Green Party of Allegheny County -

Will You Stand for Democracy?

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 10:24:09 -0400

Getting the Green Party on the ballot in Pennsylvania this year, in spite of the unfair and repressive "major party" rigging of ballot access regulations, will be nothing short of a heroic
(yet winable) struggle for democracy.

How many of your fellow students, neighbors, friends, or co-workers would even consider volunteering for such an effort?

But since you're reading this post, maybe YOU are seriously thinking about helping out with the Green Party petitioning effort this summer?

The Green Party of Allegheny County is determined to place Titus North (14th Congressional District), Liz Hughes (23rd Legislative District), Jonah McAllister-Erickson (21st Legislative District), and candidates statewide for President, Auditor General, and State Treasurer on the Pennsylvania ballot this year.

Your help could make the difference between having candidates
that identify with your hopes for peace, justice and democracy,
or having candidates who only give lip-service to those values.

Consider taking a petition for your neighborhood, or joining a group petitioning at special events: phone 412-231-1581, email ebbortz@gmail.com

Green is the Future! Thanks!

Election Analysis and Visualization

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:07:08 -0500

Our site now offers some tools to analyze election results. The comments below provide one take on things, written by Brady Hunsaker. We encourage you to take a look at the tools for yourself and share any observations you have.

You call this a strong democracy? Out of 238 single-winner races in Allegheny County, 138 were won with at least 98% of the vote. That's 58% of the races! In every case, of course, there was only one candidate on the ballot. Mostly they were Democrats, but there were a few Republicans. The two-party system fails to provide competitive elections, and yet both parties still support tremendous obstacles for any other candidates to get on the ballot. Is this really in the best interest of voters?

How much support is 99% really? Our new election results spreadsheets show how much support a candidate really has by looking at the abstentions--voters who cast a ballot but not a vote in that race--and registered voters.

For example, Dan Onorato got over 99% of the votes (there were no other candidates), but only 84% of the turnout. Still, 84% is quite strong. Most candidates with 99% of the "vote" were really in the 70-80% range, with some lower. To see for yourself, check our election results spreadsheets. These also allow you to do your own analyses.

We Need Action to Clean Up Allegheny County Air Pollution

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:01:30 -0400

Speaking at our October meeting, Lee Szymkiewicz, Group Against Smog & Pollution (GASP) presented examples of Allegheny County’s persistent air quality non-attainment health information...in other words, air quality that is unhealthy. Air borne particulates, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide have been problems in the Pittsburgh area for many years. Major sources of this pollution come from coal fired power plants & boilers, coke (for steel) production, and heavy traffic conditions.

GASP has been lobbying and pressuring government bodies on these issues, and has provided test equipment, data, and educational programs for area schools.

The unacceptable levels of air pollution that we live with in Allegheny County is indicative of how much more vigorous our campaigns must be...Greens, environmental, health, and mass transit activists need to be heard where responsible government bodies have been negligent.

Electrical Regulation & Deregulation: What it means to Consumers & the Environment?

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 09:29:08 -0400

David Hughes, Director of Citizen Power, gave a lively, fact-filled
presentation at the Green Party meeting in September on Electrical Generation: Regulation & Deregulation.

David provided a historical record of how Pennsylvania moved from state regulation of this industry to the de-regulated scheme today.

There have been moves nationwide by consumer and environmental organizations to re-regulate the industry for reliability purposes and for renewable energy goals and mandates, particularly in Ohio and California.

Among the many questions and topics discussed: consumer interests and concerns in regulated and de-regulated environments, solar and wind electrical generation, the politics of the issues.

A critical aspect to the growth of non-polluting renewable power
generation, is the need for major public investment and
subsidies to homeowners for the purchase and installation of
renewable energy, particularly solar and wind technologies.

Lots more info at: http://www.citizenpower.org

Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Single Payer Health Care

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 16:12:28 -0400

Ed Grystar, from the Western PA Coalition for Single Payer Health Care, made a presentation at our August meeting. The discussion that followed included details of bill HR-676 in Congress, Medicare for All.

Medicare for All would be an efficient universal system, administered by a single-payer (the federal government), and hopefully similar to the British, Canadian, and French systems.

For more information about the Western PA Coalition for Single Payer Health Care, see their website at http://www.wpasinglepayer.org/.

The need for improved access to health care is reflected in the Green Party of the U.S. platform:

The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without a national health care system. The current system's high costs and widely recognized failures demand that bold steps be taken. The Green Party supports a universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health insurance program as the only solution to the current disastrous for-profit system.

Most importantly, the people of America will gain the peace of mind in knowing that needed health care will always be available to them. No longer will people have to worry about facing financial disaster if they become seriously ill, are laid off their jobs, or are injured in an accident.

Iraq Veterans Against the War

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 23:30:59 -0400

At our July meeting, we were happy to have Paul Abernathy speak to us about Iraq Veterans Against the War. From their flyer: "Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is a national organization of veterans and active-duty service members who have served since September 11th, 2001, including Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. We are committed to saving lives and ending the violence in Iraq and call for immediate withdrawal of all occupying forces."

Lots of more information on their website. Thanks to his last name, Paul Abernathy is conveniently listed first in the Member Profiles section.

We appreciate Paul letting us know more about how the group is working to make a difference.

Food Not Bombs

Wed, 30 May 2007 21:41:43 -0400

At our May meeting, we were happy to have Sean McGarril speak to us about Pittsburgh Food Not Bombs, a local group that's part of an international movement. From their website: "We share vegan meals with hungry people in Pittsburgh two days a week as well as protest war, poverty, occupation, the globalization of the economy, restrictions to the movements of people, and the destruction of the Earth."

For more information, check out their website, especially if you're interested in helping out.

Thanks to Sean for joining us!

A first-hand view of ballot access struggles

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:38:09 -0500

Ed Bortz was on the front lines of last year's struggle to get Green Party candidates on the ballot and keep them there. He describes his experience and view of the current state of ballot access in Pennsylvania in a recent blog entry.

17,720 Vote Green in Allegheny County!

Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0500

The official results are in: Titus North received 17,720 votes, or 9.9% of the vote in the 14th Congressional district.

This is the most votes for a Green candidate in Allegheny County ever!

Thanks to everyone who volunteered, donated money, and/or voted for Titus.

We now have some images showing the distribution of votes.

www.votenorth.org

Volunteer as a Green Party Poll Worker on Nov 7!

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 11:08:02 -0500

This election day, November 7, provides voters of the fourteenth Congressional District an important opportunity to send the PEACE NOW...BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW message to Congress.

How? Vote and work the polls for Titus North, the Green Party candidate. Let your voice be heard.

To volunteer, please call 412-231-1581 or email info@gpoac.org.

Ballot Access Making News!

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 01:23:00 -0400

Carl Romanelli's campaign has helped bring the issue of Pennsylvania's unfair ballot access laws to the forefront. Recent editorials and articles in major newspapers are below:

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial (Oct 3)
Philadelphia Inquirer editorial (Sep 27)
Scranton Times-Tribune editorial (Sep 29)

Ballot Challenge to Titus North Dropped

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 01:00:23 -0400

The initial review of Allegheny County petitioning revealed that between 70 and 80 percent of the signatures are valid and that over half of the challenges from Mike Doyle and Pennsylvania Democratic Party are wrong. Based on these results, Congressman Mike Doyle has dropped the challenge to Titus North's access to the ballot. Details on Titus North's campaign website.