Ecological Wisdom * Social Justice
Grassroots Democracy * Non-Violence
Green Party of Michigan
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
www.migreens.org
** News Release/ **
** News Advisory **
** ------------- **
July 31, 2008
For More Information, Contact:
-----------------------------
Fred Vitale, Chair
chair@MIGreens.org
John Anthony La Pietra, Elections Co-ordinator
jalp@triton.net
Michigan Greens Nominate Rev. Pinkney at State Convention
=========================================================
Benton Harbor Activist, Jailed for Quoting Bible at Judge,
Among 10 Congressional Candidates Picked in Marshall July 26-27
Mentioned in Presidential Candidate McKinney's Acceptance
Speech at National Green Convention July 12 in Chicago
First Office for McKinney-Clemente Campaign to Be in Detroit
The Green Party of Michigan (GPMI) evoked the memory of
Eugene V. Debs by nominating jailed Benton Harbor community
activist Rev. Edward Pinkney for Congress at the party's
2008 Nominating Convention last weekend in Marshall.
Pinkney is one of ten GPMI candidates so far who will run
for Congress, and seventeen in total nominated at the
convention. They will all join the Green Presidential
ticket of former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Rosa
Clemente, founder of the National Hip-Hop Convention, on
the November 4 general-election ballot. And more Green
candidates will be nominated at local caucuses this weekend.
McKinney has met with Pinkney and the Black Autonomy Network
Community Organization (BANCO) in Benton Harbor in the past.
And she mentioned Pinkney and Benton Harbor in her Chicago
acceptance speech July 12.
McKinney-Clemente campaign manager SKCM Curry attended the
GPMI convention, rousing the members to join her in a chant
of "Paint the White House Green!" Curry also announced that
the campaign will soon be opening its first office -- in
Detroit.
Pinkney Paying a Heavy Price for His Beliefs;
Will Now Get to Express Them by Running for Office
--------------------------------------------------
Pinkney will run for the 6th District seat now held by Fred
Upton, scion of the family that founded Whirlpool. Pinkney
has opposed the corporation's influence on local government
and the plans of Whirlpool-led institutions to take Jean Klock
Park away from the people of Benton Harbor for a golf course
priced for the wealthy.
He is now sitting in state prison in Jackson awaiting appeal
on a 3- to 10-year sentence for alleged mishandling of four
absent-voter ballots in a 2005 recall election of a city
commissioner who supported Whirlpool's plans. That verdict
came after one mistrial with a deadlocked jury, and despite
an affidavit by one former prosecution witness saying the
recalled commissioner had offered him $10 to say Pinkney had
paid $5 for his vote.
The Berrien County courts also overturned the recall, even
though it had passed by over 50 votes.
Pinkney's sentence was imposed last month, and a pre-sentence
probation order which came with an elaborate set of prohibitions
(including bans on any kind of political involvement -- and
making him pay the rental on his own electronic tether) was
revoked last month, because of an article he wrote last fall.
In the article, he used a slightly paraphrased quote from
Deuteronomy that a Berrien County judge ruled was not
protected by the First Amendment because it constituted a
believable threat of the wrath of God against a fellow
judge and the judge's family.
The article appeared last November in _The People's Tribune_,
a political newspaper published in Chicago.
More Greens at All Levels Will Be
On the Michigan Ballot November 4
---------------------------------
Greens will have at least nine other Congressional candidates
joining McKinney, Clemente, and Pinkney on Michigan's general
election ballot November 4.
The convention also nominated one candidate for the State Board
of Education and one for each of the three state university
boards (U of M, MSU, and Wayne State).
And candidates for county and local office include Korine
Bachleda, who won election in 2006 as a write-in for clerk
of Newberg Township. Soon after, Bachleda asked the county
clerk to officially list her as a Green -- and this year she
will be running for re-election in the Green Party's column
on the ballot.
A list showing all the candidates nominated in Marshall is
presented below, along with information on how to contact
the campaigns for more details.
Caucuses Will Nominate More Green
Candidates for November General Election
----------------------------------------
The list also includes Matt Erard, who was nominated July 14
by Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor City Greens for the 53rd
District seat in Michigan's State House.
Greens from Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne Counties will hold a
joint caucus 2-4pm this Saturday, August 2 at the International
Institute; 111 E. Kirby (between John R. and Woodward, across
the street from the Detroit Institute of Arts); Detroit, MI
48202. For more information, contact
Lou Novak
(313) 623-4709
lmn@lppals.com
http://www.DetroitGreens.org
For the latest information on Green Party of Michigan candidates,
issues, and values, please visit the GPMI Web site:
http://www.MIGreens.org
# # #
created/distributed using donated labor
Green Party of Michigan
548 South Main Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
http://www.migreens.org
734-663-3555
GPMI was formed in 1987 to address environmental
issues in Michigan politics. Greens are 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
Non-Violence
Community Economics
Decentralization
Feminism
Respect for Diversity
Personal/Global Responsibility
Future Focus/Sustainability
[=======================================================]
[ list of GPMI candidates nominated to date ]
[=======================================================]
Green Party of Michigan
=======================
2008 Candidates
Contact Information
(as of 7/31/08)
Harley Mikkelson -- US Senate
3122 West Caro Road
Caro, MI 48723
VoteGreen_MI@yahoo.com
Jean Treacy -- US House/1st Congressional District
Committee to Elect Jean Treacy for Congress
269 Explorer OR P.O. Box 3285
Gwinn, MI 49841 Kalamazoo, MI 49003
http://www.Treacy2008.org
Treacy4Congress@SPMichigan.org
Ken Mathenia -- US House/5th Congressional District
232 High Street
Grand Blanc, MI 48439
KMatheni@gfn.org
Rev. Edward Pinkney -- US House/6th Congressional District
1940 Union Street
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
BANCO9342@sbcglobal.net
alternate address:
Rev. Edward Pinkney #294671
Charles E. Egeler Reception & Guidance Center
3855 Cooper Street
Jackson, MI 49201-7517
Lynn Meadows -- US House/7th Congressional District
150 Island Lake Road
Chelsea, MI 48118
LynnMeadows@provide.net
Aaron Stuttman -- US House/8th Congressional District
Committee to Run Stuttman for Congress
2331 Forest Road
Lansing, MI 48910
http://StuttmanforCongress.blogspot.com/
StuttmanForCongress@gmail.com
Candace Caveny -- US House/10th Congressional District
Friends of Candace Caveny
PO Box 1043
Lapeer, MI 48446
http://www.CandaceCaveny.org
CandaceInTheThumb@yahoo.com OR Candace@CandaceCaveny.org
Erik Shelley -- US House/11th Congressional District
19311 Seminole
Redford, MI 48240
eol1@aol.com
Bill Opalicky -- US House/12th Congressional District
23631 Philip
Southfield, MI 48075
urizen2355@aol.com
Aimee Smith -- US House/15th Congressional District
1321 Wisteria Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
ALSmith@HVGreens.org
Matt Erard -- MI House/53rd District *
Committee to Elect Matt Erard for State Representative
641 Prentis Street #G3
Detroit, MI 48204
http://www.erard2008.org/
VoteErard@yahoo.com
Dwain Reynolds III -- State Board of Education
Committee to Elect Dwain C. Reynolds III
725 Perch Cove Court
Middleville MI 49333
http://www.DReynolds2008.org/
ReynoldsForMISBE08@gmail.com
Ellis Boal -- University of Michigan Board of Regents
Friends of Ellis Boal
9330 Boyne City Road
Charlevoix, MI 49720
http://www.EllisBoal.org
ellis@EllisBoal.org
Therese Marie Storm -- Michigan State University Board of Trustees
25112 Dockside Lane
Harrison Township, MI 48045
TStorm01@baker.edu
Margaret Guttshall -- Wayne State University Board of Governors
4190 Kensington
Detroit, MI 48224
MGuttshall@sbcglobal.net
John Anthony La Pietra -- Calhoun County Clerk-Register
John Anthony La Pietra For the People
386 Boyer Court
Marshall, MI 49068
jalp@triton.net
Tom Mair -- Grand Traverse County Commission/7th District
PO Box 2239
Traverse City, MI 49685
TraverseGreen@yahoo.com
Korine Bachleda -- Clerk/Newberg Township/Cass County
59950 County Line Road
Three Rivers, MI 49093
bluegreener@gmail.com
* - Nominated at Washtenaw county/Ann Arbor Greens caucus 7/14.
Other candidates nominated at GPMI state convention 7/26-27.
Other Contacts:
Green Party of Michigan
548 S Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
734-663-3555
info@migreens.org
posted to web 1 August 2008