SJVGreens Minutes
Minutes of St. Joe Valley Greens Meeting
December 13, 2007; Tom Brown, recorder
Call to Order
The SJVGreens met on Thursday, December 13, 2007, in Room 2170, Weikamp Hall at Indiana University South Bend. Karl Hardy called the meeting to order at 7:15 PM.
Members Present: Karl Hardy, Lance Howard, Kathleen Petitjean, Tom Brown.
Guests Present: Al Koch, Robin Beck, Bill Dugger, Christine Fiordalis, John Armchambault
I. Cool Cities Presentation
Christine Fiordalis of Sierra Club presented a summary of the Cool Cities Initiative for U.S. cities. She touched on the Cool Cities initiative in Chicago, where the mayor has actually followed through on the initiative and not just signed it for public relations purposes. The Sierra Club has a guideline for mayors to follow to implement the program.
The goal of the initiative is for U.S. cities to lead the nation by cutting greenhouse gases and energy use to meet the Kyoto Protocol by 2012. The 2007 SJVGreen candidates for local office all signed a letter which Christine, and Laura Fuderer of Audobon Society, will present to Mayors Luecke and Rhea, South Bend and Mishawaka respectively.
Robin and Kathleen invited Christine to be on the Cool Cities panel for the Progressive Town Hall in January and February. Christine assented. Christine wants Gary Gilot, the City Engineer and chair of the Public Works Committee, on the panel if possible. Tom suggested Christine review the City Plan to see if Cool Cities fits with it's goals.
Karl will be out of town when Christine and Laura present the letter to the mayors on Dec. 20. Kathleen suggested Tom go in Karl's place. Tom will follow up with Christine.
II. Plan Congress
We decided to conduct our winter Congress on Saturday, January 12, with Saturday, February 2, as an alternative. The regular January monthly meeting is cancelled in lieu of Congress.
Although plans are not final, we discussed screening a documentary, eating a potluck meal during the screening and holding our Congress afterward. Robin will reserve Room 2170 at Weikamp Hall. We will invite friends, supporters, fellow progressives and the public to our screening, discussion and potluck.
Karl led us through a list of topics to address at Congress. Members suggested other issues.
III. Final Candidate Filing
Kathleen will check on the next and final candidate filing. She thinks it is in January, will call the County Clerk for the exact date and let us know by email. Robin volunteered to call the Clerk's office regarding the next Election Board meeting.
IV. Free and Open Source Software Presentation
Tom presented a slide show about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), using FOSS software. He offered to give away copies of OpenOffice and Abiword at the Congress and half- jokingly suggested we prepare green "swag" bags to give to participants.
V. Fund Raising
Kathleen invited John Archambault of Event Audio who gave us an overview of fundraising possibilities in Michiana. He is willing to work with the Greens to raise money.
Organizing a canoeing event on the St Joe River as a fundraiser was one of the ideas suggested by John.
VI. Adjournment
Karl adjourned the meeting at 9:45 PM.
VII. Next Meeting
The next meeting will be our Congress on January, 12. The next regular meeting will be Thursday, February 14, 2008, in Room 2170, Weikamp Hall, IUSB.
St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN