#Local Politics

[montmorillionite]

I went to give public comment at my county's library board meeting this week. The library board was considering requests to ban books presented by a local far right group. They included Flamer, Genderqueer, All Boys Aren't Blue, Zenobia July, Looking for Alaska, and a couple others I don't remember.

The collections manager for the library system gave an excellent presentation on the laws and policies that govern collection management and also brought a copy of a Holocaust history book (I think it was Why The Germans, Why The Jews) in to show that it had been defaced with swastikas and antisemitic phrases and talk about the quiet censorship problem in our libraries.

The actual meeting itself lasted 5 hours, and the board chair refused to eject members of the far right faction who were disrupting the meeting and trying to pick fights. One of them even said "let's take this outside" to someone asking them to be quiet and let the meeting continue.

I'm pretty used to seeing and receiving hateful rhetoric and messages online. Comes with the territory of being an out trans woman online. But it felt different spending 5 hours in a room with people who are openly calling you a groomer and saying you're sexualizing kids. Who are trying to claim that the exclusion of queer people from public life is just "common sense" and "having community standards".

They also claimed that the director of the American Library Association wanted to turn all libraries in the country into transgender Marxist recruiting centers and because of the the local library system should cut ties with the ALA.

I guess I'm probably mostly writing this down to process it. It was a lot, and also a powerful reminder that the fascists are here. They're in our communities, they're trying (and at least here, partially succeeding) to control local politics. For me at least it's one thing to see it online. That feels at least a little removed. Seeing it in person was scary, but it feels good to have been part of resisting it and successfully opposing book bans locally.

[reasonsforhope]

"Construction of a massive municipal park—over 20 years in the making, is finally underway in the city of Irvine.

They say if California became its own country, it would have one of the world’s largest economies. The new Great Park of Irvine is a reflection of the always lofty ambitions of the state, and is expected to dwarf Central Park by more than 500 acres.

It was on May 23rd this year that the “Great Park Project” broke ground on the long-derelict El Toro Marine Corps Base, 21 years after voters approved a ballot measure ordering the state to create a park on the site.

Expected to take another 10 years to complete, the park will span 1,300 acres and include several museums, an amphitheater, a veterans memorial garden, an aquatics center, a sports complex, and not one but two lakes.

“After many years of community input and after the last year of intensive planning and design, we are excited to be launching what is a $1 billion investment to establish the world’s next great metropolitan park,” said Irvine City Councilman Michael Carroll who serves as Chairman of the Great Park Board...

First item of work on the agenda is to demolish and clear away 77 old military buildings while leaving the El Toro air traffic control tower which will be leased by the FAA. However a portion of the Irvine Great Park, as it’s being called, is already open to visitors and includes a soccer pitch and some other amenities including tethered balloons to take visitors up into the sky."

-via Good News Network, July 12, 2023

--

More of this, please!!!

Also, I checked, and somehow the tethered balloon thing is not only real it's actually free. They go up 400 ft in the air

[withoutaconscienceorafilter]

Even if you're in a comfortable blue state where your electors for Harris aren't in danger .... you need to go vote.

Because there are other races on that ballot, like governor or state senator or school board or state supreme court. And there are crazies trying to get those seats too who believe in things like "parental choice" and that climate change is a hoax. You need to go VOTE YOUR ENTIRE BALLOT and smack those fuckers the hell away from elected office.

[flowerishness]

Aubrieta deltoidea (purple rock cress), Salvia nemorosa, (woodland sage) and Fragaria × ananassa (garden strawberry)

Escape artists

A few years ago, our local city council created a fancy boulevard sidewalk on the road leading down to the beach. The intention was to create a carefully-maintained, flower-laden, tourist route to endless fish and chips and ice cream cones.

Of course, one city council's 'pet project' is the next city council's 'waste of money' and that "carefully-maintained" part never happened. Unfortunately, the little flowerbeds soon went to wrack and ruin. On the other hand, it's interesting to see these successful garden escapees making a go of it in extremely poor soil. Now why doesn't my strawberry patch look this good?

[glass-soup]

To all Americans:

It may all seem hopeless right now but listen, focus on your LOCAL POLITICS! this is where you will see immediate change that YOU have the power to influence, one person in small town won't be able to change the outcome of a national bill, but YOU can change the outcome of a local one, this is where immediate and tangible change is made: LOCALLY!! THERE IS HOPE! GO LOCAL! FOCUS ON LOCAL POLITICS THAT IS WHERE TANGIBLE IMMEDIATE CHANGE IS MADE FOR YOU!

love from NZ 🫂

[flameraven]

[ivygorgon]

Seeing a lot of Harris Walz signs and demonstrations in my red state. Love to see it!

[iwriteaboutfeminism]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by NowThis News (@nowthispolitics)

All seven members are women.

Six are women of color.

All are under 40.

All are Democrats.

Well done, St. Paul!

[jean-meowreau]

Hey guys! US HoR is trying to reintroduce a bill that was already voted out a couple of days ago, HR9495. It is a bill to revoke tax-exempt status for non-profits that "support terrorists". Any charity that aids or goes against the US Government would suffer from this, including those who support Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and others.

This amazing creator, Lily Hi'ilani Okimura explains in detail above and has wonderfully created a document to help contact your rep about this issue.

There is a link to find out who your rep is(it's never too late to start getting involved!), how they voted previous, and messages to send them to stop this bill. My rep did not vote, so I sent the response for someone who voted for it to pass.

The first link sends you directly to your rep's website and you can easily find contact information from there.

[azeutreciathewicked]

Keep doing the work

The debate last night was great. We're feeling good. Taylor Swift has endorsed the Harris-Walz campaign.

Guess what?

The work hasn't changed. We still have to keep doing the work.

The most necessary: make sure you're registered to vote, confirm you are still registered before the deadline (set a calendar reminder!) in case someone shady unregisters you. Make a plan to vote. Check on family and friends to make sure they will be able to vote.

Even better: talk to people. Tell them about the good stuff. Send them videos of speeches by honorable Republicans like Adam Kinzinger at the DNC who talk about patriotism and doing what is right. Give reluctant voters permission to vote blue this year. Be understanding of their concerns, and share the good news, the hope, the ways that voting for the best candidate will give us opportunities to fix the problems that matter to them.

There are a lot of people who aren't sure what to do, so they're putting up a face of being ornery. They are trying to act like they're discerning, but they're really just scared and overwhelmed. Be the light for them. And even if they aren't hot on the Presidential vote, get them to vote for your local elections. See if you can get them to vote blue for Congress - Representative and Senator. Definitely Governor. Secretary of State. Local state representation. These are SUPER important. Get them to get out to vote for the ballot measures - reproductive rights and cannabis legalization - and see if they'll stick around to vote blue too.

I would be saying exactly the same thing (as I have before about doing the work) if the debate had gone terribly. It's political theater, not a real debate about informing voters (I say this as a former speech/debate coach and former political activist). Most Americans don't actually learn from these events for a variety of reasons. They learn from conversations with people they know and trust.

If we do the work, we will win. We will win with a decisive mandate.

Good feelings are nice, but good work is necessary.

Ride the wave of good feels and let it propel you to do some work - if we all pull a bit, we'll move mountains together.

[turtlesandfrogs]

Saw this on bluesky, and I think it's a start towards political engagement for those who don't know where to start:

One tidbit of advice: prepare for boredom, and have strategies to keep yourself engaged. Governments move slow, even on the local scale, and when you start going to city council meetings, you're going to hear a lot of complaining about a lot of things that seem like a waste of energy to complain about, before they get to your thing.

This is not the only way, but it is a way.

[ainawgsd]

The city council voted tonight! Chickens are now allowed in town!

[1000-silverfish-in-a-hoodie]

So much fear mongering about communism and then you join a local communist group and it’s like “we hand out flyers and try too give food to homeless people”

[alwaysbewoke]

[artielu]

I feel so helpless right now. Is it even worth contacting local politicians? Should we form the anti John Birch Society or something?

Hi friend. Same, same. And the House is still in flux, but there's a possibility that Trump has all three branches (white house, both chambers of Congress, and the Supreme Court) for at least the next two years. It's really fucking bad. I am so disgusted with seventy one million voters.

But you're exactly right that getting involved in local politics and your local community is a fantastic way to do the next right thing, the next needed thing. So very much happens at the local level and most people don't pay any attention to it. Look around your community. What makes your heart sing or your blood boil? Chase that.

Is it ensuring schools teach all kids accurate information? School lunches for kids? Show up to your local school board meeting and listen to what they're up to. There's probably an advocacy org already fighting for the things you want - learn from them, share your ideas and energy, volunteer, talk to your community about that issue, then advocate to your local leaders.

Volunteer in your local schools - schools are all underfunded and need help. You will need to get fingerprinted and have a background check (the school will tell you how), and then you can help in the library or the lunch line, or correcting spelling tests for overworked teachers.

Local resources like housing or libraries or parks or playgrounds etc? Your community has some sort of governing body - mayor? Council? Board? and they have public meetings. Go figure out what entity runs your town and find the meeting agenda, which will be public. Go to a meeting on a topic you care about. It could be really small, like more lighting in the park at night so kids can play in the evenings and people can walk their dogs. Or getting the parks and rec to clean the bathrooms more often. Or spend more money on libraries. Or more crosswalks and curb cuts to increase pedestrian safety. Or oppose a new strip mall. What do you care about? Listen to the meeting, read the meeting presentation deck, connect with others who care about that thing, and raise awareness. Listen to folks who have been working on this issue, share your thoughts, and advocate for change.

Reproductive Justice? Volunteer for your local planned parenthood to walk patients from their cars to the clinic and cover them with love and strength. Support medically accurate health education in schools.

Lgbtqia? Again, planned parenthood, or Trevor project or human rights campaign will have links to orgs in your area. Be an active ally for the queer community.

Immigration and DACA? There are fantastic orgs in most communities. Can you help mentor a new refugee family? Work in a DACA clinic to help kids with paperwork? Help teach English literacy at your local library? Raise your voice to local leaders that you support your diverse community.

What's the next needed thing in your community? What privileges do you have and how can you leverage them? There are many good choices, creating small changes that will have a really big impact on perks in your community. Find out who is in charge of what in your community, and show up to a public meeting about a thing you care about. Talk to people in your community about that thing.

We are not powerless. Michelle Obama told us to Do Something. Let's Do Something in our communities, let's find the next right thing, the next needed thing, and get into it.

Hugs, friend.

[harriswalz4usabybr]

Speech Vice President Harris gave in Lincoln, NE!

~BR~