Oakland Green Party
The Oakland branch of the Alameda Green Party, the CAGreens and the GPUSA
contact@oaklandgreens.org (510) 866-7488  P.O. Box 20299, Oakland, CA 94620

See a news report
of of our February 2010 meeting
on line on Oakland North.net
to get and outsider’s view
of an Oakland Greens meeting.

Oakland Green Party General Meeting
Thursday, February 16, 2012  6:00pm until 8:30pm
San Francisco Pizza
1500 Broadway, Oakland, CA

•  Agenda
Welcome - 1 min
Introduction- 5 min
Report back - 15 min
Opening a YouTube channel with the contacts email as host - 15 min
Request for food organizer for OPA event February 24 - 15 min
Kpfa recall support/non/abstain vote - 20 min
Request for family space supplies for feb 24 - 10 min
Announcements - 15min
Be well - always
 

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Oakland Green Party meeting of January 19, 2012

 

First agenda item:

Where Oakland Greens stand on the Recall campaign at KPFK:

Many of us have received the strongly worded emails/mailer from “Save KPFA”, calling out Tracy Rosenberg for union busting and misuse of mailing list, etc. There is a “KPFAworker.org” site laying out the charges against Rosenberg and parent corporation Pacifica Radio.

The “Recall KPFA’s Tracy Rosenberg” campaign is being run by Save KPFA.  They are spending some pretty significant money on the mailing campaign to eliminate Tracy Rosenberg.

Aki Tanaka gave us some basic background understanding from his perspective as a KPFA Board member. He mentioned that there was a lay off last year due to budgetary necessity. “Support KPFA” is pointing out that our dipping economy and subsequent funding drop drove the staff layoff, and the seniority of the workers at KPFA determined who was laid off first. Unfortunately the popular morning show was staffed by the most junior union announcers. Aki encouraged people to look at alternative views to gain a more complete picture prior to voting on the recall. See: “http://supportkpfa.org/”

We agreed to pass the information on.

 

Next item: Where Oakland Greens stand on Recall Quan – Terrence Candell will not be submitting a petition for recall. Don says Candell does not wish to add to the confusion. Individual Greens are on both sides of the Recall issue. Ken brought up how the Community and Economic Development Agency has done real harm to some of Oakland’s poorer residents using code violations to generate revenue and that Quan is embedded in that legacy through her city council work in support of CEDA.

The Greens do not have a good basis to support the recall due in part to the language in the two recall petitions. That language is pro police strength as a means to public safety, as I recall. Who would replace Jean Quan if she is recalled? The recall will not use ranked choice voting, so the process isn’t the most democratic. Not that ranked choice voting is democratic in the way we have money influencing politics. I forget who brought up that Quan is still doing the work, getting out to community meetings, but that is true. Pamela points to personal feeling that Quan is being slammed because she is a woman.

As Oakland Greens we don’t endorse or condemn the recall.

  

Don Macleay and Vicente Cruz will be the Oakland Green Party authorized signers on our account at Mechanics Bank.

 

Recall the Mayor Forum: Jan 25th - Nile Hall Wed.

 

Candidates introduced themselves and gave us a little background on their political involvement. Thanks Greg, for the important question.

 

Greens- Vicente and Don, also Randy –Community Organizer and Sean Sullivan- Democrat, small business supporter.

 

Don mentioned wanting to see who will be willing to join together in a progressive alliance to forward our agenda and keep pushing the issues. He asked Alameda County Green Party to support the alliance of candidates. Time and volunteers typically have to make up for the lack of money. We need to raise volunteers and get organized for March campaign work.

 

Jan Arnold suggested that we speak up now about the harm done by Oakland Redevelopment and why it is important that we finally have to cut that influence out of Oakland. She was speaking directly to those that blog fairly regularly.

 

We endorse Don Macleay, Vicente Cruz (and Randy if he registers Green).

We are moving forward with the development of our joint platform and sharing of resources.

In attendance: Vicente, Randy M, Samsarah, Aki, Jan, Don, Torger, Greg Jan, Sean Sullivan, John Lessio(sp), Howard, Angie, Kevin Seal- occupy, Susan S., Larry, Ken, Pamela,

 

Oakland Green Party 
Meeting Agenda for January 19, 2012
Welcome – 5 minutes
Introductions – 10 minutes
Report Backs – 20 minutes
Recall Discussion/Vote 30 minutes
Election 2012 Discussion – 25 minutes
GP swag discussion – 20 minutes
Announcements – 15 minutes
Next meeting time – 10 minutes
Adjournment

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Torger
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 Oakland Greens General Meeting

Campaigns…

Meetings and guest speakers?

Oakland ballot measures local/state

(Pick your battles) Oakland Budget, Building a Progressive Alliance, Local Currency, stop the violence, Prison hunger strikers, KPFA “civil war”, SEIU internal disagreement, restorative justice, single payer Healthcare, more Gang Injunctions, youth are having their future robbed from them, job creation, too many to list. 

An idea to expose the supposedly liberal progressive Democrats, Bill mentioned “Tax the Rich” campaign.

Known funding of their campaigns by defense contractors, etc. CA only? Broader?  Zaigham had found some info. For instance: “Open Secrets” is an online resource that can be used.

Jan mentioned that Oakland is not poor and we need our leadership to put the word out so that when there is a vote to raise taxes on the rich we will be past that resistance hurdle, more ready to vote for it.

State of California- new or increased special taxes must be approved by the voters.  Even if it is a tax the rich – corporations, individuals, the Port of Oakland

Don- we will present candidates for BART board, School Board and City Council with creative alternatives to the status quo, we have recommendations that we tax the Port and the rich.  We will have recommendations for the upcoming local election. 

What hurts Oakland the most? Residents are coming back from prison with no hope for gainful employment, better

     Samsarah – was seeking an official mouthpiece.  She spoke with Greens that felt we Greens did not have a clear direction, did not have a State Spokesperson.  We need to know where to go for an official response. Is it on the State Party website?  If not what is the procedure for getting the rebuttal out on our Facebook page. 

     *Don and Vicente passed out flyers about where the Greens stand on Oakland Budget issues at the City Council meeting.  

S

Greg – lets put all these ideas that require more participation up on our facebook page, our list serve goes out to 200+ people. 

Wiki - State issues that are put up as a flyer should be made available online so it can be downloaded and copied off for distribution.

     Pacifica KPFA

     DeLaFuente told Randy that he saw the gang members as animals and said he would vote for the Gang injunction again if it were up to him and he would expand it into East Oakland.  

Emilio, Randy and Robert joined us for the meeting.  Randy mentioned working directly with youth to understand problems and find solutions. They will be supporting La Placita, Mario Juarez in the next Mayoral campaign, they are interested in coalition with us, not competition, because of what we stand for and because of the alienated youth that need representation. So many groups are doing good work, there should be ample opportunities to jump on an existing platform but many of these organizations are too burocratic for the youth to bother investing in.  

Ballot measures in Oakland

1)Police and Fire Retirement Plan funding changes

Proposes that time is bought so that those that put us in this situation will be out of the spot light when real decisions have to be made. Ken Pratt and David Mix are against

2)     Return the elected City Attorney to an Appointed position by City Council

argument for this is that we don’t want a political person we want a competent person

3)     Parcel tax $80 single residence, 54.66 /unit for multi-unit.  Square footage charge for businesses based on street frontage

Completely regressive, in lieu of any real reform. Developers are also against it because their taxes will increase. 

Next meeting is Sept. 21, 2011

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Wed Oct 19th Meeting

Wed 19^{th 6 PM Greens Meeting on School closures, Occupy Oakland and Ballot Measures}

The Oakland Greens will meet on Wednesday October 19^{th 2011 a 6 PM}

Come and hear our own Oakland Greens activist, Oakland Unified School District teacher and Oakland Education Association Bill Balderson fill us in with his personal views on the planned Oakland School closures. Bill will lay out what these changes mean from the inside view. There will be time for discussion and questions.

We also will discuss our support for Occupy Oakland. Several of our own members have been involved in different ways. We will ask those in attendance to share what they have seen. 

And finally, we will continue our engagement with the upcoming Oakland Ballot Initiatives and discuss what there is left to be done before the mail in vote is finished in November.

Oakland Greens meetings are  normally the third Wednesday of every month at the offices of:
People United for a Better Life in Oakland  3528 Foothill Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94601 510-535-2525
Our meetings are pot luck. Bring some food if you can. Eat some if you feel hungry.

All our Oakland Greens Meetings are open to the public. 

--Prior Meetings with notes below this line------------------------------------------------

Wed 21^st 6PM meeting – parcel tax – city attorney – pension ballot measure decisions

Oakland Greens meeting Wed. Sept. 21^st at. 6 to 8:30 PM.
at the offices of:
People United for a Better Life in Oakland PUEBLO
 3528 Foothill Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94601             510-535-2525      

We will take position on the upcoming Oakland 3 initiatives on the ballot.
Draft positions on the Parcel Tax, the direct election of City Attorney and the pension payment schedule below.  This meeting is open to the public.

Our meetings are pot luck. Bring some food if you can. Eat some if you feel hungry. 

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Green Party Position on Measure Parcel Tax:

This is not a time to play games. This parcel tax is a carefully crafted political game. Many if not most of the participants in this game have little awareness about how unreal and cruel the elements of the game are, actually. To start with, if this parcel tax is passed, residents of Oakland will be paying for five years but the budget benefit to the City would end after about a year. At that point all the departments and programs that are supposed to be “restored” will fall back into jeopardy – but residents will be paying for one year’s service for four more years. I goes without saying, that those with the least – both in terms of resources and political voice - will pay the most in either direct tax payments, and/or increased prices and fees, and/or increased rent. After the year of “restoration,” all residents would be presented with service cuts since it is unlikely that enough people could be fooled twice. What the Mayor and most of the City Council is asking us to do is not a solution that is worth the pain.

This tax emerges out of the divisions in Oakland’s politics. The Council was not, even, unanimous in its vote to put this on the ballot. The most controversial Council Member, Ignacio De La Fuente, objected to this being put on the ballot. If the money from this tax could have been directed at police services without any loss to OPD of resources from the rest of the General Fund, he would have been the leader of putting this on the ballot. This is another wrinkle in the political debate that more recently intensified over Mayor Brown’s Measure FF-GG-HH-II, then again in Council Member Nadel’s Measure R, and then again in Nadel’s and De La Fuentes’ Measure Y. The lesson of the series being that residents from the loudest communities want more cops but they are unable to convince a minority of residents to pay for more cops without a light sprinkling of youth and, nominally, crime prevention programs. That is why this parcel tax measure describes the expenditures “restored” so generally.

For those who believe that we must do something rather than nothing, let us tell you that that is not the choice. Undeniable the City’s budget needs major restructuring. When a majority of Oaklanders simply want to hold on to what (they consider to be) critical City services, those resources should be internally available. That is the meaning of standing on your own; what we expect of all Oakland residents so that we do not pull each other down. Our livelihood should be dependent on the efforts and policies of those who love Oakland, not on what corporation we could entice here, what stadium we can build, or on pushing residents out of Oakland through gentrification. The Mayor and the majority of the City Council lack the boldness of leadership required to restructure the City budget to meet the priority needs of Oakland residents. They do not know how to do it and they will not learn to do it in a year.

The Green Party believes that the Mayor and the Council leadership deserve no further chances. Oakland residents will have to make this happen the difficult way. Vote NO on Measure “  “ the Parcel Tax.

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The Oakland Green Party is Opposed to Measure
“Returning the elected City Attorney position to an appointed position”

If this measure passes the City Attorney will cease to be the City Attorney and become the City Council Attorney.  This proposal is for an appointed City Attorney post will give council the job of nominating and approving the City Attorney to the City Council alone allowing the mayor a say only if there is a tie vote to break. (as happened with our two versions of the city budget) 

There is lots to be said for a system of checks and balances and appointed positions with solid independence from those who appoint them.  This is not that. This is a power grab.  If passed the City Council will have more power to add to their control of the City Attorney’s and the City Auditor’s budgets, the both neglected and abused oversight role they play over the Mayor and Administrator, and their parallel powers as the “Redevelopment Committee” where they control more money than the city budget without any approval from the mayor or anyone else.  The Independent City Attorney and City Auditor are the only two positions that can dispute, inspect and/or challenge City Council money management and undue interference with the executive branch.

This proposal has nothing to do with good governmental reforms and a lot to do with John Russo and others saying and doing things that the council majority did not like.  At best it is hand to mouth thinking and yet another case where we are changing the rules based on the personalities more than what would make good rules in the public interest.  These are Jerry Brown reforms without the Jerry.

In their argument in the text of the measure, the proposers say that a City Attorney should “serve as council to the City Council, Mayor, and each department of the City and to render legal advice … “ but there is no check or balance in their proposal for the Mayor or the Administrator’s office.

This is NOT the standard US practice of the executive (the mayor) proposing a City Attorney and the legislative (our Council) in the role of oversight holding hearings and then approving or rejecting the candidate.  There is nothing so open in the process they propose.  

The document goes on in the next line to state that the “City Attorney is not the lawyer for the general public or any individual group within the City…”  as if the public has no interests independent of City Council.  The legal argument here is a bit contrived, but the ethical one is bankrupt. The City Attorney should be our attorney, even if he or she is not running a case for us.  Every case is on our behalf and council alone should not be who defines our collective interest. 

What our city needs is more oversight and more checks and balances than we have now. Not more power to the City Council alone.  VOTE NO and vote for council members who would really reform the charter in favor of grass roots democracy in next election.

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According to the City Auditor, Measure J "would authorize the city to extend the full-funding deadline of the Police and Fire Retirement System to a later date if mutually agreed upon by the PFRS Board and the City Council and supported by an actuarial study."  The PFRS was started in 1951 and was closed in 1976 when subsequent hires were shifted to CALPERS.

Without Measure J, the city would be obligated to pay 45.6 Million Dollars next year.  In the future, the City's obligation to this fund is 494 Million Dollars.  The full funding deadline is July 1, 2026.  The city would like to spread this obligation over a longer period of time to lessen its annual payments.

Oakland firefighters are for the measure.  They are worried about the City's ability to meet future needs in these times of constant budget deficits.  SEIU #1021 which represents most Oakland employees has taken a neutral position.  They recognize the budget problems, but they may be concerned about the precedent of delaying pension payments.

I agree with Local 1021 and I would recommend a neatral position.

On Wed July 20th, 6 PM, the Oakland Greens met.

Agenda:

Part 1, Presentation and discussion

Presentation by David Mix on the general outline of the Oakland City Budget and his view of the budget we just passed.
Followed by open discussion.

Part 2 Green Party Business items following a short report back from outreach and steering committees

• It is proposed that the management of the Oakland Greens Yahoo! bulletin board be assumed by the outreach committee
• The steering committee is requesting new members to replace the ones who are not active.
• The steering committee requests authorization to open a bank account. 
• Make Oakland Better Now is requesting our support of a letter asking for Oakland Budget reform View Letter
• Upcoming events, Mime Troupe on 23rd, Aug 3rd 4th, OPA meeting Aug 4th, Art Murmur Aug 5th. City Hall events. etc.

Part 3, Green Political discussion

General Posture of the Oakland Greens, problematic presented by Zaigham Kabir

• Discuss our current campaigns, or lack thereof
• Discuss our relationship with / as part of the Oakland Progressive Alliance

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On Wed June 22nd, 6 PM, the Oakland Greens met.

Independent from the status quo politicians and their financial backers, a group of open-minded individuals has started a campaign to run a complete progressive ticket for all open seats in the 2012 Oakland general election.

Our platform will include:

• A city wide commitment to well rounded high quality education for all.
• A refusal to diminish libraries, parks or any other civic services.
• A commitment to confronting the crisis facing our youth in crime, education and employment.
• Getting an equal share of federal, county and state tax dollars to those who need it most.
• Community policing from the actual community and restorative justice in lieu of revolving door jails. 
• A complete budgeting reform including a new tax structure based on ability to pay.
• A commitment to Arts, Music and Sports Community Programs for All of Oakland.
• Electoral reform that gives everyone representation and gets rid of the gerrymandered districts. .

Meeting Agenda:

• A visit from the Richmond Progressive Alliance.
• Hopefully a  visit from a representative of the Oakland Community Democracy group to talk about their proposals from neighborhood government and community budgeting.
• Quick reports about Oakland Green outreach and management.
• A discussion of the current Oakland Budget issue along with other pressing issues of civilian police oversight, etc.
• Another working session on the Oakland Progressive Alliance project. CPA members will be present. This will be the main agenda item.

Outreach Committee, contact Samsarah Morgan samsarahmail@aol.com

Steering Committee, contact Michael Rubin, RubinArnol@aol.com or Don Macleay don@oaklandgreens.org