I think this was about a third of the
people in the room. I didn't have a good angle to get pictures of the
rest from my seat.
They had all of the Green candidates in
the room stand and say a few words. Jack Lindblad (AD39) talked about
doing something for his campaign every day. Tom Lash (CD??) talked
about giving peace voters (including himself) somebody to vote for.
Linda Piera-Avila (Santa Monica City Council) talked about her many
years of service to the people of Santa Monica, the Green Party, and
future generations. She also talked about the many endorsements and big
campaign she is running.
The first breakout session I attended
was the Campaigns and Candidates meeting run by Warner. The vast
majority of the time available was used up deciding how to allocate the
Green Party's money to our candidates for partisan and non-partisan
office. The default donation was $250, but star candidates in contested
races like Mark Sanchez in San Francisco and Linda Piera-Avila were
given double that. A couple of candidates that are embarrassments were
dropped from the list. Every candidate in the room got something. There
was a lot of discussion about a ballot initiative that Ross Mirkarimi
wants us to support. The problem was that there was no State budget
line authorizing contributions to local issue campaigns.
After that the Treasurers gave their
report on the Green Party's bank account. They ended their time on the
stage by asking us all to give money to the Green Party. I gave every
big bill in my wallet out, but I gave the money to candidates that were
in the room.
Cynthia McKinney spent the lunch hour
and a bit more with us. Click above for more details on that.
The second breakout session I wanted to
go to the International Protocol meeting. The only problem was that the
neatness freaks that insist of doing away with things that don't seem
to be doing anything were running around saying "there is no
international protocol meeting". Accordingly the only people who showed
up for it were me and this woman who had been traveling with WILPF. She
told me about visiting with a member of the Swedish Parliament who was
a
Green Party member and a peace activist. She felt that such connections
were worth honoring, and that's why she showed up. After talking about
fifteen minutes we decided to go to other meetings where more was
happening. I took this picture at the meeting on the other lawn. I
think it was platform, but I didn't pay much attention. I was unhappy
that our international connection point had been shut down.
Greg presented the initiatives portion
of the meeting. It created some discussion, and even a bit of
controversy, but in the end we mostly took the Alameda County positions
on the initiatives. Those positions are:
Prop. 2: Treatment of Farm Animals – Consensus
to Support/Vote Yes!
Prop. 3: $2 Billion Children's Hospital Bond –
Consensus to Oppose/Vote No!
Prop. 4: Parental Notification for Under-18
Abortions – Consensus to Oppose/Vote No!!!
Prop. 5: Nonviolent Offenders Sentencing and
Rehabilitation – Consensus to Support/ Vote Yes!
Prop. 6: Anti-Gang Penalties (Runner initiative)
– Consensus to Oppose/Vote No!
Prop. 7: Renewable Energy Requirements for
Utilities – By Delegates' Votes: Oppose/ Vote No.
Prop. 8: Same-Sex Marriage Ban – Consensus to
Oppose/ Vote No!!!
Prop. 9: Victims' Rights, Reduction of Parole
Hearings – Consensus to Oppose/ Vote No.
Prop. 10: Alternative Fuel Vehicles &
Renewable Energy Bond – Consensus to Oppose/ Vote No.
Prop. 11: Redistricting – By Delegates' Votes:
Oppose/ Vote No.
Prop. 12: Veterans' Bond – By Delegates' Votes:
Support/ Vote Yes.
The
only position I disagreed with was prop 7. I still think greens should
be in favor of renewable energy. I sort of feel the same way about prop
10. That one I just don't know enough about though.
There wasn't enough unity on Prop 1, the high speed rail initiative,
for a decision. The fall back strategy is to have the Countys vote
individually on the matter, and if enough vote, and the votes add up to
more than 80% either way, then we will have a decision.
After the GIWG meeting broke up the
Campaigns and Candidates Working Group was still at it, so I took this
picture of them. They were talking about taking positions on ballot
initiatives. Most of the people there mainly wanted to support
candidate campaigns though.
Fred's big project right now is pushing
these "Thanks for biking!" buttons. Click the above picture to find out
more.