The Oakland Greens Have a Plan!

What happened to the Oakland Green Party? What are they doing? Why don't I know whats going on? What do they have planned? Valid questions, and here are some answers.

Well, we been here, working, staying in action, worked on the National Presidential Elections, helped with the Alameda Voter Guide, support local campaigns and state propositions.

And now we have a plan for 2009. No time to waste. We ain't goin nowhere and we are not
taking a break. We are here, ready to build and plan, ready to organize and outreach. Ready to take it to the next level.

PROPOSED TIME LINE

November

• General Meeting
• Identify Group A, Group B and Group C.
• Create Group A calling Script
• Collect Voter Rolls.

December

• Tabulate Voter Rolls Database into useable info.
• General Meeting
• Discuss and decide oaklands support contribution of Malik Rahim’s congressional campaign in New Orleans
• Create Email Message
• Decide on 3 projects of Chapter for 2009.
• Revamp Oakland Greens Website. (blog, youtube, links, meetings, resources, plans, minutes, etc)
• Recruitment Phase I Calling.

January

• Recruitment Phase II

  email blasts/precincts
  

• General Meeting/Informational

• Email/Website Updates

February

• General Meeting/Informational/Educational

• Training for re-registering

• Identify Local Campaign(s) to Begin

March

• Registering New Greens

April

• Preparation for Local Campaigns/Local Accountability

• Identify Statewide Campaign

May

• Preparation for Statewide Campaigns/Statewide Accountability
• Identify National Campaign

June

• Preparation for National Campaigns

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Come to a Oakland Green Party Meeting and help us add more to this and make it happen.

143,746 people vote their values in 2008! What do we all do now?

Celebrations are in order. Over 140,000 people voted Green, vote for Cynthia McKinney, voted for Rosa Clemente, vote for Peace, Justice, Democracy and Sustainability. It was a high turn out this year, nearly 60% of eligible voters turned out, excited by Obama's rhetoric and the corporate medias advertisement of his hollow promises as if he were another product to sell. Progressives excited by Nader's campaign turned out the polls. Many, many people voted, for many different reasons, however over 140,000 voters decided to continue to build the Green Party electoral movement. All these people voted, not for a symbolic reason, not to make a statement but to build a movement. So where is this movement that they want to see or be a part of? What is next for the Party? How can they support this?

Many lessons were learned through this campaign and throughout the steady building of the Green Party. Here are a few:

• We need a better website and better communications
• We need increase the non-election year work
• We need to better publicize and record all the work that takes place
• We need to better our multimedia and print materials (brochures, videos, flyers)
  
• We need clearer, more succint, positive, proactive and more accesible messages
• We need an strong infrastruture of local chapters, state chapters, and national networks
• We need to use the internet more (youtube, myspace, facebook, blogs, wikis, polls, nings)
• We need more people to run for offices so people have options whenvoting
  

To do all this we need more people and more funds to pay for the time and materials that go into this work. And just think if everyone who voted this year for McKinney/Clemente donated only $1, we would have nearly $150,000 to carry out these goals and do what is neccesary.

But where do you wanna see your money go most?