Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Write To Marry Day!

Whaddaya say, Ojai Peace Coalition? What are the connections between Prop 8 and Peace?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

In With The New!

The end of the year approaches, bringing all things NEW! New members, new survey to build a new website, and new leadership and laws after the election!

Prop 8: Peaceful Protest This Thursday
If you're passionate about democracy, equal rights, and separation of church and state, please join us for a peaceful protest in opposition to Proposition 8 (same-sex marriage ban) on Thursday October 30th from 4:30 to 6:00pm at the Y intersection in Ojai. You may arrive and leave whenever you like and there will be signs available for you, but you may also make and bring your own!

The Obama office on Matilija Street and Montgomery has yard signs if you need one (or a dozen!).

Ojai Day Report-Out
Ojai Day was on Saturday the 18th, and the Ojai Peace Coalition had a nice presence inside Libbey Park. THANK YOU to all the volunteers who staffed the table throughout the day with smiles, information, and grace! THANK YOU as well to the 17 new members who signed up, and for whom this is your first OPC email! WELCOME!

Our main action was dramatically successful, with 70 new signatures gathered on our petition to the Ojai City Council to adopt a Resolution to End the War. i don't have a total signature count right now, but it's a LOT! After we see who our new councilmembers are (after the election) we'll be figuring out when a strategic time to present them our campaign might be. Meanwhile, you can sign it and share it via this link:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ojai_iraq/index.html

finally, participation in Ojai Day cost us $95 (plus a refunded $50 cleaning deposit), and we brought in $54 in donations. That means we invested $41 in being a part of our community's cultural event! Money well spent, methinks.

Happy Peacemas!
The HolyDays are upon us, and Peace is always in style! Visit The Official OPC Store and the PeaceHand Store for great holiday goodies that support the Ojai Peace Coalition!

(there's also a giant list of other peace-themed online retailers on our Action Blog)

Website Improvement Survey!
i've become familiar with some powerful new web tools that could improve our website tremendously. So, i've created a new survey so you can help me decide what's valuable! there are just four questions...please take a moment!

OPC 2008 Voting Guide
You can download our 2008 voting guide as a pdf HERE. My strongest recommendations are for Suza Francina for Ojai City Council, YES on Proposition 2, and NO on Proposition 8.

You can read about Suza Francina HERE.

You can read about Prop 2 HERE, and spk's insightful challenge of our Prop 11 recommendation HERE.

You can read a lengthy and enlightening discussion about Prop 8 HERE.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Ojai Day for Peace!

Ojai Day is this Saturday October 18th, and the Ojai Peace Coalition has a space in Libbey Park! This message is all about volunteering to make Peace a visible part of our culture!
Peace,
-evan

In This Message:
Ojai Peace Vigil: New Hour
Ojai Day mandala
Ojai Day, Oct 18
OPC Voting Guide

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Ojai Peace Vigil: New Hour

The Ojai Peace Vigil, held every Friday evening under the Pergola in front of Libbey Park, will change to winter hours - 5:00 to 6:00pm - starting this Friday October 17th.

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Ojai Day Mandala, Friday 17th

If you live in Ojai, you are probably familiar with the huge mandala that's painted in the main intersection of Ojai Ave and Signal Street every year for Ojai Day. WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP CREATE IT??

Creation of the actual mandala itself will take place on Friday, October 17th at 10:30pm at Ojai Avenue and Signal Street! Children must be accompanied by an adult.

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Ojai Day, October 18th!!

Ojai Day is Saturday October 18th, and the Ojai Peace Coalition will be tabling in the Non-Profit section inside Libbey Park! We'll have some of our unique peace-goodies for sale, some materials to give away, and a petition or two to sign.
Please volunteer some time to staff the table, as it's required to be up all day long! We are in space #635 inside Libbey Park, and are required to set up between 8 and 9am. The event begins at 10am and ends at 5pm, and we are not allowed to break down before 5.
Here are the shifts that need filling, requiring at least two people each:

Setup: 8:30-9:30am
Shift 1: 9:30-11:30am
Shift 2: 11:30am-1:30pm
Shift 3: 1:30-3:30pm
Shift 4: 3:30-5:30pm
Breakdown: 5:00-6:00pm

Please email me right away with the shift(s) that you can fill...this is only a few days away, and i cannot be there all day! This job will require sitting, talking, and being peaceful. :)
If you can't do that, please consider sending a little cash our way to help defray the cost of participating!

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OPC 2008 Voting Guide...coming NOW!

THANK YOU to the few who've let me know what you think about some of the persons and propositions that we'll be voting on soon!
After input from you and review of over a dozen sources that we commonly feature the actions of because we share values, here's the breakdown:

President and Vice President
Barack Obama & Joe Biden

State Assembly
Ferial Masry

United States Representative
Marta Ann Jorgensen

State Senator
Hannah-Beth Jackson

Ojai City Council (choose two)
Suza Francina

Propositions:
1 - High Speed Rail Bonds:NO
2 - Standards for Confining Farm Animals:YES
3 - Children's Hospital Bond Act:NO
4 - Waiting Period and Parental Notification Before Termination of Minor's Pregnancy:NO
5 - Nonviolent Drug Offenses, Sentencing, Parole, and Rehabilitation:YES
6 - Police and Law Enforcement Funding:NO
7 - Renewable Energy Generation:NO
8 - Eliminates Rights of Same-Sex Couples to Marry:NO
9 - Criminal Justice System, Victims' Rights, Parole:NO
10 - Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Renewable Energy:NO
11 - Redistricting:YES
12 - Veterans' Bond Act of 2008:YES

For those of you going to the polls on November 4th (as opposed to voting from home, which you can do now if you received your absentee ballot in the mail), i'll try to attach a printable pdf of these recommendations in my next message, so you can take it with you!

Sources include The Santa Barbara Independent, League of Women Voters, Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry Action Network, Friends Committee on Legislation, Church IMPACT, American Civil Liberties Union, California Labor Federation, Sierra Club California, California Chamber of Commerce, and the League of Conservation Voters.

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Peace!
evan austin
Ojai Peace Coalition