Minutes of State Meeting held August 29, 2015

[Andrea Mérida Cuéllar]

Green Party Annual Meeting 2015  August 29 9:30 am (started 9:45)Members Present:Unaffiliated: Martin Wirth and John CunninghamDenver:  Andrea Merida, Bob May, Laura Clark, Victor Forsythe,  Jason Justice, Nikki Conway, Carol Oyler, Elisabeth EppsBoulder: Harry Hempy,  Susan Hall, Tom Hall, John Russell, Fred Smith ,  Carolyn Bninski and Kevin Jefferson/Adams: Larry Dunn, Scott Lupo  and Michael Haughey, Janet Matzen .Colo Springs:  Bob KinseyDouglas: Chris AllenSan Miguel: Art GoodtimesArapahoe: Joseph Scardetta and Sean Friend.Weld:  Michelle Feurer and Bill Bartlett.Southwest and Poudre Valley not present. Harry Hempy moves to have ten keys values reaffirmed b/c of suspicion of infiltration into the  Unanimous reaffirmation. Harry Hempy moves to bring up voting change before agenda can be agreed upon. Disruption addressed. Agenda unanimously accepted. Treasurer gives report.  Donations discussed about 5 dollar monthly commitments and Bob May brings up questions about ease of donating.  This is tabled until after lunch at the strategic planning part of agenda. Are we doing Pride Fair? Nation Builder was explained and debated a bit.  It costs 19 dollars a month. Bob Kinsey pledged 10 dollars a month if others would join in and Sean friend volunteered. Bob Kinsey then brought up forum etiquette and commenting. Harry Hempy then expressed his unhappiness and indigence of the council having private conversations. Bill Bartlett explained that private council discussions are for philosophical idea development and open sharing amongst leadership. Murmurs from around the room about open policies. Susan Hall seconded the idea of no privacy for council members. This was not really addressed formally, but quieted enough. Voting on candidates up for offices were filled out and collected.Lunch Break @ 10:50Reconvene @ 11:03From here, Sean Friend took the rest of the notes.  *********************Re-convened after lunch at 1pmOfficer Election Results (29 voting Greens present):For co-chairs (two year terms)Bill Bartlett (23 votes)Harry Hempy (8 votes)Andrea Mérida (23 votes)The Green Party of Colorado’s new co-chairs are Bill Bartlett and Andrea Mérida.Other Elected Positions (all running unopposed and elected by acclamation)Sean Friend as SecretaryTom Hall as TreasurerBob Kinsey, Trey Rapczak, and Lawrence Dunn as three National Representatives “Sanders for President - a Green Perspective” by Andrea MéridaSanders Q & A passed out is suggested talking points, not for public dissemination or as party doctrineas officers/candidates for the Green Party, we cannot legally endorse candidates from other parties in ColoradoResolutions and ProposalsProposal in opposition to the TPP was presented by Greater Boulder Greens. In 2012, GP was the only party talking about TPP - this would underscore that oppositionseveral other agreements of this type coming - Greens encouraged to be alertOur global view means we have to protect smaller/poorer countriesUS Rep Polis is in minority of Democrats in favor of TPP - this makes him vulnerable; Bob Kinsey stated we need to run a candidate against PolisTPP is tied to racism, imperialism, capitalismProposal was passed unanimouslyLaura Clark introduced Art Goodtimes talk “We are a Political Party.”Art spoke about his experiences as a county commissioner in San Miguel county - only elected Green in a partisan position in Colorado.The job of an elected official is to represent their constituents, which may mean voting for things you don’t necessarily agree withListen to the people!As a political party, it is our job to elect and support candidates.Collaborative Strategic Planning SessionAndrea Mérida - not realistic to run candidates in every district; need to focus on strategic areas/racesProposal to create a tactical committee to collect and analyze data for “vulnerable” races at state level and make recommendations to Council - passed unanimously after amendment to include local racesDiscussed need for political director/campaign manager(s)Importance of boards/commissions - non-elected positions where Greens can have influenceNeed for brain trust of Greens who have served in public office, run for public office who can support new candidatesNeed to focus on issues as well - universal health care, minimum wage, fracking, etcBudgetneed to come up with list of expensesneed to start fund-raising in earnest - fundraising/merchandising committeeimportant for party/chapter officers to contribute financially as they are ableinterest in allowing donations to State to have a portion distributed to donor’s chapterone possible expense - funding national reps travelling to National meetingBill Bartlett stated need to have periodic strategy meetings to refine vision as neededMission statement - bylaws do not have a clear and succinct statement of our purposeare we a political party or a social justice issues group?also need a vision statement - would flesh out mission statementproposal to create mission statement by way of online forum - passed unanimouslySuggestion to designate coordinators instead of committees - would create more accountability, and coordinators can create/appoint their own committee membersNationBuilderwould create a centralized database of registered Greens to facilitate better coordination and support between State and Localscould replace our website in the futureallows better tracking of our interactions with rank and file Greenspassed unanimously after offers from individual Greens to provide fundingMeeting was adjourned at 3:45pm.

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