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January 2005 Newsletter
Green Party of Sonoma County (GPSC) News for January 2005:
1. News Advisory - Dark Monday
2. GE-Free Sonoma Needs Your Help!
3. Green Talk - Green New Year's Party (1/6)
4. Regional Meeting (1/30)
5. GPSC Poll on Minimum Wage
6. Election Stories - Request for Input
7. GPSC Needs You!
8. Southern California Green Convergence - February 18-20
9. Calendar of Upcoming Meetings and Events
10. Contact Information
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NEWS ADVISORY --THE GREEN PARTY OF CALIFORNIA
160,000 Green Voters, Others Urged to Support 'Dark Monday' Gasoline
Boycott, Protest of Immigrant Driver's License Denial
SACRAMENTO (Dec. 14, 2004) - The Green Party of California today
officially endorsed a boycott of gasoline purchases on Mondays to
protest the denial of driver's licenses to millions of immigrants in
the state, and urged the more than 160,000 registered Green voters and
all Californians to honor the boycott immediately.
At dramatic news conferences held in Los Angeles, San Francisco and
Sacramento Monday, the Mexican American Political Association and a
coalition of other Latino groups announced the boycott that they have
dubbed "Dark Mondays."
MAPA is calling on the public to not purchase gasoline one day a week,
on Monday, to demonstrate support to immigrants and the right to
obtain a driver's license in California without regard to immigration
status.
"Dark Mondays will continue for the remainder of this year and
continue throughout 2005 until California becomes a hospitable state
to immigrants and grants them the right to obtain a driver's license,
as was the case prior to 1994," said Nativo V. Lopez, MAPA President,
the oldest Latino political organization in the state.
Lopez re-registered Green from Democrat a few months ago, and has
urged that Green and MAPA members merge throughout the state and form
a stronger alliance for justice.
"We Greens are excited to endorse, support and promote, this boycott,"
said Hugo Vera, a spokesperson for the Green Party and MAPA in
Sacramento. "All Californians must send a message to the Governor, and
the Legislature, that we cannot continue to insult our Latino brothers
and sisters who work by our side daily and contribute so much to this
state." Other organizations participating in the MAPA coalition
include the California Coalition for Immigrant's Rights and Against
Raids, Centro Azteca de Informacion, the Council of Mexican
Federations, Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, Centro CSO and MAPA
Youth Leadership.
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GE-FREE SONOMA NEEDS YOUR HELP!
We still need to gather thousands more signatures by December 30th to
put the GE-Free initiative on the ballot. We can do it, but only if
more people volunteer. If you are not already helping with the
campaign, go to http://www.gefreesonoma.org, and click on GET INVOLVED
in the upper-right corner of the page.
You can sign up for a 2-3 hour shift tabling in front of a market in
your area - we provide the materials and a short training, and pair
you with another volunteer - call Daniel at 823-4410.
You can pick up petition packets (containing 5 petitions, info flyers
and instructions) to gather signatures on your own, and drop off
completed petitions, at these locations:
Santa Rosa - Community Market, 1899 Mendocino Ave (North of SRJC,
behind Last Record Store)
Petaluma - Jungle Vibes, 136 Petaluma Blvd (across from Starbucks)
Cotati - North Light Books, 550 E. Cotati Ave (next to Olivers)
Sebastopol - GE-Free Campaign Office, 117 Morris St (off Hwy 12)
Healdsburg - Healdsburg Natural Foods, 325 Center St
Guerneville - Food for Humans, 16385 First St (next to Safeway)
Occidental - Occidental Arts & Ecology Center, 15290 Coleman Valley
Rd (call first, 874-1557)
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GREEN TALK - GREEN NEW YEAR'S PARTY - JANUARY 6TH
7:00 PM at the Environmental Center of Sonoma County
404 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa
Ok, so January 6th is a few days past the New Year...however, come
celebrate a Green New Year with us. Bring some food and drink to
share. Admission is free, but we will pass the hat for the rent.
Everyone is welcome. Come and bring a friend.
Green Talks are free, thought provoking informal gatherings hosted by
the Green Party of Sonoma County on the first Thursday of each month.
To get more information, suggest future topics, or join the Green Talk
Working Group, please email greentalk@sonomagreenparty.org or call Ann
at 542-3037.
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MARIN, SONOMA, AND NAPA GREEN PARTY REGIONAL MEETING
When: January 30, 2005, 2-5 PM
Where: Fireside Room at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation
(UUCM) of Terra Linda (in Marin County). Address 240 Channing Way,
San Rafael
Purpose: The primary purpose is to hold an election to fill the
vacant regional member seat to the Green Party of California
Coordinating Committee (GPCA CC) and elect alternates for this seat.
The secondary purpose is for Greens from the three counties to get
to know each other and to build bridges for future collaborations
and/or actions.
Candidates: If you would like to be considered for one of these
positions, please send a statement of 250 words maximum to Tim
Morgan of the GPSC at blkcloud@sonic.net by January 3rd, 2005. Tim
will compile the statements into the logistics package right after
that. If you want to state which seat (regional member, 1st or 2nd
alternate) you are seeking that info would be good to have as well.
Those who miss the January 3 deadline can still declare themselves
candidates at the regional meeting.
Process: A Regional Representative, 1st Alternate, and 2nd Alternate
will be elected in 3 separate elections. The election will be
published on the GPSC website at http://www.sonomagreenparty.org.
Who Can Attend: This meeting is open to all Green Party members and
interested parties.
Cost: There is no cost for this meeting. However, donations to any
of the three Green Parties would be welcome.
Who can Vote: Only Green Party members who are currently registered
to vote in one of the three counties can vote at this meeting.
Food: This will be a pot luck event. Please use your judgment to
bring some food and/or beverage for yourself and a few others. Cups
and plates will be provided.
Point of Contact: Tim Morgan - GPSC - 707-695-9293.
email: info@sonomagreenparty.org
Check the GPSC website http://www.sonomagreenparty.org for the latest
details. Note too that the January Newsletter will have final last
minute information on this meeting.
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GPSC POLL ON MINIMUM WAGE
Submitted for Tim Smith
The GPSC is interested in your opinion about a potential effort to
place a statewide minimum wage initiative on the ballot possibly in
2006 (note: this is not a living wage proposal). The proposed
initiative would first significantly increase the minimum wage above
the current California rate of $6.75 per hour and then follow with
incremental increases over several years and an indexing of wages
beyond that. For our poll, we would like to know:
* What significant increase to the minimum wage do you think would
be acceptable to most Californians for the passage of the
initiative?
* What do you think of this possible initiative?
To participate, please contact Tim Smith, at 206-0260, or
Rioryon@aol.com with your responses.
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ELECTION STORIES - REQUEST FOR INPUT
Submitted by Tim Morgan
The election cycle of 2004 has been a long one and clearly difficult
at times. I'd like to compile some stories of what our readers did
locally or nationally as members of the Green Party, whether as a
candidate or as an activist in support of candidates and/or
progressive issues during 2004. I propose to publish these stories in
upcoming newsletters and on the website as examples of our activism.
If you can send me a few paragraphs and a photo or two, if you like,
of your efforts it would be great. Thanks in advance.
Please email election stories to Tim Morgan at blkcloud@sonic.net
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GPSC NEEDS YOU!
With the start of the New Year, it is time to consider growing your
commitment to progressive politics and get active. If you are one of
the approximately 7,000 registered Greens in Sonoma County whose
primary form of involvement is voting, great and thanks but if you
want to go to the next step, the Green Party of Sonoma County has many
needs for volunteer support in the coming year:
* We need a Treasurer and Secretary for the County Council.
* We have a number of small organizational jobs that need doing in
the short term.
* Our working groups (see item 10 below) always need new members.
In particular our Green Talk and Outreach Working Groups need new
members to help with party activities in the coming year.
* We need volunteers for tabling and phone banking efforts to come
in the coming year.
* Our Public Communications Working Group needs help too with media
tasks and this newsletter.
* We need donations in any amount. You can donate online at
http://www.sonomagreenparty.org or by check made out to the "Green
Party of Sonoma County" at the following address:
Green Party of Sonoma County
PO Box 15073
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
Any of these volunteer activities do not need to require substantial
time commitments. Contact info@sonomagreenparty.org for more
information or any of the contacts listed in item 10 below.
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA GREEN CONVERGENCE - February 18-20, 2005
Although this event is a little far away and focused on Southern
California Greens, you may be interested in attending it. A Green
Convergence is an event where you can learn the fundamentals of
growing a strong progressive political party as well as renew and
build long lasting relationships. More information will be available
on http://www.sdgreens.org/conv.html and the point of contact is Anne
Marie Tipton at atiptioes@cox.net or the GPSD office 619-695-6000.
This will be held on the campus of San Diego State University in San
Diego.
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CALENDAR OF UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
*NOTE* To check for new events and schedule changes, visit the GPSC
on-line calendar at http://www.cagreens.org/c/sonoma/calendar.pl
January --------------------------------------------------------
4 (Tue) BYLAWS WORKING GROUP MEETING
7 PM. Contact: bylaws@sonomagreenparty.org or 542-3037
6 (Thu) GREEN TALK - A GREEN NEW YEAR'S PARTY
7 PM, Environmental Center, 404A Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa
For more info, see item #3 in this newsletter.
Contact: greentalk@sonomagreenparty.org or 542-3037
11 (Tue) BYLAWS WORKING GROUP MEETING
7 PM. Contact: bylaws@sonomagreenparty.org or 542-3037
13 (Thu) GREEN TALKS WORKING GROUP MEETING
7 PM. Contact: greentalk@sonomagreenparty.org or 542-3037
19 (Wed) DEADLINE FOR GPSC NEWSLETTER SUBMISSIONS FOR FEBRUARY
Email an outline for a newsletter article or information on
a Green-related event to pc@sonomagreenparty.org
20 (Thu) GENERAL BUSINESS MEETING
7-9 PM, Environmental Center, 404A Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa
The general meeting is held every 3rd Thursday of the month. All
interested Greens are welcome to attend!
Info: info@sonomagreenparty.org
30 (Sun) MARIN, SONOMA, AND NAPA COUNTY REGIONAL MEETING
2-5 PM, Terra Linda
See item 4 above for more details. All interested Greens are
welcome to attend!
Info: info@sonomagreenparty.org
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CONTACT INFORMATION
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WORKING GROUPS (WG)
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Bylaws WG
Info: http://www.sonomagreenparty.org/pages/gi_bylaws.shtml
Contact: bylaws@sonomagreenparty.org or 542-3037
Green Talk WG
Info: http://www.sonomagreenparty.org/pages/gi_greentalk.shtml
Contact: greentalk@sonomagreenparty.org or 542-3037
IT (Information Technologies) WG
Info: http://www.sonomagreenparty.org/pages/gi_it.shtml
Contact: it@sonomagreenparty.org
Outreach WG
Contact: outreach@sonomagreenparty.org
PC (Public Communications) WG
Info: http://www.sonomagreenparty.org/pages/gi_pc.shtml
Contact: pc@sonomagreenparty.org
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LOCALS
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West Sonoma County Green Party Chapter
Contact: Jan Meiswinkel at 524-8818.
Campus Greens - Sonoma State University Chapter
Contact: jaredl@sbcglobal.net
Listserve: http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/sonomacampusgreens
(Interested in starting a SRJC chapter? Email
jswingaling@hotmail.com)
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THE GREEN PARTY of Sonoma County
(707) 524-8818
info@sonomagreenparty.org
http://www.sonomagreenparty.org
PO Box 15073 Santa Rosa, CA 95402
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