Good evening Mayor Harmon and city council members. My name is Ethan Stan, and I am speaking this evening on behalf of the San Luis Obispo chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, or SLO DSA.

DSA chapters across the state organize around housing issues, and our chapter is no exception. We believe housing is a human right, and that a housing-first approach should be at the core of our City and County’s efforts to eliminate homelessness and housing insecurity in our community. We recognize and appreciate the effort of the SLO City Council and other local governments to address this issue—many of which were outlined in a SLO Tribune article written by council member Christianson and Vice Mayor Pease on March 21, 2019. Unfortunately, we do not believe these efforts are enough to make a dent in the housing crisis in our community

There is, however, one thing we believe the City Council can do to ease the enormous pressure put on our homeless and low-income neighbors: repeal Chapter 10.34 of the City Municipal Code, also known as the overnight car camping ban.

The car camping ban has been on the City’s conscience for years—thankfully, in 2012, the City loosened the ban by reducing penalties from a criminal violation to a parking ticket and fine of $100.

However, even this goes too far. We live in a city with an $11–12 minimum wage, where homeless and low-income residents have to cobble together 2–3 part-time jobs to even approach 40 work hours per week. Even if someone works full-time, their take-home wages are devoured by our city’s astronomical rents and high cost of living. In the event of a lost job or eviction, a car is often the last significant piece of personal property people have. If the City of SLO does not want these people sleeping at the edges of our city—under bridges, in parks, and in doorways—then their car is the last resort for a safe place to sleep, an incredibly basic human right. To add hundreds of dollars in fines on top of those already dire circumstances is immoral, and we are better than that.

As of this moment, the City of SLO is telling our residents “Go it alone. Don’t be homeless. And if you are, move somewhere else.” As a community that prides itself on being progressive, inclusive, and welcoming, this ordinance cannot be farther from who we say we are. And for that reason, the SLO DSA demands the City Council to repeal the overnight car camping ban.

Please, do not allow our City’s Code to kick struggling SLO residents while they are down. Thank you.

MADSA was in the house at the Bernie Sanders for President rally at Morehouse College on Nov. 21. We joined thousands of other Bernie fans, inspired by his political vision of Medicare for All, Collegefor All, a Green New Deal, and Workplace Democracy.

“Table got taken down, but the clip-boarding was very successful,” said MADSA officer Cole Reardon.”Sometimes it’s actually nice preaching to the choir.” Word is we signed up 200 people interested in joining our chapter!

See Bernie’s talk here. (Photos: Steve Eberhardt. Video: Georgia Grassroots Video.)

Watching the Columbus City Council 2019 election unfold was an eye-opening experience. 

While campaigning for Liliana Rivera Baiman, I knocked on hundreds of doors throughout the city. I spoke with countless working-class families and heard similar stories over and over. People felt ignored by the current local government. Instead of worrying about people who are working the hardest — those often with multiple jobs just to keep food on the table, to keep the utilities on, and to rent paid — the incumbents on city council were focused on helping out those who were funding their campaigns. We saw this with luxury condo developer Preferred Living (known for their plan to evict seniors from manufactured homes) donating $1,000 to Emmanuel Remy and Elizabeth Brown taking $1,000 from AEP‘s “Committee for Responsible Government.”

As I spoke with these families, I was getting increasingly excited. Yes, getting Lili (and the other Yes We Can candidates) elected was going to be difficult, but everyone was excited to vote for candidates concerned about the issues people deal with daily: inconsistent transit, low wages, high costs of living, poorly funded schools — problems facing so many. People were tired of incumbents who waste valuable city money to build new sports arenas (and then lie about the financial costs and benefits to people living in the city). People were tired of seeing developers get huge tax abatements for luxury property developments while students and the working class paid the cost.

I thought this momentum could be enough to carry us to a victory.

Unfortunately, it turns out it’s nearly impossible to win when you’re not in a fair fight. The Columbus political machine is set up to make sure its candidates win — even if the result is an undemocratic process. If it means they win, they’ll do it.

Just how unfair are these city council elections?

I was shocked to find out the advantage our incumbents have.

To even get on the Columbus City Council ballot, a candidate needs 1,000 valid signatures. This is the same number that a person needs to run for Governor of Ohio — a statewide position. To put that in better context, candidates for Congress only need 50 valid signatures.

It gets worse, too. Lauren Squires, who worked on Liliana’s campaign, explains “not one of the current city council members had signatures collected on their behalf in order to get them on the ballot for their first time in office. NOT ONE. That’s because, in addition to all but one of them being appointed first, you are allowed to swap out candidates once signatures are verified. So, the Democratic Party routinely uses ‘placeholder’ names to get signatures and then fills in the name(s) later with their appointee(s).

The electoral outlier, Liz Brown, was not appointed to Council prior to being elected. But she was appointed to fill a slot on an existing slate of candidates after one of them dropped out. The signatures had already been verified. Nobody collected signatures for her the first time she was elected.”

Furthermore, our at-large system exacerbates the difficulty of new names getting elected to city council. The resources needed to reach enough residents throughout the city is nearly insurmountable for challengers. After all, several candidates in this past election got nearly 30,000 votes but didn’t come close to getting elected. Without the backing of big-time donors (read: developers and corporations), it’s nearly impossible to build the name recognition needed to win a race.

Oh, and the Franklin County Democratic Party (FCDP) often pays people to go out and collect signatures. Those running against them typically depend on dedicated volunteers who care about the success of the candidates.

What’s the end result of this discrepancy? It’s a whole lot harder for working-class people — those who are committed members of the community — to get on the ballot. This makes our city council a place for the rich (and guess whose interests they’re going to be most concerned about? The wealthy people and businesses who put them there).

It also turns out this race’s incumbents spent $1.3 million to make sure they got re-elected (now compare that to Lili’s $35-thousand campaign), a good portion of which was donated by corporations, developers, and special interest PACs.

Then, there’s the “official” sample ballot the FCDP mails out. There were seven democrats running for city council, and yet only four democrats ended up on this ballot (which was widely distributed, including through mailers). Likely, these ballots were initially intended so voters know who’s a republican and who’s a democrat, but now the FCDP is disorting that. Furthermore, the paid pollstanders (who, by the way, are paid less than $15 an hour according to one who I spoke with) who pass the ballots out on Election Day imply — and sometimes directly state — that the candidates their sample ballot are the only Democrats on it, which is a flat out lie. As a result, many go in thinking they’re voting for the most progressive candidates. Unfortunately, though, they’re often casting votes for politicians who have interests more aligned with Republicans than the city’s working class.

Given the power of the FCDP, it seems that if we want to change this imbalance of control, we need to take action and shift power back to the everyday Columbus citizen.

If those making decisions in Columbus are beholden to developers, we need to change that. The direct problem isn’t the individual politicians in power (though, they’re not great either). The problem is the political machine giving them essentially unlimited funds for campaigns, creating a culture that cares more about donors and developers than you and me in the working class. The result is a political machine that is more concerned with maintaining a stranglehold on its power than on supporting its communities and constituents. 

Something needs to change if we want our voices to not only be heard but also to be listened to.

So, that’s what we’re going to do. 

Stay tuned.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com or sign-up for our newsletter to get links to what we talk about on the show. You can do that on at our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com. You can also find us on twitter @nycRPM.

These tips will help you when talking with family, a stranger on a canvass, and with other leftists.

Avoid fighting people when you want to fight ideas. Sometimes you have to step away from a conflict without winning, even when you’re right, and that’s okay.

Avoid negativity. Someone’s politics may not be as developed as yours. Instead of getting frustrated, try to understand where they’re at and educate them.

Socialism helps us all, whether we know it or not. Emphasize the ways socialism is positive for your shared community, and build bridges instead of walls.

Listen first, and ask open-ended questions: “does your boss do that a lot?” You can’t change someone’s mind unless you give them a chance to speak freely.

Show solidarity. If someone is saying something explicitly harmful, racist, sexist, transphobic, etc. – don’t be afraid to speak up and advocate for that person.

Socialism is practical, doable, and efficient, where capitalism often leads to waste and inequality. Our socialism isn’t just pie-in-the-sky thinking, it’s a real movement.

Socialism is an extension of democracy. Freedom and equality for everyone!

MADSA’s 13th annual Douglass-Debs awards dinner at Paschal’s restaurant Nov. 9 was a great success. The dinner has been our main fundraiser, enabling us to help our allies and pay our expenses, while honoring leaders of our progressive community and networking with friends and fellow activists from the unions, civil rights and other movements.

This year’s keynote speaker was Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO. That title doesn’t begin to suggest her inspiring, yet down-to-earth oratory, lifting all of us to support labor’s struggles — an especially relevant message right now, as her union just launched a campaign to organize Delta workers! She quoted widely from historic figures such as Mother Jones, Fredrick Douglass and Eugene Victor Debs, and from her own experience as a worker and a woman, assuring us that “Solidarity is stronger than gravity!” Watch her speak here!

Other moving tributes followed to the awardees:
1) The Highlander Research and Education Center, a key resource for progressive organizers since the 1930s (now located in New Market, TN) lost their main building to a right-wing arson attack earlier this year but continues their work undeterred. Member Eric Robertson explained that the award recognizes the continued importance of the center to the current movement for human rights, worker rights and racial justice as well as its role in nurturing such historic figures as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. As the Center was holding its own board meeting that weekend, Annie Thomas, regional organizer for Project South, accepted the award in Highlander’s behalf.

2) Georgia State Representative Renitta Shannon was recognized for her courageous service as one of a few progressive members of the Georgia General Assembly, standing up for women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and immigrant rights. Her friend Charmaine Davis, SE regional administrator of the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Women’s Bureau, recalled her friendship with Renitta and the awardee’s inspiring career.

3) To top off the celebration, we gave one of our special awards — for “creative activism” — to our own Daniel Hanley, well known for his leadership in every kind of direct action, most recently with the Light Brigade, which provides illuminated signage and projects uplifting slogans onto Atlanta’s night-time cityscape during demonstrations. MADSA founder Milt Tambor presented the award by noting many instances of Daniel’s commitment, courage and creativity — the essential makings of an activist — since he joined MADSA several years ago.

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting at 99.5 FM and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com or sign-up for our newsletter to get links to what we talk about on the show. You can do that on at our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com. You can also find us on twitter @nycRPM.

West Suburban IL DSA, in the strongest possible terms, condemns the right-wing coup against legitimately elected Bolivian president Evo Morales. Morales has long championed the struggle of workers and indigenous peoples during his presidency, and this bald faced attempt to subvert the democratic will of the people through military might is an affront to the working people of the world. We call for the immediate reinstatement of Evo Morales as president of Bolivia, and an end to the violence against MAS supporters. No coup in Bolivia! DSA stands with Evo! #ElMundoConEvo

You’re listening to Revolution Per Minute Underground on listener sponsored WBAI in NYC broadcasting from the occupied studios and streaming on your favorite podcast app. To connect with us after the show you can email us at revolutionsnyc@gmail.com or sign-up for our newslettser to get links to what we talk about on the show. You can do that on at our website revolutionsperminute.simplecast.com. You can also find us on twitter @nycRPM

On Nov. 1, Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America brought our own “lanterns” to the Grant Park Halloween Lantern Parade, where observers broke into spontaneous chants of “ABOLISH ICE!” and “Bernie, Bernie!”

All the kids in costume wanted photos taken with the Bernie signs, clearly because they appreciate a political movement capable of addressing the apocalyptic crises of capitalism in their lifetime. (Or they just liked the cool glow of 400 LEDs.)

As small crowds gathered around the signs for photos, MADSA members shared details of Bernie’s agenda for democracy and socialism, along with buttons expressing related demands.