Home  Minutes Retreat, Summer 2008
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Green Party Retreat, July 20, 2008
Green Party Retreat
July 20, 2008; 1:30 to 5:30 PM
Attending: Carole Willey, Chris Stegman, Marilou Rickert, Muhammed Ayub (had to leave early), Kyle Lucas, Paul Pickett, Mark Lazlo, and Janet Jordan.
Mission Statement: Members contributed to the following composite mission statement. This represents our own feelings about the party we own. It may differ from the “official” mission statement.
We came up with major themes and elaborations to the themes.
1. We provide an alternative to the other two parties, neither of which represents us.
a. We are a party in our own right, not a revision of one of the other parties.
b. We are respected, established – a part of the political power structure at all levels.
c. We have “ownership” of the particular issues we sponsor.
d. A broad base of people understand and support our ideas.
2. We have a vision, including the ten Key Values, and our vision has integrity.
a. While we work to win elections, our vision goes far beyond elections.
b. We look at issues through all the dimensions, including the dimension of social justice which often gets overlooked.
c. We form coalitions with groups working on all the important issues. Energy feeds back to us from our contributions to coalitions.
3. We work to express our vision primarily through the electoral process – to elect candidates and win initiatives.
a. We work strategically, targeting particular races.
b. We work to improve the electoral process, including passage of IRV.
c. We utilize the legislative process to pass bills reflecting our values.
4. Our focus is on the South Sound. We work with national issues as expressed in South Sound terms.
Next we wrote a list of important things for the party to do to carry out its mission.
1. Recruit and support candidates in strategic races. We make campaign plans and carry through.
2. Support initiatives (referendums, etc) before the legislature that reflect our values. Coordinate attendance at hearings, testimony etc. and identify as Greens when we appear.
3. Support the efforts of groups that need our help and that could be our allies.
4. Join efforts to support our existing public services (libraries, low-income programs etc.).
4. Publicize our initiatives: hand out flyers – hold forums – write press releases – go door to door – raise crowds to commemorate events – hold TV events. Put our contact info on each piece.
5. Educate the public about the Green Party and its values. Do this through #3 (publicize our initiatives), and also through general educational efforts such as TV programs and magazine articles.
6. Raise money.
ASSESSMENT – our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats will determine how much of the above list our local can hope to accomplish.
Strengths
• We have survived our ‘infancy’ (still in existence when other locals have gone under)
• Our mission (our values) resonates with other Americans
• We are an international movement; the Green Party brand has meaning
• We’ve gone to open enrollment which seems more welcoming and inclusive
• Working through conflict to resolution, we persist
• State election laws give us structure and some tools
• We are a multi-issue organization so we are always relevant
Weaknesses
• We have a small electoral base
• The membership feels no real connection to the party – no sense of urgency, no immediate relevance of the party’s program to their lives, no sense of ownership or belonging.
• We sometimes lack quality candidates, have to go with whoever shows up
• Our organization is weak (including the organization of our meetings)
• We need public communications training
• We are not well branded locally – people don’t understand what “Green” means
• We have a scattered focus: we skip from one issue to another
• Not enough money.
• Problems framing our message.
• Need “organizational infrastructure”: strategic plans, action plans, follow through. Without a strategic plan, we are reactive rather than pro-active.
• In the face of disagreements, the local has a tendency to splinter.
• The general perception of the party is one or more of the following: 1) kooks; 2) the party of Nader; 3) spoilers; 4) a single-issue party.
Opportunities
• We live in the state capitol and can do legislative advocacy (even write bills)
• It’s election season; people are tuning in to our inspiring candidates (McKinney, Murrell)
• The Top Two Primary has some advantages we can learn to exploit
• The time is right for a third party: general disillusionment with the other two. People want a voice in the issues
• Polling shows the public opinion is leaning our direction
• This is a time of change and crisis; we can be in on the start of solutions
• There are many volunteer opportunities
• While mainstream media will try to squash us, the internet is an opportunity to get our voice heard
• There are progressive outlets on TV and in radio (if you can find them)
Threats
• Factionalization of our affiliates – state Green Party, GP-Seattle, etc.
• Economic problems in people’s lives force us lower on their list of priorities
• Free-floating anger, despair, apathy, and cynicism make people unable to hear our message
• The Democratic Party leadership will try to crush us
• The Security State will attempt to silence us
• We are seen as enablers of the Republican agenda
• People lack information on the Green Party and on the issues – the corporate media has an interest in suppressing information
• People fear change
• Ralph Nader splits the progressive vote
SCOPE – Considering our situation (as assessed above), there are things we can’t do right now. For example, we can’t plan any labor-intensive projects that depend on volunteers. Also, there is no one right now to publish our newsletter.
However, we feel we are able to put this much of our ideal program into practice:
• We (the active core) can reach out personally to our members
• We can reach out to other South Sound Greens and other Green Party locals in the state
• We can have a more effective communications plan (within the party)
• We can set strategic priorities (to advertise our values, get some traction, sell ourselves)
• We can raise some money at Hempfest and other standard opportunities
• We can recruit new members – set a goal to double the membership by 2009. Target independents, youth, disgruntled Dems
• Our scope would grow if current projects met with success.
• We can maximize our effectiveness by correctly sequencing our activities.
• Actual scope is unknown – eight competent and dedicated persons were present at this meeting and we can only guess at the potential.
Next Steps
1. Plan strategy for the next 6 months at the upcoming CC meeting, Wednesday, August 6, 7 to 9 pm. (All members are welcome.)
2. On Thursday, July 14th, from 6 to 8 PM, hold Retreat Part II (continuation of our basic re-evaluation of Green Party purpose and function).
3. Hold another planning meeting, covering strategy for 2009, in 2 months.
4. Some ideas we can try to fit into our Strategic Plan (with currently active members):
• Begin to show videos, at a central location such as Traditions. Carole knows of one called “Bush’s War” which we could purchase along with other organizations (we would pledge $10)
• (part of communications effort) – develop phone tree to ask members to step up and fill vacant positions, work on campaigns
• Recruit candidates for strategic local races in 2009
• Use current campaigns as a recruiting tool. Chris, Stuart Reed and ____ are organizing a McKinney fundraising event; ballot access drive going on now
• We could develop media outreach; organize our own polls and surveys
• We could keep up our own website and use it to refer to other supporting sites
• We could get our message out via Internet [listservs?]
• We could return to a better meeting organization, including vibes watcher, timekeeper, and stack manager
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