GPAK website redesign

Well, folks, I am redesigning the Green Party of Alaska website, but at the moment I am wrestling with uploading to the server. I'm using Fugu, and learning as I go, and so far am flummoxed. But we should have a nice shiny (but short) new website up in a week or so. Stay tuned!

51 ballot lines by 2008

The national Green Party wants to get every state and the District of Columbia on the ballot by the November 2008 election, which will be a tall order here in Alaska. The only way we can do it here is with a registration drive, since we're off the ballot for this year.

I suppose the first order of business is getting our statewide website back up and running.

Fairbanks Critical Mass Bike Ride

It's summertime, and the critical mass bike rides are on again! On the last Friday of the month,

Fairbanks Critical Mass will celebrate the midnight sun while promoting awareness of bicycles and bicycle safety on the road. Critical Mass is a national program where cyclists exercise their right to ride on the road. Cycling is the most efficient, least carbon-emitting form of transportation known to man. Come show your personality by dressing up in this month's midnight sun theme, and show your commitment to a healthy world.

Bring a helmet, and meet at Beaver sports at 5:30 this Friday, or call Garrison at 474-2402 for more information.

The Critical Mass Bike Rides are on:

June 29
July 27
August 31

and go from Beaver Sports east on College Road. Dress up in costume, bring banners, horns, bells, and a smile!

Rules:

Don't just blindly follow the person in front of you--you are responsible for your own actions.
Wear a helmet (Alaska has helmet laws)
Ride in the road and obey all trafffic laws (STOP on YELLOW as well as red!)
Stay in the far right lane (don't take up two lanes)
Be friendly to motorists.

Clean Campaigns

The disgust level has finally risen across the nation to the point that clean campaign initiatives are popping up all over, even here in Alaska. The Publc Campaign Action Fund has an Alaska campaign, Alaska Public Interest Research Group is supporting a clean campaigns initiative, about which the Anchorage Daily News wrote a story in May. Interestingly, in that article, the reporter quoted Randy Reuderich, that paragon of probity and trustworthiness, as saying:

"Equal funding is an incumbent-protection policy," Ruedrich said. Sitting lawmakers have the advantage of name recognition, giving them an edge over challengers even if they are equally funded as clean-election candidates, he said.

"I'm more for a system of no limits to funding and full, immediate disclosure, so voters know right away who is backing a candidate," he said.

Uh, right. So is he claiming that it's not easier right now for incumbents to get oodles of cash for their campaigns? So when big money owns a legislator, they aren't going to back 'em? Naah. I'd say it's a better bet that clean campaign laws will return those incumbents who AREN'T BEHOLDEN TO BIG MONEY, but will throw out the bums who are in the pockets of lobbyists.

Nice try, Randy.

The Green Party of Alaska has long supported clean campaign and election legislation, but I guess preventitive measures didn't sink in. It takes really slimy dealings before everybody else gets on the bandwagon. Anyway, this Green is for endorsing the clean campaign initiatve AkPIRG's supporting.

Wednesday peace walks

Every Wednesday on the UAF campus, there is a peace walk from noon to 1, starting at the UA Museum of the North. Bring your own signs if you can, and exercize for peace! Contact Abel Bult-Ito for more info, ffab [ at] uaf.edu or 474-7158.

Bristol Bay oil/gas leasing

George W. has lifted the ban on oil and gas drilling in Bristol Bay, which is causing one heck of a lot of controversy in the area. Fish vs. oil? hmmmm. Here's what the LA Times had to say about the cons on that:

The area is a major fishing ground for North Pacific fleets, including many crab, salmon, pollock and cod vessels that are based in Puget Sound. The bay also supports an abundance of wildlife, including major seabird populations and marine mammals that include the endangered North Pacific right whale.

The bay is a part of the Bering Sea, notorious for winter storms with high winds and high seas that could increase the risks of a major oil spill.

Ted Stevens thinks it's a good idea, as does Palin, but both have expressed a little worry about the fisheries and the usual platitudes about responsible development.

Given the oil industry's track record on spill cleanup and compensation (think Exxon, folks), I am VERY skeptical.

Folding the website

I'm going to let the domain name, tygreens.org, lapse, basically because there doesn't seem to be a regional party any more, and no one seems to be using it. I've been paying for the domain and the hosting service, and I'm no longer interested in doing either without help or compensation, since it doesn't seem to do much. I will maintain the website on file on my computer, so if something does resurrect itself, we'll have a starter for a website again (or we can just pop the old one up and start where we left off).

I'll also keep this blog going, although it would be nice to have other people participating...sigh.

Greens organizing in Juneau!

Jeremy Dodson and a few other Greens in Juneau are organizing, and I'm helping them set up a blog. It's pretty minimal at the moment, but should be a nice starter. Here's the link.

Braun's withdrawn

Oh, well.

Senate district D candidate

David Braun, it turns out, has a website. Braun is the Green Party candidate for Senate district D, running against Democrat Joe Thomas and Republican Ralph Seekins. He hails from Healy. He is, however, a federal employee, and so may not run for state office, evidently. He's been told by the US Office of Special Counsel that he has to either quit his job or withdraw his candidacy. Braun's got until Oct. 27 to decide what he'll do, but his name is already on the ballot.

Green policy database

GreenPRO is the Green Policy, Resolutions, and Ordinance Database, a project of the Green Institute, a Green think tank. The database is a resource of various policies, resolutions, regulations, and ordinances enacted by Green and other progressive bodies and officeholders. The database is small at the moment (it was only put on line Oct. 12), but already covers such topics as corporate accountability, election reform, peace initiatives, and sustainability policies.

Green assemblyman in Fairbanks

Mike Musick has been elected to Seat G on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly, by a whopping 61.66 percent! (7005 votes)

The News-Miner has an article about the election results. What strikes me about this is that people with such divergent views as Charlie Rex and Nadine Hargesheimer or Luke Hopkins agree that Musick will make a good assemblyman. When both conservatives and liberals can postively agree on the quality of a person, that's a good sign. We certainly don't need the divisiveness that was evident on the assembly during Rick Solie's tenure...

Mike Musick for borough assembly

Here's an announcement from Richard Seifert:

Mike Musick, known to most, grandfather, Green builder, former local building Association president, once an Alaska Craftsman Home Instructor, business owner and log builder, author of the Alaska Log Building Manual, arbor day hero, and mild mannered, good-humored, civil fellow, is running for borough assembly. It is our good community fortune that he is he is willing to do this now. He can use your support and is especially hoping some of you will offer a venue for local meetings where Mike can get to know our community better and you, him.
So if you can manage a house party, please let Mike or I know. Mike will be an excellent assemblyman and his values will help us achieve a more sustainable future. But only if you vote for him, and help him get elected. His challenger is Bonnie Williams.
It's too rare that someone like Mike is courageous enough to run, but here is a chance to actually vote FOR someone for a change, instead of against the other person.

The borough electon is October 3. Help get Mike Musick elected.

I gather that Mike is running against Bonnie Williams (gack) for Guy Sattley's seat. I can definitely get behind Mike's campaign. Go, Mike!

Ranked Choice Voting initiative

Across the country, electoral reform initiatives are being put on the ballot. City and county-level measures are being brought forth or passing, because not only do they encourage voter participation and discourage negative campaigning, they save money when an election is close (you don't have to finance a run-off election). Here's how the Center for Voting and Democracy describes the problem with our current first-past-the-post method of plurality voting:

Three is a crowd in our current voting system. Plurality voting, where the candidate with the most votes wins, is dysfunctional when more than two candidates run. It promotes zero-sum politics that discourage new candidates, suppress new ideas and encourage negative campaigns rather than inclusive efforts to build consensus.

In contrast, instant runoff voting (IRV) elects candidates who have majority support, accommodates voters having better choices and encourages winning candidates to reach out to more people.

More cities, counties, and states are turning to ranked choice voting methods.

On July 19, the North Carolina state senate passed bipartisan legislation (H1024) to use instant runoff voting (IRV) for statewide elections for judicial office vacancies and to let 10 cities and 10 counties try IRV in 2007-2008. The bill now heads back to the House, which passed a similar bill in 2005 and must accept various amendments.

More information is available at FairVote, including an analysis of why the 2002 Alaska measure failed. An Alaskan listserve to get a method of ranked choice voting on the ballot is available for signup here.

State accepts Massie anyway?

Apparently, our request to the Office of Elections to remove Massie as candidate for governor has been ignored. He's on the list, and as a Green. This man has no history with the Green Party, did not contact the Greens, signed up as a Green at the same time he filed for office, and wasn't terribly responsive when Jim Sykes tried to contact him repeatedly after his name appeared on the Elections website.

Personally, I don't think that Dae Miles should be running on our ticket, either (the man is actively asking people NOT to vote for him, but to vote for David Guttenberg). I like Guttenberg, but if Miles wants people to support Guttenberg, he should have volunteered for his campaign, not run against him. Miles doesn't have a history with the Greens, either, and also signed with the party on the day of filing. He is hurting both the Green Party and Guttenberg's campaign with this stunt.

This is a serious problem for small parties: every nutcase and wingnut thinks they can simply use the ballot line to get public recognition. This hurts our actual candidates and gives the party a bad name. I see this kind of invasive candidacy as hostile to the Greens, and counter to our values: diverse viewpoints and grassroots participation are very important, but those ten values need to be respected. Candidates such as this do not uphold those values, and by not working with the party, show themselves to scorn accountability from the get-go.

Documents sent to statewide

The State of Alaska, in yet another attempt to get us off the ballot and restrict the voters' choices, has sent us Discovery Requests for just about every document we've ever produced...I suppose to prove that we are indeed an organized political party, as per state law. So I've shipped off a box of minutes, convention notes, flyers, etc. obtained from former secretary Marilyn Russell to our legal beagle, Kevin Morford. I have to go through the many boxes o' stuff and send off more, too. Jim Sykes is doing likewise, and I suppose the other bioregions are digging things up here and there.

The postage is adding up.

Massie to be removed from ballot

The Green Party of Alaska statewide council has sent letter to the Division of Elections requesting Massie's removal from the primary ballot:

The Green Party of Alaska requests that David Massie be removed as a candidate for Governor from the primary ballot pursuant to AS 15.25.042.

The Statewide Council of the Green Party of Alaska has met and reviewed the circumstances of Mr. Massie's filing. Based on information available to the Statewide Council, we find that David Massie has not met the minimum requirement of being registered as a Green Party of Alaska member for 180 days prior to the June 1 filing date.

Under the Green Party of Alaska Bylaws which have been submitted to the Alaska Division of Elections and approved by the US Department of Justice, the Statewide Council is requesting the removal of Mr. Massie under bylaw Article VI, Candidate Endorsement/Challenge, Section 1b as follows:

"Section 1b) Disqualification of Candidates for Public Office and Public

Officials From Holding Party Offices.

A candidate may be removed if, in the judgment of the Statewide Council, she/he appears to be in clear violation of Green Party of Alaska principles and platform, have no previous history with the Green Party of Alaska, or appears to promote ideas and platform positions substantially different from Green Party of Alaska.

A Green Party of Alaska candidate may also be removed from the ballot for the following reasons:

1. If a candidate was not a registered member of the Green Party of Alaska 180 days prior to the Alaska Division of Elections filing deadline, the candidate may be removed from the ballot by the Statewide Council."

Once again since Mr. Massie has not been a registered member of the Green Party for 180 days we asked that he be removed from the primary ballot.

Green candidates in Alaska

I made an entry about this earlier on the Ester Republic blog, but here's an update. Note that a couple of these candidates are simply registered Green, and have not contacted the Green Party (at least not yet) about their candidacies.

State Senate District D:
David P. Braun (Green) - NOT CERTIFIED P.O. Box 222 Healy, AK 99743 Phone: (907) 683-2654

State Representative District 7:
Mark A. Ames (Green) AFC - P.O. Box 71693 Fairbanks, AK 99707 Phone: (907) 457-5096
[Ames has registered recently as a Green, but not recently enough per Green Party rules. I've never seen him at a Green party meeting.]

State Representative District 8:
Dae Miles (Green) - NOT CERTIFIED 2849 Mello Lane Fairbanks, AK 99709 Phone: (907) 457-3236. His website is www.votedae.com
[Miles is an experienced candidate in the Fairbanks area, but I've not seen him at a Green party meeting. I don't think he's served in pubic office.]

United States Representative:
Eva L. Ince (Green) P.O. Box 111426 Anchorage, AK 99511 Phone: (907) 522-1059. Her website is www.evaforcongress.us

Governor:
David M. Massie (Green)- NOT CERTIFIED P.O. Box 240921, Anchorage, AK 99524 Phone: (907) 333-0555

More on Eva & Ralph

Eva Ince is just getting her campaign going, has ordered stickers and buttons, and now needs people to get the word out. Since no meeting place was designated in time, she's not coming to Fairbanks on the 5th of June as originally planned; instead, she'll be at the Anchorage Barnes & Noble, and is calling on Chicks with Sticks and other Green knitters to come and meet her there.

Ralph may have some competition, after all--but still not from the Democrats. Rumor has it that there's a Green who may run for Senate District D: Ester, UAF, Fairbanks, Ferry, Denali, Healy, Nenana, and Cantwell areas. (It is utterly astonishing to me that Seekins ever got elected to this district in the first place. I can see Cantwell, but elsewhere? I'm boggled.)

But there's still today and tomorrow left...

More to come!

Eva Ince, candidate for U.S. House

Eva Ince, who declared last Tuesday for U.S. Representative is planning on coming to Fairbanks to meet with the Tanana-Yukon Greens June 5.