At the Green Party's caucus on March 4th, Cynthia McKinney led the state's straw polling at 60% of the votes, with 56 out of 67 senate districts reporting. While the straw poll is non-binding, it is a good indication that Ms. McKinney will likely have a lot of support in the coming June convention, where Minnesota's 12 delegates to the national convention will be chosen.

Full results can be found on the MN Secretary of State's caucus result website.

The Green Party of Minnesota is seeking applicants for the position of party treasurer. The deadline for submissions is 1/18/08. The contract start date will be approximately 2/1/08. Please download and read the attached job description for more information.

We are pleased to invite you to join the Green Party of Minnesota this Saturday Jan. 5th for the Green Party Presidential Forum and Campaign Fair. Candidates kat swift and Jesse Johnson are confirmed attendees as of this writing (there may be more candidates) and there will be materials available on all 6 of the official Green Party Presidential Candidates, Draft Candidates and their campaigns. For more on the Candidates and Draft Candidates please visit the site of the GPUS Presidential Campaign Support Committee at http://www.gp.org/committees/pcsc/index.shtml

The forum and fair are being held from 5pm to 7pm in the event space behind the curtains in the northeast corner of the Midtown Global Market at 920 E. Lake Street in Minneapolis. Parking in the ramp next to the market on 10th Avenue is free for three hours with any purchase in the market. Don't forget to get your parking pass stamped if you are driving!

If you are biking, the Midtown Global Market is just off the Midtown Greenway. If you are busing, the Midtown Global Market is reachable by bus routes 5, 39 & 21 as well as others very close by.

We encourage folks to buy their dinner or a snack or beverages to eat and drink during the candidate and campaign presentations and question and answer period and support the many small local community businesses which comprise the global market by eating some of their great and unique food offerrings.

Many of you may know the Midtown Global Market as the old Sears building on Lake Street in South Minneapolis. For more on the market and directions please visit http://www.midtownglobalmarket.org/

There is no charge for attending but please be prepared to contribute to candidates or campaigns if you so feel inclined. Our guests will need to raise some additional funds to cover their travel expenses.

Please email davidstrand@mngreens.org if you are in need of ASL services or if you can provide ASL services or other language translation on an as needed basis.

Candidates at the fair will also be attending our state party meeting at Hamline University in St. Paul this Saturday.

The Green Party of Minnesota will hold its caucuses on March 4, the date designated by state law, even though the DFL, Republican and Independence parties have agreed to follow the national trend toward ever earlier caucuses and will hold theirs on February 5. Greens emphasize that they object on principle to the lengthening of campaigns for national office.

“If anything, the campaign season should be shortened rather than extended,” says Rhoda Gilman, party spokesperson. “Nine months of campaigning is unnecessary by any standard. It only increases the money needed to run for public office and assures even further that wealth will govern our elections.” Greens accept no money from corporations or PACs.

“As a minor party, we are not legally required to hold caucuses, but the caucus process is a key element of grassroots participation in political parties,” says Andy Exley, a member of the state Coordinating Committee. As at other party caucuses, Greens attending will discuss and vote on potential candidates and on resolutions. Greens do not need to choose delegates from the local caucus, because all Green Party members are eligible to attend and vote at the state endorsing convention in June. In addition, Green Party members who can not attend the state convention will be able to cast votes for President by mail-in ballot. Caucus resolutions will be forwarded to the platform committee and considered at the biennial meeting, which is usually held in conjunction with the endorsing convention.

Caucus locations will be listed on the Green Party Web site (www.mngreens.org) and also the Secretary of State's website when they have been finalized. All persons in agreement with Green Party values are invited to attend.

Greens only have two more weeks to make their 2007 refundable gift to the Green Party, according to Green Party of Minnesota Finance Chair Nancy Brown.

The State of Minnesota’s Political Contribution Refund Program (PCRP) fully refunds up to $50 annually for an individual or $100 for a couple.

“This program was created to provide public financing for our political process, something many of us strongly support,” she says. “Yet most people are surprised to learn that this program exists.”

In 2006, Minnesotans claimed refunds for more than 19,000 gifts given to Minnesota DFL parties and more than 35,600 gifts given to Republican parties, but only 214 gifts given to Green parties.

“Once a year, every citizen is empowered to donate to a political party or candidate at absolutely no cost to them. If everyone who believed we need to build an alternative to the two corporate parties gave their $50 annual refundable gift to the Green Party of Minnesota or a Green Party local, we’d have enormous capacity to grow,” Brown says.

Brown says that the Green Party’s refusal to accept corporate cash means the party relies heavily on individual gifts to fund day-to-day operations.

Claiming the refund is easy, Brown says. Anyone who makes a donation to the Green Party, whether online or by mail, is automatically mailed a receipt and brief form to send to the State of Minnesota. As soon as the State receives the completed form, it issues a refund check to the donor.

“I’d encourage everyone who believes in Green values to rush their 2007 refundable gift to the Green Party of Minnesota or a Green Party local within the next two weeks. Show your support for public financing of politics and take advantage of this important program yet this year.”

(Donate online to the Green Party of Minnesota at www.mngreens.org/donate or read more about Minnesota’s Political Contribution Refund Program and see the application form at http://www.taxes.state.mn.us/forms/pcr_07.pdf )

Green Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon has taken the lead on two initiatives to help expand access to fresh produce and other nutritious foods.

Both measures will help alleviate so-called “food deserts,” typically lower-income areas of the city where fresh produce and healthy foods are hard to find.

The first initiative helps farmers seeking to open Local Produce Markets. These markets of five vendors or fewer have been established in areas where residents have little access to fresh produce. One has been located near a public housing high-rise that serves people who are elderly or have disabilities.

After reviewing the permitting process and fees, Gordon oversaw changes that have streamlined the permit application from a large packet to one sheet of paper and lowered the cost from $400 to $154.

The second initiative Gordon championed requires businesses seeking grocery store licenses to carry a reasonable amount of fresh produce and other healthy foods.

Right now, he says, convenience stores with little or no fresh foods can be licensed as grocery stores. “They can have cheese, a carton of milk, and white bread and call themselves a grocery store.”

He asked city regulatory staff to sit down with the Minneapolis Department of Health and Family Support and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy to revise licensing standards and set minimums for fresh produce and other nutritious foods.

He says he doesn’t want the new requirements to be burdensome to small grocers, but that many kinds of fresh produce keep well and would be relatively easy to stock.

“I’m very hopeful that with these two steps, we can help get more good, fresh, and locally produced food to residents of our city and help fill some gaps,” Gordon says.

Green Party organizer and former candidate for governor Ken Pentel has begun making a series of bike trips to college campuses in Minnesota to organize students for the Green Party.

He made his first trip, to the University of Minnesota-Morris, in September and is visiting University of Minnesota-Duluth on October 15. He hopes to visit five more campuses both in and outside the metro area in November.

“Students are eager to learn more about the Green Party. They may belong to a number of great clubs or campus groups, but they see that the Green Party is a way to translate their issues into an electoral option, they’re excited about it,” Pentel says.

“Campuses are places where you can find creativity, invention, and a little fearlessness,” he says.

Pentel says he’s traveling bike both to get his own body and mind in shape, to inspire others to consider alternate modes of transportation, and to encourage others to think about taking on political organizing themselves.

Pentel says he’ll reach students at a time when many are starting to get involved in 2008 campaigns and forming their political beliefs.

Students and others who want to become a part of this organizing effort are encouraged to call Ken Pentel at 612-387-0601.

The Green Party of Minnesota stands in solidarity with the striking AFSCME workers at the University of Minnesota. They deserve to achieve their goal: a fair wage that, at the very least, keeps up with the cost of living.

The U of M reflects the conditions in our larger society – an obscene, and growing, disparity in wealth and incomes. While University austerity programs have led to a decrease in the real wages of its lowest-paid workers, money has been found for large increases in the salaries of the President and top administrators. President Bruininks is paid over $400,000 and the football coach receives over $1 million per year. The Green Party is united in its stand for economic justice, and we recognize that labor solidarity is a critical part of that struggle.

The University is a public institution and its Board of Regents must be held accountable to the public. We believe that the public supports fair wages. Large and growing support for the strike is an indication of public opinion. For the benefit of students, faculty, and AFSCME workers, we call upon the Board of Regents to end the strike immediately by granting the workers’ demands.

We encourage our Green Party members to participate in strike support activities at University campuses throughout the state. The University is the largest employer in the state and the success of this strike is important to us all. We congratulate the members of AFSCME for taking the risks and bearing the sacrifices to stand up not only for themselves, but for all workers.

The Green Party of Minnesota deplores the police violence that erupted in connection with the Critical Mass bike ride on August 31, when 19 people were arrested. Many riders and even some bystanders were beaten and attacked with pepper spray and Tasers. These rides, held on the last Friday of each month, are normally a peaceful “celebration of bicycles,” according to Paul Kristapovich, a member of the Univ. of Minnesota Campus Greens. He often takes part in the rides and was among those arrested. He witnessed “nothing at all” to provoke the sudden approach of police squad cars and the brutal attacks that followed. Police appeared to particularly target those who were recording the incident. Cameras were confiscated and destroyed in an apparent effort by police to escape responsibility for their illegal actions.

We applaud the call by our Green Party Minneapolis City Council member Cam Gordon for an in-depth independent investigation of why this happened and how such police actions can be avoided in the future.

This Critical Mass ride was joined by a number of young visitors from around the country who were here to attend workshops and strategy sessions on nonviolent protest conducted by the Republican National Convention Welcoming Committee on the weekend one year prior to the RNC. The RNC Welcoming Committee is an anarchist / anti-authoritarian group which is one of many local and national groups planning for massive demonstrations against the Republican National Convention to be held in St. Paul just one year from now.

“It is hard not to believe,” says Green Party spokesperson Rhoda Gilman, “that authorities seized this chance to flex their muscles with the intention of intimidating prospective protesters.” The pre-planned presence of personnel from the Ramsey County sheriff’s office and of a State Patrol helicopter monitoring the bicyclists from overhead only adds to that impression.

The Green Party of Minnesota is troubled by the cloud of threatened repression that now hangs over next year’s convention. It is darkened further by biased reporting in the media and alarmist warnings of "outside agitators." We hope that it will be dissipated by the light of investigation and open community discussion. In any case, we will continue to defend the right of all Americans to assemble in nonviolent protests in the Twin Cities next year against what we believe to be a lawless and illegitimate national administration.

Publicly funded stadium moves forward despite opposition of most citizens

St. Paul, MN – August 30, 2007 – "Today is a day for rich corporations to celebrate the millions they'll make off the ballpark we're buying them," said Green Party of Minnesota Spokesperson Dave Bicking about the groundbreaking celebration for the new Twins stadium.

The Green Party is one of several citizen groups that have consistently opposed any public funding of the new Twins ballpark.

Polls have shown that most Minnesotans agree. A January, 2004, statewide poll conducted by the Star Tribune found that 62 percent of respondents opposed spending public dollars on a Twins stadium and 72 percent opposed a Twin Cities area sales tax to fund a ballpark. The paper also noted that this overwhelming opposition has been consistent in polls dating back to 1997.

But last year the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners passed a 30-year, 0.15% sales tax that will fund the majority of the cost of the stadium. Citizens of Hennepin County were denied a vote on this when the MN State Legislature granted a first-time-ever exemption from the state law that requires a referendum for new local sales taxes.

"The people made it clear that they didn't want to pay for a stadium with their tax dollars," Bicking said. "That just convinced the leaders of both major parties that they needed to keep the decision out of the hands of the people. Now we're putting $392 million into this deal and getting essentially nothing out of it. Though the public is ‘investing' three quarters of the cost, we receive none of the revenues."

"Though the deals have already been made and construction is beginning, the Green Party joins with others to protest today's event because the lessons of the stadium tax fight are more relevant now than ever. The public subsidy of the stadium, while the 35W bridge is lying in the middle of the river, highlights the need for a re-examination of our priorities. As citizens, we have to step forward and demand that funding decisions are guided by our priorities and values and not the interests of corporate profiteers."

"Today's groundbreaking is a celebration of greed and the subversion of the democratic process," Bicking said. "We're seeing our public infrastructure crumble before our eyes, but we're buying ballparks for billionaires. We have to do better."