Newsletter June 4, 2023

June 4 2023

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Preview - June 4 Newsletter & Events for Our Friend

Common Ground

... Articles and Events

Newsletter: Boatnik, New Charters , and More

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Dems in Boatnik Parade

Boatnik will never be the same.

Josephine County Democrats had a small float, about 15 participants and an amazing drag queen in red from our Stonewall Caucus. The parade crew arrived at the staging area at 8 am for the Saturday Boatnik parade, but it was nearly 11 am before we rolled. We were number 50 in the lineup, behind the Girl Scouts, who were quite entertained by our motley crew. Guest participants were Jackson County Democrats Chair David Sours and Denise Krause of Ashland, who is on the Rogue Valley Transportation District Board. We were booed by one small group of rude men as we started out, but the rest of the crowd cheered us on all the way down the parade route and happily accepted our American flags, pinwheels and Pride flags until we ran out.

Thanks to Brittney who reserved a room, we all met at Taprock for lunch after the parade and were joined by others who watched us from the sidelines.

DATE: 06/13/2023 Time: 6:30PM

Location: Unitarian Universalist and via Zoom

Scheduled speaker is Mayor Sara Bristol of Grants Pass.

Gathering will be in-person at Unitarian Universalist and via Zoom

If attending via Zoom, you must register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

DATE: 06/14/2023
Time: 5:30PM - Zoom

Concerned about local mining, Hellgate dredging, White Horse RV Park, or Timber? How about all the Land Use and Zoning changes that John West and Herman Baertschiger are talking about?

Join Us! Register in advance for this Zoom meeting . After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

DATE: 6/19/23
TIME: 5:30 - 7:30PM

Location: Reinhardt Park

Grants Pass Remembrance is organizing a Juneteenth celebration in Grants Pass.

All are welcome – and feel free to bring lawn games to share! Please reach out with any questions or accessibility needs by email.

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De-funding a voter approved Levy?

According to the Grants Pass Daily Courier Josephine County Commissioners decided to de-fund the 4H and Master Gardner programs because of rumor and innuendo…a conspiracy theory has been created around an alleged incident regarding religion 4H representatives say was not true. Commissioners canceled a long-standing voter-approved levy that brings in $414000 to the programs. If these Commissioners can just up and cancel a levy what keeps them from canceling the library levy because they found a book there they don’t like? What keeps them from canceling the jail levy because of some unfounded rumor? Citizens of Josephine County need to stand up to this power overreach before it’s too late. Let Commissioners know you are unhappy with them by emailing, calling or attending the June 7 meeting to voice your concerns.

Commissioners email addresses: hbaertschiger@josephinecounty.gov, ddeyoung@josephinecounty.gov, jwest@josephinecounty.gov, bcc@josephinecounty.gov, or call at 541-474-5221.

News from the State Central Committee

The Democratic Party of Oregon (DPO) State Central Committee (SCC) met on May 20th and 21st in La Grand Oregon. The SCC is comprised of delegates from all the counties in Oregon who come together quarterly for education, Caucuses and decisions on Party Resolutions. Anyone is welcome to come and take part in the education and Caucuses but only delegates can vote on the Resolutions.

Our first resolution was 2023-03: A Call to End Federal Student Loan Interest. This resolution calls on Oregon’s state and federal representatives to introduce a bill to change federal loan policies. Calling a halt to charging interest on student loans both current and future. “The US Government should retroactively apply all student loan interest paid to date to any remaining balance, should there be a remaining balance of interest paid, it would be a credit to the debtor ‘s taxes. “ This resolution passed without objection.

The second resolution 2023-04: Regarding SJR33 of the Oregon Legislature and the Equal Rights for All, CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. This amendment will be referred to the Voters on the November 2024 ballot. The amendment will protect our fundamental rights and freedoms to control our bodies, lives and futures – regardless of our sex, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. Further it will guarantee the freedom to make personal healthcare decisions including contraceptives, abortion, and gender affirming care. The bill will amend the Oregon Constitution to remove the ban on same-gender marriage and will affirm all Oregonian’s right to marry who they love. The resolution passed the SCC without discussion or objection. SJR 33 is scheduled to be passed by the Oregon State legislature this session. However in light of the ongoing Republican walkout, there is a distinct possibility that this bill will not come to a vote. If this is the case the DPO has decided to push the Amendment through by using the referendum process. There will be a call to action to ensure this Constitutional Amendment gets on the ballot.

Finally the Resolution and Platform Committee is preparing for the Oregon Platform Committee August 18-20 2023 at Western Oregon University. All are welcome to participate and let their voices be heard. Josephine County has several slots available for delegates. Colette will be collecting a list of those interested. For further information about the Platform Convention go to the DPO website.

Who is this Oregon Republican... who voted for HB2002 Abortion and Gender Affirming Care

Democrats who hold the majority in the Legislature believe voters gave them a mandate to pass House Bill 2002, which would protect medical providers from prosecution for providing reproductive health care or gender-affirming care. Republicans adamantly opposed it, focusing most of their ire on provisions in the bill allowing minors of any age to obtain abortions, contraception and other reproductive care without their parents’ knowledge and teens 15 or older to access gender-affirming care without their parents knowing.

But what followed that vote was a surprise: One Republican, who has voted with the party on many bills, changed his mind on HB 2002 after doing more research.

Charlie Conrad, a freshman representative and former police officer from the small unincorporated community of Dexter in rural Lane County, joined fellow Republicans in voting against it in the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee. He worried that young people would succumb to social pressure or poor decision-making skills and go down a path of medical transition that they’d come to regret.

“We need to do better for them, and we need to protect them,” he said before voting against the bill.

But then, as Conrad later explained in an interview with the Capital Chronicle, he realized that he wasn’t comfortable with what he knew about gender-affirming care.

“I haven’t had personal experience with that,” he said. “I don’t have any friends or family that have gone through that, or friends that have had kids that have gone through that. That’s a realm that I don’t have a lot of personal and relevant experience with.”

So he decided to learn what he could.

He ended up voting for the bill.

READ THE FULL STORY AT THE CAPITAL CHRONICLE