The Green Party of Virginia

You Too Can Run with Ralph!

by Jana Cutlip

On President’s Day 2000, consummate consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, announced his intention to run for the Green Party nomination for President of the United States. After 35 years as an activist in the service of citizen causes, Mr. Nader remains committed to grass-roots reform. Defying incredible odds, he has had his successes in challenging the insidious powers thwarting the average American and he could realize success on several levels in his presidential bid with their aid. Challenging the entire national political establishment, Democrats, Republicans, and their corporate masters, he stated in his announcement speech, "I have a personal disdain for the trappings of modern politics but I can no longer stomach the systemic political decay that has weakened our democracy. I can no longer watch people dedicate their lives to improving their country while their government leaders turn their backs, or worse, actively block fair treatment for citizens. It is necessary to launch a sustained effort to wrest control of our democracy from the corporate government and restore it to the political government under the control of citizens."

On March 1, Nader began to fulfill his pledge to visit every state in the union. He will be the only candidate to accomplish this feat. Perhaps this is because he’s the only candidate who’s attempting to run a grassroots campaign, to inspire the public to become actively involved and participate in our democracy, to build the progressive movement and a viable, national

Green Party. In order to accomplish this Herculean task, Mr. Nader, 66, is maintaining a schedule that would exhaust most people. By May 5, Nader had made campaign visits to 32 states. Among the point that he wants to drive home to the public in his bid for the White House are these: "The Democrats and Republicans are basically one corporate party with two heads, wearing different makeup. Corporations, bent on molding government to their own benefit, have come to so dominate the U.S. political process as to put it almost beyond the reach of the average citizen." There are far too many things in this country that he says, "a strong democracy wouldn’t tolerate." Among them: "This massive poverty in a time of prosperity; strip mining, that blows the tops off mountains; and out-of-control pollution and restrictive labor laws that result in historically-low union membership." As for the booming economy, he wants the public to understand that "it’s very good for the top 10 percent." With the growing disparity in wealth, "the top 1 percent of the population have wealth equal to the bottom 95 percent. "The corporate government is taking over the political government and turning it against the people." Nader also has frankly addressed questions about his campaign for president as a candidate of the Green Party. He was the party’s nominee in 1996, too, but this time he means it. "In ‘96, all I did was put my name in. I said then, ‘I'm not going to campaign. I’m not going to raise money.’" He vows that this year will be different. "This is the first time I’ve campaigned." And he has a full-time staff working on the election. Aside from the possibilities of winning, one of the essential goals of his campaign is to make the small Green Party a greater player in national politics. Though we now have but a few elected officials across the country, and not much of a unified national organization, Nader believes that his campaign can spur on the building of "a progressive political party that gets bigger every two years," he says. With 5 percent of the vote in a national election, the party would win federal funding for many of its activities. As for fears that Nader’s campaign could take just enough votes from Al Gore in a few key states that he may end up helping elect Republican George W. Bush, Mr. Nader’s answer goes straight to the reality we now face in this nation: "There's no difference." Green Party sympathizers among Democrats also understand this important feature of Ralph Nader’s campaign for the presidency; the greater his success, the louder the Democratic Party leadership will hear the message to shape up or ship out. "The problem with the Democrats is that they define themselves by the Republicans," he says. "When they win elections, Democrats say they’ve seized Republican issues. And when they lose, they say they weren’t enough like the Republicans. That’s the wrong direction."

On March 23, Mr. Nader spoke before an appreciative audience at Wilson Hall Auditorium at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. There he issued a call for one million people to come forward and contribute one hundred hours and raise one hundred dollars over the next few months in order to radically transform American society into the participatory democracy envisioned by our forbears. "There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship."

That morning in Richmond, at a statewide press conference at the Capital, Nader blasted Gov. Jim Gilmore for running an "accounts receivable department for the garbage Industry." Virginia is the second largest garbage importer in the country.

A petition drive is ongoing to place Ralph Nader on the ballot in all fifty states. He is currently on the ballot in New York, California, Hawaii,

Alaska, New Mexico, Maine, Delaware, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Oregon, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Colorado, Connecticut, and Florida. In Virginia, 10,000 valid signatures of registered voters must be collected on official petition forms before mid-August. Petitioners are needed in all areas NOW.

If you are a registered voter you can collect signatures from your friends, relatives, co-workers, classmates, fellow club members and even complete strangers. People in Northern Virginia have been successful in collecting signatures at libraries, shopping center parking lots, sporting events, and public meetings. In Charlottesville, involved citizens are collecting signatures at the downtown mall at Fridays after Five. Anywhere people are gathered is a good place to ask people to sign the petition to get Ralph

Nader on the ballot in Virginia, to give Virginians the opportunity to vote for a candidate that has dedicated his life to improving the lives of everyone in this country. His work as a consumer advocate first came to the attention of the American public in 1965, when as a 31-year-old lawyer, his book, Unsafe at Any Speed, took on General Motors over safety. The popular yet highly unstable, little, rear-engine Corvair was the book’s main example of unsafe autos on the market. GM halted production four years later. More books and a career of reforms ranging from consumer product safety to fighting discrimination against women followed. From auto safety to the EPA, the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, OSHA, Mine Safety legislation, and much more, Ralph Nader has been there for us. Now it’s time for us to be there for him. He’s dedicated the whole of his adult life to fighting battles of basic justice for average people. If everyone who believes that Ralph would be the best choice to lead the world into a new paradigm for the new millennium will actively work to get him on the ballot, Ralph can be the next President of the United States. With your help, Ralph can win. And if Ralph wins, we all win. Visit the web site at www.votenader.org and volunteer to help. Together we can create the Future.

( Jana Cutlip is the Virginia State Coordinator for the Nader Presidential Campaign. You may contact her at (540) 456-8555.

Prison and Protest: What Democracy Looks Like

by John Doe #561523

Power is the ability to move, or not move, our world. And it doesn’t come from governments —it comes from us. I did not help organize any of A16 or A17, but my thanks go out to everyone who did. Their hard work helped show me what democracy looks like, and it helped show me what Hope looks like.

I was arrested Monday afternoon, along with several hundred other non-violent resisters, for crossing a line in my street that my government drew to protect a fundamentally undemocratic and unjust system of control. The World Bank and the IMF are just two of the tools that finance capitalism uses to impoverish our world, and enforce that poverty. On April 16 and 17 we drew our own line: where institutions put profits over people --we said, NO.

We occupied Pennsylvania Avenue at 20^th Street and set-up camp. Those risking arrest locked arms, sitting peacefully in the intersection. We sang, "this is what democracy looks like, we are what democracy looks like." The police surrounded us with barricades, took off their badges, and took up their billy clubs. We sat peacefully and sang, "we’re non-violent, what about you?" The National Guard joined the police in full riot gear. They put on their gas masks. We sat peacefully and sang, "we’re the people, don’t gas the people."

The tension was strong, but so was the joy. And I did find joy in that moment. Not because of the building confrontation, I had no desire to be clubbed and gassed, nor to see my friends clubbed and gassed. I found joy because in that moment I knew, in some small way, what it felt like to march in Soweto. I knew, in some small way, what it felt like to stand in Tiananmen Square. I knew how the abolitionists, suffragettes, union organizers, and Freedom Riders felt. I wasn’t just singing it, in that moment I learned what democracy feels like.

Risking arrest shouldn’t be a casual thing or it loses its meaning, and it seems silly at times to voluntarily submit to the indignity of arrest. I wrestle with this --with my commitment to social justice, and to pacifism. So I sat there and thought, it’s easy to risk arrest under the highly controlled circumstances of most protest, knowing that my personal cost in the arrest is low. It’s something else entirely to face hundreds of police and national guardsmen in full riot gear, billy clubs, pepper spray and tear gas at hand. Pacifism isn’t passive, and it isn’t easy. As long as we do not have peace, we must not let it be easy. It is, and always has been, by definition, a radical philosophy that challenges every element of worldly power and violence.

I sat in the rain with thousands of others, and faced down the expression of that power through our police. I thought about all the people around the world who, facing much greater hardships and risks, struggle for their basic daily needs. I thought about all the governments my government has undermined because they sought to provide for those needs at the expense of Global Capital; my government often going so far as to assassinate democratically elected leaders such as Patrice Lumumba of Congo, and Salvador Allende of Chile, and install tyrants like Mobutu and Pinochet in their place. I thought about the financial institutions that supported, and support today, the rule of tyrants, lending monies used to enrich despotism rather than democracy. I thought about the "development projects" those monies go to, destroying ecosystems, displacing indigenous peoples, and poisoning the land. I thought about the odious debt built up over generations of terror loans. I thought about the austerity measures finance capitalism insists on to keep the money flowing from the Global South into the institutions of the North and West; denying people healthcare, social security, labor rights, and environmental security. UNICEF puts the annual world wide death toll due to this forcible impoverishment at over 500,000 children a year.

Speaking truth to power, the energy in our assembly became something amazing. The songs helped: from funny, "we’re here, we’re wet—let’s cancel the Debt;" to funky, "there ain’t no power like the power of the people, cause the power of the people don’t stop;" serious, "1-2-3-4, break the Bank and feed the poor;" and empowering, "who’s streets? Our Streets! who’s world? Our World!" But it was more than that, more than songs --more than not knowing when or how (or how violently) our peaceable protest would be ended by our police. It was the incredible congregation of students, workers, and longtime activists all committed to ending the injustices of Global Capital and forging a just world. It was our assembly itself that was amazing.

When the police began clubbing people, we did not fight back. When they began spraying down the front lines with pepper spray, and pushing their barricades forward, we did not fight back. People screamed in pain, medical support rushing to them to flush their eyes and skin with water, but we did not return violence for violence. We did not riot. We took their blows. Our lines moved back from the police, but we remained seated and did not leave. And magically, wonderfully, their assault stopped. They stopped attacking us, and agreed to talk to us instead.

For the next hour or so, things remained tense. We could have been attacked again at any time. But, slowly, we talked them down. We convinced the police to put away their riot gear, and put their badges back on. They agreed to move aside the barricades, and, in small groups, to let us try and finish our walk. We marched on and were arrested by the hundreds for crossing a line in our street that our government drew and we refused to recognize.

Our hands were cuffed, painfully tight, behind our backs. We were searched, and some of our property dumped unceremoniously into the street. After the search and confiscation, I was escorted, by the cuffs, to wait by a bus. I stood by that bus, shivering, in the cold and rain for over an hour. During that time I asked an officer about my cuffs, and also one of our legal aide staff. The officer grabbed my hands, which had become almost totally numb, and told me I was alright. I didn’t feel alright. He said that my numbness might have been because of the cold, rather than the cuffs, so he wasn’t obliged to do anything about it. When I asked what difference it made, he couldn’t find an answer. I spent the time quietly singing "We Shall overcome" to myself. It’s corny, but it did help with the cold and pain.

We were searched again, and after a 20-minute ride arrived to our processing center at the Police Training Academy. We petitioned as a group for four of our members, who were in extreme pain, to be given looser cuffs. After some discussion, this request was granted. It was moving to see the looks on the officer’s faces when they cut away our cuffs and saw the deep red, purple and black welts that the cuffs had cut into our wrists. The police I met were, by and large, good and decent people who were obliged to commit acts of brutality in defending an unjust system. The officers I spoke with before and after my arrest honestly believed that they were there for our own protection as much as for anything else. Confronting them, emotionally, with the effects of that "protection," pepper sprayed and tear gassed faces, and broken or bruised bodies, is a moral and political imperative.

We were recuffed, less tightly, and forced to remain, cold, wet, and bound, on the bus for four or five more hours. Finally entering the makeshift processing center, we were searched again, and any remaining property we had was bagged. We then had to sit on the floor and wait. We were given blankets if we asked, which was a blessing, but, still, it is very painful to sit flat on the floor with your hands cuffed behind your back. Half an hour later I was taken upstairs to be fingerprinted. We had all agreed before being arrested that we would stay in solidarity with one another and demand that we all be charged alike, given the same, joint, trial date, and released together. As part of our jail solidarity, we refused to give our names, and I became John Doe #561523. This number was written on my forearm with a dark blue marker. I asked the officer if he could please find some other way, perhaps with a bracelet, to identify me, but I was ignored. Having that number written on my arm, in blue ink no less, was the most humiliating, disturbing, and dehumanizing part of this entire experience.

I was recuffed, hand to ankle, and dumped on the floor for another hour or so, before having my hands again cuffed behind my back for transport to a jail for the night. The bench and walls in the transport car were stainless steel, and sloped to prevent us from sitting fully upright. The first two jails we went to refused to take us, and we were in that car for close to an hour and half before finding a jail that would accept us. I was put in a cell with nine other men. It had a metal table in the center, and a toilet and small sink in the corner. We were not given food, a baloney sandwich, until 4 a.m., and we were not given blankets at all. Wet and cold, we tried to sleep on that dirty floor. I can’t ever remember spending a more miserable night.

At 6:30 a.m. the next morning, we were taken to the Courthouse holding facility, run by U.S. Marshals. Our group was searched again, split up, and then further split up and shuffled around into different cells, on the same cellblock, throughout the morning. I spent two hours in a 6 ft. X 10 ft. cell with six other men, and six hours in a 10 ft. X 10 ft. cell with as many as 15 other non-violent demonstrators at times.

The cell across from ours was fairly large, with 20 men in it. 10 had already been arraigned, and the other 10 were still waiting, along with the rest of us, to see a judge. At one point they were all taken out, told that they would be "treated human if they acted human," and then chained by the ankles and wrists to be sent to the D.C. Jail. The Marshals realized that half the cell wasn’t ready to be moved yet, and brought those 10 back, but left them in their cell in chains for the next couple of hours. When another Marshal noticed they were still chained and questioned this, he was told they were to remain that way. Still another guard, apparently upset by our smell, emptied an entire spray can of Lysol in the hall of the cellblock and into each cell.

We were not ever allowed to make a phone call during any of the time we were in custody, nor were we given access to counsel. The Marshals told us repeatedly that we did not have a right to either a phone call or counsel, and that almost all of the activists they were processing had elected to give up the solidarity. We were also told that if we did not give our names during arraignment, we would be held indefinitely, perhaps until July, at the D.C. Jail in general population. At one point, two prisoners who had failed drug tests in a rehab-release program and were being returned to D.C. jail were put in our cell with us. They immediately told us that if we went to the jail we would be raped by the other inmates, and pointed to a couple of the younger guys in our cell and told them that they in particular would likely be raped.

While waiting in the holding cells outside the courtroom, we were finally allowed to speak to a woman who identified herself as being with the D.C. Public Defender’s Office. She confirmed what the Marshals had told us: that almost all of the activists were giving up on solidarity and giving their names to the court so they could be conditionally released. When we insisted on speaking to our own lawyers, we were told they hadn’t even bothered to show up at the courtroom. When we asked to be allowed, as a group, to make one phone call to confirm all of this, we were told that we couldn’t.

Finally, at 3 p.m., a lawyer associated with our group was permitted to speak to us. She told us that they had been trying to contact us all day, and that 75% of the people arrested the day before were sticking with the solidarity. So the Marshals had essentially been lying to us all day long.

I did not stay with the solidarity. I choose to give my name and leave after 28 hours in custody. But there are some 500 non-violent activists still behind bars. They need our support. It was very hard, on Monday, to face a line of police officers and National Guardsmen in full riot gear, knowing that we could be gassed and beaten at any time. It was very hard, in police custody, to be painfully cuffed with our hands behind our backs for almost 8 hours, to sleep in wet clothes on a cold and filthy floor, to be branded in blue ink, even if it was washable, and to be confined and lied to. And for all of that, many of my fellow resisters were treated much worse. Many people were much more seriously brutalized. The most troubling part of all of it is not that the officers hated us --I could have taken their hate, tried to understand it and forgiven it. The most troubling thing was that they did not hate us. They brutalized and violated us, and seemed indifferent to it. It was simply their job.

It was, and is, hard to recognize what ultimate good comes of this witness. But I’ll tell you something: I’m angry. I’m angry at the fires raging here at home, and all over our battered world; fires that our government is all too often actively helping to start, and to keep burning. I’m angry with finance capitalism running roughshod over our world, and I’m angry at the Military-Industrial Complex, and Prison-Industrial Complex, that our government has built to protect a system of Global Capital that is fundamentally unjust and anti-life.

I am right to be angry. It is a righteous anger. And it is a hopeful anger. It tells me that we can change our world, and make good and gentle all the ways of Man. My hope makes me angry, and it gives me courage. It tells me that I can face all the pain we create, because I am not defined by that pain. None of us are. In the end, we are all of us the sons and daughters of Love and the Hope of Love. We are what Democracy looks like. We are what Justice looks like. We are what Peace looks like. We are what Love looks like. And ain’t that a wonder.

State Green Party News

by Staff

Portsmouth Council Candidate Issues Invitation City Council to Hold A School Fund Raiser
PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Portsmouth City Council candidate Mark Geduldig-Yatrofsky recently went before City Council to speak at a public hearing on the budget. "The City Council must fill the $1.8 million gap between the city's and school division's proposed budgets," he said. "They must look for alternative ways to raise money for the cash- strapped schools."

"The city should hold a fund-raiser, like public radio," he said. "If just one-third of Portsmouth residents donated $60, the $1.8 million gap would be gone." With that he reached into his blazer and pulled out a check made out to the Portsmouth City Schools for $500.

The sergeant-at-arms accepted the check and passed it to the city attorney. A few council members stared, yet none had questions for the speaker. Mayor James W. Holley III quickly thanked Geduldig-Yatrofsky. The Council would consider his proposal.

"I don't think anyone's tried it," Geduldig-Yatrofsky said in an interview the following day. "I want to make a difference."

The school division also expects a $3 million surplus this year. Administrators say the extra money came from unexpected employee turnover and a large number of positions left unfilled.

Benn said the city needs to work with the School Board to give the sschools as much money as possible. To make up the gap, he proposes that the chools look at using part of the surplus.

The School Board, he noted, has run a surplus for at least five years. As long as the surplus is constant, the money should be allocated for teachers' raises.

Benn, a former School Board chairman, said Geduldig-Yatrofsky's proposal wouldn't work. He said it would be a tough sell to many struggling Portsmouth residents.

Pitts said he advocates full funding for the city schools. But he said the city has a difficult time balancing its budget with limited property tax funds.

Pitts has been pursuing money from the federal government -- a payment in lieu of taxes -- to make up for the property tax shortfall.

"I want to do everything that I can, given what we have,'' he said. Vice Mayor Bernard D. Griffin said education remains a high priority. He said he would consider all proposals before making a decision.

Jeffery Barba, a council candidate from Cradock, said at Tuesday night's meeting that the city should lobby harder in Richmond for school funds. Geduldig-Yatrofsky said his proposal was similar to a church asking for money. He said he has made donations like this before, although privately. In 1998, the year after the car tax rebate was passed, he and his wife sent a check to the Portsmouth Schools equal to the amount of their personal property tax rebate. Last year, they gave to a local social ministry.

Geduldig-Yatrofsky, 51, is a computer consultant who lives in Olde Towne. He said he considered the donation a good investment.

He said he was not grandstanding. ``It was not a tossing of the gauntlet at them. It was an invitation,'' said Geduldig-Yatrofsky, a frequent speaker at City Council meetings.

Schools spokeswoman Karen Streeter said the check was given to Hawkins at the meeting. The money will go into the school's general fund, she said.

The check leaves the city and school division $1,799,500 apart.

Greens of Virginia Nominate Ralph Nader

by Muriel Grim

Using choice (preference) voting the Greens of Virginia (GOV) recently decided how the Virginia delegation to the Association of State Green Parties (ASGP) presidential nominating convention should apportion their votes. At the convention they will practice another of the voting/legislative reforms most Greens support, namely proportional representation.

On March 20, the voting began with an announcement to registered Virginia Greens that an electronic ballot was available on the GOV website. The following day mailing of paper ballots to members who are not on the Internet began. The deadline for submitting a ballot was midnight on April 12. This date was set so that the Rockbridge Greens could hold a meeting at which they would cast their votes, and also, so the votes could be counted before the statewide Greens meeting on Saturday, April 15.

The Northern Virginia Greens suggested to the GOV that all Virginia Greens’ choices for presidential candidate could be determined using an electronic ballot, with supplemental paper ballots mailed to Greens who are not on the Internet. Because time was short for making a decision on which candidate(s) the Virginia Green delegates should support, the Nova Greens suggestion on what process would be used to poll Virginia Greens about their candidate choices became the ad-hoc process. I designed the ballot and then my husband, Paul, the GOV Web Master, created the electronic ballot.

Several active Greens from around the state, who commented on the process on the GOV list-serve, favored its use. There was a good deal of concern about which candidates should have been on the ballot. The GOV needs to create a procedure for determining what candidates will be on a ballot. For this election, the four candidates who were listed on the greens.org website were put on the Virginia ballot: Jello Biafra, Stephen Gaskin, Joel Kovel, and Ralph Nader. Also on the ballot were None-Of-The-Above (NOTA) and write-in Michael Moore.

Using choice voting, the voters were able to rank the candidates, NOTA, and Write-ins, assigning the number 1 to the first choice, 2 to the second choice, and so on. Though it’s not necessary to rank all of the candidates when using choice voting.

The ballots were counted using a method known as Instant Runoff Voting. On the initial count of the ballots, Nader got 68 votes, Gaskin 11, Biafra 5, Kovel 5, NOTA 1, and write-ins John Hagelin and Michael Moore each received 1 vote. At that time, only Nader had achieved more than the threshold 14% of the vote required to get at least one delegate. Since each of the write-ins and NOTA got the least votes, they were eliminated from the tally and the ballots on which they were the number 1 choice were recounted, this time using the second choice on the ballot. One of the write-ins had only a first choice, so that ballot was no longer counted.

The new vote tally was: Nader 69 votes, Gaskin 12, Biafra 5, and Kovel 5. Biafra, still not having reached the 14% threshold, was eliminated and the ballots that had Biafra as the first choice were redistributed to their second choice.

That made the tally: Nader 74, Gaskin 12, and Kovel 5. Then Kovel was eliminated and those ballots redistributed to the second choice. The final tally was Nader 78 and Gaskin 13. Having garnered 14.3% of the vote, and thus exceeding the threshold of 14%, Gaskin was entitled to one of the delegate’s votes at the convention and Nader received the remaining 6 delegates’ votes.

While no voting method is perfect, choice voting is more democratic than winner-take-all voting. If there had been only one count, Nader would have gotten all 7 delegates, in spite of the fact that he had received only 74% of the vote (proportionately, that would equate to 5.25 delegates). With IRV, voters did not have to feel that they were "throwing their vote away", if they picked, as their first choice, someone who almost certainly would not get the threshold number of votes. When their first choices were eliminated, their vote went to their second choice. The final tally reflected everyone’s first or second choice, not 74% of the voters’ first choice.

The D.C. Metro Areas Traffic Woes Build... Along with More Roads

by Jim Lowenstern

The D.C. metropolitan area, northern Virginia, and surrounding area of Maryland was rated, last year, as the second worst congested area in the nation, measured by driving time lost in commuting. The Los Angeles area was the worst and greater New York City, including northern New Jersey and western Connecticut was third worst.

The study’s findings that nearly half of the worst bottlenecks are in Los Angeles and Washington reinforces the conclusion of another national study that those two metropolitan areas have the worst and second-worst congestion in the country. In the second study, the Texas Transportation Institute reported that "Washington, for the fifth consecutive year, has the second-most severe traffic, forcing drivers to waste 76 hours a year in tie-ups. Washington area drivers must squeeze through four of the country’s 20 worst highway bottlenecks, all of them along the Capital Beltway, according to a study of traffic choke points on non-toll freeways.

The worst area, the I-495, I-95 and I-395 convergence in Springfield, known locally as the mixing bowl, is one of the worst congested areas on the east coast. It is infamous for multi-vehicle accidents involving trucks, and for trucks overturning on ramps that are banked too sharply.

In search of solutions to the problems of congestion, the 2020 Transportation Plan was developed by the Northern Virginia Transportation Coordinating Committee (TCC)--composed of locally elected officials from northern Virginia.

In responses to the original version of the 2020 Plan, business leaders faulted the plan, calling it unbalanced and too dependent on mass transit. "To leave off the table something as fundamental as bridges is incredible," Robert Chase, the director of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance told the Washington Post. "If you think about it, the fundamental deficiency is a lack of alternatives. If one guy decides to stand on a bridge, or one truck tips up on the Beltway, there’s no place for people to go."

Chase, officials at the Greater Washington Board of Trade and others said that the plan is too dependent on mass transit. "Adding new Metro stations and light rail lines to the region will not solve the area’s gridlock unless there also are new roads and bridges that drivers can use to cross into Maryland."

Fairfax Board of Supervisors Chairman Katherine K. Hanley (D), a member of the council, said she supports changing the plan to reflect the need for new bridges. But she noted that Maryland politicians have steadfastly opposed new bridges into Maryland. Environmentalists and others have praised the 2020 Plan because it relies heavily on mass transit rather than new construction. Stuart Schwartz, director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth said, "building new bridges would encourage a new western Beltway bypass," something he opposes. "The Board of Trade and Mr. Hazel have not veered one iota from their long-term goal of an outer beltway," Schwartz said. "The bottom line: Studies have shown the western bypass will not relieve congestion on the Beltway, I-95, I-66 or the Dulles Toll Road." Schwartz said his group believes that the 2020 Plan should continue to focus on mass transit, but with greater attention to the impact that land-use and development decisions can have on traffic.

On Dec. 16, 1999, the Executive Committee of the Transportation Coordinating Committee approved an amended 2020 Plan with two new bridges connecting to the existing road, Prince William Parkway, which will be the new outer beltway. A proposal for A third bridge, with A North River crossing connected to the Fairfax Parkway was not included in the 2020 plan at this time.

The D.C. area has a history of fighting against unwanted roads. A bridge over the Potomac, Three Sisters Bridge, was never built. A highway, to be located where the C&O Canal runs was stopped. A project to run Route 95 straight through the District was prevented.

(More information can be obtained from Mark Robinowitz - Stop Outer Beltways and Y2K web site: http://www.igc.org/icc370)

The outer beltway is a solution to traffic congestion for some people. The concept is that most trucks will use outer beltway and the inner beltway will have less traffic. Although a subway/rail line to Dulles is in preliminary stages, some suggest starting near Leesburg. Plans for a subway along Rt. 66 to Centreville are being discussed, and it's been suggested that it should go farther west, to Gainesville. The newest version 2020 plan includes a subway to Prince William County.

The NOVA Greens and other citizens opposed to the outer beltway believe there are two arguments that go against this theory. The first is, build it and they will come. Roads built in congested areas soon become congested themselves. The second is that new roads bring about denser development.

Green space is rapidly declining in the metro area. Mass transit is a rallying cry for some to stop sprawl. They point out that two roads that have major congestion, Route 66 and the Leesburg Connector - Dulles toll and access road - have right-of-ways that could hold a subway/rail line.

Some activists working on sprawl issues are against subway/rail built on the Leesburg Connector-Dulles toll and access road because of Green space, growth, and density issues. Other citizens say with the amount of use these roads get and the amount of congestion, these subway/rail lines should already have been built.

National Green Party News

by Staff

The Iowa Green Party Sees Continued Growth

Green Party activity in Iowa is growing, with locals now formed in Iowa City and Ames and the beginnings of a state party network that linking these locals with party members throughout the state.

With the party having formed following the tremendous interest in Ralph Nader’s 1996 campaign, Iowa’s Greens are hoping that this year’s presidential bid will give them a similar spike in growth and in organizing new members.

In their biggest victory this past year, Steven Kanner –who walked across the U.S. in the mid-80s as part of the Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament-- was elected tot he Iowa City Council by a two vote margin.

The Ithaca Green Party Wins A City Council Seat

The Green Party in Ithaca, N.Y., won its first City Council seat with the election of candidate Josh Glasstetter with 54% of the vote. Glasstetter is also the first under-graduate to ever hold a council seat there and is the only New York State official elected on the Green Party line.

Although they failed to win in three other wards, Green candidates did well despite their youth and meager campaign resources.

The Democratic Party has dominated Ithaca politics for the past quarter century and this race came down to a struggle between business friendly Democrats and a coalition of small business advocates and environmentalists promoting smart growth ideas.

Ralph Running Strong in First Weeks of His Race

During the first six weeks of this campaign Ralph Nader has traveled across the country and denounced corporate control of government from State Capitol buildings in Richmond, Virginia, Phoenix, Arizona, Des Moines, Iowa, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

University students, faculty and the public have heard him at the University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, Arizona State, University of Arizona, University of Minnesota and N.C. State University,. He has appeared in Santa Cruz and Sacramento, Calif.; Reno, Nev.; Santa Fe, N.M.; Wilmington, Del.; Princeton, N.J., and Charleston, W.Va.

He has been quick to take on local examples of corporate welfare. Here in the Virginia statehouse he reminded Virginians that the state ranks number two in garbage importation and that its state song emeritus, "Carry Me Back to Old Virginia" was now sounding like the corporate song of Waste Management Inc. He denounced Gov. Jim Gilmore as rabidly anti-consumer and during his stop at UVa described the governor as essentially "an accounts receivable clerk."

Of course this is not all. He took the time to urge a California city council to pass a resolution urging that corporations lose their dangerous legal identity as persons. He also praised the federal court’s decision declaring Microsoft in violation of antitrust law, and spoke on threats to biodiversity in Boston.

On April 16 Nader participated in the Mobilization for Global Justice in Washington D.C. He received strong support and wild applause as he addressed a blue-green coalition of more than 5,000 at a march and rally to protest the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, whose policies undermine labor standards and environmental conditions in developing nations.

Nader calls his bid for the White House "a fundamental democracy campaign."

Ralph Nader Running 3rd Behind Bush and Gore

A revealing national poll of likely voters, released on April 10, found Green Party candidate Ralph Nader in third place behind George W. Bush and Al Gore -- and ahead of prospective Reform candidate Pat Buchanan.

So which alternative-party aspirant appeared all over national TV the next night? It wasn't Nader.

Although Pat Buchanan has been running for over a year this time, he received only 3.6 percent support in the new Zogby poll. Nader, who announced his presidential campaign in February, received 5.7 percent in the poll.

In Western states, Nader received 13 percent support, compared to Gore’s 30 percent. And another recent poll conducted in Ohio found Nader had the highest personal favorability rating of any 2000 candidate among that state’s voters. Yet public citizen Nader, a widely respected figure in American life for decades, is generally ignored by the same national media outlets and pundits that regularly include Buchanan in their coverage of the presidential race.

However, within only a short time after announcing his candidacy, and after having spent less money in total than Republican George W. Bush or Democrat Al Gore have spent on office supplies, Nader is making a dent in the body politic.

Polls generally rate the veteran consumer activist at the top of the list of the most broadly respected people in the United States. Even the New York Times has taken notice, observing that: "This time (Nader) is serious."

Nader Discusses Endorsement with UAW Union

DETROIT, Mich. - On May 1, Consumer advocate and Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader discussed an endorsement with leaders of the United Auto Workers union.

Nader said he didn't directly ask for the union’s backing, and added that it will not endorse a candidate until after a congressional vote expected this month on providing permanent normal trade relations with China --which Nader, the UAW and other major labor unions oppose.

Instead of asking for endorsements, Nader said: "I just tell people what we're doing."

The UAW broke with the AFL-CIO last October, when it endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore, and hopes to use its own endorsement as leverage.

Nader Wants Spot on W.Va.’s Presidential Ballot

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Consumer advocate and Green Party candidate for president, Ralph Nader told West Virginians during a recent visit, "out-of-state coal companies are destroying the mountains.

Nader, who declared his candidacy for president on the Green Party ballot in February, must gather the signatures of about 12,700 registered voters by Aug. 1 to be placed on West Virginia’s election ballot.

Nader said he’s willing to challenge the state’s ballot access laws in court. His first avenue is to get enough names on a petition. "We’re going after 50 states this year," he said. "West Virginia is one of the more restrictive states."

Although Nader talked briefly about ballot access, he spent most of his news conference at the secretary of state’s office blasting the coal industry’s mountaintop mining practice. "Coal companies should pay for destruction to the mountains they mine," he said.

Nader to Sue for Right to Be On N.C. Ballot

RALEIGH, N.C. - Consumer advocate and presidential hopeful Ralph Nader

announced May 2 that he plans to sue the state of North Carolina if it doesn't loosen its "burdensome" requirements for third-party candidates.

The announcement came during a press conference Nader held at N.C. State University, his first stop in the state during his campaign as a Green Party candidate.

To get his name on the ballot this fall, the state requires Nader to get 51,324 signatures from supporting citizens by June 1. So far, he said, he has a couple thousand. "The two major parties have all the power here," Nader said. "And they're really just one political body with two heads, each wearing different makeup."

D.C. Statehood Green Party Growing Rapidly

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Thanks largely to A16 and Earth Day, the D.C. Statehood Green Party gained over 550 registered voters during April for a total approaching 4,200 and 1.3 percent of the electorate. At this rate of growth they’re in position not only to reach their unofficial goal of "10,000 in 2000," but by the 2002 elections, they could actually surpass the Republican Party as the No. 2 party in the District of Columbia.

NOVA Greens Report

by Jim Lowenstern

The Northern Virginia (NOVA) Greens have kept busy lately participating in three recent demonstrations. One of our members, who has made it a NOVA project to protest the School of Americas, went down to Fort Benning, Ga., with another man from our local for the yearly protest of this notorious institution. He encouraged us to have our monthly meeting at the local protest and so after doing road clean-up on our adopt a highway sight, Rt. 236 near NOVA Community College’s Annandale Campus, five of us met and rode the Metro into D.C. for the April 2 protest.

The School of the Americas is run by the U.S. Army. After returning to their home countries, many of the alumni trained there have become involved in human rights violations, both as officers in regular armed forces and as members of the underground death squads of dictator run governments in Central and South America. Clergy and other innocent people have been murdered by these U.S. trained forces.

This was the second year of our participation in this protest but unfortunately it was a chilly day and rain ended the protest early, with the threat of rain and lightning causing the sound system to be turned off. The following Sunday, April 8, some of our members went to Jubilee 2000, a protest seeking to make the IMF and World Bank absolve Third World Nations of debts from loans from their organizations.

Also on the same day, Sharon Williams spoke at the Save the Soccer Field Rally at the Culmore sight in the Bailey's Crossroads area. Fairfax County has land zoned commercial that has been used as a sand lot soccer field for at least 30 years. It’s in the middle of a working class Hispanic community and Bailey"s Crossroads has little, or no, open space left. Virginia Senator Leslie Byrne, U.S. Congressman Tom Davis, and Professional Soccer Players Marco Etcheverry, John Maessner and others spoke against the building of an Eckards Drug on the field. Construction was started on around April 20, and on the twenty-fifth a press conference was held, with Latino activists threatening a national boycott of JC Penny, which owns Eckard Drugs, continues construction. Currently the construction has stopped.

Why The Green Party?

by Chris Simmons

People sometimes ask me why I joined the Green Party. I tell them it’s because I’m disappointed –disappointed with the major political parties in our nation. I think most people will agree with my reasons.

I support the Green Party because you can have economic development and protect the environment at the same time. I’m Green because government subsidies and tax breaks should not be given to profit-making corporations. I’m Green because Congress should not allow corporations to mine or harvest timber from federal parks and forests. I’m Green because poverty still exists in a land of plenty.

I’m Green because mankind’s activities must neither use resources faster than they can be replaced, nor create effects or products which cannot be assimilated by the environment. I’m Green because common interests and long-term solutions should be the focus of our elected officials, not special interests and quick fixes.

I’m Green because Greens do not accept PAC contributions and limit individual donors to $100. Thus, Greens are not beholden to special interests or wealthy contributors. I’m Green because "None of the Above" should be a choice on election ballots. I’m Green because Proportional Representation is more democratic than our "winner-take- all" style of politics. I’m Green because Greens call for the return of local decision-making so individuals and communities may act in their own best interests. I’m Green because I see increasingly little difference between Democrats and Republicans.

Finally, I’m Green because it’s the only party that is still of, by, and for "the people."

International Green News

by Staff

U.K. Greens Wins Three Seats to London Assembly

LONDON, U.K. - The Green Party in Britain recently won election of three of its members to the London Assembly in an "historic day" for the British capital. The three now join Minister to the European Parliament, Jean Lambert and another London councilor as the party’s only elected representatives.

Green candidate for mayor and one of the successful Assembly candidates,

Darren Johnson, told a press conference: "I'm absolutely thrilled about this election. It’s a really historic day for the Green Party and it’s an historic day for London."

He pledged he and his colleagues, Victor Anderson and Jenny Jones, would "want to get stuck into the decision making process," and added: "We aren’t just going to be shouting from the sidelines."

Faslane Trident Base Blockaded by Protesters

GARELOCHHEAD, Scotland — A total of 179 protesters were arrested Feb. 14, including two politicians, after the biggest anti-nuclear demonstration in Scotland for 15 years.

More than 400 peace campaigners from across the world converged on

Britain’s Trident submarine complex at Faslane naval base, near Garelochhead, Argyll, in the first major blockade of the base since a Landmark decision by a Scottish sheriff last October ruled that Trident submarines were illegal according to international law.

Among the people arrested were Tommy Sheridan, the Scottish Socialist

Party MSP and Caroline Lucas, Green Party Euro-MP, who represents south-east England, and eight Church of Scotland ministers. Four Scottish National Party MSPs, Lloyd Quinan, Dorothy-Grace Elder, Linda Fabiani and Sandra White, took part in the protest but were not arrested.

New Zealand Greens Push for GE Food Inquiry

BLENHEIM, New Zealand — The Green Party was pushing for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into genetic engineering, agriculture spokesman Ian Ewen-Street told a meeting of Marlborough Federated Farmers.

"New Zealand had an opportunity to use its clean, green image as an

advantage in overseas markets because nothing genetically engineered was actually grown in the country," he said. "It had all been imported by stealth on to the supermarket shelves," he said. He said he would accept a decision by the community if it decided it wanted genetic engineering.

"The Greens were careful to say New Zealand should not get into genetically engineered food," Mr. Ewen-Street said. He acknowledged medical advances using GE could be beneficial. "New Zealand’s clean, green image along with its status as a non-grower of genetically engineered products offered an opportunity to increase returns," he said.

Irish Greens Call for End to All Corporate Campaign Contributions

DUBLIN, Ireland - Opposition parties have called for a ban on corporate donations to political parties in the aftermath of Ireland’s own recent campaign finance scandal.

The Labour Party is in favour of retaining contributions from private

individuals, but the Green Party wants an end to donations of any kind.

Green Party Minister to the Dial (Parliament), Trevor Sargent, said that both corporate and private donations to political parties should be banned. Political parties should receive public funding only, "as a major step towards

regaining public confidence in the political system as well as leveling the playing field for candidates at election time." He added: "As long as the culture of donating money to political parties exists, there will always be doubts about favours sought or given. Irish politics needs to be cleansed from top to bottom."

Mr. Sargent said that banning corporate donations to parties while allowing individuals to continue contributing would bring with it a strong danger of inviting people to bend the rules.

Greens Score First with Energy Law

WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- The Greens scored a first in Parliament yesterday when the Energy Efficiency Bill was passed into law.

Party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons introduced it as a member’s Bill in 1998, getting a hostile reception from the previous Government.

It was reviewed by that government, and altered by a select committee, but survived the election and won support from the present Government.

The Bill is the first piece of Green Party legislation to be passed by Parliament and Ms. Fitzsimons said yesterday that it still contained the central elements she wanted to see included.

It gives a statutory basis to the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and confirms and expands its responsibilities. It establishes a ministerial responsibility for delivering on energy efficiency and conservation, and requires the development of a national energy efficiency and conservation strategy. The Minister of Energy will, for the first time, have the power to set mandatory energy performance standards for energy-using products such as appliances, equipment and vehicles.

Energy Minister Pete Hodgson congratulated Ms. Fitzsimons for her determination to get the Bill through and described it as "the first true piece of MMP legislation".

He said he accepted the obligations it placed on him and would implement its requirements.

Former Energy Minister Max Bradford welcomed the Bill, noting that it had been changed during his term in office.

Scotland’s First GM Sabotage Case Set to Begin

EDINBURGH, Scotland -- Scotland’s first court case over the alleged destruction of genetically modified crops by conservation activists was opened in Early may at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Four people are charged with wilfully and recklessly destroying property

without good cause, and two with the lesser charge of obstruction. All the accused have entered pleas of not guilty.

The charges relate to a demonstration against the trial of genetically modified oil seed rape, planted at Boghall farm, near Dalkeith, Midlothian. The protest took place in March last year, before the plants had flowered.

The Scottish Green Party is campaigning against all testing of genetically modified crops in the open air and argues that there has been no proper assessment of the potential dangers of the modified genes spreading from the trials into the surrounding countryside.

The Greens have claimed that, once the genetically modified plants flower, the pollen may cause interbreeding with non-GM crops in surrounding fields.

One of those arrested, Mr. Mark Ballard, 28, a graphic designer from Edinburgh, and a member of the Green Party, said: "Our trial is expected to last for four or five days, due to the complexities of the case. We are confident that our point of view will be vindicated."

Mr. Robin Harper, Scotland’s Green MSP, whose constituency includes Boghall farm, said: "It is greatly to be regretted that people like Mark have had to go to these lengths to stop the genetic pollution of the countryside.

"The Scottish Parliament's committees have so far been denied the chance to investigate the implications of releases of GM plants into Scotland's countryside. I wish the protesters every success in their court battle."

Australian Greens' Leader Criticizes Attitude to Island States on Sea Level Issue

MELBOURNE, Australia — The leader of the Australian Green Party, Bob Brown, has criticized the country’s government for excluding the small island states of the Pacific from a meeting on greenhouse gases.

Thirty countries, including the Melanesian group, attended the conference in the Western Australian city of Perth during the last week of April. However, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Niue were not invited.

Senator Brown says the Australian government can not be allowed to keep ignoring the rising sea level issue in the Pacific.

Welcome and Thanks

by Staff

Welcome New Members

Blue Ridge Greens: Jay Stephens, Billy Warrior, Julie Wimmer, Jane Donohoe, George Taylor

Central Virginia Greens: Mason Payne, Ben Walter, Michael Green, Dan Lichtenstein-Boris, Robert Tappan, Peter Welch, Roger Clarke, Van Lynch,Jeffrey Stricker, Barbara Nordin, Randolph Atkins Jr., Terry & Jennifer Cashen, Elaine Upton & Carol Woodsong, Todd Leback

Greens of Virginia: Lisa Garner, Heather Scott, Sara Kelley, Mark Newton, Yasmin Alami, Nicholas Estrada, David DeGaetano, Kate Erickson, William Estlick, Robert Layne, Don & Betsy Morrison, Michael Jones, Joshua O’Naghten, Gregorio Knepp, Rick Herrom, Helen Renqvist, Mark Forster

New River Valley Greens: Arthur Ford, Timothy Dennis, Amy Christopher, Pat Therrien, Edward Boone, Chris LaPlante

NOVA Greens: Robert & Avril Dresdner, Joshua Sloan, Joey Huennekens, Aurora Evans, Josh Brand, Jeff Lea, Dick & Susan Howlett, Nancy Diamond, John Montgomery, John Monastra, Robert & Jeannie Puentes, Joshua Hensley, Paul Fiscella

Rockbridge Greens: Michael May, Tricia Liljequist,

Student Greens of Virginia: Karen Mooney, James Hare, Samantha Hamlin

Tidewater Greens: Sandra Darling-Roberts, Chris Sliwoski, Justin Nielsen, Karen Porreca, Osama Agami, Cory Manning, Jeffrey Boghosian

Valley Greens: James Bohland, Linda Peregrino, Nathan Oliver, Douglas Woodhouse, Laurie Berman, Tom Smith, Nathan Ferrell

Thank You Recent Contributors

Blue Ridge Greens: Chris Barlow, Michael Bentley

Central Virginia Greens: Ben Walter, Jana Cutlip, Michael Green, Jeff Maurer, Ed Pearson, Diana Abbott, Chris Gensic, Peter Thompson, Aaron Feldman, Herbert Tucker, Barbara Nordin, Randolph Atkins Jr., Elaine Upton & Carol Woodsong

Greens of Virginia: Brad Belo, Heather Scott, Chris Barlow, Everett Heath, Mary Becelia & Clay Calvert, Wendy Ebersberger, Doug Eyde, Elaine Broadhead, Jim Lowenstern, Mark & Ulla Geduldig-Yatrofsky, Muriel Grim, Irene Harter, Jeff Maurer, Ed Pearson, David Bugin, Cordelia Plunkett, David Laibstain, Elena & Donal Day, David Wilson, Chris Gensic, Cynthia Maahs, Scott McGraw, Michael Bentley, Paul Gagnon, David Cox, Margaret Rood, Allan Matthews, Susan & Richard Howlett, Tricia Liljequist, Aaron Feldman, Karen Porreca, Don & Betsy Morrison, Paul DeMaio, Randolph Atkins Jr., Chris Gensic, Mark Newton, Roger Hopper, Neelima Chirumamilla, Gregorio Knepp, Helen Renqvist, Mark Forster,

New River Valley Greens: Helen Renqvist

NOVA Greens: Joey Huennekens, Doug Eyde, Jim Lowenstern, Muriel Grim, Irene Harter, Dale Medearis, David Wilson, Cynthia Maahs, Scott McGraw, Don Rouse, Paul Gagnon, Margaret Rood, Allan Matthews, Richard & Susan Howlett, Paul DeMaio, Roger Hopper

Rockbridge Greens: Collette & Michael Barry-Rec, Sandra Stuart, Fred Baker & Cathy Wells, Lenna & Terry Ojure, Katie & Larry McNiel, Arvid Christiansen, Elise Sprunt, Nancy Anderson, Dean & Maxine Foster, Rober Lisle, Phil Hyre & Daphne Raz, John White, Donna Sheffield, Jane Riegel, Laura Parsons, Shelley Bourdon, Steven Copus, Steven Gaines, Cathryn & David Harbor, Laura Neale & Chris Wise, Tricia Liljequist, Adrienne Hall Bodie, Linda Hall, Phil Welch & Cynthia Atkins, Catherin Bodnar, Michael May, Elisabeth & David Daystar, Mel Leasure

Tidewater Greens: Mark & Ulla Geduldig-Yatrofsky, David Bugin

Valley Greens: Sherry Stanley, Charles Shelton, Laurie Berman, Bruce Busching

Greens of Virginia
Newsletter of the Greens of Virginia / Green Party of Virginia

Editor: Aaron Feldman
Layout: Gerry Cervenka
Printing: xhigh graphics

Contributing writers to this issue:
Jana Cutlip, CentVaG
Muriel Grim, NoVaG
Ramsey Kysia, NoVaG
Jim Lowenstern, NoVaG
Eric Sheffield, RBG
Chris Simmons, NoVaG