Mon 6/3: Monday’s Resistance Agenda!

Action #1 – Write a comment to oppose the Plains permit for an oil pipeline in SB,SLO and Kern Counties! Deadline today!

More information here. The people who brought us the Refugio Oil Spill in 2015 are back for another bite of the apple. Tell the BLM “no thanks”.

Action #2 – Support our local year-round homeless shelter/housing navigation center! Attend the City Council meeting tonight at 6 pm.

More information here. If you’ve ever wondered how you can help the homeless people you see around you, this is it. Sit at the City Council (it won’t be for long) and let your support be seen.

Action #3 – Donate to “Spread the Vote”.

More information here. “Spread the Vote” helps people get that ID in their pocket that allows them into the polling place in our more oppressive states.

Action #4 – Join in a free online course on reducing gun violence.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University are offering an online course, which begins today, to teach the academic research and strategies they say are the best weapon to curb gun violence. Gun violence experts put the course together after hundreds of thousands of people — many of them students — participated in March For Our Lives last year, calling for tighter gun laws.”  You can take the online course here from Coursera for free (or pay $49 for a certificate) and learn how to combat gun violence in our communities.

Mon – 6/3: Donate to “Spread the Vote”.

Yeah, we often make our readers do complicated actions because we know you can (yes, we’re looking at this action right here, also due today), but every once in awhile, it’s nice to do one simple thing…

So, this month, first thing in the morning, we’re going to share an action from Americans of Conscience, each one covering different aspects of protecting our right to vote in preparation for the 2020 election.

Not every action applies to us here in CA, thank goodness, but if we’re off the hook, take a moment to share it with friends and family in more oppressive states.

Action #1: Empower future voters.

Spread the Vote and its Project ID initiative help citizens obtain IDs in states that require ID for voting. This graphic report breaks down who has ID’s and who we need to reach out to. Key findings show: Continue reading “Mon – 6/3: Donate to “Spread the Vote”.” →

Sun 6/2: Tomorrow (Mon. June 3rd) is the deadline for comments to stop our area’s next major pipeline disaster.

Both Exxon, a company that’s been gaslighting the public on the risks of fossil fuels since 1977, and Plains Pipeline, L.P., a Texas-based oil transport and storage company who was convicted of felony charges for their mishandling of the 2015 Santa Barbara pipeline oil spill (aka Refugio Oil Spill) want us to give them a second chance. Exxon wants to re-open their three old oil platforms off our coast and Plains want to build a new 123 mile pipeline system to replace the one that leaked. With a great team like that…what could go wrong?

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is now asking for public comment on the pipeline proposal by Plains to determine relevant issues before they prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

Let’s tell the BLM EXACTLY what could go wrong…

Action – Write a comment to oppose the Plains permit for an oil pipeline in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties! Deadline, Monday, June 3rd,

1. Go here to comment! It will look like this…

Continue reading “Sun 6/2: Tomorrow (Mon. June 3rd) is the deadline for comments to stop our area’s next major pipeline disaster.” →

Fri 5/31: Time’s up! Here are some winners & losers of the first half of the race to become a California law.

CA legislature progress update.

Our assemblymembers and state senators created a record 2,576 new bills on a strict timetable for the 2019 CA legislative term. Today, May 31st, is the deadline for bills to pass through all the committees in the house that created them and a floor vote. After that, surviving bills must pass a similar obstacle course in the opposite house. Bills that make it through both venues may get to meet the governor and his pen, for approval or a veto. Here’s a listing of 140 bills that are interesting to us and groups, like the Sierra Club, that we coalition with. You will recognize a number of these bills as the subject of calls or emails we’ve asked you to make.

Black words – the bill has passed and will be assigned to a committee in the next house
Blue words – the bill has NOT passed and won’t continue to the next house.
Red words means that a bad bill is continuing to the next house.

Economic/Finance/Commercial

AB-25 California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018.
AB-539 California Financing Law: consumer loans: charges.
AB-818 Local government finance: vehicle license fee adjustment amounts.
AB-857 Public banks.
AB-1525 Cannabis: financial institutions.
SB-203 Public bank.

Education

Continue reading “Fri 5/31: Time’s up! Here are some winners & losers of the first half of the race to become a California law.” →

Thur 5/30: 5-3 against us on banning guns at Ventura County Fairgrounds. Let’s get to work… (3) calls = 5 minutes.

The Fairgrounds board members told us to reach out to the governor and our legislators if we want change.

OK…

Action #1: Call your legislators!

Minimal script for our state senator: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Senator Jackson to support SB-281 – a bill that would ban gun shows at the Cow Palace, as well as AB-893 when it comes before you on June 11th in your Public Safety Committee. We would also like her to sponsor new legislation to help us ban gun shows at our Ventura County Fairgrounds. It’s the 21st century and we need to find more positive ways to support our state-owned facilities than with the sale of weaponry.

Minimal script for our assemblymember: I’m calling from [zip code] and I want to thank Assemblymember Limón for supporting AB-893, which bans firearm sales at Del Mar Fairgrounds and we hope she will similarly support SB-281 – which bans gun shows at the Cow Palace, when it arrives in the Assembly. We would also like her to sponsor new legislation to ban gun shows at our Ventura County Fairgrounds. It’s the 21st century and we need to find more positive ways to support our state-owned facilities than with the sale of weaponry.

Contacts:
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (SD-19): SAC (916) 651-4019, SB (805) 965-0862, OX (805)988-1940 email
State Assemblymember Monique Limón (CA-37): SAC (916) 319-2037, SB (805) 564-1649, VTA (805) 641-3700 email
Not your people?: findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Action #2: Call the Governor!

Continue reading “Thur 5/30: 5-3 against us on banning guns at Ventura County Fairgrounds. Let’s get to work… (3) calls = 5 minutes.” →

Wed 5/29: Update on the unsuccessful “side door” incursion of a Catholic hospital into our UC medical system. Thanks to all who called and emailed!

We won! This time.

(Original post from 5/15/19 here) Yesterday, we got news that the University of California Board of Regents put aside 3 years of planning and abandoned their proposal for UCSF Medical Center to “expand their relationship” with Catholic-based Dignity Health. If the proposed partnership had passed, the health needs of women, LGBTQ people and the dying would placed in the crosshairs of religious directives from the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops. Resistance in the form of protests from UCSF faculty and staffers, a record 147 speakers at the Regent’s board meeting, a lawsuit threat from the ACLU and calls and letters from people like us, convinced the board to stop the process.

Action – Call/email Governor Newsom to stop all taxpayer-funded religiously-based discrimination by hospitals. All hospitals. Full stop.

“We’ve heard a growing chorus of concern from multiple stakeholders over the last several weeks particularly in light of the passage of very severe anti-abortion legislation in many states and the stripping down of transgender anti-discrimination protections by the [Trump] administration.”- Vanessa Jacoby, an associate OB-GYN professor at UCSF, regarding the proposed “partnership”.

Minimal script: I’m calling from [zip code] and in light of the recent UCSF/Dignity Health issue, I want to know what Governor Newsom is going to do about Covered CA and other taxpayer-funder support to our 49 Catholic hospitals, one of which is a “sole community provider”. These hospitals systemically discriminate against the legal and common medical needs of women, the poor, minorities and our LGBTQ community.

Continue reading “Wed 5/29: Update on the unsuccessful “side door” incursion of a Catholic hospital into our UC medical system. Thanks to all who called and emailed!” →

Weds 5/29: Support our local year-round homeless shelter/housing navigation center! Attend the City Council meeting on June 3rd.

Action – Mark your calendar! Come out on June 3rd and show our city council our support for a year-round shelter/housing solution!

At the Monday, June 3, meeting at 6pm, the Ventura City Council (at City Hall – California & Poli) will be taking four very important actions regarding the opening and operation of the year-round shelter/housing navigation center. The agreements with the County, city of Oxnard and with Mercy House (the center’s proposed operator) are on the agenda to be approved.

It’s important that you come!!!!!

We want to fill the room as a visual symbol of the importance of this shelter to the community in addressing our homelessness issues.

Wear BLUE if you can.

We’ll provide matching signs for you to use in thanking our council for their positive actions.

This time, we’re not asking for speakers, just for an enthusiastic group of supporters to be seen and be counted. Kevin and I will arrange for no more than 3 speakers to address the council.

There is now real data and there are real solutions for homelessness. For more information to share with friends, here are 3 significant talking points on housing, including the benefits of affordable rental housing, the state’s proposed budget impact, and how supportive housing reduces homelessness.

Thank you for your support!

Judy and Kevin
Co-Directors of Ventura Social Services Task Force

Tues 5/28: The CA-Indivisible coalition is working together to push these environmental votes through! Pick up your phone & help! 5 minutes!

Action – Take five minutes to help save our planet!

This week, six bills that will have a big impact on the Climate Crisis will come to a floor vote in the CA Senate or Assembly.

Join the call-in day TODAY by calling 760-891-CALI and press 3 to be connected to both your Senator and Assemblymember. It’s easy and will take no more than five minutes or use the Sacramento contacts of your people below.

Contacts:
State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (SD-19):SAC (916) 651-4019, email
State Assemblymember Monique Limón (CA-37): SAC (916) 319-2037, email
Not your people?:findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov.

Note: You won’t need to get into the details of each bill. Just stick to the short script!

Minimal Script for State Senator: Hello, I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Sen. [___] to know that I am very concerned about the extremely urgent climate crisis affecting our planet. I ask that [she/he] support SB 210 to reduce emissions from medium and heavy duty trucks. I also ask that he/she oppose SB 386 which would gut the progress on clean energy goals made by last year’s SB 100 and SB 772 which could result in a hydropower project that would harm Joshua Tree National Park. Thank you for relaying my requests to the Senator!

Script for Assemblymember: Hello, Hello, I’m calling from [zip code] and I want Assemblymember. [___] to know that I am very concerned about the extremely urgent climate crisis affecting our planet. I ask that [she/he] support AB 857 which would increase public banks and thereby increase investments in sustainable community projects, and AB 1046 which would increase zero emission vehicles by key target dates. I also ask that he/she oppose AB 56 which would take away the mandated authority of Community Choice Aggregation programs (CCAs.)

Thank you for fighting to save our planet!!

Tues 5/28: He’s coming to frack CA. Got 5 minutes? Try the new EASY comment generator! Deadline 6/10!

PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

Kern County is the most-fracked county in California by a wide margin. This region also has the worst air quality in the nation, as well as highly elevated rates of cancer and respiratory illness. For the people that live here, fracking means more oil extraction, more crippling climate impacts, and more impacts on their health.

Trump had to delay his plans to give offshore drilling leases to his favorite donors, due to a court decision blocking fossil fuel activity in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. So he and his EnergyDominance™ team (fossil-fuel-lobbyists-now-getting-government-paychecks) are concentrating on striking back at coastal states who oppose him and turning America into one big corporate-owned Superfund site.

Action : Start making comments! Public comment open from 4/26 to 6/10. – NEW EASY METHOD

How to comment – 2 ways – one way is REALLY EASY!:

Option 1 – “Really Easy” 5-minute comment generator.

The folks at Los Padres Forest Watch have created this nifty system to help you create an original (VERY IMPORTANT!) public comment on this issue.

Simply go here and follow their instructions. 5 minutes, one click and you’re done!

In fact, it’s so easy, please share on all your social media platforms and do one at lunch time every day until the deadline!

Continue reading “Tues 5/28: He’s coming to frack CA. Got 5 minutes? Try the new EASY comment generator! Deadline 6/10!” →

Tues – 5/28: It’s today! The Fair board is voting on 3 more gun shows! Come out and show them it’s no longer business as usual…

Action #1 – Come support a ban on gun shows at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. DAA Board Meeting – TUESDAY, May 28th at 9 am.

“In these times of horrific gun violence, no state agency should be promoting and profiting from the proliferation of firearms and ammunition in our community,”- Ruth Borenstein, a leader of the San Francisco chapter of Brady United Against Gun Violence.

PLEASE COME! Tuesday, May 28th, the Ventura County Fair Board plans to vote on a proposal from Crossroads Of The West for three more gun shows at the fairgrounds this year: in August, October & December (the weekend before Christmas). We have been arguing for months that the Fair Board should follow the example of the Cow Palace. in San Francisco and the Del Mar fairgrounds — both publicly owned facilities like our own — and stop hosting gun shows on taxpayer-supported property. WE MUST show up and forcefully make the argument against continuing to hold gun shows at the fairgrounds.