About the St. Joe Valley Greens

	Monthly Meeting Notes
March 1999	Living Wage Campaign Only a very brief general meeting was held this evening because of The Living Wage Rally which was held at 5:30 pm. Many local Greens and other activists turned out for the march and rally. We convened our meeting following the rally and then returned to the County-City Building for the City Council meeting where approximately a dozen people spoke on behalf of a living wage ordinance. Following public input the City Council unanimously passed a resolution to form a subcommittee to study the possibility of a living wage ordinance. Electoral Politics Issues The Greens are continuing to work with two candidates running for City Council, Mike Keen (1st district) and Charlotte Huddleston (at-large). Anyone in the 1st district who would like to put out a yard sign should call Citizens for Keen at 233-4257. Upcoming dates and events are: April 10 - literature drop for Charlotte Huddleston, time and meeting place to be announced. Lee Gloster is coordinating this. Contact Luella Fogarty, 219-291-0497 to volunteer. May 4 - Election Day - volunteers are needed to work as poll watchers and perform other duties that day. People are encouraged to contact Mike Keen and Charlotte Huddleston, or Pete Meyers and Lee Gloster (their respective campaign managers) to help on May 4. If you don't have their phone numbers, call Luella Fogarty, 219-291-0497. Newsletter The newsletter articles are complete, and the media committee plans to get it out this week. The Spring volume will be dedicated to electoral issues. Nuclear Waste Congressional Representative Dingel of Michigan. (who helped sponsor the bill) is now holding up the Nuke Waste bill -- he has found that there is not enough money in the Nuke Waste Fund. People United for Responsible Policing (PURP) A report was given by Lee Gloster and Charlotte Huddleston who attended the PURP meeting. PURP is a newly formed group that wants to improve community and police relations. Mayor Luecke is also participating in PURP. This group is still in organizational stages. At the last meeting 50 FOP officers attended in a show of force. The police and their supporters made a number of inappropriate comments. As a step forward a police officer was appointed to the board of PURP. The minority police officer group is lobbying to have one of their members on the board also. The Greens support the inclusion of both police representatives. However, we need to get more community involvement as the PURP meeting was attended primarily by FOP members. Meeting dates are now set for the second Monday of each month at the La Casa de Amistad - contact Liliana Silvestry for more details at 233-2120. Earth Day Earth Day is scheduled for April 24, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm at Howard park. The Greens will have a table. A sign up sheet was passed for tabling volunteers. Contact Luella Fogarty, 219-291-0497 to volunteer at the table. Next SJV Greens Meeting The next Greens meeting will be held April 26, at 7 pm, at the Central United Methodist Church.
February 1999	Campaign/Electoral Issues We discussed how the Greens can help the campaigns of Mike Keen and Charlotte Huddleston whom we are officially supporting. Mike Keen’s needs: March 6 - A literature drop is scheduled for March 6. Everyone will meet at Mike's house, 843 Park Avenue, at 12 noon. April 24 - Mike has also scheduled a door tagging for April 24 with a party at his house following (details later). Charlotte Huddleston’s needs: April 10 - A literature drop will be done sometime in April, tentatively April 10. Both campaigns need volunteers to be poll watchers and to perform a variety of other tasks on Election Day, May 4. Poll watchers must be at their polling places before the polls close at 6pm. Volunteers will be given a card by Mike or Charlotte identifying them as a watcher. They will be able to sit in the polling location and obtain the vote counts as poll workers tally them. They should report back to Mike Keen's house with the totals so that we can monitor the results. We are also mounting a voter registration campaign. Luella is working to set this up and will contact volunteers with times and dates. Currently we are planning to set up registration tables at one of the local groceries once a week and possibly do a door to door campaign later in the month, possibly March 20. The deadline for registration for this election is April 5. The electoral politics committee is continuing to develop a plan for a shadow municipal government based on neighborhood delegate assemblies. They are working on identifying people that might be willing to work as precinct leaders in each of the city's precincts as well as defining the role of the precinct leader. The committee is trying to resolve the usual debate regarding party politics versus movement organizing. Living Wage Campaign After meetings with councilmen and city officials we are concerned that the city council is going to drag it's collective feet on introducing the living wage ordinance. A march and rally promoting the living wage campaign will be held on March 22 prior to the city council meeting at 7:00pm. Nuclear Issues CAC is continuing planning on a week-long anti-nuclear action camp for this summer -- likely at a site near Cook Nuclear Plant. This camp will involve workshops, lectures and training on nuclear power and alternatives to traditional power generation. The organizers are contemplating a protest action at the end of the camp. Details are still being worked on and more information will be available in the coming months. This year the nuclear waste transportation bill has been re-introduced into the house as HR 45 -- calls and letters to Evan Bayh opposing the bill are needed. Recycling Roger Voelker is continuing to investigate recycling contract compliance by Waste Management Inc. He spoke with Waste Management employees today and was informed that the recyclables picked up in South Bend are taken to collection facilities in Chicago, IL, and Plainfield, IN. These facilities are owned by Resource Management which may itself be owned by Waste Management. We are still considering how to follow some recyclables to find out what is actually being done with them at Resource Management. Newsletter/Around the Bend We need to get out a newsletter, and it should be prior to election -- around mid-April. Pete Myers and Lee Gloster agreed to write articles on the candidates we are supporting, Mike Keen and Charlotte Huddleston. Tom Brown is going to write an article on the shadow municipal government project. Dave Menzer may do an article on water quality issues. We will also have a list of dates and needs for the upcoming election. Financial Report We currently have $161.00 in our bank account. The hat was passed and $22.14 was collected. We should have enough to cover the upcoming newsletter. People United for Responsible Policing Pete is attending the meetings of this recently formed group. The group is focusing on community/police relations and the eventual possibility of forming a civilian review board. National Greens Issues The National Green Council will have a meeting on March 20 and 21st in Chicago, hosted by the Chicago Greens. We belong to the Midwest region, and currently there aren’t any representatives on the Green Council from the Midwest region. A request for someone from our chapter to attend this meeting was made by the chair. Pete Meyers, Martha Tyrone and Patrick Bannon all expressed interest and were given contact numbers to call. IPPN Independent Progressive Politics Network is a national coalition of groups that are forming an independent network working towards values that coincide with the Greens platform. We decided that the Greens local would become a member as soon as we can afford it. A $50.00membership fee is required. We currently need to get out our newsletter so we cannot join at this time. Pete Meyers has begun a special collection towards IPPN membership. Arcata city ordinance Arcata, CA, has a majority of Greens on the city council. The city council is holding public hearings on an ordinance that would limit the political power of corporations in Arcata and increase the power of sovereign citizens over corporate entities. This is something we want to look at and perhaps work on locally in the future. More information will be forthcoming as we follow the story in Arcata.
January 1999	Membership/Funding Issues A phone tree was developed and will be initiated for reminder calls prior to each meeting as well at any time felt necessary. Tom Brown made flyers about the Greens. Each member took some for distribution as a "marketing tool". We also passed the hat and $13.00 was collected for the Greens. Electoral Committee Tom Brown gave the report. The committee had met and set goals: to advance a grassroots form of democratic government in South Bend -- possibly based on a precinct council system. Each precinct in a district will have its own council and elect mandated delegates to the district council. Eventually the system will create a bottom-up government of the people, by the people and for the people. Tom is placing Indiana election codes on our website and will also give each committee member a disc with this info on it. Dave Menzer is to speak with Dick Beeching about getting the info on election results. Both Tom Brown and Luella Fogarty met with Mike Keen (running for 1st district City Council) and Charlotte Huddleston (running for at-large City Council) recently. They reported on this meeting. It was felt that both Mike and Charlotte, while running as Democrats, did follow our 10 key values. They will be running as independent progressive candidates as well. Following discussion the SJVG voted to endorse these candidates in the upcoming election. The next Electoral Committee meeting will be Sunday, 2/21/99, 2pm, at Dave Vollrath's office. Interested Greens are welcome. St. Joe Valley Project (SJVP) Living Wage Campaign Dave Vollrath gave a report. There will be two public hearings on the living wage issue next week. A flyer was passed out. Soon they will be working on writing an ordinance. After discussion and reading the living wage campaign statement the SJVG voted to endorse the campaign. We did decide as a group that the Greens would like to push for a SuperMinimum wage in the ordinance. The SJVP did add a Sustainable Development committee -- also in response to one of the Greens' concerns. Nuke Waste Issue Report by Roger Voelker. A week long action camp is being planned for this spring/summer. The nuke waste policy act of 1999 has already been reintroduced. People need to write to Sen. Bayh, who is replacing Sen. Coats, to oppose this. Everyone is also encouraged to send letters opposing electric deregulation. Recycling Now that curbside is starting, we are still wondering if the recyclables are actually being recycled. Roger and Dave have briefly looked into some tracking devices. Roger will continue to look, and, if he finds something suitable, will let us know. Then we can track some trash!! Urban Sprawl/Development Ed Jensen brought up some concerns about the proposed Walmart to go up on US 31 south and the annexation proposal. He is going to research the already formed opposition and may want to work on a coalition plan for the Greens to help with this. Independent Political Network This is a network of social justice political groups. Pete has proposed that we look into joining. It was decided that this could be something for the Electoral Committee to decide. Announcements Paul Dotson Annual economic outlook panel will be on 1/26 from 530-8pm There will be a volunteer canvass Saturday run by CAC - they will be flyering Bauer's district on the clean manufacturing institute and choice funding. Cac Lobby Day will be on 2/23/99 - a Tuesday in Indy. Senior Rally Day for CAC is on 2/3/99 Campaign Kick Off party for Mike Keen and Charlotte Huddleston will be on Friday February 5, 7-10pm at Mike Keen's house A formal announcement of the campaigns will also take place on Monday Feb 8 at 10am at the County City Building. Green Values We discussed grassroots democracy before we adjourned.
December 1998	The regular business meeting was cancelled, and we hosted a seasonal meal at the Malabar Restaurant on Dec. 19.
November 1998	The Annual Congress The St. Joe Valley Greens held it's annual congress on November 21, 1998, at the Central United Methodist Church in South Bend, In. We began our Congress with two speakers on electoral issues. They were, Jo Blacketor, South Bend School Board Member, and Dick Beeching, head of the local chapter of the National Education Association. Some of the topics discussed were: the media, finances, endorsing candidates, availability and focus of candidates, and what wins an election. For the remainder of the Congress we had an issue review and discussion to determine what focus we would take for 1999. Following are those issues. Electoral Politics St. Joe Valley Project Water Quality Nuclear Issues Recycling Fund Raising Political Platform Charter Election of Officers for 1999 We concluded our Congress with the elections of officers. Our next meeting will be Monday, January 22, 1999, at 7 P.M., at the Central United Methodist Church, 1920 S. Michigan St., South Bend, IN.
July 1998	Green Notes newsletter The summer issue of Green Notes is ready for mailing. The labels will be prepared this weekend and applied to the mailings during the week. With any luck members should receive their newsletters the week of August 10, if not earlier. Recycling Although curbside recycling now seems a certainty, barring further legal maneuvering by Waste Management Inc., service may not begin until January, 1999. We will stay involved in local recycling to ensure compliance, effectiveness and political support. Water Quality A number of people expressed interest in investigating local water quality as a possible action issue. Possible coalition partners were suggested, and we will contact them. Bicycle Lanes/Alternative Transportation The meeting decided to investigate the status of bicycle lanes as an issue for the coming year. We will make contact with potential coalition partners regarding their desire to see bicycle lanes built in the the city/county. Of particular interest are bicycle shops and riding clubs. Perhaps we can raise bike lanes as a public safety and environmental issue. We briefly discussed Transpo's routing, scheduling and electric buses. St. Joe Valley Project/CARE CARE is now totally folded into the successor organization, St. Joe Valley Project (SJVP). SJVP shares offices with the AFL/CIO Council at 2015 Western Ave. in the Marycrest Building in South Bend. The Board of Directors is being filled, and an organizer has been hired. His name is Dan Lane. An interview with Dan appeared in the August 2, 1998, issue of the South Bend Tribune Business section. Political Party Building We now have the most recent city/county maps of political districts. The maps are actually not very good. We also have a few brochures regarding deadlines to register candidates for various offices and campaign finance regulations. The materials were supplied by the County Election Board. Although the Election Board staff at the County/City building were friendly and helpful, the dominant parties have budgeted no money toward helping organize independent parties at any level of government in Indiana. So the staff was very limited in the help they could provide. Our next steps in party building are obtaining voter registration lists, obtaining historical election results, analyzing the election results for trends, and assembling a schedule of elections for the next few years. A few attendees discussed designing and printing yard signs advertising the local chapter and reminding voters to consider the environment, grassroots democracy, social justice and non-violent solutions when they enter the polls. The signs would be rotated through yards in the community according to where current elections are being held. Ecology and Religion We briefly discussed building bridges to local churches. In recent years national religious denominations such as the North American Catholic Bishops, the United Church of Christ, the United Methodist Church, and various Jewish groups (just to name a few) have begun to promote environmental and environmental justice activism as a religious duty. This gives us hope that a larger political coalition can be built with the aid of local churches. Samples of environmental curricula from the Church of the Brethren and Sojourners were available for browsing.
February 1998	Recycling Curbside recycling passed 6 to 1. Unfortunately Waste Management Inc. got the contract for all five districts. Anti-S.L.A.P.P. Suit Law A bill is before the Indiana General Assembly to severely restrict the use of lawsuits, typically initiated by corporations and other powerful entities, to squelch public discourse and grassroots dissent on controversial issues. The Greens support the original bill but not the current language which has watered down the original provisions. Roger Voelker said that he was attending the City Council meeting this evening where a resolution in favor of the Anti-SLAPP Law will be introduced. He asked for our input. Later Roger returned and announced the Council passed the resolution favoring the law. We were pleased. Hog Farm Legislation Bill 445, an industry influenced bill, will come to a vote on Feb. 24. Dave urged everyone to call their legislators and oppose the bill. Concentrated corporate hog operations have caused severe environmental and economic problems in six states already. Greens National Issues The Representative from our area to the National Congress will be up for election at the next annual conference. Beth will consider running for the office. The annual conference is scheduled for July 16-18 (Th.-Sa), in St. Louis, MO. The focus will be on genetic engineering and food issues. We want to have $100 set aside in advance to aid the representative, and we want to increase our paid up memberships to the National so that we will have the maximum number of votes for our representative. The next Green Council Meeting is in Madrid, IA, on March 27-29. Suzy Holshuh is our current rep and Carol Bellin is our alternate. Carol reminded us that our chapter has made a commitment to sending a rep to the Green Council and to financially support our rep's expenses. Proposals are needed to present to the National Congress regarding getting ASGP and GPUSA to work together. The National Clearinghouse coordinator resigned as of March 1. The National is still looking for locals to take turns running the Clearinghouse. CARE CARE is awaiting the completion of the tax abatement ordinance. An attorney for the Council is writing it. Once written the Council will vote on it. CARE will join the St. Joe Valley Project which will supercede CARE. The Project is similar in purpose and structure to the Calumet Project. We are concerned that Green issues may be lost because the Calumet Project is very labor oriented. Dave will ask the St. Joe Valley Project to include Green language in their constitutional documents, to give Greens a voice in the coalition and to consider hiring a female in a prominent Project position such as Coordinator. Newsletter Neve wants all articles submitted within the next two weeks. We are shooting for an April publication. Beth thinks she can photocopy the issue. Fund-raising The membership canvass didn't happen last month as we didn't have enough volunteers show up. We are very short on funds. Luella suggested mailing a fund-raising letter to all our contacts as we have done in the past. She will write and send the letter and donate the cost of photocopying and postage. Neve and Catherine will edit and proof the letter. Beth offered to create a merge file to insert the names of recipients in the form letter. Beth and Tom discussed how to do the merge. Dave suggested we have a fund-raising party. We can charge $1.00 or more to attend the party. Luella and Dave will plan to host the party at her house. War Resistance Peace events are still going on in the local peace community. If the U.S.A.. bombs Iraq, there will be a daily vigil from 5:30 to 7:30 P.M.., probably at Rep. Tim Roemer's office in South Bend.
January 1998	Recycling A public meeting regarding curbside recycling will be held Feb. 18, at the public library, and we need as many people to attend as possible. We want our points of view well represented. Fund-raising Volunteers from the chapter will canvass door-to-door on Sat., Feb. 7, to solicit new members and donations. The canvassers will meet at the church at 10:30 A.M. and begin walking at 11:15 A.M.. We will also collect signatures to turn in to the Solid Waste Board regarding curbside recycling. Dave put together a fact sheet for the canvass: establish curbside recycling program forbid monopoly control of recycling services by contractors institute penalties for contractors that do not recycle collected materials Newsletter We discussed the reasons for publishing a newsletter separate from Around The Bend (ATB) since a newsletter is a major expense to the chapter. In the end we decided that we need to promote our own ideas and issues and can continue to contribute articles and money to ATB to help them publish. Neve announced that we need submissions for the next newsletter. Bulk Mail Permit We decided not to renew our bulk mail permit. The bulk mail rates and requirements have changed to the degree that we don't save money unless we send out at least four or five major mailings per year. Even then the extra work involved in presorting drains the volunteers and doesn't save us enough money to warrant the use of bulk mail. We can always reinstate the permit if it becomes economic again. Land Mines A meeting will be attempted with Sen. Dan Coats regarding land mine legislation. Electric Service Deregulation Roger urged everyone to make calls to the State Senate and House opposing SB 431.
November 1997	Meeting Time Change The new meeting date will be the 4th Monday evening of each month at 7:00 P.M.. We hope that more people can attend by moving to Monday. Recycling Issues The next meeting of the Solid Waste Board is Feb. 23, at 10:00 A.M.. We want to push for changes in the proposed contracts: No one provider or hauler for all the waste districts - no monopoly control "good citizen" requirement - Waste Management Corp. would not qualify Everyone was encouraged to stress these two issues when they call City Council members and the Mayor. Coal Tar Issue Roger will fax info to Neve, and Roger will talk to the head of IDEM about the issue. IDEM (Indiana Dept. of Env. Management) IDEM has announced monthly local meetings. Newsletter The new newsletter committee consists of Catherine, Neve, Mark and Tom. The committee has decided to publish a quarterly newsletter (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter). CARE The monthly CARE meetings will be on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. City Council members and a city attorney attended the last CARE meeting. The City Council is working on passing a tax abatement amendment. National Greens Clearinghouse The person who currently runs the National Clearinghouse Project is likely to quit: the stipend is too low and there is too little work to sustain the position. A suggestion was made at the national level to rotate the clearinghouse function through local chapters.§ Back \| Home