Re: [Fwd: [vgpDISCUSS] Signs, signs, everywhere]

I witnessed the exchange between Steve Ekberg and Craig Chevrier.  The Scalia
speech was overhyped (Jon wanted a copy, but my friend who supposed to tape it
off of the campus feed didn't get it.  I'm working on getting a copy from
another source).  I kept hearing horns honking outside, so I went out to see if
there was some kind of protest.  Mr. Chevrier was very upset, trying to convince
Mr. Ekberg he was hurting the Green Party, etc, basically what he outlines below.   

I walked over because at first I thought one of the nattily-dressed Republicans
(of which there were many at the event) was harrassing Steve Ekberg over the F**
* Off Scalia side of the banner.

I took some notes, and if I finish the rest of my bs work today, I'll write
something about it.  You can also find a story on Scalia's speech done by the
BFP, but who really wants to read that?  Well, I'll post it.  You decide. 

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/bfpnews/local/saturday/1000h.htm

-x

Quoting dvanhorn <[email protected]>:

> [ Interesting local Green drama. /d ]
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: [vgpDISCUSS] Signs, signs, everywhere
> Date: Mon, 11 Oct 2004 17:29:42 -0400
> From: Craig Chevrier <[email protected]>
> Reply-To: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> 
> Hello all:
> 
> In a sad recent development for the Vermont Green Party, we have been
> forced to bar Steve Ekberg, aka "Sign Man" from our future meetings,
> events, and from distributing literature to the public on our behalf.
> This is a decision reached by consensus of all elected officers of the
> party who were present at our last officers' meeting, and one that I have
> not made public, hoping that we could come to a final compromise with Mr.
> Ekberg before taking such action, one that is difficult to reconcile with
> our value of encouraging diversity in politics.
> 
> As you know, last summer, when Sign Man made the local & state press (and
> some national mentions) with his sign promoting Ralph Nader's 7% vote
> tally in Vermont in 2000 during Governor Dean's campaign announcement
> speech from Church St. in Burlington, we made every effort to defend his
> right to free speech and to represent Greens in the way he knows best:
> Through direct action. We went out on a limb to defend him, despite calls
> at the time to disavow his sign and his message.  We respect that this is
> the way Mr. Ekberg knows best to communicate, and wanted to take all
> precautions against infringing on his right to speak out in the way he
> sees fit.
> 
> You are probably also aware that Mr. Ekberg has repeatedly used
> offensive, foul, and belligerent language in many signs since then, using
> words that, though protected under the First Amendment, are not
> appropriate for the political realm, or for public gatherings where the
> goal is to convince everyday people that voting Green is in their best
> interest.  We simply cannot have such language associated with the Green
> party or the Vermont Greens specifically. Our strategy, rather than to
> shock people into agreement, which we believe can't work for most logical
> individuals, is to point out what's wrong with other parties' and
> candidates' approaches.  His signs -- on large fluorescent greens and
> yellows -- have appeared at many events in Vermont, Boston, and New York.
> I have received many complaints about such representation in these public
> venues from Greens from all over the northeast. We have recognized that,
> though the signs may be shocking and may garner some attention, do not
> communicate what being Green is all about. We'd rather smaller amounts of
> positive attention that large amounts of negative feedback -- or worse,
> laughter.
> 
> Since then, however, Ekberg has refused to work with the VGP steering
> committee on improving his message so as to avoid offending the groups
> and individuals with which we are trying to create relationships. We have
> tried for 14 months to get Mr. Ekberg to work with us, not against us,
> but he has, instead, labeled us as "Demo-Greens" and "Cobb Greens"
> (whatever that means, an ironic statement in the context of the VGP vote
> to not place Cobb on our ballot line) and insists his behavior is
> protected by the 10 Key Values of the Green Party. We don't believe any
> Green Party should tolerate alienating and abusive behavior, that the
> 10KV don't protect such behavior, and that his violation of the 10KV
> trumps Mr. Ekberg's right to associate himself and his signs with the
> Green Party.
> 
> There have been several individual reports of abusive, harassing, and
> offensive behavior on the part of Mr. Ekberg -- both while leafleting and
> petitioning for the Nader campaign and while representing himself as a
> Vermont Green in public venues -- from strangers, friends in other
> activist groups, and some Greens. We also have had complaints about his
> behavior at our statewide convention, where he was verbally abusive to me
> because I insisted that one of his handmade signs -- which could only be
> the work of Sign Man -- be taken down, and where he exhibited what
> observers at our meeting have called "intimidating and harassing"
> behavior during the deliberations around our vote to ratify the
> nomination of David Cobb as the Green Party presidential candidate. He
> has offended several of our candidates to the point where they refuse to
> allow him to do distribution of their literature. In an ironic twist of
> fate, he refused this weekend to distribute literature as part of his
> Nader brochure drop in the local area because our local candidate flier
> has my name on it. Clearly, this is not someone willing to put his own
> agenda aside for the betterment of the Green Party.
> 
> On Friday evening, while working the door for the appearance of Supreme
> Court Justice Antonin Scalia at the University of Vermont, I saw the
> reaction from the attendees at the event who read a sign that (much to my
> shock & chagrin as both a UVM staffer and a well-known representative of
> the Green Party within the UVM administration) said F____ OFF SCALIA on
> one side and VOTE GREEN PARTY on the other.  They laughed. Those are
> people who, though they might have agreed with our positions, may never
> see past that one negative message to the positive messages of the Green
> Party. Rather, they don't think we are to be taken seriously. To make
> matters worse, I witnessed Mr. Ekberg "giving the finger", shouting
> obscenities, and making other obscene gestures to passers-by, including
> automobiles with children inside.
> 
> This, for me, was the last straw.  Patience has run its course, and has
> failed.  We have written Church St. Marketplace to request that he not be
> given any further permits to table as a Green, and we have notified him
> that he may not attend future meetings of the party. Whether he obtains
> permits under the guise of another group is beyond our control, and he
> just may continue to portray himself as a representative of the Green
> Party. Mr. Ekberg insists that I and our steering committee are but "Cobb
> Greens", and that his actions would be defended by the GP-US at large. I
> hope this is not the case.
> 
> We may not be able to stop Mr. Ekberg from representing himself as a
> Green, but we can publicly disavow association with that kind of
> communication. If you agree with me, the best thing to do is to simply
> tell your friends, fellow Greens, and would-be Greens that Ekberg is not
> a Green, and that no Green would intentionally offend the masses with
> obscene language, since that does nothing to promote the Green values we
> hold dear:  Peace, Justice, Democracy, and Ecology.  I've watched many of
> you ignore him at public events, but this, unfortunately, has not been
> enough.
> 
> Finally, the only way we can be sure to overcome the problems of one
> person attempting to dominate the message of an entire -- growing --
> group, is to support our candidates.  They're the people on the front
> lines, and the ones who are bearing the mantle of the Green Party.  Show
> them your support by attending or viewing the events listed at
> http://vermontgreens.org/events.html, or by donating to the VGP campaign
> fund at http://vermontgreens.org/join.html.
> 
> With warm wishes for a Green future,
> 
> Craig Chevrier
> Chair, Vermont Green Party
> chair-HUVwuYCs0HHE+QnRsb7NIdi2O/[email protected]
> LIVE>GREEN<VOTE
> 
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