Dear Members, Affiliates, and Friends of the Council of Georgist Organizations,

Congratulations on another year of dedicated work to bring about the changes in our laws and regulations we believe will make our world a much better place for everyone.

Our annual conference held this year in Cleveland, Ohio was certainly memorable. Those who attended and participated left with renewed energy to take our message to the general public. We all gained even greater respect for the achievements of Cleveland's Georgist mayor, Tom L. Johnson. Moreover, we were heartened to discover that a group of high school students had chosen Johnson as the subject of a major history competition. They produced an award-winning documentary film on Johnson which they shared with us as one of the conference highlights.

Members of our team have been working hard to edit the video recording of the Cleveland conference sessions. This coming year, you will be able to view and download sessions from this website.

Planning is already well underway for the 2010 conference, which will be held in Albany, New York from Monday, July 12 through Friday, July 16. Our colleagues at the Center for the Study of Economics are also organizing a pre-conference meeting with state and local officials, legislative staffers and leaders of regional public interest groups to culminate a year-long effort to build support for Georgist revenue solutions to New York State's budgetary challenges.

Several conference themes are under consideration. Our emphasis will be on the sharing of successful strategies in the areas of political activism, education, research and publication. Brief plenary sessions will be followed by the opportunity to participate in concurrent breakout sessions. To the extent possible, these sessions will be repeated so that attendees can attend a majority of the sessions, if desired.

Conference details will appear on this site, and brochures will be emailed and mailed, in April, 2010. To receive more information, please contact Sue or Scott Walton, conference administrators at 847/475-0391 or 888/262-9014 or at sns@swwalton.com.

Our annual conferences are an important opportunity for us to come together, to reconnect and strengthen our sense of community. Yet, we all recognize that the costs of travel and attendance every year continue to rise. Great care is taken to choose locations for the conferences that combine, to the greatest extent possible, accessibility and affordability. CGO members, the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation and the Henry George School of Social Science have been very generous supporters of the conference for many years. However, their capacity to provide such financial support is affected by their own budgetary challenges. If the CGO is to continue to hold our conferences at an affordable cost, there is a growing need for other funders to come forward.

The vitality of our movement depends on our success in attracting and welcoming young people into our midst. A scholarship fund designated for the purpose of paying the expenses of active young Georgists who could not otherwise attend the annual conference is needed. Please contribute what you can. If you are able to do so, consider sponsoring someone you know who is worthy of such support.

As I am sure you are aware, the CGO is not a tax-exempt organization. Our organization does not qualify for grants from foundations. We are wholly dependent on member contributions and donations.

Attached is the annual dues and donation form. If you represent an organizational member, please complete the form and send it with your annual dues. If you are an affiliate member please complete the form and send it with your annual dues. If you are neither an organizational member nor an affiliate member, we hope your will join the CGO as an affiliate member.

Your officers and administrators extend our best wishes for the coming holiday season. Enjoy the time you have with family and friends. All the while, continue to think about how much better life could be if our message was universally embraced. What we do with the gift of understanding we have acquired is of the greatest importance.

Edward J. Dodson, President
Ted Gwartney, Vice President
Paul Justus, Secretary
Toni Gwartney, Treasurer
Dan Sullivan & Lindy Davies, Advisors
Sue and Scott Walton, Administrators