|
|
|
|
|
Vol. I
No. 9 DUHC-Dominated County Green
Assembly Primary Colors '06 GARBERVILLE– Humboldt County’s Green Party voted to endorse controversial Measure T after a lively and sometimes heated debate at a Feb. 25 meeting in Garberville. By a margin of 18-3, two votes greater than the 80% margin needed for passage under Green Party rules, the General Assembly of members from across the party’s Emerald Region backed the June ballot measure. Several noted opponents of Measure T active within the Green Party, such as County Secretary David Giarrizzo and Eureka Greens activist Xandra Manns were out of town for the meeting. The proposed county law would forbid incorporated institutions from making any kind of contribution – time and space as well as money – to a local political campaign.
Sopoci-Belknap is part of the majority of the ruling body of Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County which were present, along with several other rank-and-file DUHC members who had also not attended a Green Party meeting in some years, if ever. While Sopoci-Belknap is technically the Campaign Manager for the Humboldt Coalition for Community Rights, the group is considered a political committee spun-off from DUHC. Two years ago, Humboldt County voters backed District Attorney Paul Gallegos in a recall election spearheaded by timber industry officials unhappy he filed a class action lawsuit against Pacific Lumber. But Paul Dillon, one of the dissenters who voted against endorsement and has expressed some criticism of DUHC at several Eureka Greens meetings, argued the recall vote results showed why the measure is unnecessary. Humboldt County voters have stopped several purported efforts to buy elections, the type of moneyed influence Measure T is intended to prevent, Dillon said. “I think going after corporations this way is mistaking shadows for substance,” said Dillon, who serves as Treasurer for the Eureka Greens. “You’re wasting time, you’re leading people into fruitless action.”
Allen, the only attorney present at the meeting, said he believes the measure will get kicked out of court on constitutional grounds because it limits free speech. The U.S. Supreme Court has held on more than one occasion that campaign donations are a form of speech, a concept Allen says is also built into the California state constitution. “I’m in favor of effective election reform,” said Allen, “but ultimately the courts have ruled you can’t limit freedom of speech – and the cornerstone of grassroots democracy is freedom of speech.” Allen had authored an alternative initiative to limit all contributions to $500 as a way for campaign finance reform to survive legal muster, which has already been endorsed by the Greens. But Arcata Councilmember Dave Meserve said the measure should be supported regardless of any court challenges because it would strike at the heart of corporate protections. “In my mind the whole reason a corporation is formed is to shield a person from prosecution,” said Meserve. “It may bring a court challenge, but it’s a very important challenge.” Meserve’s fellow Councilmember Harmony Groves said she supported the measure because it minimizes corporate leverage in campaigns. “Part of the problem is we’re seeing corporations come into communities to fight the community’s will,” said Groves. “I don’t think it’s a fair playing field, and that’s why I support this measure.” Yes to marriage equality, no to expanded Reggae on the River Members seemed to find more consensus on items to affirm the party’s longstanding support of same-sex marriage and to oppose the proposed expansion of Reggae on the River as it moves to a new site near Piercy. Green Party spokesperson Paul Encimer, a Piercy resident, appreciated the assembly’s support of his and his neighbors’ concerns. “The Mateel [Community Center] has been misused by these people…it’s unsavory,” he said. The party also filled two empty seats and five seats created in December on its Steering Committee, which administers the party in between General Assembly meetings. In addition to Dillon and Groves, J. Aaron Busard, Hannah Clapsadle, Budd Dickinson, Shaye Harty and Kyana Tailon join current members Greg Allen, Heidi Calton, Martha Devine, David Giarrizzo, Jesse Goplen, Richard Parker and Leo Power. Neither Busard, Clapsadle, Dickinson, Harty or Tailon had ever attended a Steering Committee meeting before, and all have connections to either David Cobb, Democracy Unlimited or the Measure T campaign. The terms of all Steering Committee members expire on June 12. General Assembly attendees also elected Tailon as the new website and mailing list administrator for the Green Party. Within three days the former greenhumboldt.org site was down and a new site, humboldtgreens.org, was on-line but featured comparatively little information, excluding any reference to the party’s bylaws, resolutions, policies, platforms, ten key values or any links to outside information. David Courtland can be reached at dmc2@humboldt.edu. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2005-06, Humboldt Sentinel. All rights reserved. |
7
“We’re
doing this because of a Pacific Lumber-MAXXAM effort to remove the Humboldt
County district attorney,” Kaitlyn Sopoci-Belknap, one of the measure’s
authors, explained as discussion of the measure began.
Dillon
and Greg Allen, the County Chair for the Green Party, asserted the measure
is doomed to fail in the face of an inevitable court challenge.