The Story County Green Party held its first convention Tuesday night and will begin the process of setting its platform.

About 20 people attended the event at the Ames Public Library.

“It isn’t a bad turnout – especially on a non-election year,” said Jo Etzel, coordinator for the convention. “We hope to get a foundation out of this. Hopefully co-chairs will be excited to have a viable third party.”

Etzel, graduate student in bioinformatics and computational biology, said a lot of people agree with different issues of the Green Party, but they don’t know the party exists.

Green Party candidate Ralph Nader garnered more than 2 percent of the vote in the 2000 presidential election, making the party official in the state of Iowa.

Green Party members believe in grass-roots democracy, social justice and respect for diversity, said Jeff Hall, faculty adviser for ISU Greens.

“People who are interested in the Green Party are interested in alternate issues that are not often mainstream,” said Hall, assistant at the Parks Library.

Clarence James, Ames resident, was elected as chairman of the Green Party during the convention.

“We are here for people who are seeking an alternative that reflects their own personal values and go along with our values,” he said.

The party tries to foster optimism and idealism in the U.S. voter by encouraging uniqueness, a sense of responsibility and respect for each individual, James said.

“The party is not a threat to Democrats or Republicans,” he said.

“We are not trying to steal votes or disrupt the political process.”

James said he became interested in the Green Party because of its grass-roots democracy and respect for diversity. He said he voted for Nader in the 2000 presidential elections.

“It’s like an idea which means to focus time towards an idea of politics that reflects my own principles,” he said.