On this 156th anniversary of Juneteenth, FCCPR celebrates the emancipation of African Americans, commemorates the end of slavery in the United States and welcomes June 19th as a federal and state holiday as it should certainly be. As welcome as this new holiday is, we must remember that there is still plenty of work to be done to eradicate racism from our society. We dedicate ourselves to that work.

Rally for the Fair Share Amendment 

Saturday June 12

Noon on the Greenfield Town Common

The Fair Share Amendment is a proposal to amend the Massachusetts Constitution, creating an additional tax of four percentage points on the portion of a person’s annual income above $1 million. The new revenue, approximately $2 billion a year, would be spent on quality public education, affordable public colleges and universities, and the repair and maintenance of roads, bridges, and public transportation. To ensure that the amendment continues to apply only to the highest income taxpayers, who have the ability to pay more, the $1 million threshold would be adjusted each year to reflect cost-of-living increases.

For years, the highest-income households in Massachusetts – those in the top 1 percent – have paid a smaller share of their income in state and local taxes than any other income group. They’ve also benefited from repeated federal tax cuts: 83 percent of the 2017 tax bill’s benefits went to the top 1 percent, and last year, the Federal CARES Act included $135 billion in tax breaks for wealthy business owners. 

In June 2019, the Legislature advanced the Fair Share Amendment one step closer to the ballot with a Constitutional Convention vote of 147 in favor to 48 opposed. The Amendment needs to receive another 50% vote of the constitutional convention during the 2021/2022 legislative session in order to be placed on the November 2022 ballot. Independent polling conducted by MassINC in December 2020 found that 72 percent of MA voters support the Fair Share Amendment. 

FCCPR is taking a leadership role in the western Mass. Fair Share Organizing Committee. We need your help to make sure that this ballot initiative passes in 2022.

Unity Action

Please join the communities of Sunderland and Deerfield as we observe one year since the murder of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020.  We stand in solidarity with the many adults & children of color who have been violently insulted, attacked and for some, murdered at the hands of law enforcement and white supremacists.  We support the many people targetted as “other”.   We stand as one.

Fair Share Amendment Organizing Meeting

Register Today!! !! https://housingishumanright.com

Wednesday, May 5 6:30 pm

The town of Athol is creating housing by reclaiming two municipally-owned elementary schools. When completed, the project known as Riverbend Row will offer housing to families and grandparents raising grandchildren. We will also consider The Millers Falls Powers Block/Millers Falls Inn, the Montague Center School, and a planned mix use building on 38 Avenue A in Turners Falls. Greenfield has developed an inventory of vacant, abandoned and foreclosing properties and is identifying opportunities to work with local non-profits to create affordable housing, with Deerfield St. and Cedar St. projects successful examples.

Participants will learn the steps involved once a property is identified as feasible, including creating a long-range plan, exploring the target population, the housing models they might choose, options for financing and choosing a developer. Participants will then be in a position to determine if abandoned properties in their communities might be suitable for housing and if so, work with other like-minded people on the steps to make this happen.

Panelists:

• Shaun Suhoski, Athol Town Manager
• Walter Ramsey, Montague Town Planner
• MJ Adams, Director-Community and Economic Development, Greenfield

Resident Owned Communities: One Housing Answer

Thursday, April 15   7 pm

Resident Owned Communities (ROC) are one answer to the affordable housing crisis. There are approximately 1000 ROCs across the country, and more than 200 in Massachusetts. We will discuss what they are including how homeowners get organized to buy and what it means to be a member in a ROC. We will consider consumer protections: what to look for when buying in to a ROC, and what to do if there are problems. Third, we will talk about how to buy a home in a ROC and fourth, opportunities for new ROCs including how to start one.

Panelists:

• Paul Bradley, ROC USA
• Colleen Preston, Cooperative Development Institute, and a resident in a ROC
• Sandy Overlock, from the statewide homeowners’ association, and a long time resident in a ROC

Community Housing Trusts:  The Burlington, Vermont, Experience

Wednesday, April 21   7 pm

Community Land Trusts are a useful tool to community-controlled development. Can Community Land Trusts be an answer to the development of affordable rental and single family housing? The Champlain Housing Trust is a successful example of this kind of development in Northern Vermont communities, including the City of Burlington. Rather than rely on outside developers, the community land trust keeps the investment in, and value of, housing within local communities. 

Register today!!    https://housingishumanright.com

There is no fee for the keynote or any of the workshops.

If you would like one of these anti-mcas/opt out signs, please contact Doug at dougselwyn@aol.com.

Register Today!!  https://housingishumanright.com

Who are the homeless and how does corporate capitalism limit affordable housing?

Wednesday, April 7   7:00 pm

Living on the Outskirts of Society:  Stigmatization of people in re-entry from incarceration and recovery   

Individuals leaving jail or in recovery from addictions face very specific housing challenges. We will discuss the biggest challenges in finding housing for them, ideas for remediation, short and long term, and how we as the local community can support the work in some concrete ways.

Register today!!    https://housingishumanright.com

• Gina Govoni, Franklin County Regional Housing Authority
• Peggy Vezina, Western Massachusetts Training Consortium
• Jenn Avery, Re-Entry case worker, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
• Trenda Loftin, The Compost Coop

Housing within a Corporate Capitalist Society   

Thursday, April 8  7:00 pm

To fully understand this housing crisis and how we got here, we must look at the question of why there is homelessness in the wealthiest country in the history of the world and why there is such a lack of affordable housing throughout this country. In this workshop, we consider how corporate capitalism shapes the housing challenges we face in Franklin County, and across the country, and how that understanding can help us act most effectively in finding/creating housing for all.

• Traci Talbert, Racial Justice Community Engagement Leader, Franklin County Community Development Corp.
• Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Director, Urban Democracy Lab, New York University
• Jake Carlson, Population Studies and Training Center, Brown University

Register today!!    https://housingishumanright.com

Housingishumanright.com

Part 2 FCCPR General Assembly

Sunday Feb 14, 2021

2:00 to 4:00pm

To register for the General Assembly click here

To take part in the priorities poll click here

Please renew or join Franklin County Continuing the Political Revolution

For 5 years we have been the largest and most active multi-issue organization in Franklin County

We believe the movement to make lives better for the 99% means we must struggle against the control corporations and the 1% have over the country.

Please join us today.

You can send your $10 annual membership fee to FCCPR PO Box 216, Greenfield Ma 01302 or send it to us through Common Good or the PayPal link on our website. fccpr.us/contact

If you wish to send an additional donation, that would be greatly appreciated.