Green candidate for committeeman responds to Qs

I posed a list of questions to all the candidates for committeeman (Democrats, Greens and Republicans).

Suzanne von Leuschner, the Green candidate answered first.

1. How will you organize members of your party in Proviso Township?

We are starting to organize Proviso Township as part of the West Side Greens. We currently hold monthly meetings on the second Sunday of the month. Our location changes. You will be notified of our next meeting place.

2. What candidates have you supported in the past?

My recent political support has been to the democratic party candidates.

3.How should constituents contact you?

Constituents will be seeing me throughout the community over the next few months. I am active in the Brookfield Riverside Rotary.

4.How would you characterize the performance of schools in Proviso Township? What should be done to improve the schools? Will you attend meetings of the board of education of Proviso Township High Schools?

The schools in Proviso Township require a tremendous amount of community support. Until you asked, I hadn't planned on attending Proviso Twp board of Education meetings as I am in another district.

5.What experience do you have organizing locally?

I am new to local organizing but am confident that we will build on on offering another choice to the spring election.

6.Are you active with any causes or advocacy organizations?

Am I active with any causes? Yes, I promote sustainable architecture.

7.In what ways does your party need to improve? How will you affect change within your party?

Our party is beginning to attract some attention. We are always looking for venues to get our messages out to the public.

8.Will you help constituents get jobs? Who will you help? How will you help them?

Job creation is a challenge. Local people need to look for ways they can research and meet people who work in many different industries to see what skills are required to get started in a new job. Asking questions and being polite can open doors.

9.What's your quick pitch for someone to be active with your party?

I ask people to look to at our ten key values-ecological wisdom, social justice, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, decentralization, community based economics, feminism (or equal rights), respect for diversity, personal and global responsibility, and a focus on the future to see if deep down they can believe that we are all in this together. There will be swings in power and some difficult times ahead but we each have the responsibility to do our best to figure out how to do more than watch from the sidelines.

10.What are the legal responsibilities of the committeeman?

As far as legal responsibilities of a township committeeman, parties develop a political program that defines their ideology and sets out the agenda they would pursue should they win elective office. A Committeeman verifies that local Green Party candidates represent the ideology of the party and agenda.

11.Why do you identify with your party?

I identify with the party because I agree with the ten key values.