FEATURED IN THIS WEEK’S MVCAN NEWSLETTER (10/18/19):

UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIONS

SPECIAL GUEST! OUR STATE SENATOR MIKE MCGUIRE-
MVCAN NOVEMBER MONTHLY MEETING - Sun, Nov 3, 5PM
PHONE BANK IN SAUSALITO - Saturdays Oct 19 and 26
VOTER COMMUNICATION TRAINING SESSION - Oct 26
MARIN ORGANIZING COMMITTEE CONVENTION - Oct. 27
WRITE POSTCARDS TO HELP REGISTER TEXAS VOTERS
IMMIGRATION/CIVIL RIGHTS TEAM MEETING - Sun. Oct 26 4pm- 5pm (right before MVCAN Monthly Meeting)
SAVE THE DATE: SUNDAY DECEMBER 8, 5PM - MONTHLY MEETING SPEAKER: ANDY BINDMAN, MD- EXPERT ON HEALTH CARE POLICY ISSUES

WHERE WE’VE BEEN AND WHAT WE DID:

TERRIFIC SPEAKERS AT OCTOBER MONTHLY MEETING
MVCAN MEMBER LORRIE GOLDIN’S EDITORIAL ABOUT AIRLIFT IN THE MARIN IJ, SEPT 30
SUCCESSFUL MARIN RAPID RESPONSE TRAINING
TIBURON JOSH HARDER FUNDRAISER

UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIONS

1 MVCAN NOVEMBER MONTHLY MEETING - Sun. Nov 3, 5 - 6:30PM

Mill Valley Community Center - Welcome to All!

Guest Speaker: Marin State Senator Mike McGuire

MVCAN is thrilled to host Senator Mike McGuire. For the first time we have landed him for our monthly meeting Nov 3rd! If you haven’t heard him speak, he is very dynamic and inspiring. Coming from a very progressive position, he is fascinating, discussing the nuances of legislation or the Democratic vision for California as a national role model. He will be available to take your questions as well.

In addition, at the meeting on November 3rd we’ll be exactly ONE YEAR OUT from Election 2020! Come hear what we are already doing and planning for NEXT November 3rd.

MVCAN Monthly Meeting

Sunday, Nov 3, 5 - 6:30PM

Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto

Snacks and Beverages served - Join us there!

2 PHONE BANK in SAUSALITO - Sat. Oct 19 / Oct 26

Thanks to Susan Bolle and her team of amazing volunteers for their dedication. We’re fired-up and ready to go!

The Virginia State Legislature election is coming up in less than 3 weeks -- E-Day is November 5. Our partnership with Marin Democracy Action Marin and Sister District Marin continues, so join us as we call voters to Get Out The Vote!

Phone Bank in Sausalito
Sat. Oct 19, 2pm - 4pm
80 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 20

Phone Bank in Sausalito
Sat. Oct 26, 3pm - 5pm (Note later start time - 3pm)
80 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 20

For more info on this and upcoming phone banks, contact Marti Cermak at marti.cermak@gmail.com. Thanks Marti for all you do!!

The entire VA House & Senate are up for election November 5, 2019 -- and we have the opportunity to take the majority and gain a powerful trifecta (both state houses + governor) to ensure we get fair redistricting in 2021 and progressive state legislation.

We’re also laying the groundwork for the big election coming up in less than 400 days by reaching out to voters in Arizona and other Super States to make sure we turn out every voter to take back our country Nov. 3, 2020.

Please bring your charged cell phone AND a laptop, iPad or tablet along with your earbuds with a mic. And don’t forget your water bottle.

Remember, our experienced coaches are always on hand to guide you from start to finish.

3 VOTER COMMUNICATION TRAINING - Sat. Oct 26

Are you a volunteer new to talking with voters? Or are you someone who has been talking to voters for years but wants to be more confident and persuasive?

Don’t miss our first voter communication training of this election season. All of us can use this training -- from beginners to those experienced in voter communication. Kathi Walsh, one of our most inspiring trainers, uses the skills she developed from years as a psychiatric nurse to teach us to listen actively and communicate with voters persuasively.

We need to maximize the impact of every conversation we have with voters -- whether it be in person, on a call or through a text. Each interaction is a valuable opportunity to strengthen our democracy through motivating voters.

Voter Communication Training
Sat. Oct 26, 1pm - 3pm (immediately before the Oct 26 phone bank)
80 Liberty Ship Way, Suite 20

Sign up here to learn more and register for Voter Communication Training.

The training will be followed by a phone bank so you can practice what you've learned. Register here for the Oct. 26 phone bank.

4 MARIN ORGANIZING COMMITTEE CONVENTION - Sun. Oct 27

Earlier this year, MVCAN joined the Marin Organizing Committee as an additional way to work in coalition on local initiatives to improve the lives of all Marin residents. We are one of 22 member organizations.

MVCAN members are invited to attend the Marin Organizing Committee (MOC) 10th Anniversary Convention where hundreds of activists will celebrate a decade of building power in Marin to effect change in critical local issues, and promoting a political agenda for increased mental health services, expanded renter protection, increased affordable housing, and expanded aging services. Local elected officials will be there to commit to working with MOC on priority policy issues.

Please RSVP to MVCAN liaison Ruth Jaeger at ruthjaeger94925@gmail.com so that we know how many seats to reserve for MVCAN members.

Come and sit with your fellow members in the MVCAN delegation on Sun. Oct 27. It’d be great if we could have a real show of force!

5 WRITE POSTCARDS AT HOME TO HELP REGISTER TEXAS VOTERS

MVCAN’s ongoing postcarding efforts (along with participation at the national level through Reclaim Our Vote) have been effective at boosting voter registration rates. The counties where we wrote postcards are apparently seeing a much higher rate of voter registration than similar neighboring counties.

Some Exciting Facts:

In September -- 4,430 postcards sent from the MVCAN network of writers!! That is a 34% increase over August!
Total postcards sent to Virginia (for the Nov 5 state election) – 6,770
Year-to-date we have sent more than 11,000 postcards.

Please contact MVCAN lead organizer Bob Haar at politicalbobh@gmail.com for more info and to find out everything you need to get started. (Note: Bob will be away October 21 – 26).

Currently, we are writing postcards to Texas, which is quickly moving towards becoming a swing state. After many years of complete Republican control, the state has been changing; the number of Latino voters is increasing; the metropolitan areas, already Democratic, are growing fast, and a number of analysts think that Texas is following California’s path away from Republican control. But Texas has also been ground zero for voter suppression for years. (See Texas Tried To Mess With Voting And Failed.) This is why it is critical to get folks registered and voting in 2020 and beyond.

Gail Haar writing away!

6 MVCAN IMMIGRATION/CIVIL RIGHTS TEAM MEETING

Sun. Nov 3, 4pm - 5pm

On Sun. Nov 3, the Civil Rights/Immigration Team will meet at 4:00pm in lobby of the Mill Valley Community Center. New members welcome!!

Immigration/Civil Rights Team Meeting

Sunday, Nov 3, 4 pm - 5pm (right before the MVCAN Monthly Meeting)

Mill Valley Community Center (meeting in lobby)

180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley

MVCAN: WHERE WE’VE BEEN AND WHAT WE DID

1 TERRIFIC SPEAKERS AT OCTOBER MONTHLY MEETING

At our monthly meeting on Oct 6 we heard from women’s candidate expert Susannah Delano of Close the Gap CA, and from Stephanie Moulton-Peters, current Mill Valley City Council member and 2020 candidate for Marin Board of Supervisors.

Susannah gave us a fantastic overview of the status of women in elected office and how we can grow their numbers, especially in CA.

2 CHECK OUT LORRIE GOLDIN’S OPINION COLUMN IN THE MARIN IJ

In the Monday Sept 30 issue of the Marin Independent Journal, we were really proud to have an eloquent and persuasive IJ “Marin Voice” column by MVCAN member Lorrie Goldin about Airlift (a MVCAN fundraising project) strategy and programs.

You can check out Lorrie’s article here:

“Feeding Grassroots to turn non-voters Into voters with Airlift”

Lorrie’s opinion column is part of a growing trend; MVCAN is pleased that our advocacy this year has resulted in better coverage by the Marin IJ of events like rallies, protests and issue lobbying. (Huge thanks to Susan Morgan and other Marin Leaders Network grassroots groups for leading this) The IJ editor is now running regular “Marin Voice” columns by grassroots activists!

3 INFORMATIVE RAPID RESPONSE TRAINING

Thanks to our MVCAN Immigration/Civil Rights team for sponsoring a special Marin Rapid Response Network (MRRN) Training from the Multicultural Center of Marin. Also, our thanks to MRRN staff and volunteers - Patty, Sabrina, and Lisa- for providing a free training session that was so educational and productive.

The training session prepared volunteers to become “Legal Observers” to help monitor ICE activity. When ICE activity is reported, trained Legal Observers are deployed to a specific area within Marin County to "document" the situation.

4 SUCCESSFUL JOSH HARDER (CD-10 MODESTO) FUNDRAISER

Thanks to Susan Bolle for hosting this successful fundraising event for Josh Harder’s 2020 campaign. More than $20,000 was raised! And many thanks to the many MVCAN members that contributed!

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JOIN AN ACTION TEAM

WANT TO GET MORE INVOLVED in a specific issue or support area? Much of MVCAN's work is done in one of our 10 awesome action teams. Click the team name to read their latest news and find their next meeting.

Civil Rights/Immigration battles for justice and fair treatment of women, immigrants, working people and followers of all faiths.

Communications works on strategy, branding, messaging and program development for MVCAN. They are looking for bright ideas and people who want to make them happen.

Eco Warriors are engaged in change at the local, state and national levels, to impact the CA carbon tax, climate change, and community outreach and action.

The Economic Action team runs AIRLIFT, our first national project. AIRLIFT funnels money to grassroots groups in winnable 2018 districts. These are seriously vetted groups that work all year round in their communities–they get tangible results without blowing through millions of dollars. Read about Airlift in the Huffington Post .

Electoral is still celebrating the incredible outcome of the 2018 Midterms. Over the past 2 years, our dedicated group of volunteers called, texted and canvassed voters in our focus CA Congressional Districts along with NV & AZ. They helped win all 7 of the 7 flippable CA Congressional Districts, along with the Senate seats in NV & AZ. As we look to 2019, we are weighing many options which include strengthening the position of our newly elected CA House Representatives, voter registration drives and the state level elections in November--and of course, the Special Congressional Elections which will result in Trump Cabinet members being fired and replaced with Congressional Republicans.

The Events team creates special events to engage our friends and neighbors to take political action with MVCAN.

Health Care is forging ahead after their successful fight over the repeal/replace of ACA.

Tech supports MVCAN through technology.

Women's Rights fundraises and canvasses for NARAL and Planned Parenthood; supports women in public office(s); and engages in local, state and federal legislation for women's protection and rights.

NEW TO MVCAN?

Visit MVCAN.org to learn about the organization and strategies, join a team, read past MVCAN newsletters, and gain helpful Resistance tools.

WANT TO VOLUNTEER YOUR SKILLS OR TALENTS?

Numerous positions and jobs are available – one-time or ongoing. Contact volunteer@mvcan.org.

Thank you for all you do!
– June, Bernard, Eileen, Rebecca, and everyone at MVCAN

MVCAN News brought to you by June, Annie and Eileen