Victor Agosto Brizuela
May 31
Jennifer and I have put together a proposal for dealing with the Roby situation. I think most of us who were around when the Robys were on the council would agree that we shouldn’t subject the council to them again.
– Victor
Proposal: Reaffirm Roby Ban
5/30/2017
Proposal
If approved, this proposal would reaffirm the council’s February 2015 decision to ban Jeff and Rose Roby from the GPFL council.
Background
In February 2015, the GPFL council decided by consensus to remove Jeff and Rose Roby from the council and disaffiliated the St. Petersburg local. It was an unprecedented decision in the party’s history and it was not taken lightly. The GPFL had lost members as a direct result of the Robys’ unwillingness to engage in discussions about party business without resorting to name-calling and using demeaning language. To date, the Robys have not apologized for this behavior or even acknowledged that they did anything wrong. Mr. Roby has claimed that their expulsion was politically motivated, yet Greens throughout the progressive political spectrum voted to ban the Robys from the council.
At the GPFL’s 2017 AMM, the Robys hijacked the elections meeting, preventing elections for several key national committees from taking place. The Robys think that they can take advantage of the party’s growth in the last year by fooling new members into believing that they were wrongfully expelled from the council. The council’s organizational memory, however, is strong and we will not allow a repeat of the tumultuous years when the Robys were council delegates. There have never been two individuals who have been more determined to cause damage to the GPFL from the inside than the Robys. The GPFL council cannot afford to go back to imploring the Robys to express their positions respectfully at every meeting.
The council agreed to reaffiliate the Pinellas County local as an act of good faith and in the spirit of reconciliation. The local needs to choose delegates other than either Jeff or Rose Roby to represent them on the council. Their behavior during the AMM this past weekend demonstrates that they are not interested in respectfully engaging with the GPFL. All locals must work for the greater good of the GPFL and the GPUS. The council has the authority disaffiliate any local that it deems to be deliberately acting against the best interests of the party.
Voting Deadline
11:59 PM on Thursday, June 29, 2017
