Lucie Pollard's Blog
A blog by Lucie
Consider attending this conference May 16 - 17, which is jointly sponsored by Simply Living and OSU's Social Responsibility Initiative with support from the Columbus Green Building Forum.
On Friday hear the keynote address by Jim Merkel, author of Read More »
On Friday hear the keynote address by Jim Merkel, author of Read More »
At 7 p.m. he will appear at Mershon Auditorium, to talk about his heritage, family, and life in politics, as the highest ranking official of Hispanic descent.The OSU Student Union funded the event, and each student can show his/her Buck ID and get 2 free tickets at the Ohio Union office in the stadium.
Sometimes living in the heart of it all is just too much. I was watching MSNBC and Chris Matthews brought Darth Vader, I mean Ken Blackwell, on to do commentary. I hope they aren't paying him! I watched as much as I could stand, and then switched to C-SPAN where they carried a live ONN feed with Jennifer Brunner at a press conference, responding to questions about the Obama law suit and extended poll hours.
Dropped my daughter off to hand out literature for a candidate yesterday evening -- what a spectacle! Lots of Barack and Hillary supporters out on Broad Street waving signs at traffic (who honked happily in response). I noticed that the Barack signs were handmade, and my daughter said it seemed as if the Barack supporters were locals, whle the Hillary people were from out of state. She said some of the Hillary guys were a little confrontational, but pretty nice after she went over and said "Look, we all have to be on the same side after the nomination -- we're all Democrats!" They toned it down after that. Lines of voters were steady, even though the rain picked up and the temperature dropped.
A primary like no other! I voted early, but my daughter wants to go to our polling place. She loves that ritual.
A primary like no other! I voted early, but my daughter wants to go to our polling place. She loves that ritual.
I heard it on the Ed Schultz Show.
WADC is looking forward to an interesting evening. Our featured speaker is Progress Ohio's Brian Rothenberg, who will doubtless have some interesting reflections on Rootscamp, the amazing growth of Progress Ohio, and the ever-changing relationship of media and politics.
In addition we will hear from the two candidates competing in the primary for Franklin County Commissione: John O'Grady and Cindy Lazarus.
We are also expecting brief statements from Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessy (Clerk of Court of Common Pleas), and Jay Perez (Ohio House, 21st district) who are no longer opposed in the primary.
Liz Shirey will speak about ODP's "Neighborhood Leader" project (and I look forward to thanking her personally for her work in putting together the ODP's Women's Organizing Convention last weekend.
WADC always has spirited Q and A sessions, which are frequently the most interesting part of the evening. Come join us for an interesting and varied evening.
More Information Here > >
In addition we will hear from the two candidates competing in the primary for Franklin County Commissione: John O'Grady and Cindy Lazarus.
We are also expecting brief statements from Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessy (Clerk of Court of Common Pleas), and Jay Perez (Ohio House, 21st district) who are no longer opposed in the primary.
Liz Shirey will speak about ODP's "Neighborhood Leader" project (and I look forward to thanking her personally for her work in putting together the ODP's Women's Organizing Convention last weekend.
WADC always has spirited Q and A sessions, which are frequently the most interesting part of the evening. Come join us for an interesting and varied evening.
More Information Here > >
My daughter says a college friend of hers is volunteering for both the Obama and Kucinich campaigns. He really likes both candidates, and Read More »
After a glitch or two, I was able to log in. Phonebanking is NOT my favorite thing to do, but I tried. Several people I reached had already been called; several others had already voted for Weirauch -- but at least one was pleased when I said, "Oh, good! Thank you so much!" It reminded me that we never know when these human connections will affect people.
I stuck it out as long as I could. Do I like phoning people any better? No. Do I think it mattered? Yes. Will I do it again? Yes, if I have to -- and I probably do.
Of course it isn't the "best" use of my time/talent. But a lot of gruntwork has to be done in electoral politics -- or so I am told, and I guess I buy it. I love talking to fellow Dems and progressives (but not this way!). But I'll do my share, like so many of my long-suffering good friends. Those of you who don't volunteer should -- many hands make light work, which helps -- and you will meet other Dems who are delightful people.
I just hope the paid staff remembers that we volunteers (who give time and money and talent) ARE the party. Don't underestimate us.
I hope Robin Weirauch has a resounding victory!
I stuck it out as long as I could. Do I like phoning people any better? No. Do I think it mattered? Yes. Will I do it again? Yes, if I have to -- and I probably do.
Of course it isn't the "best" use of my time/talent. But a lot of gruntwork has to be done in electoral politics -- or so I am told, and I guess I buy it. I love talking to fellow Dems and progressives (but not this way!). But I'll do my share, like so many of my long-suffering good friends. Those of you who don't volunteer should -- many hands make light work, which helps -- and you will meet other Dems who are delightful people.
I just hope the paid staff remembers that we volunteers (who give time and money and talent) ARE the party. Don't underestimate us.
I hope Robin Weirauch has a resounding victory!
The very green mayor of Salt Lake Oity will keynote at the Columbus Green Building Forum tomorrow. In addition to speaking, he and Sen. Brown (how I like to use that title!) will join Mayor Coleman to officially inaugurate Greenview Estates, Columbus' first subdivision of green, affordable homes. The green activities will continue with Columbus Green Building Forum's Green Residential Showcase on Saturday 9/15, which is free and open to the public. Read More »
I am very fond of Dennis -- but I have to keep him honest. When a question arose about whether or not candidates' children attended public schools, he said his daughter had attended Columbus Public Schools, which is NOT TRUE. In fact, she attended Worthington Public Schools. Now maybe he just figured nobody would know where Worthington is outside central Ohio, but it could be seen as presenting himself as inflating his support of big city public schools.
Carol Cogitating's excellent summary of a scary article about Newt Gingrich and Ken Blackwell teaming up (shudder) reminded me that Newt was right here in Worthington a few years back, attending John Kasich's wedding at St. John's Episcopal Church, on the SE corner of the village green, at 161 and High.
And we have had some very interesting visitors at the hotel (now a Radisson) on the corner of Wilson Bridge and High: Marilyn Manson (spotted at the Worthington Square Mall, too!), and Bill and Chelsea Clinton. I'm not quite sure why they pick that one -- is it more secure in some way?!
I'm not "into" celebrities particularly -- but it is worth remembering that even a small town like Worthington has interesting and surprising connections to the wider world. Six degrees of separation?
So what's with all these banks we're getting here?
And we have had some very interesting visitors at the hotel (now a Radisson) on the corner of Wilson Bridge and High: Marilyn Manson (spotted at the Worthington Square Mall, too!), and Bill and Chelsea Clinton. I'm not quite sure why they pick that one -- is it more secure in some way?!
I'm not "into" celebrities particularly -- but it is worth remembering that even a small town like Worthington has interesting and surprising connections to the wider world. Six degrees of separation?
So what's with all these banks we're getting here?
It is a big job, but if the energy level in Worthington is any indication, this project is underway. WADC member Gary Tyack had to resign his position as chairman of the Worthington School Board after his election to the Franklin County Court of Appeals. The school board asked for applications so they could appoint someone to fill out the term, and got twenty six applicants. This group was winnowed to five, including WADC members Anita Doran, Abe Ottolenghi and Charlie Wilson. Wilson, a law professor at OSU and active, thoughtful participant in WADC, was the board's choice. Local voluntary boards and commissions are also seeing a surge in applications which has slowed the process of choosing the new members. Again, among those I am aware of are numerous superbly qualitfied, thoughtful people. Then there is Sustainable Worthington, begun after the election. I was looking for a way to continue active involvement in the community with as many of the people I had enjoyed getting to know during the election as possible -- I didn't want to stop working and thinking with them, but thought it might be time to "think globally but act locally." I met Lisa Staggenborg and others at Simply Living's conference on sustainability in October, and we set up a meeting to discuss sustainability in Worthington on November 29. We defined sustainability (with the help of Fred Yaeger) as "the ability to provide for the needs of the world's current population without damaging the ability of future generations to provide for themselves. When a process is sustainable, it can be carried out over and over without negative environmental effects or impossibly high costs to anyone involved. The dimensions of sustainability are economic, ecological, social and cultural."
Thirty five people came to the first meeting, and we have been growing ever since. We have 83 people on the main Google group's list, and have developed seven sub-groups which are meeting independently now:
- Local Foods (local grocery, co-op, year-round farmer's market, community garden
- Energy Use (audits of city and residential buildings, group purchases of solar energy, exploring what other communities are doing)
- Bike, Bus, Walk (Comprehensive plan, bike links to other communities, better sidewalks and walking paths)
- Community Hub on Village Green (restore 752 building as community center with bus hub, restrooms for walkers and bikers, local food; traffic calming at 161 & High)
- Commercial Development (new CVS building -- green standards?, mix of stores addressing more day-to-day needs, more ethnic and vegetarian restaurants, bike shop, bookstore, restaurants with community meeting space)
- Recycling (work with school programs starting with paper, which they can sell; get churches and businesses to save paper; participate in art ReCycle project; find safe disposal for fluorescent bulbs)
- Educational Series (possibly in conjunction with the library)
Lisa and I seem to be helping people find each other, but once they do, they are off and running. We seem to have tapped into the Zeitgeist with this, and expect good things to come of it.
Just speaking for myself, I am learning a great deal, and getting to know some interesting people. Sustainability is sometimes an unfamiliar concept in Ohio, but once people start to understand it, people seem to find their own ways of getting involved.
If you haven't heard it yet, be sure to listen -- Dave has links to all the DNC speeches.
This is an old fashioned Democrat's kind of speech -- and indeed, John Edwards' argument is that we don't need to reshape the Democratic Party; we need to get back to being the Democratic party. Universal healthcare, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the need for jobs, better access to education -- and the plight of children in war zones a half a world away all come up.
I was born in North Carolina, and still have family and friends there -- I lived there til I was more than 21 (but they made me register to vote in Wisconsin, where I had NEVER lived, because my parents had moved there my senior year in college and -- oh, don't get me started!). I'm a faculty brat; daughter of a professor, but granddaughter of the sherriff of Guilford County (a Democrat of course) on one side (and I could get into the D.A.R. on that side) and of Quakers who were in NC since before the Revolution. A complex history -- but not atypical of a complex place. My beloved Uncle Peter (J. Floyd Moore -- and no I don't know why he has always been known as Pete) came from a mill background not unlike John Edwards' -- and like Edwards, my uncle was able to move beyond that: he was a convinced Friend, got a Ph.D. at Boston University (and probably overlapped there with Martin Luther King -- I should ask -- hope he can remember still). My uncle did relief work in Germany after WW II with the Quakers (and brought me a German doll that I named Erica, and a French doll I named Yvonne). He and my aunt taught at the Friends' School in Ramallah -- and my first baby gift was a red letter New Testament with olivewood covers, with a lovely prenatally composed note from my Aunt Lucretia, for whom I was named.
My uncle taught at Guilford College, brought the Friends' World Conference there when I was in high school, integrated that southern school in the early sixties with African Quakers. He told me that his first job was sweeping a mill floor as a child of a widowed mother. He came a long way, and he generously brought a great many North Carolinians further along: through education and travel and intenational understanding. I see John Edwards moving along much the same path many years later.
I wish he had fought for the senate seat Elizabeth Dole has now -- but I think he has done great things since the '04 election, and grown more fully into a leader's role.
It is too early to pick a candidate, I know -- but John Edwards speaks well, and heartfully -- and Elizabeth Edwards is a bright and interesting woman -- her current book is worth your time. I think John Edwards' voice affects Buckeyes in something like the way Ted Strickland's does -- these are men who grew up in, but out of, poverty, without forgetting where they came from, or what life is like for others.
I'm not ready to ask you to vote for him, but please watch him with me.
This is an old fashioned Democrat's kind of speech -- and indeed, John Edwards' argument is that we don't need to reshape the Democratic Party; we need to get back to being the Democratic party. Universal healthcare, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the need for jobs, better access to education -- and the plight of children in war zones a half a world away all come up.
I was born in North Carolina, and still have family and friends there -- I lived there til I was more than 21 (but they made me register to vote in Wisconsin, where I had NEVER lived, because my parents had moved there my senior year in college and -- oh, don't get me started!). I'm a faculty brat; daughter of a professor, but granddaughter of the sherriff of Guilford County (a Democrat of course) on one side (and I could get into the D.A.R. on that side) and of Quakers who were in NC since before the Revolution. A complex history -- but not atypical of a complex place. My beloved Uncle Peter (J. Floyd Moore -- and no I don't know why he has always been known as Pete) came from a mill background not unlike John Edwards' -- and like Edwards, my uncle was able to move beyond that: he was a convinced Friend, got a Ph.D. at Boston University (and probably overlapped there with Martin Luther King -- I should ask -- hope he can remember still). My uncle did relief work in Germany after WW II with the Quakers (and brought me a German doll that I named Erica, and a French doll I named Yvonne). He and my aunt taught at the Friends' School in Ramallah -- and my first baby gift was a red letter New Testament with olivewood covers, with a lovely prenatally composed note from my Aunt Lucretia, for whom I was named.
My uncle taught at Guilford College, brought the Friends' World Conference there when I was in high school, integrated that southern school in the early sixties with African Quakers. He told me that his first job was sweeping a mill floor as a child of a widowed mother. He came a long way, and he generously brought a great many North Carolinians further along: through education and travel and intenational understanding. I see John Edwards moving along much the same path many years later.
I wish he had fought for the senate seat Elizabeth Dole has now -- but I think he has done great things since the '04 election, and grown more fully into a leader's role.
It is too early to pick a candidate, I know -- but John Edwards speaks well, and heartfully -- and Elizabeth Edwards is a bright and interesting woman -- her current book is worth your time. I think John Edwards' voice affects Buckeyes in something like the way Ted Strickland's does -- these are men who grew up in, but out of, poverty, without forgetting where they came from, or what life is like for others.
I'm not ready to ask you to vote for him, but please watch him with me.
That was one of the interesting observations made by Mike Curtin, associate publisher of The Columbus Dispatch, vice chairman and C.O.O. of the Dispatch Printing Company, and longtime reporter on state and local politics in his Election Analysis, 2006 at the WADC meeting, November 15th. Read More »
WADC member Susan Lewis has developed a passion for phonebanking for Democrats, so I spoke with her today, hoping to learn some of her secrets, to encourage everyone to get involved with the important phonebanking efforts this weekend.
Although Susan has had office jobs that required her to spend some time on the phone, she never "phonebanked" until this election. What made her do it? "I want to do everything I can to see as many Democratic candidates win as possible!" she said. The more she learned about Ohio candidates, the more impressed she was. When speaking with voters about Ted Strickland or Sherrod Brown, she found herself naturally wanting to bring up other candiates as well, especially when several candidates share a commitment to the same issue. For example, Susan sometimes points out that Ted Strickland, Sherrod Brown and Bob Shamansky are all deeply concerned about Ohioans who lack health care -- and all three of them turned down good healthcare plans that would have been funded at taxpayer expense, as long as their constituents were not offered similar benefits.
Susan sees the candidates up and down the ticket as a team. Ted Strickland will be able to do a better job for us if Sherrod Brown, a friend he has worked with in congress for many years, is in the Senate, and Mary Jo Kilroy, a Franklin County Commissioner who knows our districts strengths and needs well and in detail is in the House. She thinks she was one of the first volunteers to raise the idea of a co-ordinated campaign by pointing out that it was a better use of her time if she felt free to share the connections she knows about with voters.
Because Susan has heard most candidates speak many times, and always keeps materials about them at hand when she phones for them, she has seen that certain key phrases resonate for her as emblematic of each candidate, such as Sherrod Brown's determination to "stand up against special interests."
Susan says that a good way to get comfortable with phonebanking is to volunteer to call other Democrats, to let them know about rallies or volunteer opportunities. Then you know you are speaking with people who share your goals, a friendly audience. In early calls you can follow the script you have been given -- but she recommends saying things in your own way as you become more comfortable with the message you are trying to convey. Then callers who would appreciate having a conversation about the election gain a sense of the volunteer's enthusiasm and knowledge. As a volunteer gains confidence, s/he can move on to calling Democrats who don't vote in every election, independents and even Republicans who might feel that it is time for change.
Susan's favorite conversations are the ones where her call has made a real difference -- when people tell her they probably would not have voted without hearing her explain the importance of this election. A call like that can take time -- and occasionally she gets a difficult question. When that happens, Susan promises to have someone from the candidate's campaign call. And Susan makes sure that this message is passed along. In fact, she prefers phonebank systems that allow the volunteer to make notes about the call -- she thinks this information may help all of us do an even better job in 2008.
Although Susan has had office jobs that required her to spend some time on the phone, she never "phonebanked" until this election. What made her do it? "I want to do everything I can to see as many Democratic candidates win as possible!" she said. The more she learned about Ohio candidates, the more impressed she was. When speaking with voters about Ted Strickland or Sherrod Brown, she found herself naturally wanting to bring up other candiates as well, especially when several candidates share a commitment to the same issue. For example, Susan sometimes points out that Ted Strickland, Sherrod Brown and Bob Shamansky are all deeply concerned about Ohioans who lack health care -- and all three of them turned down good healthcare plans that would have been funded at taxpayer expense, as long as their constituents were not offered similar benefits.
Susan sees the candidates up and down the ticket as a team. Ted Strickland will be able to do a better job for us if Sherrod Brown, a friend he has worked with in congress for many years, is in the Senate, and Mary Jo Kilroy, a Franklin County Commissioner who knows our districts strengths and needs well and in detail is in the House. She thinks she was one of the first volunteers to raise the idea of a co-ordinated campaign by pointing out that it was a better use of her time if she felt free to share the connections she knows about with voters.
Because Susan has heard most candidates speak many times, and always keeps materials about them at hand when she phones for them, she has seen that certain key phrases resonate for her as emblematic of each candidate, such as Sherrod Brown's determination to "stand up against special interests."
Susan says that a good way to get comfortable with phonebanking is to volunteer to call other Democrats, to let them know about rallies or volunteer opportunities. Then you know you are speaking with people who share your goals, a friendly audience. In early calls you can follow the script you have been given -- but she recommends saying things in your own way as you become more comfortable with the message you are trying to convey. Then callers who would appreciate having a conversation about the election gain a sense of the volunteer's enthusiasm and knowledge. As a volunteer gains confidence, s/he can move on to calling Democrats who don't vote in every election, independents and even Republicans who might feel that it is time for change.
Susan's favorite conversations are the ones where her call has made a real difference -- when people tell her they probably would not have voted without hearing her explain the importance of this election. A call like that can take time -- and occasionally she gets a difficult question. When that happens, Susan promises to have someone from the candidate's campaign call. And Susan makes sure that this message is passed along. In fact, she prefers phonebank systems that allow the volunteer to make notes about the call -- she thinks this information may help all of us do an even better job in 2008.
This will increase COTA revenue without raising the sales tax!
Thanks to careful timing, the new levy will become active as another tax falls off.
Issue 7 is endorsed by the Worthington City Council. It will increase frequency of service and may result in a crosstown route for 161.
WADC members have yard signs if you need one! Just let me know.
For more information, go to the COTA campaign's website:
Thanks to careful timing, the new levy will become active as another tax falls off.
Issue 7 is endorsed by the Worthington City Council. It will increase frequency of service and may result in a crosstown route for 161.
WADC members have yard signs if you need one! Just let me know.
For more information, go to the COTA campaign's website:
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