Meeting Minutes - 10/26/06 - Green Party of Philadelphia

Philly Beyond Oil 2006. Greens played a major role here, particularly in the section on transportation. David will represent Hillary at the PBO 2006 review to take place Friday, Nov. 3 from 3-5:00 PM at the Energy Coordinating Agency, 1924 Arch Street. One positive result of PBO, we concluded, was bringing interested parties together, sharing ideas, and creating momentum to get things done. The aforementioned presence of Greens was good PR for us. We brought in $40 in sales from donations for our survey, the Kelle bike safety device and other items. Overall attendee numbers were respectable but not overwhelming (about 150). There appears to be some initiative on the part of the City to develop a response to global warming and energy matters. J. Barry Davis of the newly-formed Sustainability Working Group (City Solicitor's Office) gave a presentation. We need to ensure that this group has citizen input and look forward to cooperating with SWG. One of the transportation section's stated goals was to get suggestions about how to get things done on the municipal level, but the two breakout sessions yielded only limited insights in this area.

Getting Around Philadelphia. We made a preliminary decision on who should receive hard copies of Getting Around Philadelphia: George Dolphs' mother (the survey is dedicated to George), John Hadalski and John Madera (City employees credited in GAP for their input), the state and national Green Party, the transit agencies SEPTA (Board Chair Pasquale T. Deon, Sr., Citizen Advisory Committee Chair Robert Clearfield, General Manager Faye Moore), PATCO and NJ Transit, and City organizations who are key in responding to environmental issues (Sustainability Working Group mentioned above, Managing Director's Office, Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs, City Council Committee Chairs on Streets and Transportation, City Streets Dept. , Phila. City Planning Commission). David will put a list of additional activist groups and agencies together and request input from the others. Hillary will write up an article about our survey for the Green Star.

Transit issues. David brought up the Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission hearing which he and Peter attended. A number of those giving testimony were very critical of SEPTA, including the Delaware Valley Association of Rail Passengers (DVARP). Peter explained that although there are many problems at SEPTA, these are only in part the responsibility of the transit agency. SEPTA is chronically underfunded, so the State bears ultimate responsibility for these difficulties. Peter suggested that the Greens should work with other groups to facilitate the discussion about transit funding, including rural Greens. He proposed holding a meeting at the Ethical Society to which also the transportation unions will be invited. The funding commission must deliver its recommendations by November 15, so we decided on a November 20 date for holding the meeting. David will look into using the Free Library to reduce expenses.

Other issues. There is a whole host of transportation-related issues that TWG needs to be addressing. Public transit is the most obvious. Others include pedestrian and bicyclist safety issues and the connection between transportation and security. More on these at our coming meetings.

GAP printing. Daniel, David and Isabelle are contributing financially to the next printing of Getting Around Philadelphia.

Our next meeting is on Thursday, November 9 at Peter's office (Econsult), 36th and Market from 5:30 - 7:00 PM.

Grassroots Democracy ~ Social Justice ~ Ecology ~ Nonviolence
P.O.Box 41827,Philadelphia PA 19101 (215)243-7103 email:gpop@gpop.org