We've known this was coming. For months, Indivisibles have been preparing for action ahead of the June 1st default deadline.

The only thing standing in the way of their reckless game of chicken now is the pressure that groups like ours in purple districts put on our Republican Members of Congress to back down.

So, we are rallying, and it's been a long time since we've been at busy Consumer Square in New Hartford. It will be fun--bring friends and signs!

1) Vote to support your school district's budget. Public education matters. Brandon Williams voted recently to slash funding for public education, holding children and working people (teachers!) hostage to the MAGA default crisis. When you vote for public school funding, you shore up support for shared resources that benefit all of us.

2) Vote for school board candidates who believe in teachers, kids, books, and learning. There are candidates on school board ballots in districts across our region who are members of Moms For Liberty. They want to ban books and dictate what teachers can and can't teach based on their religious and ideological prejudices.

And to see how Brandon Williams is underwater in a recent poll. read on…

Our rallies, demonstrations, and media messaging are starting to pay off. Remember, the goal is to make sure that NY22 voters know what Brandon Williams really believes, says, does, and votes for. The more voters know about his MAGA extremism, the more they will turn away from him, even if he "looks the part" of the moderately conservative CNY farmer businessman.

(Note that the date of the New Hartford Town Hall remains Monday, May 1st.  BW's office rescheduled only his Camillus Town Hall)

WE ARE WINNING in our effort to weaken Rep. Williams in the media ad the public. He is a terrible representative of NY22, and he's dangerous because he is enabling (and frequently joining) the radical MAGAs in Congress. Let's keep the pressure on:

Join IMV to for our #GoodTrouble Rally before Rep. Williams' fourth sham Town Hall. This one is in New Hartford, at Bradley Elementary School, 33 Oxford Road.

(Photo by CNY Central)

Rep. Brandon Williams has still not moved into the district where ALL of his NY22 constituents live. That's a BIG BROKEN CAMPAIGN PROMISE. Read on to see what you can do about it.

Together with other NY22 Indivisible and progressive groups, we have had some major successes with our NY22 Anti-MAGA actions. Here's a recap:

Our NY22 letter with 234 signatures was delivered on March 27th! The next day Brandon Williams announced 4 town halls. Our letter was included in 8 articles! We used the power of the press to put a stop to his message taking root. Organizing wins.

The New Hartford town hall will be on May 1st. Mark it on your calendar. Rally at 5:45 (media have been doing interviews of participants!). The Town Hall is scheduled for 6:30 pm.

Are you willing to help flip #NY blue in 2024 and hold our MAGA extremist Republican Congressman accountable until then?

Then RSVP NOW to IndivisibleMV@gmail.com and let us know whether you are attending the Good Trouble Town Hall Rally on Monday (Chittenango) and/or Tuesday (Rome).

You have probably heard that Rep. Williams rescheduled his New Hartford Town Hall from Thursday this week to Monday, May 1st. That means that his first Town Hall in NY22 is on Monday, April 10th at 6:30 in Chittenango. So, NY22 activists are coming from all across the district to Chittenango. Read on for details.

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.

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. The letter worked!

Hope to see you at the Bradley Elementary School town hall, or one of the other three.

We are ready for spring and ready for action. Petitioning is over, and the weather is warming up. Today we will review the ways for NY22 to take action; a rally for Trans Rights on March 31; and a recent election in Lake George.

We have been at this for 6 years through several elections and the pandemic, and we are not slowing down or disappearing. Together we will protect our democracy and our values.

Just remember, keep it bite sized, local and FUN!

We're more than halfway through the petitioning period to get candidates on the ballot for local elections, and of course, many of us are also carrying important judicial petitions as well. Keep up the work and let's hope we have the luck of the Irish starting today (St. Patrick's Day) and have good weather the rest of the month! Even with pretty yucky weather last Saturday, the Celeste for Mayor campaign had a big and fun contingent with kids and families walking the parade route in Utica. Great job to all involved!

Hopefully you read your email from co-founder Ezra Levin on Tuesday, and learned about the launch of The Unrepresentatives, Indivisible's campaign to defeat the MAGAs in Congress and retake the House in 2024. Ezra previewed the plan with Rachel Maddow on Monday night. (Here's the clip in case you missed it). The short version? Indivisibles are taking on the 18 most vulnerable Republican representatives by exposing their extremism, holding them accountable and defeating them. And guess who is on the list? That's right, our very own truffle farming, carpetbagging, tech millionaire posing as someone who cares about the people and communities in NY22: Brandon Williams.

Get ready for a month of petitioning. It's time to collect signatures to get candidates on the ballot (or ourselves onto Dem committees). When we collect signatures, it's not just about getting candidates on the ballot, though. It's about that first pass at connecting with registered voters, letting them know what is happening in the upcoming election, and listening to their concerns and priorities. It's about building relationships with voters so that they have a connection year round, not just the week before the November election.

Here's a message from the NY22 coalition support team: "We're moving forward with the excitement of the NY22 Summit! The previous grassroots coalition for NY22 was called "Knit the District." We've created "Our NY22" as the tentative name for this coalition as it is more inclusive and expansive with organizations and people who are working in unison towards a common vision of what we want our NY22 to be.

We invite you to attend a meeting for the working groups on Wednesday, March 1st from 7-8 pm on Zoom.

Please join IMV for our February 2023 Monthly Meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21st, 7-8:30 pm. We have a packed agenda that includes:

• John Zogby of John Zogby Strategies will give an overview of the central NY political landscape, electoral shifts, and how he sees the future of parties and polarization.

• Local candidates, some known and some new, all of whom need our support for their elections in 2023 (Celeste, Caroline, Crystal, & Katie)

• NY Summit Recap and next steps

• REI (Race, equity & inclusion) section featuring news from the new NAACP Utica/Oneida County branch elected officers.

Over 130 people attended the NY22 Summit in Cazenovia last Saturday, and it was an energizing and exciting event. Thanks to all who braved the cold, and for those who were unable to be there, we will share some highlights at IMV’s February meeting on Zoom.

ICYMI: Our NY22 Summit was featured in the Feb. 6th national Indivisible email with photos from a tweet from Dustin Czarny (Onondaga County Board of Elections Commissioner) as THE IndivisiWin of the Week.

Are you ready for our biggest NY22 Summit yet? We're up to more than 180 registrants heading to Cazenovia tomorrow from all over the district and beyond. The event is scheduled in person for Saturday, Feb. 4th, 10am-4pm at the Hampton Inn in Cazenovia. The costs including lunch are covered by Indivisible organizing grants.

Thanks to all those who joined IMV for our 7th annual women's march event: "Bigger than Roe." It was wonderful to see more than 50 of you lining the sidewalks again, and the energy level was high in spite of the cold weather. (We know that those of you who could not attend were there in spirit.) We got a nice length segment on WKTV showing our members and our signs. Jill was our spokesperson, and she communicated the message that we were standing up peacefully for the human rights that everyone deserves and that we were doing it together to build up community rather than divide or tear down. It was a positive message that resonated with that very first Women's March in 2017. Looking around at us in our pink hats on Sunday it was clear that it's been quite a political journey so far--and worth the trip.

Everyone is welcome to join IMV in Utica at noon on Sunday, Jan. 22nd, for our sister rally, part of the national 2023 Women's March. It's the exact date of the 50th anniversary of Roe. That's BIG, and yet, our demands for rights and freedoms are even bigger than Roe.

Many of us first got involved, or got re-energized, in politics at Women's Marches in 2017. It's been seven years. Together, let's stay strong!

IMV's January 2023 Meeting was packed with energy and information. We had several first time attendees at our meeting on Zoom on Tuesday--WELCOME if you are new to Indivisible Mohawk Valley!

We also sought and received your input on plans for a Utica Women's March Rally on the national day of the March--Sunday, January 22! We will meet at noon at the corners of Genesee and Memorial Parkway/Burrstone, and wave signs and make some noise. This year's theme is Bigger Than Roe and it means this: "We are not going gently. We are taking our fight to every state in this country on January 22, 2023. We are putting all politicians on notice: If you come for our families, our freedoms, or our future, we are coming for your seat. Our movement is strong. Our movement is growing. Our movement is bigger than Roe."