Sunday, January 2, 2011

Inauguration / volunteerism / Local Green Chapter forming

Inauguration / volunteerism / Local Green Chapter forming

Oakland Greens on the Quan inauguration.

The Oakland Greens again congratulate our new mayor and congratulate Oakland voters for making good use of our new instant run off voting system. Mayor Quan’s election reflects the first, second and third choices the majority of us made. Her mandate is an expression of the wishes of her supporters and the wishes of many of the supporters of the other candidates, including our own Green Party voters.

We have committed ourselves to help Jean Quan’s term of office be a success and to work with her constructively wherever we find we can make common cause. By volunteering within our communities we can solidify and empower our communities and avoid the pitfalls of patronizing institutions and charities. The will, the skill and the leadership we need to address our major problems is to be found among us all. We think Ms. Quan is on the right track to make volunteerism a priority and we will fully support it. Outside of the schools and city hall managed projects, there are many other local resident initiatives we encourage you to consider.

On the occasion of her inauguration we encourage all Oakland residents to attend as they can. We particularly want to bring everyone attention to the city hall open house and the opportunity to sign up to volunteer for Oakland schools and other worthy local initiatives. To quote the invitation:

On Jan 3rd, Inauguration day, 5 - 9 pm: Open House City Hall. We will literally open the doors of the Mayor's Office for a reception line, young citizens will be invited to sit in the Mayor's chair. Live Music Performances, talks on Oakland history, and many opportunities to sign up to volunteer for the city or schools.

The ad-hoc steering committee of the Oakland Green Party strongly encourages local residents to participate in this open house and to consider donating their time to moving our city forward.

We also invite you to join the Oakland Greens. To date the Oakland Greens has been an informal group of the Alameda County Greens in Oakland. We now plan to formalize our local chapter. The founding meeting will be on Jan 12th at 6 PM. All are welcome to attend and to join. You are also very welcome to just come and check us out. For location and more information write to Don Macleay at dmacleay@earthlink.net or call 510 290-1200.