Minutes from Jan 21 meeting
Attendance: Laura Clark, Andrea Merida, Victor Forsythe, Michelle May. Guests included Bill Bartlett, state co-chair.
It was discussed and accepted without opposition that the main objectives for the Denver Greens for 2014 will be to:
- Grow Denver Greens presence, membership, participation, and volunteers
- Increase Denver Green Party voter participation, voter registration, and candidacies
- Leverage/identify opportunities for fundraising
Outreach to existing Green Party members – in order to increase participation from existing Denver county registered Greens, a phone bank will happen 30 minutes prior to the start of every meeting, as well as other times as scheduled. Co-chair Andrea Merida has been certified by the Colorado Secretary of State to administer voter registration drives for the Denver Greens and will be scheduling trainings for members to become eligible to work on the voter drives.
The chapter is awaiting data voter registration from the state party. Andrea will work directly with state co-chair Bill Bartlett on creating a voter interface online for use during phone banking and general recordkeeping. As of 2/3/14, the website has been built, and we are awaiting input of 2014 data from the state.
Andrea will distribute contact information to each party member to assist with phone banking, with a simple message to attend the next meeting and a request to join the email list. The names will come from the 2012 list.
People’s Fair – it was accepted without opposition that Denver Greens would host the 2014 People’s Fair Green Party presence but that the state and metro county chapters would be asked to assist with the cost. Denver Greens will pay for 50% of the cost. Bill Bartlett committed to asking his co-chair to approve a portion of the cost. Co-chair Laura Clark will be submitting the application.
Ideas for other events were discussed, including Cinco de Mayo and the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The entry fee for St. Patrick’s Day is $425. Michelle mentioned 420. Laura will consolidate and maintain an events list for the year, which can include fairs, parades, films, social events, discussion groups, etc. Members are asked to submit event ideas to Laura at lcark.gpco@yahoo.com.
Candidates and positions for 2014 – Voting member Michelle LaMay is a proponent Colorado citizen for initiative I-3: Prohibit Cannabis Possession Penalties Act, which has received endorsement of the Colorado Green Party. Signatures will begin to be gathered in February 2014. For more information, visit http://www.relief4possession.com/
GMO Free Colorado is beginning work on a ballot initiative to require GMO labeling of foods in Colorado. It is unclear at what stage the organization might be, but members can look for more information at http://www.gmofreecolorado.org/.
More ballot initiatives can be found here:
- Proposed referred measures: http://www.leg.state.co.us/LCS/Initiative%20Referendum/1314InitRefr.nsf/acd7e51d3fc2b60b87257a3700571f9f?OpenView
- Proposed initiated measures: http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/Initiatives/titleBoard/index.html
Various community-led initiatives were discussed, including the fight against City Loop and a proposed RTD income-based eco pass, as a result of extensive community engagement regarding RTD rate fairness.
New voting member Mike Nelson is expressing interest in running for the Denver city council district 10 open seat now held by Jeanne Robb, for the 2015 election. Additionally, an individual who is contemplating running as a Green in state HD4 district (Northwest Denver) against Democrat Dan Pabon has approached Andrea.
Work is beginning on a Denver County Greens platform, in preparation for the endorsement process for the 2015 and possibly the 2014 elections. Andrea and new voting member Mike Nelson will work on the outline, to be discussed at the next meeting.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, February 24 at the Blair-Caldwell Library in Denver’s Five Points. Phone banking will begin at 6 p.m., and the chapter business meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.