Suffolk County (NY) Producing Green Leaders
The Green Party of Suffolk County New York announced that they now have three of their members elected as Co-Chairs of Green Party (US) National Committees:
The Green Party of Suffolk is proud to announce that its chair Roger Snyder and secretary Ian Wilder have been elected to be co-chairs of the Green Party of the United States (GPUS) Accreditation Committee (AC) and Presidential Campaign Support Committee (PCSC) respectively. Also Green Party of Suffolk executive board member Matthew Lavery was elected co-chair of the National Green Party House Campaign Committee (NGPHCC) early this year.
Clearly something good is happening in Suffolk County, and it is likely due to strong cohesive local green party chapters. such as the Babylon Greens.
Snyder, who is also an at-large national committeeperson for the Green Party of the United States (GPUS), returns for a second term as Accreditation Committee (AC) co-chair. The GPUS Accreditation Committee (AC) reviews requests by forming state parties and caucuses for accreditation. Forty-Six states and the District of Columbia have accredited Green Parties. The Green Party of New York State has been accredited to GPUS since the national party’s inception in 2000. “As a former Green Party candidate for State Senate, I understand the importance of a strong party to get the word out, ” said Snyder. “A strong national Green Party is dependent upon vibrant state parties and caucuses. The Accreditation Committee ensures that the grassroots have a voice in national policy.”
Wilder is also a former Green Party of the New York State co-chair, and was a member of the Presidential Campaign Support Committee (PCSC) through the 2008 election cycle. The PCSC represents the national party in the coordination of communication between Green Party Presidential campaigns, accredited state parties and caucuses, and national committees. “It is imperative to have a Green Party Presidential candidate as an alternative to the Democratic and Republican Party candidates,” said Wilder. “The majority of the US population supports an immediate withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan and the institution of single-payer universal healthcare. Green Party presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney spoke out for these policies. Obama and McCain oppose these policies. Unlike the Democratic and Republican parties, the Green Party will not accept corporate donations so it is free to support the will of voters.”
Lavery is an Islip Town representative to the Green Party of Suffolk Coordinating Committee. The National Green Party House Campaign Committee (NGPHCC) promotes Green Party candidates running for the United States House of Representatives, supports ballot access drives to enable such campaigns, and supports other party-building activities. “If there was a single Green Party Congressperson then the policies wanted by the majority of US citizens, such as Single Payer Universal Healthcare, could be brought forward,” said Lavery. Only a Congressperson can ask the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to run the numbers on Single Payer Healthcare, as it has done on Obama’s Healthcare Plan. Though current Congresspersons such as Conyers, Kucinich and Weiner claim to support Single Payer, none of them them are willing to stand up to their party leadership, and ask the CBO to run the numbers. A single Green Party congressperson would change that, and the whole healthcare debate.”
The Green Party of Suffolk will be holding its annual membership meeting on Saturday, November 14, 2009. It will start at 1pm at the Unitarian Universalist Society of South Suffolk at 28 Brentwood Road, Bay Shore, Long Island, NY 11706-8011. Directions can be found at http://www.uusouthsuffolk.org/. Directions can be found at http://www.uufb.org. The meeting is open to all registered Green Party members.
