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Newsletter of the Green Party of Ohio
Vol. III, No. 6– Oct. 30, 2003
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Contents
1. State Party News - Vote for Green Party Candidates, Volunteer for State
Treasurer Needed
2. National Party News - Presidential Convention Update, Campaign Alerts,
FTAA Protests Planned, Indiana Green Party Update
3. News Items of Interest - By Grant Lawrence
4. Opinion: Newsletter Editorial - State Issue 1 Vote
1. State Green Party News
A. Vote for Green Party Candidates
Support Green Party endorsed candidates Nov 4th. Across Ohio there are
three Green Party members running for elected office and three others
that have been endorsed by their local Green Party. Please contact the
candidates and get involved in their campaigns.
Bob Fitrakis, Columbus School Board (Green Party Member)
(614) 253-2571
freepress@iwaynet.net
Julie Gumerman, Kent City Council - Ward 4 (Green Party Member)
(330) 346-9437
jgumerma@kent.edu
Alan Scanlon Akron City Council Ward 10 (Green Party Member)
(330) 798-5733
vote4scanlon@neo.rr.com
These three candidates have been endorsed by the South West Ohio Green
Party for the Cincinnati City Council.
Endorsed at the May, 2003 meeting
Brian Garry
Web page - www.briangarry.com
email briangarry@briangarry.com
(513) 236-4180
Endorsed at the August, 2003 meeting
John Schlagetter
Web page - www.john4council.com
email john@john4council.com
(513) 652-3032
Endorsed at the September, 2003 meeting
Marilyn Hyland
Web page www.marilynhyland.org
(513) 284-4192
hyland@marilynhyland.org
B. Volunteer Needed for State Treasurer
Thinking about how you can contribute to the growth of the Green Party
in Ohio? Of course you aren't, you're too busy with the essential details
of your life in an economy where living wage jobs, if available, leave
you dead tired at the end of the day. Besides, the constant mental stress
of living in a world of injustice, oppression and systematic ecocide makes
it hard enough just to stay sane, much less devote time and energy to
any attempt to correct and heal that world. If you're still reading this
and might be interested in doing something please consider volunteering
to act as the State Political Action Committee Treasurer. If you're not
afraid of a bit of work, can follow written instructions and do math you
can be a political action committee treasurer. Contact any of the leaders
of the Green Party of Ohio to learn more.
2. National Party News
A. National Convention Planned for Milwaukee in June
The Green Party of the United States, recognized by the FEC as the party's
national committee, includes 43 accredited state Green Parties (including
the Green Party of Ohio), and will hold the party's national convention
in Milwaukee, June 24-27, 2004. The decision about whom, how, and whether
to run in the 2004 national election will be made democratically by all
the accredited state Green Parties at the Milwaukee convention. The Green
Party of the United States held the 2000 national convention in Denver
at which Ralph Nader was nominated.
B. Items from "GREENSWEEK"
http://www.gp.org/greensweek/index.html
Green Party of the United States: http://www.gp.org
CAMPAIGN ALERTS: The Green Party's Coordinated Campaign Committee has
identified two 'flagship' campaigns that deserve special attention and
support from Greens and friends: Matt Gonzalez for Mayor of San Francisco
and Matt Ahearn for New Jersey State Assembly.
==> Matt Gonzalez, a former public defender, current President of
the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and possibly the highest-ranking
elected Green west of the Mississippi, is challenging a field of Democrats
for the office of Mayor of San Francisco, California in the November 4
election. With the endorsements of the Sierra Club, Bicycle Coalition,
Tenants Union, and Green Party, Matt may finish among the top two candidates
for a December run-off election. If he makes the run-off, polls currently
show Matt in a statistical dead-heat with the front-running downtown business
candidate, with each candidate at 42%. More: www.mattgonzalez.com
www.sfgreenparty.org.
==> Matt Ahearn for New Jersey State Assemblyman, the first Green
state legislator to run for a second term (Ahearn converted from Dem to
Green during his first term). Matt's opponents are outspending him 10
to 1. More: www.mattahearn.com/
The Ballot Access Working Group has announced that 'A Green's Guide to
Getting On the Ballot' is now available for download off the national
party's website <www.gp.org/committees/campaign/manual/access2004.pdf>;.
The guide is useful for organizing state and local ballot drives and growing
state Green Parties. Supplements will come out as the 2004 election season
progresses.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15: Visiting Florida for FTAA Ministerial Meetings
in November? John Howes <humanbeing@webtv.net>,
chair of the Green Party of Florida's Blue/Green Alliance Building Committee,
invites you to a 'Globalize This!' rally in protest of the FTAA's antidemocratic
and destructive 'free trade' policies, to be held in Williams Park, Saint
Petersburg, from noon to 3 pm on November 15. For more information, click
on this e-flyer: (front page)
community-2.webtv.net/humanbeing/flyer0/ (back page)
community-2.webtv.net/humanbeing/flyer/
INDIANA: The Indiana Green Party held its annual membership Congress
September 20-21, 2003. IGP has doubled in size over the past year and
has announced the affiliation of three new Green Party locals, Brown Co.
Green Party, Marion Co. Green Party, and Northwest Indiana Green Party.
IGP's outreach efforts include a video conferencing system, and a mandate
to coordinate dues collection. IGP will also be participating in the 2004
Green Party US Presidential nominating convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
More:
www.indianagreenparty.org/
www.sjvgreens.org/
3. News Items of Interest
By Grant Lawrence
The Good News and the Bad News
A growing number of workers in large firms are going without health insurance.
From 1987 to 2001, the uninsured workers in firms with 500 or more employees
has risen from 7% to 11%. The good news is these people have jobs.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=676&e=6&u=/usatoday/11915848
Workers around the world are wondering how American workers get by on
so little vacation time. Americans that are working have the least time
off of any workers in the industrialized world (including Japan) with
an average of 10.2 days off after 3 years. The good news is these people
have jobs.
http://www.arena.org.nz/usvacant.htm
A growing number of workers are finding themselves taking on survival
jobs. Many are working for a lot less than they used to or are only working
part time. Nearly 5 million people who want full time jobs have settled
for part time jobs, up 30% over the last few years. Hey, but at least
these people have some sort of job.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=711&e=16&u=/usatoday/11917747
But, the recovery is going great and happy days are here again; unfortunately,
this is a jobless recovery. Last month 44,000 jobs vanished and the unemployment
rate was over 6% (those they still count). Over the last few years, millions
of jobs have been lost thanks to productivity and jobs being sent offshore.
Unemployment wll likely rise because of productivity and those jobs being
sent elsewhere, and as Reagan used to say, "A recession is when your
neighbor is out of work, but a depression is when you are out of work."
the bad news is that you may find yourself in a "depression"
in the future.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3140687.stm
4. Opinion
Editorial - by Paul Dumouchelle, GPOH Newsletter Editor
ONE NO VOTE ON ISSUE 1
Note: The Green Party of Ohio has not taken a position on Issue 1
State Issue 1 is an Amendment to the Ohio Constitution authorizing the
government to issue $500,000,000 in bonds to provide "financing of
science and technology based research and development" (as stated
on the ballot) by businesses, private research groups (read: Battelle)
or educational institutions. This effort is pushed by Governor Taft as
his "Third Frontier" initiative.
Proponents argue it "will help grow Ohio's economy and help our
state attract and retain high paying jobs." Opponents say it is corporate
welfare "that strikes at the heart of our traditional free-market
economy."
Should a Green support this idea? After all, we've felt the economic
impact of declining income that has ravaged Ohio for decades and many
of us would like to pound a huge stake right through the still-beating
heart of that free-market economy. Despite those concerns and sentiments,
I decided to vote no (on my absentee ballot, already sent in).
I voted no partially because Governor Taft's consistent support for the
death penalty is so abhorrent to me that his sponsorship of this idea
makes me instinctively oppose it.
I voted no primarily, though, because our culture's excessive faith in
science is what lies at the heart of our alienation from Nature. Space
does not permit a full exposition of this point but it is central to the
analysis which provides the foundation for my Green philosophy. Supporting
the scientific/industrial complex with millions of dollars of tax-subsidized
financial aid is the wrong way to go.
Publication Details
The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter is published by the Green Party of
Ohio. www.ohiogreens.org The Mission of the Newsletter is to aggressively
promote citizen involvement in making real the Green dream for Ohio and
America as stated in the GPOH Platform, the USGP Platform and those parties'
formal policy positions.
The Mission of the Green Party of Ohio is to focus the political power
of the people to:
1. preserve and restore viable ecosystems,
2. establish social justice and equity,
3. foster participatory democracy,
4. promote and practice nonviolence as a means of conflict resolution,
and
5. ensure the rights of a community-based economic system for all people.
Letters to the editor are accepted but please keep them brief and the
Editor reserves the right to publish or not publish any such letter and
edit them to fit the newsletter format. The Green Party of Ohio Newsletter
does not represent official GPOH policy unless specifically stated. The
Green Party of Ohio Newsletter operates under the guidance of the State
CC Media Committee, which can be contacted through the State Party Website.
Paid for by the Green Party of Ohio Political Action Fund (OH1066) P.O.
Box 112, Berkey, OH 43504
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