Minutes from the Green Party of Colorado Annual State Meeting in Carbondale, COÂ June 23-24, 2007
Saturday, June 23
Agenda Collector: Tom Kelly of the Arapahoe Greens
Facilitator: Tony D’Lallo of the Adams-Jefferson Greens.
Minute-taker: Tanya Ishikawa of the Adams-Jefferson Greens
9:45 a.m. Roll Call & Introductions:
- Tom Kelly, Englewood, CO, Arapahoe Greens (05-07 state co-chair)
- Charlie Blount, Grand Junction, Mesa County Greens
- Romney Philpott, Arapahoe Greens
- Tony D’Lallo, Thornton, CO, Adams-Jefferson Greens
- Tanya Ishikawa, Federal Heights, CO, Adams-Jefferson Greens (05-07 state secretary)
- Sandy Lemberg, Poudre Valley Greens
- Jim Skvorc, Southwest Greens
- Eric Fried, Poudre Valley Greens
- John Myracle, Florence, CO, Royal Gorge Greens
- Charlie Green, Cotopaxi, CO, Royal Gorge Greens
- Scott Chaplin, Carbondale, CO, unaffiliated Green
- Doug Malkan, Breckenridge, Summit County Greens
- Art Goodtimes, Norwood, CO, San Miguel Greens
- Dave Chandler, Arvada, CO, Adams-Jefferson Greens
- Dan Sage, Aurora, CO, Arapahoe Greens (05-07 state treasurer)
- Doug ?, Colorado Springs, CO, non-Green
- Graham Johnson, Southwest Greens
- Tim Hovezak, Southwest Greens
- Kevin Alumbaugh, Evergreen, Adams-Jefferson Greens
- Liz Hamilton, Evergreen, non-Green
- Brian Herzfeld, Lafayette, CO, Boulder County Greens (06-07 state co-chair)
9 local Green chapters represented; 18 chapter representatives and 1 unaffiliated Green
eligible to vote
10:00 a.m. Bylaw Changes
Proposal #1: A proposed change to the Bylaws of the Green Party of Colorado to revise
state co-chair terms from two years to one year
Presented by Dave Chandler of the Adams-Jefferson Greens
Changing the current bylaw, which reads:
5.1 In order to serve the growth of the GPCO and to communicate our message, platform
and values to the public, the GPCO will elect two state co-chairs to two-year terms.
Every effort shall be made to reach gender and geographic diversity.
To the following:
5.1 In order to serve the growth of the GPCO and to communicate our message, platform
and values to the public, the GPCO will elect two state co-chairs to ONE-year terms.
Every effort shall be made to reach gender and geographic diversity.
Discussion about the pros and cons.
Agreement seeking resulted in a block by Romney Philpott of the Arapahoe Greens.
Voting: 11 for, 6 against and 2 abstaining, so the bylaw change passed.
Proposal #2: A proposed change to the Colorado Green Party Bylaws to allow
sufficient time for vetting of candidates
Presented by Dave Chandler of the Adams-Jefferson Greens
Changing the present provision under “4.5 Candidates must meet the following criteria:â€
4.5.2. The candidate must maintain active membership in a local chapter of the Green
Party of Colorado or if no local chapter exists in the county, they must be an independent
member of the Green Party of Colorado, as defined in section 3.2.1. They must maintain
contact with The Green Party of Colorado.
By adding these two sentences:
“Candidates seeking the nomination of the Green Party of Colorado for any office shall
announce her or his candidacy by notifying either a state co-chair (for federal or state
office) or the chair/co-chair of their local Green group (for county or local office) no later
than forty-five days before the nominating convention. This provision will not supersede
any local Green group requirements that are more stringent.”
To the following:
4.5.2. The candidate must maintain active membership in a local chapter of the Green
Party of Colorado or if no local chapter exists in the county, they must be an independent
member of the Green Party of Colorado, as defined in section 3.2.1. CANDIDATES
SEEKING THE NOMINATION OF THE GREEN PARTY OF COLORADO FOR
ANY OFFICE SHALL ANNOUNCE HER OR HIS CANDIDACY BY NOTIFYING
EITHER A STATE CO-CHAIR (FOR STATE OR FEDERAL OFFICE) OR THE
CHAIR/CO-CHAIR OR THEIR LOCAL GREEN GROUP (FOR COUNTY OR
LOCAL OFFICE) NO LATER THAN FORTY-FIVE DAYS BEFORE THE
NOMINATING CONVENTION. THIS PROVISION WILL NOT SUPERSEDE ANY
LOCAL GREEN GROUP REQUIREMENTS THAT ARE MORE STRINGENT. They
must maintain contact with The Green Party of Colorado.
Discussion of the pros and cons.
Amendment requested by Eric Fried of the Poudre Valley Greens, to add a sentence
before the sentence beginning “This provision…†which would read: Greens not
affiliated with local chapters shall notify the state co-chairs no later than forty-five days
before the convention.
The amendment was agreed upon by consensus.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for the bylaw change including the
amendment.
11:15 a.m. Election of new state officers and national delegates and selection of
webmaster and e-list manager
Tom Kelly of the Arapahoe Greens and Dave Chandler of the Adams-Jefferson Greens
volunteered to become co-chairs for the 07-08 term.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for Kelly and Chandler as state co-chairs
for approximately one year, beginning June 23 and until the next annual state
meeting.
Dan Sage of the Arapahoe Greens volunteered to continue as state treasurer for the 07-09 term.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for Sage as treasurer for approximately two
years, beginning June 23 and until the annual state meeting of 2009.
Eric Fried of the Poudre Valley Greens volunteered to become state secretary for the 07-
09 term.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for Fried as secretary for approximately
two years, beginning June 23 and until the annual state meeting of 2009.
Tom Kelly and Romney Philpott, both of the Arapahoe Greens, volunteered as national
delegates to represent GPCO in decision-making for the Green Party of the United States.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for Kelly and Philpott as national
delegates.
Doug Malkan of the Summit County Greens and Charlie Green of the Royal Gorge
Greens volunteered as alternate national delegates to represent GPCO in decision-making
for the Green Party of the United States, when the main delegates are unable.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for Malkan and Green as alternates.
Discussion of the need for a new webmaster, so Charlie Green of the Royal Gorge Greens
could relinquish the task. As no others volunteered, Green agreed to continue as the
webmaster for the GPCO. This is not an elected position, but is important to state
decision-making.
Discussion of the need for a new e-list manager, so Charlie Green of the Royal Gorge
Greens could relinquish the task. As no one volunteered, it was suggested to ask Scott
Zulauf of the Adams-Jefferson Greens and Claire Ryder of the Denver Greens, who had
expressed interest previously but could not attend the state meeting. This is not an elected position, but is also important to state decision-making.
Kevin Alumbaugh of the Adams-Jefferson Greens will continue as on-line state council
facilitator, to manage GPCO votes outside of the annual state meeting.
11:45 a.m. Proposal to spend $150 of GPCO funds on refreshments for the
community reception after the annual state meeting
Presented by Tanya Ishikawa of the Adams-Jefferson Greens
Discussion of state meeting costs and community reception plans.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for the expenditure.
(However, donations from annual state meeting participants paid for the $150 as well as
other costs for group meals and drinks during the weekend, so no expenditure was made.)
11:50 a.m. Discussion of the purpose of the Green Party of Colorado
Sandy Lemberg of the Poudre Valley Greens led a discussion of the purpose of the Green
Party of Colorado. All members shared their reasons for joining the Greens and their
visions for the Green Party.
12:30 noon Lunch Break
2:00 p.m. Treasurer’s Report
GPCO State Treasurer Dan Sage presented the Treasurer’s Report with the accounting for 2005, 2006, and through June 23 for 2007. (see treasurer’s report in addendum)
Discussion of various expense and revenue items, including the accounting for
promotional T-shirts, hats and bumper stickers.
Doug Malkan of the Summit County Greens re-volunteered as an assistant treasurer.
Kevin Alumbaugh of the Adams-Jefferson Greens and the State Fundraising Committee
reported on fundraising activities and his plans to increase regular committee reports.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for the report.
2:30 p.m. Fiscal plan for 2007-2008
Presented by Tony D’Llalo of the Adams-Jefferson Greens
Discussion of how GPCO should spend and earn money to support its activities.
GPCO webmaster Charlie Green suggested we send a donation to Cameron, the GPCO
server technician in California, for his work.
Consensus-seeking resulted in approval of a GPCO expenditure of $100 for Cameron’s
service.
More discussion of GPCO money issues such as fundraising options and purposes.
D’Lallo proposed the GPCO adopt a target of a $5,000 budget by July 1, 2008.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for the budget proposal.
D’Lallo proposed he would send to the state e-lists and post on the state Web site an
announcement seeking donations for GPCO activities.
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for the donation-seeking announcement.
3:00 p.m. Establishing a Green Non-profit Group
Presented by Tanya Ishikawa of the Adams-Jefferson Greens
Discussion of the idea of a Green nonprofit group
No proposal was made.
3:30 p.m. Another bylaw change, concerning who can participate and what can be
posted on the state e-lists
Presented by Sandy Lemberg of the Poudre Valley Greens
A proposal for the GPOC listserv, that would:
1) Allow only registered Greens to participate and
2) Require all postings to be directly connected with GPOC business.
Discussion of the pros and cons.
Agreement seeking resulted in a block by Tanya Ishikawa of the Adams-Jefferson
Greens.
Voting: 5 for, 8 against and 6 abstaining, so the bylaw change failed.
Agreement seeking resulted in a block by Charlie Green of the Royal Gorge Greens.
Voting: 6 for, 8 against and 5 abstaining, so the bylaw change failed.
4 p.m. Break
4:20 p.m. Discussion of new web site
The GPCO Web site is being redesigned by Liz Hamilton of Evergreen, who will also
donate server space to host the new site. She is using blog technology called wordpress,
which should be easily maintained by her and updated by Green leaders. GPCO members
have a chance to comment on and shape the site by viewing it at gpco.maiaconsulting.
com.
Tanya Ishikawa of the Adams-Jefferson Greens proposed Hamilton be given the go ahead
to begin creating the new site according to her design recommendation, with the
opportunity for Greens to continue to comment on and adjust the site before it actually
goes live. (It is estimated that it will take one to one and a half months to put up the new
site.)
Agreement seeking resulted in a consensus for the Web site design.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, June 24
Presenter and Facilitator: Tony D’Lallo of the Adams-Jefferson Greens.
In attendance: Tony D’Lallo ofAdams-Jefferson Greens, Tanya Ishikawa of Adams-
Jefferson Greens, Sandy Lemberg of Poudre Valley Greens, Eric Fried of Poudre Valley
Greens, John of Royal Gorge Greens, Charlie Green of Royal Gorge Greens, Scott
Chaplin- unaffiliated, Doug Malkan of Summit County Greens, Art Goodtimes of San
Miguel Greens, Graham Johnson of Southwest Greens, Tim Hovezak of Southwest
Greens, Kevin Alumbaugh of Adams-Jefferson Greens, Liz Hamilton, non-Green, and
Brian Herzfeld of Boulder County Greens
9:15 a.m. Introduction/Purpose of Meeting: to discuss the creation of the state platform
and to train Greens to do voter registration drives, certified by Colorado
9:20 a.m. Creation of a new state platform for the GPCO
Discussion of the process and possible contents of a new state platform.
Doug Malkan of the Summit County Greens proposed the following:
The GPCO state platform be created in a process where registered Greens, given access
by a local chapter co-chair, a state co-chair or a platform committee member can help
create the document on an on-line Wiki site, while an online blog site is open to anyone
to comment and suggest changes to the document in an open forum.
Agreement seeking resulted in a block by Sandy Lemberg of the Poudre Valley Greens.
Voting: 12 for, 1 against and 0 abstaining, so the proposal passed.
(This vote is not a state decision because it was not made by a regular voting body during
the regular annual meeting or by the on-line council. It is simply a decision related to
process that will eventually result in a state decision on the platform.)
The current platform committee is Tony D’Lallo of the Adams-Jefferson Greens, Eric
Fried of the Poudre Valley Greens, Claire Ryder of the Denver Greens, and Sunny
Maynard of the Denver Greens.
10:30 a.m. VRD Training
Rules and regulations regarding voter registration application deadlines How to fill out
the application form. Tony D’Lallo trained and certified four Greens for future voter
registration drives.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 11:15 a.m.
