Sierra Club Florida

Florida Sierra Political Committee Offers Pollitical Training November 14,15.

To have elected officials who will make the right environmental decisions we need to elect the right officials. We in the Sierra Club have known that for a long time and that’s why we spend time and money every year making our endorsement decisions and backing the right candidates.

To get geared up for the 2010 elections, a Sierra Club Florida Political Training Session is planned for this November. The rules for backing and contributing to political candidates are stringent and the penalties for not following them can be severe. It’s important we all know what we’re doing at every level of the Club.

Having a trained political committee is MANDATORY for Groups wishing to be involved in endorsement activities in 2010.

Two slots are reserved for each Group at this training session and Group leaders should start now identifying who will attend. At the least, every Group political chair should attend. The candidate endorsement process is under the strict supervision of the Florida Sierra Political Committee, which was appointed by the National Board of Directors.

Political Training will take place on Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15, at Eckerd College. The college is located at 4200 54th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL. It is right off I-275 at the southern end of Pinellas County.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE:Please send reservations to Cecilia Height cheight@cfl.rr.com (407 657-9582) by October 20.

Sierra Club Florida Political Committee (Cecilia Height, Chair; John Koch; Matt Schwartz; Janet Stanko; Bob Sullivan; Mike Thompson; Greg Kalmbach; Marian Ryan - Steering Committee Liaison).

Guidelines for Florida Endorsements

Federal Endorsements

The National Sierra Club Political Committee (SCPC) has appointed The Interim Political Committee for Florida.

Consideration for endorsement of candidates, including incumbents and challengers, will begin with the Group Political Chairs in each relevant congressional district. The Groups will make initial contacts with candidates and facilitate the early stages of the endorsement process including the questionnaire and interview as prescribed by SCPC Endorsement Guidelines beginning in Section 2-000. The Groups will make endorsement recommendations to the Interim Political Committee. The Interim Political Committee will serve as the first voting body and the SCPC Endorsements and Allocations Subcommittee will serve as the second voting body for these endorsements. If necessary, the SCPC may still act in accordance with procedures outlined in section 2-720 – Approval without Chapter Agreement or Recommendation.

State and Local Endorsements

The endorsements will continue to originate with the Groups. However, state candidates and local candidates will be handled using slightly different procedures.

In most cases, state legislative candidate endorsements will be approved using a three tier system. First, an endorsement will be initiated by the Group Executive Committees of all the groups in a particular legislative district. Those recommendations will be forwarded to the Interim Political Committee for a second vote. The third and final approval for these endorsements will be made by the SCPC Endorsements and Allocations Subcommittee. If Groups fail to act in key races, the endorsement may be initiated by the Interim Political Committee. In this case, the SCPC Endorsements and Allocations Subcommittee would still be required to provide the required second level of approval.

Local endorsements will be carried out in a manner similar to how they were made prior to the Chapter suspension with one of the Regional Political Committees – made up of the Political Chairs of the included groups – acting as the final approving body. The Group Executive Committee will act as the first voting body for these endorsements and forward recommendations to the appropriate Regional Political Committee. The Regional Political Committee will vote on the recommendations and report the results to the Interim Political Committee.

Except as specifically outlined above, all other Sierra Club Political Committee Compliance Guidelines related to endorsements (Section 2-000) still apply. These operating principles will remain in place until the Florida Steering Committee is granted the authority by the Board Executive Committee to act as a voting body for the purposes of approving endorsements.