Support for local mass transit initiatives key to Party’s support

The Oklahoma County Green Party decided at its July 17 meeting to endorse Fannie Bates for county commissioner in the special election on August 14.

The election is being held to fill the seat vacated by Jim Roth upon his appointment by Gov. Henry to the state Corporation Commission. Five candidates are vying for the spot, and the one who receives a plurality of votes in the election will serve out Roth’s term.

Noting her long history of grassroots activism around issues of civil rights, social justice and environmental sustainability, Party members were unusually enthusiastic about the endorsement.

“We’re proud to endorse Fannie Bates,” said James M. Branum, OCGP spokesperson. “We are looking forward to seeing a grassroots activist get elected to office and then continue to fight for the people.”

“In particular, we hope that she can bring attention to the pending needless destruction of the Union Station Railyards.”

Ms. Bates has made preserving and utilizing Union Station and associated rail infrastructure the central issue in her platform. She believes, like a majority of metropolitan area citizens in a 2005 MAPS 3 poll, that mass transit should be a priority in the long-term planning of the area, and that existing resources should not be destroyed.

In order to bring attention to this timely issue, Oklahoma County Green Party members are working with other activists and groups to organize a “Save the Rails!” rally at 10 AM on Saturday, August 11 at Union Station, 300 SW 7th, Oklahoma City.

The Green Party of Oklahoma consists of four party locals. In addition to the Oklahoma County party, there are established parties in Tulsa (Green Country Greens) and Cleveland County, as well as the Rural Greens of Oklahoma, which includes the rest of the state.

The Green Party does not have ballot access in Oklahoma and the state Green Party and locals have endorsed progressive Democrats, as well as independent candidates, in the past.

For more information about the Oklahoma County Greens, see www.okgreens.org/locals/ocgp or call (405) 445-5408.

MORE INFORMATION:

Oklahoma County Districts map

Fannie Bates campaign web site

Oklahoma City Railways

OKC’s MAPS3 survey shows strong support for mass transit by Brian Brus, Journal Record

A System in Transit by Bryan Dean, Daily Oklahoman (as published by MassTransitMag.org)

Taken from: JMBranum.com campaign website. Branum was the first Green Party member in Oklahoma to run for office.

Here’s the results from the the Oklahoma State Elections Board:

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NOTE: J. M. Branum will be seeking the Oklahoma Green Party’s endorsement at its convention this summer.

J. M. Branum is a 30-year old candidate for House District #99. He is running on the Independent ticket but is a Green Party member.

“My campaign will focus on the most important issues of our day: ending the racist, classist and immoral practice of the death penalty, fighting to provide genuine relief to those oppressed by poverty, promoting means of independence from high gas prices, and working to reform Oklahoma’s undemocratic ballot access laws,” said Branum.
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At the upcoming national meeting to be held in Tulsa, the Oklahoma Green Party will submit a proposal to the membership addressing the process of selecting the Party’s presidential nominee. The proposal would institute direct voting, to replace the current system of representational selection. The proposal is among several being presented for consideration.

Proposal For Instituting Direct Voting For The Green Party Presidential Nomination And Ensuring Adequate State Party Representation On The Gpus National Committee

Sponsor: Green Party of Oklahoma

Contact: James M. Branum, jmb@jmbzine.com, 405-476-5620

BACKGROUND: One of the 4 pillars of the Green Party is that of grassroots democracy. The idea of grassroots democracy is difficult to define, however, particularly when considering the tension between insuring that all individual members of the Green Party have an equal voice, while at the same time ensuring that all state parties have a voice in the party as well (since the historic roots of the GPUS was in the Association of State Green Parties, a cooperative body of many of the various state Green Parties in existence at that time).

It is out of our desire to see these two concerns be met, that we submit this proposal to the Green Party National Committee for consideration.

PROPOSAL 1: The Green Party of Oklahoma calls upon the GPUS to establish a nation-wide primary election for the 2008 Presidential and Vice-Presidential nominations. This election would be conducted by a mail-in voting procedure using IRV. To insure the integrity of the process, ballots must be sent to the GPUS members in hardcopy form by US mail, and ballots must be sent back to the GPUS for counting by US mail.

This primary ballot would have the names of all constitutionally eligible candidates who have submitted a written declaration of candidacy to the GPUS, as well as the option of “None of the Above”.

PROPOSAL 2: The Green Party of Oklahoma calls upon the GPUS to ensure, that whatever method of delegate apportionment is used in the future, that every state be guaranteed a minimum of at least 2 delegates to the national committee.

Greens joined others to protest at the state capitol, as part of a nationwide demonstration against election fraud. See story at Oklahoma Indymedia and photos at DeanPhotos.com