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Regular meeting Berkeley Green Party 2/23/08
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Present: Conor Dixon, Patti Marsh, Bob Marsh, Jesse Townley, John Selawsky, George Lippman
Minutes: Jesse & Patti (corrected by JT 3/30/08)

1. George Lippman/Peace & Justice Commission reported on the 2nd City Council resolution about the Marine Recruitment Center. George is fine with the revision- the city is still not in favor of recruiters, no apology included, language strongly protesting military's discriminatory policies included. The only real difference is that no letter will be sent by the city.

Other P&J issues: Haiti, Liberia/Firestone workers, and US/Mexico border wall. P&J hopes to host a workshop on veteran's issues.

Because of the Marine Recruitment Center flap, Councilmember Wozniak is proposing 2 readings for all Peace & Justice Commission resolutions/proclamations. We agreed that this singles one commission out, undermines & marginalizes that commission, and reduces flexibility of city government.John will write a letter that Jesse will read at the upcoming City Council meeting from the Berkeley Green Party outlining our concerns, and we will also spread the word to various commissions and members of the public (consensus).

2. We have official Chapter status within the County's Green Party apparatus. We need to coordinate our endorsement process with them & use candidate questionnaires.

3. We identified these 5 annual issues to concentrate on:
    a. Militarization on the local level (example: Marine Recruitment Center)
    b. UC & City interaction- primarily land use, the Oaks, People's Park, Downtown     Plan.
        i. unfettered development/sustainability issues
        ii. open transparent processes
        iii. green public spaces (Oaks, People's Park)
        iv. integrating UC students into community
    c. provide truly affordable housing/density issues
    d. reform Prop 13 & the Vehicle License Fee to provide more $ for local uses
    e. Oppose Light Brown Moth Spraying

4. We oppose the Light Brown Moth Spraying (consensus) and will use Berkeley Green Party name more often in this & other efforts. The Green Party of Alameda County has sent letters to Berkeley Councilmembers.

5. We need more information about flouridation & public/private water information

6. Earth Day- we will table it on Saturday April 19th @ Civic Center Park. Patti will start to organize it & reserve our table.

7. Financial Report: We have $200 in checking & $200 in savings.

8. Brainstorming:
    We need postcards/packets for new Green Party members, hand-delivered by volunteers?

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Regular meeting Berkeley Green Party 3/29/08
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Present: Conor Dixon, Patti Marsh, Bob Marsh, Jesse Townley, John Selawsky, Willi Paul, Merilee Mitchell
Minutes: Jesse

1. The upcoming Green Voter Guide needs more ads! Deadline April 10th.

2. The State Green Plenary is taking place the first weekend of April @ UC Berkeley. More volunteers are needed, especially registration. Contact Patti.

3. We are tabling Earth Day Saturday March 19th & need volunteers

4. We will reserve our booth for the Solano Stroll as soon as we can, in order to take advantage of the early signup discount. We decided that we should pay for it, not the county this time, since we actually have money.

5. Next Green Monday- April 21st, will feature Code Pink! Last Monday's Green Monday about food & sustainability was a success!

6. Jesse reported back on the aborted effort by Councilmember Wozniak to require Peace & Justice resolutions to have 2 readings. The P&J Commission & the Councilmember negotiated a peace so we didn't have to read the letter. All of the Councilmembers received copies of our letter.

7. We had a strong presence (8 Green Party members) at the Council's Agenda Committee meeting & were able to get a spot on the following regular Council meeting's agenda to rebut the State's pro-Moth-spraying position. The Green Party also wrote letters to the City Council & publicized this issue to the public & the press before the Council meeting. This concerted effort by Greens, progressives, and other community members led the City Council to join Albany and other local governments in strongly opposing the State's plans to spray anti-moth phermones on Bay Area counties. Now the opposition has spread from cities like Albany, Berkeley, and Oakland to the state & county level.

Jesse will write a paragraph or 2 for the website & the voter guide about the Berkeley Green's involvement in this process, as well as the Albany Greens who really kicked off this effort by persuading Albany City Council to oppose the spraying first.

8. The Code Pink protests in front of the Marine Recruiting office continue. Conor will coordinate with Code Pink a time slot on a day after next Green Monday's Code Pink program especially for Green Party members to protest in front of the Recruitment office (probably late April).

9. John will keep an eye on pending local tax measures being considered by Berkeley City Council.

10. We discussed Bus Rapid Transit & Jesse suggested hosting a town hall meeting about the issue, since there are so many different pros & cons involved. The Planning Commission is hosting a public workshop on the issue Wednesday April 9th.