Minutes from July 14, 2001 meeting of Charlotte Area Green Party

  • Kajur Washburn read the minutes of the June meeting. He explained the problem with the incorrect time for the July meeting that was posted on the CAG group email and said he corrected it.
  • Mark Ortiz gave the treasurer's report. There was no activity in the treasury to report since the last meeting. As of July 14, 2001, there was a $492.76 balance. Mark will apply for a tax number. There
    are fifteen dues-paid members. Mark will draft an amendment to the by-laws to allow the treasurer
    to spend small amounts of money without approval by the members.
    3) Kajur and Mark reported on the July 15 statewide planning meeting and the UNCC statewide gather-
    ing. The physical arrangements for the UNCC statewide gathering are going well. The schedule and
    agenda for the gathering will be discussed and possibly determined at the July 15 planning meeting in
    Wake County. There were nine members in attendance at the July 14 CAGP meeting which means that
    our local will have one vote at the planning meeting on July 15.
    4) Kajur reported on Steve Tafel's speech at the Breakfast Club. First, Steve had to address the Green
    Peace/ Green Party confusion. His speech went very well. Some questions he received after the speech
    were - Is the CAGP willing to compromise any of their ideals in order to work with others in the
    community?
    Why should anyone be affiliated with any political party?
    What has The Green Party or any other party done for Afro-Americans in the last four
    decades?
    What would the CAGP do about racial profiling?
    5) Harry Phillips has contacted a web-site developer who will redesign the CAGP web-site for $200.
    It was voted on and decided that the CAGP spend $200 for redesign and $74 per year for a banner-free
    site. The treasurer's address will be listed on the web-site for would -be donors. The site's name will
    be charlottegreens.org. Kajur agreed to help Michelle for a while with the web-site.
    6) Ken Ivens brought a batch of Green Party t-shirts with him for which members voted to approve
    payment.
  • 7) Mark Ortiz asked for suggestions for issues to be discussed at the July 15 planning meeting.. Alex
    Loomis asked that there be no discussion of the ASGP/ USGP conflict at the UNCC gathering.
    Mark emphasized the need to nail down a person to act as state chairperson so that ballot petitioning
    can continue.
    8) Nick Wood of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee spoke about the history of FLOC and about the
    current boycott of Mt. Olive pickles which began March 17, 1999. He announced the march and
    leafleting planned for July 21 at 2:00 P.M. , beginning at Freedom Park and ending at the East Blvd.
    Harris Teeter. He suggested that all individuals write or email Mt. Olive pickle company about their
    concerns for the farm and factory workers' conditions.
    9) Ron Morgan, whointends to run for mayor of Charlotte, spoke about his vision for completely
    redesigning all local governments. He would work towards dividing Charlotte into eight autonomous
    districts along watershed lines in order to implement better environmental controls. He has a website:
    charlottedemocracy.com.
    10) Harry Phillips urged the CAGP to pay $100 to become a sponsor of the 2001 Charlotte Labor Day
    Parade. Some members questioned the value of sponsorship since it would provide little, if any
    publicity for CAGP.; therefore Alex Loomis will try to solicit special contributions from those who
    would like to see the CAGP become a sponsor of the parade.
    11) Ken Ivens announced that so far Donna Lisenby has agreed to speak at the CAGP Fall Lecture Series.
    Ken will ask her to give specifics on what can be done about water problems in our area. Other
    possible speakers are Ron Morgan (see above), Carol Sawyer or Mike Oressler(speaking about academic testing in public schools), and Rusty Rozelle from the Mecklenburg County EPA.
    12) Alan Burns suggested we try to enlist help and support from local professionals. Greg Jocoy of the
    United Citizens Party of South Carolina (the party that ran Ralph Nader on the ballot in S.C.) said we could get the names of donors of more than $200 to the Nader campaign from the FEC.gov web-site.
    Perhaps therein might lie some names of professionals from the Charlotte region.
    13) Greg Jocoy has the list of the over-$200 donors to the Nader campaign and would like the N.C. state-
    Wide gathering to give him permission to solicit support for United Citizens Party candidates in the
    Fort Mill , S.C. area. He also asked for help from CAGP members in door-to-door campaigning in
    Fort Mill.
    14) The next meeting of the CAGP will be on August 11,2001 at 11:00 P.M. in the Dalton Room, down-
    stairs in the downtown Mecklenburg County Public Library.

Minutes taken and published by Kathryn Kuppers, coclerk for CAGP