The following post was denied at Cal Forum with no reason given. It was copied to the two CoCoordinators for the Green Issues Work Group, as this also involved Green Issues Business. If having a CC was the reason, OK, just tell me.

Most of the discussion on this list involves either internal party politics or BIG issues like the Iraq War.

I have accepted a responsiibility within the Green Issues Working Group to define and articulate withitn the party (and to the public) those issues which are exclusively rural, or at least those which have a direct effect on rural residernts. The latter includes such questions as water resource protection (especially in San Joaquin / Sacramento River Delta) and the effects of growth and increasing sprawl on rapidly growing rural areas, such as San Joaquin or Riverside Counties.

I am not sure how a group might work on these problems. However, if we are going to build the Green Party in the more rapidly growing MSA's we need to understand how to articulate our goals and values in terms that resonate with those users. I am watching one Congressional Race with interest, and it an eye opener to see just how high a divide the Altamont Pass is between the way people see themselves and others. We need to learn to talk to both sides of the divide.

I am asking anyone on this list who lives in a rural area, or has lived there long enough to understand these issues, to contact me by email outside this forum We may need to set up a sepaarate email group as a working sub-committee.

So, let me repeat this in a wider forum. The Green Issues Working Group in California has agreed to establish a sub-group on Rural Issues and I volunteered to head that group. If you want to help out, email me or leave a comment here.