Announcements and Follow-ups
Report on the votes related to Questions 1 and 4: Almost 30 people responded and all said yes, Grassroots can endorse Yes votes on these ballot questions. We are heartened by the number of responses (Jeana thanked each person individually for responding). Danielle will post our support on our web page. Overall, there seems to a lot of support among voters for Yes on 1. A Letter to the Editor would be helpful for Yes on 4 as overall voter support is unclear; we could post yard signs if they’re available. If you have any ideas to promote support for Yes on 4, please reach out to Grassroots.
Update on the Barre Museum Artifacts: There will be a formal transfer of the collection of the artifacts at the Ruggles Lane School in Barre at 1 pm on Nov 5th; it is a public event; later in the afternoon, there will be drumming and dancing on the Common if the weather is good and indoors at the school if not.
Report on the BFF Indivisi-Gather, Oct 2 in West Brookfield: About two dozen attended; there were motivational speakers, one of whom was Jasmin and another was Jorge Sierra, the Worcester barber who created a safe space for at-risk youth.
Updates on Women’s Wave events held nationwide on Oct. 8: Janet attended the event in Worcester near City Hall. There were good speakers, including Lynne McKenney Lydick who interprets Abby Kelley Foster, and music, but it seemed less well attended than she expected.
Upcoming events for our Grassroots calendar: Election Day is Nov 8th; early voting has started. Standouts for Paul DePalo (and other candidates) will be held Sun Oct 30, 9:30-10:30, Southbridge Town Common. Also for Paul DePalo: meet at Panera Bread, 21 New Boston Rd, Sturbridge, Sun Nov 6, 9:30-10:30; after both events, you can help distribute door hangers. BFF standouts are scheduled for 10 am-noon for the next two Saturdays on West Brookfield Common.
Political Action
Thousands of Paul DePalo postcards have been spoken for and we anticipate they will be successfully mailed soon; if you can write a Letter to Editor in support of his candidacy for Governor’s Council, please do. Check in with Dylan Clark for all the details needed for such a letter.
Thanks to Sherry for her Letter to the Editor supporting Yes on Question 4; Jeana will send the letter out again as a template for others to also write letters.
BFF Standouts on the West Brookfield Common for the next two Saturdays will focus on the election and supporting candidates and ballot questions.
Update on candidates for Brookfield Select Board: They found two people who are reasonable and experienced (not necessarily progressives), who will probably be elected. Jeff now needs help on the committee which works on budget oversight for Brookfield – he is looking for volunteers in order to have a quorum for their upcoming meetings. In our local towns, the Planning and Bylaw committees are very important. These are volunteer positions for the most part, so any citizen can participate – you don’t have to be an expert before joining and can learn a lot through participating. We can brainstorm ways to promote local participation and maybe discuss that in our next meeting.
Karen’s husband is running for Regional School Committee for Pathfinder from Monson. Those in the Pathfinder District can vote for him.
Climate Concerns
Climate Committee did not meet as scheduled on Oct. 21 but will meet on Oct. 28.
Good news about protecting wetlands in Southbridge: the By-Law was passed by the Town Council. Maureen also posted a video featuring the Turtle Rescue project. Southbridge Cable Access Channel producer is Charles Diaz (owner of 401 Reel Productions) was the videographer. Maureen and Gus worked really hard on this for years; they produced the video and showed it at the meeting, which had a big impact.
Petition for a moratorium on large ground solar installations: a link was posted to the io mailing list if you want to support the moratorium online. Siting solar is a contentious and complicated issue, but keep in mind that the moratorium doesn’t ask us to stop developing renewable energy; it puts conditions on siting, prioritizing nature.
Standouts in front of Worcester Chase Bank: There is a standout on Mon Oct 24 at 3 pm. Please help bring awareness to the sources of funding for oil and gas development (Chase is one of them). Chase’s current strategy is to open little branches all across the country; please support local banks and credit unions instead. Janet will post information on standouts to the io list.
Report on the Green Banks webinar: Janet attended; the recording and slides will be made available soon and Janet will forward on to the group.
Racial and Social Justice Issues
Racial and Social Justice meeting held Oct. 9: Thank you to Karen for leading the meeting about the concept of being a “co-conspirator” – meaning that you also have to “walk the talk”. “Being an ally” can be passive; but we also need to be active. Next meeting is on Oct 30, 10:30 am.
Care4EduEquity Brave Space conversation with BIPOC educators will be held Nov 1st.
The project to include social workers within police departments: Unfortunately, most police departments don’t have professional grant writers to get the money for pilot projects. Nationally, the 988 suicide prevention number became available in July; in Mass, it is managed by the Samaritans, so there is at least that much progress in terms of alternatives to police intervention. Summary: the project moved forward a great distance but did not quite cross the finish line. Anne is interested in continuing on with this and connecting again with Grassroots members.
Liberian national, Julian Doblah, a close friend of Jeana’s who opened a health clinic in Monrovia, Liberia is coming to the US to raise funding; Jeana will invite people to a Zoom session (this is not a Grassroots project); you can participate if you’re interested.
Next Meeting: Sat November 12, 9:30AM
Meeting Adjourned: 11:15 am
