Green Party of Michigan - Committee Reports

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Report of the Elections Coordinator 2002 to the 2002 Nominating Convention

The Elections Coordinator position was created in May 2002 and I have been working at that position since that time. These are the duties of the Elections Coordinator to date:

Act as resource for information about candidate committee and county committee filing.
Act as resource for campaign finance questions, both state and federal.
Collect contact information about all potential candidates of the party; make available as needed.
Maintain migreens-elections listserve, restricting membership to GPMI members, candidates, and their staffs.
Actively seek and/or route volunteers to candidate and/or county committees.
Ensure paperwork and documentation is properly filed for the party on behalf of the candidates nominated by convention; follow up with caucuses to ensure paperwork is properly filed at the county level.
Manage information regarding candidacy strategies by placing in coherent form on the migreens-elections site.
Maintain a caucus manual as a resource for counties wishing to caucus; aid counties in making caucus requests.
Actively recruit candidates for GPMI nomination.
Act as liaison to national party strategizers.

The EC position is ad hoc at the moment, to be codified by the
Bylaws Committee and State Central Committee.  The above serves
as a first job description for bylaws purposes.

The following county caucuses were held, with the nominees from
those caucuses named:

Chosen by Charlevoix County Caucus, local Up North Green Party,
June 19, 2002; no other candidates considered:

   William Henne, 1st District Charlevoix County Commission
   Joe King, 6th District Charlevoix County Commission

Chosen by Kent County Caucus, local Kent County Green Party, June
19, 2002; official caucus report pending:

   Roger McClary, 16th District Kent County Commission

Chosen by Washtenaw County Caucus, locals Huron Valley Greens and
West Washtenaw/Tamarack Greens, June 29, 2002; no other
candidates considered:

    Keith Agdanowski, 3rd Ward Ypsilanti City Council
    Elliott Smith, 18th District State Senate

Chosen by Oakland County Caucus, locals West Oakland Watershed
Greens and Metro Detroit Greens, July 13, 2002; one other
candidate chosen but disqualified on technical grounds:

    Bretton Jones, 41st District State House
    Art Myatt, 27th District State House
    Dan D Karam, 26th District State House

Chosen by Genesee County Caucus, local Flint Greens, July 13,
2002; no other candidates considered:

    Pete Ponzetti III, 51st District State House

Chosen by Wayne County Caucus, locals Detroit Green Party,
Downriver Greens, Metro Detroit Greens, July 13, 2002; one other
candidate considered and rejected:

    Bruce Cain, 16th District State House
    Alan Jacobson, 10th District State House
    Margaret Guttshall, 6th District State House
    Garry Herring, 11th District State House

Chosen by Benzie County Caucus, local Betsie Watershed Greens,
July 17, 2002; no other candidates considered:

    Rosalie Anne Pelch, Benzie County Commission


Candidates no longer running:

    Joseph A. Ditzhazy, Jr., Wayne County Executive
    David Hudson, 99th District State Rep (Mt. Pleasant)
    Erica Udman, 27th District State Rep (Oak Park /Ferndale)
    Art Busch, State Supreme Court
    Mike Madias, 13th District U.S. House (Wayne Cty.)
    Shane Morrow, Waterford Township Supervisor (Oakland Cty.)
    
The following candidates are to be considered at the state
nominating convention:

    Douglas Campbell, Governor
    Raymond Ziarno, Secretary of State
    Jerry Kaufman, Attorney General
    Eric Borregard, US. Senate
    Donnelly W. Hadden, Justice of the Supreme Court
    William Boyd, 11th District U.S. House
    Paul Schultz, 11th District U.S. House
    Bill Currie, 10th District U.S. House
    Harley Mikkelson, 5th District U.S. House
    Dr. Sterling Johnson, 4th District U.S. House
    Reverand Adam S. "Happy" Wright, 84th District State House
    Karen Shelley, State Board of Ed.
    Marilyn Morgan, State Board of Ed.
    Frederick Kline, Wayne State University Board of Governors
    Matt Petering, U of M Regent
    Susan Fawcett, U of M Regent
    Kyle Moxley, MSU Board of Trustees
    Elizabeth Forest, 2nd District Kalamazoo County Commission 

Late additions/possible candidates (no speech time set at
convention):

    Alex Hogan, 15th District State House
    Carl Davidson, MSU Board of Trustees
    Richard Wunsch, 7th District U.S. House
    Angelo Brown, Governor	
    John Litle, 14th District U.S. House
    Aboyami Azikiwe
    Alan Kaufman
    Shane Morrow

In addition to the county caucuses held above, four counties have
formed county committees:

Wayne County Green Party
formed: 07/25/00
 Chair: Lou Novak
 Treas: George Corsetti
 Record Keeper: Sylvia Inwood
 no bylaws

Green Party of Genesee County
formed: 01/18/01
 Treas: Alan Epstein
 Record Keeper: Ken Mathenia
On 07/13/02, bylaws for the committee were adopted
and officers selected: 
 Ken Mathenia - Chair 
 Alan Epstein - Treasurer 
 Pete Ponzetti III - Secretary 
 Jan Mathenia - 1st Vice Chair 

Green Party of Kent County
Unknown date of filing (2001?)
Unknown officers

Green Party of Washtenaw County
formed: 6/2002
 Treas:  Pete Schermerhorn
 Record Keeper: Christie Nowak
 no bylaws

The goal is to eventually have county committees in all counties. Once the Green Party of Michigan reaches major party status by polling 5% of all votes cast for Secretary of State for their candidate placed highest on the ballot, county structures will definitely need to be in place, as county conventions will need to be held then, not county caucuses.

There are currently 14 candidates of the party guaranteed for the ballot. With another 20 possible nominees from the convention, making ~35 candidates, that more than doubles the number of candidates run in 2000.

The Elections Coordinator will continue to work through the campaign season to help with election strategies, make available experienced input into campaigns, route volunteers to campaigns, and aid in the open access for candidates to all media and events.

- - Pete Schermerhorn, GPMI Elections Coordinator 2002

Not paid for by any candidate or candidate committee. Labor donated.

Page Last Updated 1 Aug 2002
by Craig Harvey - Email: webmaster@migreens.org