2003 State Convention

Minutes of the convention

Saturday June 21th and Sunday June 22st
Clark University
Worcester MA

After a year of incredible growth, a great deal of visibility at last November's election, and an enormous amount of energy poured into the anti-war effort and other recent issues, this year's convention is lining up to be the most exciting one we've ever held! We are having a two day convention with lots of information sessions, opportunities for people to meet and talk, and come together as one statewide body to set the future direction of the Green-Rainbow Party.

Although the deadline for mail-in registration has already passed, you can still come to the convention and register at the door. You can save a little time by downloading and filling out a Convention Registration Form in advance. We will also have voter registration forms available so you'll have everything you need to become a fully participating member of the Green-Rainbow Party.

This year's convention will be held in central Massachusetts, at Clark University in Worcester. Here are Directions and a Map. When you first arrive at the convention, please come to Room 001 in the Jonas Clark Hall -- in the lower center of the campus (building locator number 35 on the Campus Map) right off Main Street. Here you'll be able to register and pick up your convention badge (beginning at 8:00am), and have a chance to meet other Green-Rainbows from your area before the welcome session begins at 9:30am. If you need a ride to the convention, or can offer a ride to someone else, please use our Ride Share Board.

You can park in either of two campus lots. One lot is between Beaver and Maywood Streets. The other is between Downing and Hawthorne Streets. You can look at the Campus Map to find where they are. Parking is available for all convention attendees from friday night (for those staying that night on campus) through to the end of the convention on saturday. Don't forget to check out the Ride Share Board to see if you can pick someone up and save some oil.

Need a ride? Have room to share in your vehicle? Go to the Ride Share Board to see if you can save some oil.

Need to be picked up or dropped off at the train or bus station? If you are at the station, call 617-388-5445. When at the convention, go to the Registration/Credentialing/Check in room number 001 in the Jonas Clark building.

For those of you sleeping over on campus saturday night, you will find out where you are staying and get your keys when you register. For those staying over on friday night, please goto Jonas Clark building Room 001 to pick up your keys and find out where you are staying. If no one is there, call 781-883-7597 or 617-388-5445.

Proposals

Proposals (now closed) to be submitted for consideration by the state committee for inclusion on the agenda at the State Convention.

Nominations

Nominate people for Administrative Committee and Representative to the Green Party of the US positions (now closed). Candidates can still be nominated from the floor of the convention and must submit a statement no later than the day of the convention. Please submit the statement to office@green-rainbow.org if you have it ready before the convention, as well as bringing a copy with you.

Saturday, June 21st, 2003

8:00am-9:30am	Registration and Credentialing
8:30am-9:30am	Regional Greet and Meet with your regional neighbors
9:30am-11:30am	Welcome Plenary I: History of the Greens and Rainbows Public Office Candidates/Day of Action Administration Committee & USGP Rep Nominations/Q&A
11:30am-Noon	Regional Regroup
Noon-1:00pm	Lunch: People of Color Caucus/Allies Caucus
1:00pm-2:30pm	Workshops (Choice of six, see details below)
2:45pm-5:00pm	Plenary II: Proposal Presentations Party Direction Discussion Bylaws Change Review/Decision Administration Committee & USGP Rep Elections
5:30pm-6:00pm	Rainbow Coalition Reregistration Gathering
6:00pm-8:00pm	Dinner (Tilton Room) (Dinner Panel, see details below)
8:00pm-9:00pm	GLBT Caucus/Allies Caucus
9:00pm-10:30pm	Party (Tilton Room)

Sunday, June 22nd, 2003

8:00am-9:30am	Registration and Credentialing
8:30am-9:30am	Low Income Caucus/Allies Caucus
9:30am-10:00am	Welcome
10:00am-11:30am	Workshops (Choice of six, see details below)
11:30am-Noon	Regional Regroup
Noon-1:00pm	Lunch: Women's Caucus/Allies Caucus
1:00pm-3:00pm	Plenary III: Proposals Decisionmaking Workshop Reports

Advancing the Party's values in local office
Several Green-Rainbow office holders will discuss their experiences in local office: why they ran, what they've learned while serving in office, and what are their hopes and disappointments, their goals and challenges. Moderator and speaker is Mel King, former five-term State Representative.
Participants include:

• Michael Castronova, Pittsfield School Committee member
• Judy Gates, Marblehead Library Trustee
• Bruce Menin, Newburyport School Committee member
• Chuck Turner, Boston City Councilor

Workshops, also known as "Breakout Sessions", are 90-minute presentations or discussions covering a wide variety of issues relevant to the Green-Rainbow Party. Conference attendees have the opportunity to participate in a more in-depth review of that particular topic, in a smaller and more interactive setting than the general session.

Poverty

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.102
Facilitators:	Lisa Richards, Rainbow Governing Board Member and Co-Chair of Sisters Together Ending Poverty (MetroWest Massachusetts) George Friday, Steering Committee member of IPPN and Board member of the Economic Human Rights Project and its program, Cutting EJ.

The purpose of this workshop is to give participants a taste of how poverty affects real people's lives and to build a movement to end poverty here in the USA. This workshop will include a wide range of poverty issues including the worst of this year’s policy changes. We will role-play out how these laws effect people’s lives today and trap families in poverty that gets worse and worse. Come join us in getting angry at what is wrong and figuring out what we can do about it together!

Regionalization

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.106
Facilitators:	Larry Klay, Green-Rainbow Party State Secretary Paul Wernick

The Green-Rainbow Party is a state-wide political party with clubs reaching from Cape Cod to Great Barrington in Western Massachusetts. With an emphasis on decentralization, the challenge has been to insure state-wide effectiveness and to link local clubs and committees together. At the same time, there has been concern from clubs furthest away geographically from Boston as to the mechanisms for input to decision-making. This breakout session will address these concerns of members. It will also begin the process of trying to develop regionalized links to serve as intermediaries between the local level and the state committee level. It will ask how best to seek maximum member involvement in the activities of the party. In considering regionalization, some of the methods for closer connection might be telephone conferencing and on line messaging. Come to this breakout session to discuss and learn together how to make the Green-Rainbow Party a more effective political force, utilizing our state-wide resources.

Vision 2004 / Running for Local Office

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.118
Facilitators:	James O'Keefe, Candidate Development Committee, former candidate for Massachusetts State Treasurer Sarah MacArthur Rob Lewis

Thinking of running for office, or being a key player in an electoral campaign? Our goal is to actually elect some Green-Rainbows to office. Come hear the Candidate Development Committee's vision for 2004 (including presidential, state, and town elections). Bring your input on how we can make this vision a reality and learn more about the opportunities in running for office.

Media Skills Training for Grassroots Activists

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.120
Facilitators:	Patrick Keaney, Green-Rainbow Party Communications Director Merelice, Rainbow Coalition Governing Board Co-Chair, and Rainbow Rep to AdCom

It's an oft-heard question among grassroots activists: "How do we get our message out through the corporate-owned media system?" In this workshop we will discuss the basic skills needed to be an effective "media activist," as well as strategies to break the corporate stranglehold on what we see and hear. Topics covered include the conglomeration of corporate media, writing letters to the editor (and getting them published!), issuing effective press releases, building relationships with reporters, and the need for viable independent media. Facilitators are journalist and Green-Rainbow Communications Director Patrick Keaney, and Marketing and Communications Consultant Merelice, a former news reporter and editor for The Christian Science Monitor. If you have questions, please contact Patrick at communications.director@green-rainbow.org.

Immigrant Rights

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.204
Facilitators:	TBD

Defending immigrants' rights in the post 9/11 world, and the progressive challenge to the Patriot Act.

Locals Development

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.220
Facilitators:	Adam Sacks, Green-Rainbow Party Membership Director David Ebony Allen Barkley, Rainbow Coalition activist and labor organizer

Green-Rainbow Locals are groups of Greens who meet on a regular basis to promote Green Ideals and Green Politics in their community and are a fundamental part of our grassroots organizing principles. There are many kinds of locals. Some are affiliated with universities, some are city/town based, some are regional, and others are interest based (e.g. the Lavender Greens is a local for LGBT people). This workshop will be about starting a Green-Rainbow Local, including the difference between a party committee and a club, tips for finding members, organizing, and getting your local certified.

Recovering Democrats Working for a Peaceful Tomorrow -- One Veteran's Experience

Location:	TBD
Facilitators:	Eric Wasileski, Acting president of the Wally Nelson chapter of the Veterans for Peace, member of the Peace and Social Concerns committee and Board of Directors of the Traprock Peace center, practicing Quaker and writer

Eric will share personal stories of his military experience including his experience in combat and exposure to depleted uranium. He will also include hand washing of the American flag and will invite others to participate in this as a way of reclaiming the American symbol. He will also speak on the degradation of the American Constitution

Youth Organizing

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.102
Facilitators:	Brian Sandberg, National Director of the Campus Greens

In this workshop, we'll be brainstorming ideas for the next school year and figuring out ways to collaborate, etc.

Consensus Process

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.106
Facilitators:	Grace Ross, Green-Rainbow Party Co-Chair Dan Melnechuk, Green-Rainbow Party Treasurer

Why consensus? In this workshop we will not only review a version of consensus decision-making (the formal decision-making process of the Green-Rainbow Party) but explore the values underlying consensus. Many of us assume that the best form of democracy is one-person-one-vote which we are raised to believe is both the "American" system and the purest form of democracy. Consensus decision-making is based on a different set of assumptions about what makes the best and most representative decisions based on a non-competitive and more community-centered process. Contrary to what some believe it does not have to be slower, nor require homogeneous (culturally the same) participants.

A Brief History of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.118
Facilitators:	Steve Siegel, Hadley Green-Rainbows

I will give an overview of the history of Palestine, and the Jewish and Palestinian peoples, from the second millenia BC through 1948, focusing on the origins of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. If time permits I will also discuss briefly some of the major post-'48 events, such as the 1967 War. I have chosen to emphasize the history, rather than current developments, because it seems to me that a historical context is often completely lacking in discussions of the conflict. In particular, this will give me an opportunity to emphasize the many instances throughout history of Jewish-Arab and Jewish-Muslim cooperation, a legacy with origins in antiquity and which continues to this very day, but which is nevertheless almost entirely ignored. Barring technical difficulties, I hope also to have at least a small audio-visual component in the presentation.

Building Anti-Racist Community: The Green-Rainbow Party

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.120
Facilitators:	Jennifer Yanco, Rainbow Coalition Governing Board Patricia J. Lesesne, Educator and Diversity trainer

This workshop will be an opportunity to engage with each other over the following questions:

• How do we build a political party that is a strong force for racial justice?
• How do we build our own awareness of the ways in which racism is prevents us from working together most productively?
• What are some strategies we can use to raise our own and our fellow Green-Rainbow members' consciousness around racism?

IRV/Electoral Reform

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.204
Facilitators:	Rich Zitola, MassIRV founding member, Nashua River Green-Rainbow

"Our nation was founded on the principle that the power of government shall rest in the common people, and that government shall conduct its business according to the will of the majority of its citizens."  These values have inspired a movement among the citizens of Massachusetts to address an alarming tendency for political campaigns to focus on negative rivalry among candidates, and away from the substantive and serious issues facing the Commonwealth today. Instant Runoff Voting provides a means to restore our electoral system to one which more accurately expresses the will of the voters. It gives people a chance to vote for candidates they believe in, without fear of "spoilers". Most of all, it reaffirms one of the most fundamental tenets of American democracy - that of majority rule. This workshop will cover the historical background, current developments of pending legislation and the statewide IRV campaign, and a mock IRV election to demonstrate how the system works.

The State Budget Crisis, and Fair Tax Solutions

Location:	Jonas-Clark Rm.220
Facilitators:	Jill Stein, President - Massachusetts Coalition for Healthy Communities, former candidate for Governor of Massachusetts

Massachusetts needs at least $2 billion in additional revenues to maintain vital state services in the Fiscal 2004 budget. Thanks to tax loopholes, favorable treatment, and generous deductions, the wealthiest 1% of taxpayers pay at about half the effective tax rate of the lowest 40% of taxpayers. Requiring everyone to pay an equal share of about 8.2% of income (total from all state and local taxes - not just state income tax) would raise an additional $2.1 billion and resolve the budget shortfall. HOW DO WE ACHIEVE FAIR TAXES? Tax fairness can be achieved by reducing taxes that fall on those who have been paying too much and increasing those taxes that fall mostly on the groups that have been paying less than their fair share.

Given that we know we bring different perspectives based on life experience and we will need to support each other not to keep re-creating within the party the power imbalances that are an engine for injustice in our large society, we are holding a number of caucuses at the convention.

Please plan to participate. There will be identity caucus meetings (women, low-income/working class, people of color and Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgendered) and at the same time anti-oppression meetings of ally groups (men, middle-income+, white, and straight folks). The identity caucuses will discuss issues such as how the oppression of their group affects creating change, the party's direction and partyinternal dynamics and what they want changed. The anti-oppression ally meetings will discuss how to work against ending injustice against the oppressed group, learn about privilege, take action steps to support the leadership of members of the oppressed groups and support changes they suggest.

Both of these processes need to work hand-in-hand to promote the swiftest, smoothest and most effective change.

People of Color Caucus / Allies Caucus	Saturday lunch, in cafeteria
GLBT (Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender)   Caucus / Allies Caucus	Saturday 8-9pm, Tilton Room
Low Income Caucus / Allies Caucus	Sunday morning, 8:30-9:30am, Jonas-Clark Rms.102+106
Women's Caucus / Allies Caucus	Sunday lunch, in cafeteria

Other Resources

In the past, we've had many requests for a list of local religious services as well as nearby places for lunch and dinner. Here are some options which may be of interest to you. If you know of any that we've missed, please let us know so we can add them to the list!

• Coming Soon...