SJVGreens Minutes

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Minutes of St. Joe Valley Greens

April 12, 2007; Tom Brown, recorder

I. Call to Order

The SJVGreens met on April 12, 2007, at the GLBT Resource Center in Mishawaka. Karl called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM.

Members Present: Karl Hardy, Lance Howard, Kathleen Petitjean, Dave Vollrath, Tom Brown.

Guests Present: Al and Robin

II. Reports

Coordinators

Karl believes there is an emerging opportunity to stand candidates for public office in St. Joseph County.

Delegates

There were no reports.

Treasurer

There was no report.

Media Committee

There was no report.

III. Old Business

Fundraising

Hardy talked to Kathleen about our letterhead and now has what remains of the original printing. We may use the letterhead in a fundraising appeal.

Hardy looked at PayPal for Internet fundraising and hasn't found an alternative. Robin says that the GLBT Resource Center uses PayPal because it is the least expensive service. However, they are investigating a service that will bill donors monthly, which PayPal will not do.

Election Board

Karl presented a recap of the conflict with the County Election Board including the most recent evidence he has accumulated that wrong doing has occurred, whether intentional or not.

Karl proposed that we ask for three things from the Election Board:

  1. a written apology for not counting write-in votes and attributing them to candidates,
  2. a written apology for giving us excuses for not attributing the write-in votes to candidates rather than finding out what went wrong, and
  3. a written explanation of changes in policies and practices which will prevent this from happening again and bring St. Joseph County into compliance with Indiana law.

After discussion, Tom asked if there were any objections to Karl's proposal, and there were none. So the proposal passed.

Dave suggested that we frame the failure of the local election board and others around the state as a systemic failure, not only of the election system, but of the reforms enacted since 2000. He said that State Senator John Broden is concerned about the way provisional votes were handled in Indiana so he might be an ally for election reform.

Nonprofit Incorporation

Robin gave a summary of 501c3/4 class nonprofit IRS designations.

Tom said he and a volunteer are working on a 501c3 application for Free Geek Michiana. So he (Tom) will be able to assist in filling out the application for a SJVGreens 501c3 when there is time to take up the project. The 501c3 will be designed to support Green media and educational projects.

Robin remarked that professionals charge up to $1000 to prepare a 501c3 application. She does the same work for $500.

The group discussed movement organization versus political organization. There is still no consensus whether to create a partisan political party separate from our traditional movement orientation. We explored the advantages and disadvantages of creating a progressive coalition party which stands behind independent candidates or creating a Green Party which reaches out to and includes movement groups to build platforms and support.

IV. New Business

Run Local Candidates in 2007

Karl suggested that the Greens run candidates for Common Council in districts where the major party candidates run unopposed. He thinks the 1st District in South Bend is good, and there are three districts in Mishawaka that fit the bill. All the active Greens live in the 1st District with the exception of Dave, who lives in the 4th District in Mishawaka.

Dave and Tom will talk to their families about running for office in their Council districts. Kathleen committed to petitioning for ballot access for any candidate. Robin said she would help manage the campaigns or at least consult on the campaigns. She will be attending a workshop on running campaigns soon. Karl volunteered to devote considerable time and energy to campaigns.

V. Adjournment

Karl adjourned the meeting at 9:00 PM.

VI. Next Meeting

The next SJVGreens meeting is Thursday, May 10, at the GLBT Resource Center, Mishawaka, IN. The meeting begins at 7:00 pm and ends at 9:00 pm.

 St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN