GPWA Fall Gathering

Join us for our 2021 Fall Gathering via Zoom!

Please join us on Sunday, November 21st from 7 pm to 9 pm for planning, connecting, and learning!

Agenda:

7:00 PM – Welcome, Introductions, and Ice Breaker

7:30 PM – Who Is The Green Party? Video and Discussion

8:00 PM – 2021 Year in Review: Our Candidates, Initiatives, and Efforts

8:30 PM – 2022 Looking To The Future: Priorities, Goals, and Ideas

9:00 PM – Wrap Up and Next Steps

Pre-register for the event here:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpce2przouGdSkarJp7kIqvyHLqiGrHoNs

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

GPWA Organizer Description (Contract Position)

This recruitment is open to current state party members in good standing. If you’re interested in applying for this position, please send your one-page letter of interest to hello@greenpartywashington.org explaining your qualifications and relevant experience no later than 11:59 pm on October 25th.


In order to grow, we must increase membership and organize new chapters in our state. Increasing membership and building chapters is a huge task and hiring an organizer will be a good investment and be more efficient and effective than relying totally on volunteers.

This proposal is to hire an experienced Green Party Organizer who will work to increase membership and create new and viable chapters in Washington. The Organizer will serve as a contractor, not an employee. The contract will last for six months, with an option to extend for an additional six months based on work completed. The contract will begin on November 1, 2021, and continue through May 1, 2022.

During the month of April 2022, the CC will review overall progress and our budget to decide whether to continue the contract until November 1, 2022. In October 2022, the CC will review progress and our budget to decide whether to extend the contract for any longer period of time.

The Organizer position will begin as a contract for six hours per week at $15 per hour, for six months. Future increases in hours per week and/or pay per hour may be approved by the CC.

The contractor will provide monthly status reports to the CC on their work, including time spent on each task; updates on membership, income, and fundraising; progress on chapter building; and a summary of social media outreach.


GPWA Organizer Tasks – 25 hours per month:

Month 1: Chapter Building – 1, 2, 3; Membership/Income – 1; Communications – 1, 2

Month 2: Add: Chapter Building – 4

Month 3: Add: Chapter Building – 5

Month 4: Add: Chapter Building – 6; Membership/Income – 2; Communications – 3

Month 5: Continue above

Month 6: Add: Chapter Building – 7, 8, 9; Communications – 4, 5


Chapter Building (40%)

GPWA chapter activity can be grouped by the CC into three levels: (1) affiliated chapters that are doing well and only need targeted support, (2) affiliated chapters and chapters-in-formation that are organized but not very active and need more support, and (3) areas that are not organized and need extensive support.

1. Information in the database and anecdotal reports will be used to identify those areas (3) where new chapters can most readily be formed, as well as potential leaders in those areas.  Zoom calls will be used to discuss the formation of each new chapter with potential leaders and others they suggest.

2. Information in the database and anecdotal reports will also be used to identify affiliated chapters and chapters-in-formation (2) that are not very active. Zoom calls will be used to discuss reactivation with potential leaders and others they suggest.

3. A menu of outreach strategies will be created including tabling kits, merchandise available from GPWA at cost, literature, event support, etc. (GPWA will continue to offer $200 advances to local chapters affiliated and in-formation for outreach events. Proceeds from an event will pay back the advance, with GPWA absorbing the loss if proceeds don’t cover it all.)

4. Recruit a qualified volunteer and/or a college intern, if possible, to serve as Assistant Organizer.

5. Chapters that are currently active (3) will be engaged in discussions of support available from GPWA, including setting short-term goals, outreach strategies including media, facilitation training, tabling kits, etc.

6. Presentations including PowerPoint and other platforms will be developed on How to Form a New Local, Building Coalitions, Tracing Events and Activities, How to Run a Meeting, How to Use Consensus, How to Recruit Candidates, Staffing Campaigns, Supporting Greens in Office, etc.

7. Periodic state-wide Zoom calls will be held on topics of interest to chapters including outreach, learning from other chapters, etc.

8. Create a Speakers Bureau of Greens knowledgeable about various issues so they can serve as guest speakers at chapter meetings to encourage interest and activism.

9. NationBuilder options will be utilized to track chapter activities and local organizers.

Membership & Income (40%)

1. Information in NationBuilder will be used to create a systematic process to increase membership and income from membership, including converting non-members to members and increasing the level of dues paid by individual members.

2. Supporters whose NationBuilder listing of employers or job titles or from referrals can be assumed to be in a higher income bracket will receive a personal call asking them to consider becoming a major donor with a one-time or ongoing donation. A short menu of possible projects for which we are seeking funding may be offered.

Communications and Social Media (20%)  

1. Review all literature and resources on our website and suggest updates to the CC.

2. Chapters, both affiliated and in-formation, will be offered assistance in creating social media platforms and websites.

3. Promote local organizing on our state party social media platforms.

4. Write and distribute a periodic state-wide E-Newsletter for chapters and members.

5. Create a PowerPoint presentation on how GPWA is organized, GPWA history, and volunteer opportunities.

Endorsement of Stephen Wright for Mayor of Forks

Green Party of Washington State

Endorsement of Stephen Wright for Mayor of Forks, Washington

Candidate Statement:

“I want to add agricultural revenue, expand our local economy, reduce our reliance on timber and tourism revenue, fix our communications infrastructure, fix our playground, create educational opportunities, and provide body cameras for police. A vote for Wright is a vote to take care of our community.” -Stephen Wright

Mayoral Candidate:

Stephen Wright, an Independent Green, is running for Mayor of Forks. The Green Party of Washington State has endorsed his run and invites other Greens and Independent voters to support him. Please help spread the word on any of these platforms.

His website: https://www.wright4forks.com/

His facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Wright4forksmayor

His twitter feed: https://twitter.com/Wright4Forks

Also on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/wright4forksmayor/

Stephen represents his community and a plan for a future-ready Forks. Wright is a Green running as an independent to de-emphasize party politics and focus on practical solutions that are community-based, local, and sustainable.

About Forks:

Forks, Washington is a city located on the Olympic Peninsula, within Clallam County in the northwest of our state. The population was roughly 4,000 in 2019. Clallam county is situated on the border with Canada, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from Vancouver Island, BC and includes the iconic bioregional features of our Pacific Coast rain forests, salmon runs, and coastal migratory sea mammal routes. 

Clallam County includes Port Angeles which is the largest population center in the county and leans Democrat. Politically, Clallam County is a competitive area; the county holds the longest record, as of 2020, for predicting official presidential election winners, which makes it a political “bellwether”. The city of Forks is Republican-leaning. A win for an Independent Green Party candidate would be a win for political party autonomy in Washington State.

Historically The City of Forks didn’t begin as a logging town; however later it was economically tied to the logging industry, and more recently the town was the location for the popular TV series ‘Twilight’, which brought increased tourism into the area, but that fandom began to wind down sometime after 2010. 

Stephen Wright’s Agenda as Mayor of Forks:

“Halito, I’m Stephen Wright, a progressive Choctaw running for mayor for the City of Forks. Our city has relied on logging and tourism for their revenue, both dying industries. Our city cannot afford basic necessities…” 

According to Stephen Wright, Forks can do better and be better, and GPWA believes Forks deserves better. Here are some bullet points from his agenda: 

  • Reduce our reliance on tourism and timber revenue
  • Repair park & playground equipment
  • Fix our communications infrastructure
  • Body cameras for police
  • Create educational opportunities by partnering with higher education
  • Expand our local economy 
  • Add agricultural hemp revenue
  • Extend the sidewalk along Highway 101
  • Ban on pesticides and nitrogen additives in Forks as environmental protections for waterways and old-growth forests

Stephen is a disabled Veteran, a father of young children, an Agrobiologist educated at Evergreen College, and an indigenous American. He is a resident of Forks who is invested in the long-term preservation and success of his community.

The Green Party of Washington state invites Greens statewide to support Stephen Wright for Mayor of Forks, Washington.

https://www.greenpartywashington.org/

https://www.facebook.com/GreenPartyWA

https://twitter.com/greenpartywa

Volunteer with the Green Party!

The Green Party is governed by our principles and values, and unlike the corporate political parties, we do not accept — and are not influenced by — corporate cash. Our platform is based on our values of peace, sustainability, grassroots democracy, and justice for all. We aim to broaden the scope of political discourse and reshape the political process.

We are currently forming teams for each of the volunteer options in our recently updated Volunteer Form. We want to make good use of your skills, knowledge, interests, and time to support the Green Party at state and local levels.

Your efforts make a direct impact on the growth and success of our party, and we look forward to working with you!

Please complete or update our revised Volunteer Form available at https://www.gp-wa.org/volunteer – and contact us to suggest other volunteer options.

Jody Grage, Volunteer Coordinator

Green Party of Washington State

https://greenpartywashington.org/

Become a GPWA member, check your membership status, or renew your membership today!

Keep up with us on Twitter and Facebook
Donations are always appreciated and put to good use!

? #WeAreGreen

Green Party of Seattle Endorses House Our Neighbors!

SEATTLE, Washington (August 18, 2021) – Green Party of Seattle endorses the House Our Neighbors [HON] Opposition Statement to Charter Amendment 29

HON is a coalition of advocates who are committed to ending the homelessness crisis in Seattle. The Green Party of Seattle is opposed to the ‘Sweeps’ of homeless encampments, which is a practice that Charter Amendment 29 would allow to continue; Green support for the HON opposition statement focused on that point.

Charter Amendment 29 as proposed by “Compassion Seattle”, a group of concerned business owners, commercial property investors and individuals, contains language around support for addressing ‘Behavioral Health’ issues and building new low-cost housing as if this is the primary cause of homelessness, but their ‘solutions’ do not reflect a true depth of understanding about the problem.

Green Party of Seattle [GPSEA] rejects City of Seattle Charter Amendment 29 on the grounds that it does not sufficiently address root causes of homelessness. We agree that ‘Behavioral Health’ services that address mental hygiene and addiction should be available to all, but this does not put people indoors or give them a safe place to sleep at night.

We recognize that concerned business owners, property investors, and individuals who fund the ‘Compassion Seattle’ charter amendment initiative are important economic stakeholders in Seattle and we empathize with their distress over encampments of homeless folx that take up residence in commercial areas. Obviously, it does not look pretty to tourists, and this is bad for their cash flow. However, this does not motivate compassion.

As an unfunded mandate that proposes 2,000 new low-income residences, it is a drop in the bottomless bucket of housing inequality that exists here in Seattle. What residents and tourists see as encampments on the street is only the tip of the iceberg here. The ‘Invisible Homeless’ have run out of economic capital to afford independent housing but still have enough ‘social capital’ to stay with friends and family in spare rooms, couches, basements, garages, and driveways.

We live in a city where most infrastructure-related workers with families cannot afford homes. This means that the majority of Teachers, Nurses, Union Labor, Utility Workers, and First Responders that work here are commuters. This will not make our city a more secure place during an Earthquake, for instance. We will not be able to ‘Program’ or ‘Sales Funnel’ ourselves out of the rubble.

GPSEA is in complete solidarity with this statement from HON:

“People are unhoused because our region has failed to build enough permanently affordable housing after decades of steady population growth. Compassion Seattle is focused on blaming addiction and mental illness for homelessness. We know that homelessness is a result of greater problems: stagnant wages, job loss, skyrocketing rent, high barriers to healthcare, housing and/or workforce discrimination, and a diminishing safety net. The solution is permanent low-cost housing and supportive services.”

https://www.houseourneighbors.org/opposition-statement

Real-world solutions to Housing Security include Rent ControlProgressive Taxation, and Deeply Affordable Housing. Green Party of Seattle has opposed ‘Sweeps’ since 2017 when party membership was unanimous on that particular point.

Additionally, the practice of funding non-profits to distribute tents, sleeping bags, and blankets to people as ‘outreach’ services and then taking those things away from them during ‘Sweeps’ is wasteful and ludicrous. It is a dysfunctional cycle that perpetuates lack, insecurity, and further social trauma. Public access to safe restrooms, garbage disposal, running water, and sanitation during both a homelessness crisis and a Pandemic is how business owners could be much more helpful to our unhoused neighbors.

The Green Party of Seattle [GPSEA] is a growing group of Ecosocialists in the PNW. Greens are an Alternative Political Party, invested in a Regenerative future for Seattle and King County. Ecosocialism is a vision of a transformed society in harmony with nature, along with the development of regenerative practices that can attain it. It is directed toward alternatives to all socially and ecologically destructive systems, such as patriarchy, racism, homophobia, transphobia, wars for profit, the commodification of human beings, extractive capitalism, and the fossil-fuel-based economics of War and Wall Street.

~END~

Resisting Israel’s Attacks on Palestine

Join us for an inside look at what is happening in the West Bank and Gaza —

Webinar at 5 pm PT, Wednesday, August 4, 2021

The ugly truth of what is happening to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza has been effectively hidden by media silence. Israelis don’t want to look, and the West doesn’t know. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and police protect and reinforce attacks by “settlers” which are increasingly vicious and frequent. Israeli courts, police, and settlers have worked with the  IDF and Civil Administration for de facto annexation of most of the West Bank. What is happening to Palestinians exemplifies colonialism throughout the world.

Hear from:

  • BOB SUBERI, Veterans For Peace, Green Party of St. Louis.
  • ZAKI BARUTI, Universal African Peoples Organization, Green Party of Missouri.
  • AWDAH HATHALEEN, Palestinian Activist, Victim of home demolition.
  • YONATAN SHAPIRAFormer Israeli Air Force pilot.

Moderator MADELYN HOFFMAN is Co-chair of the Green Party Peace Action Committee.


Please register for the program when you receive this.

Registration details: The webinar is NO COST, but you need to REGISTER to attend.

Click HERE to Register for Webinar or copy link into your browser:

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUod-GurzkpHtGy08Z9Cl1R5E3Ll_O-ZO7e

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on joining the meeting.


Bob Suberi, the son of immigrants from Jerusalem, is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel, a Vietnam War veteran, and a member of the Green Party of St. Louis. He spent three months living in a Palestinian village from March to June 2021. He is currently active in Veterans For Peace, Friends of Bethlehem St. Louis, and the Center for Jewish Non-Violence.

Zaki Baruti is President/General of the Universal African Peoples Organization and was the 2000 Green Party Candidate for Missouri Governor. He has been a TV host, radio host and a decades-long leader in St. Louis area struggles against police violence. He publishes the African Newsworld and is a retired educator and author of educational booklets.

Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist in Umm Al Khair, South Hebron Hills, is a victim of house demolition and organized rebuilding a community center demolished twice. He is an English teacher and the inspiration behind a village library and a campaign to educate preschoolers. He assists Palestinians who are forced to work and sometimes sleep far from where they live.

Yonatan Shapira is a former Israeli captain and Air Force pilot. He was one of the organizers of a 2003 letter signed by 27 Air Force pilots who refused to participate in Israeli military operations against Palestinians. Shapira has also signed onto the internal Israeli movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) known as “Boycott from Within.”

Madelyn Hoffman has been a lifelong activist for peace/environmental justice and is a Professor of Political Science and Public Speaking. She is the 2021 NJ Green Party Candidate for Governor and Co-chair of the Green Party Peace Action Committee.

Co-sponsors include: African People’s Socialist Party, Attack the System, American Muslims for Palestine, Black Community Control of the Police, Broome Tioga Green Party, Georgia Green Party, Green Party Albuquerque Metro Area, Green Party of Kansas City (MO), Green Party Peace Action Committee, Green Party of St. Louis, Green Party of Texas, Green Party of Washington State, Green Party of Yavapai County, Green Social ThoughtHampton Roads Green Party (VA), Illinois Green Party, Kansas Green Party, Lynne Stewart Organization, Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party, Missouri Green Party, Mobilization Against War and Occupation (Vancouver), New Abolitionist Movement, North Carolina Green Party, Organization for Black Struggle, St. Louis Friends of Bethlehem, Universal African Peoples Organization, Veterans For Peace, Wisconsin Green Party, Young Ecosocialists

For more info: https://www.gateway-greens.org/content/resisting-israels-attacks-palestine

Medicare for All – Call to Action!

Medicare for All Call to Action: July 24th, 2021

REMINDER — 

It all starts with you.

The Green Party of Washington State is one of the many sponsors of the #M4M4ALL [March for Medicare for All] which takes place in cities and towns all over the country this Saturday, July 24, 2021.

The Green Party of Washington State strongly urges all Green Party members and supporters to get involved!

The Green Party supports single-payer universal health care and preventive care for all. We believe that health care is a right, not a privilege. Single-payer universal healthcare has been in our platform since 2000. This has not changed.

What has changed is that now an overwhelming majority of US residents agree with us. Unfortunately, elected politicians from the major parties are reluctant to go against a powerful corporate healthcare system that favors dollars over public health.

The COVID-19 pandemic taught people that human life is worth more than clickbait. So many people want Medicare for All right now that a critical mass of us are about to take to the streets.

Take action! Join us at the march! Join this massive grassroots effort. Together, we will win!

There are 2 confirmed #M4M4ALL events in Washington state – Olympia and Seattle.

Olympia is planning a rally at the Capitol Building. Registration Details are here: https://www.mobilize.us/marchformedicareforallm4m4all-1/event/398962/

The Seattle march will start at Westlake Park and end at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre. Registration Details are here: https://www.mobilize.us/marchformedicareforallm4m4all-1/event/388622/

Seattle march details: Green Allies meet up at 12:45 PM at the Westlake monorail station. Visual clue: Big Sunflower. People wearing more than the average amount of Green. People coming from out of town may want to park near the Seattle Center and take the monorail to the rally start at Westlake. Also, you may want to do a park and ride, Uber, Lift or Taxi, or look on the #M4M4All website for a rideshare. We highly encourage public transportation.

Corvallis has a Solidarity Event Planned. Registration Details are here: https://www.mobilize.us/marchformedicareforallm4m4all-1/event/397127/

Also, Medicare for All activists are organizing a March and Rally in Portland! Details are here: https://medicareforallpdx.com/

Requests for Green Party Supporters and March Participants:

  • Please share information and boost posts about #M4M4ALL. All of us are differently-abled, spreading the information and sharing live streams also speaks to power, and is an important act of solidarity for our organizers.
  • Green Party supporters should ‘be seen being Green’ and take photos and videos. Please wear a green hat, top, or scarf if possible as a visual cue. Seattle Greens meet up at 12:45 PM at the Westlake monorail station.
  • [Seattle] Volunteers to set up and table outside at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre. Let us know if you can help with setting up and/or staffing our table. We will also be collecting signatures for Initiative 1362 — Whole Washington — Universal Healthcare for Washington State!
  • If you have a Green Party friend in another part of the country, help them find their local March!  This is something that all Progressives can agree on, so we can bring our not Green [yet] friends too!

Take action! Join us at the march! Join this massive grassroots effort. Together, we will win.

Disaccreditation of the Georgia Green Party

For Immediate Release — July 19th, 2021

The Green Party of Washington State Coordinating Council has voted to direct its National Committee delegates to vote Yes on Proposal 1062: Disaccreditation of the Georgia Green Party.

During the course of the discussion and debate, it has become clear that the platform planks which the Georgia Green Party has adopted regarding the LGBTQIA+ community, particularly trans women and children, are not in alignment with the positions of the Green Party of Washington State. Our State is a progressive state and our citizens and members of the State Party are overwhelmingly in support of trans rights. We’re grateful to the diligent work of the Accreditation Committee to present the facts of their investigation which helped to inform our decision. Georgia Green Party leadership has demonstrated no willingness to change their positions or engage in meaningful debate; their continued portrayals of trans women as incipient criminals and their callous disregard of accepted medical practice for the care of transgender children are harmful.

We agree with our colleagues in Wisconsin when they ask, “should the Green Party be a safe space for intolerance?”

And we agree with their conclusion, “If so, then we can no longer claim to be a tolerant organization, and the progressives and leftists we are hoping to recruit will find another political home. Therefore, the only tenable choice is to repudiate intolerance, and continue the Green Party’s honorable legacy of standing with the LGBTQIA+ community, instead of throwing it away along with our party’s future.”

We’ve spent years hoping the National Lavender Green Caucus and the Georgia Green Party would be able to resolve this issue. They were not able to do so. We are now being tasked to resolve this issue and determine the future of our Party.

The Green Party of Washington State Coordinating Council consensus was unambiguous. Our membership expected a just resolution some time ago. Our NC delegates were directed to vote Yes on Proposal 1062.

A Green Future is not Sustainable without Justice.

_____________

Alice B Green

Green Party of Washington National Delegate
She/Her

March for Medicare for All

The Green Party of Washington and Green Party of Seattle are supporting the Seattle March for Medicare for All!

This is a grassroots effort with Medicare for All marches happening in cities across the country on July 24th!

We hope to get everyone involved with the Seattle march as participants and as leaders. Here are a few ways you can get involved:

  1. Mark your calendar and RSVP for the Seattle March for Medicare for All on July 24th!
  2. Join the “ByThePeople” Slack workspace to connect with other march organizers. You will be placed into a channel called #m4m4a-all-organizers. Once you are in, join #m4m4a-seattle to connect with the Seattle team (invite link)
  3. Join the Seattle team for our weekly planning meetings to, Fridays at 6pm (invite link)
  4. Join the all organizers weekly meetings on Sundays at 9am to help promote all marches across the country (invite link)

These meetings will be held weekly between now and July 24th. Everyone is welcome in the Slack and at any of the meetings so feel free to invite anyone who would like to get involved! We hope to see you there!

Bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut Home!

The Green Party of Washington Supports the efforts being coordinated by representatives of the Lummi Nation and others to return Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut to her home waters of the Salish Sea.

Who is Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut?

Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut is the Lhaq’temish (Lummi) Nation name for last remaining Southern Resident Orca to be held in captivity. She is also known as “Tokitae” or by her Seaquarium slave name “Lolita”.

In August of 1970, over 50 young orcas were violently stolen from the Salish Sea and sold to aquariums.

Large pods of orcas were once rounded up in the waters of Washington State and their young ones kidnapped. Several died during capture and transport. In 1971 whaling was outlawed in the US. Only one of our resident L pod orcas remains alive in captivity. Her name is Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut.

The Captive.

For over 50 years, Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut has been held at the Miami Seaquarium, in the world’s smallest orca tank. There, in the state of Florida she is subjected to cruel and unnatural conditions, including relentless sun and heat, extreme social isolation, and exposure to dangerous hurricanes. She has not seen another orca in captivity since the 1980’s, as she is the sole survivor of the 45 orcas captured from the Southern Salish Sea in 1970.

Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut has been sentenced to a life of unjust captivity and deprivation. We as Greens, call for a compassionate release. The Green Party wants her liberated from the state of Florida and brought back to her home waters. The Lummi Nation feels it is their sacred obligation to bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut home. Orcas pods have distinct cultures and dialects, Tokitae still calls out in her native L pod language. Her mother is still alive, bring her back home to her family.

Green Solidarity.

We, the Green Party of Washington State, in representing ourselves, our memberships, and our constituencies, support the effort to bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut [Southern Resident Orca] home. We call upon the Governors of WashingtonOregon, and California, and the Premier of British Columbia, the lands of which border the Salish Sea home of the Southern Resident Orcas, to sign a joint Proclamation that acknowledges the unique and iconic orca population here and the significant spiritual and cultural value for the people of the region, with protected legal rights to freedom from captivity.

Therefore, The Green Party of Washington State joins the Lummi Nation and others urging the Governors and Premier of our Southern Resident Orca territories to:

• Support and endorse the efforts being coordinated by representatives of the Lummi Nation to return Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut to her Salish Sea home.

• Call upon Miami Seaquarium, Festival Fun Parks (DBA Palace Entertainment), Parques Reunidos and EQT to agree to negotiate the terms and conditions for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s release from Miami Seaquarium and safe return to her natal waters; and

• Work with representatives of the Lummi Nation and other relevant entities to secure any state permits that might be required for the return and rehabilitation of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut and her reunion with her human and Orca family.