Minutes of Charlotte Area Green Party - June 8, 2002

• Mark Ortiz gave the treasurer's report. Having paid the yearly fee for maintaining our website, the CAGP has $447.90 in checking, $20.00 in cash. Mark informed the meeting that PAYPAL charges $.30 per donation plus 2.9% of the amount donated.
  
  
• Kathryn Kuppers suggested a life-time membership option for dues- paying whereby an individual would pay $250.00 this year and not be required to pay dues in the future. With one member (Kathryn) already paying this amount at the meeting, and with two other members (Gray and Alan) willing to contribute $50.00/month for the next five months, we hope to bring our bank balance over $1,000.00 and thus avoid $84.00/year service charges. Dues are supposed to be determined at each annual meeting. To avoid having to approve this special case for dues-paying at every annual meeting, we need to add something to the bylaws to the effect that this option will be available for this year only, April 2002 through April 2003.
  
  
• Everyone present at the meeting had participated in the stream cleanup so the report on this event was brief. It was suggested that at the next cleanup, which we hope to perform in October, we rig up ropes thrown over the bridges to haul the bags of trash up from the stream bed more easily. Thanks again to Richard, Alan, Gray, Mark Kathryn, Lorna, and especially Kajur, who stayed down in the stream cleaning longer than anyone else.
  
  
• Since we had a quorum of active members(five),we were able to approve a $100.00 check for sponsorship of the Charlotte Labor Day Parade. The normal amount for sponsorship is $150.00, but the Labor Day committee will accept smaller amounts from groups with small coffers. Kathryn will present this amount at their next meeting and hope they accept it. Sponsorship allows access to tabling at the rally site(Tryon and Trade)and voting rights on the planning committee.The parade route is shorter this year, running from the Education Center on Second Street to Eighth and Tryon. Participants should assemble at 9:30 AM, parade begins at 11:00. Bring your kids!! They can carry green balloons in the parade. We will find out if dogs are allowed. If we have a really clever presentation of some kind, maybe we will get some coverage. Anyone with bright ideas contact Kathryn. There will be a large corporate presence at the parade. Bank of America is involved; Budweiser and Coca-Cola will be there selling overpriced beverages.I guess we will have to just wait and see if the presence of these powerful corporations will intefere with the mood and message of the parade. There should be an emphasis on workers rights and union themes,but with a lot of patriotic show thrown in. Anyone interested in attending the planning meetings can come to the Fireman's Hall on Monroe Rd. between Sharon Amity and Wendover. The future meetings are on June 26,July 10&31, August14&29, all at 6:00PM,ending at 8:00PM.
  
  
• Gray Newman reported that he sent 150 emails to ask if recipients wanted to be kept informed of CAGP events and activities. Thirty-nine were returned as undeliverable, two requested to be taken off the list, no others responded. He will send out more to the same list as Labor Day approaches.
  
  
• Alan Burns was given the go-ahead to order 500 bumper stickers with the logo "Think Green" and the CAGP website address on them. One hundred dollars from the treasury and one hundred and fifty dollars from six individual members will pay for the order.
  
  
• Gray Newman announced that he was 99% sure that he would run for Mecklenburg County Soil and Water Conservation Board. If elected he would serve for four years on a board of 3 elected and 2 appointed members. Everyone is encouraged to start thinking about spreading the word to get him elected.
  
  
• By consensus it was decided to delete any reference to affiliation with GPUSA or the NC Green Party (because the NCGP is an individual membership organization without affiliated locals) in the first section of the CAGP bylaws.
  
  
• It was decided to have a meeting in July at the regular time and place, Dalton Room of the Charlotte downtown library at 1:00 PM on Saturday, July 6, 2002. It will probably be a short meeting so please come if you can.