We have an idea we want to share and we’d like your opinion… and a few minutes of your time.

Based on input we receive via comments and/or emails, it is clear that many of you value our work, especially over the past few weeks when we have had an outpouring of kudos for the quality of the blog posts and the Zoominars. Many of you lament that we don’t have even more subscribers and attendees for our Zoominars.

While we have been steadily increasing our numbers for both our Zoominars and our blog, as we approach the 2021 legislative session we realize that our impact would be far stronger if instead of 3,000 subscribers, we had 10,000.

We also realize that there is no more work involved in doing well-researched blogs if 800 people read them or 5,000 read them. There is no more work involved in organizing Zoominars if we have 200 attendees than if we have 1,000. But there would be a huge difference in the impact of our work if it reached several times the number of folks who subscribe now.

Many of you have suggested we revise some of our posts and submit them as op-eds, my views, and letters to the editor so that more people read what we write. That is something we should do; but today we offer a few things that you can do. We are asking you to consider promoting Retake as a form of personal advocacy, because if you increase the number of people reading our work, we increase our influence in the Roundhouse. So, please consider these actions:

• Write a letter to the editor on Amendment 1 (would change PRC from elected to appointed by the Gov.), a very light lift requiring you only assemble 100 words or so. Include a quote from Retake’s Amendment 1 piece (see link below) or simply reference what it includes and include a link to Retake’s website and a comment that you find it consistently informative.
• Letters to the editor can be done monthly, so put a reminder in your calendar and post a letter every month, referencing a topic raised by Retake and again including a link.
• Best of all and far easier to do, share this post with 20-30 friends who you think may not be subscribers but who you feel might be receptive to what we write. Tell them how much you appreciate our blogs and Zoominars and encourage them to subscribe. Tell them that while you may not always agree with us, you appreciate our effort to challenge and to inform.

Along these lines, we received this comment yesterday from one of our supporters:

“Personal emails to your friends and family have enormous effect. Please do send along the link to the Retake assessment of the PRC, and include a note from yourself about why it is important to vote NO on amendment #1. Thank you everyone.”

Bobbe Besold

Below we provide links to three posts that we feel represent some of our better work, so that when you share this with others, they can test the water before subscribing. But please do one of the above or all of them. We put in a ton of time to deliver what we do. We would really like that work to have an even greater impact… especially as we approach the 2021 legislative session.

And if you are reading this because someone shared the link with you, and you would like to subscribe, just click on the red “Subscribe to the Blog” button on the right.

In solidarity and hope,

Roxanne and Paul

“Vote NO On Amendment 1 to Allow Governor to Appoint PRC Commissioners: No Matter Who the Governor, This is a Bad Idea.” This is a timely post, as we are approaching the election and many are voting early already. Proponents of the Amendment have piles of dark money being used to mail you misleading information. We offer another perspective. In addition to our recommendation on this ballot initiative, we offered analysis of a 2017 National Regulatory Research Institute study that outlined how the PRC could be fixed. Appointing commissioners and reducing their number to 3 was not among them. A worthwhile read.

“Four-Step Strategy for Getting Out the Vote.” Often our posts are designed to make it easier for you to raise your voice or have an impact. This post is a good illustration of how in 20-30 minutes every one of our readers could activate dozens of their friends in a get-out-the-vote campaign. Over 1,000 folks have read this post and hundreds implemented the strategy. The good news is, it is not too late to implement the strategy.

“Yesterday I Had a Total Meltdown.” One of the unique aspects of our blog is that it has a personal voice and often we lay ourselves bare with what we are feeling in the moment. This piece really struck a chord with many readers. I received dozens of emails from people thanking me as those folks had been feeling the same kind of despair but also appreciated the closing reason for hope.

In solidarity and hope,

Paul & Roxanne

Categories: Personal & Collective Action, Uncategorized

Tags: action, activism, Advocacy, Personal action