My Green-Rainbow Party voter registration is a stronger statement on the issues that I care about than are the votes that I cast for various candidates.  My Green-Rainbow Party affiliation is a public record and is in effect every day.

So what does that mean for the Democratic Party primary on Sep 9, 2014?  It means that I will not vote in it.

Not very many other voters will vote in the primary, either.  The Lenox Town Clerk predicts an extremely slow day (less than 20% turnout).  In my case, I do not participate in that primary because I am not a Democrat (and I would not be given a ballot to cast even if I showed up).  Not participating in other parties’ primaries is one of the statements that I made with my registration as a Green-Rainbow Party voter.

For the 2014 state elections it’s too bad that a Green-Rainbow Party gubernatorial candidate did not surface, although the party has nominated three fine candidates running statewide for the offices of Treasurer, Auditor and Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Our small party does sometimes have primaries of its own, which voters registered in other parties may not vote in.  When we have had primaries our voter turnout is much higher than it is for other parties.  

Softball advocacy for GMO labeling is the kind of boneheaded strategy that several of us were invited to play this morning.  

We must play hardball, instead.  We are up against food manufacturers who are oppose GMO labeling and who provide lavish funding to Democratic Party political leaders like House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who then block the legislation despite its popularity.  DeLeo and the lobbyist donors fully understand the game of political hardball.  DeLeo wants the industry lobby money and he knows securing the money is conditioned on doing just the sort of blocking he’s doing.  Votes that bestow power on his office, though, are taken for granted.

Against this backdrop is a ludicrous game of softball being espoused by MoveOn.

It has been difficult for those of us fighting the proposed Tennessee Gas Pipeline, educating the public and lobbying policy-makers to get a clear message from our elected representatives and candidates on where they stand on the issue.  Will they publicly fight it, will they support it, or will they straddle?  At the top political leadership we know clearly where the governor stands; he’s on the wrong side.  Governor Patrick adamantly and vocally supports this fossil fuel expansion that is a huge step in the wrong direction.

Local politicians like Ben Downing, Paul Mark, and Smitty Pignatelli make statements on the subject that are tempered and carefully parsed. They express no vision or resolve. They instill little confidence that they are willing to stick their political necks out in a very difficult fight.  They tell us they are ‘torn’ and that it’s a ‘difficult issue,’ that it’s the feds who are the authority, that the issue must be further ‘studied,’ and that they will follow the developments ‘with interest and concern.’  They may suggest that the pipeline should be situated on a different route, but they do not use their leadership position to broadly address the real issue of our continuing dependence on fossil fuels or to challenge the governor or the fossil fuel energy interests who pump money into the coffers of the Democratic and Republican parties.

Candidate Martha Coakley’s position statement is no better:

Martha is committed to building a clean energy future in Massachusetts and, while natural gas currently represents a critical piece of our energy mix, she continues to see it as a bridge to cleaner, renewable energy sources. She is also committed to doing everything possible to protect both homes and fragile environmental resources.

As you may be aware, the ultimate decision on this project rests with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and, like Governor Patrick, Martha believes FERC should ensure an open, substantive discussion with local residents before making a decision on the future of the project.

One gets the feeling that, once again, our political expectations are being managed down.

How refreshing, in this context, to hear clarity and firmness in a statement that was issued by an organized, growing, and feisty political opposition to establishment politics, the only political party in Massachusetts whose leaders and candidates neither solicit nor accept funding from private energy interests.  This opposition party is the Green-Rainbow Party.

A quorum of Lenox Green Rainbow Party committee members joined individual Lenox Dept of Public employees and others in opposition to a Conservation Restriction on Yokun Ridge, which was voted on and narrowly passed the required 2/3 vote vote at Lenox Town Meeting on May 2, 2013.

By having adopted the ill-conceived Consrvation Restriction, a super-majority in Lenox today has removed the ability for a future generation’s super-majority to make its own decisions on what to do on its land.  Not only is the vote an arrogant lack of trust it may also be harmful.

Because the land is owned by the Town of Lenox, a 2/3 super-majority would always have been needed for any project.  This fact, along with existing environmental laws, was strong and sufficient protection.

The opportunity costs of this vote will be revealed in the future and the next generations will resent this year’s town meeting action.  There will be missed opportunities resulting from future technologies and future needs that we have removed from future generations’ town meeting supermajorities.

The momentum for adopting of the conservation restriction was fueled by those who last year opposed the development of any wind energy proposal whatsoever.  With classic fear-mongering, it offered as examples many projects around the country that were harmful or had been approved by small boards.  None of the ‘bad’ projects the group offered as evidence, though, had required the approval of a supermajority of a town meeting.  They were private projects, not public ones, and not subject to the rigors and public vetting of a town meeting.  None of the ‘bad’ projects that were included in the propaganda would have been accepted by a town meeting supermajority.

A two-third majority today effectively took away the rights of the next generations’ two-thirds majorities.  What a travesty this is for grass-roots democracy.

The conservation restriction was unnecessary.

What follows is the prepared text of the speech I gave at Lenox Town Meeting.  (It must be noted that some Green-Rainbow Party members whose opinion and activism I respect voted in favor of the restriction.)

At Lenox Town Meeting on May 2, 2013 article 19 on the Town Meeting warrant invited public discussion on the legal costs of defending a Scenic Mountain Act appeal that a Lenox citizens group has filed.  I am not a party to this particular appeal but I spoke in support of the right of citizens and businesses to appeal to a higher authority when they believe that basic practices of openness, transparency, and integrity have been violated.  I voted NO on the article, which passed by a voice vote.

Here is the prepared text that I prepared for the town meeting.  The actual speech delivered may be slightly different by a few words or clause changes made during verbal delivery but the message is the same.

If you were registered in Green-Rainbow Party in 2012 you received a postcard recently that said that ‘your voter registration has been updated’ because the Green-Rainbow Party is no longer a ‘political party.’  It sounds rather ominous, but it is meaningless from a practical point.  What a waste of taxpayer money!  One Green-Rainbow Party member called the postcard a ‘rude intrusion.’

I suggest ignoring the postcard.  Despite the obtuse wording there is no change at all for how Green-Rainbow Party members will vote in elections.  We just won’t have our own primaries, as we did in 2011 and 2012 until we grow more.  We’re still here and you are still registered to vote in the Green-Rainbow Party!

So let’s grow rather than be intimidated.

The post card is misleading.  It was mailed to you by the Massachusetts Elections Division, which is under the control of a partisan Democrat.

Nick Thielker of Egremont sent the following letter to the Berkshire Eagle, which was published by that newspaper on election day – Nov 6, 2012.

It establishes the global and local imperative for change pretty well, I think, as local Greens in the Berkshires mobilize to grow politically larger and stronger.

MassDOT (Dept of Transportation) is holding 15 public meetings around the Commonwealth.  One of them was held on October 4, 2012 in Pittsfield,which I attended and followed up with written testimony which is presented below.

Andy McKeever of iBerkshires gave a very good report the next day.

While my fellow Berkshire Regional Transit Authority board members were testifying strongly about the unmet needs and the unfair funding mechanisms that create injustice and inequality I couldn’t help but take a brief moment to tweet with my smart phone how proud I was to be serving the community with them.

My own testimony was sent via e-mail on October 5, 2012, after having listened to my fellow board members and public the night before.

There are clear and compelling economic justice, economic development, and environmental reasons to invest our tax dollars into quality public transportation, even in the Berkshires.

My testimony follows.  I encourage others from the Berkshires to submit their own testimony on our transportation infrastructure needs and to share it with me.

I sent the following message to Berkshire Greens on the occasion of today’s (Sep 6, 2012) state primary election.  The write-in votes that I cast were consistent with my June 25 endorsement of Patsy Harris and Bill Shein.

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Today the Commonwealth runs primary elections for all parties in Massachusetts for a number of offices.  Polls opened at 7am and stay open until 8pm.

If you are given the Green-Rainbow Party primary ballot today you will see that only write-in votes are possible with the exception of State Representative in the 4th Berkshire District, where I am a ballot-qualified candidate.

If you reside in the 4th Berkshire District please consider voting for me.  The winner will appear on the general election ballot on the Green-Rainbow Party line.  In other districts and for other offices please use the write-in spaces available on the ballot to send a message.

MA Citizens for Life sent me its 2012 candidate questionnaire.

Questions are in text blocks.

My answers are in italics.

My campaign responds to all questionnaires and publishes all answers sent.