Ecological Wisdom * Social Justice * Grassroots Democracy * Non-Violence
>> Green Party of Michigan <<
>>> ---------------- <<<
>>> News Release <<<
>>> ---------------- <<<
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 11, 2003
For More Information Contact:
----------------------------
Marc Reichardt -- Party Chair/Treasurer, GPMI
phone: 734-668-9628
e-mail: press@migreens.org
> Green Party Meets in Detroit <
> ============================ <
> Plans Strategies on Top Issues: Peace, Water, and IRV <
Michigan Greens discussed building their party through
upcoming actions and longer-range plans involving its top three
priority issues -- peace, water, and elections -- at a quarterly
state membership meeting held this past weekend at Marygrove
College in Detroit.
PEACE: Party chair Marc Reichardt will be one of the speakers
at this Saturday's peace rally and march in Lansing and he will
be among the many Greens joining that rally. Many other Greens
will march down Woodward Avenue behind the Detroit Green Party
banner. More will march in Petoskey and elsewhere across the
state -- or board buses and travel to New York City for the
headliner of the worldwide network of anti-war protests on
February 15.
WATER: Michigan Greens are rallying with other groups to
protect the Great Lake State from efforts to "profitize" water.
In Detroit, Greens will stand side by side with the Michigan
Welfare Rights Organization at the Detroit Board of Water to
protest unjustifiable winter cut-offs of water and other basic
utilities to the poor, which have the apparent aim of making the
services look more attractive to private corporations. GPMI also
continues to support the Sweetwater Alliance and other groups
fighting the Nestlé/Perrier Ice Mountain water-extraction plant
in Mecosta County with protests, boycotts, and other actions. In
particular, Greens will target the regional Meijer Thrifty Acres
chain.
ELECTIONS: Elections, and election and campaign reforms, are
part and parcel of another Green core issue -- reflecting the
party's "Key Value" of grassroots democracy. Greens have formed
a coalition with other parties to promote instant-runoff voting
(IRV), a system which eliminates expensive runoff elections by
letting voters support not only their top preferred candidate,
but also their second, third, and as many more choices as they
want to vote for. Greens are also in a coalition supporting
Clean Money campaign financing and other reforms.
The party discussed two upcoming special elections. One is
for the 65th State House seat left vacant by the untimely passing
of Jerry Kratz; the other involves the Kalamazoo County
Commission, where 5th District Commissioner Peter Battani has
stepped down to become assistant county administrator. Greens in
both places are looking at putting up candidates for these
elections.
GPMI national representative Juscha Robinson led discussions
of what Michigan Greens will do to start preparing now for
elections in 2003 and 2004. The party will prepare candidate and
campaign training sessions, gather information to support
candidates and co-ordinated campaigning, and make better use of
the expanded resources available from the Green Party of the
United States -- now a recognized national political party with a
solid financial base. Other plans include recruiting candidates
for offices involved in Green issues, such as county clerk and
drain commissioner, and holding nominating caucuses and
conventions earlier in 2004 so candidates will be in better
position to compete for endorsements.
Adding More Colors to the Green Rainbow
---------------------------------------
The meeting also included a panel discussion on reaching out
to and recruiting a more diverse population -- as members,
leaders, candidates, and voters. GPUS co-chair and Steering
Committee member Anita Rios warned against letting
over-dependence on technology make party structures classist --
and thus racist and sexist.
Scott Heinzman of Metro Detroit Greens and the Alliance for
Democracy agreed, noting his own problems with using technology.
He recommended "People First" language ("people who . . .") when
dealing with the disability community -- and, in general,
listening rather than coming in as the "big fixer of everything."
Hillard Williams of the hosting Detroit Green Party sees an
opportunity for Greens to make environmental justice concrete to
people in his community, where 10% of children have severe lead
poisoning and 40% of households lack at least one basic utility
service. The party needs to "organize so that power at the
national level comes from the people and the power at the grass
roots."
Jim Moreno, elected member of the Mount Pleasant City
Council, spoke to his fellow Greens and to the larger issues in
the country when he pointed out, "It's not our differences that
separate us; it's our inability to appreciate those differences."
But he, too, was encouraged by Green activism in the state: "It's
about getting out and doing things -- we're the hope, we're the
joy, we're the power."
Presenting a Real Alternative at the State Level
------------------------------------------------
One underlying theme of the meeting was the Green response to
Jennifer Granholm's "State of the State" speech and actions since
taking office as governor. Green gubernatorial candidate Douglas
Campbell summed up Granholm's planned 1% cut in public-school
funding: "Promise made, promise broken." Granholm had said that,
if she made and kept only one promise, it would be to protect
state education funding.
Others noted that, if Granholm and legislators truly wanted
to make state government frugal, they should show personal
leadership -- by repealing the double-digit pay raise they and
other top officials got from the 2000 State Officers Compensation
Commission. Also, GOP State Representatives should drop
completely their grab for an extra $5,000 each in office
allotments -- even if, as was pointed out, that might help make
it easier to distinguish between Republicans and Democrats.
Greens do, however, strongly support then-Attorney General
Granholm's recognition that Nestlé/Perrier's Ice Mountain
water-extraction plant in Mecosta County is against the Great
Lakes Compact. Greens urge Granholm to stick to this position;
some members raised the issue at the inauguration festivities,
and are due to meet with top staffers soon. They also plan to
make use of the Constituent Services office Granholm has opened
at the Capitol, to remind her of her stand.
One proposal passed at the meeting called for the party to
begin drafting bills as part of an explicit legislative agenda,
and publicize the results to let people see more clearly what the
Green alternative really means. Another resolution encourages
attorneys in the party to pool their experience and expertise on
the law of elections, civil rights and protests, environmental
controls, and other fields -- so legal advice will be available
when needed, as for instance if any future Green candidate faces
expulsion from a candidate forum, as Campbell did in Brighton
last May.
# # #
Green Party of Michigan * 548 S. Main Street *
* Ann Arbor, MI 48104 * 734-663-3555
-----------------------------------------------------------
The Green Party of Michigan was formed in 1987 to address
environmental issues in Michigan politics. There are Greens
organized in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Each
state Green Party sets its own goals and creates its own
structure, but US Greens agree on Ten Key Values:
Ecological Wisdom * Grassroots Democracy
Social Justice * Nonviolence
Community Economics * Decentralization
Feminism * Respect for Diversity
Personal and Global * Future Focus/
Responsibility Sustainability
created/distributed using donated labor
Other Contacts:
Green Party of Michigan
548 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-663-3555
info@migreens.org
page last modified 12 Feb 2003