meetingNov7th02

Johnson County Green Party Business Meeting and Post-Campaign Wrap-Up

Wednesday, November 13th, 2002
7 - 8:30 p.m., Iowa City Public Library, Room C

Attendance: Barbara Hackman, Holly Hart, Kelley Putman, Florence Boos, Jim Walters, Joannes Pool, Megan Woodland; visitor from UITV - Kevin Burrell

Facilitator: Florence Boos

The purpose of this meeting was to analyze the elections and campaigns, and to brainstorm for the future.

I. We discussed proposed activities that will help establish and increase our presence over the next 2 years:

attending meetings of city council, boards, commissions
events: forums or speakers, aim for perhaps two or three per year, appearing on local t. v. where possible, as in proposed new interview program
participating in upcoming election cycles: consider running candidates, take positions early and get them in public view, propose referendum to get IRV in city charter

Joannes will write a thank you letter on behalf of all candidates, to send
to the Press Citizen, Daily Iowan and Gazette [it appeared in the November 16th Press-Citizen].

Discussion
We talked for a while about precincts where we drew the highest returns. Jim stated that the great number of absentee ballots makes precinct analyses difficult. Kelley asked if it was possible to find the number/rate of absentee ballots per precinct.
Next time: note that we need to take into account the number of early voters in Johnson County. Jim: it takes 7 "hits" to get a person convinced to vote for a candidate. Kelley & Joannes: we need events over the next 2 years to continue to show our presence. Members should attend city council meetings (and look into boards, other official meetings, etc.).
Jim: curious about Libertarian candidate for state auditor getting 27,000 votes (ca. 5%). Holly: thinks there is a general number of "automatic" third party votes, and the "lesser" statewide offics usually pull in more than the governor or senate races. Jim: could it be that the fact that the candidate was a woman helped her total? Kelley: maybe voters are more inclined to take a chance, if they feel there is less at stake with one of these offices? We agreed to find out more about this candidate and to consider running a candidate for state auditor if feasible.

2003 Races
School Board - Jim: JCGP should take positions early, even if we don't run a candidate; there is a $39 million bond issue for construction coming up, which he felt we should support.

City council election in fall--we discussed those who might run, and the possibility of endorsing candidates not registered as Greens in addition to mounting a campaign for someone who wished to emphasize his/her Green party membership during the election.

2004 Races
Presidential, county, state
City charter - Joannes: we should initiate a referendum on getting IRV in the city charter; he will research how to go about getting this started.

Other
Discussion of coalition building, events
FAIR Coalition - Holly: this is a coalition to elect progressive city councillors
and other officials, work for progressive policies; we could encourage
our members to get involved with this organization
Labor, environmental groups, peace organizations, faith organizations
Joannes is interested in running for something again.
Jim stressed that it's important to have candidates that represent party values, and to do things which are identified as "Green Party."
"Publicity" - more letters and op-eds
Jim: Green column in Press-Citizen or Gazette
Holly: El Communicador has offered a column to her and Jay Robinson; others could write, if there is interest.
Jim: educational forums
Florence: educational/Green literature and forums - we need more "issues" brochures and positions on various subjects (immigration, health care)
Barbara: in agreement, column and brochures a good idea

II. Other Business
Fellowship of Reconciliation speakers will be in Iowa City this coming
weekend. Holly brought a petition from People for Justice in Palestine, stating opposition to forced removal of Palestinians from homes in the Occupied Territories. Inidividuals may sign this, and PJP is hoping to get elected officlas and organizations to sign on. JCGP members reviewed the petition and background sheet.
Joannes motioned that JCGP sign the petition, Jim: seconded. APPROVED by consensus.

There was some informal discussion of campaign finances, especially of how much we owed (about $300) and possible sources for repayment.

NEXT MEETING:
Wednesday, December 11, 7:00 p.m.
Iowa City Public Library, Room C

See you there!

Submitted 11/25/02
Holly Hart
Johnson County Green Party Secretary