(I hope GMGers will add their names to this petition. It’s great that candidates like Cheri are running Green… and telling that the powers-that-be are shutting her out. – promoted by eli_beckerman)
[Update: Read the comments to see the Committee of Seventy’s response. -ed.]
Hello from Philadelphia, Green Mass Group! Here we’ve got a VERY strong candidate for Sheriff running on a “no evictions” platform, promoting ideas like community land trusts and greening the sheriff’s fleet. Her name is Cheri Honkala and she’s a longtime activist in Philadelphia and around the country.
But an important civic organization here in Philadelphia, the Committee of Seventy, is ignoring her candidacy. They won’t give her a spot on their website alongside the duopoly candidates (although here in Philly it’s really one-party rule by Democrats), and they pretty much won’t even acknowledge she exists.
So we’ve got an online petition that we started yesterday, and all that I’m asking now is that you sign the petition and pass it along to your Green friends and any friends in Philadelphia. This is an incredibly easy thing to do and one instance where an online petition could actually make a difference!
Here it is: http://www.change.org/petition…
[And keep us in mind in the coming months, because the campaign is having events all over the country to support Cheri!]
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Wow. Cheri lead the first demonstration I ever attended, down Broad St, August 2000. It was an “illegal” march, and took some negotiating to allow it to happen.
(Next day, all hell broke loose–first time I ever found myself in the middle of a serious riot.
Cheri’s great, and hope this thing takes off.
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and I ran into a Democratic candidate for judge. He was handing out flyers. I said, “I’ll take a flyer if you sign this petition.” But he said he was supporting Jewell Williams, the machine candidate. So I told him that it’s not an endorsement, just a signature. And he said, “Well, part of my practice is dealing with foreclosures…”
Just kind of a funny story. The campaign is very exciting. Michael, if you could make it back down to Philly at all, that would be excellent. I’ve talked to a man who’s moving from Denver to Philly for the campaign. I didn’t know Cheri until this started, but she is awesome.
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Here is the reply from the Committee of Seventy:
Thank you for your email. In italics below, is the response we gave to Cheri Honkala’s campaign.
Timeka:
My colleague, Luke McKinstry, asked me to respond to your request to list Cheri as the Green Party’s candidate for Sheriff.
As Luke mentioned, Seventy’s online voter resource center is currently focused on the primary candidates. We will, of course, post the profiles of all candidates who are eligible to run in the November 8 general election once the primary is over.
Seventy has worked hard to inform voters that primary elections feature only the candidates running in the Democratic and Republican primaries. Still, many Democrats wonder why they can’t vote for Republicans and vice versa. Others ask why they can’t vote for candidates from other parties. Including (on our website) the names and profiles of candidates who are planning to run in November – but do not appear on the May ballot – would, we believe, add to the confusion.
As I said, the non-majority party candidates who qualify to run in November will be represented on our website.
You are welcome to explain this to your supporters and, obviously, to Cheri.
Ellen Kaplan
Ellen Mattleman Kaplan
Vice President and Policy Director
Eight Penn Center, 1628 JFK Boulevard
Suite 1002
Philadelphia, PA 19103
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The Committee of 70 was saying that they’d put Cheri up on their website after she turned in her nominating petitions on July 31. Now, they’ve said they’ll list her as a candidate starting after the May 17 primary. Woo! A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.
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The Committee of 70 was saying that they’d put Cheri up on their website after she turned in her nominating petitions on July 31. Now, they’ve said they’ll list her as a candidate starting after the May 17 primary. Woo! A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.