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| New Jersey Green Party New Jersey Green Party State Council Meets With Assemblyman Matt Ahearn to Plan Campaign Strategy for Coming Year. |
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For immediate release: January 26, 2003 Green Party members from around the state met on Saturday afternoon, January 25th, in Bound Brook to make plans for the coming year. Most of New Jersey's counties were represented at an energetic and productive meeting. The newest member of the Green Party of New Jersey, State Assemblyman Matt Ahearn (G - Fair Lawn) from the 38th Legislative District, attended the five hour meeting and was warmly received. Ahearn commented as the meeting was ending, "This was the most orderly and productive political strategy meeting I have ever attended." With Ahearn actively participating, plans were made to run Green Party candidates for State Assembly and Senate throughout the state in a coordinated campaign. It is expected that Ahearn will be one of those candidates. Local Green county organizations are currently in the process of outreach and discussion to identify additional candidates for the local groups' electoral selection process. There was discussion about the issues which the Green Party representative in the state legislature will be supporting and those on which he will be providing leadership. The first priority will be legislation in support of campaign finance reform, particularly for Clean Money elections, as well as making the Open Public Records Act applicable to the Legislature. He also would like to see his former party's leadership move forward with A2149 (Increases civil penalties for certain violations of "New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law.") Ahearn said he will continue to push his agenda for strong environmental legislation now stalled by the Assembly Majority, including the A2439 (Requires DEP to implement Phase II of a California style Low Emission Vehicle program in calendar year 2006.) and A2662 (Requires public notice of completion of certain DEP environmental studies). "I also plan to reach out to the Sierra Club, the Environmental Federation, and other allies in the fight to protect the environment on Green issues such as strong steep slope protection legislation, other bills that will increase protection of our watersheds and reservoirs, and being a watch-dog on the Governor's anti-sprawl land use law reforms in the Assembly. The Assemblyman said he is concerned that these reforms may be diluted by powerful legislators who may be focused more on staying in power than on protecting our citizen's health and preserving our planet for future generations. "The strangle hold by big money in politics on these issues must be broken at all levels of government. Our children and their future grandchildren deserve nothing less from us." Other pending legislation Ahearn feels has been "bottled up" and needs to get moving include A2447 (Requires health insurers to provide coverage for hearing aids for covered children 18 years of age or younger) and A1927 (Concerns workers' compensation for occupational disease claims and workers' compensation benefits rates for surviving dependents). He also will reach out to his friends in the labor movement to identify issues on sustainable economies and strong living wage laws that he may be able to advance for them as a new independent voice in Trenton. The Assemblyman stated emphatically that "I will always be there to support organized labor, even if some groups can't support me for political reasons right now." Assemblyman Ahearn views the right for workers to bargain collectively as a fundamental right grounded in the U.S. and State Constitutions. As for the biggest let downs he perceived from his experience in the majority caucus: "Too few of my former caucus members were willing to stand for their commitments made during the last campaign to toughen drunk driving laws and to support legislation for civil unions and other equal rights issues for women and minorities" said the new freshman Green Party Minority Leader. Creating a study commission on the death penalty, a bill he voted for on his last day as a Democrat, still is just a "weak cop-out" claimed Ahearn. This was another example of what I call 'government by press release" he commented. "Looks to me like a publicity campaign that compromised the effort for a moratorium on the death penalty in New Jersey for the duration of the study. What needs to be studied?" He asked. "It truly is not the Democratic party of my parents anymore, and I don't necessarily see that as a good thing on all issues" he lamented. As for new ideas, New Jersey election law needs audacious reforms to truly change the way all levels of government do business as usual. "Instant Runoff Voting, a main plank in the Green Party of New Jersey's platform, is an idea whose time has come," said the Assemblyman, "and I'm here to spread the word for as long as it takes to get it done." With Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), voters rank their candidate preferences so no vote is ever "wasted" and new parties with fresh ideas are no longer spoilers of one of the two older parties efforts. He stated that "IRV is the only way we will ever stop big money campaigns and the ever-degenerating trend in negative advertising. Voters are increasingly turned off and not participating on election day, much to the joy of the two party machine monopoly that now drives our government at all levels. Ahearn said "We should all be embarrassed that the greatest democratic nation in the world has some of the lowest voter participation, and it is getting worse as politics is being turned into a venture capital game of pay to play and pay to block reform." IRV makes negative campaigns irrelevant to the voters and totally ineffective. "With IRV, you vote in order of who you think is the best candidate, not against the candidate who was trashed the worst with the most expensive TV adds" said Ahearn. "Voters can vote for whomever they like the most without worrying about helping to elect the candidate they like the least. I would think my former colleagues could see the value in this reform rather clearly now that the Bush family aristocracy has planted its second generation in the White House. Ahearn clearly supports the ten key values of the New Jersey Green Party. "We can have a thriving economy, preserve the environment, and keep our constituents making a good living with brighter and safer futures for their children" said Ahearn. "All we in government need to do is put aside the game of power politics and focus on the real issues for the right reasons. We must solve them with tri-partisan dialogues and cooperative efforts with the entire legislature all sharing the credit. We all need to be more concerned about the people and less concerned about winning the next election cycle and holding on to power at any price." When asked after the meeting if he thought this agenda was too idealistic the Assemblyman answered directly that "If ideas and values such as these were too idealistic for Americans to turn into reality for our children, we would still be saluting a British flag and singing God save the Queen." The Green Party will hold a statewide convention over the weekend of April 26-27 and some discussion centered on the convention agenda and speakers. There was also discussion about Green Party policy as far as progressive tax reform and the party's leadership role in social non-violence and preventing an unnecessary and costly war in Iraq. Following the passage this week of a strong resolution by the Jersey City Council opposing the Iraq war build-up, the Green Party will work throughout the state to encourage other municipalities to do the same thing. Joe Fortunato, Green Party state chair, said afterwards, "The Green Party of New Jersey is on the move. We are sinking deeper roots and strengthening our visibility. We are Green and growing and look forward to more of the same throughout the year." For more information:
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