Green Party

Hey all, I'm in the middle of a big fundraising push and we're begining to canvass, please consider a donation to the Walter Pituc for Champaign County campaign.

Dear Family, Friends, and Supporters,

I am writing to you because I have a vision for Champaign County. I envision a tight-knit community where healthy people have clean air and water, locally owned businesses thrive, and the government actually engages its citizens rather than ignores them. It is my honor to be a Green Party candidate for Champaign County Board.  As your Green Party candidate, I am committed to sound sustainable public policy and will always act in the best interests of my constituents.

I am committed to running a grassroots campaign that does not accept corporate contributions, which can often cloud the judgment of other politicians. It is everyday citizens such as you that truly drive our campaign and keep us going. It is the student, the part-time clerk, the average union worker, and many others like you that we are counting on to bring us to victory in November.

I truly believe that we can achieve victory in November; I have felt it on the campaign trail. I can see it in the faces of the many residents who are yearning for genuine change. Yes, my opponents may have their corporate donors and massive machine politics behind them, but what we have is more valuable. We have the strength of very dedicated volunteers and the rock that is our principled policy positions. I am serious about a return to the basics of local government which is about meeting with real people and talking about the issues that affect them.

That is why I need your help. I need funds to effectively get my message out in order to win. Please consider making a donation of $10, $20, $25, or any amount that you can afford to the campaign. You can make an online donation or donate by mail by visiting http://www.votewalter.org/donate.php. Your contribution will enable our campaign to purchase literature and yard signs that will immensely help our campaign. If you can't make a monetary donation – I understand that not everyone can – you can help out the campaign by dropping literature, requesting a yard sign, designing graphics, etc. Whatever your talent and comfort level is, we can work out a way for you to get involved. Please send me an email at votewalter@gmail.com if you are interested in getting involved in the campaign.

Also, please feel free to visit my campaign website at http://www.votewalter.org to find my policy positions and make a donation online via Paypal.

Victory is within reach. Push us over the top and make a donation at http://www.votewalter.org/donate.php!

Humbly yours,

Walter Pituc

Green Party Candidate for Champaign County Board, District 7

An open invitation from Champaign County Libertarian Party Chair Dianna Visek:

Would you like to see more participation in the
political process? Greater voter turnout? A wider
range of views? More informed voters?

Then please join us at 7 pm on Thursday May 8 in the
auditorium of the Urbana Free Library to discuss:
"Enhancing Democracy in Champaign County: Where Do We
Go from Here?"

We will have a brief overview of issues affecting
democracy in Champaign County and brainstorm about
ways we might enhance it. We will then select the
issues we find most important and form working groups
to address them. Refreshments will be served.

Although this meeting is sponsored by the Champaign
Co. Libertarian Party, it will have no official
involvement after the working groups are formed. The
Urbana Free Library is not sponsoring this event.

Our goal: A coalition of diverse individuals and
viewpoints united to increase public participation in
the democratic process. No matter what your political
affiliation, we'd like your help. Please join us.

After the breakdown of another thread, I asked myself, what's the best way for political parties, of all stripes, to encourage more young people to vote, get involved, to get interested in the overall political process?  I have a few ideas, but I know that the wider IP community would have more, and probably better, ideas.  First, a couple of set-up questions...

1.  What's the best definition of a "young voter"?  Is it a certain age range (18-25 or maybe 18-27)?  Is it educational status (high school vs community college vs university, or some combination)?  Is it employment status (full-time vs part-time vs part-time while in school)?  Is it some combination of everything I've listed above, or maybe something completely different, something outside the little box I just described?

2.  What's the best way to get a young voter to connect with a party, a candidate, a political philosophy, whatever?  What's the best way to get a young voter to connect, and then get them to act on their connection, by voting, by organizing for a party or candidate, by maybe even running for office themselves?

3.  What's the best way to keep a young voter connected, to keep them involved, so that they continue that connection into "non-young voter" status?  Not necessarily keep them chained to a specific party or candidate per se, but more how do we maintain their interest in the process and continue to keep it relevant for the voter?

4.  What am I forgetting, or missing?

I'm not writing this to mock anyone, or to throw gasoline on the floor and wait for the trolls to come by with matches, but I want to ask this seriously, as a "non-young voter":  How do we get young people to get connected and stay connected?  I'm not as interested in hearing about how a specific political party or candidate can connect with young voters, so much as I'm interested in hearing how we can get young voters connected and interested in the first place.

HG

The Prairie Green Party is running four candidates for Champaign County Board this year, and we want to hear from you, the public, about what you would like to see from your county government. Join our candidates and members this coming Monday at 7:30 PM at the Urbana Free Library for an open, public exchange of ideas as we shape our local platform and develop policy priorities for our exciting campaigns.

Greens believe in grassroots democracy, and grassroots democracy is about you. So bring yourself, your issues and concerns, and your willingness to share your ideas with others.

The meeting will be held in the Auditorium of the Urbana Free Library, which is in the basement across from the elevator, at 7:30 PM on Monday, April 21. We hope to see you there!

The Prairie Green Party

From a press release:

GREEN PARTY CALLS FOR CLEANUP OF CHAMPAIGN TOXIC SITE

URBANA, IL - The Prairie Green Party called on local officials, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, and AmerenIP to take action to protect Champaign residents from the dangerous chemical waste site at 5th and Hill streets in Champaign. The abandoned former site of a coal gasification plant is contaminated with benzene and other carcinogenic compounds associated with coal tar, and a number of residents living in close proximity to the site are suffering from rare cancers linked to the contaminants.

"The city of Champaign, Champaign County, IEPA, and AmerenIP have known about this dangerous site for years and have failed to inform residents or begin the necessary job of cleaning up the site," said Walter Pituc, a Green Party candidate for Champaign County Board in District 7. Claudia Lenhoff of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers and co-organizer of the 5th and Hill Neighborhood Rights Campaign told concerned citizens at a meeting on January 19th that residents were not provided with documentation describing the contamination at the site and the risks of exposure until the group began asking questions this fall. AmerenIP, which owns the site, is responsible for cleaning it up under state and federal policy.

"It shouldn't take public pressure to get this site cleaned up," said Joe Futrelle, a Green Party candidate for Champaign County Board in District 8. "It's the responsibility of city and county officials to hold responsible parties accountable for protecting citizens from serious public health risks." The toxic waste site is located in a working-class residential neighborhood with a majority African-American population.

"This is a matter of environmental and social justice," said Pituc, "and we need city and county officials that will provide leadership on the life-or-death matter of public health policy, instead of responding dismissively to public concerns." Greens believe that public policy should minimize the risk of exposure to toxic chemicals to all people regardless of race or economic status.

AmerenIP has finally provided documentation of their assessment and plans for the site, which is available to the public at the Douglass branch of the Champaign Public Library.

MORE INFORMATION:

Prairie Greens of East Central Illinois
http://www.prairiegreens.org

###

The News-Gazette has related stories here and here.

Rob Wildeboer of the local Chicago NPR affiliate did two EXCELLENT stories on what the Illinois Greens are doing.

This is probably the most detailed and well written story about us ever. He really nailed down all the things that we wanna hear. He mentioned the 4 pillars (ecological wisdom, social justice, nonviolence, and grassroots democracy), that we strive to remove corporate money from government, and he absolutely nailed down why we want people to pull a Green Party ballot this coming February primary.

You can find a short story here and a longer podcast on what the Illinois Greens are up to on here.

Please thank Rob Wildeboerfor this fair and generous story at rwildeboer@chicagopublicradio.org

Hello all,

You are cordially invited to join the Prairie Green Party and our 2008 candidates for a mixer and fundraising event at 8pm on December 8th, 2007 at 1205 S. Race St., Urbana. Meet current and former candidates, enjoy local organic food, and help raise money to support Green values and multi-party politics in East Central Illinois. Please RSVP at futrelle@prairiegreens.org.

Should be some fun!

-Walter

A roundup of contested races locally, after yesterday's filing deadline. 

Ballot vacancies can still be filled by established Parties (Democrats, Greens & Republicans) after the Primary.

Petition challenges may still remove some of these candidates from the ballot.

I'll try to link to a district map when available.

If you know if any of these candidates have websites, please post them in comments - I'd like to clean this up and make it the candidate blogroll.

I've tried to list people in the order in which they filed, and therefore the order in which they'll appear on the Primary ballot.

Asterisks indicate incumbents.

Congress - 15th District

• Tim Johnson (R-Urbana)*
• Steve Cox (D-Urbana)

State House

• 104th District

• Terry Baldwin (R-Danville)
• Scott Eisenhauer (R-Danville)

• 105th District

• Dave Tomlinson (R-Champaign)
• Shane Cultra (R-Onarga)*

Countywide

• Auditor
  • Brad Jones (R)
  • Tony Fabri (D)*
• Circuit Clerk
  • Linda Frank (R)*
  • Kim Hooper (D)
• Coroner
  • Duane Northrup (R)*
  • Mark Medlyn (D)
• Recorder
  • Barb Frasca (R)*
  • Danis Pelmore (D)
• State's Attorney
  • Julia Rietz (D)*
  • Alfred Ivy III (D)
  • Janie Miller-Jones (R)

County Board

• District 4 (one full-term seat)
  • Ken Goodchild (R)
  • Steve O'Conner (R)*
• District 6 (one full-term seat)
  • Giraldo Rosales (D)
  • Wayne Williams (D)
  • Eva Jehle (D)
  • Pattsi Petrie (D)
• District 7 (two full-term seats)
  • Janet Anderson (D)*
  • Pius Wiebel (D)*
  • Walter Pituc (G)
  • Kostas Yfantis (G)
• District 8 (one full-term seat)
  • Samuel Jay Smucker (D)
  • Joe Futrelle (G)
• District 9 (one full-term seat)
  • Brendan McGinty (D)*
  • Devan Cowsen (D)

You can find a full list of County candidates here.  A full list of State and Federal candidates is here.  (GOP Presidential Delegate candidates file in about a month.)

I know I've certainly missed something, so correct me in comments.

UPDATE:  To re-emphasize - I have not listed any uncontested races here.  The News-Gazette's filing story is here.

The Prairie Green Party has been sponsoring informal discussion events called "Green Teas" that revolve around many community and Green issues. There's usually a speaker brought in and discussion follows afterward. These are great and informative events that everyone is encouraged to come to!

This week's topic: Local food. The Green Tea will be on Monday October 15th, 7:30pm  at the Urbana Free Library Auditorium. Details are below. The Green Party has always believed that purchasing local food (or anything local for that matter) is usually the most ecologically and sustainable approach to living one's life. People are now paying attention to what's in their food and what goes into their bodies. The recent organic boom is evidence of this. (Note to self: buy Whole Foods stock.)

Reasons to eat locally:

Short distance from farm to dinner plate = less fossil fuel usage

Taste a whole lot better and is good for you!

Support local farmers and businesses

Come out and learn about the benefits of eating locally!

Here is the text of the flyer that we're posting around the community:

The Benefits of Eating Locally
Eric Wilson and Julie Zielinski
recently completed a month long
experiment of only eating food
grown within 100 miles of Champaign-
Urbana.  At this month's Green Tea, they
will be discussing their  experience and
where to find local ingredients.  Come and
learn how eating locally can benefit the
environment, economy, and your health.

Local snacks, drinks , and discussion
will be served.

Monday, October 15th at 7:30pm
Urbana Free Library Auditorium

Green Tea Discussions Sponsored by the
Prairie Green Party of East Central Illinois.

A different topic every third Monday of the
month - same time and location.  Membership
meetings are on the first Monday of the month
at 7:30pm in the Family Room of the Independent
Media Center.  All are welcome.

For more information, visit:
www.prairiegreens.org

This is interesting, but there's few details:

The Campus Greens follow ten key values including nonviolence, ecological wisdom and community-based economics. That's exactly what Walter Pituc, junior in LAS, hopes to bring to the Champaign County Board.

Pituc is launching his 2008 campaign for the Green Party ticket. He says his platform deals with governmental accountability, smart urban planning and better communication with constituents.

"If we have someone who just runs on the issues, not on personality, then we'll do okay," Pituc said.

I have just been informed that Chicago has been selected as the site for the 2008 Green Party National Convention!

http://gp.org/cgi-bin/vote/irvresult?pid=310

Congrats to Partrick Kelly who spearheaded the Chicago proposal bid and all those who helped out!

 Ballot Access News is also reporting it as well as one Minnesotan newspaper.

Here is the official press release from the national Green Party via the Chicago bid website:

GP RELEASE Green Party chooses Chicago for 2008 national convention
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release:
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@gp.org
Patrick Kelly, Media Coordinator for the Illinois Green Party, 773-203-9631, media@ilgp.org

Green Party chooses Chicago for 2008 national convention

WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States will hold its 2008 national nominating
convention in Chicago, Illinois.

Delegates from state Green Parties and caucuses in the party's National Committee completed their vote
yesterday, with Chicago taking the lead over Detroit, Minneapolis, and Oakland.

Greens from all four cities had submitted proposals for the 2008 convention. The National Committee
chose the site using ranked choice voting (also called instant run-off voting) <http://www.fairvote.org>, a
voting reform the party also recommends for single seat offices like governor or mayor.

Chicago's proposal can be read at <http://www.greenconvention2008.com>. The convention will take
place July 10 to 13, 2008.

"We're very proud that Greens will choose our 2008 presidential nominee in Chicago," said Patrick Kelly,
media coordinator for the Illinois Green Party and coordinator for the Chicago bid. "Our Green candidate
for Governor of Illinois, Rich Whitney, drew over 10% in the 2006 election -- after Gov. Blagojevich spent
$800,000 in taxpayers money trying to keep the Green Party off the ballot. The 2008 convention will show
Chicago that we're here to stay."

"Our intention is to run a strong presidential campaign with our nominee on every ballot line in the
country," added Phil Huckelberry, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States and Chicagoan.
Green leaders are planning a press conference in Chicago next week, at which they will discuss the
convention site and the Green Party's plans for 2008 in greater detail. Press conference details will be
announced soon.

"We were quite impressed with the presentations from all four cities, and we know Greens faced a hard
choice," said Ruth Weill, co-chair of the Green Party's Annual National Meeting Committee. "We thank
all of them and congratulate Chicago, and we look forward to seeing everyone -- and the media too -- in
Chicago next summer."

The Green Party held its 2007 national meeting in Reading, Pennsylvania, in July. Several candidates for
the Green presidential nomination introduced themselves to the party during the meeting, and more
candidates are expected to announce soon.

MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• 2007 national Green Party meeting in Reading, Pa.: video footage, blog and media coverage
http://www.gp.org/meeting2007/

'Open Letter to Michael Moore' from the Green Party on 'Sicko,' health care reform
http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2007_07_09.shtml
http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/0710-03.htm
http://www.gp.org/organize/sicko.html

~ END ~

Some local Greens and friends have come up with a proposal for a new UI mascot.

This course looks really interesting, both in and of itself and as an indication of the level of organization of the Green Party in Champaign County:

Tom Abram and Kostas Yfantis, both of whom ran for IL state rep and county board respectively on the Green Party ticket, are giving a Communiversity course at the YMCA on running for office. If you're considering running (and I encourage it) this is a good way to familiarize yourself with campaigning. The course runs this Saturday, April 7 and next Saturday, April 14 from 3pm to 5pm each day. It will be at the University YMCA's Wahl Room at 1001 South Wright St. There is $5 registration fee and you can sign up at the session.

It's not restricted to Green Party members, so go read the entire post, and feel free to check it out.

So many people have emailed me this story, I thought it might be fodder for discussion.

Green Party governor candidate Rich Whitney of Carbondale was a national figure in the Socialist Party before resigning his post in 1993 after getting involved in a feud and quitting for law school.

“Naturally, I don't trumpet the fact that I was a Socialist. I was a Socialist because in my political evolution, I've always cared about working people,” Whitney told the Daily Herald late Saturday night. “I'm not a Socialist now. A lot of people did things in the 60s and 70s they don't do now.”

Although unknown to most voters, the 51-year-old attorney is pulling as much as 16 percent of the vote in polls from those unsatisfied with Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican candidate Judy Baar Topinka. Whitney admitted that he hadn't told any Illinois reporters about his Socialist past until the Daily Herald called him late Saturday for confirmation.

“I'm not embarrassed by it. If I'm campaigning in southern Illinois, I don't start off by telling them I'm pro-choice, either. That's like leading with your chin,” Whitney said. “I used to be a Catholic too, but I don't bring that up either.”

Whitney was a Socialist from 1975 to 1993 and served as editor of “The People,” the national party's newspaper. In 1989, he penned a resolution at the Socialist convention saying that the notion capitalism triumped over socialism was “false.”

How strange is it that a Green Party candidate for Governor is relevant enough that the MSM is publishing hit pieces two days before an election?

From Abram's press release:

On Tuesday, September 26th, Tom Abram, Green Party candidate for State Representative District 103, appeared at the Association of School Board's forum along with other candidates for 103rd House and 52nd Senate races.  His remarks were warmly received by an audience frustrated with talk and little action on funding education. Democratic incumbent Naomi Jakobsson was notably absent from the proceedings.

Abram pledged his support for a sustainable and comprehensive plan to fund public education in Illinois.  He is an advocate of House Bill 750, which would substantially increase the foundation level funding that the state provides to schools.  This would be accomplished by slightly raising the income tax, providing tax credits to lower and middle-income families, and providing property tax relief.

For some reason, you can't get the entire release on his website.  But I thought you might want to discuss anyway.

(Aside:  I don't know who does Abram's photography, but that is an excellent candidate photo.

And if campaigns email me press releases - yes, even Democrats - sometimes I'll throw them up on here for discussion.  They're a great cure for writer's block.)

I wanted to devote a thread to third party candidates in Illinois. Given how tight some races could be, do you think some of them will have an effect in November.

The Chicago Tribune poll showed Rich Whitney polling at six percent. If Topinka closes the gap (as history should tell us she will) will he keep that high of a number? If he does, how bad is that for Blago? Do you think some people fed up with the corruption now will turn back to Blago and that six percent goes down?

Locally, if Joe Parnarauskis gets on the ballot (given that Democrats stop their dirty tricks), how bad is that for Mike Frerichs? I think anybody that's heard his stances reailze he's nuts. Then again, so is the group that now controls the Democratic Party. But if Parnarauskis takes three percent (based on Mackaman from '04) does that really hurt Frerichs? Or is Myers so far ahead in this race that it truly doesn't matter if there's a third party candidate?

Then, there's Tom Abram in the 103rd. His people are sure to jump on this thread and say 'people want a change, people are progressive enough, people want Tom.' Whatever. While Urbana has become excessively liberal, the heart of the Democrats still love Naomi. Please God, somebody explain why? But its been mentioned on this blog 100 times, the better Abram does, the better that is for Rex.

And then there's county board. The kid may get a few votes in 9 and Yfantis may get a few votes in 7...but that's only good news for Republicans, right?

I would appreciate your thoughts...

Rich Miller quotes from a Green Party press release that suggests the statewide Green Party is doing well in its bid to slate candidates for state office.  With all the problems of the incumbent Governor, this might actually be the year that a third party could get 5% of the vote.  I think that in Champaign County they could reach as high as 10%.

Yesterday, one poster on the Crossover post suggested that some Greens may have crossed over to vote for Kirchner and Bell.  Others in the past have suggested that those who voted Green somehow cost Bell the race.  The assumption seems to be  that Greens would have gone for Kirchner and Bell.  My question is why anyone believes that.  The Democratic party leadership has been open about their disdain for the Green Party and tried to kick them off the ballot two years ago.  Why would the Greens now go and  toe the party line?   If anything, I think those who voted Green were more likely to have voted for Beckett and Wysocki.  Maybe some Greens could chime in on this one.

Also, Nick Mann, Green Party candidate in District 9, gets a taste of the County Board meeting and doesn't seem to think much of the way they do business.

I've added Green Party candidates Tom Abram (103rd State Representative), Kostas Yfantis (County Board District 7), and Joe Futrelle (County Board District 8 ) to the links.

There's a candidate in District 9 (Nick Mann) but no website yet.

I hope, despite the conservative/Republican nature of this blog, that both Green Party and Democratic Party campaigns will keep us informed about their public events, press releases, etc., just as you would any other media outlet. You can email things to me or post the information in an Open Thread.
A little discussion never hurt anyone, even if we don't agree.

Yesterday was the deadline to file petitions for the March 2006 Primary, and there were a few interesting things.

There are eight candidates for Governor - five Republicans (Brady, Gidwitz, Andy Martin, Oberwies, and Topinka) and three Democrats (Blagojevich, Eisendrath and Philip Sitkowski).  I have no idea who Sitkowski is.  Andy Martin is a guy who sends out a ton of email, but that's about all I know about him.

There are five Republicans running for Lt. Governor:  Birkett, Rauschenberger, Wegman, Lawrence Bruckner and Jeremy Cole.  I have no idea about Cole and Bruckner, and only the slightest idea about Wegman.

Rex Bradfield filed for State Rep. against incumbent Naomi Jakobsson, and Judy Myers filed for State Senate in the open 52nd District seat.  Neither will have a Primary opponent.

Locally, the big news is that the Democrats filed no candidates for any countywide office, including against County Clerk Mark Shelden.  I wonder if the News-Gazette will now write an editorial about how pathetic the local Democratic Party must be to not be able to find an opponent for someone as vulnerable as Shelden.

In addition, the Democrats will have an interesting Primary in County Board District 9, with incumbent Board Chair Barb Wysocki and incumbent Steve Beckett being challenged by former Board member Bob Kirchner and Lisa Bell.  There are no Primaries on the GOP side of the County Board races, and there are Green Party candidates in Districts 7, 8 and 9.

And, finally, here's the list of candidates for Precinct Committeemen.  These are the people who will elect their Party Chairs in late March.