Fall 2008 Membership Meeting
by Tim Tacker — last modified 2008-08-03 10:16
Saturday, September 13, 2008, Springfield

The Illinois Green Party is pleased to announce its Fall 2008 Membership Meeting, which will take place Saturday, September 13 at the IARF (Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities) Building, 206 S. 6th Street in Springfield.  After the meeting there will be a fundraising dinner at a nearby restaurant; more details will be available in coming weeks.

REGISTER NOW We would like to see all of our members come to Springfield!

Register Online Now --OR-- Printable Registration Form

Tentative Schedule

9:00 – 9:30
Registration

9:30 – 10:00
Plenary Session:  Welcome, Announcements, Agenda Approval, Lunch Orders, Reports, etc.

10:00 – 11:00
Bylaws Proposal (see reverse side for summary)

11:10 – 12:15
Strategy Session:  Lessons Learned, Report on National Convention

12:15 – 1:00
Lunch – catered or ordered a la carte from Andiamo's, adjacent to meeting hall (vegetarian entrees, traditional menu available)

1:00 – 1:50
Officer Elections

2:00 – 2:50
Get Out The Vote (GOTV)

3:00 – 4:00
Other Workshops, etc.

5:00 – 8:00
After Hours Fundraising Dinner at Maldaner's Restaurant, 222 S. 6th, or other Location TBD (www.maldaners.com)

Cost and Registration

The requested donation for the Meeting is $20 per participant, $10 for students and low-income members.  Nobody will be denied entry due to inability to pay.  The requested donation for the Saturday dinner is $20, $10 for students and low-income members.  A registration form is enclosed, or you can register online at www.ilgp.org.

Contact

Unless otherwise specified, if you have any questions about the meeting, please contact Charlie Howe at charliehowenow@yahoo.com or 618-457-4626. These include questions about meeting schedule, lodging, transportation, and more.

Transportation

The IARF Building is on 6th St. by Adams St. right by the Old State Capitol.  The Springfield Amtrak station is four blocks from the IARF Building.  There is metered street parking downtown, and there is also a parking garage located underneath the Old State Capitol.

Bylaws Proposal

The Membership will be asked to vote on a proposed bylaws amendment which would rewrite Articles 5, 6 & 7 of the Bylaws.  The biggest change is making the Executive Committee into a five-person body directly elected by the Membership, consisting of a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Membership Steward.  Currently the Executive Committee consists of five co-chairs elected from and by the Coordinating Committee.  The new Executive Committee would be more empowered to deal with the day to day operations of the party, and the Coordinating Committee would in turn be more specifically focused on policy setting.  Other changes include reducing the size of the Coordinating Committee by adjusting the weighted voting formula, and separating the roles of Delegates and Alternate Delegates to the Green National Committee out into a separate article.  An earlier version of this proposal was presented at the March meeting in Peoria, and this version was approved by consensus of the ILGP Bylaws and Procedures Committee.

The text of the proposed change is online at http://ilgp.org/groups/meetings/bylaws-proposal

For any question regarding the proposed revision, including if you would like a hard copy of the changes in advance of the meeting, please contact Terry Campbell, Chair of the ILGP Bylaws Committee, at Terry.Campbell@ilgp.org or 815-540-0006.

Officer and National Committee Elections

If the bylaws proposal passes, then the Membership will be voting for the following positions:

Chairperson (term ends at first Membership Meeting in 2009)
Vice-Chair (term ends at first Membership Meeting in 2010)
Treasurer (term ends at first Membership Meeting in 2010)
Green National Committee Delegates (number TBD, terms end in 2010)
Green National Committee Alternate Delegates (up to six, terms end in 2010)

See the proposed bylaws revision for a description of the positions.  To make nominations, including self-nominations, contact Tom Abram, Nominating Committee Chair, at Tom.Abram@ilgp.org.