Citizen Action Weekly: July 19, 2019
Friday, July 19th
Citizen Action member teams up with Tom Perez of the DNC to talk about the ACA and Medicaid Expansion
Healthcare Co-op member, Mike Bernstein, joined a press conference with the DNC’s Chair Tom Perez at the Clock Shadow Creamery in the fifth ward of Milwaukee.
As a former CEO and CFO of several big health systems on the West coast, he was able to testify to the financial issue that Wisconsin is suffering higher healthcare costs as a result of the continuing battle against the ACA and the rejection of the Medicaid money.
We are always proud of our activism of our members.
North Central Organizing Co-op Updates
Founding member of the North Central Organizing Co-op, Rob Norton won his recall election in Merrill, WI, along with all but 1 incumbent. Some of our Co-op members in Merrill helped him with his efforts.
Co-op members, and people from various other organizations joined
Lights for Liberty events all across the state, including in Wisconsin Rapids, Wausau and Minocqua. You can see news coverage of the Wausau event here.
NC Organizing Co-op member Scott Kirby and other co-op members have been working hard in Oneida and Vilas County on Fair Maps, and Move to Amend resolutions. The Oneida County Board refused to take up either issue, so co-op member Jackie Cody and others decided to make progress in the County by organizing township by township!
They completed knocking doors on July 10th, with a total collection of 542 signatures. This is 100 signatures above the required 15% of voters in the last election of 2018 which was the governor’s race.
The next step is to present the signatures to the City of Rhinelander Clerk, Val Foley, on Tuesday, July 23rd at 3 PM. Fourteen circulators and a core group of six knocked on every door in a neighborhood. Three of the core six were Citizen Action members Steven Schreier, Tom Jerow and Jackie Cody. Citizen Action member Scott Kirby, was one of the several individual circulators contacting friends. Scott’s infant son, Elton, made his political debut at the first organizing meeting. Elton is lucky to have a dad politically involved.
“There were very few residents who were not interested in signing the petitions. People were receptive and knowledgeable about the two issues. They want the opportunity for their voice to be heard as it should be in a democracy. So it is now up to the Rhinelander City Council to place it on the April 7, 2020 ballot. It would be respecting the will of the people,” stated Jackie Cody.
At the City of Rhinelander Council meeting of Monday, August 12th, Tom Jerow, Citizen Action member, will be speaking to the Council to place the referendums on the April 7, 2020 ballot. “The Council could decide to pass the resolutions without allowing the residents to vote. The residents that signed the petitions are expecting the referendum to be on the ballot,” stated Cody.
Signature collection also took place at the Northwoods Pride Festival, Northwestern Lounge’s Wednesday Trivia Night and at the Farmer Market on one Saturday.
Citizen Action member, David Barnhill, aided volunteers in Eagle River to complete their collection of signatures as of July 16th. The group collected 175 signatures. The number of signatures needed were 112. Co-op member Kay Hoff, Mike Gerlach and four more volunteers knocked on every door in Eagle River! Petitions will be given to the Eagle River City Clerk on Wednesday, July 24th. The Council meeting has yet to be scheduled.
There are individuals in the towns of Hazelhurst, Pelican, Crescent and Pine Lake in Oneida County who will be approaching their town boards requesting the two issues be on the April 2020 ballot. Kay Hoff is seeking to find volunteers to approach at least four towns in Vilas County.
Working with George Penn of WI United To Amend was very helpful. George is also coordinating with Fair Elections Project about the progress of petitioning.
Jeff Smith & Jodi Emerson Ride the Bus!
Two of our elected co-op members held office hours on the Eau Claire city bus last Friday. State Senator Jeff Smith and Representative Jodi Emerson met dozens of constituents. From the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram: “This is amazing,” said Brooke Whiterabbit, 29, who recently moved to Eau Claire from Barron County. “I never would have gone to anything like this if it were anywhere else. I never would have reached out to a legislator on my own.”
Read Eau Claire Leader Telegram article
(Pictured: Jeff Smith in the foreground, Jodi Emerson in Bue)
Having Scary Conversations- Issue Canvassing Training (August 10 & August 17)
Canvassing is an extremely important part of taking action, but it can also be kinda scary! If you wish that you felt more confident when canvassing, this training is for you. Our organizer, Noah, will be facilitating a conversation on how to navigate the scary parts of talking politics on doors, or even with that one difficult family member. The August 10th training will take place in Black River Falls, and the August 17th training will take place in Menomonie. More details will be on the way soon so stay tuned! If you have any questions or would like to have a training in your community, contact Noah at [email protected].
Lights for Liberty- Eau Claire
We are proud to join in solidarity with the nationwide protests that took place on July 12th. Our members are deeply disturbed by the humanitarian crisis on our southern border that has been fabricated by the current administration. It is critical that we stand with those in our community who are targeted and we pledge to be allies in the continuing fight.
Ballots & Brunch/Ballots & Brews Event with NextGen
Over the last week, Citizen Action has partnered with NextGen in their push to expand ballot accessibility in the state of Wisconsin. This included events in Eau Claire and Hudson. We are proud to support the push to expand ballot accessibility and ensure that the voices of voters are truly heard across the state.
Southeastern Co-op
Good Government Issue Team
Join us on Monday on the 29th at Black Sheep 216 S. 2nd St. 6 pm (across the street from our office) for our new Good Government Meet. We have lots of exciting things that will be discussed at our first meeting. We will be discussing things like ranked choice voting, voter registration, fair maps, election integrity, and we will have a direct report from our State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski! State Treasurer Godlewski is working on pensions for Wisconsinites and tuition free college. Join us in our conversation to find out how we’re going to tackle these issues. 2020 is around the corner and we can’t afford to sit on the sidelines.
Acción Ciudadana
Expect a call in the next few days from us in the next few days. We’re going folks to let them know we’re meeting up in the next coming up month. There we will talk strategy about moving forward. Talk to you all real soon.
Steering Committee Election Winners
We had three open seat up this election cycle. Thank you to all the folks who applied and if you didn’t get a chance to run we strongly encourage you all to join our issue team. Congrats to Vice Chairman Eric Marsch for his reelection. Also, congratulations to the new Steering Committee members Ashlie Benson and Zena Blom. Super excited to have you all on board.
Eco-Justice Task Team
Join us on Aug 1st at 6 pm at the Black History Historical Society Museum for our Green New Deal campaign kick off. We’re going to be talking about how to get involved and what we have coming down the line in the next few weeks. We want to push these Green New Jobs in communities of color and low income. Join this revolutionary campaign and help us kick off Milwaukee into the future. We this more than ever.
HealthCare for All Co-op
With the Tony Evers signing of the budget, the Co-op has decided to hit the reset button on issues they would like to concentrate on. We are forming new issue teams so let us know which team you want to be on.
“Amanda Stuck steps up” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We discuss Donald Trump and his campaign doubling down on racist, white nationalist appeals this week. Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy says Trump’s tweets were not racist and denies calling four congresswomen anti-American. We are joined by Citizen Action member and State Representative Amanda Stuck who announced this week she is running for Congress. Citizen Action’s Kevin Kane stops by to discuss the new member organizing co-op we are organizing in the “Driftless” area of Wisconsin and how you can get involved in an initial campaign to get area utilities to accept federal funds to create energy efficiency jobs in the region upgrading homes at no cost to residents.
Listen Now – Episode #401
Download MP3
To get more information about the Driftless Organizing Cooperative: [email protected]
SIGN Petition to Electric Utilities to Rebuild the Driftless.
Facebook post of the week
