LD22 Newsletter - September 2019
Welcome to the Arizona Legislative District 22 Monthly Newsletter.
Working to support families and businesses in our community.
We are looking forward to all of the exciting upcoming events and fundraisers scheduled for the next few months, so stay tuned here to learn more.
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Thursday September 19th
5:30pm to 6:30pm Social Hour
6:30pm to 8:00pm Meeting and Speakers
Speakers this month include:
Meeting is held every third Thursday of the month at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 17540 N Ave of the Arts, Surprise AZ 85378.
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Join us for TACO TUESDAY every first Tuesday of the Month.
This month the first Tuesday came so fast its already over, we enjoyed a visit from Michael Muscato, candidate for US Congress - AZ Congressional District 8.
Taco Tuesdays are held at Urban Margarita
Receive a ticket for showing up and win a gift card to a local restaurant! If you bring a friend you get an extra ticket! Who doesn’t need a TACO support group?
Stay tuned for more candidate visits for this event!
https://www.urbanmargarita.com/
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The 3rd Democratic Presidential Primary Debate is in September
Thu Sep 12th 5:00pm - 8:00pm
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Beginning in September - Weekly Rally Events
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Constitution Day 2019, Tue Sep 17th 8:30am to 10:00am at Congresswoman Debbie Lesko’s office for our first Weekly Legislator Rally. This week our rally issue is EDUCATION.
Please wear red. Bring signs. (Examples: Fund Students and Classrooms; Strong Schools, Strong State; Full State Funding - Full Federal Funding; If You Can Read This, Thank a Teacher; SOS Arizona; We Wear Red for Ed!). Don’t forget water and sunscreen.
Tue Sep 24th 8:30am - 10:00am
Join us at Congresswoman Debbie Lesko’s office for our Weekly Legislator Rally. This week our rally issue is Economy/Job.
Intersection of W Bell Rd and W Grandview Rd, Glendale, AZ
For information about more weekly rally events follow our FB page at https://www.facebook.com/AZLD22Dems/ or our website events page at https://ld22democrats.com/events.html.
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The first in a series of classes around Plant Based eating and cooking was held on August 24th. The event was a big success and we look forward to scheduling another event soon, so stay tuned.
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Speaker Spotlights - Coming this Month
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Hazel Chandler
Representative for the Elders Climate Action group
Elders Climate Action
 Hazel Chandler has dedicated her life to listening to the community and helping to solve difficult challenges facing Arizona. As a champion for children, she has brought diverse groups together to find common ground and real solutions. She has a background in government, non-profit and business working with people of all ages, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including early childhood, elementary education, health care, social services, mental health, and environmental as well as regulatory and financial management. She has a BA - Early Childhood Development, MA in Management and am a Certified Public Manager. She is on the National Steering Committee for Elders Climate Action, serves as the National Collaborations Chairman and is the Co-Founder of the Arizona Chapter.
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Shea Stanfield
Arizona Corporation Commission
https://www.sheastanfield.com/
Phoenix, Arizona became my home in 1957 with my dad's job transfer with the Center of Disease Control (CDC). I grew-up with the understanding life was about service to others through health care and education. I attended Arizona State University earning both a Bachelors and Masters in Education. My 40-year teaching/counseling career culminated in June 2013. During those years I raised two sons, worked with my local teachers' union, served on the Cave Creek Town Council, and sat on numerous educational and environmental boards. I am running for the Arizona Corporation Commission, as a Clean Elections candidate. My objective is Building a Sustainable Future for Arizona, specifically focusing on renewable energy sources that will improve air quality, water conservation and grow eco-friendly/sustainable businesses.
E-mail: sheastanfield@yahoo.com
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Jen Buck
All Hands Arizona Representative, Founder
allhandsarizona.org
Supporting asylum seekers and migrants traveling from Central America.
Jen Buck is a business owner, an author, a mother, and an activist. She is the founder and Director of All Hands AZ, one of the nonprofits that are aiding the asylum seekers on the front line, right here in Phoenix. She is also the founder of Pantsuit Nation Arizona, a progressive political group that was created the day after the election to create a space for women to step forward and lead in their community.
Although Jen was raised in a political family, she never thought that being involved with politics was something that she would do... until it was something she *had* to do. Now, she leads 1600 activists in the state of Arizona, is a staff member for a 4 million person national political organization, is leading 700 volunteers to mobilize and help the migrants traveling through our city, and is the Chief of Staff for a US Congressional Candidate running for CD6 in 2020 . She does all of this because she has a daughter who she hopes will understand the power in standing up and being an active part of shaping her own world.
All Hands AZ is a collective of organizers and volunteers who are supporting the asylum seekers and migrants traveling from Central America. These people have been granted legal temporary asylum by Homeland Security and are being released to their families in order to pursue their asylum case in front of a judge. They are officially lawfully “documented” aliens and we are committed to helping them in their final steps toward their American Dream.
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August 2019 Meeting HIghlights
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Sandra Kennedy spoke about the 3 seats coming up at the AZ Corporation Commission next year and reminded everyone to tune into the Special Open Meeting on September 4th.
In addition Neil Miller emphasized the importance of electing democrats to Maricopa County offices and urged us to promote voting up and down the ballot in every election to elect more Democrats.
Bob Musselwhite (CD8) discussed his significant education experience and his campaign platforms which include Social Security and quality healthcare.
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Nadaburg Unified School District Bond Election Meeting (Matt Varitek)
The meeting is at 6:30pm on Wednesday, September 11th at the "little red schoolhouse" at 32919 N Center St in Wittmann. It's a classic one-room schoolhouse that dates to the 1920s.
Superintendent, Dr. Aspasia Angelou, has arranged for representatives from the School Facilities Board to give a presentation and take questions. Under current conditions, the opening of a high school is critical to our continued existence as a school district.If any volunteers would like to lend a voice in support of our district at the next Governing Board meeting, that would be greatly appreciated.
Contact Matt Varitek for more information - matt.varitek@gmail.com
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There were also 4 new board members proposed and accepted during the August meeting:
Dean Campbell - Data Management Chair
Valerie Harris - Social Media and Communications Chair (SMAC)
Theresa Neiberg - Civic Engagement Chair
Janet Pettifer - Digital Media Chair
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LD22 - Social Meda Marketing Campaign Help Request
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LD22 is working to expand our reach through social media and we need your help! A strong following will help us to connect quickly to educate voters and provide current information about relevant issues. Additionally we will be better equipt to notify our local community about upcoming fundraising events, club activities, volunteer requests, current legislative issues and much more.
As of the end of August we have a total of 325 followers and our goal is to grow that following to 2000 by the end of the year. We need your help so please continue to Like, Share and Follow!
DID YOU KNOW?
LD22 has a business FB page AND a private group page. To keep up with all of the current issues and events specific to LD22 please follow our business page at https://www.facebook.com/AZLD22Dems/ or search for #LD22democrats in FB. To join the private FB group and add your own posts to join the conversation simply access #AZDemsLD22 from the FB search bar.
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(Our new monthly feature from Dean Campbell)
I thank all our volunteers for their hard work. It is amazing to me how much we accomplish in LD22 relying on our volunteers and without any paid staff. We are talking hundreds of hours donated to the Party and to our vision for the future. Outstanding!
So, I am the data guy. This will be the first in a series of downloads I offer for your information. The primary data keeper is the VAN (Voter Activation Network). It is an online database where we organize most of our voter and volunteer data. The “voter” database tells us (among many things) to which Party the voter belongs, which candidate or Party the voter supports and who receives mail-in ballots. The “campaign” database keeps track of our volunteers and supporters, who attends meetings and who volunteers time to do what.
Starting in late March we began a canvass of strong Democrats to ask who is willing to volunteer during the 2020 election cycle and to promote our social media initiative. We knocked on 2,208 doors and talked with over 1,200 Democrats with 347 telling us they want to volunteer and 288 agreeing to join us on Facebook or Twitter. Hundreds gave us their email addresses to receive this monthly newsletter. We have a great start at building our team for 2020.
This past week we completed a Virtual Phone Bank with volunteers from California. Fifteen volunteers completed 456 calls. This initiative was designed to promote the Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL). Sixteen Democratic voters agreed to sign-up for PEVL, four agreed to volunteer and we left 292 messages promoting PEVL. We plan to continue this initiative.
I plan to schedule phone banks at my house beginning the second half of September. The days and times for these events will be announced soon. If you signed up to make phone calls, be on the lookout for this opportunity. Please call me at (801) 265-9866 if you want to participate. Initially we are looking for people who can bring laptops and cellphones. You can also participate from home.
Dean Campbell
VAN Captain
PS: Speaking of monthly meetings – our August LD meeting had a record 51 attendees. The movement is growing!!
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Notes from our Civic Engagement Chair - Teresa Neiberg
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I took on the job of Civic Engagement Chair because I believe that voting can no longer be a proxy for civic engagement. I don’t think our current situation is going to change if we wait for someone else to change it. I know that we have power and that the power of the people is bigger than the people in power.
I am inviting everyone to step up to protect our democracy from ELITISM, EXCLUSION AND DIVISION by;
- becoming knowledgeable and informed about the issues they are most passionate about,
- learn our legislators’ and candidates’ positions on the issues,
- learn to use Request to Speak to monitor our legislators,
- be willing to attend committee meetings and have a presence at the Legislature,
- attend upcoming protests and rallies to insist on action,
- call, text, email, and write letters to our legislators,
- write Letters to the Editor.
My goal is to facilitate these calls to action to the best of my ability, as opportunities arise, with the help of EVERYONE in LD22, other LDs, the MCDP and ADP and other advocacy organizations.
Information, as it becomes available, will be discussed at LD22 meetings, sent out in the LD22 newsletter, listed in events on ld22democrats.com and posted on the LD22 Facebook page.
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The SMAC (Social Media and Communications) Team is looking for volunteers to help with the newsletter and social media. Do you have experience with writing, editing or providing content? Are you active in groups that would like to share their message with LD22 Dems? Contact - vjharris90@gmail.com
LD22 Dems is looking for volunteers to help plan and execute upcoming district events and fundraisers in support of our district and our candidates.
If interested in creating positive, educational experiences for voters contact bobbie.kithcart@gmail.com
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LD22 Volunteers
JOIN LD22 ARIZONA DEMOCRATS
Help Move Arizona Forward
Become part of a team and help create an Arizona that works for everyone. The LD22 Democrats are launching an organized effort to recruit and train volunteers to reach out to voters that we have never talked to before across our district. This is your invitation to join the team. Help move Arizona forward. Each month we will highlight a volunteer who joined the team and is moving Arizona forward.
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Get to know the LD22 volunteers! |
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Volunteer Spotlight - Janet Pettifer
When did you get involved with the Democratic Party and why?
One fateful evening in 2016 my husband and I were watching the election results with the relaxed demeanor of someone who knows their candidate has this in the bag. There was no way Donald Trump could ever be elected president! It was entertaining but, in the end, an absurd thought that people would actually vote for him. Hillary was far from perfect in my mind, but she had experience, she knew the job and I felt it was past time for a woman leader in our country. So, long story short, after the election I realized that I could not just sit on my couch and moan, I had to get involved, and the fact that I retired early this year also motivated me to action.
What type of volunteering activities did you do in the past?
I have always been interested in giving back to my community using whatever time and skills I could offer. My mother spent her lifetime inspiring me to look beyond myself and notice the needs of the world around me. Therefore, I have developed web sites for a variety of charitable organizations including a breast Cancer fund raising site to collect funds for a large annual event held in Northern AZ, a site promoting medical marijuana benefits for children with epilepsy, and more recently the two local democratic party organizations (LD22 and Northwest Valley democrats) and more. Additionally, I help to set up and support social media postings for a variety of charities.
Why is volunteering important to you?
Selfishly, I enjoy meeting and interacting with like minded people in my community and staying active physically and mentally. Additionally, I have been very lucky throughout my career to have had the opportunity to develop skills, specifically IT skills that many non-profit organizations can benefit from. Creating an online presence through a web site, social media, online fundraising etc., is critical to their success but one of the most expensive services to obtain. This is where I think I can help by offering my skills and experience, it saves organizations (Like LD22) money when I can volunteer to help with these tasks.
In addition, our beautiful earth and its creatures are important to me, and I look to find ways to reduce my negative impact on this planet. Volunteering with the democratic party I have found many others concerned about the critical issues we face relating to climate change and the devastation we (mankind) are creating through horrific animal agriculture practices. I want to work to support legislation which supports doing more for our planet's health and our future.
What are your plans for volunteering in 2019?
To continue to do as I have been doing this year and work to expand our reach through social media. I plan to continue to support changes and updates to the LD22 website, work on the monthly newsletter and our online fundraising tool, Act Blue. I would like to also concentrate more on improving the use of our Instagram and Twitter account as time allows. In addition, I plan to host more fund raisers, like the Plant Based cooking demo I did in August and help with additional LD22 fundraisers where I can.
Janet
jpett@cox.net
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Are you interested in civic engagement beyond voting? LD22 has many volunteer opportunities that can fit any schedule. Check out the volunteer link on our website for more information.
For specific information about current Volunteer opportunities you can also contact Cheri Tomlinson at cheri.tomlinson254@gmail.com or 602.561.9470.
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Partnership with Swing Left Sonoma County
Swing Left Sonoma County is now an official partner with LD22 working to turn Arizona Blue!
Sonoma County friends conducted their 1st Virtual Phone Bank (VPB) on Monday, August 26th.
The first event was a success. Below are some of the key results of these efforts by our Sonoma friends!
- 10% canvass success rate in 2 hours with 15 volunteers
- 4 individuals wanting to become LD22 Volunteers
- 16 positive PEVL signup response
- 20 leads for individuals wanting a “call back” wanting to learn more about LD22
- 292 encouragement PEVL messages left
A Special Thank You:
To Dean Campbell and Bev Baird who were the leads on this event. I agree with Dean when he exclaimed, “I can’t be any happier with this!!!!!”
Cheri Tomlinson - LD22 1st Chair
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Rally for Gun Safety
Special Event hosted by Brian Whitman on Saturday September 7th, at 8:30 AM – 10 AM
Location - 8225 W Bell Road in Peoria AZ 85345
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Dems who Care - Adelante Healthcare Boo Bash
LD22 is participating with the free treats and a Voter Registration drive at Adelante Healthcare Boo Bash for children and their families. Boo Bash is a partnership effort designed to provide candy in a safe environment on Saturday, October 19th from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.. We are anticipating 300-500 individuals will be attending.
How can you help a child smile? Please donate candy. Please bring the donated candy at either one of the LD22 monthly meetings -- September 19th or the October 17th.
Want to Volunteer? We are seeking volunteers to help us conduct a Voter Registration drive during Boo Bash. We already have 3 volunteers and need 2 more volunteers for this event. Please notify Cheri Tomlinson at 602-561-9470 or cheri.tomlinson254@gmail.com.
Making it Fun: We are planning either a child activity or a drawing to encourage the adults to complete the Voter Registration or PEVL forms while their child is enjoying Boo Bash. Please contact Cheri if you are interested in donating $ for the Raffle/Activity. We are seeking a donation of $5 from 10 individuals. The monies can be donated at the September or October LD22 meeting, or online HERE.
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FIGHTING FOR HEALTHCARE!
Meet Paula D. Aguayo: LD 22 Democratic Party PC, Arizona native, attorney, mom to an amazing young man who lives with psychotic brain illness: bipolar disorder with psychosis and schizoaffective disorder.
My son had his first psychotic break at age 17 while a senior in high school. This was the first and not the last time we were turned away from a hospital when seeking emergency medical help for our son. My husband and I had good jobs, private health insurance, and credit cards in our hands, and we were shocked to be refused medical care for our child at the hospital. During the most terrifying and debilitating medical crisis of our child’s life, we learned that hospitals routinely turn away patients suffering from severe brain disorders, including minor children. The reason we were given at more than one Phoenix area hospital was, “there are no beds and we have no psychiatrist contracted with this hospital.” At another hospital a staff member advised that not only did they not have beds, but that if our child got worse or violent, we should call the police. We did not want the police! We wanted medical care! For what other medical crisis would a hospital refuse treatment and direct a child’s family to the police?
Hospitals turn away patients and families from essential lifesaving medical care because of a rule called the IMD Exclusion. The Medicaid Institutions for Mental Diseases (IMD) exclusion prohibits the use of federal Medicaid financing for care provided to most patients in mental health and substance use disorder residential treatment facilities larger than 16 beds. The law defines “institutions for mental diseases” as any “hospital, nursing facility, or other institution of more than 16 beds, that is primarily engaged in providing diagnosis, treatment, or care of persons with mental diseases, including medical attention, nursing care, and related services” (1).
In order to avoid the penalties of the IMD exclusion, hospitals do not contract with psychiatrists and do not have an adequate number of inpatient beds for people suffering from psychotic brain illness. This is medical discrimination. As a result of the IMD exclusion, 1) the largest mental healthcare providers in our country are our nation’s jails and prisons, and 2) patients stricken with the most severe forms of brain illness are the least likely to receive medical care.
“There are many more people with untreated severe psychiatric illnesses living on America’s streets than are receiving care in hospitals.” (2)
“Since the 1950s, the number of inpatient beds available in America has decreased by 96.5 percent, making it much more difficult for those living with serious mental illness to get the treatment they need.” (3)
(1) https://lac.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IMD_exclusion_fact_sheet.pdf
(2) https://mentalillnesspolicy.org/consequences/homeless-mentally-ill.html.
(3) https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/what-you-can-do/a-bed-instead
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Talk with Us
Volunteer Service Team is here to assist you:
Call: 602-561-9470
Email: Cheri.tomlinson254@gmail.com
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Summer is over and LD22 has a very active fall/winter and 2020 fight to win! I cannot fathom a repeat of 2016! Can you? No one thought it could happen then, but we know now that interference from foreign actors tipped the scale. We cannot let people fall into that trap again for ANY reason, personal or political. We must work together to prevent another four years and the obstructionist and revisionist nationalist policy perpetrated by our own Government. What happened to “for and by the people?”
Democrats in Arizona have heard the call. There are 3 Candidates vying to become our next Congressional House Representative for LD22. We have two State House and one State Senate candidate running to represent all LD22 citizens. There are also currently 18 candidates running for County positions and the number continues to grow! You can find them listrd on our website at https://ld22democrats.com/candidates.html
An LD or legislative district works to elect ALL Democrats up and down the ballot. That means we need you to help us knock on the doors of fellow Democrats and friendly Independents to:
- have a conversation about what is important to them,
- recruit them to become Precinct Committee people or volunteers,
- share our impressive slate of qualified Congressional, County and LD22 candidate,
- hang Candidate literature on door knobs,
- have a cake and coffee house party for a favorite candidates with friends, family and neighbors,
- encourage them to vote early using at-home (PEVL – the permanent early voting list), or
- text fellow friendly Independents to inform them of the need to select a party or give up their ability to vote your preference for a Presidential candidate on St. Patrick’s day.
Yes, you read that correctly. The Presidential Primary in Arizona is called the Presidential Preference election and will be held on St. Patricks’s Day this year. I haven’t met a Democrat yet that doesn’t make this a high priority. Please forgo celebrations until you have voted or better yet, get onto the early voting list so your ballot comes to your home! You can leisurely research candidates, talk to friends and family and vote from the comfort of home. Did you know that paper ballots are more secure?
There will be candidates speaking at our Taco Tuesday meetings at Urban Margarita from 5:30 – 7 on the first Tuesday of the month beginning in October. We’d love to see you there and anytime to share our plans with you and listen to your priorities.
On October 26th there are three physicians who will speak at our LD22 Healthcare Forum about the pros and cons of the variety of proposed health care approaches advanced by our Presidential candidates. Our venue is being finalized and will be announced shortly. The event will be posted on Facebook and our Website so secure your tickets early!
There are many other events of interest so follow us on-line or reach out to us and we’ll send you information through the mail or email.
LD22 will also be holding a Mark Kelly event in the Spring. We will also be opening an office to launch candidate canvasses, phone banking, text banking, a Democrat political book club, civic engagement protests against our legislators who are not representing ALL of us in LD22.
Don’t forget to complete the Census and make sure everyone you know does so. After 2020, and once the tally is completed the political legislative districts will be re-aligned to compensate to the increased population. We have a good chance of becoming a “bluer” LD in 2022 once re-districting is complete.
There’s a lot to do to reach 30,000 Democrats and 10,000 Independents. Frankly, we can only do what we can do with the skeleton staff that we currently have. I shudder to think that for lack of assistance we have a repeat of the last four years. Contact any of us to help. GET INVOLVED. THE 2020 ELECTION RESULTS ARE UP TO YOU.
Looking forward to 2020
Bobbie Kithcart
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