Minutes of the June 19, 2001 meeting of the Monroe County Green Party. The meeting began at approximately 7:10 pm. Facilitated by Julie Roberts Notes through "Old Business" taken by Isabel Piedmont Notes after "Old Business" taken by Chris Stafford The minutes of the June 5 meeting were approved. Attendance: Steps to Freedom (Sean Bagley), George Brooks, Isabel Piedmont, Larry Meehan, Julie Roberts, Eric White, Matt Weber, Dan Hussey, Joanna Sparks, Maigan Walton, Jeff Melton, Heather Drake, Peter Drake, Marc Haggerty, Chris Stafford (15 people) I. Coordinator Reports Treasurer: Isabel reported that the current balance of the treasury is $217.40 plus last week's Farmer's Market donations and the new membership dues collected during canvassing last Wednesday, for an approx. total of $250. Upcoming expenses were discussed: $136 still owed Chris Stafford for Greens merchandise, $50 for canvassing supplies, and $170 plus the cost of liability insurance for the county fair. Approved expenditures: 1) ca. $22 for a Bloomington post office box Isabel will acquire this 2) $10 fee for participation in 4th of July parade Julie will submit this with application Upcoming income was also mentioned: from canvassing, and a refund of the fee for affiliation with GPUSA (this fee was actually not required). Technology: Peter reported that we have about 200 people on the announcement e-mail list, and still about 30 on the discussion list. The group approved Peter's decision to make the announcement list moderated, so that messages must first be approved by Peter or Steps before they go to the list. The Web page has been updated with the new addition of a shadow government page. Media: Jeff had nothing to report. Green liaison: Steps reported that there are 10 individuals locally who are GPUSA members. He will encourage others to join to raise this number to 15, so that 2 delegates instead of just one can vote at the GPUSA Congress. He reported that a small committee is working on the Indiana Green Party charter, which will be ready for the that group's convention Aug. 3-4 in Indianapolis. Julie said that she plans to attend the St. Joe Valley Green Party meeting on July 2 and will report on what she learns at the next MCGP meeting. Canvassing: Julie reported that she, Chris, and Peter had a practice run of canvassing on June 13, during which 3 new full members and several supporting members were recruited. A canvassing training session will be held at 5:00 on Tuesday, June 26 at 342 S. Madison (Drakes' house). II. Announcements June 20: Student Disorientation Meeting, 7:30 pm, Secret Sailor Alliance to Protect Greenspace Mtg, 7:30 pm, Law School 121 June 21: Roll your own blackout, 7-10 pm, Turn off all electricity at your place July 7-8: Indiana Forest Alliance Nonviolent Direct Action Training, details TBA Jeff said that he met Joel Covel at the Solidarity meeting this past weekend and would like to invite him to speak in Bloomington sometime in the coming months. Mr. Covel ran against Nader for the Green Party nomination for president and also ran for the US Senate in New York as a Green. Old Business: 4th of July Parade Julie announced that she is currently planning to not conduct the street theater due to not enough people signing on. Therefore, we'll march as many people as we can, with 6-7 people at the meeting committing to participate. Heather said that she had been encouraging people to just come out so a good turnout is hoped for. Julie will send out information over the announce list about a sign-making party for the parade. Jeff got the forms for the parade, and $10 will be approved for this fee. Farmer's Market Jeff and Julie are working the market this Saturday (June 23, 2001) Isabel and Chris are working the market next Saturday (June 30, 2001) Citizen's Academy It meets every Thursday from 8/29 into September Participants must be city residents Vicki Provine said many online applications did not go through so if you submitted online, doublecheck to make sure you're signed up. City Committee and Board Openings The Commission on the Status of Black Males is the only current opening. Heather said that in December there will be a number of openings. Julie and Isabel recommended that people interested in applying for boards and commissions begin attending their meetings as soon as possible. National Convention Carbondale, Il, July 20-23. (Friday-Monday). Julie has reserved four rooms, but only she and Isabel plan to stay there. Jeff, Steps, and Chris plan to camp instead, threatening to "borrow" their shower. Meal money is due 6/20/01, $15/day, registration is $10/day. Canterbury Apts. Jeff added several people to the Canterbury phone tree; those interested should contact him. The tree will be used to alert people when the dozers move in. Marc wants to keep the State Police out of the situation, pointing out that when they become involved, they tend to be more malicious, not having local connections. The group discussed at length how to deal with the whole issue. After a lengthy and contentious debate, the group agreed we ought to issue two statements, one as soon as possible, and the other after the developers attempt to remove the protestors from the property. The first statement will explain our disappointment of the County Council and our disapproval of their decision to grant Herman Associates the tax-free bond to develop this property. Some members felt that we ought not to be "afraid" and should become more closely involved with the activism as an organization, while others pointed out that as a group, we should address it but not formally be involved with it, as we're primarily a political party, not an activist group. Isabel made a motion for the two statements, and she, Jeff, and Julie agreed to work on drafting the first statement. Jeff will also coordinate the second statement because of his experience with issues of civil disobedience. New Business: Working Groups Heather explained our four working groups and our shadow government initiative to new members. Election Laws Dan has been researching election laws for the past few weeks and provided answers to many of the questions that were raised at the retreat. He said that as of now we remain an "auxiliary party" and as such, many of the financial laws that apply to major parties do not apply to us. Canvassing Julie outlined our canvassing efforts the past few weeks; she has met with Peter and Chris several times to strategize and brainstorm. They went to the courthouse and justice building to obtain precinct maps, voter registration lists, and precinct-by-precinct results of last November's election. After much number-crunching, they were able to trace out each precinct in Bloomington, and rank them according to their "Green" sympathy. The three of them had also conducted a trial run that was very successful and resulted in many new Supporting members and even a few Full members. She said that the three of them will be conducting a training session on Tuesday, June 26, for all of those interested in going door-to-door to sign up new Green Party members. Phone Tree Chris is setting up a phone tree so that many people can be notified quickly about upcoming events, such as important city and county council meetings (where there might be a crucial vote, for example.) He asked the group how to determine who was involved with the phone tree, and also the best way to organize the tree. State Convention: The date was moved from late July to Aug. 3-4 to avoid conflicts. GPP review: On Monday night, the City Planning Commission reviewed a proposed update to the Growth Policies Plan. Several MCGP members were at the meeting, and Julie, Peter, and Isabel all spoke to the commission. Isabel outlined the GPP timeline from this point forward to the group. Utilities update: Heather said that on Friday, June 25th, groups bidding for the water contract would make their oral presentations, as would the employees organization. The meeting will be at 5:30pm at the Utility Service Bldg., located at Henderson and Miller Streets. Heather said that another important upcoming meeting would be on Monday, July 2, where Sewer Connection Fees would be discussed. She pointed out that under the current rate plan, large apt. complexes were paying the same connection fee as a small house. the issue will be put to a vote on July 17th. While Heather (who is on the Utility Services Board) will be at the vote on the 17th, she'll be out of town on the 2nd and asked people to come to the meeting to make sure that the Green perspective was represented. She offered to meet with anybody individually to brief them on the information so that they may speak intelligently. After a review of commitments, which itself took about 15 minutes, the meeting was adjourned at 9:55pm.