FCCPR General Assembly
Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, 2 – 4 p.m.
Guiding Star Grange, 401 Chapman St Greenfield
Agenda
2:00 Welcome
2:10 Financial Report / Renewals for 2019
2:20 Announcements: Democracy Here with Jo Comerford, Cookbook,
2:30 2018 Election Summary
2:40 CPR Coordinating Committee Election (Members VOTE)
2:50 Proposal on Changing State flag
3:00 Breakout: What Should CPR Be Doing Now? (Small group discussion)
3:30 Breakout: Report Out
3:45 Jan. 3 demonstration at Richie Neal’s Office
3:50 Peace Task Force Resolution (Members VOTE) . To read this resolution click here.
4:00 Social time with refreshments… join us!
Coordinating Committee Elections
There were five open positions for the FCCPR Coordinating Committee with three candidates running. The nomination period closed on Nov. 17th. Here are statements from the 3 candidates. A vote will take place at the General Assembly.
Sara Seinberg has been involved in pushing back against injustice since the Gulf War,
through the Rodney King verdicts in southern California, and has been steeped in queer activism and movements since the 1990s. The fire for her civic engagement is rooted in practices of community
justice. She returned to activism like a fever dream during the 2016 presidential election along with millions of other human beings and she is happy to be back in collaboration with neighbors locally and
with organizations nationally to insist on making things right. This will be a lifelong process and she is committed to this life. She believes in economic justice, local economies, public schools and banks, and reparations for Black people and Native Americans. She is a member of the Women’s Right’s Task Force and lives in Leyden.
David Greenberg has been active in progressive politics since his college days. He’s done union
organizing in Boston and Amherst and co-founded WiredWest to bring high-speed connectivity to Western Mass. He also co-founded Pioneer Valley for Bernie, which later became FCCPR. His term
expires November 2018 and he is running for re-election. He represents FCCPR on the Our Revolution – MA (ORMA) Representative Council and also is the liaison between FCCPR and Indivisible-MA. He
welcomes the opportunity to continue on the CC.
Ferd Wulkan is a long-time labor activist whose passion has been
linking the labor movement with other progressive movements for
social justice. He has worked for 2 of the unions at UMass Amherst
for most of the last 30 years, has been actively involved with the Public
Higher Education Network of Massachusetts, the campaign to divest the state pension fund from fossil fuels, and the Educators for a Democratic Union caucus of the Mass. Teachers
Association. But his favorite organization is FCCPR! He has lived in
Montague for more than 20 years and makes sure to find time for
travel, the outdoors and tiddlywinks. Ferd is on the Climate
Crisis Task Force.
FCCPR Cook Book
FCCPR’s first cookbook is at the printer! Thanks to contributions from over 30 FCCPR members, we are excited to present 55 of their favorite recipes – including two to celebrate the legalization of recreational
marijuana. In addition, 6 local progressive food-related organizations are featured. We are taking orders now at $12 apiece! Please email ferdwulkan@gmail.com and indicate how many you would like and whether you can pick them up and pay for them either:
Wednesday, Nov. 28, between 6 and 7 p.m. at the FCCPR office (corner of Main St. and Bank Row in Greenfield), or Sunday, Dec. 2, at the FCCPR General Assembly (2 – 4 PM at the Guiding Star Grange in Greenfield)
Cash or checks made out to FCCPR will be accepted.
If you can’t make either of those times, we will make other arrangements.
Election Day Results
We won by overwhelming margins on Questions 2 – Overturning the Citizens United decision; Question 3 – Stopping an attempt to legalize discrimination against transgender people; and Question 4 – Instructing our State Reps to work and vote in favor of “Medicare for All” for Massachusetts.
A special shout-out to the Single Payer Task Force of FCCPR which wrote, collected signatures and campaigned for the ballot question. In the 1st Franklin district we won with 78% and in the 2nd Berkshire
we won with 75% of the vote.
About 3,000 pieces of literature on “Vote Yes on 4” and “Vote Yes on 1,2,3 &4” were produced and distributed by FCCPR members.
It was a heartbreaker to lose the Safe Staffing question, but many
important lessons were learned, First and foremost is that we have to
be prepared to build a big enough organization that can overcome the
millions and millions of dollars that corporations will spend to
defend their interests.
Congratulations to all FCCPR members who worked on these ballot questions.
At the polls in Greenfield on election Day, along with Congressman Jim
McGovern
Mueller
Demonstration
Hello, Greenfield Mueller protest members, and THANK YOU! We had a great turnout, with about 150 people showing up to light up the darkness with candles, flashlights, signs, song and spirit. We connected as concerned citizens, spoke our truth, and woke up Greenfield with our message: NOBODY IS ABOVE THE LAW!
Thursday’s protest was just one step in another, longer march toward justice. We
have a lot of work to do, but we’re ready for it!
Democracy Here – FCCPR’s TV Show
[Links to all episodes of “Democracy Here” can be found here.]
#10 On August 6-9, FCCPR’s Peace Task Force held a vigil to memorialize the
bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There were many events, and some
of them are in this video. (approximately two hours) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfs1A0KUCqU
#11 A videoed statement by Gar Alperovitz about his work on the history of the
decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan. In this episode of
Democracy Here, Randy Kehler and Maryelen Calderwood discuss this
statement and its relevance to today’s political scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKCKk_4sXK4&t=3s
#12 A videoed statement by Daniel Ellsberg about his
recent book ‘The Doomsday Machine’. In this episode of Democracy
Here, Randy Kehler and Maryelen Calderwood discuss this statement and
its relevance to today’s political
scene.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2JgEdDE420&t=13s
At the last General Assembly
Senator elect Jo Comerford talking with FCCPR members
FCCPR In the News (See all news mentions.)
