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Vol.
I No. 8 Eureka Greens Deadlocked Over
Anti-Corporate Initiative By Charles Douglas
While the motion to take an endorsement position in favor of the anti-corporate initiative sponsored by Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights was 5-3, Green Party rules require a supermajority of 75% support to take any stance. Eureka Greens member Paul Dillon said the narrow exemption for local corporations excluded those with a single share of stock or employee outside the county and was a crippling error. “It’s almost guaranteed to cause it to be defeated,” he said. “There’s a lot of companies with employers who don’t live in Humboldt County.” Other legal problems with the initiative first raised by Green Party of Humboldt County Chair and legal counsel Greg Allen were recited by some members, primarily focused on the illegality of challenging state law with a local initiative and the potential abuse of donors and the legal system through frivolous suits allowed by the measure. These were discounted by HCCR organizer David Cobb, who claimed to be one of the attorneys who had reviewed the initiative. Further inquiries by the Humboldt Sentinel later revealed that David Cobb no longer has the ability to practice law anywhere in the United States following the lapse of his status with the State Bar Association of Texas. Cobb has also never taken the state bar exam or been certified to practice law in California, which he moved to in 2003. Dillon’s request to make the measure less restrictive was rejected by Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap of Democracy Unlimited, which conducted the research behind the initiative and spun off the campaign committee later. Sopoci-Belknap insisted that the intent of the measure was not to prevent local business owner Rob Arkley from contributing, although no one else had brought up the subject of Eureka’s most well-known developer. She also suggested the exemption for local corporations was unlikely to see much utilization. “Almost none of the local businesses participate [in elections] as businesses,” Sopoci-Belknap said. Vice Chair Heidi Calton said she didn’t want to be hasty in getting behind any ballot measure after the defeat of Measure M in 2004, which would have prohibited the growth of genetically modified organisms in the county. “If it fails, it stands to tarnish the name of the local,” she said. Sopoci-Belknap and Cobb, who reside together in Eureka and had never attended a Eureka Greens meeting before that night, stuck to their guns by claiming federal First Amendment protections and state codification of corporate personhood were contrary to democracy. “I personally think it would be a big mistake for the Green Party not to be a part of a progressive coalition,” Cobb said. Dillon replied that the group’s primary mission was to respond to the needs of ordinary citizens and not a “certain yuppified strata” reflected by the conduct of HCCR representatives, noting that Walmart was kept out of Eureka without this initiative. “Whether or not this group ratifies that is not very important for the future of this group or the success of that initiative,” he said. “The real organic source of any movement needs to be the people.” When asked by the Humboldt Sentinel if HCCR or Democracy Unlimited had taken any time to respond to the issues raised in editorials against the initiative, both in its own Dec. 16 issue as well as in recent issues of the Times-Standard and The Eureka Reporter, Sopoci-Belknap replied that the Times-Standard was a non-local corporation that didn’t support progressive issues. Eureka Greens member Xandra Manns took a different tack, disputing the need to pander to local businesses by providing such a badly-written exemption. “I’m philosophically opposed to corporate contributions,” she said. Sopoci-Belknap said she agreed with Manns, but felt it was an issue of public education and starting with a position where the majority would even listen to them. While Calton, Cobb and Sopoci-Belknap were joined in their support of a positive endorsement by national Green Party platform writer Budd Dickinson and Local Solutions Director Alice Woodworth, both of whom had just joined the Eureka Greens in November, Dillon and Manns were joined in their dissent by Local Delegate David Giarrizzo. After the vote, Sopoci-Belknap said she didn’t ask to put this item on the agenda, and suggested the Eureka Greens shouldn’t be allowed to consider any position on any initiative on any public ballot before bringing representatives on behalf of those campaigns to their meeting. Calton disagreed, and invited anyone concerned about Green Party endorsement policies to take them up with the Steering Committee, which she sits on with Giarrizzo. The drive by Cobb, Sopoci-Belknap and their allies to take action was noticeably missing for all other endorsements under consideration, with measures to limit countywide campaign contributions and provide for police review and election reform in Eureka all tabled at their behest. Resolutions to be fixed The gridlock of the newly-divided group continued when discussing policies towards local movements and coalitions, with Sopoci-Belknap leading the charge against the Peace Movement Unity Resolution because it was “really weird” and didn’t accomplish its intent. “I don’t think it’s appropriate for the Green Party to be suggesting what other people should do,” she said. Sopoci-Belknap said it was further none of their business whether Communities for Peace, which has organized a number of large peace marches in Eureka, had any public meetings or any methods of accountability to its constituents. The draft calls for “a more inclusive partnership with Communities for Peace, the Redwood Peace and Justice Center and other local peace-oriented groups in the planning and implementation of coordinated efforts to affect mass organization on behalf of commonly agreed-upon goals and methods.” It cited the Nov. 2 “Drive Out Bush” event at the federal courthouse in Eureka as one example of a lack of coordination, with a non-permitted Critical Mass ride from Arcata to Eureka organized separately after a non-sponsored morning event was initiated by Fortuna student Michael Smith, the results of which were injuries, arrests and pending court dates for several protestors amid allegations of police brutality. Although he found the reference to Congressman Mike Thompson’s support of the World Trade Organization a little confusing in the midst of a list of peace-related demands to be submitted to the representative, Dillon said it was important to force Thompson into taking a more authentic anti-war stance. “This is the kind of resolution that we should support,” he said. “It has some policy directions that would lead to future actions by the Green Party.” Cobb vehemently disagreed and called for an investigation into who wrote the resolution, although Giarrizzo had already said he was the author. “This is not going to be read as supportive,” Cobb said. “It’s actually insulting Communities for Peace and criticizing how they conduct their business.” Giarrizzo claimed it was in fact the Eureka Greens which had been treated as a “dismissed dog out in the alley” by local groups as they chose Green Party speakers for recent events who were not then involved in local or county Green activities. “There’s been a lot of counterproductive activity and there needs to be more open lines of communication,” he said. Dillon volunteered for a subcommittee along with Calton, Giarrizzo, Manns and Woodworth to rewrite the resolution to make it more amicable in tone, although he said this change should not divert its intent. “If we’re not careful, those of us who have been politically active for a little longer are stepping on what’s like newly grown grass,” he said. “This is exactly what the Eureka Greens need to be doing, instead of the Green Party of Humboldt County which wants to chase leftist ambulances.” Dillon’s subcommittee will also look at a Resolution Concerning the Humboldt Pro-Democracy Coalition, which according to Democracy Unlimited’s website includes the local chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Unitarian Universalists, the Democratic Party and the Green Party in an alliance to support instant runoff voting. IRV is an election system for single-seat offices where voters rank the order of candidates to ensure majority support for the winner. Green Party representatives and available records demonstrate that the Green Party has never signed up as a member of the Democracy Unlimited-sponsored coalition. Members of the NAACP and ACLU are similarly unaware of their membership, and the draft resolution split no hairs in calling for the repudiation of this affiliation. “Greens must resist even the perception of involvement in or with organizations which are neither democratic or transparent in their decision-making process, and should decline to have its work used to build the credit of an uninvolved private group,” the draft stated. “[The Eureka Greens] calls for an investigation of how the alleged local or county Green Party inclusion in this coalition is documented by Democracy Unlimited.” Democracy Unlimited Steering Committee members Cobb and Sopoci-Belknap were silent on the matter of documentation as the meeting adjourned. Local Solutions sounded out Earlier the group heard a third proposal, the Resolution Regarding Local Solutions, which failed to generate any support and will not be brought forward to the next Eureka Greens membership meeting on Jan. 21. Cobb also called for an investigation of this resolution’s origins, although Giarrizzo had reported it was up for consideration after it was reviewed by the Arcata Greens. A later Steering Committee meeting on Dec. 20 confirmed that the verification of a sponsor of any resolution was sufficient information in order to allow for its consideration, with Allen disputing the need for a witch-hunt against supporters of ideas unpopular with some. The draft criticized Local Solutions for ignoring the local Green Party to such an extent as to exclude mention of its meeting times or endorsements in the same newsletter as Democratic Central Committee activities were reported. The lack of public meetings or interaction of Green-registered Local Solutions Directors with their own party was also cause for concern. “The Eureka Greens call for a more inclusive partnership with Local Solutions PAC and its constituent individuals and organizations through the empowerment of PAC members by granting them voting rights on all major policy decisions, as well as on the election of PAC officers,” the draft stated. While closing the book on the issue, the group’s message seems to have been heard, with Woodworth in attendance at their last two meetings. “I’m a Green who is a member of Local Solutions and I would
love to talk to anyone who is a Green,” she said. |
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Copyright © 2005-06, Humboldt Sentinel. All rights reserved. |
EUREKA
– Despite 5,600 petition signatures, heavy-hitter endorsers and
the forceful presentation of its proponents, the initiative to prohibit
non-local corporate campaign contributions to county elections failed
to receive the support of the Eureka Greens at their membership meeting
on Dec. 17.