Citizen Action Weekly
Citizen Action Weekly: Citizen Action members win in local elections this week!

Citizen Action Weekly: Citizen Action members win in local elections this week!

Friday, April 5th

Citizen Action members win in local elections this week!

A top goal of Citizen Action’s organizing co-ops is to prioritize recruiting and supporting members running for local and state offices on our long term agenda. In 2018, 70 of our co-op members ran for office. In last nights spring elections 7 co-op members won election!

Eric Genrich wins Green Bay mayor

Eric is a former state representative and a founding member of the Citizen Action Northeast co-op. Eric Genrich won the mayoral race with 57% of the vote. He  was a leader on expanding access to healthcare in the legislature. He drafted and introduced in the Assembly Citizen Action’s top healthcare reform priority: a BadgerCare Public Option bill that is now supported by Gov. Tony Evers and would open BadgerCare healthcare coverage to more individuals and small business.

As mayor Eric Genrich will invest in renewable energy projects to power Green Bay and provide good jobs in the green economy. Eric also ran on making Green Bay a more inclusive and welcoming city to communities of color and new immigrants. Eric beat a conservative opponent and is the first progressive mayor in Green Bay in generations.

Other Citizen Action Co-op members elected to office in Spring 2019

  • Danielle Shelton (Accion Ciudadana de WI Co-op member) – Milwaukee County Circuit Judge. Danielle Shelton, an assistant public defender, defeated a conservative incumbent by campaigning for a more diverse court. Judge Shelton will be the third African American woman in state history to serve on the circuit court.
  • Tammy Bockhorst (Citizen Action Greater MKE Co-op member) – Shorewood Village Trustee.
  • Kristina Shelton (Citizen Action Northeast WI co-op member) – Green Bay School Board.
  • Catherine Emmanuelle (Citizen Action Western WI Co-op member) – Eau Claire City Council
  • Kate Beaton (Citizen Action Western WI Co-op member) – Eau Claire City Council
  • Laura Benjamin (Citizen Action Western WI Co-op member) – Eau Claire City Council.

Oshkosh Elects First Woman Mayor

Citizen Action endorsed candidate, Lori Palmeri, won her election on Tuesday to become the first woman elected by the people as Mayor of Oshkosh. Lori is a working class Latina who is passionate about renters rights, good government that works for the people, and moving Oshkosh in the direction of becoming a more sustainable and bike-friendly city. Citizen Action members and NE organizer knocked doors and turned their friends out to vote.

Milwaukee School Board; Pro-public school candidates win all 5 races

In partnership with Wisconsin Working Families, Citizen Action endorsed a slate of pro-public education candidates for Wisconsin’s largest school district, Milwaukee.

Milwaukee is ground zero for school privatization schemes, including nearly 30,000 students in publicly subsidized private schools. Our slate of 5 candidates opposed the expansion of charter schools, and all were elected. Citizen Action members knocked doors, made phone calls, and texted City of Milwaukee voters.

The Working Families school board campaign knocked 10,363 Doors and collected 3,380 positive IDs for our candidates.

Western Wisconsin Co-Op takes Action!

Over GOTV weekend, Citizen Action co-op members turned out to knock doors, make calls, and to support several co-op members running for office. Andrew Werthmann gave an amazing introduction for Judge Lisa Neubauer, and collectively, our co-op members have knocked over 2500 doors since the campaigns began.

We are extremely proud of all of our co-op members who ran for office in 2019, including Andrew Werthmann, Kate Beaton, Laura Benjamin, Catherine Emmannuelle, and Terry Lee!

Thank you to all the members and activist who volunteered for this election!

Citizen Action of Wisconsin wants to thank all the members from the bottom of our hearts. Volunteers worked really hard and knock on thousands of doors, called hundreds of folks, text message various of folks from across the state, and host watch parties to get the vote out. We are very honored to be in the trench with you all.  In this recent cycle, you all helped knock 4,110 doors, made 3,640 phone calls, and texted 9,860 people. You could have been out with your friends and family, but you stood up for your fellow Wisconsinite instead. You could have been sleeping, resting at home, but instead you showed up tired and determine to make a change. We are grateful. In solidarity.

Attend a Joint Finance Budget Hearing!

Over 25 Citizen Action members stand with AARP members in support of expanding BadgerCare at the Joint Finance Committee public hearing in Janesville, WI on Friday, April 5th.

Oak Creek
Wednesday April 10th
Oak Creek Community Center
8580 S Howell Ave., Oak Creek
RSVP & More information

River Falls
Monday April 15th
UW River Falls University Center, Riverview Ballroom #260
500 Wild Rose Ave River Falls
RSVP & More information

Green Bay
Wednesday April 24th
UW Green Bay University Union, Phoenix Rooms
2430 Campus Court., Green Bay
RSVP & More information

Each public hearing officially starts at 10am and goes until 5pm,
We are encouraging people to arrive early (8:30pm)

RSVP to attend and receive a Citizen Action t-shirt.

Substance Use Disorder in our state and how we can help our youth.

Presentation by Supreme Moore Omokunde, our Bright Futures Organizer

Milwaukee Area Technical College
Saturday, April 6th, 9am – Noon
More info

Wisconsin Black Historical Society
Tuesday, April 9th, 6-7:30pm
More info

Between 2000 and 2016 the opioid overdose rate in Wisconsin jumped 600% from 80 to more than 500. This is more than one death every day. 90% of those individuals began Substance Use Disorder before the age of 18. The “War on Drugs” has aided in the explosion of the prison population in rural and suburban communities the same way it had in urban areas for the past 20 plus years.

We want to live in a world where we ensure that Substance Use Disorder among our young people does not lead to adult addiction and overdose deaths and that they do not overpopulate the prisons as a result of a war on drugs. We need the proper tools in order to take a step in this direction. SBIRT (Screening Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment) has been proposed in the State’s Biennial budget for Universal Screening in all 422 School Districts in the State of Wisconsin.

Northeast Wisconsin General Assembly, April 13 11am – 3pm

Join us on the 13th for a fun annual meeting! From 11am – noon we will have a potluck and networking hour so bring a dish to share and get to know your fellow progressives in the Northeast. Register here.

Our programming will start at noon and will include:

  • A panel on the State Budget with Sen. Dave Hansen and Rep. Amanda Stuck
  • Presentation from Citizen Action’s Bright Futures Organizer, Supreme Omokunde Moore on youth substance abuse prevention in state budget
  • Presentation from our Health Care for All Organizer, Karen Kirsch on BadgerCare Expansion and other health care priorities in state budget
  • Discussion of co-op growth and vision for 2020
  • Breakouts to collaborate on how to take action

Child Care will be provided. Please share on Facebook.

Western Wisconsin General Assembly, April 6th, 10 AM- 1 PM

Join us for the Citizen Action of Western Wisconsin Organizing Co-op’s annual membership meeting. Celebrate three years of our Citizen Action Organizing Co-op in Western Wisconsin! Help us celebrate our co-op’s amazing achievements and learn how you can make a difference in 2019 and beyond.

Our keynote address will be given by State Treasurer and Western Co-op member Sarah Godlewski. Members will also be electing candidates to openings on the steering committee during the assembly. Register here!

Plymouth UCC
2010 Moholt Drive
Eau Claire
10 AM- 1 PM

If you have any concerns or questions about the event, please contact your co-op organizer Noah at [email protected]

Western Wisconsin Co-op, Membership Spotlight

“My first two months on the ground have been a whirlwind experience. In my time as an organizer, I have never been around so many unbelievably motivated and passionate individuals fighting for progressive causes. From our Healthcare Team’s work on BadgerCare expansion to our education team’s tireless work on voucher transparency, Western Wisconsin is absolutely full of amazing leaders. Seeing so many of co-op members turn out to knock doors and call voters during GOTV, run for office, and support progressive causes all over our region, is truly awe inspiring. So an enormous thank you to all of the co-op members who took action over these last several weeks! – Noah Reif, Western WI Co-op Organizer

North Central Organizing Co-op Members Help with Recount Efforts for Judge Neubauer

A shout out to Citizen Action of WI North Central Organizing Co-op member Thea Stewart Territo. With less than 24 hours notice, she was able to get to the Marathon County Courthouse to observe the ballot recount Thursday morning.

Thank you for doing this vitally important service Thea!

Also, thank you to Steering Committee member Nancy Tabaka-Stencil for flagging this opportunity for people in Marathon County. Nancy is also the Chair of the Marathon County Democratic Party.

Gov. Evers and Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes hold “The People’s Budget Listening Session” at UW Stevens Point, in the North Central Organizing Co-op region

Members of the North Central Organizing Co-op attended a Tony Evers state budget listening session in Stevens Point this past Wednesday. Immediately after getting elected, the Evers administration took to touring the State.

It is great to see that this Governor cares what the people think. These listening sessions are open to the public, and can be attended by people no matter what party they belong to. If you want to have your voice heard on this budget, it is more possible than ever before.

“Purple” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast

We review this week’s spring election results which saw new progressive gains in cities and a conservative voter surge behind right-wing Judge Hagedorn. We talk about the historic victory for public schools in Milwaukee and election of young progressive mayors in Green Bay, Oshkosh and Madison. We dissect the disappointing Supreme Court result and its implication for the court and the 2020 elections. We close by previewing the state budget battle which commences with Joint Finance Committee public hearings Friday in Janesville.

LISTEN NOW – EPISODE #386
MP3 Download
Press Clips

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