P.O. Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 | www.prodane.org | office@prodane.org | (608) 257-4985
Progressive Dane's General Membership Meeting will be held Wednesday, June 25, 2008, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the second floor of Madison's Downtown Public Library.
This month's chair is Jacque Pokorney.
We will follow-up on the outcomes of the two forums held earlier this
month on homelessness. Also expect an educational on the new Sister County relationship between Dane County, Wisconsin and Andres Eloy Blanco, Venezuela.
Alder Tim Gruber and School Board Supervisor Johnny Winston Jr. will give reports on City and School Board activities.
Individuals who are not members of Progressive Dane are encouraged to
attend. Anyone with questions or special needs should contact the
Progressive Dane office at 358-2940 or office@prodane.org.
Press are encouraged to contact Progressive Dane Co-chair Jacque Pokorney at 843-9616 or juju_jacque@yahoo.com.
Posted by prodane at 02:02 PM
Andrew Kell, our current Outreach/Volunteer Coordinator, has been accepted to Graduate School and will be leaving us soon to study hard. We wish him great success and are pleased that he will still be in town working with other Progressive Dane members on those issues that most interest him.
Thus we find ourselves in search of a new Outreach/Volunteer Coordinator. This key individual's primary responsibility will be to recruit new members, but will also work to expand Progressive Dane's volunteer base, help to build leadership capacity among current members, and work to increase community interest in Progressive Dane.
Duties include working closely with the Outreach Committee to coordinate events designed to increase Progressive Dane's membership, coordinating tabling events to publicize Progressive Dane, and reaching out to other progressive groups in Dane County to help build collective action. The position requires 10 hours per week, including some evening and weekend work, and will pay $12 per hour. If you like figuring out how to persuade people, this job might be for you. It’s a great opportunity for a student, retiree, or even someone with a full-time job and a few extra hours to spare.
The job description is posted here. The due date for applications is July 3rd. To apply, send a letter and resume to the PD office at office@prodane.org.
Posted by prodane at 02:10 AM
Please consider yourself invited to Progressive Dane’s Summertime 2008 Garden Party on Friday, June 20, 5:30–7:30 p.m. at 1922 Adams Street, Madison. The home will be made accessible. There will be Food, Fun, Great Company, and Cool World Music by our Favorite DJs. The Garden Party is Progressive Dane's summer fundraiser. Your contribution will help Progressive Dane reach out to prospective members and work on local political issues: homelessness, immigration/deportation, economic development planning, transportation. We hope you’ll make it to the party, but if not, you can still contribute! Just fill out this form found by clicking here and send your check to: Progressive Dane, PO Box 1222, Madison, WI 53701 or donate on-line.
Posted by prodane at 12:51 PM
Dane County Board votes overwhelmingly to establish sister-county relationship with Andres Eloy Blanco Municipality. Progressive Dane members endorsed this resolution and worked as part of the coalition to educate the public generating the support needed to help get this passed.
Madison – This week County Executive Kathleen Falk signed the resolution that established a sister county relationship with Andres Eloy Blanco, Venezuela. This comes at the heels of last week's overwhelming vote of support by the Dane County Board of Supervisors for the resolution. The "Resolution to Accept the Invitation to Establish a Sister Relationship with the People of Andres Eloy Blanco Municipality, Venezuela" was a response to a visit by Venezuela's ambassador Bernardo Alvarez to Dane County. Alvarez met with Supervisors in an effort to establish a sister relationship between Dane County and a municipality in Venezuela.
Martin Sanchez, the Venezuelan Consulate General from Chicago, emphasized the groundbreaking nature of the agreement, "This agreement is the first between a US city, county, or state in the last decade since Hugo Chavez was elected. It will surely contribute to improved relations between the American and the Venezuela people. Venezuela will now get to see aspects of American culture, traditions and everyday life that they haven't seen outside the trivial portrayal of the US by Hollywood. Also, Dane county residents will get to see positive aspects of Venezuelan society that are not covered by corporate media."
County Supervisors, community organizers, and officials in Andres Eloy Blanco worked together to formulate the resolution and relationship. Matt Earley, co-owner of Madison-based cooperative Just Coffee, who recently returned from visiting Sanare, the capital of Andres Eloy Blanco, said; "This agreement will help us develop people-to-people relationships as well as the trading of goods and services. We are very excited at the prospect of supplying coffee from Sanare to residents in the US which will be made infinitely easier with the passage of the sister-county relationship."
Sanare is an urban area surrounded by small rural towns located in the Midwest of Venezuela. The main engine of the municipality's economy is agriculture and coffee production. According to Mayor Alfredo Orozco, during many decades this area has been the epicenter of many struggles for social justice and is also considered to be the birthplace of the Venezuelan peasant cooperative movement, as well as home of poets, musicians and revolutionary leaders. All these characteristics make Andres Eloy Blanco a place with a unique social and progressive environment, as well as a place whose inhabitants have great adherence to participatory democracy and to community life. "After receiving the visit of several Wisconsin residents in our state we are very excited at officially establishing a Sister County relationship with Dane County," said the Mayor.
Beyond official recognition of the sister-county relationship, the resolution would also establish a revenue and expense account for donations, and form a taskforce to foster trade, enhance intercultural understanding, and encourage communication, friendship, and goodwill between communities in Venezuela and the United States.
Former Downtown Madison County Supervisor and lead sponsor of the resolution, Ashok Kumar, thanked the County Board and the County Executive for their support, stating, "The sister-county resolution passed unanimously in both the Personal and Finance Committee and the Executive Committee and on the floor last Thursday. This is a testament to the open-minded nature of Dane County residents and elected officials and it will undoubtedly assist social movements of both Dane County and Andres Eloy Blanco."
Contact:
Charity Schmidt, Board Member, Community Action on Latin America, (608)334-6370
Ashok Kumar, Former Dane County Supervisor, District 5, (608)843-0615
Martin Sanchez, Venezuelan Consulate General – Chicago, (312)236-9655
Juscha Robinson, Fellow, Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution, (608)239-4269
Posted by prodane at 12:40 PM
As you know, homelessness has been a big issue as of late with a lot negativity surrounding panhandling and scapegoating of the homeless with regards to crime and recent murders. Advocates tell us we need a lot more funds for our services to be more effective in preventing and ending homelessness, but many claim we already have cadillac services and more would simply attract more transients.
What can we do as individuals and as a grassroots political organization to push plans to end homelessness? Let's talk.
Thursday, June 5th: The Dane County Coalition to Fight Homelessness and End Poverty invites the general public and media to discuss with experienced advocates about the history of homelessness in Dane County, where it is right now, where we want to go in terms of ending it, and what we have to do to get there. First United Methodist Church, 203 Wisconsin Avenue, 5-8 pm.
Sunday, June 8th: Progressive Dane is hosting a planning and discussion session in order to bring elected officials and organizers together. Presentations by Operation Welcome Home and Joseph Lindstrom from the Homelessness Consortium. Join Brenda Konkel, Marsha Rummel, John Hendrick, Barbara Vedder, Wyndham Manning, and other electeds. Wil-Mar Center, 953 Jenifer Street, 6-8 pm.
Posted by prodane at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)