Roots to grow Green

By CHRIS CONROY

FOSTERDALE — Sullivan County’s Green Party is off and running in the new year.

On January 8, the Sullivan County chapter of the Green Party, called Greenstock, held its second meeting. A moderate snowfall kept some members away, with only 20 in attendance compared to the 40-some in attendance at the December meeting. Energy was high, however, as the group began to set its agenda for the coming year.

“People need to start going to their town board meetings,” said Greenstock chairperson Jeryl Abrahamson. “That’s where you get into the issues.”

Issues are something Sullivan Greenstock is counting on to get noticed. Members are already at work on a handful of grass roots projects they hope will change the county for the better.

“One thing we could do,” suggested party member Dick Riseling, “is to begin a study of the voting machines, ballots and results of the Sullivan County elections.” Riseling said that, according to the board of elections, one in four votes from the voting machines in the county were declared invalid. Once completed, the results of the study would be published. Long-term goals for the project would include reform and modernization of the county’s election apparatus, along with a healthy dose of credibility for the party as a whole.

Short-term goals involve setting up the internal structure of the group. A by-law committee has been formed to adapt the New York State Green Party by-laws for use on the local level. Other committees will focus on collaborating with the state Green Party organization, organizing speakers for the monthly meetings, planning election campaigns and setting up future projects.

Community support is paramount to an organization like Greenstock, and Abrahamson stated that one of the party’s goals for 2001 is to position party members into local offices. “We need people to run locally… it is where you have the most say in what’s going on,” said Abrahamson.

With elections still many months away, the immediate focus will remain on community projects.

At the party’s next meeting on February 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the Fosterdale Motor Lodge, by-laws will be discussed in depth and there will be a guest speaker. Discussion will take place with regard to partnering with WJFF, the hydro-powered community radio station located in Jeffersonville, to create a rural electricity coop, selling excess energy to local customers at a reduced rate. Time permitting, plans to get “fair trade” coffee placed as a staple in many Sullivan County locations will also be discussed. “Fair trade” coffee is brewed with beans that have been certified as grown and harvested in socially just conditions.