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.

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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.

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.
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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…)

GREEN NIGHT OUT
Did Fred Hegel Get Dizzy? 

Saturday, February 2

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Singapore Restaurant
www.singaporevegetaian.com
1006 Race St., Chinatown, Phila. PA

GREEN NIGHT OUT welcomes Professor Michael Nance who will answer two important philosophical questions:
“When Karl Marx stood Frederick Hegel back on his feet, did Hegel get dizzy?” and
“What is the rational kernel lurking inside Hegel’s mystical shell?” (more…)

MINUTES – GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING, January 23, 2013

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

This meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. at the Northern Liberties Neighbors Association, 700 North Third Street, Philadelphia, PA.

Facilitated by Glenn Davis, GPOP City Committee At Large.
Welcome to Northern Liberties by Vivek Ananthan, GPOP City Committee Chair.

In attendance: Vivek Ananthan and Ester Croft (Ward 5); Kristin Combs and James Manuel (Ward 31); Belinda Davis (Ward 9); Glenn Davis (Ward 4); Alex Gillett and Hillary Kane (Ward 46); John Gonzalez (Ward 19); Eric Hamell, John Lockwood and Chris Robinson (Ward 59); Cheri Honkala (Ward 18); Richard Kane and Erin Worrell (Ward 8); Ben Kincaid (Ward 27); Ernest Schulte (Ward 12); and Charles Sherrouse (Ward 54).

ANNOUNCEMENTS (endorsed by GPOP)
      Green Night Out, February 2, with Michael Nance, PhD.
      GPOP General Membership Meeting, February 27, Chestnut Hill Friends Meeting, 100 East Mermaid Lane, Chestnut Hill (see below for meeting topic).    
      Anti-Fracking Earth Day Protest, 3:00 pm, April 22, Regional DEP office in Norristown, PA.
      For more information, please contact 215-243-7103 and (more…)

http://www.gp.org/press/pr-state.php?ID=578

(Philadelphia, January 16, 2013) The Green Party of Philadelphia (GPOP, www.gpop.org) has endorsed a one-year moratorium on the closing of any public school in Philadelphia. The Green Party effort comes in response to a radical proposal by the appointed School Reform Commission (SRC) to close 37 public schools at the end of this school year.

Erin Worrell, a member of the Green Party’s City Committee explained, “Closing schools — in the guise of balancing budgets — steals from the future of Philadelphia and its children. A moratorium will allow time to explore real budget reforms that don’t come at the expense of students and teachers in poor neighborhoods.” (more…)

Drone War Research on University Campuses

At Green Night Out on December 1, Marge Van Cleef led a discussion about drone war research on university campuses. Van Cleef, an organizer for Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, www.wilpfus.org, explained that drone warfare is targeted killing of people who have never been charged, tried or found guilty of any crime. Often, more people are killed by a drone than the person who is being targeted.

Van Cleef is currently organizing opponents of drone research on the campuses of University of Pennsylvania (UofP) and Drexel University. On the UofP campus, the General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory is paid more than $10 million/year by the U.S. for research. One aspect of her organizing involves Death Walk vigils on the first Saturday of each month on the UofP campus. (more…)

 MINUTES – GREEN PARTY OF PHILADELPHIA (GPOP)

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING, November 28, 2012

This meeting convened at 7:00 p.m. at the Calvary Center for Culture and Community, 801 South 48th St. in West Philadelphia.

Facilitated by Erin Worrell, GPOP City Committee member.

Welcome to West Philadelphia Glenn Davis, GPOP City Committee member.

In attendance:Merrill Clampet-Lundquist (Ward 27); Kristin Combs and James Manuel (Ward 31); Bernadette Cronin-Geller (Ward 21); Belinda Davis (Ward 9); Glenn Davis (Ward 4); Alex Gillett and Hillary Kane (Ward 46); John Gonzalez (Ward 19); Cheri Honkala (Ward 18); Richard Kane and Erin Worrell (Ward 8); Carol McLean and Chris Robinson (Ward 5); Charles Sherrouse (Ward 54); and Bob Smith (Delaware County). (more…)

 Drone Warfare on Philly Campuses

 Saturday, December 1

 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Singapore Restaurant
www.singaporevegetaian.com
1006 Race St., Chinatown, Phila. PA

GREEN NIGHT OUT welcomes Marge Van Cleef,
who will discuss Drone Warfare on Philly Campuses www.wilpfus.org, and Bryn Mawr Peace Coalition, www.brynmawrpeace.org.
In 2009, Marge founded the monthly Death Walk in Center City, Philadelphia.

Marge Van Cleef is a member of
WILPF.

At GREEN NIGHT OUT, Marge will discuss the drone research which is being done by the
University of Pennsylvania and Drexel, each of which receives substantial funding from the Pentagon.
We will also discuss a recent study of victims of drone strikes in Pakistan.

Please join us at Singapore Restaurant in Chinatown.
GREEN NIGHT OUT is open to the public.
Enjoy this stimulating discussion
and a vegetarian, kosher, Chinese feast
for only $25/person.
Because seating is limited, please RSVP to the
Green Party at 215-243-7103 and gpop@gpop.org.

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grassroots democracy -- social justice -- nonviolence -- ecological wisdom