Downriver Greens Meeting Notes 1-18-01
Meeting opened with introductions from Amy Hunt and a special welcome to the three new people in attendance.
Amy petitioned the group to call and express our displeasure with Sen. Debbie Stabenow for not only supporting but introducing former senator Spencer Abraham for Energy Secretary.
Amy provided the updated information from the County and Regional meeting at the Green House the prior weekend. Highlights including:
- The SCC's recognition of George Corsetti's County Committee.
- Informed the group that on Monday the 22nd of January the Committee will gather at the Green house to interview and vote on a candidate for the open state senator seat in Detroit.
Also announced the Pot Luck dinner of the Metro Detroit/Detroit Greens for Sunday Jan. 21st.
Darren provided his update of the R.E.C.A.P. meeting held in Romulus on January 17th. Expressed optimism that perhaps the construction could be delayed by denying permits to build in wetland areas. More will be provided as information and further actions become available.
Bob Whitney also suggested we come up with an issue oriented statement of why the Green Party supports the efforts of RECAP. Will be looked into and acted upon quickly.
Darren brought us up-to-date on the "Resurrect Democracy" protest scheduled for Ann Arbor on January 20th. Members were urged to attend and support the event.
Group voted to leave the By-laws as they are until July's meeting unless points of objection are brought to bear. At which point amendments are welcome, always.
Adopt-a-highway campaign was placed for consideration and the group was asked to make a decision on what stretch of roadway we should adopt. We will take a consensus vote at our February meeting.
TV ads were brought to the floor. Darren has inquired with Comcast and will be sending out the information to them the week of the 21st of January. Bob Whitney also offered to find contact with the Wyandotte cable system and Darren plans to talk with the other Cable suppliers to downriver who have recently been purchased by Comcast, for a smooth transition into their new organization.
Street Fairs were brought to the floor. Melissa Wilkinson mentioned her inquiries and Paul Jennings brought us a full report on several area festivals.
-A booth at the Trenton Street Fair is free to a non-profit organization. If we wish to sell material the cost of the booth will be $125 for three days. Applications will be taken in March of this year.
-Wyandotte Street Fair requires a $40 payment for 4 days, howver we will have to wait until March for authorization and availability.
*Out-Reach Ideas-
Blood Drive sponsorship was discussed. Phyllis Moga was asked, and said she would look into co-sponsoring the event with another interested group. She offered to contact Red Cross for suggestions and requirements of volunteer service needed.
-Michigan Citizens for Quality Care(MCQC)- Phyllis gave us the information on their upcoming events including:
-Wayne County's meeting at the Taylor Public Library on Feb. 8th, 2001 at 7:00PM-9:00PM
-Oakland and State meetings were also discussed. More information should be available from the Downriver Green Web-Site. Guest speakers at the State Meeting in Lansing include:
Jules Olsen- Nursing Home Rights Attorney and Michael Conners a leader in the MCQC.
Discussed the current tendancies for Nursing Homes to be designated "Assisted Living Facilities" to avoid State Nursing Home Regulations.
January 31st Phyllis Moga will be presenting ideas and information of the MCQC at the Green House in Ferndale. More information as it becomes available. Suggestions of interest to Greens would include: Getting Green Material to the members so we might be able to break the Democratic hold of the process. And Press releases to announce Phyllis' speaking engagement.
Discussed working with All local Green party's, the Metro-Detroit and the Detroit greens specifically to find booth space at the State Fair, Monroe Fair and the Huron Applefest.
Considered the need for Large Banners and look to petition the State Party to purchase banners to be used by different Green Entities as Events warrant. Thought the Green House might be a convenient place to store South-Eastern Michigan Banners until need. Will inform of progress at next meeting.
Spoke of need to get Green Leaders "Into the Classroom" for Civics/Government classes so that the youth of the State might know there are other parties out there besides the Democrats and Republicans.
Gordon Widener suggested a benefit concert of some of the Bands he knows and was directed to Tom Ness (Jamrag) for advice and instruction. He expects to report at next meeting.
Phyllis suggested we contact the News-Herald Newspapers to try to push for an "Activist Column" in their event calendars, so people don't have to read the other less activist events to get to the heart of the matter.
We reminded our membership of the Message boards that are posted on our site https://downrivergreens1.tripod.com/home/ Gordon was kind enough to create them, we truly should utilize them!
Committee Updates:
Signed up members of committees were reminded of their position, and the membership will be added to the Website directly. Membership offered to join as many as they would like. Decided that most committees are running smoothly, and should intensify as time goes on.
Mike Robbins brought us up to date on the Mumia petition. Gave us a history of the fight and offered petitions to all present. We all signed a single petition to voice our unanimous support of this worthwhile and important cause. (The History and Petition should be available on our web-site later this weekend).
-Mike also brought us up to date on the Status of the University of Michigan Dearborn Greens.
-a decision by the Student Organization should be brought forward by this coming Tuesday(Jan. 23rd). Gregory Field is one of the Professors willing to sponsor the activities. All new information will be presented on the Web-site, under the page entitled UofMD Greens Update (should be up and running by Monday (Jan. 22nd).
We discussed getting our Presence out and about around town.
-The need for attendance of all municipal meetings in our area (even the boring ones) was brought forward.
-A suggestion that perhaps we should plan on taping some of our local meetings for air on local cable newscasts might give people a better idea of our ideas and motives. It will be presented via e-mail this week for consideration to the entire local and we shall continue the idea at our next local meeting. We wish to make the tape first, view it and discuss posting/presenting after that.
Wishes of the Group to make our own "local" newsletter to be passed out door-to-door when the weather warms. All ideas are welcome. It is Michigan, Late April/Early May would probably be our launch date for the endeavor.
All members were urged to scan their local information channels and pool all info on municipal meetings/city council meetings so that we might develop a game plan for attendance and responses.
Meeting adjourned slightly before 9:00PM
Next meeting is scheduled for February the 15th, 2001. Location to remain Zodiac, unless new accommodations can be arranged. You will be notified of any changes.
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