Saturday, March 7, 2009 saw approximately thirty people attend a conference of metro area Greens in Evergreen, Colorado.
Organized by Adams-Jeffco Green Party chair, Tony D'Lallo, the five hour gathering produced a strong feeling of camaraderie, there was sharing of ideas (and food), and there was a positive sense about the future growth of the party in Colorado (registration was up by a thousand in 2008).
Special remarks were delivered by Bob Kinsey, 2008 U.S. Senate candidate, on the dangers of nuclear power; Prof. Tom Russell of 'Health Care for All Colorado' spoke seeking the Green Party's endorsement for state legislative bill HB-1273; and Tony D'Lallo talked about GLBT issues.
The conference was graciously and generously hosted by Kevin Alumbaugh of the Evergreen School of Music.
Read Tony's report on the results of the conference after the photographs, below.
Dr. Peterson makes an announcement.
Bob Kinsey
Prof. Tom Russell of 'Health Care for All Colorado'
Victor Forsythe
Rapt attention
Tony D'Lallo
Informal discussion
Photos by Dave Chandler
Here is Tony D'Lallo's summation of the conference:
To All,
The 2009 Evergreen Conference was both a focused and a motivated gathering of Greens and like-minded progressives on five key issues that currently impact our nation and state: nuclear power and nuclear weapons; health care for all/universal health care; LGBTQI youth rights; investigating 9-11 and prosecution of its use as an excuse for war; and water! Here are some key highlights of the conference:
1.) State Co-Chairs Claire Ryder and Dave Chandler opened up this year's conference with news from the state and national party. The recent proposal to make the Steering Committee more transparent was delivered to conferencees and openings on the both the on-line councils and various national committees. Doug Malkan was not present to give the state financial, but Claire announced that their was over 1500 dollars in the state account. Dave Chandler mentioned that he received a call from a prominent Jefferson County person was extremely impressed with Scott Zulauf's campaign for county commissioner. Scott ran against Jason Bane, a mealy-mouthed Democrat who supported unbridled and unsustainable growth in Jeffco and won a number of electors over to the Green position. Bane would later vilify Scott in the press saying that Scott "spoiled" the election. Thank you Scott!!!! We need more spoilers like you.2.) Bob Kinsey presented on nuclear power and its use in the nuclear weapons industry. He spoke to the United States' unjust framing of nuclear weapons as necessary for both its own security and Israel's security. He also emphasized the dangers inherent in nuclear power and its use. Poster boards and written information illustrating the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were displayed at the conference. Glowing examples (pardon the pun) were given as to the problems radioactive isotopes pose to our environment, health and safety.
3.) Rich Hamilton spoke for five minutes on the troublesome South Park water utility zone and reservoir that sits on top of nearly 250,000 million tons of uranium and how the Green Party ought to petition the Governor's office to take action on the matter of protecting this valuable water supply of the metro Denver area. Petitions were made available at the conference and if we need more please contact Rich Hamilton through our state co-chairs. This item was deemed important to add to our conference and to take immediate action.
4.) Professor Tom Russell for Health Care for All and House Bill 09-1273 Colorado's Creation of a Health Care Authority or Universal Health Care Bill. Prof. Russell briefed the Green conferencees on why this bill is important and why we ought to endorse the bill. He aligned the Green Party's platform with the wording of the bill. It was recommended that we move away from the language or use of the word "insurance" and focus on wellness and health access for all. The bill makes provisions for a non-governmental agency to oversee the authority. Concerns were raised about private and market based business influences toward funding the authority. He said that every effort is being made to avoid a private enterprise take-over of the bill and the authority.
5.) Lunch break included a potluck that could have fed triple the number of people that attended. Breakfast, coffee and tea were graciously provided by Kevin Alumbaugh and Liz Hamilton.
6.) Cindy Lowry announced peace vigil activities around metro Denver. The Colorado Citizen's For Peace Vigil is in its fourth year thanks to the concerted efforts of Cindy and many others that started the vigil or watched over the vigil during her brief absence. Virginia, Bruce, Raydon and Kathy, members of the vigil, are among the earliest members and most dedicated to the organization.
7.) Victor Forsythe announced his website and a Green focused business: Green Funerals. He mentioned that funerals are often environmentally unfriendly with the use of formaldehyde and other harsh chemicals during the preparation period. He asked members to visit his group on Yahoo. For more information contact Victor at angelman24@sprintmail.com
8.) Tony D'Lallo (me) presented on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Intersexual (LGBTQI) Youth Rights and current challenges of gay, lesbian, and transgender youth in K-12 Public Schools. A definition of sexual orientation, negative experiences of LGBTQI youth in schools, what principals and teachers must know legally, first and fourteenth amendment rights/responsibilities, and what the Green Party has done and may continue to do to help secure full equal rights and safe schools for LGBTQI youth. Emphasis was on building common ground and Greens potentially sponsoring a K-12 Public Safe Schools law or initiative in the future.
9.) Break-out session was a whole group discussion on campaigns: what Greens ought to focus on in 2009-2012 and how to run these campaigns. Emphasis was placed on building capacity and focusing on smaller, winnable races at the local level. Volunteering on local commissions and boards was another way to build experience and capacity toward future runs for office. It was agreed that we would still run for larger state and national offices but greater attention would be paid to local school board, city and county wide races. Everyone said their peace or piece and was allowed to speak in turn and the facilitation of the break out session went very well.
8.) Greg Marsh made many good points, but one did stand out in my mind: water! It was pointed out to Greg that the Greens already have a position and policy statement on Colorado's dwindling water supply. Greg mentioned that he was involved in a long term study on drought conditions from Colorado's early history. He stated that he studied tree ring samples that dated back 250 years ago and he avered that we were in for another lenghty drought cycle. He was concerned that the Green Party isn't making a more concerted effort to get policy changed to conserve and save our most precious resource.
9.) Mike Haughey contributed by stating that he would be interested in presenting 9-11 investigation issues in a rational and reasonable setting. Tom Kelly stated that we ought to pursue the issue as long as it is framed as a wrongful reason to go to war in Iraq. It was generally agreed that we ought to educate the public through forums held by the local Green chapters if they choose to do so.
10.) We adjourned around 3:10 p.m.
This is a general synopsis of what the Evergreen Conference accomplished. The Evergreen School of Music was a wonderful place to host this event. Kevin Alumbaugh ought to receive many thanks from us! Kevin also offered the school of music for a place to hold this year's state conference.
Peace,
Tony D'Lallo
Facilitator Evergreen Conference 2009
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