SJVGreens Minutes

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Minutes of St. Joe Valley Greens

June 2003, Kathleen Kaiser, Recorder

PRESENT: Tom Brown, David Vollrath, Lance Howard, Kathleen Kaiser, David Kaiser

1. OPENING AND CALL TO ORDER:

The meeting was called to order at 7:20 pm, by David K.

2. READING AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Waived reading as minutes were posted on the website.

3. TREASURER'S REPORT:

Lance gave the report.

Lance reported that he deposited Dave V.'s recent donation and had written a check for $166.42 to pay for the tee shirts embroidery. He also wrote a check for $25.00 for the booth fee for Paddlefest.

David V., Kathleen K., David K. and Lance paid their annual local dues.

4. REPORTS OF DELEGATES AND OFFICERS:

Tom gave the Indiana Green Party delegate report.

NWIG

Tom has been helping organize the Northwest Indiana Greens (NWIG) consisting of LaPorte, Lake and Porter counties. All the members have activist experience and are responsible people. Tom attends every other NWIG meeting and answers their questions. They are doing well and he is encouraging them to affiliate with IGP/GPUS.

Presidential Ballot Access Drive

Tom explained that each state Green party must make a credible effort to gain ballot access. In Indiana the number of petition signatures for ballot access must equal or exceed 5% of the number of votes for Sec. of State in the previous general election. The signatures must be registered voters in favor of granting Greens ballot access in Indiana. The minimum was 32,000 signatures in the last petition drive.

IGP Mailing Lists

Tom reported that IGP is going to take the statewide mailing lists off of Yahoo and place them on IGP's own email server.

Monthly IGP Coordinating Committee Meetings

Tom is working with others to demonstrate an alternative to the IU Polycom system for IGP video conferences. Polycom is not available May through August. The next CC meeting is June 28, in Kokomo. CC meetings will be held in Kokomo during the summer to make driving equitable.

Since revoking Marion County's affiliation until the chapter can successfully reorganize, CC quorums are more difficult to meet. The Monroe County Green delegate has missed several meetings in a row causing a quorum problem.

The CC is planning the next IGP Congress for the Fall hoping to attract as many college students as possible.

Other Green Chapters

Marion County - Jeff Stant, founder of the Hoosier Environmental Council, is the new acting coordinator for the Marion County Greens. Due to Jeff's experience on environmental issues and organizing, this is an excellent addition to Indiana Greens.

Monroe County - The Monroe County Greens are active year around. Their attendance and activity doesn't drop with IU Bloomington's summer break since the students tend to join the Campus Greens. Monroe County Greens are comprised of year around citizens, not students. The IUB Campus Greens should continue next Fall without reorganizing as some or all of the officers will return to campus in September.

Brown County - The Brown County Greens are doing well. They have reserved public meeting rooms and will hold three public forums during the summer. The chapter has over 20 members due to terrific outreach work by a few members. But only a few are also IGP members. The chapter is publishing a quarterly newsletter. The theme was water quality and one article featured CSO issues.

5. OLD BUSINESS:

Tabling supplies - According to Vicki the "It's Good to be Green" buttons will be ready in two weeks.

Tee shirts - Kathleen dropped off the shirts to Martin Marketing for embroidering. We discussed pricing for t-shirts: $15.00 for short sleeves, M and L; $17.50 for XXL; $20.00 for long sleeve tees. Tom suggested we check on retail prices for similar products. He and Lance will stop by stores on their ways home, check prices then call Kathleen to report prices.

Paddlefest - Kathleen confirmed placement of our booth for Paddlefest: south side of loading drive at Riverside shelter near the canoe launch site in St. Patrick's Park. We can setup at 8:00 AM. The first race begins at 9:30 AM and prizes will be awarded at 1:30 PM.

Dave V. will bring a folding table, poles and stakes for our banner. Dave K. will bring extra rope. Everyone should bring their own lawn chair. Does anyone own a sun umbrella to shade the table?

David and Kathleen will attend the table all day. Anyone else who would like to decorate the table with their smiling faces are most welcome. Meet at Kaiser's house for a pre-Paddlefest breakfast if you like. Please RSVP (277-7585) if you will be attending breakfast.

Cable Access Show

Tom shared notes from Vicki W. re the cable show. Vicki has not yet talked to David Kaiser. Comcast is waiting for our contract. The person Vicki spoke with seemed flexible re the minimum number of prepared shows that are needed in order to put the show on the air. Vicki feared we wouldn't be ready for the July deadline and thought we should try to be ready by the October deadline. She estimated that 5-6 persons would be needed to produce each show. Tom noted that he has a friend in Berkely (Paul Goettlich) who has video recordings we can use on topics such as GM foods, toxin in the environment, depleted uranium in the military.

Lance added that the Labor Studies Department at IUSB has many videos which we may be able to use. He agreed to find out whether the videos are available for rebroadcast without violating licenses.

David K. presented the outline for the 1st show. David noted that studio time would need to be coordinated for interviews. Tom suggested that interviews be done on location to reduce the need for studio time. David will explore wheter camera equipment can be checked out of the cable access studio. Tom said that Vicki has a good consumer grade digital camera which we can use. David will call Vicki re cameras. He will schedule an interview with Pat Sawyer re Paddlefest and St. Joseph River water quality issues.

6. NEW BUSINESS:

No new business.

7. NEXT MEETING:

Vicki will host the next meeting on Monday, July 14, at 7:00 pm.

Kathleen requests that a volunteer record minutes at the next two meetings. Kathleen will miss the July meeting, and David and Kathleen both will miss the August meeting.

 St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN