Weekly Call To Action - November 6, 2022

Quote of the Week:

"The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.” – John F. Kennedy, Former U.S. President

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​Campaigns – Get Active:

Upcoming Events to Support Pro-Democracy Candidates

​Vote! It’s not too late, but please use a ballot box or vote in person.

• Ballot boxes are open until 8:00 PM on the final day for voting, Tuesday, November 8. Here are the ballot box locations.
• It is too late to put your ballot in the mail and be sure it will arrive in time to be counted. Instead, please put your ballot in a ballot drop box, see locations above.

Vote In-Person
Thurston County residents can register to vote, get a replacement ballot and vote using an accessibility voting device at the voting center at:
 
Thurston County Elections Office Voting Center 
2400 Evergreen Park Dr SW, Olympia, WA 98502 
Oct 19 – Nov 7, M – F, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. 
November 8, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. 
 
Voting Center at Lacey Library 
500 College St SE, Lacey, WA 98503 
Oct 31 – Nov 7, M – F, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. 
November 8, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. 

HUB at The Evergreen State College 
2700 McCann Plaza Drive NW, Olympia, WA 98505 
Nov 4 & Nov 7, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. 
November 8, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. 




Sign Waving for Derek Sanders for Sheriff
When: Monday, November 7th from 5-6 pm
Where: off the intersection of 4th and 5th Ave (off Isthmus Park by the Bayview Thriftway)

Contact Edgar Espino if you plan to attend any of the sign waving events, or for questions as well as for information about lit drops.




Marie Gluesenkamp Perez CD-03
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez's race in CD-03 is coming down to the wire. It's our last chance to make a BIG impact. With one more day to get in as many votes as possible in a race where every vote counts, it's time to Get Out The Vote!

If You Are Near Vancouver, or Want to Drive Yourself and Friends
Marie's campaign is launching canvasses every two hours starting at 9AM. Stop by to get your canvass lists, slate cards, and training for GOTV canvassing. We need to go out and get every possible vote in order to win this race!

• Date: Monday, Nov 7, multiple times every two hours. Please RSVP using this link: https://mobilize.us/s/Gru23w 
• Location: State Dems Office, 500 W 8th St, Unit 60 (down in the basement, west side of building), Vancouver, WA 98660

Bus to Vancouver from Seattle on Monday Nov 7
One of our amazing Seattle supporters has organized a bus to Vancouver on Monday, Nov 7, to help Marie Get Out The Vote! The bus is leaving downtown Seattle at 10AM and will be stopping at Martin Way Park and Ride in Lacey at 11:15AM to pick up supporters there. 

After driving down to Vancouver, the group will get turf assignments and hit the neighborhoods to talk directly to voters! This is your chance to help Marie beat Joe Kent in person during the most critical time of the campaign. You can make a huge difference in this race! 

The bus only has limited seats open, so please RSVP using the link below! Here are the details: 

• 9:30am -- Meet in Downtown Seattle 
• 10am -- Bus leaves for Vancouver 
• 11:15AM -- Meet Olympia group at Martin Way Park and Ride
• 1-5pm -- Door-knocking in Vancouver 
• 5pm -- Happy hour in Vancouver 
• 6:00/6:30pm -- Bus leaves for Olympia/Seattle

RSVP HERE



Kim Schrier
Ballots are out! Join Team Schrier in a final push to get out the vote in WA-08. Now more than ever we need to be texting and talking to voters, and we need your help to do it!

Text Bank for Kim: 
Monday, and Tuesday, 9:00 to noon. Register here.

Phone Bank for Kim: 
Mon, Nov 7, 3:00pm–6:00pm PST
Mon, Nov 7, 6:00pm–8:30pm PST
Tue, Nov 8, 12:00pm–3:00pm PST
Tue, Nov 8, 3:00pm–6:00pm PST
Tue, Nov 8, 5:00pm–8:00pm PST
Register here.

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​Local Actions:

No Expansion of Olympia Airport
Expansion Efforts Are Flying Under 
the Public Radar

Please note that this petition below is independent of the petition also circulating in opposition to the Mega-Airport issue. 

Efforts to expand the Olympia Airport have remained under the public radar due to the attention being paid to a possible new mega Sea-Tac sized airport in Thurston County. But plans are being made right now, and may be adopted VERY soon, to greatly expand Olympia Airport air traffic in the future. The Port of Olympia is proposing an Airport Master Plan Update, despite little public input, to vastly increase air traffic by reconfiguring the Olympia Airport. Now is the time to say NO.

If you already oppose the Olympia Airport expansion, please skip to the actions at the bottom. 

The expansion of capacity at the Olympia Airport would seriously affect quality of life in Thurston County, with negative impacts on human health and welfare as well as a large disruption of migratory bird routes and endangered species habitat. Forecast scenarios in the Master Plan show that by 2030 we could experience up to 190 total flights a day including commercial, cargo and military aircraft. Imagine the increase in noise and emissions not just near the airport, but under flight paths throughout our county. 

Serious health impacts from diesel fuel pollution to people in and around airport communities have been documented across the country. Airplane diesel fuel contributes significantly to carbon emission and greenhouse gasses. Automobile traffic around the airport would also increase, and county property values would plummet.

Action: Please sign the petition below directed to the Port Commissioners with a message to vote to oppose growth of the Olympia Airport.

Comment on petition: I am a resident of Thurston County. I oppose any plan to expand air traffic at the Olympia Regional Airport. Please protect our county's quality of life by voting against any such plan. 
Sign Petition Here - Stop Growth of the Olympia Airport 

Action: Learn more about this important issue at a public meeting to oppose growth of the Olympia Airport. 

Tuesday, November 15th, 7pm 
Olympia Center Multipurpose room A. 
222 Columbia St. NW, Olympia WA
Masks are required to attend to protect the most vulnerable.

For more information contact: StopOlyAirportGrowth@yahoo.com

This message comes from OI’s Port of Olympia Action Team (POAT) and 
Stop Olympia Airport Growth.

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Take the Thurston 2045 Online Survey

It is important to let Thurston County know our priorities for the future. Please take a moment to fill out the online survey after you have read our recommendations.
In the second section you will be asked to “Please select your top three topics.”

Our recommendations are that you select:

• Prepare for climate change and take actions towards reducing impacts.
• Protect agriculture.
• Increase availability of affordable housing.

In the third section you are asked “Are there any important topics or issues that we didn't list above that you'd like to tell us about?” 

Our recommendation is that you say:
Environmental Justice and Social Equity are important issues and they should be added.
 
Action: Complete the survey
Thurston County Vision 2045 Survey ​

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Federal Actions:

Hands off our Medicare! 

Efforts are underway to privatize Medicare!     

Issue #1) The Trump administration created a pilot program to privatize traditional Medicare, the Direct Contracting program. The Biden administration has rebranded this privatization scheme as ACO REACH. The ACO REACH pilot program is scheduled to begin in January 2023. The plan is to have ALL Medicare beneficiaries under ACOs by 2030. This would be a disaster.

The ACO Reach program would allow private equity firms and others to spend only 60% on patient care of the funds given to them by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The other 40% could be used any way they choose. (Right now, the CMS manages Medicare with overhead expense of 2%.) 

Issue #2) We generally think of Medicare as a single payer system. But it has already been privatized through Medicare Advantage. CMS gives funds directly to private insurers who are required to spend 85% of the funds on patient care. 15% can be spent discretionarily. 

Learn more here:

• Medicare Direct Contracting & REACH Policy Primer:
  A Threat to Seniors and to Medicare’s Future
• The Stealth Plan to Privatize Medicare for All - CounterPunch.org
• Biden’s Little-Publicized Medicare Privatization Scheme Is Starting to Raise Alarm Bells

Immediate Action During Open Enrollment
Open enrollment is currently underway in the U.S. and this gives us an opportunity to change from a Medicare Advantage plan to Original Medicare. Remember, taxpayers are paying more to subsidize these programs and they are one more scheme to privatize our current government benefits.  

Action: Contact your Members of Congress and President Biden to let them know you oppose the ACO Reach program. AND consider returning to Original Medicare if you are currently an MA participant. 

Option A: Take this copy/paste action in Take Action Network (TAN) Tell our Officials: Hands off our Medicare!

Option B: Contact your officials 

Contact WA MOCs

• Senator Patty Murray, Phone: 253-572-3636 or Contact Form 
• Senator Maria Cantwell, Phone: 253-572-2281 or Contact Form 

• Marilyn Strickland, Phone: 202-225-9740 or Contact Form 
  • Email all three MOCs at once using Democracy.io. 

Contact President Biden

• President Biden, Phone: 202-456-1111 or Contact Form 

Script: I want you to say no to privatizing our Medicare system and no to third party managers getting between seniors and the disabled and their doctors or other health care practitioners.

We cannot allow third party profit seekers between seniors and their chosen health care providers. And yet that is precisely what will happen under the DC/ACO REACH program. We cannot allow the quality of health services for seniors to decline, but that is financially incentivized through this privatization effort.

Join us in saying Hands off our Medicare!

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Have You Scheduled This Event?

Action Cafe, Every Monday at noon
Please come to tomorrow's Action Cafe! This weekly Zoom lunch hour gathering is a place to meet, eat, build fellowship and take actions together.
Register HERE. We will send you a Zoom link and tomorrow morning, we'll send you our "menu" with live links for the actions we'll take together. 

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​You Might Also Like to Attend:

What: Community Listening Session
When: November 10th from 6-8pm
Where: Traditions Café in downtown Olympia.
Details: This forum is to hear your thoughts, experiences, ideas, and ways to combat the effects of climate change in your community. This forum is specifically for the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) community as we want to hear and understand those experiences as it pertains to climate justice. Sponsored by TCAT (Thurston Climate Action Team) who strives to work at the intersection of Climate Justice and Racial Justice. 

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Your Work Pays Off:

We Testified for Clean Energy and Made a Difference

In the September 18, 2022 Call to Action, we asked you to testify in person or by email to the State Building Code Council (SBCC).

The Thurston Climate Action Team (TCAT) reported the result of our combined action was: “The SBCC voted to adopt new statewide residential building codes that will drive the transition to safe and healthy homes that run on low-cost, 100% clean electricity instead of methane gas — a climate super-polluter that also harms health. “ 

We may have some more work to do, but this is a huge win for the climate!

More than 100 people testified in support of the code updates at the SBCC’s two public hearings and more than 4,600 residents and experts submitted comments in support of the new residential codes. 

Thank you everyone!




Successful Textbanking Party to Protect Reproductive Rights in Kentucky
It's true! The 20+ folks who participated in a textbank for OlyIndivisible and Access for All Kentucky Saturday sent over 120,000 texts to fight Kentucky's anti-abortion Amendment 2. We're very grateful! 

Outstanding Postcard and Letter Writing
Check this out! In this electoral cycle, Olympia Indivisible generated 25,438 postcards and letters to voters in Georgia, Pennsylvania Arizona, and other swing states, as well as on behalf of Tye Menser, Julianne Gale, Kim Schrier and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez. Go, mighty GOTV Writing Team!

Our Voter Registration Team is Back up and Running!
Since August, the GOTV Field Team has registered, pre-registered or updated registration and sent home an additional 43 forms for registration for a total of 235 voters right here in Thurston County–mostly young people! Go, mighty GOTV Field Team! 

CIT and CD-08 Teams Walked the Walk!
OI members have 

• doorbelled in Shelton, Covington, Bonney Lake and Olympia for pro-democracy candidates in CD-08 and CD-10, and 
• put up over 180 campaign yard signs for pro-democracy candidates here in Thurston County. 
• helped set up and serve food at campaign picnics for these folks. 

Go, mighty CD-08 and Candidate Interface Teams! Go OI members! This is democracy in action. Cheers to all of you!