The Green Party of Boynton Beach had its inaugural meeting Nov. 18 with organizers from the Florida and Palm Beach party affiliates as well as concerned Boynton Beach residents and party members.
John Debus, a U.S. Army veteran and organizer on the Florida Green Party’s Membership Committee, has been traveling around the state starting local chapters of the party wherever there are enough members. Upon retiring as a first sergeant after 22 years in the Army, he took up causes as an activist, including the Keystone XL pipeline, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and the Occupy Wall Street movement.
After the Democractic Party primaries in 2016, he saw the need for an alternative to what he calls a “two corrupt corporate party system.” He joined the Green Party because he wanted to support and work with a party that tried to address problems ignored, created or perpetuated by the two major parties. The Green Party’s platform is primarily focused around “democracy, social justice, ecological sustainability and economic justice and sustainability,” according to its website.
Debus has been starting chapters along the east coast of the state as a state organizer and delegate. “We have started affiliates in St. Lucie, Volusia, Indian River counties in the last five months and Brevard County has just filed the paperwork to be next,” he said. “We know it’s not going to happen overnight, but believe that there are many people wanting a change and another party to choose from.”
While the Green Party doesn’t have the membership of the Democratic or Republican parties, membership and local election victories have been on the rise in recent elections. The national party received more than 300 percent of its 2012 votes in the 2016 election and Green Party candidates achieved victories in 2017 in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington state. Some Greens like Debus believe that independents, voters with no party affiliation, and non-voters align most closely with their views, even if they themselves don’t realize it or know of the party.
Debus calls his role with the Green party his “new retirement job,” stating that he wants to “build the party and inform the people.”
“Sorry if I rattled on,” he said, “but this is what I believe in and want my grandchildren to have a better and peaceful world to live in.”
Green Party candidates and voters have been accused by Democrats as “spoiling” the 2000 and 2016 presidential elections, where the Democratic candidates received more popular votes but lost in the Electoral College and as a result, the election.
At the meeting, party members and leaders discussed issues that were important to them in Boynton Beach, including crime, gentrification, the return of controversial red-light cameras, policing and criminal justice, energy and waste management.
Organizers highlighted the importance of getting people involved at the local level and focusing on state and local elections.
“I had known some Greens before, but had dismissed the party because it hadn’t seemed viable on the national level,” said LeBeau Kpadenou, co-chairman of the Palm Beach County Green Party. “I took to heart the message of both [Jill] Stein and [Bernie] Sanders: ‘No one is coming to save us. We must be the change we want.'”
Kpadenou stressed the importance of an informed citizenry.
“People must be made aware of the grave injustices that we endure,” he said.
The Green Party rejects the philosophy of “profits over people” that many members view as detrimental to the planet, the country and our communities.
Organizers wrapped up the meeting and Kpadenou closed by saying “no one can do everything but everyone can do something.”
