Attendance: (22 people) Tony Egler, Jennifer Flowers, Cynthia Kimes, George Murphy, David Boyer, Nina Krause, Rebecca Riall, Jeff Melton, Steps to Freedom (Sean Bagley), George Brooks, Mike Englert, Tony DiGiacomo, Jennifer Heusel, Cinde Leistikow, Dan Selvaggi, Chris Sapp, Steven Winkel, Heather Drake, Peter Drake, Chris Stafford, Larry Meehan, Steve Gardner.

Meeting called to order at 7:05

Peter outlined the Ten Key Values for all the new people

Introductions were made

Quorum Check: There were 14 Full members present, and there were several others who signed up to be full members.

No minutes to approve from previous meeting since the previous meeting was an informal gathering at Craig's house to watch the primary returns

The agenda was approved.

Reports:

Media Report: Jeff reported that the media ignored the Green presence at Baron Hill's talk regarding free-trade.

Shadow Government : Heather reported that the Utilities Service Board had a small victory in regards to 10th street. The contractor had screwed up and didn't finish the job in time, and will finish it this summer at a lot of expense. The USB had to threaten him with giving the contract to another business, and he was able to get people together. He'll be able to finish the job well before the fall semester.

Steve asked about the College Mall job, and Heather said that it wasn't really under the jurisdiction of the USB.

Heather also reported that the fourth draft of the GPP is being considered by the Planning Commission. People can find the text of the plan on the city's website. The meeting will probably be during the first couple weeks in June.

Living Wage Coalition: Steve introduced the purpose of the coalition and the goals of the group. Proposed as an ordinance to local governmental bodies. Meeting on Thursday, Milton Fisk, Regina Moore, and Steve are on the subcommittee to determine the wording of the proposal. 7:00pm at the Methodist Church. Room #319 (?), somewhere on the third floor.

Old Business:

Filling coordinator positions and working groups:

Crucial:

Technology Coordinator: Larry said he was interested in continuing as technology coordinator, nobody else was interested in volunteering.

Treasurer: Auden Thomas volunteered to take over as Treasurer.

Secretary: George Murphy agreed to take the position for the next month and a half. David Boyer agreed to take over Secretary after that.

Julie's Campaign Committee:

Jeff's Campaign Committee: David Boyer said he was willing to volunteer some help for printing needs, and do some consulting work. Jeff also discussed some of the aspects that his campaign is focusing on right now, namely, ballot access.

Newsletter Committee: Isabel Piedmont, David Boyer, Jennifer Heusel, and Auden Thomas all agreed to join the Newsletter Committee.

July Fourth Planning Committee: David Boyer, Auden Thomas,

Grassroots Democracy Working Group: Dan Selvaggi agreed to spearhead the next forum, Peter and Heather said they would be able to help out.

Media Liaison: David Boyer agreed to be Media Liaison for the next month and a half, and George Murphy agreed to take over after that.

Green Party Liaison: unfilled

Canvassing Coordinator: unfilled

Campus Liaison: Chris Sapp agreed to continue as Campus Liaison.

Representative to Living Wage Coalition: Steve Gardner agreed to continue in this position.

Shadow Government Coordinator: Rebecca Riall agreed to take over this position in August; Heather will continue until then.

Nonviolence Working Group: David Boyer signed up his dad (Robert Boyer) to participate in this group.

Farmers' Market Tabling:
Saturday, May 25th, David Boyer Auden Thomas.
Saturday, June 1st, George Murphy, Heather Drake

Jeff's Campaign: Has about 1000 signatures collected, explained the ballot access situation and also described the geographic boundaries of the district. Next meeting is going to be Sunday, May 26th, 5:30pm, at the Encore Café.

Julie's Campaign: People asked about how to answer the question: “Why is Julie running against Bill?� Peter explained that she declared candidacy before he did, and has been attending County Council meetings for many months.

New Business:

4th of July Parade: David Boyer and Auden Thomas agreed to work on the planning committee for this event.

Potential nomination of Mike Englert for Sheriff:

Mike outlined some ways in which he thought the Sheriff's department could be run differently, and is interested in raising some questions that need to be answered by other candidates in the race. He is interested in having the Sheriff go after corporate pollution if this is the Sheriff's job. Mike is also interested in finding alternatives to overcrowding, people in for nonviolent crimes, because they're unable to afford decent defense, bail, etc. Mike said he had the support of County Councilman Mark Stoops, a retired Criminal Justice Professor, some area activists, Bill Breeden; he could draw on the advice of these people. Mike said he was looking for a campaign coordinator and a treasurer. His view: the jail is a place for violent offenders. Non-violent offenders don't belong in a jail – some other form of punishment. Mike is also an advocate for decriminalization of marijuana. David said that it was a good idea to have an alternate system for nonviolent offenders.

Mike said he needs 1000 signatures to gain ballot access. Said he mainly wanted to address these questions to put pressure on the other candidates. He also said he did not want to go into the election with the mindset of attacking anybody. People were wondering about the negative effects of Mike's candidacy, possibly alienating Steve Sharp. Heather asked why Mike is running as a Green and not as a Democrat. Mike said that he would be able to get the issues out there more effectively in the election rather than the primary, and the unlikelihood of winning the primary, or even getting the issues raised prevented him from running as a Democrat. Several people voiced concern that Mike didn't know the specific job description for Sheriff, and encouraged Mike to find out exactly what the office calls for.

George will email the announce list saying that at the next meeting we will vote on the potential nomination. Mike will email the announce list with his platform statement.

Chris Sapp agreed to facilitate the next meeting, MCPL Room 1-B. After a review of commitments, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00pm.