Archive for Action
Where Change Takes Place
Posted by: | CommentsWe’re friends with a few of the country’s name-brand bloggers. There’s no magic to it. We just keep seeing them at conventions. We know lots of local and state-level politicians too. There’s really no magic to it, either. It isn’t just about donations or family connections. It’s about showing up.
The first time you show up to volunteer nobody knows you. Maybe they catch your name. The second time you show up maybe they remember seeing you before. (What was your name again?) The third or fourth time, now you’re somebody they think they might need to take seriously.
I got into this business working on Patsy Keever’s 2004 congressional race. I didn’t know Patsy from Adam, but I was angry and frustrated and that was where the fight was. I walked in off the street to stuff envelopes or something — I didn’t know anything about electioneering. (I was out of work.) A couple of weeks later I had my own computer and a desk. I entered data, cut call lists. By the time it was over, I had done about everything except fundraising, including location scouting for commercials and playing craft services for the film crew.
It amazed me to watch activists walk in off the street, offer to write “white papers” and expect to be dubbed the campaign’s chief advisor on [your pet issue here]. Can you make some phone calls? No?
Fair Elections
Posted by: | CommentsThis guest post comes from Molly Beacham, Director of Development for Democracy North Carolina. I met Molly at Mamacitas several weeks ago, and we discussed the progress of publicly funded elections. Molly sent this along via email and asked if I’d share it here:
“Thanks for having me at Scrutiny Hooligans! I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this ongoing conversation.
A couple of weeks ago I sat down with colleagues from Democracy North Carolina to talk about their work to expand fair elections to political races across the state. These guys have exposed the problem of excessive political money for years, and from their viewpoint things are getting worse, and maybe MUCH worse after the U.S. Supreme Courts Citizens United ruling.
Democracy North Carolina helped win public campaign financing options for state level judges and for NC Commissioner of Insurance, NC Auditor and NC Superintendent of Public Instruction. They’ll be back next year, working to expand the offering to more NC races. In the meantime, a bill to provide optional public campaign financing to congressional candidates is getting more traction than ever in the wake of a Wall St.-induced financial crisis, a corporate insurance-dominated healthcare debate and the tragic Gulf oil spill. Candidates spend way too much time dialing for dollars, and too often the cash comes from agenda-driven special interests. There is another way!
Please encourage Congressman Shuler (225-6401 in Asheville) to sign on as a co-sponsor to HR-1826, the Fair Elections Now Act. Also, please use this link to ask Senators Burr and Hagan to co-sponsor the Senate companion bill, S-752. For details on the bill, go to Fair Elections Now, or call Molly at Democracy North Carolina (888-687-8683 ext. 12)”
About Elizabeth Warren
Posted by: | Comments
Everyone agreed she should be the head of the new consumer protection agency, but Obama’s Rubinistas aren’t too keen on the idea. Warren is not a technocrat. She’s not a Washington insider and not owned by the right people.
Warren has a unique quality when she speaks about the plight of American families. There is an urgency. Her voice doesn’t exactly crack, but you feel her passion for their struggles. She wears it right out in the open. You know she believes in the mission. That’s what scares the Big Money Boyz: she would actually do the job. All the more reason average people trust her to lead the effort.
So we have to convince Obama to do the right thing. (Here‘s where you can do that.) Beside, going into this fall’s elections, Obama will need all the good karma he can get, says Paul Krugman:
I have to say, I don’t get the administration waffling on Elizabeth Warren at all.
Leave aside the merits of appointing Warren, which are considerable, and think about the politics. At this point, not appointing Warren would be seen by the base as a slap in the face, and would seriously dampen enthusiasm going into the midterms. And Democrats need every bit of enthusiasm they can muster to avoid a Republican takeover of the House.
Digby talks about Warren’s advocacy for families and for how the revolving door between D.C. and Wall Street must end:
I heard Warren speak at Netroots Nation and she was eloquent on all of this. It’s clear that her focus is on working families and not the banks and Wall Street. It’s vital that someone represents those interests and she’s the right one to do it because she comes to it with a political constituency (albeit one that is despised by certain members of the administration) but one which Obama will need as he goes into 2012 against the spoiled princes who are so rich that they are now more worried about being loved by strangers than they are about taking care of the golden goose. (After all, the administration has hardly laid a substantive glove on them, but they get hysterical at every tiny affront to their dignity.)
Give Elizabeth Warren a recommend here. Or you can go straight to the White House.
The Yes Men Fix the World
Posted by: | CommentsJust doing our part in getting this brilliant documentary distributed.
If you’re a BitTorrent user, go here for the .torrent file and seed it. There are links for direct downloads as well.
Reclaiming the Infrastructure
Posted by: | CommentsCouncilman Bothwell is heading back out to complete the job of reclaiming the Roberts St. sidewalk that runs from the south side of the Hillcrest pedestrian bridge all the way downtown. Please show up and help if you can! He sent an email:
We’ll be finishing work on clearing the sidewalk from the Chicken Hill/Hillcrest pedestrian bridge to the corner of Clingman and Patton, tomorrow, Saturday, July 10, starting at 8 a.m. Join us for an hour or a few. We’ve about whacked the job.
For more details:
http://ashevillezlink.wordpress.com
Still Waiting in Line for Health Care
Posted by: | Comments
Wise County, VA RAM expedition, 2009
This weekend, Knoxville-based Remote Area Medical makes its first health expedition to Oklahoma City. From the Oklahoman:
Many Oklahomans will receive free dental, vision and general medical care at Remote Area Medical’s first Oklahoma expedition today, Saturday and Sunday at State Fair Park.
Patients must enter the fair park on the east side at the Gordon Cooper Boulevard entrance off May Avenue, just north of Reno Avenue, to receive free health care this weekend, said Tres Savage, Remote Area Medical’s Oklahoma coordinator.
I spoke briefly with Savage last year when this event was in the early planning stages. Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Andrew Rice laid the legal groundwork for RAM’s visit. It’s not Tennessee’s Volunteer Health Care Services Act, but it’s a start. Similar language that might allow RAM to come next door to NC is still being studied by North Carolina’s state legislature. Tell Representatives Fisher, Whilden, Goforth, and state Senator Nesbitt you would like to see RAM-style free health clinics come to Western North Carolina, where the unemployment rate is between 8 and 14 percent.
RAM will be holding its annual expedition at the Wise County, VA fairgrounds on July 23-24-25. It’s about 2-1/2 hrs north. If you go — either as a volunteer or a spectator — it will change your life.
More video here.
Reclaiming our Infrastructure
Posted by: | Comments
Photo by Bill Rhodes
Come out on Saturday morning from 9am – 11am to help reclaim the overgrown sidewalk that runs from Roberts St.! Connecting the River Arts District to downtown, this sidewalk has been neglected since the pedestrian bridge to Hillcrest was closed. It will be a great route for both pedestrians and cyclists.
Cecil Bothwell along with his Z-Link crew teamed up with Asheville on Bikes to start the project last weekend, and they made a heap of progress. This weekend, let’s join their efforts and get that much closer to making this sidewalk work for Asheville.
Bring your tools (shovels, clippers, weed-eaters, and other implements of destruction).
Should Asheville City Council elect to reopen the pedestrian bridge to Hillcrest, then those residents will also be able to utilize this thoroughfare to downtown.
Please join us in reclaiming this forgotten piece of our city.
The Facebook Event page is here. If you’re a Facebooker, then please RSVP there. If not, then just let me know in the comments. Click into ReadMoreLand to see photos of the sidewalk before cleanup commenced.
Voting Day
Posted by: | CommentsElaine Marshall vs. Cal Cunningham
You know where to vote. Go vote.
So We Don’t Go All NPR On Your Blog
Posted by: | CommentsEvery now and then, Admin Hooligan adds the Donate button to the sidebar — meaning another bill has arrived for hosting fees. Pretty much everything else at this modest little community service is a volunteer effort, the product of our personal passions. (Why else would a Hooligan sit up late on Saturday night prepping the next installment of Sunday Morning Music?)
If you check in every day to read the scribblings, to add your two cents or to keep up with local politics, please contribute a few bucks towards sustaining this forum. Your fellow Hooligans will greatly appreciate it.
Please click the Donate button at right so we don’t go all NPR on your blog.
Downtown Master Plan Cometh
Posted by: | CommentsCity of Asheville Press Release:
Urban Design Recommendations to be Discussed Recommendations for UDO changes governing new buildings downtown are being discussed by both the Downtown Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission in June. The Downtown Commission will continue their evaluation of the proposed changes at a special meeting on Tuesday, June 1 at 9:00 am in City Hall. The Planning & Zoning Commission will begin their review with a preliminary discussion of the changes at their meeting on Wednesday, June 2 at 5:00 pm. Both meetings will be held in the North Conference room on the first floor. Neither group is expected to take action at these meetings.
The Downtown Commission began reviewing the changes at their April 9 meeting and continued to discuss the changes at the May meeting. Staff expects the Downtown Commission to complete their review and vote on the changes at their regular meeting on June 11. The Planning and Zoning Commission may also spend more than one meeting to review the changes which are technical and somewhat complex. After the Planning and Zoning Commission finishes their review, the proposed changes and the recommendations from both the Downtown Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission will be evaluated by City Council at a work session, date and time to be determined. City Council will vote on the amendments to the UDO only after a public hearing at a regular City Council meeting.
The Downtown Master Plan was adopted by Asheville City Council in May, 2009. Strategy 4 recommended changes to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) governing building form and placement within the Central Business District (CBD). Changes to areas adjacent to the CBD are not under consideration.
An Urban Design subcommittee was appointed by the Downtown Commission in September to review the recommendations in the master plan and to examine how they would be implemented and consider long-term implications. The subcommittee, which included Downtown Commission members, designers and community members, met 20 times over the period of October to May. The subcommittee finished their work in early May and conveyed their findings to the Downtown Commission.
For more information on the UDO changes recommended by the Downtown Master Plan, contact Alan Glines at aglines@ashevillenc.gov or 828-259-5556.
