February 26, 2012

GPUS SC Conference Call Minutes
Sunday, February 26, 2012

I. CALL SETUP
a. Facilitator – Holly Hart
b. Roll Call – Treasurer Jeff Turner, Co-chairs Audrey Clement, Susan
Chunco, Darryl Moch, Tamar Yager, and Farheen Hakeem, Secretary Budd Dickinson
Absent – Theresa ElAmin
Staff – Brian Bittner
Observer – Jody Grage
d. Agenda revisions – Darryl has concerns about SC review of proposals for voting queue

II. STAFF REPORT
a. Office Manager – Brian Bittner
Email blasts to lists going out regularly on Wednesdays – 17 Feb media news, 24 Feb ballot access results; getting good responses including forwarding them on. Suggestions for topics encouraged. Next blast is early bird registration for ANM about to close; 1st Wed is GreenLine, 2nd fundraising appeal, 3rd – can focus on state party or local, 4th more issue based. Mark Hinkle of Libertarians working with Constitution Party on May meeting in DC on topics of joint interest – Brian available to attend if SC wants him to. Met with Signal Credit Union rep; first checks deposited in our account, remote deposit machine will be in office so no more trips to the bank with checks. $5 Friday on Facebook brought in 5 new sustainers. New bilingual t-shirts are up on website.

b. Fundraiser Report – David Sacks – no report received

III. TREASURER’S REPORT & FINANCE ITEMS – Jeff
a. Cash report to date
Sent report; just enough money to pay bills next week; reserve funds moved to Signal + $1k to open account. Paid half of NY 2008 state sharing. Returns from the imminent resolicitation mailing and prospect mailing should enable us to pay the remaining balance of 2008 state sharing ($3,173) in March. No request from IC for Global Greens received yet.

IV. Ohio’s Fukushima Proposal for March 11 – GPUS endorsement by SC requested since not enough time for NC vote. See Attachment 1 below. Suggested that states and locals be encouraged to organize demonstrations. Suggested that Media Committee craft the message. Could be used for GPUS email blast. Consensus to endorse.

V. PNC/ANM – Preliminary discussion of the PNC/ANM scheduling. The only decision this requires is whether or not we feel we need the room we have for the GNC delegates meeting on Saturday at a cost of $800 whether we use it one hour or eight hours). The PNC will be at a different venue. Consensus not to rent plenary room on Saturday.

VI. VOTING QUEUE – Budd
In the queue:
644 – Presidential Nominating Convention Size and Delegate Apportionment from Illinois Green Party – Voting 2/20-26 – has met quorum

645 to 647 – IC approval proposals – FPVA alternates Vivek, Farheen & Bahram. Voting 2/27 – 3/4

648 – SC Vacancy election – Discussion 2/20 – 3/4; Voting 3/5-3/11.

Received for the queue:
Platform Amendment Process and Timeline for Presidential Nominating Convention Years from the Platform Committee. See Attachment 2 below. Consensus to expedite since deadlines close. Two-week discussion and one-week vote. Darryl will be floor manager.

Presidential Nominating Convention Size and Delegate Apportionment. Sponsored by Maine Green Independent Party and Green Party of Minnesota. Farheen stated that it will be withdrawn if IL proposal passes. If IL proposal fails, send in on Monday; Farheen will be floor manager; two weeks discussion and one week vote.

IC Proposals for confirmation of FPVA delegates: Julia Willebrand and Carl Romanelli (Same format as previous proposals. These will be put on the queue after the current IC proposals are voted on.) Tamar will be floor manager.

In queue when received:
Election Tabulation Committee Report

Darryl expressed some concerns about proposals that go to the NC before the SC. Budd and Tamar said this is common and is a way to get feedback. Darryl also had concerns about proposals coming to the SC too late for review. Budd and Tamar talked about the rules to deal with this and the 6-day deadline to get proposals on the SC agenda.

VII. LIAISON REPORTS

Susan – FunCom – discussed advantages of getting 5% of vote in the presidential election and reaching out to musicians for tabling at concerts, etc.; Karen Young, FunCom co-chair, is looking for volunteers to work on the musican project. Susan is still working on reorganizing MerchCom.

Tamar – 30 ANM registrations to date.

Darryl – CCC/GHCC/GSCC had joint conference call; proposed that they work jointly where possible and that will be further defined; another call soon, need people elected to those committees – perhaps elected to more than one committee; perhaps allow current members to continue on with newly elected members; review need for possible changes in R&Ps, including, in writing, basic work of each committee.

VIII. ACTION ITEMS/OLD BUSINESS
1. Employment Agreements and Personnel Manual revision – Jeff will be working on them.

2. Strategic Planning –
Project 1 – Presidential candidate on as many ballots as possible – BAC, press release, etc.

Project 2 – Review RP&PS for what isn’t working now (some changes may be suitable only after GPUS restructuring). Darryl in touch by email with those who is interested. He wants a face-to-face group at the ANM to talk about this and #3 below.

Project 3 – Working group to study a variety of organizational political structures, including US major parties, Greens around the world, etc. Consult with those who created the structure we have. Darryl and Budd volunteered.

IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION about relating to prospective presidential candidates

X. Next call 3/11/12
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Attachment 1

Ohio’s Fukushima Proposal for March 11

SPONSOR: Green Party of Ohio

PREFACE:

This proposal is being brought forward primarily by anti Nuke activists in Ohio fighting to prevent the 20 year license extension of the Davis Besse Nuclear Power plant. We wish to unite with anti nuke activists throughout the country on the anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last March 11th in Japan. We apologize for bringing this forward so late but hope that this effort will be a non controversial and will unite the Green Party around an effort that will benefit all of us.

It is our intention to readily accept friendly amendments to improve this proposal and make it usable to our activists as they plan and execute events around the March 11 anniversary of the Fukushima disaster.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Patzer, Logan Martinez, Anita Rios

CONTACT:

Suzanne Patzer, spatzer1959@gmail.com

Anita Rios, 419-243-8772 rhannon@toast.net

Logan Martinez , loganmartinez@hotmail.com,

Sean Nestor 1-419-376-9746 seannestor@lucascountygreens.org

SUBJECT: A Call to Action On the Anniversary of Fukushima

PROPOSAL TYPE: Resolution

APPROVAL THRESHOLD: simple majority

DECISION-MAKING TIME LINE : The sponsors have requested an expedited discussion in order to allow more time for planning in the event of the proposal’s passage.

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE: The Green Party of the United States has a long history of taking principled stances on nuclear power and its inherent risks. Few things illustrate these risks as clearly as the tragedy that unfolded during the Fukushima Daiichi disaster on March 11, 2011. In an effort to keep nuclear safety at the forefront of social and political discussion, the Green Party of the United States should engage its members in a campaign to execute demonstrations and attract media attention to the problems of nuclear energy.

PROPOSAL: The Green Party of the United States calls upon its members to coordinate and execute demonstrations at nuclear power plants, waste storage sites, and reprocessing facilities across the country on the date of Sunday, March 11, 2012, the anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, in order to focus public attention to the issue of nuclear power and its associated hazards.

IMPLEMENTATION/TIMELINE/RESOURCES: This resolution, if passed, should be followed by a press release issued by the Green Party of the United States calling for Greens across the country to work together and coordinate actions at the nearest site of interest. Other means of communicating this call to action should be employed, provided that they are timely and allow for the recipient(s) to coordinate an action on the date of March 11, 2012.

REFERENCES: Beyond Nuclear, www.beyondnuclear.org; NIRS, www.nirs.org; Nuke Times www.nuclearpowerdanger.com;

Solartopia, www.solartopia.org

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Attachment 2

PRESENTER
Platform Committee

CONTACTS
Bruce Hinkforth, co-chair: bhinkforth@milwpc.com
Jan Martell. co-chair: ninth.st@frontier.com

SUBJECT / TITLE
Platform Amendment Process and Timeline for Presidential Nominating Convention Years

EXPECTED APPROVAL THRESHOLD
This proposal would change some rules for the Presidential Nominating Convention (PNC), and so would require a 2/3 threshold for passage.

REQUESTED PROPOSAL DECISION-MAKING TIMELINE
2 weeks discussion; followed by a 1 week voting period

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Since the amendment of the platform has gone from a four-year cycle to a two-year cycle, the process and timeline for amending the platform in even-numbered years in which there is a PNC has not been updated to reflect this shorter time frame.

The process that is currently indicated in the rules and procedures for the PNC was approved in 2002, and is spread over the last 22 months of a four-year cycle. This proposal shortens the period for submission and editing to a little over a year, and includes the following extra step in the approval process:

The platform approval process at the PNC stipulates that the platform be voted up or down in total after 10 minutes of introduction and an hour of discussion. In order to gain valuable input and present a final document that will win a strong consensus at the convention, the Platform Committee proposes to submit amendment proposals first to the GNC for approval before including the amendments in the 2012 draft platform.

Additionally, during the 1-hour discussion period leading up to the platform vote at the PNC, delegates should have the ability to remove a new plank/provision from the platform by making a motion from the floor. This will avoid having the entire platform defeated because of one unacceptable plank.

NOTE: In response to the failure of Proposal 636, the proposal is resubmitted with the following revisions:

it further qualifies the level of support necessary for a motion to remove, and extends the time for speakers during the PNC platform plenary;

it extends the time period for submission of amendment proposals to the GNC by 2 weeks;

it clarifies that the GNC approves amendments to the draft Platform, not the Platform itself;

it clarifies that PlatCom may make housekeeping amendments throughout the process;

and it corrects an outdated reference in the PNC rules.

PROPOSAL

A. Change the Rules of the PNC pertaining to the amendment process:

5-8.2 – Approval of the Platform shall be by the process as specified by the Green National Committee in Article II. 2. of the Bylaws of the Green Party of the United States; and in accordance with the Platform Timeline & Process, the process as established by the Green National Committee September 15, 2002. The voting threshold for approval shall be 2/3 as defined in Article V. Voting Rules of the Bylaws of the Green Party of the United States.

to read:

5-8.2 – Approval of the Platform shall be by the process as specified by the Green National Committee in Article IX of the Bylaws of the Green Party of the United States; and in accordance with the Platform Amendment Process and Timeline for Convention Years approved by the Green National Committee. The voting threshold for approval shall be 2/3 as defined in Article V. Voting Rules of the Bylaws of the Green Party of the United States.

B. The Platform Committee proposes the following process and timeline for amending and updating the platform in even-numbered years in which there is a PNC.

June 1 of the year preceding the convention A six-month open submissions period begins. Amendment proposals must be submitted according to the template for submissions posted on the Platform Committee website. The opening of the new platform cycle will be announced to the GNC votes list, along with submission process guidelines. Delegates are charged with informing their state parties about the timeline and process requirements.

January 1 of the Convention year Submissions close. No new amendments will be accepted. During the month of January the Platform Committee will work with authors and state or caucus contacts to edit language and style, resolve conflicts and problems.

February 1 of the Convention year Amendment proposals will be posted on the Platcom website for reading. Suggestions for modification may be accepted by authors and editors until March 15.

March 15 – May 1 of the Convention year The platform committee will submit amendment proposals individually to the Green National Committee for approval. Amendments passed by the GNC will amend the draft platform which will be submitted for approval to the PNC.

May 15 of the Convention year A draft version of the 2012 platform will be published on the PlatCom website for reading. This posting will be announced to the GNC, and delegates are charged with informing their state parties and their state’s PNC delegates about this posting, and the PNC procedures for approval.

Housekeeping amendments, limited to corrections of grammar, style and format, can be made by the Platform Committee, in collaboration with amendment sponsors, at any time throughout this process.

Presidential Nominating Convention The Platform Committee will schedule platform hearings in a workshop format at least a day before the final vote, for discussions, questions, and answers concerning changes and additions to the platform. No substantial changes or new amendments can be introduced at this stage.

C. Change the Rules of the PNC pertaining to the platform approval process:

5-8.2(b) Discussion on the proposed Platform shall be limited to one hour. No delegate may address the Convention for longer than one minute on any provision of the Platform. To address the convention, a delegate is required to register, with their name, delegation, Platform provision to be addressed and their position on such provision, with the Convention facilitation team not later than the convening of the Convention plenary session scheduled to consider the Platform.

To read:

5-8.2(b) Discussion on the proposed Platform shall be limited to one hour. No delegate may address the Convention for longer than two minutes on any provision of the draft Platform. To address the convention, a delegate is required to register, with their name, delegation, draft Platform provision to be addressed, and their position on such provision with the Convention facilitation team not later than the convening of the Convention plenary session scheduled to consider the Platform. A delegate may make a motion from the floor to strike a provision from the platform if they have also presented signatures of at least 10 percent of convention delegates in support of that motion at the time they register to speak. The vote on a motion to strike a proposed amendment shall require a 2/3 threshold. Removal is limited to provisions amended in the current cycle. No new provisions may be introduced from the floor.

REFERENCES

In June 2010, the Green National Committee adopted proposal 462, which established a one-time process for approving amendments to the 2010 platform. It also modified the Bylaws regarding the platform amendment process, including the following wording:

Section 3, Article IX, 9.1.2 – In even numbered year in which there is a GPUS Presidential Nominating Convention the Convention shall be the decision-making body responsible for amending the platform. The process shall be as established in the Rules of the Presidential Nominating Convention.

The Rules of the PNC pertaining to the amendment process state

The timeline and process adopted by the GNC in 2002 is

The first cycle will consist of an 8 – month open period for submissions (September 2002-April 2003), followed by the 3-month period for the Platform Committee to compile, edit and produce a First Draft by July 2003.

The second cycle will consist of a 6-month period for review of the draft by the state parties (July, 2003 – January 2004), followed by a 10-week period for the Platform Committee to compile and edit a Final Draft by April 15. Assuming that the 2004 nominating convention will be in mid-July, this gives states 3 months to review it and for CC delegates to be prepared for a vote.