Whew…
Happy November everyone,
Like most of you, we've been relieved to see the outcomes of the recent federal and state elections. We were excited to see NEWR and Our Mayor, Our Choice pass locally. At the state level we witnessed Cory Gardner removed from office, the passage of the Family & Medical Leave Act, and the repeal of the Gallagher amendment. And while the outcome of the presidential race bodes well, the results also point to more work that needs to be done. But fear not, even in normal times federal influence on local issues isn't as impactful as one might think (both good and bad).
Rather, much of our daily life is governed from our own communities. This has always been a core belief here at Boulder Progressives, that by enacting change locally we can have a greater progressive impact on people's lives here at home. Some issues that are coming before City Council in the next few months that we'll be working on include the Police Collective Bargaining Agreement, occupancy limits, safe overnight parking, and the East Boulder sub-community plan (a chance to weigh in on housing, employment, and recreation in a long-neglected part of our city). If any of these are of interest to you please reach out.
Sierra Club
In our last newsletter we encouraged you to join our local Sierra Club branch, the Indian Peaks Group. If you happened to do so, or are already a member we'd encourage you to take part in their executive committee election that's going on now thru Friday, November 20th. So get your ballots in! If you are looking for a guide on which candidates to consider or the specifics of how to vote we built out a mini site that will help you with everything you need. You can find that here.
Friends, Allies & Other Shout-Outs
Just as we did in our last note, we'd like to continue to introduce you to some of the other groups that we work with here in town.
Bedrooms are for People
BAFP has quickly become a powerful organizing force in the community. Despite not getting their measure on the 2020 ballot they have persevered, and continue to gather resources and work to build a more equitable Boulder. We were disappointed to see five council-members twist themselves in knots to deny the Bedrooms initiative a spot on the ballot. Their behavior is clear evidence of the conservative bent of the current majority. We are incredibly excited to continue to work with BAFP to bring about progressive change in Boulder's housing policies.
Independent Journalist Emma Athena
This fall, Emma has produced a series of six articles on the housing crisis, homelessness policy, and unhoused residents in Boulder for the Boulder Weekly. At BP we're fans of understanding problems in all their complexity, and not just addressing their symptoms. Emma's work does just that. There's no central landing page so we've linked them here. On Dangerous Ground, An Incomplete Picture, Gaining Traction, In Pursuit of Stability, A Tiny House A Big Step, Managing Scarcity. Additionally, she's compiled them into a podcast format that you can find by clicking this paragraph's header.
Boulder Valley Schools removing SROs from District Campuses
A big shout out to NAACP Boulder County for pushing BVSD for action in June, and to all of the community members who showed up to support this important change.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end! We appreciate it. :) We'll be ramping up our involvement for the 2021 elections soon so if you'd like to get involved, please let us know.
Till next time,
BP
