Political Caucuses 2012: Locals vote to support Jill Stein for president

Only a handful of local residents attended the Green Party caucus Tuesday night. But despite the small turnout, the group wasn’t short on ideas, and the party drafted six resolutions — including one calling for the cessation of hydraulic fracking — to send onto the state convention.

“We’re a small group,” convener Hank Brummer said, but told the attendees that many “profound changes” in the United States, including women’s rights and Social Security, were first proposed by a third parties.

Living up to its name, the group cited environmental issues as the reason for proposing the stop to fracking. Red Wing resident Bill Habedank told the group that the fracking procedure is largely kept secretive and the chemicals that are used in the mining of sand have not been disclosed.

“The stuff is coming up in people’s groundwater,” attendee Josh Meyer said, adding that fracking is also causing earthquakes in places like England, South Africa and Ohio.

Another resolution asked for a study to be done by a neutral party on the effects that the weed killer Roundup has on genetically modified crops. Initial research has shown that the chemical could prohibit plants from absorbing certain minerals from the soil, Brummer said.

“We’re not getting the micronutrients,” he said. “This is really been a concern that I’ve had.”

The group also resolved to rescind the National Defense Authorization Act, to stop the state from sending bonds to Israel and to ask politicians to stop funding war and use that money to fund things like health care and education.

Lastly, the attendees wrote a resolution to oppose the Minnesota constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage.

“I want it to go on record that we addressed this specifically,” attendee Sherry LeVeille said of the proposed amendment.

The group also voted unanimously to support presidential candidate Jill Stein, a physician from Illinois, in its straw poll. Other Green Party candidates on the ballot included Kent Mesplay, Harley Mikkelson and Rosanne Barr.

Tags: red wing, news, politics, minnesota