4-19-21 Newsletter

 

Senator Merkley met with INCO activists after his town hall on May 25, 2019 at the college's Patriot Hall gym. Shown here, back row: David Delk, Carmen Hammersmith, Carolyn Vena, Senator Merkley; front row: Tamra Taylor, Wendela Howie, Laurie Caplan, Mary Beth Cottle, Cheryl Conway.

SENATOR JEFF MERKLEY VIRTUAL TOWN HALL Clatsop County Town Hall  Wednesday, April 21, 2021  4:00 p.m.  HOW:  On a computer, smartphone or tablet: click here to join the Zoom meeting  On the phone: Dial: 669-254-5252  Enter Meeting ID: 161 007 3340#  Enter Participant ID: #  Enter Passcode: 30607316# To learn more about this town hall or any future events, please visit merkley.senate.gov

FUND THE FUTURE We're more than halfway to our goal!  INCO fans have donated $280 so far! Your donation of any amount will help INCO raise $500, which will be matched with another $500 from Indivisible national.  Please donate here. Indivisible national is matching donations to INCO for a limited time up to $500, for a total of $1000. With your help, we can continue to defend democracy in these tumultuous, challenging times.  Please donate here. THANK YOU, DONORS!

Thursday, April 22, 2021   “The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats, and biodiversity.”  —Gaylord Nelson (1916-2005), politician and environmentalist

MEET THE CANDIDATES Voters will help decide policy, plans, and budgets for schools, the college, the Port of Astoria, and other districts when we elect board members in the county's May 18 Regular District election. Learn more about the candidates at this terrific web site that includes:   15 video interviews with candidates across the county The newly-released Voter Pamphlet  Links to the candidate's filing paperwork  The timeline of crucial dates in the election cycle.   Thanks to the Clatsop County Democrats and its Campaigns and Elections Committee for compiling this crucial information.

REPRESENTATIVE WEBER CLIMATE CALL-IN This is an organized online event concerning HB 2021, HB 2842 and HB 2475. All Bills dealing with Climate Change.  HB 2021- Directs the Public Utility Commission to study laws related to clean energy and provide results to interim committees of the Legislative Assembly no later than September 15, 2022.  HB 2842 - Establishes Healthy Homes Program within the Oregon Health Authority to provide grants to entities to provide financial assistance to low income households and landlords.  Establishes Healthy Homes Repair Fund.Establishes Interagency Task Force on Healthy Homes. HB 2475 - The Oregon House of Representatives passed a historic bill for working families across the state to decrease utility costs for families already struggling in the economic recession by establishing a Low-Income Utility Rate Class. Thank the Legislators for this. You can call Ian 503-851-5774 to be put on the email list for the meeting.  Thanks to Pamela Mattson McDonald and the Clatsop County Democrats for the info about this call. No date was provided.

INCO ACTIVISTS FEATURED IN NEW VIDEO INCO activists and dozens of other Oregon Indivisibles are featured in the new COIN video supporting statehood for Washington, DC., shown in the screenshots above. Watch the video here on Facebook, or here.  It's also posted on INCO's website. Thanks to Carmen, Cheryl, Laurie, and Pat for taking photos for the video. Unsure why Indivisible supports DC Statehood? DC is a majority-minority population of more than half a million people who deserve representation: Click here for more information, watch a quick video and go here for a call to action. Or, read the Indivisible book from 2019, page 257. TELL THEM WHAT YOU WANT COIN and the INCO leadership team continue to review bills proposed in the Oregon legislature. This is a great time to contact our legislators with your preferences. You can contact State Senator Betsy Johnson and State Representative Suzanne Weber here. They won't know what you want if you don't tell them.

WHY YOUR INDIVISIBLE ACTIVISM MATTERS  "It is clear that the conservative majority is on course to elevate claims of religious freedom to override all other individual rights and societal wellbeing. The conservative majority will slowly enlarge areas of permissible discrimination against disfavored groups in the name of religious freedom."  -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition newsletter, April 12, 2021 "Today, news broke that a number of pro-Trump House Republicans, including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Paul Gosar (R-AZ), are organizing the “America First Caucus,” . . . . The seven-page document outlining their ideas, obtained by Punchbowl News, is a list of the grievances popular in right-wing media. . . . And, with extraordinary clarity, it shows the ideology that underpins these positions, an ideology eerily reminiscent of that of the elite slaveholders of the 1850s American South." -- Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from An American, April 16, 2021

HAPPENINGS VIRTUAL  Tuesday, May 18 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, May 17 for your Zoom link. Saturday,  May 22 - INCO North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11 a.m - noon. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link. EVERY FRIDAY: The INCO Write to Voters group invites you to a Zoom open house for informal chat and writing to voters in special elections and for ballot issues every Friday from 3-4 pm. Pets and children are welcome. Contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom invitation from Bebe.  SIGN UP: Special elections and issue campaigns will be starting up again soon. You can sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org or for general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward.

INSIGHTS “If there was any great lesson in life it was this: No battle was ever won with silence.”  ― Shannon L. Alder

Comments, news, and photos to INCO at incoregon@gmail.com.  Resources and other information at www.incoregon.org and www.indivisible.org. Encourage others to sign up for the INCO newsletter at our website or here. INCO Weekly Newsletter  April 19, 2021