Future Focus and Sustainability
“Our actions and policies should be motivated by long-term goals. We seek to protect valuable natural resources, safely disposing of or ‘unmaking’ all waste we create, while developing a sustainable economics that does not depend on continual expansion for survival. We must counterbalance the drive for short-term profits by assuring that economic development, new technologies, and fiscal policies are responsible to future generations who will inherit the results of our actions. Make the quality of life, rather than open-ended economic growth, the focus of future thinking.”– One of the Green Party’s Ten Key Values, http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/2012/ten-key-values.php

Greetings, GPOP NEWS Member.

      The Green Party of Philadelphia is beginning the process of building a political party capable of fielding candidates and supporting them. It is organizing Campus Green chapters on the many Philadelphia campuses to provide volunteers for a voter registration drive this summer (2013) and candidate nominating petition efforts in 2013 and 2014. The number of signatures required in the next state-wide election might be as high 62,511. To withstand a possible challenge to the validity of the signatures, we should collect double the amount or 125,000 signatures.  To accomplish this, 60-80,000 signatures have to come from Philadelphia and its suburbs, and this will mean we need at least 200 trained signature gatherers. 

      We can get those people in Philadelphia. In addition we are reaching out to activists in the Eastern part of Pennsylvania to organize weekend bus or van trips to Philadelphia to take advantage of public events which generate tens of thousands of visitors who are ripe to be petitioned.

      Our first event was organizing Pennsylvania Greens to circulate nominating petitions for Bill Swartz in York, running in a special election for state representative. Philadelphia Greens joined Greens from Montgomery and Centre Counties in York, PA, on March 22. Because of the cold and blowing snow we were but modestly successful. It was, however, the first in what will be many opportunities for Pennsylvania Greens to help each other. To get additional news of the Pennsylvania effort, consult Progressive Greens of Central PA on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Progressive-Greens-of-Central-PA/340255989406560.

Alex Gillett
Chair of the City Committee
Green Party of Philadelphia
www.gpop.org

Greens to Meet

Wednesday, April 24
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Cavanaugh’s Restaurant
119 South 39th Street (at Sansom Street)
University City, Philadelphia
Easily accessible via
SEPTA’s Market Street line (40th Street Station).

More →

Minutes, GREEN PARTY OF PHILADELPHIA (GPOP)
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING, March 27, 2013

This meeting began at 7:00 p.m. at Liberty Choice Market, 1947 North Front Street (at Norris) in Kensington, Philadelphia. The meeting was chaired by Alex Gillett. Minutes were taken by Chris Robinson.

More →

Pittsburgh-area legislator to introduce Family and Business Healthcare Security bill in current legislative session, while Healthcare 4 All releases results of Economic Impact Study

The Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA, www.greenpartypa.org/index.php) extends its sincere gratitude to Senator James Ferlo of Pittsburgh for his continued work toward a state-based single-payer healthcare plan. During past legislative sessions Senator Ferlo has been the lead legislator in the Pennsylvania Senate on this issue. The Greens also extend congratulations and appreciation to the non-profit organization, Healthcare 4 All PA, www.Healthcare4allpa.org, which has worked tirelessly to help Pennsylvanians on a path to meaningful and civilized health coverage.

More →

Green Party Invigorates Philadelphia Leadership

By Chris Robinson.

On February 27, members of the Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP, www.gpop.org) voted to invigorate their leadership by electing two new members to the GPOP City Committee.

The new Chair of the Philadelphia Greens is Alex Gillett, who has had a long history of various leadership positions within the Party, including City Committee offices from 2004 through 2007. Gillett, who lives in the Sherwood section, Ward 46, of West Philadelphia, plans now to “build a real political party.” He wants to focus on two Green Party-building efforts.

Gillette says he plans “to establish a Green candidate nominating-petition group capable of getting 30,000 signatures in Philadelphia for state-wide candidates.” His second effort will be “to establish a group to register new Greens.”

The other new addition to the GPOP City Committee is Tara Colon, a newly-registered Green from Fishtown, Ward 18. Elected as an at-large City Committee member and sparkling with energy, Colon promises to energize the Green Party’s rank-and-file with organizing and other activities in the row-house wards.

The other 5 members of the Green’s leadership were re-elected, although some have changed offices. John Gonzalez (Fairhill, Ward 19) is the Green’s new treasurer. Carol McLean (Germantown, Ward 59) is now recording secretary, and Erin Worrell (Rittenhouse Square, Ward is membership secretary. Joining Colon as at-large members are Glenn Davis (Hestonville, Ward 4) and Chris Robinson (Germantown, Ward 59).

For more information about the Green Party or to become a member, please call 215-243-7103 of email gpop@gpop.org.

PA Greens Oppose Privatization of Public Assets 

Pennsylvania is at a crossroads. David Ochmanowicz, Jr, secretary of the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA, www.greenpartypa.org), sees it this way, “With the agenda of streamlined privatization of all of our citizen-owned assets on the table in Pennsylvania, the Green Party has become the only political party to take a vigorous stand against privatization.”

On January 19, Governor Thomas W. Corbett’s spokesman Kevin Harley told the press, “The governor is a proponent of bold privatization. That has been his consistent position from day one – and it hasn’t changed.” In line with this philosophy, Corbett has proposed to privatize the Pennsylvania Lottery, and the state’s wine and spirit shops.

Jay Sweeney, chair of the GPPA (Wyoming County), responded: “Governor Corbett’s privatization philosophy is reprehensible! Privatization is turning public assets over to corporations. We do not need middlemen extracting profit from Pennsylvania residents with Commonwealth assets.  The Governor should end this practice and develop a fair taxation policy that gets the money from those who have it, rather than taking it from those that can’t afford it. He certainly knows where to find the money when it’s time to fund his campaigns.”

While Corbett is a Republican, he is following in the footsteps of Governor Edward Rendell (a Democrat), who proposed the privatization of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and initiated the privatization of public schools and state prisons. Rendell also began the privatization of Pennsylvania’s parks and forests by leasing them to corporations for gas drilling (aka fracking).

The Green Party has long been opposed to the looting of public assets by private business for the purpose of enriching the business owners at the expense of the public. The Green Party’s national platform as early as 2004 said that Greens “stand firmly opposed to privatization and contracting-out of public services. A government that works for us would provide critical goods and services that should not be run for profit.”. .

Because of their political analysis, the Green Party has supported campaigns against the privatization of public education, water supplies and other natural resources, parks and recreation, the military and police, libraries, broadcast airwaves, prisons and Social Security. This includes the Green Party of Luzerne County which took a stand against privatization of parking lots in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

In August 2011, GPPA came out against the privatization of PA Wine and Spirit Shops. Then-Chair of the Green Party I.K. Samways (Allegheny County) said, “The Green Party is leading the opposition to Republican control of our Commonwealth, and I am very pleased that the Green Party will stand firmly against this anti-union legislation.” Vivek Ananthan, treasurer of GPPA and then chair of the Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP, www.gpop.org), said at that time, “Privatization at every level has been a failure in this country. Why would privatization of liquor stores be an exception? Rampant capitalism is the cause of our Himalayan-like deficit.”

In May, 2012, The Green Party of Philadelphia published its own plan to save the city’s troubled public education system. The second of four points in the Green Party’s Proposal for Philadelphia’s Public Schools reads “The Green Party is unalterably opposed to the dissolution of public schools and the privatization of education. Therefore, our second task is to end all attempts to privatize education, which have been sweeping Philadelphia under the direction of the SRC and their appointed superintendents. We maintain that public education is a public responsibility and that all relevant decisions must be made by community stakeholders and their representatives. We oppose all schemes for corporations to pursue private profits at the expense of public schools and their students and teachers. Studies have shown that privatized schools cost more to run and do not provide an educational benefit to the students.”

Then in June 2012, the Green Party of Philadelphia came out against the privatization of the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) by Democratic Party Mayor Michael Nutter. “Privatization of basic utilities is the most egregious example of erring on the side of profit for the few at the expense of the needs of the many,” said Belinda Davis, then GPOP Treasurer. “After the most recent examples of corporate greed and its disastrous effects, why would the city even think of selling PGW, except as a short-term budgetary fix? This is short-sighted in the extreme, and the residents of Philadelphia will have to pay for it.”

At the PA kickoff for the Green Party’s presidential ticket in September 2012, Carl Romanelli, then-chair of GPPA, explained that Greens demand an end to the privatization of mass incarceration. Romanelli said, “It is wrong for people to be put in jail just to service the prison-industrial complex. Our country (with five percent of the world’s population) now has 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. The presidential candidates from the two corporate parties refuse to talk about this.”

For more information about the Green Party, please contact 888-721-4733 and contact@gpofpa.org.

MINUTES – GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING, February 27, 2013

GREEN PARTY OF PHILADELPHIA (GPOP, www.gpop.org)

This meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. at the Chestnut Hill Meetinghouse, 100 East Mermaid Lane in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. .

Facilitated by Glenn Davis, GPOP City Committee At Large.
Welcome to Northwest Philadelphia by Chris Robinson, GPOP City Committee At-Large.

Minutes by Chris Robinson, chrisrecon@netzero.net.

GPOP Members in attendance: Vivek Ananthan, Ester Croft and Brandon Slattery (Ward 5); Tara Colon (Ward 18); Bernadette Cronin-Geller (Ward 21); Burt Dallas and Josh Mitteldorf (Ward 9); James Manuel (Ward 31); Glenn Davis (Ward 4); Alex Gillett (Ward 46); John Gonzalez (Ward 19); Eric Hamell and Chris Robinson (Ward 59); Ernest Schulte (Ward 12); Charles Sherrouse (Ward 54) and Christina Valente and Erin Worrell (Ward 8). Others in attendance: Kristin Combs, Lawrence Geller, Richard Kanegis, Bob Smith, Galen Tyler and two of Brandon’s friends who did not sign in.

ANNOUNCEMENTS (endorsed by GPOP)
      War Tax Resistance Forum, March 23, 2:00 pm, Tabernacle Church in Philadelphia, 3700 Chestnut Street, University City, Philadelphia. More information from Brandywine Peace Community, (610) 544-1818 or brandywine@juno.com.

      GPOP General Membership Meeting, March 27, Liberty Choice Market, 2^nd Floor, 1934 North Front Street (at Norris) in Kensington, 19122. Easily accessible via SEPTA’s Market Street line (Berks Station). This meeting place is not handicap accessible. More information from 215-243-7103 and gpop@gpop.org.
      Anti-Fracking Earth Day Protest, 3:00 pm, April 22, Regional DEP office in Norristown, PA. More information from 215-243-7103 and gpop@gpop.org.

Other Events
      Green Happy Hour, 5:00 every Tuesday, Tony’s Way, 1900 North Front Street (at Berks Street). For more information please contact (267) 344-6318 and cherihonkalappehrc@gmail.com.
     
Other Announcements may be sent to chrisrecon@netzero.net, and they will be added to the final copy of the meeting minutes.

Motion to Amend GPOP By-Laws

      The January 23, GPOP General Membership Meeting voted to amend the GPOP By-Laws III. General Meeting, Section F to read, “The quorum necessary to conduct business shall be seven (7) members.”
      This amendment was approved and the GPOP By-Laws will be changed.

DURING THE ELECTION OF OFFICERS, THE MEETING WAS CHAIRED BY JAMES MANUEL

Nominations for Green Party City Committee
      There are seven members on the Green Party City Committee. There are four officers: Chair, Treasurer, Recording Secretary, and Membership Secretary. There are also three At-Large Members of the City Committee.

      Any GPOP member may nominate a person for the City Committee, and any GPOP member may be nominated for an officer position, an at-large position, or both an officer position and an at-large position. Nominations remained open when the meeting began. There being no new nominations or self-nominations, the nominations were closed and the meeting moved on to electing a new GPOP City Committee. Bernadette Cronin-Geller and Christina Valente did an admirable job of collecting and counting the ballots.

Two Provisional Ballots.
      There were two people present who were not on the City Commissioners’ List of Registered Greens dated February 14, 2013.After a discussion, the membership decided to allow these two people to vote using provisional ballots. Their ballots will not be counted until each of them sends in a copy of their Voter Registration Card demonstrating that they were, in fact, registered Green before February 27, 2013.

Election of 4 GPOP Officers
      Each candidate spoke for three minutes to present their reason for running. This was followed by questions from the membership. GPOP members then vote on a secret ballot for no more than one candidate for each office. Members were also allowed to vote “No Candidate.” The winner of any office must receive the vote of at least half (50 percent) of the members present.
      The following people were elected:
Chair: Alex Gillett;
Treasurer: John Gonzalez;
Membership Secretary: Erin Worrell; and
Recording Secretary: Carol McLean.
      [James Manuel says, “I think it would be helpful to include the names of the candidates who were not elected for the respective Committee positions.  I realize they are on the previous meetings' minutes, but they did address the meeting.”
Glenn Davis was not elected Chair of GPOP, and Belinda Davis was not elected treasurer of GPOP.]

Election of 3 At-Large Members
      Each candidate spoke for three minutes to present their reason for running. This was followed by questions from the membership. GPOP members then voted on a secret ballot for no more than three candidates in ranked order. Members were also allowed to vote “No Candidate.” The first choice on each ballot will be multiplied by 3; Second choice on each ballot will be multiplied by 2, and Third choice on each ballot will be multiplied by 1. Then the vote totals will be tallied.
      The following people, who received the top three vote totals, were elected to the City Committee At-Large: Chris Robinson, Tara Colon, and Glenn Davis.
      [James Manuel says, “Also, given the situation with the provisional ballots, I think the complete results (with tallies) for the at-large positions would be good for transparency.” Here are the tallies for At-Large City Committee, voting in ranked order: Chris Robinson (28), Tara Colon (20), Glenn Davis (15) and Belinda Davis (13). The top three won seats, while Vivek Ananthan and Galen Tyler had lesser tallies.]

Election of 12 Delegates to the PA State Green Party (GPPA)
      The GPOP is permitted to elect 12 delegates and three alternate delegates to the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA, www.gpofpa.org). GPPA meets quarterly in various parts of PA. Their next meeting will be in Wilkes-Barre, PA, on Saturday, April 13. Self-nominations for delegate status were made by a show of hands. The following GPOP members were elected to be delegates to GPPA: Esther Croft, Bernadette Cronin-Geller, Burt Dallas, Belinda Davis, John Gonzalez, Chris Robinson, Charles Sherrouse, Galen Tyler, Christine Valente and Erin Worrell.

The next GPOP General Membership Meeting will take place on Wednesday, March 27, 7:00 p.m. At this meeting GPOP members will decide whether or not Skype attendance and/or Skype voting should be permitted at GPOP Meetings. The GPOP Membership will also create membership working groups and neighborhood working groups for the greater involvement of GPOP members.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
_________________________

The Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP, www.gpop.org) strongly opposes any changes to current zoning for community gardens. Neighborhoods depend upon these gardens for healthy food and a greener environment, but their very existence may be severely impacted during the current session of City Council.

Councilman Brian O’Neill, 10^th District, has introduced City Council Bill 120917, legislation that seriously restricts community gardens and market farms in residential/commercial districts (CMX-2). Ironically, of all the council districts, O’Neill’s has the least amount of this land type, yet he remains tight-lipped about his rationale for this bill. More →

The Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP, www.gpop.org) welcomes the national conversation on gun violence that has begun since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. It is a long-overdue development in the country with the highest rate of firearms deaths in the developed world. The Green Party considers Mayor Michael Nutter’s proposed Sandy Hook Principles a good but ultimately insufficient contribution to that conversation.

The current conversation, and the foundation of these principles, revolves largely around conversations about increased background checks, mental health issues, and high-powered and high-capacity weapons, such as assault rifles.  Chris Robinson, a member of the Green Party’s City Committee, explained, “These weapons are great at grabbing headlines when used to commit mass violence, but the national conversation fails to address the sort of daily gun violence that plagues cities like Philadelphia, which has seen more than 300 murders every year since at least 2007, according to Philadelphia Police Department statistics. Most of the death here are the result of handguns, not assault rifles.” More →