Green Party of Connecticut
State Central Committee
July 26, 2017 • Portland Waverly Center, 7 Waverly Ave, Portland, CT
Minutes, approved on September 28, 2017
In attendance: Fairfield County: Rolf Maurer, Cora Santaguida; Hartford County: Barbara Barry, Mike DeRosa (GPCT Co-Chair), Martha Kelly, Mary Lawrence, Chris Reilly (GPCT Treasurer), Jeffery Russell; New London: Bob Stuller, Ronna Stuller (GPCT Secretary, Recorder); Shoreline: not represented; Waterford: Nikki Byrne, Billy G. Collins, Emily Garfinkel (GPCT Co-Chair), Matt Tytla, Margaret Welch, Baird Welch-Collins (GPCT Co-Chair, Facilitator); At Large: Brian Gay, Vic Lancia, Susan Ye, Amy Vas Nunes, Eugene Woloszyn. Guest: Alex Kuvalanka
Quorum was met. Meeting started at 7:00pm
- Minutes of the June 28 SCC meeting: Barbara moved to approve, 2nd by Baird; passed unanimously. Minutes of the July 12 Executive Committee meeting: Barbara moved to receive for the record, 2nd by Cora; passed unanimously.
- Treasurer’s Report: GPCT balance is $846.78; the only expense this month was $6.31 for phone service. FEC balance remains $1,218.12.
- GPCT chapter reports
Fairfield County: Members are working on homelessness and affordable housing. Nominating meeting was held in May; next meeting has not been scheduled yet.
Hartford County: Met on July 10; future meetings are planned for the 3rd Monday of each month, and a social event/fundraiser will be held on September 30 at the Riverside Boat House in Glastonbury. Current priorities: working on issues with other progressive groups, and reviving the GPUS Peace Committee.
Shoreline: Nominating meeting was held on July 16. Endorsed candidates are Owen Charles (Board of Finance, Madison), Michael Abbondandolo (Board of Education, Madison), Hugh Birdsall (Board of Education, Clinton), and James Connolly (Planning & Zoning, Clinton).
New London: NL Greens had a table at Sailfest and plan to participate in NL Pride on August 26. Next meeting is August 6. A fundraiser yard sale is planned for August 5. The 2nd nominating meeting is tentatively scheduled for August 15.
Waterford: 100 pounds of trash was picked up at the Clean-a-thon; their Greens Music Festival will be held at the Cohanzie Firehouse on August 5. A nominating convention is scheduled for July 29 at the Waterford Library. Waterford Greens are also trying to help organize in Groton, where they have Green friends.
New Milford chapter organizing: NM Greens will have a table at Village Fair Days.
Northeast CT chapter organizing: Outreach to members of other progressive groups is ongoing. * (see below)
Middlesex County: Vic is organizing in Middletown; he obtained a list from the Registrar and has found about 12 people interested. A meeting is planned for August 9, 7pm, at the Portland Senior Center.
* During the NECT report, Amy brought up that she was offended by an email written by Ronna and wished to discuss it. Baird stated that he would entertain a motion to add the item to the agenda for immediate discussion; Barbara moved, 2nd by Jeff; motion failed, with 7 in favor, 11 opposed, and 3 abstentions. Baird made a second motion, 2nd by Jeff, to create a conflict resolution committee and discuss the issue at next month’s meeting; motion passed, with 14 in favor, 1 opposed, and 5 abstentions. Item will be added to the August 30 agenda.
- Old business
a. Communications
(1) Communications/Social Media Committee selection: Mike moved to approve the following members, 2nd by Barbara: Cora Santaguida (Fairfield), Mike DeRosa (Hartford), Elijah Singer (New London), Joshua Kelly (Waterford), and at-large members David Bedell, Eugene Woloszyn, and Don Alexander. Passed unanimously. Shoreline representative TBD. Ronna will email all the members to share contact information.
(2) Proposal for promotional video: Bob has agreed to work on this project; contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you are interested in participating.
- New business
a. SCC meeting schedule: Responses to the poll have not led to any single best day, and not everyone has received class schedules. Ronna will tally results and request input from more members. We will set the schedule next month.
b. Creation of Fundraising Committee: Was suggested last month as part of our budget discussion; Ronna will send out a proposal and call for volunteers.
c. GPCT lending library: Eugene proposed that we assemble a collection of books that can be borrowed from meeting to meeting. He brought several titles and invited others to contribute as well. The idea was received enthusiastically. Eugene will post the list to our GPCT social media, along with brief descriptions.
- Green Party of the US
a. Barbara and Mike reported on their experiences attending the Annual Meeting in Newark. Their written accounts, as well as Linda’s (which was posted earlier) will be sent out as attachments to our SCC meeting minutes.
b. Elections to GPUS committees: We are allotted 3 representatives/committee, and in most cases the number of candidates did not exceed our quota. Barbara moved to approve all who volunteered to fill noncompetitive positions, 2nd by Baird. Passed unanimously. (List of representativese is attached.) We will vote next month for our 3 Platform Committee members (candidates Don Alexander, Justine McCabe, Tim McKee, Amy Vas Nunes, and Joshua Kelly).
- Proposal by Hartford County Chapter to reactivate the GPUS Peace Committee: Mike provided background information, and the proposal was approved by consensus.
- Updates/upcoming events
“An Inconvenient Sequel”: July 28, 6pm, Yale Evans Hall Auditorium
Greens Music Festival: August 5, 5pm, Cohanzie Firehouse Pavilion, Waterford
Hiroshima Day of Remembrance: August 6, 6pm, Unitarian Society of Hartford
350CT.org General Assembly: August 13, 11am, Charter Oak Cultural Center, Hartford
New London Pride Fest (NL Greens will have a table): August 26, all day, Ocean Beach
- Next meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 30, at the Portland Waverly Center.
Cora moved to adjourn, 2nd by Vic, passed unanimously. Meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm.