EscInd: Weekly Action Plan for April 19, 2021

[America] has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met [...] And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay [...] Even though it may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, it can restrain him from lynching me [...] And so while the law may not change the hearts of men, it can and it does change the habits of men.

• Wednesday, April 21, 2021, 6:00 PM:  Escondido City Council Meeting via teleconference. Agenda includes Item #11 on Single-Use Plastic Policy in Action Plan. Live broadcast of the meeting will be at escondido.org here. Public comments may be made via Public Comment Form. See Escondido council postpones in-person meeting.

• Read-up on As America embraces early voting, GOP hurries to restrict it and As voting fight moves westward, accusations of racism follow.
• Contact Senator Feinstein and Senator Padilla and express support for H.R.1/S.1 to strengthen our democracy. Senators Feinstein and Padilla are co-sponsors of S.1. Note that Representative Issa voted no on H.R.1, but the House passed the bill with a 220-210 vote.  See Indivisible Democracy Guide, Indivisible Guide on H.R. 1: Strengthening Our Democracy and Support Democracy Reform with H.R. 1/S. 1.
• Contact Assemblymember Waldron and State Senator Jones and ask them to support AB-37 to extend vote by mail to all elections in California.

• Read-up on The region’s Sikh community is devastated by the attack.
• Contact Senator Feinstein and Senator Padilla and express support for H.R.8/S.529 and H.R.1446 to expand background checks for gun purchases.  Senators Feinstein and Padilla are co-sponsors of S.529. Note that Representative Issa voted no on H.R.8 & HR.1446 but both bills passed the House. See Support Expanded Background Checks for Gun Purchases.

• Read-up on our post on Re-imagining Public Safety and Actions to Hold the Police Accountable (PDF version).
• Read-up on Daunte Wright and the police’s grim financial incentive behind traffic stops, Police Hold 'Extraordinary' Power In Traffic Stops, Law Professor Says and Throughout Trial Over George Floyd’s Death, Killings by Police Mount.
• Contact the Escondido City Council and express support for the establishment of independent citizen commissions with oversight of the police as recommended by the San Diego County Civil Grand Jury. The City Council discussed the topic last October, but there have been no updates since then. See Grand Jury Report: Citizen Oversight Boards Of Police Behavior, Escondido Response to Grand Jury Report and Council, residents call for Escondido police oversight board.
• Contact Assemblymember Waldron and State Senator Jones and ask them to support SB-2 to create a decertification process for peace officers. A 2nd hearing is set for April 27, 2021.  See SB-2 Fact Sheet, SB 2 in Senate Judiciary Committee and Police Decertification Bill Moves Forward (scroll down). Choice quote: “Voice of San Diego and other news outlets across the state taking part in an unprecedented joint investigation found in 2019 that hundreds of police officers in California have themselves been convicted of crimes and are sometimes allowed to continue working and carrying weapons.”