Curious about solarizing but haven't gotten rolling?
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We e-blasted to tell you about the urgency of winning in Wisconsin this coming Tuesday. If you saw that message and/or already know the story, here are some fun-fective — sorry, we couldn't resist combining "fun" and "effective" to coin a cringe-inducing, horrendously clunky new term that we instantly regretted — local volunteering opportunities.
Missed the message or been too busy till now to learn more? Please scroll down to learn why we've got to win this one. Then scroll back up to pick a shift and pitch in!
Thanks for hearing us out, and, not least, for all your support of PPDC.
With deepest apologies again for "fun-fective."
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PPDC partners with two local GOTV HQs that coordinate
superb volunteer efforts with national impact.
Unlike the old days, the work now continues year-round!
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More on the election:
PPDC is writing to urge you to sign up to help between now and April 4 if you can. Here's why:
Voting rights, reproductive rights, gerrymandering, and so much more are at stake in a supremely key election coming up for Dems....
Electing Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Judge Janet Protasiewicz on Tue., April 4 would flip the WI court from conservative to liberal — with far-reaching implications for reproductive rights and even the 2024 Presidential race.
If the conservative majority remains in power, they will maintain a draconian 1849 abortion ban making it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy. No!
And the 2024 Presidential election could very well be decided by Wisconsin. If Trump loses in WI and sues his way to the State Supreme Court, the Presidential election could be decided by Wisconsin's seven justices. Our only chance to FLIP the court to a pro-democracy majority is April 4.
Thanks for thinking about volunteering or supporting PPDC / GDHQ / WDHQ efforts !
(L to R) Grassroots Dems' Mana Shoostari, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, PPDC board member Maryam Zar
State Sen. Ben Allen, Woman of the Year Maryam Zar
State Sen. Ben Allen • Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin
Supervisor District 3 Lindsey Horvath
City Councilmember Traci Park • City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto
with video appearance by Rep. Brad Sherman (which you can click here to watch)
Alas, no recording of the full event this time, technical difficulties. So we're especially glad so many of you attended!
Missed it? Here are some pics, courtesy of Maryam Zar and Tamara Levinson
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Heartfelt thanks to every PPDC supporter and volunteer —
you all played a part in dashing, nay, crushing Republican hopes for a "red wave"
Because of you we were able to target almost $15,000 in donations to candidates across the country most in need and funnel thousands of volunteer hours to our sister GOTV orgs, the Westside Dem HQ and Grassroots Dems
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Our holding the line as well as we did could not be more consequential for the country. Don't for a second underestimate the outsized, vital impact of your participation in the process
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Visit our Elections page for the latest L.A. County results and info on future elections
Check out Westside Dem HQ and Grassroots Dems for ongoing GOTV ops, now year-round, not just during high-profile elections!
Click here to read PPDC's condemnation of the behavior of L.A. city councilors revealed via an audio recording in October 2022
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Click here for a statement on hate speech from the WDHQ, which PPDC is an affiliate and founding member of
PPDC Stands with Ukraine
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Curious about solarizing but haven't gotten rolling?
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A little-noticed scheme hatched in the late stages of the Trump presidency has consumer advocates and universal healthcare proponents warning about a creeping attempt to further privatize Medicare—an effort the Biden administration is being urged to stop in its tracks
Article a few months old but the problem is only growing, and most people aren't aware!
https://hartmannreport.com/p/the-medicare-advantage-plan-to-kill
Click here to learn — and do — more: https://www.palisadesdemclub.org/take_action
Last day to register 1/22; last day to vote 1/31
Registration link: https://www.adem.cadem.org
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Credit and props to Sue Pascoe of Circling the News!
Even as more residents are installing solar panels and fab eco org Resilient Palisades is trying to establish a solar microgrid in Pacific Palisades, there are storm clouds brewing:
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which governs investor-owned utilities like Southern California Edison and PG&E, is contemplating rules changes to charge solar users and otherwise disincentivize(!) installation
Although the proposals don’t apply to municipal-owned utilities like LADWP, if these rules are implemented, investor-owned utilities will be able to make rooftop solar more costly and less appealing, when we desperately need exactly the opposite!
Read more on our TAKE ACTION page
2023 update: The CPUC passed the new rules. It remains to be seen what effect they'll have, and whether the Democrats' national climate change legislation will help lessen any blow Californians might bear
Here's a handy link for GOTV calling on Election Day, 12/6/22:
https://www.mobilize.us/grassrootsdemocratslahq/event/543900/?refcode=PPDC
So you want to see Dem victories across the country in November
but aren't quite ready to make calls or knock on doors...
What could be more fun and satisfying than writing postcards to voters in key areas?
A PPDC board member is hosting casual sessions at her lovely home Wednesday eves : )
Contact us at [email protected] to join or learn more!
From PPDC fave Robert Reich: a reminder of what's at stake and what's in play in the L.A. mayoral race
Brief powerful piece but even if you don't read/listen to it, consider the bottom line: $2.2M in spending from a progressive public servant vs. $62(!) million from a man who, while honorable, wasn't a Democrat until this year
https://robertreich.substack.com/p/buying-a-mayor
in person at a beautiful home in the Palisades Riviera as well as on Zoom, with vaccinated & boosted friends and masking as needed
PaliDems supports SB 914 (Rubio) – The HELP (“Homeless Equity for Left Behind Populations”) Act
PPDC sent a letter to all relevant parties involved with this important bill. It reads as follows:
We write to you today, on behalf of the PPDC, in support of SB 914 (Rubio). This important legislation will reduce gender bias and disparities in outcomes in California’s response to homelessness by embedding a focus on domestic violence survivors and other vulnerable populations into local homelessness plans.
Domestic violence is one of the leading drivers of homelessness for women. Nationally, 57% of unhoused women reported domestic violence was an immediate cause of their homelessness. [...]
[Click here to read the rest. If you're in agreement, contact your State Senator in support!]
Final Pop Up HQ
Brentwood/West L.A.
Tuesday (TODAY), 8 AM till 8 PM+: RSVPNumerous campaigns tell us margins are RAZOR THIN and they need AS MANY phone bankers as possible.
Join us TODAY for an in-person phone bank. Our first shift at 10 AM may have a special guest — we want to start off Election Day as strong as possible!
Shifts through the day until 8 PM. Bring your fully charged computer and cell phone. When you sign up we will send you the address. Please help!
Who does more for consumers and the average American than Rep. KATIE PORTER, known for standing up to the biggest corporate offenders with data and clarity and laying down the law on MSNBC?
Because of redistricting, she's neck-and-neck with her Republican opponent. Not good...
Can you even imagine Congress without her?
Let's save Katie's seat!
Click here (https://katieporter.com/)
for final GOTV ops
Join the DNC Call Crew
for our Zoom-based phone bank
to Get Out The Vote for Democrats!
We're turning out voters in key states & races the last day of the election
NEW TO CALLING WITH US? No worries! The Zoom phone bank includes a brief training so all new callers will be talking to voters in no time!
MADE CALLS BEFORE? Great! This is a great time to meet other Call Crew members, mods, and staff. Join us to hear updates and make calls together!
https://events.democrats.org/event/538342/?refcode=PaliDems
Wine & Conversation w/ Karen Bass!
Sun., 10/30, 4 – 5:30 PM
(Beverly Glen address on RSVP)
Perfect opportunity to hear from Karen directly and learn more about her plans for Los Angeles. Bass is on track to make history as the first Black female mayor of Los Angeles, but she can't do it alone. Grassroots donors like you are the backbone of this movement!
Hosted by
Tamara Melzer Levenson (PPDC board member), Melissa Grant (PPDC board member and president emerita), Pastors William & Thembekila Smart, Susy Marks, Nancee & Steve Cron (current PPDC president), Amy Wiwuga, Cathy Salser, Christian D. Green, Pacific Palisades Democratic Club, Heart of L.A. Democratic Club
https://act.karenbass.com/a/103022levenson?refcode=PPDC
Reception in support of the National Democratic Training Committee
Co-hosted by PPDC board member and president emerita Melissa Grant
Grassroots Dems event:Empowering Our Youth: Supporting Our Next Generation of Policy & Change MakersAugust 21, 2022, 6 PM in Brentwood
This event will support the HQ’s programming to build the “young voter to young organizer” pipeline. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres served!
Sandra Fluke, social justice advocate and public interest attorney, will be joining as a special guest. Sandra will speak about pressing issues young voters are concerned about, including access to reproductive healthcare and environmental justiceAdditionally, the youth who power the GDHQ will be sharing which causes and experiences motivate them to be the next generation of change makers
Join the fight with political constitutional superstar Rep. Jamie Raskin!
Satellite locations in various communities that launch neighborhood canvassing operations and provide campaign materials and swag for local voters. Find a site near you, or one you'd like to visit:
People around the country are coming together virtually with a simple message: There's more we can do to end gun violence. Join the movement by signing up to attend an event during Wear Orange Weekend, June 3 – 5
For more information about events in your area, contact [email protected]
In light of the horrific school shooting in Texas,
supermarket shooting in Buffalo, and countless other horrors,
please consider joining and taking action with Wear Orange
and other anti-gun-violence groups in whatever ways you can
to stop these ongoing, insane tragedies
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Abortion is still legal. It's still your right. But the Supreme Court is prepared to end your constitutional right to abortion. Our country is facing an abortion access crisis.
By this summer, 26 states could move to ban abortion — affecting 36 million women, plus more people who can become pregnant. This is personal.
From womensmarch.com
On May 2nd, we learned that at least five unelected and unaccountable Supreme Court justices decided they just don’t care about women, precedent, the Constitution, or about the institution they ostensibly serve
Show up!
Washington DC: 8AM to 8PM at the steps of the Supreme Court
Nationwide: 5PM local time at federal courthouses, federal buildings (the Westside's is at 11000 Wilshire just east of the 405), town halls, and town squares across the country
We’re showing up for abortion rights, saying bans off our bodies, and demanding that elected officials take action before the Court gets the chance to overturn abortion
https://www.womensmarch.com/initiatives/show-up-to-protect-roe-and-abortion-rights
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/springintothebluewave?refcode=PacificPalisadesDemClub
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First we heard from candidates for mayor & city council. Then from
L.A. County Board of Supervisors District 3: West Hollywood City Councilmember Lindsey Horvath, State Senator Henry Stern
L.A. County Sheriff: Sheriff Alex Villaneuva (to be confirmed), Chief of LAX Police Cecil Rhambo, former Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna, L.A. County Sheriff's Chief Eliezer Vera
California State Controller: L.A. City Controller Ron Galperin, State Board of Equalization member Malia M. Cohen, Mayor of Monterey Park Yvonne Yui
Mayoral: Rep. Karen Bass, L.A. City CM Joe Buscaino, L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer
City Council District 11: Erin Darling, Greg Good, Jim Murez, Mike Newhouse, Traci Park, Allison Holdorff Polhill
Click here to sign up or see more info
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GRASSROOTS DEMS HQ info and signups here
Lots of different options for pitching in, either in virtual groups or on your own from home, or in person when safe!
An open letter from the Board of the Pacific Palisades Democratic Club to Mayor Karen Bass, City Councilmember Traci Park, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsay Horvath, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna, and Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore:
In our council district on January 3, 2023, a group of LAPD officers immobilized and pinned a 31-year-old father and high school English teacher named Keenan Anderson after a hit-and-run incident. Claiming Anderson resisted efforts to detain him, officers administered six 50,000-volt Taser shocks. Anderson was evacuated from the scene unconscious and died in custody at a local hospital.
LAPD policy states that officers "may use the Taser as a reasonable force option to control a suspect when the suspect poses an immediate threat to the safety of the officer or others." By all available evidence Anderson’s actions do not appear to meet that standard.
"The gaps between pulses were so brief that [Anderson] could get out only a
few words — including 'Help me, please' — as he repeatedly cried out in agony."
Los Angeles Times
We need to name this for what it appears to be: an unwarranted and excessive use of force by LAPD officers, which led to an unnecessary tragedy.
The police work for all of us. We need officers who will demonstrate nonviolence and good neighborliness. When the community lacks confidence in police officers’ calm professionalism, it is an emergency of the most urgent sort.
We request that Mayor Bass, the City Council, the Board of Supervisors, the County Sheriff’s Department, and the Los Angeles Police Department immediately take all steps needed to ensure that the police employ patience and de-escalation, exemplifying nonviolence to our whole city. Specifically, we request that law enforcement adhere to proper procedures when employing potentially lethal or debilitating force. We further ask that each of you participate in public meetings before community councils or other local organizations over the next three months to report on your progress and field questions.
Sincerely,
Pacific Palisades Democratic Club Board
October 12, 2022
The Pacific Palisades Democratic Club joins the chorus of appalled Angelenos who have now heard the vulgar conversation between elected city officials of the highest rank, revealing how they violated the public trust.
The statements — made chiefly by former Council President Nury Martinez, who has now resigned, along with other councilmembers — are despicable and unequivocally deserve condemnation.
Kevin de Léon and Gill Cedillo, who both engaged in appalling conversation replete with exploitative politics and derisive narratives at a meeting where they believed they couldn’t be heard, both must join Ms. Martinez and resign. We must condemn the sentiments, freely exchanged between elected officials who have violated the public trust in the most daunting way, and hold these councilmembers accountable for their conduct.
It is truly a matter of great dismay to think that trusted elected officials would allow themselves to conduct the work of the people in this universally offensive manner — when they believed no one was listening. Writer C.S. Lewis echoed Charles Marshall, who said, “Integrity is doing the right thing when you don’t have to — when no one else is looking or will ever know....“ Rarely is that more true than when holding the public trust, and this recording lays bare that all three of these councilmembers lack integrity.
Having breached the public trust in the most vile of ways, the two councilmembers who have elected to remain in office must also resign.
The PPDC Board of Directors