Greetings Greenlings!

In This Issue:

1) Nader News
2) County Council Meeting
3) Lambda Freedom Fair
4) Interdependence Day Picnic
5) Green Tabling in Davis
6) Stopping Sacramento Sprawl
7) Save Deer Creek Hills
8) Talk on Sustainably Grown Coffee
9) Help the Ron Mandella Community Gardens

1) NADER NEWS
Ralph Nader and the Green Party  will be on the ballot in Texas this Fall!  In order to pull it off, Texas Greens collected over 74,000 signatures in just 10 weeks.  Texas had the largest requirement and the earliest deadline and the Green Party of Texas didn't even officially form until March of 1999.  Isn't that amazing?

Since March, Nader has also gotten on the ballot in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

2) COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING
The next Sacramento Green Party  County Council meeting will be held on Sunday, June 11, 5:30 PM in the Sacramento Natural Foods Coop Cafe (Alhambra/S St).  Everyone is welcome.

3) LAMBDA FREEDOM FAIR
The annual Lambda Freedom Fair is a Sacramento celebration of Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgendered lifestyles.  This year the Lambda Fair will be held in Southside Park (on 6th and T) on June 17th from 10AM to 5 PM. There will be music, food, and information booths.

The Sacramento Greens plan to be at the Lambda Fair all day registering and educating people.  Want to help?  Call Jen Ferro, the coordinator for the event, at 442-2428, or email her at zlingk@yahoo.com.

4) COME CELEBRATE INTERDEPENDENCE DAY
On Sunday July 2, the Sacramento Green Party, Peace Action, and other local community activist groups are going to be sponsoring a potluck picnic.  Mark your calendars now--it will be in Land Park near Funderland, and everyone is welcome.

5) TABLING IN DAVIS
The Yolo County Greens are going to be tabling every Saturday at the Davis Farmer's Market from 8 am to noon.  Stop by to help or to chat.

6) STOPPING SACRAMENTO SPRAWL
SACOG (Sacramento Area Council of Governments) and Caltrans both seem determined to promote car culture to the detriment of our air quality and quality of life.  Caltrans is in the midst of "building consensus" on their plans to add High Occupancy Vehicle (or HOV)lanes to Highway 50 between Sunrise Boulevard and downtown Sacramento 
(see www.dot.ca.gov/dist3/Planning.new/master.html).

There are a lot of reasons why HOV lanes are not such a good idea.  HOV lanes don't work, they hurt transit, and they increase pollution and drive time. For a discussion of HOV lanes, see www.scancentral.org/freeways.
 

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1)  Come attend a meeting of the Joint ECOS/SACTEN Air Quality/Transportation Air Quality committee on Wednesday, June 7th from 6 to 7 pm in the Auditorium of Regional Transit, at 29th and N St. They will be building strategies to stop SACOG's freeway initiatives.

2)  Attend one of Caltrans' public workshops on the project: Thursday, June 15, 2000, 6:30-8:30 pm at the California Department of Veterans Affairs-Medal of Honor Hall at 1227 O Street or Thursday, June 22, 2000, 6:30-8:30 pm at the County Office of Education's Board Room at 9738 Lincoln Village Drive

3)  If you are unable to attend these workshops, please fill out Caltrans' questionnaire at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist3/Planning.new/Form.html

7) DEER CREEK HILLS-SAVE IT, DON'T PAVE IT!
Wealthy developer CC Myers has a ballot initiative this fall to develop a luxury senior citizens spread of housing in one of the most beautiful parts of Sacramento. This development is a- not affordable b- promotes traffic jams and auto use c- overturns the county general plan d- is a case study of why we need campaign finance reform Help stop this monstrosity: Contact Mindy Cecchettini at mindyc@cwo.com (or 354-1805) Get more info at http://www.scancentral.org/sprawl/ (Be sure to look at the gorgeous photo of the land Myers intends to pave over)

8) TRANSFAIR TALK
Have you ever been to a Unitarian's Forum? Every week an invited speaker gives a progressive- minded talk.  On Sunday, June 11, 9:30, the speaker will be Paul Rice of Transfair, a group which advocates for small, environmentally grown coffee growers in Central America.  The event will be at the Unitarian Universalist Society at 2425 Sierra Blvd. Contact Deborah Hirsh at deborah.hirsh@transfairusa.org for details.

9) MANDELLA GARDENS NEEDS YOUR HELP
The Ron Mandella Community Garden, located near 15th and Q streets in Midtown Sacramento, is an organic community garden under threat of development. The Garden has been open and free to the every day for 30 years.  It not only serves as the only community garden in the central city area, but as one of very few green spaces open to the public.

The property is owned by the State of California and is managed by the Capitol Area Development Authority.  CADA would like to develop the land and build housing on the property.
 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Please come to the protest in support of the Mandella Garden on June 16. Show up at the Garden at 7:00am and join the march to the Capitol Area Development Authority Meeting at 8am. CADA will be voting on the final "Request for Proposals" document that will be asking developers to submit proposals on what they would like to do with the property. For more information on the protest, contact Liane Bruckstein at 916-804-7149.

You can also contact CADA directly and voice your support of the community garden: 1522 14th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814-5958 , 916.322.2114, http://www.cadanet.org/html/email_us.asp

You can also write a letter to the Sacramento City Council (915 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814) supporting the request of the Citizens Advisory Committee for Parks and Recreation to pursue all options to preserve the Ron Mandella Community Garden.

Jen Ferro
Sacramento County Green Party
PO Box 191742
Sacramento, CA
(916) 484-5888
www.sacgreens.org