Jay Parks - Bylaws, Rules, Policies & Procedures (BRPP)
Jay Parks was born in Scott County, in Southern Indiana to two public school teachers in 1979. He attended Scott County public schools, and graduated from Austin High School. Scott County is a very poor and rural county, and many of Jay's values find there roots in the rural upbringing. He attended Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana as a Presidential Scholar with a full ride scholarship. At ISU, Jay majored in Political Science with minors in music and international studies. Jay also studied and speaks French and some Spanish. He obtained a B.A. from ISU in 2002. After finishing undergraduate study, Jay moved to Indianapolis where he has worked in the customer service industry for some time. He is attending Indiana University, Indianapolis (IUPUI) to pursue a joint law degree and master's of public affairs at the School for Public and Environmental Affairs. He currently resides with his 2 long time companions, 6 dogs, and 2 cats in Historic Cottage Home Neighborhood of Indianapolis. Jay has served as secretary of the Cottage Home Neighborhood Association and is helping that group pursue a designation of Wildlife Friendly Neighborhood with the National Wildlife Federation. Jay’s experience with the Green Party includes: treasurer of the Marion County Green Party, co-chair of the National Lavender Greens Caucus, member of the International Committee, Credentials Committee, and GPUS National Committee delegate as well as former secretary for the Indiana Green Party. In his free time Jay enjoys organic gardening, vegetarian cooking, and is a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis and Indianapolis Wind Symphony where he is principal bass clarinet.
One of the main reasons I’m interested in the Bylaws Rules Policies and Procedures (BRPP) committee is that I study rules and processes because these things interest me. That being said, over the last year some very important decision regarding the caucuses have been made on the BRPP. Coming up the BRPP will likely be working on a fiscal policy for the GPUS. In the past, the policy toward caucuses has caused the larger fiscal policy to fail, once in the NC and once in the BRPP itself. I believe the Lavender Caucus needs representation on the BRPP, as we currently do not have a rep. I know that the GPUS rules structure needs an overhaul or update, and I’m willing to do the grunt work to see this happens. That really just means that many of the rules passed by the National Committee of GPUS have never been actually written into the rules or bylaws where they belong, and exist only as the proposals as they were passed. This makes it difficult to check on what a rule says because first you must check the original language, and then hunt to see if any proposal has passed which amends this rule.
I know lots of people are bogged down by rules, so I’m willing to help remedy that problem. If GPUS has a clear set of rules that’s easy to follow, it will help eliminate unnecessary struggle. I’m not running for this position to compete against Fred Bayes. The Lavender Caucus has three seats on the BRPP, and currently none of them are filled. I urge each caucus member to vote for me, Mr. Bayes, or both based on your desire to have us represent you on the GPUS BRPP committee. I believe I have the experience and know-how to be an active part of the BRPP, and hope I’ll be able to get to work soon on this committee.
Please feel free to ask me any questions.
Sincerely,
Jay Parks
************************
Joe Bleistein - GPUS International Committee
To the members of the Lavender Caucus,
I’m Joe Bleistein, and I am currently seeking your support as our representative to the Green Party of the United States’ International Committee. I am originally from the town of Milford in the great Small Wonder of Delaware, and currently reside in Southern California. I joined the Green Party just over one year ago after realizing the immense corporate influence in the two major parties of the United States. I was thoroughly delighted at the Green Party’s policies of inclusion and its long record of holding firm to its ideals and positions. These are now beliefs and policies that I am proud to hold to as a member of the Green Party.
Currently, I am working on a media project which examines how homosexual males are overly sexualized in mainstream media, particularly prime-time sit-coms and entertainment.
My intentions to represent the Lavender Caucus in the International Committee result from my beliefs that ending sexism, gender inequality, and homophobia are a critical global issue that needs to be addressed, but carefully. Issues of gender are deeply integrated into every culture’s beliefs and systems, and some of those cultures have very rigid and concrete definitions of acceptability, and change will only be able to come from within that culture. The Green Party’s constant support of grass roots movements for change in gender policies is an ideal example of this “change from within” approach. As a seated member of the committee, I plan to endorse the continuation of these grass roots movements and their support from the Green Party, both locally, nationally, and internationally.
Sincerely,
Joe Bleistein
************************
