IESJ MEETING REPORT OCTOBER 15, 2018 Sixteen members and friends of IESJ met in the Fireside Room of Alum Rock United Methodist Church. Member Darby Cunning reported on Hope Village which is a tent community on Ruff Drive near the SJ airport. The City and County have collaborated to provide safe spaces for a limited number of tents for homeless people. The City’s lease limits the number of people to 14 for a term of 180 days. Organizers say that 30 people for 18 months would be better to prove the validity of the model. We are encouraged to contact our City Council people and County Supervisors to include the larger group of people for the optimal amount of time. Please see their website at www.SJHV.org to find contact information for your elected officials. IESJ will send a letter supporting expansion of the program and members are encouraged to do so also. We discussed RISE UP ALUM ROCK!, a grassroots organization which is campaigning to unseat ARUSD trustees Esau Herrera and Khanh Tran. Please see www.riseupalumrock.com to lend your support Peter Ortiz, current board member for Mt. Pleasant School District and candidate for the County Board of Education told us about his campaign and the role of the County Board vis a vis the individual school districts under its supervision. One of Peter’s major focuses is on Restorative Justice to keep troubled kids in school. He and his friend, Bruce Huynh, a candidate for Alum Rock School board, are both altruistic young men with high standards for our school districts. Sister Elaine Coutu was thanked for sending excellent voter information – especially League of Women Voters material helpful to understanding the Propositions on the ballot. Voter Registration and Canvassing report:Betty Martinez and several helpers registered voters at Evergreen Valley Community College over the course of many Wednesdays. Best day saw 15 students register. Tanya, Judy and Chris Morrow worked with San Jose State students recently for a competition among all the Cal State campuses to register the most voters. Nella and Denise pre-registered about 100 students at Silver Creek High School. Tanya and Denise are signed up to do voter canvassing in CA-21 on 10-27 and the last weekend before the election. Barbara Hansen has been busy doing phone-banking to remind registered Democrats to get out to vote. Charlotte Casey and a carful of friends spent a recent weekend canvassing voters in the Central Valley supporting Josh Harder’s campaign for the House. Discussion: We discussed whether IESJ should endorse candidates and the consensus was that endorsements are not appropriate for a group whose mission is to Resist the Trump Agenda. Our contribution to the election should be just what we’re doing: helping to get voters registered and out to the polls. We don’t have the bandwidth to create voter guides, etc., unfortunately. Announcements: Final ARUSD Candidate Debate: Thursday, October 18th at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, 6-8 PM. Hosted by Community for Better Alum Rock Schools. All but one of the eight candidates running for three board vacancies will participate in this final debate. Snacks, Spanish translation and free child care available. Attendees will be able to ask questions directly of the candidates and learn more about their values and vision for Alum Rock Schools. Tanya announced the 17th annual Comedy for Kids fundraiser: Friday, November 9th at 6 PM at the SAP center. A fundraiser for Youth Connections Foundation, tickets are $50 each or $75 each for VIP seating. Proceeds go toward providing enrichment to marginalized children such as trips to Yosemite National Park. See ycfsj.org for more information. Tanya explained that all of the Youth Centers in San Jose have been closed by the City. She described a possible new meeting space for young people at Eastridge Mall. Stay tuned! ELECTION DAY! November 6th Next IESJ Meeting: November 19th 7 PM No meeting in December! 2019Women’s March January 19th. IESJ JANUARY 2019 MEETING – January 21st tentative (we might want to meet before the Women’s March instead of our regular third Monday schedule.)
