Greens Elect 2004 Officers

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The Green Party of Monroe County held its annual party elections Monday night to elect officers for 2004. Elected to office were David Atias, Chair; Jason Nabewaniec, Vice-Chair; Zuzana Szewczyk, Secretary; Joseph Young, Treasurer.

Atias, 37, has been a Green since 1999, the first year voters were eligible to register in the Green Party. He ran for Rochester City School Board last year and formerly held the position of party secretary. “I am extremely proud of how much the Green Party has grown in number and influence in Monroe County. I am looking forward to helping the party build on our successes. Atias says he would like to see the party facilitate the start-up of Green groups on area college campuses and recruit progressives to run for office in suburban races in the immediate future.

Nabewaniec, 26, was born in Rochester, NY, and is currently resides in Brighton, NY, with his wife Misty. Jason is a Graduate of the Rochester Institute of Technology and is a civil engineer in the Rochester Area. Jason got his political start when he was only twelve years old campaigning for independent candidate in the Syracuse area. Jason has work for the past year on a number of committees within the Green Party of Monroe County, serving as the chair of the Action-Outreach Committee for the last several months. Jason believes strongly in the values of the Green Party and hopes to play a key role in the future growth of the Green Party right here in Monroe County.

Szewczyk, 22, was born in Warsaw, Poland. She came to the United States in 1986. A classical pianist, Zuza graduated, with honors, from the Eastman School of Music last spring and is currently there as a graduate student as a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar. She has held office in the GPoMC as secretary for the past year and was instrumental in the success of the recent local Green campaigns. “This country needs a viable third party. The Green Party in Monroe County offers us a hope of this at the local level. We must continue to build the party, joining forces with the students and other progressive groups in this community," said Szewczyk.

Young, 33, is a patent attorney who lives and works in the city. Joe received his Bachelor’s in Physics in 1993 and his JD in 1999. He became committed to change after seeing the downward spiral in which our state and federal governments were heading. He became interested in the Green Party because of the 2000 Nader presidential campaign three years ago; he began to recognize that effective change needed to begin on a local level. He was active in the two local electoral campaigns the GPOMC ran in 2003 and is committed to seeing a Green in Office in 2004.

The Green Party of Monroe County used Instant Runoff Voting to elect its 2004 officers. IRV allowed registered Greens to rank candidates for the four offices in their order of preference, ensuring all votes had an impact on the final results. For more information on IRV, visit www.fairvote.org.

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