Civic Engagement Committee Meeting Minutes

Minutes written by Julia Vetromile and Dee Seligman

UPDATE: New committee meeting time and date: first Thursday at 5 pm

Animation and voter education and/or voter persuasion

o   Scott Kravitz and Suzi Walker are considering developing a 30 to 60-second animation this fall (for 2022 primaries and Congressional election) to explain how to dispel voter confusion about the new voter-suppression laws recently passed and to make sure every vote is counted. The animation, instead, could be a GOTV (get-out-the-vote) persuasive piece to urge potential voters to vote. Scott, a professional animator, wants to draw on his expertise to create a short visual piece that could be disseminated in social media and TV, slightly tailored to the state being targeted, such as Southern states. The targeted audience would be voters of color and young voters.

o   Scott has had a preliminary discussion with representatives from two Democracy Centers established by the Center for Common Ground: one in Alabama and the other in Cobb County, Georgia. Given the enormous time commitment of developing animations (1 second takes 2-3 hours/work!), he will need to decide between a simpler factual approach about voting rules, or a more complicated “poetic” persuasive approach to turn out the vote, or some combination of both. Local leaders in the target states would be consulted for feedback on the script, to make it relatable. Another idea is to have voiceovers into foreign languages spoken in a given geographic area, to reach a wider audience.  

o   Resources needed: Whoever has contacts with experienced political messengers should pass that contact information to Scott. Howard or Jen will put him in touch with Ricardo Ramirez, the Brennan Center speaker who presented at our education Forum. Other suggestions were IwillVote.com; vote.org, who may be interested in partnering.

o   Dee and Scott reached out to The Bridges Institute: Concerned Citizens Defending Democracy https://www.ccddus.org

•  It’s a non-partisan organization network of prominent citizens from several parts of the country concerned with the state of democracy and race relations in our nation. Strengthening democracy and promoting racial justice and reconciliation are the twin pillars of their work. Inclusion is a core value. Their group is roughly half white and half African-American and works in Mississippi in four African-American communities. Their focus: 1. voter education; registration; passing For the People Act; passing the Cornyn-Coons bill for civic education; 2. independent judiciary; 3. functioning legislature; 4. Free press; civilian control of military; robust civil society. They are also advocating a new federal agency, a Dept. of Democracy and Reconciliation. Several of their position papers placed at high levels at both national campaigns last year.

•   They work by “building concentric circles,” amplifying their advocacy by each member sending out information via their personal networks.

• Dee suggests they are a good fit to ally with us. Steering Committee has okayed this relationship, so in coming months Dee and other committee members should meet online with them.

o   Another possible organization ally: The Collective Political Action Committee https://collectivepac.org/ This PAC seeks to build a new generation of Black civic leaders at every level (local, state, and national) and to address through electing them Black underrepresentation in public office.

·       Writing letters and postcards To Virginia – for upcoming critical election of Gov., Assistant Gov., General Assembly.  To W. VA- to get W. Virginians to keep pressure on Sen. Manchin. 17,000 addresses are available. Several of our committee have already written cards and letters and said it’s easy and fulfilling. For addresses and script for both states contact Mary Boergers: mary.boergers@yahoo.com

o   To your local paper: write a letter to the editor for your local paper in support of For the People act: https://dfadcoalition.org/takeaction/#lte

o   For any letter-writing campaign suggested by our three other Unity committees: We will have a template letter in Google docs to make it easy for members to participate easily in any, or all, of the campaigns advocated by our three other Unity committees. Julia Vetromile volunteered to draft an introductory section about the Unity group and to be the point person to build a template as the committees send her material for any letter campaign they may have. Having ready-made letter template should make it easy for all committees. Contact Julia through a direct message in Slack. 

o   Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism (RAC) - CA held a large advocacy meeting recently with Sen. Feinstein’s staff that Dee reported on. Two important ideas emerged: 1. Staff said Feinstein would do whatever is needed to get For the People Act voting rights passed, including reforming the filibuster if Schumer pushes for it (although she will try bipartisanship avenue first.) 2. Keep up all phone banking to get people outside of CA to contact their senators to support S1. Staff assured us these calls to senators make a difference in persuading them how to vote!  

Unity Group’s use of SLACK:

o   We have #action-items new channel listing specific actions you can do in your limited available time.

o   We suggested renaming it: #take action now [I think Howard will request this to Virginia Puccio]

o   Please add #take-action now to your list of channels [just click on +channels]

o   Please check #take-action now channel and all your SLACK channels regularly!

o   Need help with Slack? Contact Allison via a direct message in Slack. Message sfunitygroup@gmail.com for an invite to slack.

o   We need each committee to post possible actions they have curated so that all Unity members can take action!

·       Voting rights is still our priority as For the People Act will be voted on just before the Senate summer recess or upon their return. There are rumors that Sen. Schumer won’t let the Senate recess until a vote has taken place! Sometime in the fall, Congress will also vote on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (HR4)