Green Party of Maricopa County (GPMC)
Meeting Minutes of Saturday, March 28th, 2009
Mesa Public Library (Main Branch), 64 E 1st Street, Mesa AZ 85201
Saguaro Room
 
In attendance: Erik Andersen, Odessa Bond, Nicholas Bravo, Celeste Castorena, William Crum, Cynthia Duncan, Bob Gibney, Hal Goldfarb, Linda Macias, Tim Mavrides, Vanessa Oros, Angel Torres & Amalia Vidas
 
The meeting was called to order at 1:09 PM by Angel Torres, county co-chair. The responsibilities for the meeting were filled:
Facilitator: Celeste Castorena
Time keeper: Tim Mavrides
Note taker: Linda Macias (county recorder)
Vibes watcher: Bob Gibney
Stacker: Angel Torres
 
The agenda was approved with the addition of the following:• HR 676 bill (discuss during Steering Committee meeting)• Investigation of Pima County Regional Transit Authority election (proposed by Hal—added to flex time area)• Cesar Chavez holiday (added to announcements)• Order new Green Party merchandise (added to Steering Committee meeting agenda)
 
Action Item: The minutes for the January 31 and March 1, 2009 meetings were read and approved.
 
I. GPMC treasury balance: Rebecca DeWitt, county treasurer was not present. Angel T. reported that there is a balance of $1,976.75 in the checking account.
 
II. Update on Arizona Green Party (AZGP) ballot status petition drive for 2010 elections; recruitment of volunteers (Angel): Maricopa County Greens have 906 signatures collected with 16 volunteers. Cynthia added her name as a volunteer petitioner. Pima County Greens have collected 1,711 signatures for a state total of 2,617. To reach the goal of 40-45,000 signatures by March 2010 we will need more volunteers to assist. There are now 4,200 registered Greens in the state; 400 more than last year. Increasing that number to 20,000 would allow us to have a permanent ballot line. There are 1,974 registered Greens in Maricopa County. Celeste said we should distribute Green Party business cards (with the Ten Key Values) while petitioning. It was also suggested that we wear Green Party buttons. Angel informed the group that getting 40,000 signatures from Maricopa County registered voters for state ballot access would also give us county ballot access.
 
III. Review of GPMC organizational “flow” chart, recruitment of volunteers to GPMC committees (Celeste & Angel): Angel noted that the Go Daddy info has been received so that updates of the county and state websites can be made.
 
 
Nicholas asked to be added to the Electoral Reform Working Group. Hal and Nicholas joined the Political Campaigns committee.
 
IV. Fundraising—recruitment of sustainers; sale of Green Party merchandise; recruitment of “card-carrying” Greens; baseball game fundraiser (Angel): Angel suggested how donations can be made to the Green Party at the county, state and national level. Donation forms were made available. There are 36 “card-carrying” Greens in AZ. The Diamondbacks baseball game fundraiser will be Saturday, June 27, at 5:10 PM. GPMC will make 50% profit of each ticket sold. The tickets are $20.00 each. We need to sell a minimum of 50 tickets. Members were asked how many tickets they want to purchase.
 
Amalia reported that GPMC raised $363.88 at the garage sale held on March 7-8. Items not sold were taken to a nearby Goodwill store and the clothing was donated to a women’s crisis center in Phoenix.
 
V. Oversight group investigating Pima County election of Regional Transportation Authority Board (Hal): The state attorney general is investigating the election results of the Pima County Regional Transportation Authority Board. The Maricopa County Elections Office will perform the recount. The dates for the investigation are April 6-10. If Pima County Greens are not sending representatives to Phoenix to be a part of the review, Hal would like to take part in the study. Nicholas offered to team up with Hal. Angel and Celeste will call Salle Hunter of the Pima County Greens to see if they are sending representatives for the investigation.
 
VI. Building Green Locals in Mesa, Central Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe and the West Valley (Hal): The Mesa Greens local meets the 1st and 3rd Tues. of every month, 7 PM at Queens Pizzeria and Café, 125 W. Main Street in Mesa. The last movie/forum night was March 27 and featured a Hypermiling presentation. Hal gave out his contact information in hopes that others may want to start locals in their part of the county.
 
Eric read the report of the Central Phoenix Greens local (sent by Vince Kruse who could not attend). The meetings will be held the second and fourth Wed. of every month at the Copper Star Coffee Shop 4220 N 7th Avenue (north of Indian School) in Phoenix at 6:30 PM. Vince’s recommendation for the latest outreach project included participation in the Phoenix Pride March/Festival on April 18. GPMC decided not to get a booth at the Festival (due to the expense).
 
VII. GPMC Goals for 2009-10 (electoral, issue-based and GPMC-internal); brainstorm for next month’s GPMC Potluck/BBQ (Angel):• Philosopher’s (Socrates) Café at GPMC Potluck/BBQ• Petition drive• Initiative campaigns (IRV, health care, etc)• GPMC internal-party goals (increase attendance, fundraising, increase # of Green Locals, etc)• How do we implement these ideas?• Make Maricopa County solar-energy friendly (Nicholas)• Join my Face Book group—AZ Green Party.org (William)
 
VIII. Parking lot/announcements/future meetings• Phoenix Pride March—Saturday, April 18th (downtown Phoenix)• GPMC Potluck/BBQ—Saturday, April 25th (4:30 – 8:30 PM); Chandler Tumbleweed Park (Honey Locust Pavilion—northwest corner of the park); 2250 S. McQueen Road, Chandler 85224.  • Arizona Green Party (AZGP) state meeting—Saturday, May 16th, 2009 (noon to 5 PM); First Christian Church (Room 109—second floor), 740 E Speedway, Tucson, AZ (southwest corner of Speedway Blvd and Euclid Avenue)• Cesar Chavez’s Birthday March 31• Next GPMC meeting: Sunday, May 31st, 1:30—3:30 PM; Phoenix Public Library (Ironwood Branch), 4333 E. Chandler Boulevard, Phoenix• “Free Courtney Bisbee” rally in front of the Maricopa County Court House, Monday, March 30, 11 AM to 1 PM
 
IX. Evaluation (positive, negative & concerns)• a couple of new faces• a lot was covered in the meeting• maybe less time could have been taken on hoping to set up a phone report with the treasurer
 
X. Adjourn: @3:20 PM
 
Meeting recorded by Linda Macias, Recorder, Green Party of Maricopa County
Revisions by Angel Torres, GPMC co-chair