An aspirational, living document we can grow and amend over time.
Click here to comment or make suggestions. You can also send us an email: dsasantabarbara@gmail.com
Mass Text for Prop 10
You can do it on your own, or get together with some friends and help text 1,000,000 Californians about Prop 10! To get started, follow the instructions here.
Phone Blitz — Pressure South Carolina Officials to Evacuate Prisoners in Path of Hurricane
“PHONE ZAP UPDATE 9/12: Both North Carolina and Virginia have stated they now have plans to evacuate prisoners within the projected path of Hurricane Florence*. South Carolina officials continue to vaguely reference a “plan,” but won’t say whether that plan involves actually evacuating prisoners within the evacuation zones or path of the hurricane. We still haven’t heard much on Federal prisons. We must continue to pressure them to ensure they meet our demands! We’ve prioritized both South Carolina and Federal numbers below!
*Florida said the same thing after we pressured them to evacuate prisoners during Irma last year, yet left 1,000s of prisoners in it’s path. If nothing else, VA and NC know we are watching.
As Hurricane Florence barrels towards the East Coast 170,000 people behind bars lie directly in it’s path with no ability to evacuate in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.
We need your help putting pressure on each state to ensure the horrors that happened at FCI Beaumont during Hurricane Harvey don’t happen again. Already one prison we know of in a flood zone is refusing to evacuate.
Demands-
Immediate evacuation of all prisoners from every [State Prison and County Jail] or [Federal Prison].
Stockpiling of Water and Food at every facility.
When you get a response tweet @FightXPrisons! (Or email FightToxicPrisons@gmail.com)
ALSO-
We don’t trust ANY Department of Corrections. Per Jailhouse Lawyers Speak’s advice, “If you know any prisoners in this storm path, it’s important to tell them to fill up any containers or bags with water NOW!! Prisons are notorious for not giving adequate drinking water to prisoners if any at all after the water is contaminated.”
There’s a lot of numbers so maybe get with some friends and divide up!
Numbers to Call
1 – Federal Bureau of Prisons-
2 – Mid Atlantic Regional Office (North Carolina and Virginia)- 301-317-3100
3 – Southeastern Regional Office (South Carolina)- 678-686-1200
4- South Carolina Department of Corrections (Twitter- @SCDCNews)
UPDATE: Jailhouse Lawyers Speak has confirmed with prisoners inside Ridgeland Correctional and Lieber Correctional that they are NOT being evacuated. Ridgeland has told phone-zappers it’s not moving people without orders from the Governor or the Director of Prisons. We’ve updated the below numbers accordingly!
Governor’s Office- 803.734.2100 and Twitter- @HenryMcMaster
Legislative Liaison/Special Assistant to the Director— Dexter Lee—- 803-896-1731
Jasper, Colleton, and Beaufort CO’s in Southern SC are not under mandatory evacuation but SC Emergency Management Div. retweeted a tweet from Horry Co. EMD telling residents of those counties to evacuate. Additionally the Governor told residents of those counties in a live press-briefing 9/12 to leave if they can. Information for those county jails:
Jasper County Detention Center
(843) 717-3300
Beaufort County Detention Center
(843) 255-5200
Colleton County Jail
(843) 549-5742
Colleton County Sheriff Administration
(843) 549-2211
North Carolina Department of “Public Safety” (Twitter- @NCPublicSafety)
DOPS General Line- 919-733-2126
Department of Correction General Line — (919) 838-4000
Ask to speak to Director Lassiter’s Office.
Virginia Department of Corrections (Twitter- @VADOC)
General Number- 804-674-3000
Press 0 at the menu and ask to be transferred to the director’s administrative assistant.
Only current VA evacuation- Indian Creek Correctional Center.”
(SOURCE)
SHARE PROPOSITION 10 MESSAGES ON SOCIAL MEDIA
If you follow us on Facebook and Twitter you’ll see important messages about YES on Proposition 10 — an excellent way to take action at this very moment is to take a minute or two to CLICK ON and SHARE a few of the memes and message we’ve posted. As you know, the reach grows tremendously when you share posts with your own networks.
Here are a few excellent Prop 10 posts to share around.
California is facing a crisis of housing affordability. Factoring in the cost of housing, California has the highest poverty rate in the country, despite being the 5th largest economy in the world! Of California’s almost 6 million renter households, over 1.7 million are “severely overburdened” by rent, meaning they pay more than 50% of their income toward rent. And, more than 1/4 of the entire homeless population of the country resides in our state! Skyrocketing rents are so bad that for every 5% rent increase in Los Angeles, 2,000 more individuals and families find themselves on the street. California tenants can’t “wait” for more affordable housing stock to be built; renters need more protections, like rent control and just cause evictions, now! Interested in getting involved in our chapter’s Housing Justice Committee? Keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities, or email housing@dsasb.org if you’re interested in joining!
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California’s Housing Crisis: Created by corporate landlords; maintained for corporate landlords. Let’s stop this – Vote YES on Prop 10 on November 6! #YesOn10 #StopTheGreed Interested in housing issues? Contact us at housing@dsasb.org
“Rent bumps.” We don’t consider a $1500 rent increase a “bump.” We don’t consider displacement of seniors, families and long term residents out of our communities a bump.
Candidate Statements for Sept 12 Convention
On September 12 we will have our first annual DSA Santa Barbara chapter convention! At the convention, one of the things we will be doing is casting votes on chapter officer positions. These positions are listed below, along with descriptions and statements from those running for office.
Zach B — “I’m a legal intern, starting law school next year in the hopes of a career in public defense. I am constantly angered by the way American empire grinds up vulnerable people, all in a drive for increased profits for the wealthy. My pet issues are housing as a human right, police and prison abolition, and ending the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. I’m running for Vice Chair because I want to help make all the different components of SB DSA run smoothly. I want to do what I can to start dismantling capitalism, starting locally and hopefully rippling outward.” Nobody yet! Nobody yet! Darrick — “I am a 29 year old father of one who is looking to make a contribution to the common good. I am a optimistic pragmatist who wants to see all US residents take a more involved role in the decisions that govern their lives – and I am hopeful that DSA will be a vehicle for the growing involvement of everyone, especially the young and working class. I stand by the values of this organization and principles of this Chapter. “At Large Representative” fits most closely with my skill sets and experience. My Master’s degree focused on institutional sustainability; essentially how to get organizations goal oriented in a manner that looks at future challenges/opportunities. In the past I have interned at the State Dept. and worked at the UN office for Least developed countries, as well as a number of jobs working in countries like Morocco, Ghana, and Belize. My background will help me to make DSA a ‘change-agent’ and an organization with short term/long term achievable goals.” Nastacia — “My name is Nastacia, and I’m running for At Large Representative because I believe that it’s important to have members of the Steering Committee who have a broad understanding of the goings-on of the general chapter and can synthesize that information in order to represent the membership “at large”. As At Large Representative I would work closely with other Steering Committee members to identify any needs or opportunities within the general membership and find creative ways for members to get involved and make their voices heard, as is necessary in any socialist group. Having participated regularly in general meetings, organizing committee meetings, working group meetings, and coalition meetings, I believe that as an At Large Representative I would be able to adequately represent members of the chapter widely across our organizing efforts.” Zac S — “Hi I’m Zac and I’ve been involved in Santa Barbara DSA from its early stages. I set up our social media accounts and purchased our domain name, and it would be a joy to steward the good work that Per has done in maintaining the website and sending out newsletters. I’d also love to delegate some of our content creation out to our members so we can continue to grow our communications and reach more people. If you vote for me I promise to convert all private land in Santa Barbara to public land within three weeks. Thank you.” Loren — “The Outreach Coordinator needs to be someone who has shown up for many other groups efforts. They need to be able to communicate with radicals, progressives, and even centrist Dems when our goals align. These are all things I have done and am capable of doing. I am a Steward in my union. I am in communication with El Centro, the SB Standing Rock Coalition, Bonfire Collective, and Healthy CA. I’m smart enough, I’m good enough, and gosh darn it, people like me! Vote this guy for Outreach Coordinator!”
(2 Positions) The co-chairs are the official public spokespersons for the chapter. They organize and preside over all official meetings of the organization and the chapter, maintain consistent communication with all committee leaders and facilitate collaboration and coordination between them, and act as, or appoint, the official representatives of the chapter to the national organization and to other DSA chapters.
Who’s Running?
Dhriti — “As a founding member of the Santa Barbara DSA, I’ve been lucky to see this group grow from a few people sitting around in a living room to an organization with many members and working groups. While our growth has been exciting, I feel that I have many skills to offer as a co-chair that would improve our organization’s efficiency and communication. I’m a member of the Health Care Working Group and my role has been to set agendas for and run our meetings as well as facilitate communication between members and other organizations. Ensuring that our group has a clear agenda to work through every meeting has enabled us to gain a sense of purpose. Not only did this lead to a successful canvassing event, but, more importantly, this has led to group members finding their strengths as activists and taking ownership of the group. I hope to lend these skills to Santa Barbara DSA as a whole.
That being said, efficiency is not my only priority; having been involved in activism and community moderation since my college days in Chicago, I am used to working with diverse groups of people and mediating conflicts. I truly believe that activism isn’t just about making sure that everyone is in the room, but it’s about making sure that everyone in the room feels safe, is heard, and is appreciated for their strengths. I look forward to making our growing organization more democratic and making sure that we are able to take input from all of our members. In my opinion, leadership is about delegation, fostering people’s talents, and making sure that every member feels that they have a stake. If you are also committed to our chapter’s growth and increased member involvement, please vote for me as co-chair of the Santa Barbara DSA.”
Per — “I was pleased to be invited to the table in 2017 when we first committed to building a DSA chapter in Santa Barbara. Since then, I’ve been at nearly every core organizing meeting with the rest of our excellent volunteer leadership, offering my experience and leadership to stewarding this community. I’ve only been in town since 2014, but in that time I’ve gotten very engaged in the city and its various activist communities. I have run a socialist reading group for over three years and met people from dozens of local organizing and politically active groups. I was also a core organizer for the local Bernie Sanders campaign for a year a half, where I learned a lot about the political landscape of the central coast and CA, and continued meeting new people, building networks into a broad range of progressive and left groups locally. I believe these relationships and networks are indispensable in growing our chapter and building solidarity to mutually elevate our work. I’m a non-sectarian radical leftist comfortable speaking to and building bridges with a broad spectrum of political leanings. My disposition is generally calm and patient. As a leader, I want all people to be heard but make sure we adhere to strong community standards, and be mindful that every human space, even leftist organizing spaces, has to be prepared to contend with sexism, racism, harassment, or inconsiderate behavior towards marginalized groups. I want us to do as much as we can to prevent this, and have a clear, safe grievance process if and when issues come up. As an independent filmmaker and artist, I believe strongly in telling important stories and communicating the positive, political vision that socialists are bringing to bear. I believe that Dhriti and I together will be a good team with complementary strengths and experience and look forward to seeing you at meetings in the streets!
(1 position) The vice chair is responsible for assisting the co-chairs with all of their duties. If both co-chairs are unable to perform their duties, the vice chair shall perform all duties and assume all responsibilities of the co-chairs until such a time as one or both co-chairs are able to resume their posts.
Who’s Running?
(1 position) The secretary is responsible for taking the minutes of all general membership and Steering Committee meetings and reporting the minutes, resolutions, reports, and other official records of the chapter. The recording secretary may appoint, but must oversee, a temporary proxy minutes-taker for any meeting.
Who’s Running?
(1 position) The treasurer is responsible for administrating the funds, budget, and financial organization of the chapter, including overseeing its fundraising activities. The treasurer reports to the Steering Committee on the financial status of the organization at each Steering Committee meeting and maintains transparent and open financial reports.
Who’s Running?
(2 positions)At-large Steering Committee members participate in Steering Committee decision-making and are responsible for attending all relevant meetings and reading all relevant documents. At-large Steering Committee members are also tasked with representing the views of the membership that elected them as well as helping to advance the goals of the chapter generally.
Who’s Running?
(1 position)The communications secretary is responsible for the member newsletter and website, as well as overseeing social media and any other outward facing communication or media. The Communications Secretary will delegate to volunteers as needed, and work closely with committees to help ensure consistent, timely communication internally, and make recommendations to the chapter as needed in terms of technology and security to adopt
Who’s Running?
(1 position)The Outreach Coordinator works with any and all chapter members engaged in outreach and coalition-building efforts, responsible for keeping track of liaisons and ambassadors to other groups within our communities.
Who’s Running?
Participate in Crafting Our Community Bylaws
Click here to read / comment on the working draft. We’ve been given the sample by-laws approved by the DSA NPC in April 2018. Sticking to the core of what’s been approved here will speed up the chapter approval process. Expect time for general discussion at the next chapter meeting, Wednesday, May 9 at the Quaker House (2012 Chapala St).
Rent control is on the ballot in November
Supporters of squashing Costa-Hawkins Act say they have enough signatures to make the vote
“The People of the State of California hereby declare the following intent in enacting this Act:
a) To restore authority to California’s cities and counties to develop and implement local policies that ensure renters are able to find and afford decent housing in their jurisdictions. b) To improve the quality of life for millions of California renters and reduce the number of Californians who face critical housing challenges and homelessness. c) To repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.”