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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	316
Proposal	GPAX Mission Statement and PPS
Presenter	Green Party Peace Action Committee GPAX and Green Party of Washington State
Floor Manager	Budd Dickinson
Phase	Closed - Failed
Discussion	09-17-2007 - 09-30-2007
Voting	10-01-2007 - 10-07-2007
Presens Quorum	Two Thirds of Active Accredited States/Caucuses
Consens Quorum	A Majority of Yes and No Votes

Background

The Green Party Peace Action Committee had been asked to address some
questions or concerns raised about various portions of their Policies
and Procedures. The following text addresses those concerns revised
after the new Co-Chairs were elected.
Because one part of the P&PS were not accepted by the SC at this time
they will be submitted separately.
The Co-Chairs ask that you please pass the portion that is being submitted
so that the portion that will be worked on with the SC can be submitted.
There has been a lot of negative discussion in the past regarding GPAX.
Please be assured that the new Co-Chairs hope that GPAX will lead the
GPUS to the forefront of the Peace movement.
GPAX has been charged by the GPUS with this task and the Co-Chairs and
GPAX members take that charge very seriously.

Proposal

To adopt the following revised portions of the Green
Party Peace Action Committee (GPAX) Policies and Procedures.

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES PEACE ACTION COMMITTEE (GPAX) POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

GPAX MISSION STATEMENT:
1) To research the true cost of war, militarism, violence and imperialism and their impact upon human society and the environment, with a special emphasis on evaluating the actions of the US government, and to help develop informed positions for the GPUS, as well as to recommend actions that reflect our party's steadfast commitment to peace with justice, global disarmament that starts at
home,non-violent conflict resolution while respecting the right to self-defense, diplomacy, and international cooperation that should reflect a real attempt at consensus and full representation of everyone affected by decisions.

2) To engage in public relations on behalf of GPUS AS GPAX ,promoting the Key Value of Nonviolence, and to distinguish the GPUS as a political party committed to ending war as a means of resolving political and economic conflicts, and to the achievement of a more just and peaceful society, at home and abroad.

3) To articulate and promote our party's values and principles, not only through grassroots activism and organizing, but also through the electoral structure of the Green Party and its affiliated campaigns, demonstrating that as an independent political party committed to values of peace and justice, the Green Party represents a bridge between activism and electoral expression.

4.) To help raise social political consciousness and take action to ensure that in an age of rapidly emerging and changing technological advancements, that promoting peace and humanitarian endeavors are kept at the forefront of consciousness, and that these endeavors should honor and support local self-determination and independence rather than occurring as imposed interventions.

1. COMMITTEE STRUCTURE
The Peace Action Committee (GPAX) is a standing committee of the Green Party of the United States (GP-US) and is governed by article 3 of the bylaws of the GP-US.
GPAX shall be made up of volunteers from the various state Green parties and caucuses. As a standing committee of the GP-US, up to three members of any state party or caucus may be members of GPAX.
Each state party or caucus, when selecting members to GPAX, shall send a note to the co-chairs of GPAX informing GPAX of its selection[s] including those that are serving as delegates to the NC who wish to be on the Committee.
GPAX shall maintain an email list for the communication of committee business and to use in formal decision making. As per GP-US bylaws governing committees, GPAX allows and welcomes observers in addition to members from a state party or caucus approved by their respective state party or caucus.

2. LEADERSHIP
The co-chairs, secretary and treasurer shall be elected by the membership of the committee with nominations to begin October 1st and run for two weeks. Voting will take place the third week of October starting on Monday and ending midnight on Friday. It will be an on-line election to be conducted using Single Transferable Voting,with one vote per State or Caucus.
When possible the Co-Chairs shall be of different genders.
The job of the Co-Chairs is to keep the committee on task and provide leadership to the various sub groups of the committee working on specific tasks.
If a Co-Chair resigns, an elected replacement shall fill out the remainder of the term, using the voting method stated above.
The job of the Secretary shall include keeping a roster of active members, scheduling conference calls, preparing the agenda, taking meeting notes, handling official correspondence of the Committee. Sending pertinent information to new
Members/Observers, assisting communication with list serve administrator and web page managers, overseeing updating of archives by webmaster, and responding to miscellaneous request for information, referrals, questions, from within and outside GP-US.
Two candidates may agree to share this position as Co-Secretaries.
The job of the Treasurer shall consist of tracking and reporting funds raised, spent and available and reporting to the committee on a regular basis.

3. DECISIONS
A) Committee Decision Process
Before making a formal decision, the GPAX secretary shall publish the
resolution on its email list noting that a decision will be made.The committee shall then attempt to achieve consensus on the resolution. When the committee makes a decision by consensus, a shorter decision-making process is allowed as long as sufficient time for comments and concerns, at least 5 days, is given.
If no consensus is achieved after one week, the secretary or co-chairs will announce the beginning of a five day voting period during which GPAX members shall vote (on-line.) A 2/3 vote of a quorum of voting active members shall be required for passage. As usual for GP-US committees, each state and caucus will have one vote.
The co-chairs shall conduct and certify the votes.

B) Emergency Decision Powers
In the event of the need for an emergency or time-sensitive decision, information will immediately be distributed to the GPAX listserve, and following a 48-hour period and in the absence of any blocking concerns, consensus must be reached by the co-chairs, secretary and treasurer. If consensus is reached, a decision can be made and all the subsequent procedural mandates will apply.

4. QUORUMS AND ACTIVE MEMBERS
An active member of GPAX shall be defined as a duly-acknowledged member
who has been active within the last three months, taking part in discussion, decisions, or subgroup work within that period.
One third of the active membership shall constitute a quorum for formal decision making. There shall be no quorum requirements for the committee to take on projects, designate people to work on projects,or other informal work that moves the committees' operations and projects along.

5. TELECONFERENCES AND IN-PERSON MEETINGS
GPAX shall use teleconferences and in-person meetings to conduct business. All formal decisions made at a teleconference or in-person meeting shall be reviewed on line using the committee list and the normal decision-making process.

6. REPORTS
The Peace Action Committee shall make regular reports to the GP-US NC
on its work. The co-chairs shall lead that process.

7. COMMITTEE COMMUNICATIONS
A.) Listserves
GPAX has two listserves. The working list is for communications,votes, and reports relating to the work of the committee. In order to maximize inclusion for those who have less time to access email, the discussion list is available for tangential discussions and the posting of relevant articles and links.

B.) Communication Protocols
i: Our committee work will be guided by the 10 key values and our mission statement.
ii: Be sure to oppose ideas (not people),arguments and acts in non-hostile way.
iii: Respect other people's time and bandwidth
iv: Share expert knowledge
v: Respect other people's privacy
vi: Be forgiving of other people's mistakes.

8. COMMITTEE MEMBERS RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
As the Peace Action Committee of GP-US we utilize many of the key values that have brought us to this space and time, namely nonviolent and non-aggressive tools to bridge eventual differences, based on mutual respect and our shared goal of bringing the GP-US to the forefront of the peace movement.
The Secretary will fulfill the role of moderating the lists in consultation with the Co-Chairs
GPAX Committee members, who feel a member is not following the committee communication protocols, will make their concerns known to the Co-Chairs and secretary.
If warranted, the Co-Chairs and Secretary will contact the member after documenting the postings in dispute and the first warning will be given.
If the postings from this member continue in the manner that warranted the first warning and violations, a second warning will be issued and mediation will be offered.
Following mediation, if the postings from this member continue in the manner that warranted the first and second warnings and violations, a third warning will be issued and the member will then be removed from the list.
Since GPAX is an Action Working Committee it is very important that its work is not hampered by any member who, after two warnings, continues to disrupt the work of the committee.
If there are further issues, the matter will be referred to the GPUS Dispute Resolution Committee.

Resources

Contacts:
Jacqui Deveneau jacquio50@yahoo.com
Dee Taylor deesings@xmission.com

Jacqui Deveneau, Co Chair
Deanna "Dee" Taylor, Co-Chair
Ann Wilcox, Secretary
Green Party of the United States Peace Action Committee (GPAX)

References

http://www.gp.org/committees/peace/

http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=238

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