The “impeachment” issue of the GPUS Steering Committee continues. The first message below is from Steve Kramer, one of the SC members who is not subject of any charges. The message below that is from a Utah delegate pointing out what must be done according to the bylaws of the GPUS. There has been a lot of controversy over the bylaws interpretation on this issue.
My hope is that the proceedings will now continue and be “done with”. In my opinion, the persons who brought forth this impeachment have no rational grounds for such action and that the “tribunal” will prove that.
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Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2005 11:55 PM
To: natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org
Subject: Announcement on impeachment
Fellow Greens of the National Committee,
Earlier tonight, my sister Co-Chair on the Steering Committee, Rebecca Rotzler, informed us of the receipt of articles of impeachment against Co-Chair Marc Sanson, Co-Chair Jody Grage Haug, Co-Chair Gwen Wages, Secretary Holly Hart, and Treasurer Jake Schneider. The articles were signed by Owen Broadhurst (Massachusetts), Steven Greenfield (New York), and Gary Novosielski (New Jersey). The wording of the articles has been posted to this list previously, and is available from Rebecca.
In accordance with the Bylaws, and in absolute trust of Rebecca’s word, the selection of a grievance tribunal has begun. I have contacted those who will be helping to select this tribunal on how we will proceed under the Bylaws. Any posts prior to this one concerning “impeachment procedure”, save direct quotes of the Bylaws, should be considered speculation or interpretations. The procedure we shall follow, which will be in compliance with the bylaws, will be clarified shortly.
Thank you for your patience.
Steve Kramer
Co-Chair, GPUS SC
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Sent: Monday, September 26, 2005 4:43 PM
To: natlcomvotes@green.gpus.org
Subject: Impeachment Procedure
Owen and other fellow NC Delegates,
The specific reference which Owen has used to illustrate his position, actually supports the position Holly has expressed.
If the bylaws actually allowed more than one Green Party Officer to be included in a singular “written charges of impeachment”, then the following excerpt from the bylaws would have to be written as in the second example below.
****Excerpt from Bylaws as it appears on web.**** “Once charges are brought, a grievance tribunal will be selected by members of the Steering Committee who are not the subject of the impeachment.”
******Same excerpt modified to mean what Owen and others seem to think it means********** “Once charges are brought, a grievance tribunal will be selected by members of the Steering Committee who are not the subject(s) of the impeachment.”
Now you notice that the way it is written it contains the singular form of the word “subject”. This also is consistent with the other reference to “a Green Party Officer” in that it refers to a singular Officer.
You will also notice that the modified excerpt is how the bylaws would need to be to allow for multiple officers to be the subjects of a single written impeachment charges document.
So if the bylaws were to allow for a single written “charges of impeachment” to name more than one officer the line that reads: “Any three National Committee delegates from different states can bring charges of impeachment against a Green Party officer.”
would have to be changed to: “Any three National Committee delegates from different states can bring charges of impeachment against one or more Green Party officers.”
and the line that refers to the singular “subject” would have to be changed to “subject(s)” as illustrated above.
Since the bylaws do require that one officer be named per written charges of impeachment, then all that Owen, Steve and Gary need to do to bring these charges against the multiple officers is to create seperate “charges of impeachment” against each of the multiple officers. If they are really serious, then this should be no big deal.
Tom
Delegate, GPUT
Previous thread below…….
Date: *Sep 22, 2005 11:13 PM*
Subject: *Impeachment Procedure*
To Owen Broadhurst and Officers of the Green-Rainbow Party of
Massachusetts:
Please be advised that, according to GPUS bylaws, in order for a member of the Steering Committee to be impeached, three delegates must bring written charges to tne National Committee against each individual member of the SC whom the delegates which to impeach.
If removal proceedings against one or more officers are desired, specific written charges must be filed against each officer individually per the method speciifed in the bylaws.
Holly Hart
Secretary, GPUS
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Nowhere within the bylaws is there specified any requirement for various articles of impeachment to be filed against only one Steering Committee member at a time. I have no doubt that the section Ms. Hart specifically references in this letter would be this one: “Any three National Committee delegates from different states can bring charges of impeachment against a Green Party officer.”
However, that sentence merely specifies how many delegates are needed to file such articles. Overlooked has been this, the third sentence: “Once charges are brought, a grievance tribunal will be selected by members of the Steering Committee who are not the subject of the impeachment.”
The wording of this third sentence is an explicit reminder that several Steering Committee members may be subject to the same articles of impeachment.
Yours,
Owen R. Broadhurst
Deanna Dee-Dee Taylor 