Green Party of the United States - National Committee Voting

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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	777
Proposal	Confirmation of Sanda Everette as Delegate to the FPVA
Presenter	International Committee
Floor Manager	Charles Ostdiek
Phase	Closed
Discussion	03/30/2015 - 04/12/2015
Voting	04/13/2015 - 04/19/2015
Result	Adopted
Presens Quorum	30 0.6666
Consens Quorum	39 0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

On March 6th, 2015, the International Committee concluded its elections for Delegates to The Global Greens Network.

The elections were certified by the IC ad hoc subcommittee for elections, Judy Herkimer (NWC), Justine McCabe (CT), and Carl Romanelli (PA).

Proposal

Sanda Everette is confirmed GPUS Delegate to the FPVA.

Resources

Immediate implementation

References

Charles Ostdiek, 402-718-5991, iconofcharles@gmail.com
Sanda Everette, sanda.greensolutions@gmail.com

gpus r&p's article vi:
• http://gp.org/rules-and-procedures-of-the-green-party-of-the-united-states#06
"ARTICLE VI: PROCEDURES FOR PROPOSALS TO THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE [...]
"Section 6-2 Types of Proposals and their Approval Threshold (Consens Quorum)
6-2.1 The following proposals before the National Committee shall require 2/3 of all 'yes' and 'no' votes cast for passage [...]
6-2.1(h) Delegation of National Committee Decision-Making Power"
• http://green.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=575
• http://green.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=576
• http://green.gpus.org/cgi-bin/vote/propdetail?pid=628

I am also asking you to elect me as a delegate to the FPVA. For the past two years I have been an alternate delegate and my participation was required both times. In 2013, I joined Jack and Bahram in La Paz, Bolivia and last year none of the delegates were able to attend, so I was the lone representative in Lima, Peru. I also attended the 2009 meeting as an observer, and met with many members of FPVA in 2010 when they attended the UN Climate Conference in Cancun, though it was not a regular FPVA meeting. Internationally, I have also been fortunate enough to attend a European Green Convention in Paris in 2011 and a Canadian Green Convention on Vancouver Island in 2012. (Besides my travel for Green events, in our hemisphere I have also traveled to Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.)
I have attended numerous FPVA Skype teleconferences when requested by Jack Ailey when he was not able to attend.
I was able to achieve several administrative functions with the FPVA this year. The most signifiant is getting them to finally understand why we should not be classified at the highest membership rate. I am not sure why they did not understand it previously because I know all three of us tried in Bolivia. They now understand that the other countries paying at the highest rate of $500 either have a proportional electoral system that makes it more possible for Greens to be elected to higher office and thus tithe back to their parties or receive money from their governments. We get neither and despite being from one of the richest countries in the world, we are not a wealthy party. Interestingly, the dues structure was created in 2011 when none of us were able to attend the meeting in Brazil. So now our dues are at the mid-range $200/year, retroactively. I agree with what Jack wrote in his statement,
I should also note that I believe that the GPUS needs to pay more attention to maintaining and developing relations with other Green Parties of the world. We can both learn from each other and support each other and sometimes try to persuade each other of the correct political course. To this end I consider it a priority for the GPUS to pay the dues that it owes to the FPVA and to the Global Greens. I believe the GPUS is making a mistake in not putting a higher priority on this.
Although I always thought GPUS should recognize that dues payments are the responsibility of the party and not of the International Committee, I did have concerns about FPVA's inequitable dues structure, but that is no longer an issue. Jack paid the dues when we attended in 2013 (though with the new structure, they cover the delinquent 2012 as well) and I paid them in 2014....so I believe we are all caught up. Since I have been trying to get us reimbursed as the monies were budgeted. Some members of the SC agreed and some didn't and I don't know where it stands now.
Another major administrative change, is getting them to understand why GPUS has alternate delegates. They kept trying to say that we could only have three delegates, and I explained that we knew that only three could be in the meeting, but we needed to have alternates to increase the possibility that we could actually have three in attendance. I also encouraged them to include alternates in communication throughout the year, because if we did not find out that we were needed to attend the meeting until last minute, we would not be up to speed on any earlier communication.
I encouraged them to consider setting up a process much like our National Committee where FPVA business could be discussed and voted upon all year, not just at our brief annual "reunion."
I also was able to arrange a visit to the meeting for Jill Stein who was in Lima at the time.
I do acknowledge that my Spanish skills are limited despite two years in HS and a year in college a millennium ago, and a month at an immersion school in Costa Rica in the 90s. I made a commitment to my compañeros in FPVA to work on those skills this year, assuming I am elected as a delegate. But not having Spanish skills did not limit Julia from being a valued delegate for many years. They did a much better job of providing translation this year than they have ever done in the past. I am constantly learning more about the politics of our hemisphere and know that perceptions vary greatly from country to country. Certainly many of our Green hermanos y hermanas south of us do no share our perception of the Bolivarian revolutionaries in our hemisphere. I always endeavor to represent our platform when speaking as an FPVA delegate.
In the past, some people thought I was able to attend meetings because I was wealthy. Nope, but I do have a great financial asset. My husband was a machinist for United Airlines and I can fly anywhere they fly for almost nothing....standby. I also know how to stay very inexpensively using resources like couchsurfing and airbnb. I think my whole trip to Lima, Peru...and I was there for two weeks to attend the People's Climate Summit and march (along with Jill Stein) as well as going to the FPVA meeting cost me less that $300 not counting food...and not counting paying the FPVA dues for which I still hope to be reimbursed.
Since I was able to attend the past two years as an alternate, one might ask why it makes a difference to me to be elected as a delegate. Among other reasons, it enables me to plan. I received very little to no notice that our delegates could not attend. Jack asked me to cover for him a month before this last meeting. It is a good thing that I only fly stand-by. It also allows me to better participate in communication with FPVA all year rather than having to wait to see whether I am needed if others cannot participate.
I am a committed Green, and as a retired teacher, I am a full time activist. I have been a member of GPCA since the mid-90s, though did not get active in my state until 2000. I started being involved nationally in 2003 and have been on the delegation from GPCA to GPUS since 2005. I had to wait for a CA opening to be on the International Committee, but have been a member since 2006. I am also on the GPUS Media Committee and am a former member of the Finance Committee and the Steering Committee. I have been a member of the National Women's Caucus since its inception and was just elected as its treasurer. In my state, I am active on my county council and am the co-chair of the GPCA Coordinating Committee and the Media Committee.
I believe I am a well qualified candidate and ask for your support based on my qualifications, though gender balance, a significant Green value, is yet another reason to vote for me.
Sanda Everette, co-coordinator
GPCA delegation to GPUS, GPCA Coordinating Committee

"The politics of fear have brought us everything we were afraid of." (Dr. Jill Stein, 2012)

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