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Green Party of PA News Highlights
Recently the committee formed the ad hoc nominations committee for the solicitation of nominations for team and state party leadership positions, national delegate & committee membership.
The nomination forms will be available sometime in October and candidate information will be available for review so you can vote for state party officer and delegate positions. Any registered Green in PA can nominate or be nominated, however, you are only able to vote on state and national leaders if you are a delegate.
The CORE team is proposing a consideration for a change in state party architecture. Consideration of a new cycle for the chair and co-chair positions are in the works for state committee and delegate consideration. There is a probability of also suggesting the cycle for secretary and treasurer to staggering years.
Recap: Functioning under it's new committee new name, Core Team. The Core Team is currently finalizing a proposal on the Rules changes that were suggested by members last year and have made it through two rounds of member surveys. The Core Team continues to explore technological tools and applications that could enable us to provide more effective support for our members. Submitted by Sheri M.
Supporting our candidates in their quest for ballot access continues to be the main focus for Green Wave! Mid-May marked the halfway point of our petitioning campaign (collection will begin July 15). We are at 44% of our goal of 8,000 signatures and 75% of our target of 100 active petitioning volunteers. We need to make a concerted push in the first two weeks of June to stay on track & ensure that our statewide candidates appear on the ballot in November! iI's NOT too late to get involved either by contacting your active county local or signing up directly at www.gpofpa.org/ballot_access_drive. Every signature counts as we drive towards the finish line!
Meanwhile -- it's not too early to begin thinking about local elections in 2019!
Be sure to check out Centre County's June 16 event "Running for Local Office Outside the Two Party Ballot" -- RSVP & share today!
Communications Committee is always looking for interested Green volunteers!
We are particularly looking for anyone who might have the desire to work in the communications field, drafting of preliminary party communications, graphics, photography or media work.
Do you love coding, database architecture and the Green Party? We might have the project for you!
Reported by Dave Ochmanowicz.
From the Chair
Greetings Fellow Greens and Green Supporters!
As we approach the mid-year, I want to send a big thank you to all of our volunteers, delegates, candidates, committee members, and leaders. Each day my admiration for these amazing people deepens. There is so much knowledge, skill, creativity, and determination in this group; it’s hard to imagine how we could fail. As we gear up for the final home stretch in our petitioning efforts, let’s get our second wind, support each other, and put our candidates over the top!
In one of our recent GreenWave meetings, our illustrious Team Leader pointed out that a wave is simply organized water. I’ve been thinking about that all week. The other ingredient in a wave is energy. The energy creates the wave and uses the wave to move forward. The energy is what moves, not the water. The more organized the water becomes, the more momentum the wave builds. Waves can be extremely powerful. Ocean waves can change the topography of a coastline over time. But the biggest, most beautiful waves do not happen without opposition. The resistance of the ocean floor propels the wave forward into one of the most formidable forces on earth. So think of all those roadblocks facing challenger parties as the resistance that will shape our wave into an overwhelming force that can’t be stopped. And when you’re feeling discouraged, remember that waves do not hit the beach with uniform strength – every few waves, a super wave is generated. Surfers wait for it, knowing that there will be some smaller ones first, building upon each other.
We are the water. With energy and organization, we become a wave. Let’s change the topography of our country together.
Sheri Miller,
Green Party of Pennsylvania Chair
For more than 40 years, Glover has been a developer of green jobs programs. As Governor, Glover plans to shift the PA budget away from prisons and into schools that prioritize green job skills. Glover is author of the books "Deep Green Jobs" and "Green Jobs Philly," which detail how to create 100,000 green jobs in Philadelphia. "Philadelphia has a 26% poverty rate and a 38% high school dropout rate," he notes. "These Philadelphians, and such people statewide, will not likely get STEM jobs. So we need to create 'stem' jobs to manage urban greenhouses on our vacant lots, plant orchards, install solar panels, remove excess paving, build low-cost tiny houses, and so forth.In addition, Glover proposes what he calls "Police Integrity Congresses," which transfer control of police hiring, firing, and standards to the communities most affected by police patrols. "Police departments and police unions often protect bad officers, while police review boards have little leverage," he explains. He also calls on mainstream media to cease printing mug shots, which he says "make criminals famous while reinforcing false stereotypes of black males. | READ THE FULL RELEASE |
Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick, candidate for Lt. Governor of Pennsylvania
The attitudes of Greens and the policies and changes in society for which we work such as excellent universal healthcare for all in the U.S., improvements to K-12 public education, tuition-free college education, cutting the U.S. military budget by more than half, ending U.S. funding of and involvement in violent conflicts around the world, ending fossil fuel extraction and use, and making our economy 100% reliant on clean and renewable energy sources benefit the physical, mental and emotional health of people within the United States and around the world.
As a Green Party member and the GPPA’s 2018 candidate for Lt. Governor of PA I feel obligated to those who put their trust, support or money into Green Party projects and candidates to make the following statement a permanent truth about the Green Party: Defenders of workers’ rights on and off the job, environmental activists, those working to make high quality healthcare obtainable by all, social justice advocates, anti-war/peace activists, reformers of our criminal justice system, and protectors and expanders of civil liberties, human rights, political expression, and economic justice for all and especially historically marginalized groups—You can all find a nurturing home in the U.S. Read the full release here.
Statewide Petitioning Updates
Interested in running for office or volunteering? Contact us here!
Paul Glover, Gubernatorial Candidate, speaking at Patch Adams' Gesundheit! Institute in June
Paul has been invited to keynote an event for the Center for American Studies along with Dennis Kucinich and Joan Baez.
Additionally Paul Glover will be speaking at Patch Adams' Gesundheit! Institute in June.
Video | Paul Glover joined Real Progressives in May and talks with Savage Joy
You are all cordially invited to Green Party of Pennsylvania's Summer Retreat!
This year's retreat will be held Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8 at Evansburg State Park in Collegeville.
On Saturday, we'll be featuring a variety of speakers highlighting a variety of Green issues, followed by a barbecue with lawn games on Saturday evening.
Sunday will be the GPPA business meeting.
Camping sites are available for both Friday and Saturday nights! Hope to see you all there, and bring some additional members from your locals! Visit the link for more info and updates.
Dem pleads guilty to charges related to 197 district special election
Honkala criticizes special election for 197th district as poll worker pleads guilty to not living in the district.
Photo and Credits: Hayden Mitman / Sam Newhouse@ Metro
One of the four Democratic workers charged with illegal electioneering in the city’s 43rd ward during a special election for the state House’s 197th District, last year, pleaded guilty in court on Wednesday.
In front of Philadelphia Judge Scott DiClaudio, Calvin Mattox, 52, pleaded guilty to charges that found that he wasn’t qualified to be working the polls that day, as Mattox was not a resident of the ward in which he was working.
In a short proceeding, Mattox was sentenced to one-year of non-reporting probation and he will be prohibited from voting until the year 2022.
Of the three others charged along with Mattox — Dolores Shaw, 61, Thurman George, 57 and Wallace Hill, 60 —Shaw has been sentenced to a diversionary program while George and Hill are set to have court dates in May. Read the full write up here
Video | Cheri Honkala discusses illegal electioneering by the Philadelphia Democratic Party
“I should have won this election, if it was a fair election , it wasn't you know … If I wasn't robbed by the Democratic Party I would be a State Rep today and addressing issues of climate change and hunger, homelessness and all of those kinds of things but the Democratic Party, you know, pulled a fast one on the people of this district.”
Jocolyn Bowser-Bostick, endorsed Green Party of PA candidate for Lt. Governor, participates in Philly Women Rally
Centre County Green Party and the Progressive Greens of Central PA hosting workshop on holding local office
Speakers will be discussing the duties and responsibilities of local elected leaders. Come join us at Pavilion Number 5 at beautiful Bald Eagle State Park on Saturday, June 16th.
Gathering will start at 9:00 AM and discussions will begin at 10:00. This workshop is designed for Greens and Non-affiliated / Independent voters. We have the pavilion for the day so please come and enjoy the park as well as Green fellowship. Families of participants can enjoy the swimming area, the many trails, and the Nature Center while we hold the workshop.
http://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/BaldEagleStatePark/Pages/default.aspx
Consider volunteering or joining a committee.
News Highlights from GPUS & More
The Green Party will hold its 2018 Annual National Meeting in Salt Lake City, July 19-22
WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Green Party of the United States will hold its 2018 Annual National Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, from Thursday, July 19 to Sunday, July 22.
Greens will convene at the University of Utah.
The meeting will feature Green Party panels, workshops, meetings of the Green National Committee, and other events.
Green candidates running in 2018 and elected officials are expected to attend.
As we applaud our Veterans marching past in Memorial Day parades, it's all to easy to see them as anonymous soldiers, not as individuals. Veterans share a common devotion to duty and patriotism in their desire to serve our country, but they all bring their own unique history and upbringing with them. In the following article we profile three local Veterans who candidly discuss their experiences in the military and their motivations in enlisting.
Walter Hooke of Cambridge, a WW II Veteran, spent almost twenty years of his retirement voluntarily lobbying in Washington to get VA benefits for victims of radiation sickness. Dave LeCarte, a Hudson Falls native and Vietnam War era Veteran, describes himself as being victimized by his father's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder before enlisting himself. Brian Gillis of Bald Mountain, spent a number of years in the 1970's and 1980's in the National Guard and the Army, followed by a long career in the civilian sector before re-enlisting shortly after September 11.
Let their stories speak for all Veterans this Memorial Day.
This will be an exciting opportunity to network with other activists, advocates, and those who share a passion for standing up and fighting back against injustices currently plaguing our society.
Our youth will have a chance to share their skills, voice their concerns, listen to organizing success stories, dig into new campaigns, advocate for their causes, and hear from an array of exciting speakers!
The Green Party of Virginia (GPVA), consistent with its key values of social justice and nonviolence, condemns the decision by the National Football League (NFL) to deny players their right to express themselves on the field. This policy, made without consultation with the NFL Player's Association (NFLPA), "requires players and league personnel on the sideline to stand but gives them the option to remain in the locker room if they don't want to stand."
he NFL further threatened to fine players who refuse to comply with the policy. This violation of the spirit of free expression has received appropriate condemnation from the NFLPA and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is circulating a petition demanding that the policy be rescinded. We join with these organizations and others who understand the value of free expression.
Further, we condemn this decision because it was made without the consultation of the NFLPA. The GPVA understands that a healthy democracy only exists when workers can collectively bargain for their rights through a union.
State Senate Candidate Brian White Posts Opponent's Finance Reports to Highlight Calls for Election Reform
Brian White says that these financial reports are not shocking. "Senator Funke is no different than anyone else in office from the two major parties. You get into office and the parties put pressure on you to play the game – to take contributions from developers, law firms, and other entities that profit from the government. There doesn't have to be written agreements between the politicians and the corporate contributors. They give money, they get things from the government. That's not how government is supposed to work or even be perceived to work."
White's solutions to issues in campaign finance as well as improving voting overall in New York State can be found at http://www.BrianWhite4Senate.com/electoral. Among the ideas include the public financing of all elections, ranked choice voting, and the end of gerrymandering.
A tentative, unofficial list of 2018 Green Party candidates for office around the US
Parting Thoughts: Minnesota historian and Green Party co-founder dies at 91
When Rhoda Gilman passed away earlier this month at the age of 91, she left her mark on Minnesota history in more than one way. A longtime activist, Gilman helped found the Green Party of Minnesota, and she ran for lieutenant governor on its ticket at age 75.
She was also a historian who wrote about topics ranging from the state's first governor, Henry Sibley, to the history of protest in Minnesota. She said that work wasn't just about the past — it also reflected the present.
"Every generation of historians approaches the past from the context of the present, and that's why history always needs to be rewritten. History isn't the sum total of events in the past, it's the story we tell ourselves about the past," Gilman told MPR News in 1996.
As part of our occasional series, Parting Thoughts, Cathy Wurzer talked with Gilman's daughter Betsy Raasch-Gilmanabout her mother's life and work — including the Minnesota history textbook she once wrote for the state's grade-schoolers.
What is PA GreenWave? Why is it so important?
GreenWave is a committee of the Green Party of PA overseeing a regional network of support for candidates, campaigns, and new county affiliations.
2017 was a very good year for local Green wins, and we are looking forward to cultivating numerous candidates for state and federal offices in 2018 -- and to establishing local affiliates in counties that lack them.
It takes hundreds of Greens just like you to make the Green Party work.
We are a people-powered party.
Seeking small donations from many (rather than huge donations from just a few) ensures that the party and its candidates represent real, everyday people and not just special interests.
You can support the Green Party in many ways, however a monthly sustaining donation helps to fund a solid infrastructure to help local chapters coordinate candidates and provide resources to make their campaigns successful. As little as $3 per month can have a significant impact!
Join us and help bring about a future where people and planet are valued over profits. If you want to get more directly involved, consider volunteering or joining a committee.
Work with other committed progressives in activities such as planning events, developing media content, or helping with campaigns. Lets join together to make 2018 the year of progressives!
Green Party of Pennsylvania Communications & Media Committee
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Issue Credits: Dave Ochmanowicz, Sherry Miller
Additional resources from the Green Party of the United States
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
Video Page http://www.gp.org/video/index.php
Green Papers http://www.greenpapers.net/
Google+ http://www.gp.org/google
Twitter http://twitter.com/gpus
Livestream Channel http://www.livestream.com/greenpartyus
GP-TV Twitter page http://www.gp.org/twitter
Facebook page http://www.gp.org/facebook
Green Pages: The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States http://gp.org/greenpages-blog
