Voters go Green

Don’t get Auntie started about Beltway blabbermouths. Like a twisted, used tube of toothpaste, they managed to squeeze a whole week of insane predictions out of two meaningless gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia, when the real action was right here in California, where local Green Party candidates went five for five in last week’s special election. In Fairfax, a jewel of a small country town in mid-Marin County, Green candidate Pam Hartwell-Herrero won the race for the city council seat, and will join Greens Larry Bragman and Lew Tremaine on the council, making Fairfax the only town in California with a Green majority. However, Fairfax is by no means the first city council to go green. In Sebastopol, Greens dominated the city council from 2000 to 2006. A Green majority ruled in Arcata from 1996 to 1998.

When it comes to going Green, the North Coast blanks Sacramento. In addition to Fairfax, other Green election victories last week included Curtis Robinson, who garnered the most votes for the Marin County Board of Education; and Dana Silvernale, who captured a school board seat in the Northern Humboldt Union High School District. Not to be outdone entirely, the Bay Area county of San Mateo added Greens Jim Harvey and Paul Perkovic to the Montara Water and Sanitary District. According to Green Party spokesman Cres Vellucci, Greens now hold 39 elected or appointed positions throughout the state. That includes Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, the largest city in the country with a Green mayor.

What’s it mean to be Green? It means trying to adhere to the Green Party’s 10 key values, which isn’t as authoritarian as it sounds, considering one of the key values is building democracy from the ground up. This being Green Days, we preach several of the Green Party’s other core values, including community-based economics, sustainability and environmental protection, on a regular basis. Although Auntie isn’t a party member, she applies the 10 principles to her life daily, and is all the better for it. Or was that the 12 steps? Anyway, next election, at least take the time to read the Green Party candidate’s campaign statement. You never know. You might find a winner.