Minutes of Charlotte Area Green Party Meeting, March 13, 2004

Members attending: Albert Aulette, Judy Aulette, Alan Burns, Gregg Jocoy, Kathryn Kuppers

Alan gave a brief financial report for treasurer Mark Ortiz who was attending, and presenting a video, at the Peace Conference at the Unitarian Church. There was approximately $3,569.00 in the checking account. Mark has already reimbursed Alan $57.00 for copying expenses.

Alan reported that B.I.K.E.S had declined to make any mention of a proposed $100 donation from the CAGP in their newsletter; therefore the CAGP will not be giving any money to that bicycling advocacy group.

Kathryn requested approval for a $100 donation to RibbonWalk, a 155-acre forest preserve which is 10 minutes from downtown Charlotte.. This would place the CAGP on a list of Friends of the Forest which will be published in the preserve’s quarterly newsletter. The donation was approved by consensus.

Kathryn has ordered 25 union-made T-shirts from Plains T-shirt Company for $141.69, including shipping and handling. The screen printing will be done at Davidson Screen Printers for less than $1 per shirt.

The March Green Party Meet-up was attended by only three people. The Talley’s Monday discussion group on March 7 was attended by only 5 persons. Because of the low turnout for these regular events, members present decided to only pursue the Talley’s discussion in the future and to try to move the discussion from the second Monday of the month to the second Tuesday of the month. Also next month Judy will make sure that the event is publicized in Creative Loafing and other Charlotte newspapers. Alan is planning a presentation on global warming for this April discussion and Judy will try to get a UNC-Charlotte faculty member to help with the presentation.

Judy suggested that instead of just trying to set up our own events, we should also seek opportunities to make presentations about the Green Party at events and meetings held by already established groups.

Kathryn and Judy reminded the meeting of the CAGP’s participation at this year’s Earth Day event at UNC-Charlotte on April 22 in the middle of the day at the Belk Tower.

Alan announced that he has purged the CAGP yahoogroup membership list and that the group will now be moderated.

After a lengthy discussion about the CAGP website, charlottegreens.org , tentative plans were made to utilize different software for the website in order to make it easier to make changes in the text. Gregg suggested once again that we need to also have a “text only” option. It was agreed that the site needs a “contact us” button that would send e-mail to Alan or to whomever is acting as Outreach Coordinator.

On the first Friday evening in April, Mark intends to show the video “Unprecedented” at the Evening Muse on North Davidson Street.

The next CAGP meeting will be April 17 at Alan Burns’s house at 720 East Tremont Avenue, off of South Blvd., in the Dilworth section of Charlotte, from noon until 4 P.M.. There will be food and socializing from noon til 1:15. The business meeting will begin at 1:15. We will be electing officers for the April 2004-April 2005 year. We will also be setting the dollar amount for and collecting annual membership dues. (The previous year’s dues were set at $5 and no huge increase is expected.) Anyone interested in joining the CAGP or in just getting acquainted with us is welcome. We will need a quorum to elect officers, so if you are a current member, please try to attend or arrange for a proxy vote by contacting Kathryn at kathrynkuppers@earthlink.net .

Submitted by Kathryn Kuppers, coclerk, Charlotte Area Green Party, March 15, 2004