Are you ready for a Good Trouble Town Hall Rally?

Our NY22 Town Hall Letter Got Media Attention...and Results 

Thanks to everyone who signed the well-timed letter to Rep. Brandon Williams noting that he has not yet shown any interest in holding public town halls in the district to date. The letter was delivered in person by a handful of NY22 activists on Monday to Williams' Syracuse office, and it was shared with local media.  There was almost immediate press coverage including "Over 200 people sign open letter to Rep. Brandon Williams asking for public town halls"  The piece included a quote from Judy Jerome expressing concerns about Congressional Republican threats to cut Social Security and Medicare. 

By Tuesday, Williams' office released dates for town halls in several locations in Oneida and Madison counties (no town hall in Syracuse--the district's largest population center?) claiming that these had been in the works. However, our members who delivered the letter on Monday were told by staffers that it would be some weeks before they intended to plan town halls.  

Utica media also mentioned the letter at the top of its story announcing the four scheduled town halls. The Daily Sentinel adopted our framing in their news piece.

When the story was reported on WRVO radio on Wednesday morning, the Williams staffer was put in the awkward (awkward!) position of having to claim that the request of Williams' own constituents to be heard... played no role in the scheduling of town halls. Since we got there first, they just couldn't win even though they are doing town halls. 

Overall, our letter, written and disseminated in collaboration with the Working Families Party, was just as widely covered as the announcement of the town halls, if not more. Theletter worked! 

With our public letter we have now launched our "Unrepresentative 18": NY22 Williams campaign to make sure that NY22 voters know who Williams is and what he really votes for (and who he votes with: Hint: MAGAs!)  But this is just the beginning.  Because now...
 

We Need You to Show Up for the "Good Trouble" Town Hall Rally

Event: Good Trouble Town Hall Rally

Date: Thursday, April 6th 

Time: 5:45 pm (Town Hall starts at 6:30 pm)

Location: Bradley Elementary School, 33 Oxford Rd, New Hartford

Register HERE to attend the inside event (Rep. Williams Town Hall): 

When you arrive be sure to join our rally outside.  That's our best chance to show our strength.  Bring signs about protecting Social Security and Medicare, both threatened by Rep. Williams' Republican colleagues in Congress. You are welcome to bring signs about other issues that matter to you as well, especially those that have broad support with voters in NY22 but are under attack by MAGA Republican MOCs.  Be aware that signs most likely will not be allowed inside the town hall.  This is Williams' first town hall so we don't know how his team will handle the event, whether they will carefully screen questions or how they will control the format, but it is likely to be more similar to a Tenney town hall than a Brindisi town hall, in spite of the fact that the location is a publicly owned property. 

IMPORTANT:  We need at least 30 people for the demonstration because this is going to be awesome footage for the media to include in their stories about the town hall.   Please help us reach out to new folks and those who haven't taken action in a while; invite them to attend. We want the room packed with our side, not BW's side.

Not able to attend on April 6th?  Want to keep the pressure on?  Live in or near Rome? 

Then you might want to attend Williams' town hall in Rome on Tuesday, April 11th, 6:30 pm at Lyndon Strough Middle School, 801 Laurel St., Rome.  Registration is at the same link on the Rep. Williams congressional office page.  

Let's show up in numbers on Thursday, April 6th! This is the first big event where we can challenge the message that Rep. Williams is a harmless CNY rep.  He's not.  He's enabling MAGAs in their quest to dismantle the public safety net--from SSN and Medicare to the ACA and laws that protect the public in finance, transportation, health care, environment and civil rights and that secure a bright future for families, climate, the economy, and democracy itself.  He votes with MAGA extremists like MTG 96% of the time.  Let's help the public understand the risk he poses to our freedoms.  
 

Today's Call to Albany: Public funding for elections

At a time when democracy all over the world is being threatened, the New York State Legislature and Governor have the opportunity to step up and protect democracy here at home. Yet the rumor is that they want to delay and not fund the newly implemented state Public Campaign Finance Program launched last November.  Albany lawmakers must honor the commitment they made in their budget proposals to fully fund New York’s new small donor public financing program without delay. 

 This program -small donor public financing for candidates- would amplify the contributions of those of us who aren't rich and powerful through matching public funds and enable candidates to spend time with their constituents rather than raising funds from billionaires and millionaires. It is the best tool we have to fight big money in politics! New York's defense against billionaires using their wealth to foist their view of the world on to us. 

Remember, we got super excited about this at our NY22 Summit last month? Today needs to be our biggest push yet! Please call your NY State Senator and Assembly Member. Tell them to fund the public campaign finance program and make it available for the 2024 elections. Click here to call.

This is our democracy, but only if we can keep it. So let's show Albany that we intend to keep it becauseit is the foundation for all of the issues we care about! 

Trans Rights Rally Today at 5 pm

A Trans Rights Rally will be held Friday, March 31st at 5:00 pm at the Genesee & Memorial Parkway Intersection, rain or shine. We are going to have a safe and peaceful rally, so please adhere to the safety marshals and do NOT engage with hecklers or counter-protesters. Those who do not comply will be asked to leave. Feel free to bring trans and nonbinary pride gear and/or signs for trans rights. At 6:00 pm, we will move over to The Other Side to give people a chance to speak and reconvene. We will wrap up around 7 pm.

NY22 Summit Messaging Workshop Set for April 4 & 5

The Summit Messaging Group is inviting all to attend a two-part Virtual Event on April 4th & 5th from 6:00-7:30 pm.  Dana Balter will be presenting.  Dana is an excellent presenter and always provides valuable, practical information. The information in this training directly relates to our interactions with others and how we use MESSAGING.  This is the first step toward developing our common vocabulary, creating effective and consistent messages, and communicating as a group. 
 
If you are only able to attend the first session, you will be able to pick up the second session at a later date. If there is continued interest and a need for additional training, Dana is available. Here is the registration link.  The messaging group hopes you will join them.

Today’s Climate Action:

Plastics are a huge problem for climate & environmental justice. The good news is that the Packaging Recycling and Reduction Act (A5322/S4246) would hold producers accountable for their waste. The bad news is that Governor Hochul has her own bill that is too weak to be effective and is full of loopholes. So, we want to keep the bill out of the budget and pass it later in the legislative session. Please call Assembly Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and ask her to stay strong and keep the Packing Recycling and Reduction Act OUT of the budget.
 Call AM Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (518) 455-2585 

You Make a Difference as Part of IMV

Your email is probably overflowing with messages about calling state legislators or the state leg leaders and the Governor about critical budget priorities.  Please make as many calls as you can!  Our activist allies from across the state (and some from IMV!) have traveled to Albany countless times in the past few weeks to lobby and rally, and some have been on the Million Dollar Staircase every day this week.  Progressive activists fighting for our budget priorities have been removed or arrested because they will not stop standing up loudly to the fat cat lobbyists and the politicians under their control on issues including: fair housing and affordable rent, health care for all, climate bills, public funding for campaigns, home health worker pay, equitable school funding, and much more.  We barely had time to touch on many of these important issues in our IMV Zoom Meeting on Monday night. 

However, if you can make one more call that highlights the importance of raising revenue from the super wealthy to pay for all these priorities, here is a tool from Invest in Our NY that you can use. It is now routing to the leaders, because the budget is getting hammered out between the two leaders and the Governor at this point.  

Please also make your plan for attending IMV's Good Trouble Town Hall Rally.  Sign up to attend the town hall, and then invite your friends who share your values to attend the rally and town hall with you.  Remember that we control the narrative best and we attract public support when we look numerous, united, and also peaceful, civil and respectful.  
 
 See you Thursday for some Good Trouble!  Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Follow us on Twitter using @indivisiblemv and of course our Facebook page and IMV Activism Group.