Announcing a new watchdog project

Green Parties of the Fourth and Fifth Congressional Districts are about to launch an online vehicle to build our own change. The project's goal is to mobilize a constituency of people like you to take action when important local decisions come. By building a watchdog website and e-mail campaign, we can push local government towards greener and more just policies.

What problems does this project address?

We're tired of local government decisions that fail to reflect the growing interest of metro residents for sustainability, social justice in the face of economic crisis created by the poweful, and a focus on growing a strong local economy. Examples like the following (variously from either side of the river) say to us that we need a united, mobilized constituency for greener cities:

• Closing parks and recreation centers
• Proposing deep cuts to local community councils
• Baselessly rejecting a legitimate citizen petition to put Instant Runoff Voting on the ballot
• Ignoring abuses and failures of the Republican National Convention
• Missed opportunities to create good jobs through a more locally-owned, independent economy
• Taxing us to build a stadium for billionaires
• Building a flood wall for corporate executives

Our plan: establish a website that is a tool for citizens to take action on local issues. Hire a savvy activist to keep tabs on local government agendas, connect with advocacy groups, and bring it all to you through the website.

• Receive e-mail alerts about key decisions, and easily e-mail or call your city/county representatives   
• Stay informed about the new ideas local groups are working on
• Invite your friends to join and educate each other   
• Launch campaigns for issues and projects in your neighborhood
• And just generally hold "their" feet to the fire

Whether you want be one of the citizens who makes this effort happen, or just participate once it does, your input is needed and welcome. Join us April 25 at the fundraiser party for this new project. You can help us choose a name for the website, volunteer for the editorial board, or just enjoy great, free Indian food. Our special guest speakers are Cam Gordon, Mpls City Councilmember, and Annie Young, Mpls Park Board member.

How to help this project move forward

Are you interested in this project? There are multiple ways to get involved and help us get it off the ground:

• Ideas? Contact us with current issues or ideas in your city that should be promoted or addressed by the project.
• Participate? Sign up to volunteer if you are interested in joining the editorial board that will coordinate the project, or if you want to write or research for the project.
• Donate? We need donations to hire a staff person to make this project work. Our goal is $3,000 raised in April. Click here to donate online - $50 of your donation is refundable by the state of Minnesota (unless you've already used your $50 refund in 2009).
• Help choose the name: click here to vote on the online poll for the new website's name.

What is the Green Party's role?

The 4th and 5th CD Green Parties (St. Paul, Minneapolis and surrounding cities) are sponsoring the project. In particular, the 4th CD party is acting as financial sponsor, taking donations and funding the project. General guidelines for editorial policy will be based on the Ten Key Values and the Green Vision.

However, this project will not be a partisan mouthpiece that focuses exclusively on Green Party candidates. The Green movement has long put values and issues first, and that shall be the case with this project. As such the project will stay a step removed from partisanship to focus on policy and local government decisionmaking. 

Day-to-day decisionmaking about which articles to publish and promote will be made by an editorial board comprised of volunteers. If you're interested in joining that board, please contact us or attend the April 25 fundraiser event to learn more.