Building Your County Party

There are recognized active County Green Party organizations across California, including in all of the state's larger population counties.   There are some counties where the county party is either currently inactive, or has not yet been officially recognized.

A county organization that has fulfilled the conditions outlined in the GPCA Bylaws Section 5.1 Recognition of County Green Parties is considered a recognized active County Green Party.

Please contact the GPCA Membership and Outreach Committee for assistance in building your County Green Party

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There are five steps to becoming a recognized County Green Party and staying Active as County Green Party:

Step one: Hold a general meeting open to all registered Greens in the county. The meeting organizers must work with the GPCA state Coordinating Committee to ensure that the meeting date, time and location is publicized as widely as possible to all Greens in the county, at least 21 days before the meeting. The meeting location should also be in a public place and ADA accessible. To ensure wide notice of the meeting, in practice the Coordinating Committee sends out an email blast announcing the meeting to all party members in that county that the GPCA has email addresses. GPCA bylaws sub-sections on County Organization and County Councils describe more details on the process. 

Step two: Establish County Green Party bylaws that are consistent with GPCA Bylaws and the California Election law. If bylaws are not already in place, the general meeting needs to approve new ones. The GPCA Bylaws and Rules Committee can provide support and sample bylaws.

 

Step three: Appoint or elect a new County Council and GPCA General Assembly delegates according to the GPCA bylaws.  At the initial General meeting, other county party officers such as Coordinators, Secretary and Treasurer may also be elected according to the County bylaws. More details about County Delegates to the GPCA can be found in the GPCA bylaws General Assemblysubsection.

 

Step four: Submit the minutes of the founding (or reactivation) General Meeting to the GPCA Coordinating Committee, the minutes shall include: which Green Party members were present, a copy of the established County Green Party bylaws, a list of elected/appointed County Council, and the votes for all elections/appointments. Only those who are registered Green can vote in this process therefore the registration status of Party members attending and voting must be confirmed and recorded in the minutes. The GPCA Coordinating Committee will review the minutes, the county bylaws, and the process that was followed. If all conditions are met the Coordinating Committee will certify the newly formed county party under GPCA Bylaws subsection 6.5.

 

Step five: Maintain a County Council, GPCA delegates, and hold general meetings at least once every six months in order to retain the Active County Green Party status for the purposes of seating General Assembly delegates and participating in GPCA programs. Another factor that helps County Green Parties stay active and engaged but is not mandatory is the election/appointment of County Delegates to the GPCA General Assemblies. County Parties are required to annually submit to the GPCA Coordinating Committee, the names and contacts for appointed/elected County Council members, and if any, the lis tof County Delegates to the GPCA General Assembly.