10-25-2021 Newsletter

 

COUNTY WANTS FEEDBACK ABOUT DISTRICT BOUNDARIES Clatsop County Commissioners make major decisions about land use, public health and safety, development, roads, and much more. Sometimes one commissioner makes the difference in long-term policies and consequences.  Clatsop County urges all residents to take this survey about drawing new county commissioner districts, required due to the 2020 census. Under the charter, district boundaries must not only contain roughly equal population, but must also be “of contiguous territory and as compact as possible.” What issues and values matter most to you? Check out the map, and take the survey. The survey deadline is November 5. More information about county redistricting is here. Tracie Krevanko, Clatsop County Clerk,  will present proposed new district maps to the County Commissioners at their December 8 meeting.

FINAL WEEK TO MATCH YOUR DONATION This is the last week that Indivisible will match your donation to INCO. If you donate $15, then INCO will get $30! Our goal is to raise $500, which Indivisible will match for a total of $1000. Please donate today. We're going to need every dollar as we defend democracy, especially during the 2021 and 2022 elections!  To have your donation doubled, be sure to donate through this site. Only donations given through this ActBlue site will be doubled by Indivisible. Matching deadline is October 31. Thank you for contributing to INCO.

DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE MOMENTUM OF A DEMOCRACY "The threats to American democracy are real, but it is a mistake to underestimate the scale, heft, and momentum of a democracy in which hundreds of millions of people want to co-exist in peace, freedom, and safety. Yes, we should worry about the threats we face, but we should simultaneously recognize the strength and stability of America. That strength and stability isn’t in your newsfeed. It’s out there—in the real world. Look for it and you will see it everywhere around you." -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, October 22, 2021

".... The GOP’s anti-vax, anti-democracy, anti-science, anti-education, anti-immigrant, undying-loyalty to a coup-plotter platform is unattractive to the majority of independents. Voter suppression is real and will disenfranchise some voters. But we are not powerless. We control our fate. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise." -- Robert Hubbell, Today's Edition, October 20, 2021

KNAPPA AND CANNON BEACH BALLOTS DUE NOVEMBER 2  • 4-210 City of Cannon Beach • 4-212 Knappa School District #4 Details on these measures can be found here: https://www.co.clatsop.or.us/clerk/page/measure-filing-november-2-2021

CLARIFICATION:  State Senator Betsy Johnson is running for governor as an independent (small ‘i’), unaffiliated candidate, not as a member of the Independent Party.

MEET OTHER COAST PROGRESSIVES

Tillamook Democracy Project provide opportunities for activists in Tillamook County to promote progressive values and democracy. Its new Action Plan outlines ambitious pro-democracy activities, including writing letters to voters through Vote Forward and participating with Consolidated Network of Indivisible Oregon (COIN). TDP will partner with the Tillamook Democrats with TDP's Campaign School 2.0, focusing on city council, mayor, and school board elections. For more information, contact Bev Stein at steinbeverly@gmail.com.

HAPPENINGS  Tuesday, November 9 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, November 8 for your Zoom link. Saturday, November 13 - INCO North County Community Group Zoom meeting, 11am - noon. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com by November 12 to get the Zoom link.  EVERY FRIDAY - INCO Write to Voters Virtual Group, 3 - 4 pm. Via Zoom. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link. More details about writing to voters are below. Join us for informal conversation, venting, and solving the world's problems. Pets welcome. Please note: No Write Voters Group on November 5. Write To Voters - The numbers show that your letters to voters increased vote turnout significantly. Special elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. INCO encourages you to sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org. For general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward. For supplies or information, contact incoregon@gmail.com.

INSIGHTS “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”  ― Richard H. Thaler, Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

New York Times graphic.

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   October 25, 2021

10-18-2021 Newsletter

 

Join COIN for our latest COINversation,Pandemic Politics, a deep dive on the full spectrum of local politics around the pandemic. Our panelists represent urban and rural areas and areas that are deep red and deep blue. What’s it like to be an elected official and deal with the politics of the pandemic? With panelists: Marcus LeGrand - Bend-La Pine School Board Director Dr. Trevor Phillips - Salem City Councilor Dr. Maxine Dexter - OR State Representative (HD-33) Kathy Schwartz RN - Wasco County Commissioner Dr David Gilmour - former Jackson County Commissioner Register now to submit your question(s): http://tinyurl.com/COIN101921 CLIMATE LISTENING SESSION IS WEDNESDAY This series of regional forums is to hear from and understand different perspectives from different counties and the environmental priorities you are all dealing with! And make sure that those voices are being included in the legislative session planning and state policy and rule-making in general.  The forums are hosted by the Environmental Caucus of the Democratic Party of Oregon. Please register here for your Zoom link. WHO WILL GET TO VOTE? "And so, here we are. Republicans are trying to regain control of the government by making sure their opponents can’t vote, while Democrats are trying to level a badly tilted playing field. If the Democrats do not succeed in passing a voting rights law, we can expect America to become a one-party state that, at best, will look much like the American South did between 1876 and 1964. "Our nation will no longer be a democracy .... "In the Senate, Joe Manchin (D-WV) expressed misgivings about the voting measures and vowed to hammer out a voting rights bill that could attract the votes of ten Republicans and thus break a filibuster. He and a number of Democratic colleagues announced the Freedom to Vote Act in mid-September 2021. If there are ten Republicans to support the measure, we have not yet seen them. "The Senate will vote on the Freedom to Vote Act on Wednesday." -- Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American, October 15, 2021 WHO WILL REPRESENT YOU? Rugby? White-water rafting? Horse racing? Oregon politics sometimes feels like a sport, but without any time outs. Clatsop County's  State Senator, Betsy Johnson, is running for governor as an Independent. Our State Representative, Suzanne Weber, has already announced she's running for State Senate as a Republican.  It's time to look around to see who you'd like representing you in Oregon's legislature. Who could represent your values and goals for the north coast and Oregon?  It's time for progressives to go for the winning touchdown. INCO can link you to campaigning expertise and resources; contact incoregon@gmail.com. NEARLY HALFWAY TO GOAL With your help, INCO can raise $500 in this fundraising drive, which Indivisible will match for a total of $1000. Make your activism dollars go farther by donating now to INCO.   To have your donation doubled, be sure to donate through this site. Only donations given through this ActBlue site will be doubled by Indivisible.  Thank you for contributing to INCO. INDIVISIBLE: "GIVE NO GROUND" "Indivisible, one of the country's largest and most influential progressive groups, announced on Friday a new program dedicated to protecting a select slate of endangered Democratic congressional incumbents -- seven House members and Georgia's Sen. Raphael Warnock -- ahead of next year's midterm elections." -- CNN.com, 10/15/21 "With this new initiative, we’re saying that we not only are going to fight for the progressive policies for which Americans voted -- we are also letting Republicans know that we will not tolerate less than what the American people both demand and deserve. We will, in short, give no ground. Join the fight, and click here to sign the Give No Ground Pledge today!" -- Indivisible email, 10/16/21 CONNECTING WITH OUR COMMUNITIES INCO spreads our pro-democracy message in many ways at events and other activities. Steve Bronstein and Brian List welcomed visitors to the INCO table at Ales and Ideas at Fort George in October 2018. INCO's buttons have encouraged common sense, compassion, and voting since Bebe Michel started making hundreds and hundreds of them to share throughout INCO-land and beyond.  HAPPENINGS  Tuesday, November 9 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, November 8 for your Zoom link. EVERY FRIDAY - INCO Write to Voters Virtual Group, 3 - 4 pm. Via Zoom. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link. More details about writing to voters are below. Join us for informal conversation, venting, and solving the world's problems. Pets welcome. Write To Voters - The numbers show that your letters to voters increased vote turnout significantly. Special elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. INCO encourages you to sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org. For general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward. For supplies or information, contact incoregon@gmail.com. INSIGHTS "I don't know what happiness is but it's definitely NOT just going with the flow. Going with the flow, for Christ sake? Don't ever go with the flow. Stop the flow, go against the flow, start the flow, but don't under any circumstance just go with the flow." -- Ricky Gervais, Huffington Post, 7-12-11 New York Times graphic. 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   October 18, 2021

10-11-2021 Newspaper

INCO CLEANS UP

"We had a great time laughing with each other, but were saddened by the amount of debris discarded," says Carmen Hammersmith about Saturday's clean-up on Harbor Drive by Warrenton and Astoria Indivisibles. From left,  Meridee Faber, Bob Lennon, Karen Borders, and Cheryl Conway. Not pictured are Del Borders, Wendela Howie, and Carmen.

NEW RELEASE: "ON TYRANNY GRAPHIC EDITION"

Photo from "On Tyranny Graphic Edition: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century," as shown on New Yorker.com. From Chapter 10, 'Believe in Truth.' Text by Timothy Snyder. Illustrations by Nora Krug.   Some of you might remember that INCO sold copies of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century" as part of our response to Trump’s election. The new edition features graphics and illustrations. Snyder, the Levin Professor of History at Yale, is a historian and author known for his research, writing, and commitment to democracy.  "The Founding Fathers tried to protect us from the threat they knew, the tyranny that overcame ancient democracy. Today, our political order faces new threats, not unlike the totalitarianism of the twentieth century. We are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to fascism, Nazism, or communism. Our one advantage is that we might learn from their experience.”  — Timothy Snyder, ON TYRANNY

STRETCH YOUR DEMOCRACY DOLLARS We're on our way to raising $500, which Indivisible will match for a total of $1000. With your help, we can do this! Make your activism dollars go farther by donating now to INCO.   To double your donation, be sure to donate through this site. Only donations given through this ActBlue site will be doubled by Indivisible.  Thank you for contributing to INCO.

"EVERY REASON TO BE HOPEFUL" "Although this has been a painful process, it appears that Biden will achieve a significant portion of his legislative agenda. We face tough slogging ahead, but there is a path to victory. Good. If Biden can close the deal, it will be thanks to the hard work of tens of thousands of volunteers who helped elect Biden and Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress. It is too early to celebrate, but we have every reason to be hopeful.”   — Robert Hubbell, Today’s Edition  October 6, 2021

INDIVISIBLE UPDATE: RECONCILIATION PACKAGE The policies laid out in the reconciliation package will have massive positive impacts for people and families across the country. This fight is about expanding access to affordable health care and child care. It’s about making investments in a strong climate strategy. It’s about creating a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants and migrants. It’s about ensuring paid family and medical leave for every worker nationwide. In short, it’s about people. That’s why we’ve developed a multi-pronged strategy to have the greatest impact: Have the backs of the progressive bloc as they execute their strategy to demand passage of the reconciliation bill. Hold conservative Dems accountable for attempting to tank the whole deal and settle for insufficient measures. Work with committees in both houses of Congress to ensure our top priorities stay in the final bill and get passed. -- Excerpt from Indivisible email, October 10, 2021

HAPPENINGS  Tuesday, October 12 - INCO South County Community Group Zoom meeting, 6:30 pm - 8 pm. Please RSVP to Kathleenannmacdonald@yahoo.com thru Monday, October 11 for your Zoom link. EVERY FRIDAY - INCO Write to Voters Virtual Group, 3 - 4 pm. Via Zoom. If you are new to this group, contact incoregon@gmail.com to get the Zoom link. More details about writing to voters are below. Join us for informal conversation, venting, and solving the world's problems. Pets welcome. Write To Voters - The numbers show that your letters to voters increased vote turnout significantly. Special elections and issue campaigns need you year-round. INCO encourages you to sign up to write to voters at www.postcardstovoters.org. For general Get Out the Vote campaigns, sign up at Vote Forward. For supplies or information, contact incoregon@gmail.com.

INSIGHTS "You must be prepared at any moment to enter uncharted territory, to expect the unexpected, and where possible, seize the opportunities." -- Dr. Anthony Fauci, National Geographic magazine, November, 2021

New York Times graphic.

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   October 11, 2021