Community Night at the Placerville Shakespeare Club

On April 23rd members from the community of El Dorado county and Red Hawk Casino workers came together to share some food , share stories, discuss union organizing and to build community support for the Red Hawk workers union organizing campaign.

The event was a huge success, every seat was filled! There were labor leaders from different unions, community leaders, labor activist, clergy leaders and rank n file workers from the Red Hawk casino as well as workers from other industries through out El Dorado county.

We heard horrific stories from Red Hawk workers on what the working conditions were like at the Red Hawk casino while other unionized workers we able to share their strengths of what it was like to work in a union shop.

Everyone who attended partisapated in break out workshops showing how bad negative jobs affect a community while good decent unionized jobs only benefit a community. 

The energetic community support for the Red Hawk workers was amazing and overwhelming!

To all who attended and contributed to this event we send out a heart felt THANK YOU!

March for Our Lives

In March, people from EDP pulled together, on short notice, to raise funds and send eight EDC high school students to Washington DC to participate in the March for Our Lives. The students were chosen via an essay contest.

“The March for Our Lives in Washington, DC was a transformative event. From the moment we landed, to the moment we boarded the plane home, each and every person in our group was challenged to expand their spirit, confront their biases, and take the messages of that event back to their community to give meaning to the lives lost. I feel fortunate to have been on the trip and to have experienced it with these intelligent, sensitive, and wise students from our county. I can’t wait to share our journey in the coming weeks,”

Sean Frame, one of the adult chaperones on the trip. 

On April 22nd, the students will talk about their experiences and what they learned in DC and in the March. The Meeting and Special Presentation will be at the Placerville Town Hall, 549 Main Street, from 4 to 6 p.m. eldoradoprogressives.org/events-page/2018/4/22/march-for-our-lives-presentation

Health Care Workgroup

By Maureen Dion-Perry and Margaret Madams, Co-Moderators

A busy couple of months behind and ahead of us.

Our next Workgroup Meeting will be held on Monday April 9th at El Dorado County Office of Education, 6767 Green Valley Road, Placerville. We start at 6 pm with snacks and socializing, with our monthly meeting from 6:30 - 8:30. Please join us, even if you are not currently identified as a Health Care Workgroup member. 

Current projects include:

1. Ongoing work on wallet cards and improving access to birth control services. We have distributed around 3,000 of the 'Western Slopes' card and have two more versions—one in Spanish and one for Lake Tahoe—currently in production. We expect the Spanish version from the printer any day now and would love/need some help in distributing them. Please contact Maureen or Margaret if you can help.

2. We continue to monitor and respond to Health Care legislation and are booking 'House Parties' to raise awareness and help educate constituents about what is happening at both the State and Federal level. 

3. Following the success of our earlier 'Community Conversations', we have booked a further event for 'Sierra Renaissance' on June 15th (details to follow). Collaborative efforts with other organizations continue and it is shaping up to be a busy year. Watch this space for future events!!! 

You can join our workgroup or ask questions here.

Our thanks to workgroup members and all of you who have supported and encouraged us in all of these projects.

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Vote Smart Workgroup

By Mary Elliott-Klemm and Marian Washburn

The EDP VoteSmart Workgroup is busier than ever. Voter Registration is going forward at full throttle. Volunteers are registering voters in April at the El Dorado Center College campus, at various Taquerias and Benham Park after Sunday Hispanic Mass, at the Placerville Natural Foods Co-op, at Earth Day, at the Native Plant sale, and more events are planned. We want to get every possible voter registered and voting in the Primary on June 5.

WE CAN WIN IN NOVEMBER IF WE GET EVERY ANTI-MCCLINTOCK VOTER TO VOTE IN NOVEMBER!!!!!

We continue to support the ever-important CalAway canvassing which targets Democrats. Canvassing is scheduled for April 7,8 and April 21, 22. This is probably the most important thing that we can do to get votes for the Democrat candidate and replace McClintock in November. Contact Lorraine King at lorraine.king@sbcglobal.net for more information and to help out.

House Parties are an important venue to bring in new volunteers and do fundraising for the anti-McClintock campaign. At the last House Party 10 new volunteers were added and money was raised. Donations are needed for our partner, Sierra Forward, to be able to do mailings, brochures, and ads for the campaign. Volunteer to host a House Party soon! Contact us at edpvotesmart.org

We are also extremely excited about the enthusiasm of the local high school students who participated in the March 24 "March For Our Lives" in Washington D.C. Their efforts to engage fellow students to register to vote will have a tremendous impact.

Join the movement! The more volunteers we have, the stronger we will be. Join us at edpvotesmart.org. Meet your fellow volunteers at our Sierra Forward Placerville Team meeting on May 1, 5:30 pm at Raleys Event Center in the Raleys Placerville Drive store.

If we volunteer, if we get out the vote, we can have a victory in November!

Civil Rights Now Workgroup

By Michael Saunders

Our group continues in its commitment to deal with racism in El Dorado County and our area.

The Monday morning picketing in front of the Mountain Democrat continues weekly at 12 noon. We have been a visible force to show the community that racism will not be tolerated and let others know there are like-minded voices. The protest has been visited by members from Unite Here and also has shown our solidarity with the Sacramento community for Stephon Clark. 

We have been addressing the problem of Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions (CC&Rs) in our county. Covenants are limits and rules placed on a complex of dwellings by a builder, developer, neighborhood association, or homeowners association. Many old CC&Rs contain outdated language forbidding "blacks" to own or have property in that complex. Several CC&Rs with this language have been collected and will be sent to the California Legislature. The intent is to create a law requiring homeowners associations to remove these antiquated, unenforceable, yet highly offensive clauses from their CC&Rs. 

On the school front, we are attempting to work two efforts: a curriculum for Social Justice to be taught throughout EDC schools and a one-day Social Justice workshop with panels of experts, speakers, and exercises for all schools. 

And we may have some upcoming actions to protest against yet another police shooting of an unarmed African-American. 

We live in a democracy where all people do not share the same freedoms. We continue to deal with bigotry, hate, and injustice. If you are looking to join us in rapid response actions and/or if you are willing to help in one of our many-faceted approaches to the problem, sign up for our workgroup here at the next general meeting.

Protecting Public Lands

                 Protecting Public Lands

The Protecting Public Lands Workgroup, formerly known as the South County Citizens for Public Lands, is inviting you to view our newly launched webpage on the El Dorado Progressives website CLICK HERE

On out page you can find information on environmental alerts and legislation as well as good news and events that you can participate in.

We are a small group determined to push back against the constant assault on our environment. We are looking to grow the group so we can be more effective in our efforts.  If you are interested, please use the “Contact Us” link on the Protecting Public Lands web page.

March for our Lives

March 24th 2018 Washington DC

EDC Student Essays

Eight deserving high school students were selected to travel to Washington DC, with two chaperones, for the historic:

March For Our Lives

Here are the eight essays:

• ANIKA SCHMIDT
• ANNABEL MAGUIRE
• ASHLYN GLANCY
• EVERET FRAME
• KAYA MEMARI
• LAUREN TILLEY
• TAYLOR SUMMERS
• WILL ZACHRY

High school student essay contest to attend March for Our Lives in Washington, DC

Thanks to the generous support of community members and members of El Dorado Progressives there is now an opportunity for El Dorado County high school students who are committed to the cause of ending gun violence and mass shooting in our schools to attend the 3/24 March for our Lives in Washington, DC.

To be considered for this trip, students must complete and return this application and submit a 300-word essay no later than March 16, 2018. This contest is open to high school students of Union Mine, El Dorado, Ponderosa, Oak Ridge, Virtual Academy, and High School aged students of El Dorado County Charter Schools (CCP, CUP, and CCA).  The selection committee will select the best essays and will notify qualifying students on 3/19/18 if they have been selected.

The application form can be found HERE.  

All essays and applications must be sent to: eldoradoprogressives@gmail.com with the subject line “March for Our Lives.”

All donations to EDP though March 19 will support the students' trip. To donate for the trip, click here. 

March For Our Lives - fundraising

In response to the amazing activism of High School Students to the events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, El Dorado Progressives, in collaboration with supportive community members and educators from our high school districts and county office of education, is offering high school students in our county the opportunity to attend MARCH FOR OUR LIVES in Washington, DC on March 24, 2018. 

We are still accepting donations. Go to eldoradoprogressives.org/take-action/and click "Donate".

100% of donations between now and 3/19/18 will go toward sending students to the March.

Currently, the plan is to send at least two and perhaps more students (depending on funds available) to the March. 

We believe this is an amazing opportunity for El Dorado County High School Students to witness democracy in action in our nation's capitol. Students may apply by completing the application here: https://docs.google.com/…/1e1zLoqtzyFqXK978q7XBedaVpK…/edit…

The deadline for completed applications is March 16, 2018.