The Green Party of Virginia

Present were: Audrey Clement, Kirit Mookerjee, John Reeder, Josh Ruebner, Tom and Tamar Yager (Arlington), Charlie Jordan (Blue Ridge) , James Blythe, Chris Fink, Anna Yeisley (Fredericksburg), Jim Lowenstern (NoVA), Rain Burroughs (Richmond), Mike Rosenberg (Virginia Beach).

The previously published meeting agenda was amended and adopted by consensus as follows:

1. Candidate recruitment for 2009.
2. Bylaws Amendment.
3. Committee Reports.
4. Telemarketing.
5. Approval of Rain Burroughs to UFPJ Committee.

Candidate Recruitment for 2009.

Audrey reported that the SBE Schedule of General Elections indicates that aside from the gubernatorial and attorney general races, elections for 2009 are primarily limited to the House of Delegates (HOD) and a number of county boards of supervisors around the state.

Tom Yager added that there are school board races, races for Vienna Town Council and Alexandria City Council in May, and Charlottesville City Council in November. He also mentioned that while there will be an election to replace Gerri Connolly as Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in February, there is not enough time to recruit a GPVA candidate for that slot or the vacancies on the board of supervisors that are likely to occur when his successor is elected.

Charlie Jordan indicated that he had contacted some people about running for attorney general and reported that Daniel Metraux is interested in running for HOD in Staunton.

Tamar Yager mentioned that GPUS political director Brent McMillan is willing to provide campaign support to candidates for office. She also recommended contacting Jesse Johnson in West Va. about recruiting candidates in southwest Va.

John Reeder recommended running eight to ten candidates for HOD using a common platform. He indicated that he is interested in running for Arlington County Board, and Josh Ruebner said he is considering running for HOD.

Mike Rosenberg said he's interested in running someone for governor, but there was general agreement that GPVA does not have the resources to run a statewide petitioning campaign in 2009.

Chris Fink indicated that the mission statement of the Candidate Exploratory Committee (CEC) provides for candidate recruitment.

Tom Yager, who is chair of CEC, agreed to reconvene the committee. Mike Rosenberg, Chris Fink, Rain Burroughs and Audrey Clement agreed to serve on it.

Bylaws Amendment.

Audrey offered substitute language in place of the amendment to Section XX.D.3 of GPVA Bylaws earlier proposed by Charlie Jordan, as follows:

Insert a new section at XX.D.3:

"A good-faith effort shall be made to contact every Interim Committee member on any decision pending before the committee. A specified period of time shall be allowed for discussion. Not less than seventy-two (72) hours shall be allowed for a vote, including at least two full business days."

Renumber current sections XX.D.3 and XX.D.4 to XX.D.4 and XX.D.5, respectively.

Charlie accepted the substitute as a friendly amendment, and the substitute was adopted by consensus with one member standing aside.

Committee Reports.

Chris Fink solicited reports from conveners of GPVA committees.

Finance Committee.

Convener James Blythe reported that the committee met on October 11, 2008 in Fredericksburg and produced the following recommendations.

1) Launch an immediate appeal to GPVA membership with a suggested amount of $25. The appeal was sent via email and a snail mail appeal to the remainder of the membership will follow shortly.
2) Offer an annual membership card.
3) Obtain a credit card processor for the GPVA website. The Finance Committee has set up a PayPal account for this purpose, but a setup confirmation is required from PayPal before monies deposited in the PayPal online account can be deposited in the GPVA treasury account.
4) Sell merchandise.
5) Sell donated items on an EBay using Chris Fink's EBay account.

In response to a question from Jim Lowenstern, Kirit Mookerjee promised to report via the GPVA listserv the amount of funds raised from the email appeal.

IT Committee.

Convener Chris Fink reported that the committee has eleven members. Susan Dridi has agreed to serve as co-chair, and Chris will produce a metadata packet for distribution to committee members with instructions on how to maintain the GPVA website.

Local Organizing Committee.

The conveners are Josh Ruebner and Charlie Jordan. Josh asked for input on a strategic plan he has disseminated to the GPVA listserv for activating/reactivating locals. He and Charlie volunteered as local regional organizers, and their appointments were approved by consensus. Charlie solicited other volunteers for the committee.

Platform Committee.

Ana Yeisley and Scott Burger are the conveners. Anna indicated that she and Scott had exchanged some correspondence but have nothing to report now.

Steering Committee.

Convener Tom Yager indicated that he will produce a report in the near future.

Structural Reform Committee.

Convener Audrey Clement had nothing to report.

Telemarketing.

Tamar Yager recommended that GPVA consider using the services of GPUS' new telemarketer, Empower Telefundraising. The firm has offered to do a test operation for GPVA for free.

Appointment of Rain Burroughs for UFPJ Committee.

Rain said that she was asked to serve on the newly formed UFPJ Accountability Committee and sought formal GPVA approval for the assignment.
It was agreed by consensus to appoint her to the committee.

Addenda.

Tamar Yager announced that the GPUS Steering Committee will meet informally at John Reeder's house on Saturday evening, January 17, 2009 for dinner. All are invited.

Rain Burroughs announced a shoe protest scheduled for MLK Day, January 19,2009 outside the White House.

Tom and Audrey agreed to schedule the next GPVA quarterly business meeting at a later date.