Minutes of August 31, 2004 SCC meeting--Hartford office, 7-10pm

Attendees:
1. Fairfield chapter: Ed Friend
2. Hamden chapter: Aaron Gustafson, Kelly McCarthy
3. Hartford chapter: Ed DuBrule (NV), Elizabeth Horton Sheff, Chris Reilly (NV) (see note below*), Lynah, Joyce Tentor, Albert Marceau
4. New Haven chapter: Ralph Ferrucci (part of meeting), Charlie Pillsbury
5. New London chapter: Andy Derr
6. Northeast chapter: Jean deSmet
7. Northwest chapter: Tom Sevigny, Elizabeth Brancato (voting for Northwest chapter and for Women's Caucus)
8. Shoreline chapter: Lindsay Mathews (facilitator), David Adams
9. Tolland chapter: Tim McKee
10. Western chapter: Justine McCabe, Rachel Goodkind

David Agosta (NV) (part of meeting)

Persons known to the secretary not to be chapter voting representatives are so noted ("NV"); no votes were taken at this meeting; some persons above came slightly late to the meeting and were not given the opportunity to declare themselves non-voting reps.

No attendees were present from the Central CT chapter. The West Hartford chapter and Southeast chapter are no longer counted toward quorum (see minutes of June 2004 SCC meeting).

*An attendance sheet given to the secretary listed attendees and chapters; it said "Chris Reilly--at large" rather than listing a chapter affiliation.

A. PRELIMINARIES. The July SCC minutes were accepted by consensus. The proposed agenda for tonight was accepted by consensus, with the addition of an announcement by Ralph Ferrucci at the beginning of the meeting.

Withdrawal of Ralph Ferrucci. Because of concerns about the process by which he was nominated, Ralph is withdrawing his name; he will not be the Green Party candidate for US Congress from the Third District. He takes this step "because I have a conscience and honor". He will put his name in as a write-in candidate. He said that many Greens who should have been allowed to vote on his nomination were not allowed to do so. He had similar concerns about the nominating process in Connecticut for the Green Party presidential candidate. He asked if the required pre-nomination paperwork for his candidacy had been filed with the Connecticut Secretary of State's office. He said "I will not break laws" that relate to the nominating process.

Charlie said that there had been a nominating convention, which nominated Ralph and Calvin Nicholson, at the end of April. Charlie said that Party resources are limited for nominating processes. Justine said that Ralph had not faced competition in his candidacy. She said that she and others had devoted much effort to the process by which Connecticut Greens gave input on the presidential candidates.

Aaron reminded us that a proposal within tonight's agenda addresses (among other matters) the way in which the Green Party selects candidates. He said that the CTGP could write a handbook for Party members on the nominating process. Jean said that the only requirement is to put notice in local newspapers. She said that when nominating candidates, the Northeast chapter sends a letter to all on their mailing list, holds a candidates' night, and has a vote. Tim said that the Secretary of State's office publishes handbooks and gives seminars for candidates.

Charlie said that to get a full complement of ballot checkers, three Green candidates in the New Haven area were needed (Ralph, Calvin, and Joyce Chen). He said that Ralph's withdrawal would hurt Calvin's campaign.

There was discussion about whether the New Haven chapter (and other chapters with Third District territory) could nominate a candidate to replace Ralph. Tom said that laws on replacing a candidate who had withdrawn (or died) may be different than the laws relating to an initial nomination.

B. REPORTS

1. Treasurer's report (read by Elizabeth Brancato). "In the past month we took in $762 and spent $676. $415 of those expenses were for the second insurance payment.

"Currently we have a balance of $350. This is $50 above the $300 in funds that can be used for non fundraising expenses. [Secretary's note: the $300 figure is in the financial management plan passed by last month's SCC meeting.] We owe $302 in State office expenses and over a hundred of that is past due.

"As always please consider being involved in the Fundraising and Budget Committees.

"For more information on the CT Green Party Finances you can call me at 860 379-0632, email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or look at this webpage: http://www.kirajoy.com/CTGP/CTGP_Treasurer.html

"Bob Eaton
"CT Green Party Treasurer"
(report dated 8/24/04)

Tom said he had spoken to Bob this afternoon. A mailing done to internal elections attendees (excluding those who had donated to the CTGP within the past 3 months) had so far brought in $235, with more expected. Three persons had signed up for monthly credit card donations. Tom spoke of $260 having been received from the national party as CT's share of the 1000-for-1000 program.

2. Fundraising Committee report. Tom passed out a draft fundraising plan (Appendix 1). Two fundraisers in CT with Pat LaMarche have been held. There will be a fundraiser 9/11/04 at the Sherman Playhouse ("Woodie Guthrie's American Song").

3. Budget Committee report--no recent meeting.

4. Elections Committee--no recent meeting.

5. Communications Committee--two listserves have been set up (forum--for discussion of issues pertaining to the Green Party in Connecticut; news--for articles about the Green Party in Connecticut or other relevant articles). These are "official" CTGP listserves. Ed DuBrule said that he feels it will be confusing to have these listserves and the current unofficial This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. discussion listserve and the current announcements listserve (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). Ed recommended discontinuing the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. listserves. It was the consensus of the SCC that the latter two listserves should be discontinued. Ed will post his minutes and agendas on the news listserve; chapter reps should subscribe to the news listserve. Aaron hopes to set up a web-based system where CT Greens can easily publicize events and Party business.

6. Diversity Committee--no recent meeting.

7. Women's Caucus--meeting planned--contact Elizabeth Brancato or Lindsay Mathews.

8. Bylaws, Rules, Policies, and Procedures Committee--see "Old Business" below.

9. Executive Committee--items from the minutes of the 8/15/04 Executive Committee meeting were summarized. (These minutes were published to the announcements and news listserves 9/3/04 and 9/4/04 respectively; contact Ed for a copy.)

Amy Vas Nunes has filed a complaint with the CT Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities related to the Battista-vs-Vas Nunes complaint (Resolution Committee decision issued) and related to the issues in the Vas Nunes-vs-Sevigny complaint (Resolution Committee decision not yet issued). The SCC tonight authorized Charlie to prepare a response (working with others in the Party, especially the conflict resolution committees) to this complaint.

Elizabeth Horton Sheff discussed the concept of starting a nonprofit arm of the CTGP. She attended a HUD workshop on the subject of grants availability for human services work. Tom said that the Maine Green Party set up a non-profit wing.

10. Chapter reports (1 minute each) and campaign reports (1 minute each).

a. Hartford. Elizabeth Horton Sheff reported some of her work on the Hartford City Council: passed resolution on new WalMart not being to sell guns or ammunition; resolution on death penalty; Keep Them Reading Campaign (distributed books); worked with Mayor Perez on tracking the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority waste site; instituted Human Capital Development Agenda; introducing a resolution on having international observers monitor the US November election; grandparents' day at Capitol.

Joyce Tentor said that the Sheff vs. O'Neill lawsuit has gone back to court--the state has inadequately complied with its promise to serve students with sufficient magnet schools seats.

b. Northeast: many went to NYC for the counter-Republican Convention protests; Juan Perez (Green who ran for City Council on Working Families Party line) took federally-funded job and hence can't run again for his seat by law. Juan trying to get the City Council to deal with the issue of the Patriot Act's mandated access to library patrons' records.

c. Western: Justine described how the incidents at the Village Fair Days--after having paid $300 for a booth, the head of the fair tore down a sign on the booth, prevented her from leaving the booth to petition for Nader, and refused to allow her to open her booth the second day of the fair. (For more details see the 8/15/04 Executive Committee minutes--see above.) The chapter has gone to the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union and the press.

d. Northwest: playwright Bill C. Davis plans a Green Party run for Congress in 2006; an op-ed piece has been submitted declaring this intention.

e. Shoreline: Colin Bennett campaign for state senate district 33.

f. Hamden: interest in working with a nationwide organization sponsoring house parties to support educational reform; chapter now has officers and bylaws; writing pamphlets (organic garden and lawn care, alternative energy, household chemicals, Hamden Greens); interest in merchandising for Greens (T-shirts etc.); distributing flyers to get more people at meetings; had booth at New Haven Folk Festival; Hamden Middle School is on toxic waste site.

Also trying to get energy efficiencies into plans for a new school; involved with governmental environmental commissions

g. Fairfield: John Amarilios candidacy for state senate district 36 and Nancy Burton candidacy for state house district 135. Met with Pat LaMarche.

h. New London: starting TV show (see www.nlgreens.org --accessible via www.ctgreens.org --for schedule); working with Love Makes a Family's Equality Knocks campaign (see www.lmfct.org) .

i. Tolland: supporting additional public transit buses to Hartford; opposing paving over a Manchester park; part of Saturday weekly antiwar protest; US Representative John Larson coming to Manchester Community College (to be asked questions on Iraq etc.)

j. New Haven: Joyce Chen's campaign for state house district 93; Calvin Nicholson's campaign for New Haven registrar of voters; Ralph Ferrucci campaign (see above). Holding 9/14/04 fundraiser at Charlie's home with Joyce Chen, Calvin Nicholson, and Medea Benjamin. It will be a challenge for Calvin's campaign to organize and get the 4000-6000 votes needed to win. A League of Women Voters-sponsored debate with all three registrar of voter candidates may be held.

Elizabeth Horton Sheff said that she has gotten calls from progressives and "labor union calls"--why is the Green Party running a candidate (Joyce) against progressive Toni Walker? Charlie said that there is no Republican in the race, hence the district will elect either of two progressives. Charlie said that Joyce does have a lot of support (he gave details of New Haven politics involving the mayor). Joyce doesn't need to give up her city council seat to run (elections held in different years).

11. Report from US Green Party representatives. Tom reported that there are 405 Green Party election campaigns in the US at this time. Greens win 25-50% of the campaigns they enter nationally. The CCC received 45 applications for assistance (website assistance, financial assistance); Joyce Chen is getting $250 from the national Party. Campaigns of special interest: Bob Kinsey (Colorado--polling more than 30% in a three-way race for US Congress); Patrick Driscoll (polling 22% in a three-way race for Congress).

Tom said that Caleb Kleppner, associated with the Center for Voting and Democracy, now lives in New Haven; would he be interested in forming a committee do an initiative on instant runoff voting? Kleppner got IRV passed in San Francisco.

Tim reported that Utah and Vermont may place Nader (rather than Cobb) on the ballot, and there is talk that this step may cause them to be kicked out of the national Party.

12. VOTER--no report

C. OLD BUSINESS

1. Bylaws segment "4-1 Chapters". Passed out for discussion at June SCC meeting (Appendix 2). The SCC turned its attention to bylaws segment 4-1 ("Chapters"). It was realized at tonight's meeting that, per the bylaws, changes to bylaws must be proposed by a chapter. (The relevant section of the bylaws is in Appendix 3.) Tom said that he will ask the Northwest chapter if they'd like to propose bylaws segment 4-1; Andy said that he will ask the New London chapter if they'd like to propose the same segment.

2. Bylaws segment "4-2 State Central Committee". Passed out for discussion at July SCC meeting (Appendix 4). The SCC did not consider, at tonight's meeting, bylaws segment 4-2 ("State Central Committee"). It was realized that this bylaws change proposal had not been proposed by a chapter.

3. Budget (Appendix 5)

(a) Budget item relating to unreimbursed expenditures made by Chris Reilly. One line of the proposed budget is payment of $900 to Chris Reilly. Chris distributed a handout (available from the Secretary) showing amounts he spent from his personal funds which were never reimbursed. The budget entry says "this is partial re-payment; balance to be repaid in future budget years".

The handout begins with a check for $800, paid by Chris to the landlord of the Hartford office on 4/1/03 for April and May rent. It includes 5 other rent checks paid to the landlord of the Hartford office ranging from $150 to $500. The sum of the rent checks is $2650.

The handout also includes 10 checks, ranging from $6.29 to $370, for envelopes, postage, and printing; these ten checks sum to $855.82. Finally, the handout includes one check for $35 for domain registration renewal for the CTGP website. The sum of the rent checks, envelopes/postage/printing checks, and domain name check is $3,540.82, and Chris is requesting reimbursement from the CTGP of this amount. The last check on the handout was written 3/12/04.

Chris explained how these unreimbursed expenses had come about. He said that the November 2000 SCC meeting had decided that the state Party should pay half the office rent and utilities; he was one of two people at this meeting to vote against this decision. He was Party treasurer for several years and had gotten in the habit of paying the rent.

Bruce Crowder became treasurer as a result of the February 2003 internal elections. There were problems transitioning from the former treasurer (Chris Nelson) to Bruce. Among these problems were "problems with the accounts" and an inability of Bruce to write checks because he hadn't gotten the Party's checkbook. Bruce, Chris continued, asked Chris to pay the rent.

Chris described how for several years he did the bulk of the work in getting the annual CTGP fundraising letters out. These letters had cost, each year, about $2000 in printing, postage, and related expenses. Greens had donated, as a result of these mailings, about $8000 each of these years, for a net gain to the Party of about $6000 each year. During the period May to September 2003, the SCC repeatedly affirmed that it wanted a fundraising letter to go out, as in previous years. Chris continued to pay the office rent out of his personal funds, expecting that he would be reimbursed from the proceeds of the fundraising letter. The fundraising letter finally went out in September 2003; the handout includes, as noted above, expenditures Chris made for envelopes/postage/printing for this mailing. [Note from the secretary: it appears, from the dates on the handout, that Chris also spent money for envelopes/postage/printing for the mailing associated with the March 2004 internal elections.]

Chris said that he stopped paying the rent when proceeds from the fundraising letter came in to the Party.

Lynah asked if the Executive Committee during this time (co-chairs Tom Sevigny, Justine McCabe, and Mike DeRosa; Bruce as treasurer; Ed DuBrule as secretary) had known of these facts. Tom said that Bruce never informed that Executive Committee of this situation. Justine said that she hadn't known of this situation.

Elizabeth Horton Sheff pointed out that Chris said that Bruce had asked Chris to pay the rent. Elizabeth believes that expenditures authorized by a treasurer are legally binding on a Party. Chris said he agreed with the latter statement; the state Party is therefore responsible for reimbursing him. Justine pointed out that the SCC had agreed to pay only half the office rent and half the office utilities--how does that affect this situation? Chris pointed out that the Hartford chapter should have gotten 30% of the proceeds from the fundraising letter.

Justine said that it would be desirable for Bruce Crowder to come to an SCC meeting to explain what happened. Chris pointed out that Bruce used to report chapter balances to the SCC, including the large negative Hartford chapter balance which related to this situation.

Lindsay and Jean asked why Bruce hadn't reimbursed Chris from the proceeds of the September 2003 fundraising letter. Ed DuBrule pointed out that the proceeds of that fundraising letter were much smaller than previous fundraising letters. (Ed attributed this, in part, to Chris not being involved in many of the details of getting the letter out in 2003--others Greens merged chapters' mailing lists and made the arrangements for postage and printing, details that in the past Chris had handled.) (Ed and Chris spoke of many bags of bad-address envelopes returned from that mailing; per the mailing plan selected with the post office, each of these bad-address envelopes required the Party to pay a 92 cents fee to the post office.)

Chris agreed with Ed that over time the quality of our mailing lists have deteriorated. Ed said that the Executive Committee, at its August 2004 meeting, had spoken of a desire to get the 2004 fundraising letter out the third week in September. He wondered if that was a realistic goal, in view of the deterioration in quality of the mailing lists.

Tom noted that last month the SCC passed a set of financial policies for the CTGP and that the SCC at tonight's meeting was discussing a budget. The CTGP has never had such financial policies before, nor a budget; these deficiencies may have allowed the situation of Chris' unreimbursed expenditures to arise.

Elizabeth Horton Sheff said that in her opinion Chris should be reimbursed, for both legal reasons and because he acted with the best interests of the CTGP in mind. She hoped that the issue of whether or not to reimburse Chris would not become reduced down to the legal issue of whether Bruce had approved each check written by Chris from his personal funds. Elizabeth Brancato said that it is the opinion of the Executive Committee that this is a true debt owed to Chris. Elizabeth also said that Bob, our current treasurer, has done excellent work; he should be protected from any legal issues arising from the failure of the CTGP to reimburse Chris.

(b) Budget items related to Hartford office. Attendees raised points pro and con about continued CTGP funding of part of the rent/utilities of the office:
--having an office gives visibility to the Party
--how much is the office used? how much is it used by groups/committees other than the Hartford chapter?
--funding an office consumes funds that could be used to build the Party
--should we fundraise more, or cut expenses?
--Ed DuBrule said that Mike DeRosa contacted multiple insurance agents and determined that the Party couldn't get liability insurance (covering injuries at meetings and events, etc.) without an office
--has the Hartford chapter paid its half?

(c) Budget items related to internal elections. Attendees asked whether $1500 for postage/printing for the internal elections was too much. Could much of the information be put online? Could notification of the meeting be done via newspaper notices (perhaps free notices)? Jean, however, said that it's important to send a mailing to all Party members once a year.

D. PROPOSALS

1. Proposal from Hamden chapter on creation of IT (information technology) committee (Appendix 6)--not considered for lack of time. Will be "Old Business" on September SCC agenda (old business is discussed before new business).

2. Proposal from Hamden chapter on creation of voters' rights working group (Appendix 7)--not considered for lack of time. Will be "Old Business" on September SCC agenda.

3. Proposal from Executive Committee on placing an advertisement (banner ad or text link) for E/The Environmental Magazine on the CTGP website. This proposal was withdrawn by Executive Committee; the treasurer called the Connecticut elections enforcement commission and determined that the proposal would be illegal. Money received from E/The Environment magazine would be considered a contribution and the CTGP cannot receive contributions from a business entity (which the magazine is).

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Appendix 1. Draft fundraising plan. [Post to fundraising committee listserve 7/19/04 by Bob Eaton.]

1. Fundraising letters

a. 4 a year (March 1st, June 1st, September 1st, December 1st)

b. 3 of these mailings will be just to those individuals who donated money to the party within the past year, minus the individuals who gave within the last three months.

c. One mailing will be to the entire state mailing list.

2. Phone Solicitations
a. Shall be conducted one month after mailings are sent.
Phone calls made to those who did not respond.

3. Events

a. At least 4 a year with prominent speaker.

4. 100 for 100 sustainer program.

a. All fundraising appeals (letters, phone, events) shall emphasize the 100 for 100 program. The goal of this program is to get 100 people to give $100 a year through their credit cards or automatic checking. Sustainers can give one lump sum or in monthly installments as low as $8.00 a month.

5. Merchandising

a. When financially able, the party shall promote a full line of merchandise (pins, bumperstickers, t-shirts, hats, etc.)

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Appendix 2 Proposed bylaws changes from BRPP committee (bylaws, rules, policies and procedures) [From e-mail received from Tom 6/22/04.]

4-1. CHAPTERS

4-1-A. A local chapter shall consist of Green Party members from towns and municipalities within a contiguous geographic region. No chapter shall be larger than a County and none smaller than a single town with the exception of Campus Green organizations.

4-1-B. A local chapter may petition for affiliation with the State Central Committee upon having at least three meetings with five or more Green Party members in attendance at each of the three meetings.

4-1-C. A chapter may be declared inactive by a majority vote of the State Central Committee (SCC) if it has not met within the past three months. A chapter will automatically be declared inactive if it has not sent chapter representatives to the State Central Committee meeting for three months in a row. Inactive status will begin as of the third meeting.

4-1-D. The State Central Committee may vote to revoke a chapter's affiliation with the CTGP if that chapter has not met within the past 6 months.

4-1-E. An inactive chapter will be declared active again if it hold two consecutive monthly meetings monthly meetings with at least five members present and sends representatives to two successive state meetings.

4-1-F. Chapters that have had their affiliation revoked must re-petition the State Central Committee for affiliation once the requirements detailed in 4.1.B are met.

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Appendix 3. Section of the bylaws that deals with changing bylaws.

III. Bylaws - Amendments and Revisions

Any Chapter may, provided two thirds of its full membership concur, propose to the State Central Committee amendments or changes to the Party Bylaws. The State Central Committee shall refer the proposal to all active Chapters for review and recommendations. Each Chapter may, by a two thirds majority of its full membership, recommend rejection, State Central Committee approval, or submittal of the proposal to the next following Party Convention for consideration of the full membership. If two thirds of the Chapters recommend approval, the State Central Committee may enact the change or refer it for Convention action. If Convention action is called for, members in good standing but unable to attend the Convention shall each be entitled to vote by absentee ballot.

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Appendix 4 Proposed bylaws changes from BRPP Committee (bylaws, rules, policies and procedures [From e-mail received from Tom 7/26/04.]

4-2 STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE

4-2-A. The State Central Committee (SCC) shall be the final decision making body of the Green Party of Connecticut, and shall consist of democratically elected representatives from each affiliated local chapter.

4-2-B. Local chapters of the CTGP shall be represented at State Central Committee meetings accordingly : up to 99 registered Greens, the chapter is entitled to 2 voting representatives; from 100 to 499 registered Greens, the chapter is entitled to 3 voting representatives; above 500 registered Greens, the chapter is entitled to 4 voting representatives. Voter lists from an appropriate authority (either a town clerk or the Secretary of State) will be the final source in determining the count of a chapter's membership. If these are not obtainable the chapter shall be entitled to two voting representatives.

4-2-C. Caucuses for under-represented groups shall be entitled to one voting representative on the State Central Committee. Under-represented groups are defined as any grouping of Greens that has historically failed to gain adequate access to power in society at-large (i.e., women, African-Americans, youth, etc.). An individual attending an SCC meeting may cast multiple votes--one vote as a chapter representative and one as a caucus representative.

4-2-D. Representatives to the State Central Committee are responsible for disseminating information to their respective local chapters. They are also responsible for following the mandates of the local chapters they represent.

4-2-E. The modified consensus process will be used at State Central Committee meetings. In the event consensus cannot be reached, a vote will be taken with a simple majority being needed for passage of the proposal. Changes to the bylaws need a 66% majority for passage.

4-2-F. Quorum shall be required for votes taken at the State Central Committee meeting. Quorum shall be defined as representation (by at least one voting representative) of at least two-thirds of all active CTGP chapters, excepting Campus Green chapters and inactive chapters.

4-2-G. Chapters shall elect their representatives to the SCC once a year. Representatives shall be eligible for re-election.

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Appendix 5 Budget proposal [e-mail from Bob Eaton 7/12/04, monthly amount column omitted]
item#
item
annual amount
comments (added by Secretary)

--------Expenses---------

Exp1
State office in Hartford rent
$1,200
$100 per month from CT Green Party (decrease from current $250 per month; Hartford chapter pays rest)

Exp2
State office in Hartford utilities
$1,200
$100 per month from CT Green Party (this would approximately cover the entire utility bills)

Exp3
Fundraising events
$1,000
Expenses to hold fundraisers

Exp4
Fundraising mailings
$3,000
Postage etc.

Exp5
Money for candidates
600

Exp6
Insurance
830
Liability insurance. New Haven chapter closing its office.

Exp7
Printed handouts
750
Literature (brochures, flyers)

Exp8
Internal elections/annual meeting
$1,500
Postage, printing

Exp9
Buttons/bumper stickers
500

Exp10
Other expenses
400
Domain name registration, etc.

Exp11
Reimbursement to Chris Reilly
900

Spending by Chris for office rent, postage/printing/envelopes for September 2003 fundraising mailing, and CTGP website domain name. This is partial re-payment; balance to be repaid in future budget years.

-------Expenses total---------

11,880

-------Revenues---------------

Rev1
Monthly Friends contributions
$2,400 per year
People who donate monthly to the CT Green Party

Rev2
Telephone solicitations for contributions
$2,400

Rev3
Fundraising from mailings
$4,000

Rev4
Four events
$2,400
Four fundraising events

Rev5
Ad Hoc contributions
$1,200

Examples: contributions by visitors to website, contributions included in annual elections mailing

-------Revenues total----------
12,400

Balance
520
Revenues exceed expenses by $520

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Appendix 6. Proposal from Hamden chapter on formation of an IT (information technology) committee
[in 8/10/04 e-mail attachment from Aaron Gustafson]

Green Party Meeting Proposal Form
PRESENTER (committee, chapter(s) or group of individuals)
Hamden Green Party
CONTACT (name, address, phone number, email)
Aaron Gustafson; 83 Treadwell St, Hamden, CT 06517; 203-230-9726; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
SUBJECT (10 words or less)
Creation of IT Committee

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE (100 words or less; include relationship, reasons and/or justification to the State Central Committee)

The purpose of the IT Committee would be to oversee all IT-related undertakings of the CT Green Party.

PROPOSAL (200 words or less)

We propose that the CT Green Party form an IT Committee. This committee would oversee all Information Technology (IT) projects that are initiated by or come under the jurisdiction of the CT Green Party. The initial task for this committee will be the creation of two databases:

Registered Greens in CT

Minority party and/or unaffiliated voters in CT

The IT Committee would oversee the continued maintenance and administration of these databases as well as work to enable sharing of this information back and forth with local chapters and campaigns.

The IT Committee would initially consist of the state webmaster, all chapter webmasters and interested individuals with IT skills to offer. The IT Committee would be required to make periodic reports to the SCC.

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Appendix 7 Proposal from Hamden chapter on creation of voters' rights working group [in 8/10/04 e-mail attachment from Aaron Gustafson]

Green Party Meeting Proposal Form
PRESENTER (committee, chapter(s) or group of individuals)
Hamden Green Party
CONTACT (name, address, phone number, email)
Aaron Gustafson; 83 Treadwell St, Hamden, CT 06517; 203-230-9726; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
SUBJECT (10 words or less)
Creation of Voters’ Rights Working Group

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE (100 words or less; include relationship, reasons and/or justification to the State Central Committee)

The purpose of the Voters’ Rights Working Group will be to work toward improving the relationship of the CT Green Party and the population of registered Greens in CT. This Working Group is being formed to address inadequacies in the current voting process and to ensure proper procedures are followed to allow for the involvement of every Green registered in the state of Connecticut.

PROPOSAL (200 words or less)

We propose that the CT Green Party constitute a Voters’ Rights Working Group, consisting of at least one member each of the Elections Committee, Communications Committee and IT Committee and any other interested parties. The initial purpose of this Working Group is to examine the current state of primary voting among registered Greens in CT. The group will be charged with finding out what ways we can better reach voters and obtain their participation in the primary election cycle (via interviews, questionnaires, etc.). The eventual outcome from this Working Group will be 1) an examination and full report on past oversights regarding primary voting among Greens in CT (to be presented to the SCC); and 2) a plan for how to best carry out primaries on local, regional and state levels through the use of a secure internet-based voting system (for those with internet access) and traditional mail-in ballots (for those without internet access or who prefer to vote by mail). The Working Group’s final recommendations will presented to the SCC and, upon approval, become the initial blueprint for a new voter outreach program. It is likely that this Working Group will be of use from time to time following the launch of the program to evaluate it successes and failures and work to refine the process over time.

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If you have serious disagreements with the accuracy of anything written in these minutes, please contact the secretary, Ed DuBrule, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 860-523-4016. If your e-mail or letter is titled "I remember things happened differently" or "I remember that this also occurred", I will treat your e-mail or letter (or a summary of it) as an addendum to these minutes. Such e-mails or letters must be received within 4 weeks of the date of publication of the minutes to the News listserve to be considered addenda.

Addenda are published to the News listserve and are considered part of the minutes. They are brought to the following month's SCC meeting (for distribution at the time the minutes are approved/disapproved); they are posted to the CT Green Party website as part of the minutes.

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