Voting Guide and Endorsement Info
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Stand up for Democratic Values
Where do we go from here?
Living in Santa Cruz County (where 70-80% of the vote went to Democratic candidates) and in California (where we elected a majority of Democrats to both houses of the legislature), 2016 was a difficult election for most of our community.
Fortunately, people are motivated to take action. Together, citizens around the country and right here in Santa Cruz County were determined to make a difference.
Forty seats were flipped from Republican to Democratic control in the 2018 midterm election. This is a BIG DEAL. But we can't stop now - there's lots of work to continue to do until the 2020 Presidential Election.
Besides participating by voting, contacting your representatives or joining a Democratic Club, here are some other ways that you can get involved in groups and actions that stand up for our shared values.
Affordable Housing Now https://affordablehousing-now.org
We are a task force of local residents working for affordable housing in Santa Cruz County, CA.
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Solutions should be directed toward housing for existing local moderate- and low-income residents.
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Programs should address existing housing, on the recognition that no amount of new development can meet the need for affordable housing here.
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Programs must address the prolonged and severe crisis in the local rental housing market, which includes over half of our households.
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New development and affordability modifications to existing housing should utilize best practices for energy and water efficiency, open space, landscaping and drainage, in order to minimize environmental impacts, maintain neighborhood quality, and reduce operating costs for residents.
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Santa Cruz Chapter https://www.aclunc.org/about/chapters/santa-cruz-county-chapter
WE THE PEOPLE DARE TO CREATE A MORE PERFECT UNION.
Know Your Rights: individual sections for immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQ, protestors, journalists, victims of sexual assault, police interaction, reproductive care needs, persons with a disability: https://www.aclunc.org/our-work/know-your-rights/know-your-rights-feel-youre-risk
Planned Parenthood https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-mar-monte
Health center escorts are needed to ensure that clients and staff can safely and calmly enter and exit from health centers when anti-choice protesters are present. See more at: https://www.plannedparenthood.org/planned-parenthood-mar-monte/volunteer-with-ppmm#sthash.qCb74tnV.dpuf
Santa Cruz County Diversity Center http://www.diversitycenter.org/
Paid, intern, and volunteer opportunities in communications, fundraising, IT support, and frontline hosts:
https://diversitycenter.squarespace.com/open-positions
Santa Cruz County Queer Youth Task Force http://qytf.org/
Live-Scanned active teachers, nurses and therapists needed to chaperone one to three events a year via the Adult Ally Project:
http://qytf.org/projects/adult-allies/
Volunteers always appreciated at the Queer Youth Leadership Awards ceremony: Contact: volunteer@gyla.org or sign-up at http://qyla.org/volunteer/
Santa Cruz Indivisible https://www.santacruzindivisible.org
Santa Cruz Indivisible is a group of 4000 people who are engaged as active citizens in the political process at the local, state, national and international arenas and focus on a progressive political agenda. We are a chapter of the Indivisible National movement and use the Indivisible Guide as part of our tactics.
Former progressive Congressional staffers have written a practical guide for resisting the Trump agenda and reveal the best ways for making Congress listen.
Southern Poverty Law Center https://www.splcenter.org/
Reports and publications on the effects of the Trump election:
https://www.splcenter.org/resources?f%5B0%5D=splc_resource_types%3APublication
Swingleft Santa Cruz https://swingleftsantacruz.org
In 2018, we took back the House—in 2020, we’ll take back ALL THE HOUSES. We’re bringing our “campaigns-in-waiting” model to swing Senate seats, the House, the state-level races needed to ensure fair maps in the 2021 redistricting, and, of course, the Presidency. We can’t wait to get started with you. Join Us!
The Santa Cruz Volunteer Center https://scvolunteercenter.org
Volunteers needed for a variety of community organizations call 831-427-5070 or see list of opportunities on their website.
Fact Checking and Reliable Media
PolitiFact California (Sacramento-based):
http://www.politifact.com/california/
Snopes (online rumor fact-checker):
The Reporters Lab at Duke University, worldwide fact-checking sites:
http://reporterslab.org/fact-checking/