Due process for revoking Harry Hempy’s right to participate on party website

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November 23, 2016 at 2:47 pm #253
Harry Hempy
Member
Council, I invite your critique of this draft proposal and your suggestions for improvement before it is submitted for agreement-seeking. Thanks for your input, Harry (303-459-0172) 1. Basic Info:Date proposed: November 23, 2016Name of the sponsor(s): Harry Hempy, TBD2. Title: Resolution of 403: Forbidden error on ColoradoGreenParty.org3. Text of the actual proposal:WHEREAS,The Green Party of Colorado has revoked Harry Hempy's access to ColoradoGreenParty.org, the official public website of the Green Party of Colorado,THEREFORE, GPCO Council takes the following actions:
GPCO Co-chair, Secretary, and Treasurer positions are declared vacated, effective immediately and will remain vacant until party elections are held at the 2017 Annual Meeting. GPCO Council will form a select committee, charged with planning and conducting the 2017 GPCO Annual Meeting, within 15 days of adoption of this proposal. The annual meeting will occur between February 1 and March 26, 2017. Accusations that Harry Hempy has misused GPCO social media, described in
4. Background of this proposal, are dismissed. Harry's access to ColoradoGreenParty.org and all GPCO social media shall be restored, effective immediately.4. Background: On October 30, 2016 I, Harry Hempy, was unable to access the ColoradoGreenParty.org website. I received a 403: Forbidden error from HostGator, the company hosting ColoradoGreenParty.org.^{Ref. 1} The HostGator customer service representative told me the site was operating normally and gave me the registered tech support number for problems on ColoradoGreenParty.org.On November 1 I phoned tech support for ColoradoGreenParty.org and was told the Green Party of Colorado had revoked my right to participate on ColoradoGreenParty.org because I habitually troll the website. On November 9 I asked all Council members for evidence they may have of trolling behavior by me. I received 2 responses:
This is the first I'm hearing of this. I have no specific examples of anything you have done wrong. You should be reinstated immediately.
I have been trying to keep up-to-date on new posts and I have NOT seen ANY trolling by you. Trolling is not just following, but posting harmful items repeatedly. Someone in an admin position is seriously abusing this system.
I also searched my mail log, going back to May 1, 2013 when I affiliated with the Green Party of Colorado. There is only one mention of trolling, in this email from a Co-chair of the Denver Green Party:
From: Andrea Mérida To: Harry Hempy Cc: Laura Clark Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2015 1:07 AMSubject: Re: Denver Green Party Meeting Notes for June 2015 - ColorfadoCareHarry, I want to let you know that I deleted your pro-Initiative 20 comment from the Denver Greens page.You know, from reading our notes, that we are contemplating a no position. Yet, you chose to impose your opinion on our chapter, now twice today.You have already been asked to not insert yourself into the workings of our chapter. Your posting of a comment is disrespectful to our process, and it is conduct that should not happen between co-chairs. I will thank you for refraining to overstep your bounds and inserting yourself into our chapter business in this way.I need to let you know that if you continue to impose your will (aka troll) on our page, I will ban you from the page.You and I have already discussed that our position was going to be different from yours, and as you will notice, I have not posted anti-Initiative 20 remarks on your social media.I am taken aback by your repeated disregard for the collaborative nature in which I have always interacted with you. Please respect my wishes and stay in your lane. As this email says I "imposed by opinion" twice. First, I sent a reply to the Denver Greens Newsletter editor, to point out errors in the discussion of Initiative 20 (aka, ColoradoCare and Amendment 69) at the June 2015 meeting of the Denver Greens. The discussion of Initiative 20 in the July 2015 issue of the Denver Greens newsletter has several errors. Please publish a correction in the next newsletter. My corrections are in bold type. Initiative 20: ColoradoCareA proposed ballot initiative to create an elected board of 21 to oversee implementation of the Affordable Care act. The work of this implementation will be paid for by both employee and employer payroll taxes, with the weight borne more by the employee. WRONG: 2/3 is paid by the employER. The interim board will be appointed by Governor Hickenlooper, WRONG: 5 people appoint the interim board. and presumably, candidates will be subject to campaign finance limits and regulations required by the Secretary of State. WRONG: The state does not control ColoradoCare elections. I phoned the Denver Greens Newsletter editor and it was immediately obvious that no retraction would be published. So I posted this comment on the Denver Greens Facebook page, which the administrator promptly deleted: Initiative 20 would establish a people's cooperative named ColoradoCare to provide comprehensive, universal health care coverage in Colorado. Main features: Comprehensive health care financing for ALL Colorado residents (not just US citizens). Eliminates the need for private health insurance; puts people's health before corporate profits. Saves Coloradans $5B per year in health care costs. The tax structure is progressive, because unearned income is taxed. A 15-member interim board, appointed by the 2 CO House leaders, 2 CO Senate leaders and the governor, will define a non-partisan election system, not subject to CO election statutes, for an elected ColoradoCare Board of Trustees. 5. Justification/Goals: Justification for restoring Harry's access to ColoradoGreenParty.org. To claim that Harry's post on the Denver Greens Facebook page represents a failure to adhere to the purpose and methods of the Green Party of Colorado, is laughable. The claim should be rejected out of hand.
Justification for declaring GPCO Co-chair, Secretary, and Treasurer positions to be vacated: Under the current leadership, Council has not acted on the party's strategic projects and needs for the 2016 election cycle. The following projects and needs were identified at the 2015 GPCO Annual Meeting: ^{Ref 2}Strategic Projects: Create a tactical committee to collect and analyze data for “vulnerable” state-wide and local elected positions make recommendations to Council. Revise mission statement in the bylaws with a clear and succinct statement of our purpose mission. Use NationBuilder as a centralized database of registered Greens in Colorado to facilitate better coordination and support between the state party and local chapters. Identified needs: Budget for 2016 election cycle and fund-raising Political director Campaign manager(s) Brain trust of Greens who have served in public office or run for public office who can support new candidates

GPCO Committees and Working Groups have done nothing since the 2015 Annual Meeting.

Authority and participation in GPCO is too centralized. Since the 2015 Annual Meeting, participation in party governance has contracted. The following Green Party positions in Colorado are all held by the same person: GPCO Co-chair ColoradoGreenParty.org Website Administrator ColoradoGreenParty.org Website Tech Support GPCO Council Facilitator Denver Greens Co-chair Denver Greens Newsletter editor Denver Greens Administrator

GPCO officers are not acting in an accountable manner. A GPCO officers have taken punitive actions against other party officers and party members without consulting Council and in violation of bylaws paragraph 3.3. Revoking Harry's access to ColoradoGreenParty.org is an example of rogue action by a GPCO Co-chair.

Justification for forming a select committee to plan and conduct the 2017 GPCO Annual Meeting, to be held between February 1 and March 26, 2017. GPCO typically forms a committee to prepare for an annual meeting. The 2016 election cycle is finished. Now is the time to start the 2018 cycle, beginning with the 2017 Annual Meeting. The purpose of this annual meeting of the general membership is to elect new state party officers and adopt a strategic plan for the 2018 cycle. The 2017 Annual Meeting should be held as early is feasible to get a good start on the 2018 cycle. Democrats and Republicans hold their meetings in February or March; the Green Party should do the same. Delaying the odd-year annual meeting to August, as the party has been doing in recent years, puts the party six months behind.

6. Pros and Cons:Andrea Merida has apparently had it in for me since July 16, 2016 when I pointed out the misinformation about ColoradoCare that was presented as fact at the June 2015 meeting of the Denver chapter. She neither retracted nor corrected the misinformation at any meeting of the Denver chapter or in the Denver Greens Newsletter.People need to be accountable for their actions. Andrea has never acknowledged her early misunderstanding of ColoradoCare. 7. Alternatives to the proposal:Initiate the process of revoking Harry Hempy's right of participation as a member of the Green Party of Colorado. Per bylaws paragraph 3.3, the process begins with notifying Harry of the potential revocation of his rights of participation at least three weeks prior to the vote. Revocation of the rights of participation must be based on failure of the individual to adhere to the purpose and methods of the Green Party of Colorado. 8. References:Ref. 1: Screenshot of 403: Forbidden error on Harry's computerRef. 2: Raw notes from 2015 GPCO Annual Meeting