairfield chapter adopted a somewhat stricter definition of membership than that in the state bylaws. New Haven has also adopted a stricter definition. The purpose of this proposal is to make party membership contingent on a simple written declaration, just like membership in the major parties, instead of the current definition, which includes vague criteria such as what constitutes a volunteer activity or what is a "coalition partner." This proposal also addresses the contingency of losing minor party status, which happened in some towns during 2004-2006. Further comments can be read at HYPERLINK http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldCountyGreens/message/839
PROPOSAL(To be distributed to chapters for discussion): In the CT Green Party bylaws (HYPERLINK http://www.ctgreenparty.org/documents/20-documents/217-bylaws.html ), the section under "Individual Membership" shall be revised to read:
If the Green Party has minor party status in a town, then: A person enrolled on their town voter list as a Green Party member is a member of the Green Party for all purposes.
If the Green Party does not have minor party status in a town, then a person may become a member of the Green Party under the following conditions:
1. The person must be an unaffiliated voter and must not have been registered with any other party affiliation during the past ninety (90) days.
2. The person shall fill out and sign a CT Voter Registration Form declaring enrollment in the Green Party and submit this to an officer of the local or state Green Party.
3. Upon submission of such declaration, the person's membership in the Green Party will be effective after ten business days.
A person not yet old enough to vote under state law may become a member of the Green Party under the following conditions:
1. The person will turn 18 and be eligible to vote before the next General Election Day.
2. The person has applied to vote by filling out and signing a Voter Registration Form with declaration of enrollment in the Green Party and submitted this to their town hall or to an officer of the local or state Green Party.
3. If the form is submitted to a local or state Green Party officer, membership in the Green Party will be effective after ten business days.
Party members shall receive announcements of State Party general meetings, and shall be entitled to vote when attending State Party general meetings. When an active Member of a Chapter, the member shall be entitled to vote at all general meetings of the Chapter. No member, however, shall be entitled to vote in more than one Chapter. Chapters may institute their own requirements for membership different from those for State Party membership.
C. Reports:
1. GPUS reports: CTGP representative: Tim McKee proposal which was endorsed by Consensus: 2/3 of the CTGP
delegation to the 7-10-08 GPUS Presidential Convention will be allotted to Cynthia McKinley as per results of vote count at the 4-26-08 CTGP Annual Meeting. Delegates will vote for the remaining endorsed candidates based on a vote which was rounded off to the nearest number of votes they received at the 4-26-08 CTGP Annual Meeting. This will be applicable to the first two rounds of voting. Then delegates may vote as desired.
National Committee Members: Ballot Access Committee by S. Michael DeRosa: GPUS is unclear if the remaining $7000-8000 is or will be available for use by Green Party States. Steve Fournier; Consensus: a statement of endorsement of all known CTGP candidates inclusive of the four (4) known CTGP Congressional candidates.
2. CTGP literature: S. Michael DeRosa: Phoebe Godfrey is still working on the literature.
3. Vetting and selection of up to twenty (20) people to be CTGP official delegates for the 7-10-08 GPUS Presidential Convention in Chicago at the Palmer House Hotel. By Consensus the following were endorsed as delegates: Allan Brison, Steve Fournier, Richard Duffee, Vittorio Lancia, Timothy McKee, S. Michael DeRosa and Clifford Thornton and if they go to the convention: G. Scott Deshefy and Charlie Pillsbury.
Have about 2400 petition signatures for the GPUS Presidential candidate. Need 10 to 12 thousand valid signatures.
4. Fundraising position for CTGP was discussed: S. Michael DeRosa suggested that a fundraiser be paid by receiving a certain percentage of what that person brings in to the CTGP.
5. Steven Fournier, endorsed 1st Congressional District CTGP candidate; was on Face The State TV this past Sunday. Have about 800signatures and need about 2060 valid petition signatures.
6. G. Scott Deshefy, endorsed 2nd Congressional District CTGP candidate: have about 2400 petition signatures. Need 2450 valid petition signatures.
7. No endorsed candidate for the 3rd Congressional District line per Jerry Martin and S. Michael DeRosa.
8. Richard Duffee, 4th Congressional District CTGP candidate; have 2000 petition signatures. Need 2091 valid petition signatures
9. Harold Burbank, endorsed Green Party of CT candidate for 5th Congressional District; has about 1500 petition signatures but needs about 2400 valid petition signatures.
10. ACLU lawsuit update: S. Michael DeRosa: anticipate a written judicial response just after Election Day 11-08.
11. CT Green Times newspaper: articles are needed per S. Michael DeRosa. Website has been changed to Steve Fournier per Christopher Reilly due to need for better access to the website is needed by CTGP.
12. Chapter report: Central: Vic Lancia: having an event at 6:30PM on 7-2-08 at the Reading Room of the Middletown Public Library.
13. Place for next 7-29-08 SCC meeting Date, place and time of next EC meeting in 7-08: to be determined.
14. Any additions