In a January 3, 2009 board meeting of the Maine Green Independent Party, Lynne Williams announced her resignation from the MGIP Board of Directors in order to pursue a run for Governor in the 2010 Gubernatorial race. Williams is a Bar Harbor attorney practicing land use, environmental and civil rights law, a visiting professor of law and social sciences at College of the Atlantic and a long-time community organizer and political activist. Asked about her decision, Williams said, "I have greatly enjoyed my time as state chair of the Maine Green Independent Party and am preparing for my run for Governor with much enthusiasm. It is the corporate parties that must bear the political responsibility for thrusting us into our current economic situation. The Maine Green Independent Party looks forward to offering political leadership for the future and policies that support the power of communities to fight back against the corporations that seek to control the great assets of this state."

 

To fill the vacancy, the MGIP Board of Directors, appointed Portland resident, and current MGIP Board Member, Anna Trevorrow as interim Chairperson, to hold the position until the May, 2009 State Convention. Trevorrow was appointed to fill an interim Board position in March 2008, and was elected to serve a full two-year term in May 2008. Trevorrow is also a Delegate to the Green Party National Committee, and most recently, ran for an at-large seat on the Portland School Committee. Though still new to the MGIP, Trevorrow says she has become, "very dedicated to upholding the Party's Ten Key Values," and sees the role of Chair as "an opportunity to work on initiatives that will grow party membership and offer support to Green Independent candidates throughout the state."

 

The MGIP Board also appointed Deer Isle resident Jack Harrington to fill the open seat on the Board. Harrington is retired from the U.S. Navy Reserve, where he served as part of a team to emphasize organizational excellence and teambuilding. He has his B.A. in Political Science, and received an M.Ed. as a school councilor, and has worked extensively in the area of oil pollution solutions. Currently he volunteers as a Bereavement Facilitator and Councilor for Hospice. Harrington has been active with the MGIP for many years. Asked about his appointment, he said, "I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the MGIP at another level. I look forward to filling this interim term and expect to be in the running for a full term of my own in May, at [The Party's] State Convention. It is an exciting time to be a Green here in Maine, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Party."

 

The Greens chose Cynthia McKinney on the first ballot today in Chicago to be the party presidential nominee. Cynthia then nominated Rosa Clemente to be her running mate who was quickly approved by near unanimous acclaim.

 

Born and raised in the South Bronx she is a graduate of the University of Albany and Cornell University. Clemente is a highly regarded commentator, political activist, community organizer, Hip-Hop activist, and independent reporter.

 

Chuck D of Public Enemy says that Clemente "is one of this generations' most important political voices and community organizers."

 

In her acceptance speech McKinney defined winning as setting a goal to garner 5% of the national vote which would give the Green Party major party status on the national level. McKinney made it clear that her run for president is all about building an alternative to the two war parties. The corporate parties have to flip-flop on the issues she said "because they have to appear" to agree with our progressive values while they then do the bidding of the corporations who pay their freight.

 

Maine delegates gave McKinney the 5th most votes of any state during the first round of balloting. Only New York, Illinois, California, and Wisconsin gave her more presidential delegate votes.

 

Ralph Nader came in a distant second in the presidential balloting which indicated that while people still respect him, his day of gaining the ballot lines via the Green Party across the nation are over. At this point McKinney will be on the ballot in at least 25 states across the nation next November . Greens in other states are still attempting to cross the enormously difficult ballot status barriers that keep the Republicans and Democrats from being challenged.

 

Just after the nomination process concluded 2004 Green Party presidential candidate David Cobb made a rousing introduction speech of McKinney. It was Cobb, and the Green Party, that challenged the well-documented vote fraud in Ohio in 2004 that put Bush in the White House again. While John Kerry, and the Democratic Party, violated their promise to "fight for every vote" it fell to the Greens to file the legal challenge to protect disenfranchised voters in Ohio.

 

Before McKinney's acceptance speech, a video was played on the huge screen above the stage in the Chicago Symphony Center with John Lennon singing his song "Power to the People." McKinney has adopted that slogan as her campaign theme and it brought tears to me eyes to see her dancing on the stage during the Lennon song.

 

I felt that it was a moment of liberation for McKinney and the Green Party. McKinney was free of the restraints that come from being a "good" Democratic Party elected official where you are expected to toe the party line and not challenge the party orthodoxy. Now McKinney is free to be herself - to speak truth to power as she so effectively does. In fact on the podium, as McKinney spoke, was a sign that read TRUTH.

 

With the nomination of McKinney and Clemente the Green Party is now free to become the real radical alternative party that it should be - radical in the sense of "getting to the roots" of the issues at hand and building the political base to make the needed changes. The Green Party took a huge step today in the creation of a multi-ethnic party with leadership from black and Latino communities. This is a must as we look at the coming demographic changes in America. There will be no progressive movement in America without active leadership from people of color working alongside of progressive white activists.

 

To say the least it was refreshing.

 

I've been a McKinney watcher for years as she was one of the key voices in the Congress who time and again spoke on behalf of "the people". McKinney has been run out of office twice by the power structure and vilified by the corporate media for having the audacity to speak against war and corporate domination. I am sure her nomination will be greeted with scorn by the corporate masters.

 

For me today was a revolutionary moment. Since working on the Jesse Jackson presidential campaign in 1984, and seeing the hope of a "Rainbow coalition" whither away, I've thirsted for the coming together of the movements. Today's event clearly indicated the enormous possibilities that exist for revolutionary peace, social justice, and ecological organizing in the U.S. if people are willing to step into this historic moment.

 

The change we all long for will not come from the Democratic Party. A new positive and earth shaking train has just left the station. The question remains will people who see themselves as progressive have the wisdom to get on-board and not be left behind sorting through the crumbs left behind by the corporate parties.

 

Bruce Gagnon

Brunswick, ME

 

Following the Bar Harbor Town Meeting's passage of a resolution opposing a war with Iran unless expressly authorized by Congress, the Maine Green Independent Party is calling on towns and cities throughout the state to pass similar resolutions, and asking the party members to initiate and support such efforts.

 

The Bar Harbor effort was initiated by citizen peace and justice activist, Susan Murphy, who was very concerned by evidence put forth by Seymour Hersh, and other investigative journalists, that the Bush administration was preparing to launch an invasion of Iran. Mount Desert Island Peace and Justice asked the Town Council to hold a special town meeting to consider a resolution, but were told that they needed to gather 234 signatures of voters on a petition and present the signatures to the Council. When the activists did so, the Council declined to accept the signatures, incorrectly arguing that the town charter prevented town meeting from considering anything that does not concern "town business."

 

Yet the activists persevered and eventually the June 3, 2008 Bar Harbor Town Meeting passed a resolution, simply worded as follows: Resolved that the Town of Bar Harbor, through its annual town meeting, opposes any military action by the United States against the Islamic Republic of Iran without express Congressional authorization in accordance with the War Powers Act. What was particularly persuasive for many residents was the link between spending on the Iraq war and what the town might do with the same amount of tax dollars. This data comes from the National Priorities Project (www.nationalpriorities.org), which calculates not only the cost of the Iraq war borne by each town, but also illustrates what could have been achieved with that amount of money if it had not been squandered on the war.

 

To date, Bar Harbor is one of only 11 cities nationally to pass an Iran resolution, according to "Cities for Peace" (www.citiesforprogress.org). One of the other towns to pass such a resolution is Harpswell, Maine.

 

The Maine Green Independent Party is calling on all Maine towns and cities to pass similar resolutions and calling on its membership to support such efforts. "This issue is critically important. We are at a point where we can be proactive rather than reactive, and can organize around preventing a unilateral war, rather than protesting a war that has already begun," according to Bar Harbor attorney Lynne Williams, state chair of the Maine Green Independent Party.