Peter D podcast, Congress plan to undermine our democracy, DCCC and Rep. Lujan tilting the scales, a report on gun control and an in-depth report on options for Santa Fe’s University of Art & Design. And this week: Today is last day to take the SFUAD survey & Sun. Town Hall details.
A Busy Week Coming: Last Day
Retake Our Democracy Needs You. Retake is 100% volunteer driven, but we still have expenses–web hosting, facility rental for Town Halls, printing, email hosting and this summer there will be travel throughout the State to organize the Rapid Response Network. Roxanne and I simply can’t continue to cover. these costs, so we are turning to you. The donate button at the right makes it easy to support our work. so please contribute if you can. If you don’t like to use online donation vehicles, please email us a check at: Retake Our Democracy, P.O. Box, 32464, Santa Fe 87594. And thanks so much!
If you haven’t taken the Speak Up New Mexico! Legislative Priorities survey, please do so today to tell your legislators what bills you want to see become law. Click the blue button at left to take the survey. And if you want to get involved with our Roundhouse Advocacy Team, we meet on Thursday from 4:30-6:30pm at New Energy Economy, 343 E. Alameda. To RSVP, just write to me at paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org. If you want to read about our 2018-2019 Election and Legislative Strategy, click here.
Peter D Interview Podcast. I was lucky enough to interview Peter D on Thursday and if you missed it, don’t despair, from now on the Monday post will include a link to the last Saturday radio show. And this interview is definitely worth a listen. It is one of the best interviews I’ve done. Click here to get the podcast.
Santa Fe University of Art & Design Planning, Phase I: Community InputSanta Fe is at a crossroads: Do we take this opportunity and run with it and create hundreds of affordable housing units or do we create another Disneyland for tourists. Santa Fe is a tourist destination for a reason: Canyon Road, the Plaza, Museum Hill, the Sangres, Meow Wolf and a bevy of posh restaurants. if tourists can’t find things to do in Santa Fe, they aren’t trying. It is time to take care of our own. Our choice, our opportunity. The first phase of SFUAD planning is an online survey to obtain community input. Let’s make our priorities abundantly clear. Click here to take the survey. Retake will keep you posted on future SFUAD planning and will also share research on other urban approaches to development without displacement and gentrification.
Town Hall, Sunday, March 4, 2-4pm. Center for Progress and Justice, 1420 Cerrillos Rd. Santa Fe, NM. Now that the holidays, the Roundhouse session and (soon) the local election are behind us, we will begin having more regular Town Halls again. And we have much to do. On March 4, we will introduce our 2018-2019 Election & Legislative Strategy and begin the process of integrating new people into these strategies. We will also talk about how we can support local students in their walkouts and strikes related to gun violence and lastly will plan for a last minute Get-Out-The-Vote effort on Monday and Tuesday. For more on the Town Hall and to RSVP, please click here.
Roundhouse Advocacy Team. Thursday, March 8, 4:30-6:30pm at New Energy Economy, 343 E. Alameda. The Roundhouse Advocacy Team (or the Rat Pack) has been meeting for a year to develop a 2018-2019 Election and Legislative Strategy. That strategy is being launched at the Town Hall above, but the nuts and bolts process of developing a statewide network for election and legislative success happens at this meeting. We meet the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month, same time, same location. This week, we will be beginning developing our statewide Rapid Response Network and with hundreds of people signed up to be a part of it from all parts of the state, there is plenty to do. And if you can’t make it to these meetings, please just write to me, as there is PLENTY you can do from home and at your own pace. Write to me at Paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org. This is where the action is, my friends. A tremendous team doing amazing work.
We like to promote other groups doing important work in and around Santa Fe and I was sent information about this group. See below and I’d encourage you Eldorado residents and others nearby who are alarmed by the growing use of plastics, to check them out.
A Look Back At Last Week’s Blogs
The Shocking Throwaway Economy: A Deluge of Plastics Brought to You By Shell and Exxon. Tuesday, Feb. 20. The fossil fuel industry isn’t going away and is investing billions in facilities that can generate a projected 40% increase in plastic production. This is an appalling report that illustrates how capitalist greed focuses on short-term profit at the expense of our planet. Disgusting how short-term profit trumps people and planet.. On a positive note, Sat. 11am on KSFR, Retake interviews Peter D! Click here to read the post.
Congress’ Frightening to Dismantle Our Civil Rights and Our Civil Liberties Piece by Piece. Weds. Feb 21. You must read this post. It is a truly frightening report. It is based on EarthJustice’s thorough piece of investigative journalism chronicling how the current Congress is advancing 52 bills that individually and collectively unravel any recourse to justice we have left in our Nation. Much damage has been done, but what is planned is unimaginable. Read on. Click here to read the full report and to get a link to a very frightening report that chronicles how Congress is eroding our recourse to the courts, to regulation, and to redress from corporate malfeasance.
The Truth About Gun Control: Research, Polling, and the Tragic Impact of the Unchecked Proliferation of Guns in America. Thursday, Feb. 22. The vast, vast majority of Americans (even NRA members) want gun control, yet the NRA and timid politicians are responsible for the deaths of over 30,000 Americans a year. Florida students descended on the legislature and the White House. The upshot: the President pledged to arm teachers. New teacher protocol for 2018: check attendance, take pledge of allegiance, check ammunition magazine, teach about life in America. Click here to read the full report. 
Preview of Peter D’s KSFR Interview and the Launch of Retake’s Online Donation Button. Friday, Feb 23. A note on Peter D’s very impressive interview. You will want to listen in at 11 on Saturday on KSFR 101.1 FM or stream it on your computer. And at long last, an easy, online way to donate to Retake Our Democracy. Click here to read this brief report.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Led by Rep. Ben Ray Lujan Once Again Tipping the Scales Against an Outstanding Progressive Houston Candidate. Saturday, Feb 24. Yet another instance of our own Rep. Ben Ray Lujan and his Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tilting the scales. This time, it is so brazen you will think I am making it up. This time the DCCC’s action was even more jarring given the background of the candidate, Laura Moser, who in 2017 became a hero of the Trump resistance movement as the creator of Daily Action, a text-messaging tool that channeled progressive anger into a single piece of activism per day. This is the kind of candidate the Party should be looking for, the kind of candidate who will inspire the idealistic young future of the Democratic Party. But as the post describes the Party is undermining Moser in an entirely overt manner. Click here to read the full post.
Complete Review of Santa Fe University of Art & Design Affordable Housing Options and a Link to Take the City Community Input Survey. Sunday Feb. 25. The City has posted an online survey to get your input on development of the Santa Fe University of Art & Design. Monday the survey closes, so Sunday is a good day to review this post’s options for sustainable, affordable housing, then take the survey. The post includes analysis of a range of affordable housing options and links to how other cities have created affordable housing and improve neighborhoods without creating gentrification. There is also a link to the model Community Land Trust in ABQ, the Sawmill CLT. Click here to review the full post. Categories: Personal & Collective Action, Uncategorized
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