INCO Weekly Newsletter 3/4

State Representative Tiffiny Mitchell Town Hall Sunday, March 10  •  3 - 4 pm Columbia Hall, Room 219, at the college, 1651 Lexington, Astoria Parking on Lexington, or enter the parking lot from Lexington just east of 15th Please join me to share your priorities for the 2019 Legislative Session. We will have an hour to talk about current bills and priorities for House District 32 and the North Coast. Everyone is welcome! Share this event with friends, family, and anyone who wants to talk about Oregon legislation. If you'd like to know more about Oregon issues, Sign up to receive the e-newsletter from Representative Mitchell, a founding INCO leader. This is her first town hall since being elected. Thanks to ORD2Indivisible for providing this helpful guide to Oregon's legislature and how it works. Ready for 2020? Indivisible is moving full steam ahead on beginning the exciting conversation on how our movement will engage in the 2020 presidential election. As part of that process, Indivisible North Coast Oregon (INCO) has been asked to complete this 2020 Engagement Survey. We will aggregate responses, making them available to members and representing areas of consensus in the group survey we submit to Indivisible. We value your responses, which you'll need to submit by Wednesday, March 13. Thanks much for your involvement. TUESDAY CALL OF THE WEEK This is the message when you call your Members of Congress: •  Ask them to pass the Family Act to provide Paid Family Leave •  Ask them to obtain Trump's tax returns to investigate his tax fraud in their committees The action will be posted 6AM Tuesday March 4th.  The link is indivisibleOR.org/actions.  Join with other Oregon Indivisibles and call your MoCs on Tuesday    After you call,  • WRITE a Letter to the Editor.  The Daily Astorian - editor@dailyastorian.com or through their website - publishes up to 250 words. No name-calling. Include your contact information. • DONATE to organizations actively working in the courts and mobilizing public opposition to prevent this crisis from getting worse: the ACLU, Indivisible national, Public Citizen, MoveOn, and other similar organizations. SUPPORT NPV IN OREGON The National Popular Vote (NPV) bill would guarantee the Presidency to the candidate who receives the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. This legislation has passed the Oregon House 4 times previously, is being re-introduced today with an unprecedented 42 sponsors, and is likely to finally get a vote in the Senate this year.  Contact State Senator Peter Courtney to thank him for committing to bring NPV (SB 870) to a vote in the Oregon Senate, with a hearing scheduled for March 6.  He's at 503-986-1600 and sen.petercourtney@oregonlegislature.gov. Phone your state Senator today. Contact State Senator Betsy Johnson at 503-986-1716  or at Sen.BetsyJohnson@oregonlegislature.gov. Or  Send an email today to your state Senator, Representative, and Governor (in one swoop) using NPV's convenient email system. State Representative Tiffiny Mitchell is on record as supporting NPV.  "Elections 101" - The basics of running an election campaign Saturday, March 9 from 10:30 - noon 450 10th Street Astoria Public Library Flag Room Presented by the Clatsop County Democrats. This non-partisan training is free and open to the public. * * * * * * * * * *  Fill Vital Positions in the May 21 Special District Election  Learn how government works. See if public service is in your future. Build a progressive bench. Details about positions and filing here: Clatsop County Elections Office, 820 Exchange, 2nd floor, Astoria. Last Date to File is March 21 If you don't run, who will? Local teenagers inspired our communities at INCO's Rally for Our Lives, held in in Astoria in March, 2018, to urge common sense gun laws in the US.  PLASTIC BAG BAN PROPOSALS In response to member responses to our previous survey about program priorities, INCO leadership and the various CGs will be tackling climate change! INCO will work with other groups to show why the proposed statewide ban (HB 2509) is important, workable and widely supported, even in the business community. Seaside Community Group will attend Seaside City Council meeting to advocate for a ban on single-use plastic bags. During public comment, INCO members will present information about why a ban is necessary, a sample ordinance, and a study showing the effectiveness of plastic bag bans around the world. If you can’t appear but want to support a ban, email lauraallen@allenmead.com a statement in support that includes your name and address. Seaside City Council, MONDAY, MARCH 11, at 7 pm, at Seaside City Hall, 989 Broadway. Some of the people doing the research and work on plastic bag bans will talk at the Astoria Community Group meeting - Saturday, March 9, 2 pm, at Street 14 Cafe, 1410 Commercial. Join the Lively Conversations at INCO Book Club Wednesday, March 20  6:30  - 8 pm, Astoria March's book is The Square and the Tower: Networks & Power from the Freemasons to Facebook, Niall Ferguson, Penguin Random House, 2018. It's available in paperback. Email cebeady@outlook.com for address. It has received glowing reviews.  "Captivating and compelling... NY Times.  "Ferguson...like the best historians always pauses to learn from the past and anticipate the future."  The member who recommended it said that the beginning is kind of wonky, but the history is fascinating! IN CONGRESS Call your US Representative to urge or thank for support for H.R. 1. and HJM28. H.R. 1 proposes crucial democracy reforms about campaign finance, dark money, gerrymandering, and more. HJM 28 is a proposed US constitutional amendment saying that corporations are not people and that money is not speech. Sorting Out the Candidates for 2020 Indivisible's national leadership is already working on election strategies for 2020. Their plans include ways to think about candidates during the primaries so that it’s not about my favorite candidate vs. your favorite candidate. Indivisible suggests: Who will draw the largest coalition of voters Who is aligned with helping us achieve our goals Leaning in to having a big field Recognizing that we can help improve every candidate HAPPENINGS Details on our events page. Everyone is welcome to all these events. THIS WEEK Wednesday, March 6 - Advocacy Team monthly meeting, 6:30 - 8 pm, Seaside Library Board Room. Thursday, March  7 - INCO Table at Ales & Ideas, 7 pm, Lovell Showroom, 426 14th Street, Astoria. Doors open at 6 pm. Food and drink available for purchase. INCO t-shirts and In Our America yard signs available for purchase. David Delk of INCO is a featured speaker. Saturday, March 9 - Warrenton Community Group monthly meeting, 11:30, Dooger's Seafood & Grill, Highway 101, Warrenton. Saturday, March 9 - Astoria Community Group monthly meeting,  2 pm, Street 14 Cafe, 1410 Commercial Street, Astoria. UPCOMING DATE CHANGE THIS MONTH: Monday, March 11 - Seaside-Gearhart Community Group at Seaside City Council, 7 pm, Seaside City Hall. Details shown above. Wednesday, March 20 - INCO Book Club, 6:30 pm, Astoria; discussing The Square and the Tower: Networks & Power from the Freemasons to Facebook, Niall Ferguson, Penguin Random House, 2018.  Email cebeady@outlook.com for address. Wednesday, March 20 - Vote the Future (VTF) monthly meeting,  6:30 pm, Seaside Library Board Room.   Thanks to the Oregon League of Women Voters for a fascinating look at an exciting proposal to prevent gerrymandering in Oregon's next redistricting, due to start in 2021. INCO was one of the co-sponsors of this program, on March 2 at the Astoria Public Library. INSIGHTS "The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of beauty is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, but indifference between life and death." - -Elie Wiesel ACTION PRIORITIES   How will your Members of Congress know what you want if you don't tell them? •  Members of Congress (MoC) care about getting re-elected, so contact ONLY elected officials who represent you so you don't dilute the power of actual constituents. •  It's more effective to contact your MoC about one issue at a time.  •  Be sure to tell your MoC when you agree with their positions and votes.   Contact YOUR elected officials here.   For current action items, visit www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Find other suggested actions in the Americans of Conscience Checklist.

COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS Come to a meeting and get active with INCO's Advocacy Team, Vote the Future Team,  Book Club and Community Groups. Contact Laurie at incoregon@gmail.com for more information.   Questions, suggestions, & photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  INCO has 3 websites: our main one; Vote the Future; and Really Do Care INCO Under 40s. Really Do Care also has a Facebook group.  Join INCO's closed Facebook group. Share this newsletter with other resisters. You can sign up for emails from national Indivisible at www.indivisible.org. INCO is supported entirely by donations. Please donate online or mail a check to INCO c/o PO Box 536, Warrenton, OR 97146. Deb Vanasse and Laurie Caplan, INCO Co-chairs INCO Weekly Newsletter   March 4, 2019