Petitioners BOOTED off New Haven Green

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2008/07/nader_petitione.phpNader Petitioners Booted Off Greenby Paul Bass July 23, 2008 1:00 PM Permalink Comments (40)The Squirrel Nut Zippers had the mic. The cops told Ralph Ferrucci andhisband of petitioners they had to exit the Green stage right.Or, if they preferred, given their political leanings, stage left.Ferrucci - a New Haven political activist who has run for mayor and U.S.Senate and Congress on the Green Party ticket - is no stranger toflyeringand collecting signatures on petitions at public events, such as lastSaturday's city-sponsored Squirrel Nut concert on the Green. He didn'tthinkhe was breaking any rules when he brought a team of six petitioners togather signatures of voters to place presidential candidate Ralph Nader'sname on the state's November ballot.The cops thought otherwise.Ferrucci said the "lieutenant in charge" approached him "and told me I'llbearrested if I didn't get the petitioners off the Green."Ferrucci said he protested that he had a right to be on public land."This isn't owned by the city," the cops told him, according to Ferrucci.(It's true; a not-for-profit organization known as the Proprietors of theGreen controls the space.)"But this is a public space," Ferrucci said he (correctly) pointed out."Myrights apply."For at least three decades, volunteers and staffers from politicalcampaigns - including those of Mayor John DeStefano and Democraticcandidates like U.S. Senate hopeful Ned Lamont - have routinelycirculatedpetitions or handed out flyers at summer events on the Green.Which lieutenant was it who threatened the arrest?"I should have gotten his name," Ferrucci said. "But I was more concernedabout getting arrested. I didn't mind taking the bust," but he worriedabouthis crew of volunteers. So he sent them off the Green, to surroundingsidewalks (uncontested public space), where they harvested signaturesfrom asmaller, less compact field of passersby.Ferrucci said he remained by the middle of the Green, where he received"nasty looks" from five cops on duty.Since the weekend, Ferrucci brought his complaints to the mayor's chiefofstaff, Sean Matteson.According to Ferrucci, Matteson confirmed that the petitioners should beallowed to work the Green. Matteson promised to investigate the matter,Ferrucci said. Ferrucci asked for a letter confirming the permission topetition. "That way if the cops bother us I have a letter saying we'reallowed to be there."Matteson didn't return repeated phone calls to confirm the conversation."There is no letter," mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said. "There'snodiscussion about a letter."Mayorga said Matteson "has had a discussion" with Assistant Police ChiefStephanie Redding about the matter. She said Redding "has agreed to lookinto it."Mayorga said that while it's Matteson's "personal opinion" that the Nadercampaign should be able to petition on the Green, the city does not yethavea position on whether it can at another concert this coming weekend. Shesaid she wants to wait to hear back from Redding."I don't know what the turnaround will be on that," Mayorga said."We're not trying to make things difficult for anyone. We're trying tomakesure we're on the same page."Mayorga said it would not be possible to identify the lieutenant whothreatened Ferrucci with arrest.(Update: Reached at a press event at City Hall Wednesday afternoon,Mattesonsaid he plans to make clear to the cops that the Nader campaign maypetitionat Saturday's concert.)One member of the Proprietors of the Green, Anne Calabresi, was surprisedthat a petitioner would be removed or threatened with arrest."How could they?" she asked when told of the incident Wednesday. "TheGreenis dedicated to free speech. It's that simple."A TrendThis is the latest in a string of embarrassing cases of city governmentflouting the constitution or the public's right to know.Some incidents have occurred at the hands of mid-level or lower-levelemployees who acted on their own (though in the spirit of higher-ups).City government lawyer Dinella Dodd, for instance, last month booted thepress from a public hearing on parking ticket appeals.The city's elderly services chief suspended an employee for, in part,speaking to the press on off hours, without first checking in with themayor's spokeswoman.The mayor has implemented a press policy - blasted as flagrantlyunconstitutional by the ACLU - which forbids thousands of city employeesfrom speaking about anything with reporters at any time without expressprior authorization from his press office; that has set a chill overgovernment.The DeStefano administration has also subverted the intent of a ruling bythe State Freedom of Information Commission that required that jobevaluations of top administrators be publicly available. Theadministrationhas basically stopped doing written evaluations as a result.He's BackRalph Nader is running as an independent in this year's presidential racerather than as a Green. Nader ran in 1996, 2000, and 2004 as well. Hedidn'twin.Ferrucci said the campaign technically needs 7,500 valid signatures ofvoters to make the Connecticut ballot. In actuality it probably needs tocollect more like 12,000, he said, because election officials ofteneliminate many signatures as invalid. The deadline is Aug. 6."We're at 5,500 signatures," Ferrucci reported. He said he's confidentthecampaign will make its goal.Assuming the law doesn't shut them down.(Nader, a former Green candidate, is running as an independent thisyear.)

Green Party Holds Presidential Debate in S.F>

Green Party holds presidential debate in San Francisco
Delfin Vigil, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, January 14, 2008

(01-13) 20:01 PST San Francisco -- Withdraw from Iraq immediately. Eliminate the No Child Left Behind law. Legalize marijuana.

Those were just some of the goals stated by candidates at the Green Party presidential debate Sunday in San Francisco.

About 800 people of varying ages, economic backgrounds and political parties attended the "Presidential Debate that Matters" at the Herbst Theatre, where the five Green presidential hopefuls spent more time agreeing with one another than actually debating.
"We're not so much against each other as we are for each other," said one of the candidates, Kent Mesplay, an environmental engineer who also ran for the Green Party nomination in 2004. "We have to be because by no means is (the two-party system) a level playing field."

The nearly three-hour event was co-moderated by "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan and KPFA radio host Aimee Allison, who allowed the candidates timed answers to questions about the war in Iraq, illegal immigration, the farm bill and health care, among other subjects.

Nearly every answer was greeted with nods of agreement from the other candidates waiting their turns and by roars of applause from the audience, giving the forum a pep rally feeling.

Bay Area elected officials who are Green Party members - including Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi and San Francisco Board of Education member Mark Sanchez - also took the lecturn, urging the crowd to see the Green Party as the most progressive political option and not as a wasted vote.

"Please. This is serious. This is not a joke. This is about starting a real movement in this country," said candidate Cynthia McKinney to a standing ovation.
The former Democratic congresswoman from Georgia who converted to the Green Party last year was, at one point during the debate, acknowledged as the front-runner. The party's presidential nominee will be selected in July in Chicago.
The other three candidates included Jared Ball, a hip-hop scholar and assistant professor of communications at Morgan State University in Baltimore; Kat Swift, a 34-year-old dread-locked activist from San Antonio who said she will "be just old enough to be president by the time of the next election"; and actor and filmmaker Jesse Johnson from West Virginia.

Getting the Green Party candidate on the ballot in every state is the priority, according to the candidates, who repeatedly urged the audience to register Green after the debate.

"Can the Green Party get beyond being blamed for Bush coming into power?" asked Mesplay, sarcastically referring to the argument that the Green Party takes votes away from Democrats. "We're not the ones who spoiled the American vote. Bush is."
The candidates' answers ranged from dramatic sound bites to simple solutions.
When asked about the farm bill, Swift's answer was not that of a typical politician:
"I'm not familiar with the details of the farm bill. From what I've heard from farmers is that it doesn't work. I would get farmers together and ask them for the answers."

Ralph Nader, the 2000 Green Party presidential nominee who has yet to announce his intentions for 2008, was scheduled to participate in Sunday's debate, but he did not. Nader showed up late for the event and addressed the crowd for about 10 minutes

Former San Francisco mayoral candidate and Green Party member Matt Gonzalez was scheduled to co-moderate the event but could not make it due to illness, according to event spokesman Cress Vellucci. Gonzalez received the loudest applause when his name was announced as one of several elected officials from the Green Party.

At least three hecklers who interrupted the forum also received a few claps of approval.

The event was organized in the past month by several Bay Area Green Party activists who spread the word through advertisements in local weekly newspapers and on Air America Radio. About 760 paid the $10 to $20 suggested donation to attend the forum, while an additional 50 to 100 got in free, according to Vellucci.

Mini Kahlon, a 38-year-old San Francisco resident, came to the event at the suggestion of a friend.
"I had hoped for a higher caliber of interaction on the issues," said Kahlon. "There was a lot more cheerleading than I had expected. But I like the idea of a debate that doesn't only include Democrats and Republicans."

E-mail Delfin Vigil at dvigil@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/14/MNMOUEQ25.DTL
This article appeared on page A - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle

GREEN PARTY DEBATE SET JAN. 13 with Nader!

Green Party Presidential Debate scheduled for Jan. 13
According to the Alameda County (CA) Green Party, there will be a Presidential Debate on January 13, 2 p.m. in San Francisco. Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney, Elaine Brown, Jared Ball and Kent Mesplay are all listed.

The California Primary on February 5 will include all five of these candidates as well as Kat Swift of Texas, and Jesse Johnson of the West Virginia Mountain Party, which affiliated with the Green Party (US) this summer. In most states, delegates to the GPUS Presidential Nominating Convention will be selected by state convention or other internal methods such as balloting, but in four states (Arkansas, California, Massacheustss,, & Illinois) and DC there will be a state run primary. California, which will likely control between 20 and 25 percent of the delegates at the national convention, is the big prize and the race to watch. A Green Debate in San Francisco is very appropriate.

Whether the debate will be televised live or recorded for re-broadcast remains to be seen. At any rate, if you are in the San Francisco Area this is an event that is NOT to be missed!