8/13/16 Green Party CC Meeting
Present: Andy, Kristen, Amber, Jane, Brandon, Jim and Cam
Notetaker: Jane Kirby
Agenda approved and minutes from July meeting approved
FINANCE
Kourtny and Vanessa have come up with a fundraising plan.
Amber wants to hold a fundraiser specifically to raise funds to hire an organizer.
Ideas for marketing and fundraising were discussed briefly.
Five individuals at recent volunteer recruiting meeting signed up to work on the finance committee. Need to follow up with them ASAP to organize a meeting and event
Need to actively solicit sustaining members
Request from Deanna for $200.00 to participate in St. Cloud Pride. Approved. Need to let Julie know.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Sends out agenda ten days in advance of meetings
ORGANIZATION
Andy, Barbara and Barb
Interaction with the GPUS (6 folks, 3 votes) who decide on platform changes
Minnesota presence is vital.
A “seedliing” is 2 or more people in one location who may or may not be considered an official local.
Itaska County is within the 8th distirct CD and is very active.
The 6th distict is gerrymandered in a very bad way
Duluth has a lot of potentialDale up in Bemidigi should be in contact with Kate Bellveau who came to recent caucus.
Winona can be its own or part of the CD
communication report
Brandon says we have 3282 likes on facebook and 1985 twitter followers. Discussed several recent press releases re Jill Stein events and seeking state fair volunteers. media contacts, including Chris Stellar of the Capital Report re state fair, ballot access and “defectors.” approach NPR to set up debate between gary and jill and more coverage for stein campaign. (kerri miller has already had the libertarians on her show.) Media strategy discussed. going to more “conservative” outlets and putting more pressure on NPR. Need to elicit help from membership for writing letters to the editor statewide
Brandon has added three new people with Facebook and Twitter access, and would like to continue to handle social media.
Communication resource is Slack. It is helpful for organizing and volunteers, not to be used for CC business.
Johnny has a “Berners go Green” site
logistics-Johnny, content-Brandon
Text Jim for help with nation builder tutorial/access. “Figure it out, please!” says Andy. Johnny will help educate, too.
VOLUNTEER /STATEFAIR
Kristen is receiving 10 to 15 emails daily from new volunteers. We have a data base with several thousand volunteers. The goal is to divide tasks and improve our capacity to utilize new volunteers. The recent volunteer meeting was also a success with about 40 activists in attendance. there are 13 state fair volunteers so far. Most morning and shifts are covered but there are six staggered shifts per day needing two volunteers per shift. weekday midday and evenings are largely unfilled. Amber, Barb and Barbara will call past volunteers. They will use google calendar in real time to schedule. Survey Monkey is being used for online volunteer sign up. Andy Shuler will be approached to see if he can cover some shifts like he did last year. State Fair organizing meeting August 18th at 6pm @ Ginko coffee shop on Snelling.
Brandon has requested an additional 500.00 to print more materials, which was approved.
VOLUNTEERS/GENERAL
JIm has “office hours” volunteer list. He also has the sign in sheets from recent volunteer meeting. Kristen and Jim have access to the data base and the OOMA call system.
Kristen has been in touch with folks from St. Cloud and Itasca County. Looking statewide for regional coordinators to help distribute Stein merchandise and flyers. Currently there are 4th district local St. Paul, 5th District local Minneapolis, Itasca County local.
Deanna in St. Cloud wants to organize campus Greens
JILL STEIN VISIT
3400 Dupont Avenue South First Universalist Church
volunteers should arrive by 3pm
There will be a press conference. Jim ivey and Cam Gordon will take care of Jill. Mark, Jill’s campaign manager, has requested “down time” so there will be no meet and greet with Jill. She has requested hot water and blueberries and raspberries, but otherwise brings her own food. Misty will handle hospitality and the green room. Ken Pentel of the Ecology Democracy Network and former green candidate for governor will introduce Jill. Honsa is printing a backdrop, placard and shirts. This expense is being covered by the Stein campaign. Buttons and signs will be sold. Brandon will also print stickers. Kristen ordered stickers, buttons and flyers from Jill’s campaign, unsure of their arrival date. Amber will oversee tabling and selling of stuff at event. Kristen says there are more than enough volunteers, including “peace keepers,” greeters and security. A laptop to process contributions and sales will be needed. All contributions will go to the Stein campaign. Tori Johnson will pass the hat. Attendees will also be asked to volunteer for GPMN at the state fair, Barb and Barbara will do this.
Special Election to fill vacant at large cc seats
BARB HUNING became a green 2 months ago after being involved in “progressive DFL politics.” She is a 4th generation civil rights activist. Attended the People’s summit in Philly in June 2016. She wants to build third party independence, and has organizational experience and skills. She is a psychologist and a mother. She will serve on the finance and organization committees. She will use nation builder so she can begin to respond to emails along with Kristen. She says the finance committee may not be her forte, but feels it is critical and is driven to do it.
BARBARA POSTEMA fill serve on the membership committee and is interested in organizing volunteers.
JOHNNY AKZAM filled out the form to become a green recently online. He has never been a democrat, always supporting progressive 3rd parties. Will start a Rochester local of the Green Party. He works from home as a web marketer and developer and will join the Communications committee. He wants to better utilize technology and Nationbuilder. Also would like to establish a system for new local creation and organization. He wants to create a “start up kit” based on the by laws-essentially a cheat sheet of the process. He will be added by Brandon as a website administrator. He will also familiarize himself with nation builder and feels at least one human being will need to be a point person for this system. Will speak with Jim and take on incoming correspondences and distribute to appropriate committee members. [email protected] is using an older “squirrel” system and needs to be updated. He will look into this.
COORDINATING COMMITTEE
Coordinating Committee Policy was revised in 2016 and Andy encouraged everyone to read this document. He explained 8 congressional districts, at large members and one youth seat on the CC
MNGreens.org has by laws on site
Restrictions of green party membership discussed, including no active campaigning for other party candidates. Andy went over brief green party history, policies and procedures, using slack for communication, by laws and constitution. All three candidates were elected unanimously. the green party decentralized structure was explained to the Rochester members. all agreed to commit to monthly meeting attendance, usually the 2nd Saturday of each month at 10am.
The new Rochester members have decided to organize as the 1st Congressional District of the Green Party of Minnesota. This will allow for another 1st CD seat on the CC. nuts and bolts of establishing a local: needs a chair and a treasurer, by laws, ok’d by CC, public notice in a newspaper 2 weeks in advance of meeting, meetings held in public. The Rochester folks had a volunteer/friend meeting on 8/12/16.
POLITICS
Seeking people interested in running as Green. Green endorsement is given locally, and the CC committee can also endorse candidates. Focus on legislation during the session, with meetings at the capitol.
Structural barriers of the GP include no PAC money and strict state GPMN contribution limits. However, our bylaws may be changed annually and this may need to be considered.