Skip to content
  • Home
  • Voting Resources
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Contacting Your Elected Officials
    • Redistricting
  • Contact Us

Recent Posts

  • Food Drive
  • Food drive
  • MLK Day of Service Food Drive
  • Thank you!
  • Food Pantry Drive
Organizing4UA

Organizing4UA

  • Home
  • Voting Resources
  • Blog
  • Resources
    • Contacting Your Elected Officials
    • Redistricting
  • Contact Us
  • Uncategorized

Update on redistricting reform

Org4UA February 12, 2018

Below is a message from the League of Women Voters:

“Last Tuesday, the League of Women Voters of Ohio and Common Cause Ohio applauded the overwhelming passage of Substitute Senate Joint Resolution 5 by the Ohio General Assembly. SJR 5 will place an issue on the May ballot reforming Ohio’s congressional redistricting process to protect voters’ interests.

After weeks of negotiations, the Fair Districts = Fair Elections coalition reached a compromise last Monday with legislative leaders of both parties on a new process for drawing congressional districts. The proposed constitutional amendment will go before Ohio voters for approval in May.  Meanwhile, the coalition will continue our petition effort in case the legislature measure does not pass. We are committed to the principles put forth in our proposal, and are prepared to submit the amendment for the November ballot if the legislature’s proposal fails.

“This compromise was hard-fought – down to the last minute – requiring concessions on both sides, and we are not entering into it lightly. We will work to educate voters and support this issue on the May ballot, but we will not abandon our proposal until redistricting reform is a reality, not just an agreement,” said Beth Taggart, interim Executive Director of LWV Ohio. “Ultimately, what brought legislators to the table and kept them talking to us was the record-breaking work of our incredible volunteers collecting over 200,000 petition signatures.”

By requiring significant bipartisan support, first in the legislature and then in the Ohio redistricting commission, and triggering strict rules for drawing districts if the parties cannot come to an agreement, this process will set up checks and balances to improve congressional maps. Partisan gerrymandering has a long and ignominious history, dating back to America’s founding fathers, but this measure will make significant progress toward fairer districts. For more information, see a more detailed summary and the text of the resolution .

“Voters have waited far too long for state lawmakers to come together to fix gerrymandering and create fairer elections,” said Catherine Turcer of Common Cause Ohio. “Voters deserve to participate in meaningful elections, and Democrats and Republicans came together to pass a resolution that will help rein in the worst excesses of partisan gerrymandering.””

Until redistricting reform passes in May, the petition drive will remain open. If you have petitions with signatures, please email actionteam@organizing4ua.com to arrange to turn them in. You may continue to collect signatures, as long as it is made clear that the Fair Districts = Fair Elections coalition is supporting the Ohio General Assembly’s proposal, and that petitions would only be submitted as a backup plan if the issue fails in May.

Thank you for your efforts on this important issue!

  • Uncategorized

One year later

Org4UA January 21, 2018

We didn’t just survive a year of Trump. We #resisted. We #persisted. And in 2018, we will work to elect progressive candidates at all levels. Who is in?

  • Meetings
  • Organizing

October is a Month for Action

Org4UA September 28, 2017

Here are some suggestions for how to make October a month for action!

Local races and statewide issues

Candidates running for office in Upper Arlington are:

UA School Board Candidates (2 seats): Carol Mohr and Scott McKenzie.

UA City Council Candidates (4 seats): Michaela Burriss, Brian Close, Robert (Bob) Foulk, Omar Ganoom, Francis (Kip) Greenhill, Michele Hoyle, James (Jim) Lynch, and Lowell Toms.

Here are a few opportunities for you to meet local Upper Arlington candidates:

  1. Meet Upper Arlington City Council candidates the next three Tuesdays (Oct 3, 10, 17) from 2-4 in the Senior Center 1945 Ridgeview Road, Bldg. 1, Room 104.
  2. Leadership UA Candidates & Issues night will be held on October 19 at the Municipal Services Center on 3600 Tremont Rd. A “meet and greet” begins at 6, followed by moderated Q&A from 7-9pm. Let’s consider this as our October “field trip” meeting! Submit questions for the candidates by emailing info@leadershipua.org or submit questions using this link by 5 pm on October 18th.

For those of you in Upper Arlington, there is also a combined levy-bond issue on the ballot. Franklin County voters will also vote on the Franklin County Board of Developmental Disabilities levy.

The League of Women Voters has links to voter forums for other surrounding cities.

Other ways to get involved in local elections: take a yard sign, consider volunteering for a local candidate or the school levy campaign. Volunteer to hand out sample ballots! Speaking of sample ballots, make sure you vote for all of the judicial candidates, too!

Statewide Issues 1 & 2

You can learn more about Issues 1 (Marsy’s Law) and 2 (Drug Price Relief Act) at the Advocacy in Action: Voters Forum on Thursday, October 12 from 530-7pm at the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio at 2323 W. Fifth Ave, #230, in Columbus.  RSVP here.

The League of Women Voters is partnering with NBC4 to present a forum on Issue 2 on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017 from 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm at the Fawcett Center. The forum will be broadcast through NBC affiliates.

Redistricting Reform:

Upper Arlington volunteers have collected over 5000 signatures! We have a lot to be proud of. Let’s keep going! Check out the Fair Districts blog for some ideas about how to reenergize your signature gathering for fall.

We are almost halfway to the overall signature goal, with 12 counties exceeding their 5% minimum. Some nearby counties that are getting close include Knox, Union, Champaign, Clark, Muskingum, Fairfield, and Wyandot.

In addition to continuing to collect signatures, please contact your state senator and representative and urge them to support real redistricting reform for our congressional districts.

  • Uncategorized

August 29 Meeting: Focus on Refugee Issues

Org4UA August 19, 2017

Organizing4UA invites you to our next team meeting to be held on Tuesday, August 29th. Our topic will be “Immigration 101: Focus on Refugee Issues.”    The idea for this meeting topic came from our small group session this summer.

What to expect:

The United States Refugee Program has emerged as headline news in recent media coverage. Please join us to learn how refugee resettlement works.

• What is a refugee journey like before coming to the U.S.?

• How are refugees referred to the United States refugee program?

• Why do they go to a particular geographic location?

• What are the demographics of refugees who have come to Central Ohio?

Our speaker, Angie Plummer, is the Executive Director of Community Refugee & Immigration Services (CRIS). She will explain refugee processing and discuss recent developments resulting from the presidential executive order and court decisions and how they have impacted families and resettlement infrastructure.

Ms. Plummer will be joined by refugee panelists who will share their personal experiences and perspectives.

DETAILS

Topic: “Immigration 101: Focus on Refugees”
– guest speaker Angie Plummer and refugee panelists

Date/Time:
Tuesday, August 29 – 7:00-8:30 pm

 Location:
Upper Arlington Main Library, 2800 Tremont Road
Friends Theater (lower level)

 

  • Uncategorized

June Meeting Recap

Org4UA June 19, 2017

IMG_2188.JPGThanks to everyone who attended our June meeting. After Chase gave us an introduction to “Organizing for Beginners”, we broke out into small groups. We introduced ourselves and each shared one idea for “how not to let Trump ruin our lives”.

We then discussed issues relating to immigration, health care, education, and the environment and came up with ideas for possible future actions.  Over the past few weeks, our primary focus has been redistricting reform, but it’s important for us not to lose sight of the many other issues that brought us together in the first place.

Speaking of redistricting reform, we’d like to take a moment to thank the many volunteers who have collected over 2,000 signatures so far.  Thank you for everything you are doing!

Stay tuned for details about our next meeting.

Posts navigation

Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 Next
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
Organizing4UA
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
  • Follow Following
    • Organizing4UA
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Organizing4UA
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.