Blog Posts

Weekly Call To Action - June 13, 2021

6/13/2021

Take Two Actions Now

All Hands on Deck! Olympia Indivisible wants YOU to Take Action for Democracy!

Olympia Indivisible knows you give a damn about Democracy. That’s why we are asking for your help NOW. It’s likely to be the most important work you will ever do. Your job? Easy! Pick one of our actions, make a checklist of how to do that action, mark your calendar accordingly, put that checklist on your fridge, and stick with it!

Across the nation, Indivisible chapters are organizing to Take Action for Democracy because the future of free and fair elections in the United States is at stake. We need to lean in, ALL of us, and get transformative federal voting rights passed this summer with S.1 For the People’s Act.

OI’s Federal Advocacy team has researched and beta-tested four actions which you (yes, you!) can do in June and July. All four are impactful, easy-to-do, and can be done right at home, starting TODAY!

Action 1:
1. Pick and commit to doing one of the following four actions

2. Use the kit link to get everything you need

Reach out to voters in Arizona on Mondays to call their Senators to pass S.1. This phone bank is hosted by our good friends at Common Cause. Use our Arizona Voters Kit.

Reach out to voters in West Virginia on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays to call their Senators to pass S.1. This phone bank is hosted by our good friends at Common Cause. Want to help get Senator Manchin off the fence? Use our West Virginia Voters Kit.

Tweet all Senators to eliminate the filibuster and pass S.1. It will take you less than an hour to tweet all the Senators! Our kit provides you with scripts and the Twitter handles. Use our Tweet All Senators Kit.

June 16-25: 10 Calls in 10 Days. For 10 days in a row, take a moment to call our WA Senators and push them to lead the way to get S.1 passed. We’ve got scripts and contact numbers waiting for you. Super simple and fast! Use our 10 Calls in 10 Days Kit.

3. Mark your calendar and make a checklist of what/when/how you are going to do (see checklist example),

4. Put that checklist on your fridge where you can see it, and...do it!

Save the Thurston County Election Ballot Processing Center and Increase Office Space!

The need for office space for Thurston County was identified and studied many years ago. The best solution is to build a new courthouse complex but the new courthouse initiative was not put on the ballot.

Therefore, the following two amendments to the Thurston Capital Improvement Program have been identified by the staff as critical to have adequate office and processing space. The amendments are:

Purchase the Mottman Complex for our election operations.
Lease office space at 3000 Pacific Ave. known as The Atrium.

Purchase the Mottman Complex

Thurston County has been leasing the Mottman property for processing ballots. The owner’s recent death made this an urgent matter. Our current lease is in jeopardy. If the Mottman Complex is sold to someone else it would drastically disrupt our election process.
Please listen to Mary Hall explain why it is critical to our elections to purchase the Mottman Complex >> 6/8/2021 Agenda Setting Meeting

Lease The Atrium, 3000 Pacific Avenue

The Atrium is available for a 7 year lease. Leasing space at The Atrium is a good solution to the space problem, and taxpayers will not see an increase in taxes to pay for this building.

Costs for Both Properties
As assistant County Manager Robin Campbell explained the costs in the 6/2/2021 Planning Commission Meeting. If the county makes the tenant improvements the monthly lease amount will be reduced.

Action 2: Send comments to the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) at county.commissioners@co.thurston.wa.us and attend the public hearing June 22, 2021 @ 03:00 PM if possible.

Script:
Dear Thurston Commissioners,
I am writing to ask the Commission to pass the Capital Improvement Program Minor Amendment being heard on 6/22/2021 and act on the opportunity for Thurston County to purchase the Mottman Complex for election processing and to lease office space at The Atrium.

Sincerely,

[NAME] from [CITY],[ZIP]

Additional Talking Points
Your message will have more impact if all messages are not the same. If you can, please modify the script to add your own words from these talking points:

The Mottman property owner died and made this an urgent matter. Our current lease is in jeopardy.
We have already invested a lot of time and money in making the Mottman Complex suitable for processing ballots. Finding another space and moving will not be easy or inexpensive.
The current lease at Mottman runs out in December 2024, and will cause risky disruption in a presidential election year.
If Thurston County backs out of purchasing the Mottman Complex we will lose our down payment.
Leasing space at The Atrium is a good solution, and taxpayers will not see an increase in taxes to pay for this building.
A lease at the Atrium will allow us to keep all general government offices in the same location.

Save the Date

Olympia Indivisible All Member Endorsement Meeting Invitation

On Saturday, June 26 at 10:00 AM the Endorsement Team will review the candidates running for the Olympia Port Commission and Lacey City Council.

The Endorsement Team sends out a questionnaire to all candidates. We hold Town Hall meetings for those candidates who return our questionnaires. We record the meetings and post them to our website. Please review them if you missed the scheduled town hall.

After this All Member Endorsement Meeting, you will be asked to vote for your favored candidates through OpaVote which we will send out to you after the meeting. You will have a week to review the candidate information and to vote.

Action: Register here for the Endorsement Team meeting on Saturday, June 26 at 10:00 AM.

Looking Ahead

Benefit Concert for West Virginia!

On Wednesday, June 30th at 5:30 PM, Olympia Indivisible will be sponsoring a fundraising Zoom concert featuring stellar American roots musicians from West Virginia and beyond to raise funds for the work of Rise Up West Virginia, a grassroots volunteer citizen activist group working for passage of S.1 and a better future in West Virginia. Save the date and stay tuned for details!

Have you scheduled this event?

Drinks and Democracy Happy Hour!

Saturday, June 19th, Federal Advocacy co-leads Lisa and Kelly invite OIympia Indivisible members to Lisa’s cozy back patio or (if it’s raining) big harvest kitchen for a Drinks and Democracy Happy Hour!

From 5:00 to 6:00 PM, come enjoy a signature house drink on a democratic theme. Non-alcoholic beverages and snacks will be on hand as well. Come raise a glass, catch up with your fellow Indivisiblers, and find out what’s shaking to Take Action for Democracy. For details and address, RSVP here.