PROPOSAL: JOINING THE CITIES FOR PEOPLE! COALITION

VOTING ENDS: FRIDAY, MAY 24TH, 6pm

PRESENTER: GPMI, WIGP, USGP-SC

CONTACT: Ben Manski, USGP-SC, WI Delegate, manski@greens.org

THE PROPOSAL: The Green Party of the United States hereby joins the Cities for People! coalition as a participating organization. Participating organizations endorse the Cities for People! Points of Unity and the two Cities for People! events.

TIME LINE: Now until June 19th, 2002. Coalition will dissolve following the 2002 meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

IMPLEMENTATION - RESOURCES: USGP media release to be sent out in concert with Cities for People! events.

REFERENCES: The Wisconsin Green Party, Greater Milwaukee Green Party, Progressive Dane, and Socialist Party of South Central Wisconsin are currently members of Cities for People! Santa Monica Mayor Mike Feinstein, as well as other Green elected officials, are slated to participate as well.
http://www.CitiesforPeople.org/
http://madison.indymedia.org/

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE:

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (U.S.C.M.) will hold its annual meeting in Madison, Wisconsin, June 13-18, 2002. Mayors of most of the larger U.S. cities will be gathering to discuss a wide range of issues that affect our communities.

In addition to their meetings at the Monona Terrace, the Conference of Mayors will hold social events at such Madison landmarks as Olbrich Gardens and the UW Memorial Union Terrace. These events are closed to the public. However, corporations such as Philip Morris, Bechtel, and Arthur Anderson, that have made sizable grants to the Conference, will have representatives at these events to discuss policy with the mayors.

Whose interests will the mayors put first?

Concerned that the interests of ordinary city residents are increasingly being sacrificed to serve the agendas of the large corporations and the rich, a coalition of community groups, faith communities, labor unions, students, youth, and political parties has assembled under the name "Cities for People!" The members of Cities for People! are united by seven major "Points of Unity" which express our call for an urban policy which emphasizes the needs and empowerment of youth, working people, poor people, communities of color, immigrants, and future generations.

We'll deliver this call at two coalition events. The People's Conference will take place all day on Saturday, June 15th, at the Labor Temple (1602 S. Park Street). The People's Conference will feature music, panels, workshops, led by national and local organizers, musicians, and elected officials. Cities for People! will move from conference to action the next day with our Community Parade for Cities, Sunday, 5pm, June 16th, beginning at the Wisconsin State Capitol State Street corner. This all-inclusive parade will be our best way to show leadership in setting a positive agenda for our cities that puts the interests of regular people first.

Points of Unity

1. Quality Education is a Human Right
- Make quality education affordable for all
- Support multilingual education and special education
- Stop the corporatization of education -- No to vouchers!
- Prioritize instruction over administration

2. Reform the Criminal Justice System
- End the war on drugs
- Amnesty for undocumented immigrants
- Support alternatives to incarceration
- Moratorium on jail and prison building

3. Defend Civil Rights Against All Attacks
- Follow the lead of Portland, Detroit, and Denver in resisting the "USA Patriot Act"
- Expand affirmative action
- End racial profiling
- Defend the 1st amendment rights of freedom of speech and assembly

4. Fully Fund Public Services & Stop Corporate Privatization
- Expand public transportation services to all communities
- Equal and affordable housing for all
- Roll back privatization of public services
- Expand municipal ownership of new services

5. Future Generations Deserve Sustainable Cities
- Control sprawl with urban growth boundaries
- Promote pedestrian and bicycle-oriented transportation and development
- Expand parks and open space
- Commit cities to conservation of resources and reduction of pollution
- Preserve farmland

6. Economic Justice Now
- Living Wage for all
- Support unionization and labor struggles
- Progressive taxation - Tax the rich & the corporations, not the poor
- Stop the criminalization of the homeless

7. Government by, for, and of the people, not corporations
- Full public access to city government
- Ban corporate lobbying and campaign contributions
- Promote community-controlled economic planning