Held at Scottsdale Public Library, Mustang Branch (Auditorium)
10101 N 90th STREET, Scottsdale, AZ 85258
 
 
In attendance: Erik Andersen, Ryan Bleck, Celeste Castorena, William Crum, Justin Dahl, Dennis Gaffney, Bob Gibney, Ashe Higgs, Tim Keal, Vincent Kruse, Linda Macias, Tim Mavrides & Angel Torres
 
The meeting was called to order at 1:37 PM by Angel Torres, county co-chair. The responsibilities for the meeting were filled:
Facilitator: Angel Torres
Time keeper: Ashe Higgs
Note taker: Linda Macias (county recorder)
Vibes watcher: Tim Mavrides
Stacker: Bob
 
The agenda was approved after three items were added. One item was added to the “card carrying Green”—fundraising topic. The second item regarding a press release was set to be discussed after fundraising. The topic of the county website was added to the agenda after building Green locals and Green local reports.
 
Action Items: The minutes of the Oct. 25, 2008 GPMC meeting were read and approved.
 
I. Nominations/election of GPMC officers and steering committee members for 2009-2010. Angel gave a brief history of the AZ Green Party. He also listed the present steering committee members, officers and when their terms end. The nominations and elections were tabled until the March 1, 2009 meeting. Some of the steering committee members and officers were not present and it was not known if they wanted to seek another term for the position they now held. Angel will be sending out an e-mail with job descriptions of the positions that need to be filled.
 
II. Recruiting volunteers for the Arizona Green Party (AZGP) ballot status petition drive & Green Party voter registration drive for 2010 elections. Angel reported that the party would need approximately 40-45,000 signatures to gain ballot status. To do this we need 100 volunteers gathering 15 signatures per week (one petition sheet). The focus is on Maricopa County. A mini demonstration was given to show how petitioning is done. Volunteers signed up for future events in Glendale and Phoenix that would have high foot traffic for good petitioning results. Angel will be e-mailing a list of major events and addresses of places to petition.
 
III. Recruitment of “card carrying Green” and fundraising. Angel passed out forms so that members can become “card carrying Greens” and also to contribute to the county party. These donations help pay for room rental, printing and postage of post cards. PayPal has been set up on the county website to make donating easier. There are t-shirts for sale, along with other Green Party items. There will be opportunity to buy baseball tickets during season where the county party can make 50% from the sale of each ticket.
 
Carport/Yard Sale: Linda Macias reported that the county will be having a carport/yard sale on Saturday and Sunday, March 7 & 8. The Phoenix Central Greens (newly formed) will be hosting the sale at Amalia Vidas’ home, 1910 E. Coronado, Phoenix, 85006. Greens throughout the county are encouraged to donate items to be sold. All proceeds will go to the GPMC. Please drop off the items at Amalia’s home by Friday March 6. If you have items too large for you to bring on your own, call Linda Macias at 480 838-2194 (home) and 480 201-3991 (cell) for pick up. Volunteers are needed for pricing on Friday March 6 and to work the two sale days. Call Linda if you can volunteer some time.
 
IV. Press Release: Celeste gave a background on what led up to the press release that William Crum and she worked on concerning a Green Party position on the possible budget cuts for public education. Because the legislature had already voted on the cuts (since the release was drafted) the release would need to be re written. Angel mentioned that only the Arizona Green Party (AZGP) state committee could approve a press release concerning AZGP’s position on education. However, the press release could be re-written to reflect the position of GPMC on the matter.
 
There was discussion about protocol for press releases. Possible solutions for getting press releases out in a timely manner might be a phone number list of steering committee members and officers or a section on the county website for the steering committee. The press release was tabled for a future meeting.
 
V. Green Locals: Tim Mavrides gave a report of the Mesa Greens. The latest forum that was hosted on Jan 30, 2009 was about Permaculture. There were about 12 people attending. Mesa Greens meet the first and third Tuesday of every month, 7PM at Borders Books across from Fiesta Mall on Alma School and US 60.
 
Vince Kruse talked about the start-up of the Central Phoenix Greens that he is spearheading. The first meeting will be Saturday, February 7, 2009 from 10 – 11:30 AM at the Fair Trade Café on Central Ave in downtown Phoenix. He is hoping that as time goes on there will be spin-offs of this local to establish Green locals across the large geographical spans of Phoenix and Maricopa County.
 
VI. County website: Ashe Higgs has taken on the job of webmaster for the county party. He sees the website as a way of building community. If you have suggestions, his e-mail address is ASHE@green-geeks.com . Ashe mentioned we need to get control of the Go Daddy account information for the county and state websites.
 
VII. Gay Pride March and Celebration: Vince K. reported that it is $25 to march in the parade. He will pay and the county party has already affirmed his reimbursement. The march is on Saturday, April 18. The county party has also agreed to have a booth at the two day celebration, ending on Sunday, April 19. Part of the guide lines from the event coordinators is that the booth must be attended until 7 PM each evening. Volunteers will be needed to work in shifts for these two days.
 
VIII. Next meetings: The February meeting will be held on Sunday, March 1 from 12:30 to 2:30 PM. The meeting will coincide with the annual Local to Global event being held at ASU on Saturday February 28 and Sunday March 1. The Farmer Education Building is where many of the workshops will be held as well as where we will be meeting. This year’s theme is “Reclaiming the Commons”. Brainstorming went on about what to do for this meeting. This meeting will focus on recruitment of more volunteers for ballot status petitioning, election of officers and steering committee members and discussing committees.
 
The March meeting will be Saturday, March 28 at 1:00 PM at the Mesa Public Library, Main Branch, 64 E 1st ST Mesa, 85201, Saguaro Room, 2nd floor.
 
IX. Meeting assessment: Members offered their perspective of what went well and/or how to improve the meeting:

• Ballot status is a priority
• Grow our numbers!
• What is the Green Party? Hold a open house or meet at a coffeehouse
• Agenda for March 1st meeting—improving democracy, IRV/PR, grassroots democracy, discuss the Ten Key Values
• Have testimonials from International Greens on our websites
• Use www.meetup.com to grow our numbers
• Have forum/discussion on the use of industrial hemp

 
Meeting adjourned: 3:40 PM
 
Meeting recorded by Linda Macias, Recorder, Green Party of Maricopa County