Meeting Minutes 7/17/01 7:00pm Bloomington Environmental Center 116 ½ S. College Ave. The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm Facilitated by Isabel Piedmont Notes taken by George Brooks through Technology Report Notes taken by Chris Stafford henceforth. Attendance: (23 people) Isabel Piedmont, Julie Roberts, George R. Brooks, Brett Morse, Dave Ploskonko, Eric White, Craig Harvey, Brian Keese, Paul Colbert, Sheryl Woodhouse-Keese, Adam Lederer, Marge Steiner, Mike Englert, Colleen Briggs, Steps to Freedom (Sean Bagley), Heather Drake, Peter Drake, Dan Hussey, Matt Press, Chris Stafford, John Gusan, Larry Meehan, Jeff Melton Introductions were made as there were many new faces. The minutes of the 7/3/01 meeting were approved. Announcements: Thursday July 9th, Protect Greenspace Alliance July 24th and 25th, Blgtn. Parks and Recreation meeting to discuss Mills Pool Friday, July 27th, Critical Mass Bike Ride August 3rd and 4th, Indiana Green Party Congress September 3rd-9th, Disorientation Coordinator Reports: 1. Treasurer Isabel reported that the MCGP currently has $340.00 2. Technology Peter reported that there are about 250 people on the announcement list. 3. Media Jeff said he was misquoted in the Herald-Times Mike Englert was on Fox 59 regarding the Bluebird Tree-Sit 4. Green Liaison Steps said a conclusion hasn't been reached by GPUSA members in Monroe County regarding the Boston Proposal. 5. Secretary Chris said that there are currently about 300 supporting members, and about 28 full members. Working Group Reports: 1. Canvassing Report People will be meeting at 5:00pm at Peter's house (342 S. Madison) to go canvassing. 2. Shadow Government Isabel said she needed somebody to attend the next Blgtn. Environmental Commission meeting. Julie said that once school starts up, she'll need somebody else to take over the County Commissioners' Meetings on alternate Fridays at 9:00am. 3. Eco-Wisdom Group This group is focusing on sprawl, specifically as it relates to the GPP. Because all of the members will be going to Carbondale Ill for the GPUSA congress this weekend, they will discuss their ideas in the car. 4. Newsletter Isabel, editor of the Newsletter, said that she has plenty of articles, she just needs people to commit to writing them. The following assignments were made: Julie Roberts-GPP; Heather Drake-Utility Services; Jeff Melton-Stony Springs; Paul Colbert-IGP Congress Report; Peter Drake-State Electoral Reforms; Chris Stafford-GPUSA Congress Report; Peter Drake-Bush Energy Plan. Articles on these subjects are due by August 10 to be included in the fall newsletter. 5. Nonviolence Jeff is the chair of this group and is recruiting other members. Marge Steiner volunteered to help out. Reports from Green government appointees 1. Utilities Services Board (Heather Drake) a) Water privatization Heather reported that the city decided to keep the utilities public, a win for the community. She said that most of the credit should go to Stacy Ream and Milton Fisk for their efforts in this matter. b) Sewer Connection Fees Heather also said that at the previous night's City Council meeting, despite opponents outnumbering proponents, the council voted to keep the Sewer Connection Fees. The next vote will be Wed. July 25th, and Heather urged people to show up. She pointed out that the fees will prevent the projected 3% increase in sewage rates. Eric asked Heather if the Stony Springs fee will be under the old or the new rate ($1600 vs. $58,000). Heather said she didn't know how developments that have been improved but not completed would be treated, but will investigate and report back to the group. Old Business 1. Issue of quorum at MCGP meetings As our membership continually grows, our charter's definition of quorum (decision-making authority) must be modified so that we can continue to conduct party business at regularly-scheduled meetings. After some discussion on how to do this, Peter suggested eliminating the concept of a quorum of number and requiring only that any meeting where decisions are made be either one of our regularly-scheduled meetings or be announced at least two weeks in advance. If a majority of the coordinating council is present then voting can be conducted. Chris agreed to send this proposed change to the charter to the announce list for discussion for the next two weeks. At the next meeting further discussion will take place. In the following two weeks, a vote to change the charter will be put to the announce list 2. Monroe County Fair Larry found out how much it would cost us to both staff a booth at the fair and insure it. Altogether it would cost $320 and would deplete our treasury. In addition, the fair is only four days away and active members are stretched as thinly as possible as it was with the GPUSA congress this weekend. Heather felt that while the Fair was important, we might be extending our resources by participating this year. Others in the group agreed. Marge Steiner worries that the culture of the fair would be unreceptive to Green ideology. Mike Englert pointed out that he knows of several progressive groups that participate every year, so the culture must be somewhat receptive. Despite the importance of extending the Green Party beyond the city limits, the group came to a consensus that we should not do the MC Fair this year. Cheryl volunteered to look into the 4th Street Arts Fair to see if we could possibly set up a booth there. 3. Stony Springs a)Jeff wrote a statement about civil disobedience, specifically as it relates to Stony Springs, but he needs somebody else to submit it as he has already submitted a letter-to-the-editor this month. After some discussion about what the H-T would accept as author for letters-to-the-editor, Peter suggested listing it from the party and signing the names of those who helped Jeff write the statement (including Jeff's.) Jeff said he would try to do this. b)Mike Englert announced that there will be an interchange program interviewing some of the people involved with Bluebird. 4. Disorientation Dave and Peter provided the group with an update to the Disorientation. It will be September 3-9 in Dunn Meadow and will consist of info sessions all week. People interested in helping out should contact either Dave or Peter. 5. Growth Policies Plan: MCGP statement? Julie said that we had a good turnout at the GPP meetings and that the City Council was going to revise the plan based on the outpouring of public input. The major things that the Green Party wanted to change were an inclusion of impact fees, the presence of the BEDC in the document, and a mention of how we see the city developing over the long term (how big can Bloomington get? is growth always good? etc?) 6. GPUSA Congress: caucus reps and carpool arrangements Steps will be representing the Monroe County caucus of GPUSA members (independent of the MCGP.) There are five people from the MCGP attending the Congress in Carbondale IL this weekend: Steps, Isabel, Julie, Larry, and Chris. They will meet Friday afternoon to carpool over there. New Business 1. Nomination of candidates for IGP positions a)Peter said that he was interested in running for the position of State Co-Coordinator, but wanted to make sure somebody else was willing to take over the MCGP Technology Coordinator position. Larry Meehan said he was willing. b)Isabel said that she would be willing to run for the State Treasurer if somebody could assume her duties in the MCGP. Craig Harvey said he would be willing to. 2. Nomination of candidate(s) for Secretary of State Several members felt that the MCGP, being such a large local group, ought to nominate somebody for the Secretary of State election. 3. Specific plans for participation in the IGP congress In addition to electing IGP officers and nominating candidates for elections beyond the county level, the IGP congress will host a training session for those interesting in running local campaigns. 4. Position on work with local progressive democrats Several members of the MCGP felt that we should formalize our coordination with numerous local Democrats, while others felt that not only would this "water down" our ideology, but the Democrats wouldn't be interested for political reasons. After much discussion on this topic, it was decided that an immediate action is not required and the group agreed to continue discussion on the discussion-listserv as well as at future meetings. 5. Position on Bloomington Economic Development Corporation Recently the group has become aware of the role the BEDC plays in our local government. Peter pointed out two things that the MCGP should be concerned about: 1) The BEDC is a private corporation that requires $5000 to become a member. Because they are involved in our legislative process, there is an issue of the rich being represented more heavily (through the BEDC) than the less wealthy. 2) The city gives close to $100,000 each year to the BEDC for consultative information. The MCGP should be worried about a conflict-of-interest, as the BEDC will obviously advise the city along lines that will help development in the community (catering to its members who typically are big businesspeople, developers, banks, etc.) Selection of next meeting's facilitator Paul Colbert agreed to facilitate the next meeting, which will be Tuesday, 8-7-01 in the Monroe County Public Library. Review of commitments 1. Farmer's Market tabling Saturday 7-21-01 Craig Harvey (need one other person) Saturday 7-28-01 Peter Drake Dan Hussey 2. other commitments Because we were already running late, the group agreed to skip this part of the agenda. The meeting was adjourned at 9:15pm