Green Party endorses Tumlin in 4th
For immediate release: May 23, 2005
GREEN PARTY BACKS TUMLIN IN 4TH WARD RACE
May 23, 2005. St. Louis, MO. The Coordinating Committee of the Green Party of St. Louis endorsed Independent candidate Greg Tumlin for the June 7 special election for 4th ward alderperson. At a special Green Party meeting, Tumlin assured members that he supports their calls to declare a lead emergency in the City of St. Louis, establish a Civilian Oversight Board for the police, halt the use of eminent domain for private developers and prohibit the use of public money for private sports stadiums.
Green Party members first met Tumlin when he was arrested for "peace disturbance" during the October 7, 2003 School Board meeting. The Green Party and Tumlin both criticize the School Board for closing schools in predominantly black north St. Louis, ending many transportation routes, and firing teachers and support staff.
"We expect our endorsement to be very helpful to Greg because he's running in one of our strongholds," Marshall observed. "I got 34% of the vote in the 4th ward; but, if you leave out people who voted a straight party ticket, I got 45%. When we convince black people that they do not owe the Democratic Party
their vote, we will be just about even with them in the ward."
Tumlin will address Green Party members during its monthly forum at 7pm, June 1 at Genesis House, 6018 Delmar. The forum on "Human Genes in Our Food?" will look at recent efforts of Ventria Bioscience to plant rice with human genes in Missouri's bootheel. Tumlin will be making a statement and seeking pollworkers and other assistance for his campaign.
Contacts: Willie Marshall; 314-385-6906; Barbara Chicherio, 314-727-8554
I don't know why I even read this stuff but then I see stuff like this. I don't really care for Democrats but I do feel bad for them. You guys are going to lose to these crackpots! Ha Ha. Go Green Party! If you guys ever need any help give me a call.
Posted by goPartayyy on Tue., May 24, 2005 at 6:14 PMWhy isn't Tumlin running as a Green?
The Green Party Central Committee could have nominated a candidate in this race. Oddly, the Central Committee voted at its last meeting not to meet again until January 2006.
Posted by Michael Allen on Wed., May 25, 2005 at 5:48 PMAs Michael alluded, the Tumlin endorsement is not by any official Green Party organization. The party's city central committee did not act on it at its last meeting and won't meet again until next year, and the state organization won't meet until July at the earliest. The "Green Party of St. Louis," whose executive committee (not its membership) made the endorsement, is the dual-named membership organization better known by its "other" name, the Gateway Green Alliance. (Both names appear on its corporate papers.) The city and state party committees are registered with both the Federal Election Commission and the Missouri Ethics Commission, but GPSL/GGA isn't registered with either authority.
Tumlin is best known for his arrest at a school board meeting after jumping on the table to confront Vince Schoemehl. The Greens are jumping on Tumlin's bandwagon in hopes of taking undue credit for his showing. Tumlin already enjoys significant union support and is running in a divided field in which establishment organizations are split between the candidacies of former alderwoman Peggy Ryan and former state rep. O.L. Shelton. If Tumlin does well, his showing will be due to that support and Tumlin's own hard work, not the Green endorsement.
Posted by St Louis Oracle on Fri., May 27, 2005 at 1:11 PM
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