Weekly WAG

IN THIS ISSUE

What MVCAN Did This Week

Upcoming Events

Weekly Action Items

Action Team Reports

WHAT MVCAN DID THIS WEEK

MVCAN held its first fundraiser for a political candidate Tues., April 18. Kimberly Ellis was endorsed by the organization to lead the CA Democratic Party as its elected chairperson. An ad hoc committee formed from members of the Electoral, Women’s Issues, and Dump Trump groups mobilized to work on this event over the past 7 weeks. It came off beautifully, and more than $11,000 was raised. Kimberly electrified attendees with her message of hope, change and accountability. She left no question in anyone’s mind that she should be the standard bearer of the party as we seek to redefine what it is and what it should stand for. Much work remains between now and the election at the state Democratic Party convention in Sacramento the weekend of May 20 to ensure Kimberly’s victory. But those of us who met and listened to Kimberly are re-energized to work on her behalf until the end. Go Kimberly!

Thank you to Donna Seager and Suzanne Gray of Mill Valley's Seager/Gray Gallery, Megan Vinson from Boo Koo, and photographer Elliot Karlan, in addition the the many people from MVCAN who organized two fundraisers: Leigh Ann Townsend, Kate Barrengos, Neysa Furey, Eileen Fisher, Emily Uhlhorn, Roberta Catalinotto, Linda Darby, Rebecca Brackman, Max Margolis, David Donnenfield, and many more. Thank you!

See more of Elliot Karlan's photos from MVCAN's Kimberly Ellis Fundraiser here. Photos are only for MVCAN use and may not be used without watermark or altered in any way.

See below for more ways to support Kimberly Ellis for CA State Democratic Party Chair.

4 MVCAN Members traveled to Georgia to canvass for Jon Ossoff for Georgia's 6th House District! See Election results, below. MVCAN expects to participate in many more canvassing opportunities in 2017 and 2018. (Jane Hall, pictured, above.)

MVCAN's Electoral Team phone banked for two Special Elections in Kansas and in Georgia. Both elections resulted in a seismic 20-point swing towards Democrats vs. the last congressional election. On Tuesday, Election Day Eve, MVCAN had 30 volunteers at the Electoral Team's Get Out The Vote phone bank, making more than 1,200 calls! See the Team Link below to learn how to join the Electoral (and other) teams.

MVCAN participated in the Signs of Hope Art and Activism Show by submitting signs and attending the successful opening. Thank you Angelique Benicio (above) for your energy and passion in making the show happen and bringing more awareness to the art of protest. The Signs of Hope show continues through April 29 at Art Works Downtown, 1337 4th St., San Rafael.

Thank you also to Celeste Perry, who represented Signs of Hope and MVCAN on KGO Radio! Listen to the podcast.

(Above, Fabrice Florin at Signs of Hope with his Bamboodu Theater. Bamboodu Theater will be a feature of MVCAN's presence in this year's Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade. More ways to get involved in the parade coming soon! Signs of Hope photos: Jimmy Fishbob Geraghty and Ken Pontac.)

60+ MVCAN Members Joined the Tax Day Rally and March in San Francisco April 15 to urge our chief public servant to show his tax returns to the citizens of the U.S. (his bosses), to ensure lack of corruption and collusion.

Thank you Susan Bolle and Bernard Catalinotto for spearheading our group and arranging bus transportation to and from Mill Valley to the Rally and March!

(Photos: Suz Lipman. See lots more photos, from multiple photographers, on MVCAN's Facebook Page.)

See Events, below, for more marches, rallies and other events and activities you can join in the coming weeks!

7 MVCAN members participated in a meeting of 40+ of the newly formed Marin Leaders Network to network various local Marin activist groups and plan ways to work efficiently and effectively together. Thank you Lisa Ristorucci, Bill Jansen, Leslie Walsh, June Cooperman and others for promoting our shared county-wide efforts.

MVCAN's Civil Rights/Immigration Team attended the Mill Valley City Council Meeting on April 17 to encourage council members, considering a resolution reaffirming the city's commitment to respect, tolerance and compassion, to add language to ensure "sanctuary-like" protections for residents. The resolution passed as proposed, but the City Council agreed to consider another resolution with the suggested additions. We need ALL your help to influence the City Council to move ahead with this. See the Marin IJ article and learn more about the Civil Rights Team.

Lastly, MVCAN announces its new web site! The address is still www.mvcan.org, but you may want to update your bookmarks if you have old links to the Wag or other pages. You can always find the current MVCAN Wag here. Look for lots more activity on the web site in the coming weeks. Thank you Lindsay Tyson and Suz Lipman for getting MVCAN online, and thanks especially to Lindsay for starting a new MVCAN Tech team and introducing systems that will help MVCAN get even more done! Want to be involved in MVCAN's web and other tech efforts? Contact Lindsay.

UPCOMING EVENTS

MARCH FOR SCIENCE Sat. Apr. 22, 11am-1:30 pm, San Francisco. Join MVCAN to celebrate public discovery, understanding, and distribution of scientific knowledge as crucial to the freedom, success, health, and safety of life on this planet. Contact Jennifer Tomkins or Lisa Ristorucci if you’re interested in joining the MVCAN contingent. A group is meeting at 9:15 at the Larkspur Ferry for a 9:30 am boat over, and marching together after the rally down Market! Rally/March details:

11am: Rally with invited speakers at Justin Herman Plaza. 12:30 pm: March down Market Street to Civic Center Plaza. 1:30 pm: Fair to celebrate science in Civic Center Plaza.

PEOPLE'S CLIMATE MOBILIZATION March and Rally Sat. Apr 29. Join MVCAN for a day of county- and country-wide solidarity at the Marin People’s Climate March. The dynamic environmentalist Erin Schrode will be the keynote speaker, and local legend Reed Fromer will be performing. Students of Marin's Leading Environmental school, TheSEL will be joining MVCAN's leg of the march. Meet us on the steps of City Hall in San Rafael at 11am. MVCAN is sponsoring the portion of the march from San Rafael City Hall to the San Anselmo Hub. Contact Lisa Ristorucci for more info or if you are interested in volunteering.

MAY DAY MARCH AND RALLY Mon. May 1, 2:30-6 pm. Gather at Court Street Plaza, San Rafael and march to the Canal for a Fiesta. Hosted by United Marin Rising. Info here.

MILL VALLEY MEMORIAL DAY PARADE Mon. May 29, 10:30 am-noon, Mill Valley. MVCAN looks forward to an exciting parade presence in our local Memorial Day Parade! Contact Laura Boles to get involved.

SAVE THE DATE! Our next MVCAN monthly meeting is Sunday, May 7, 3:30 pm, Tam Valley Community Center. More details to come!

Still want more? Check out the events, activities, meetings, and other ways to get involved on the mvcan.org event page. Bookmark this page so you can always find MVCAN's events.

WEEKLY ACTION ITEMS

ACTION 1:  Building on our wonderfully successful fundraiser for Kimberly Ellis for CA Democratic Party chair, we are urging this follow-up action: