EscInd: Weekly Action Plan for Oct. 19, 2020
Welcome to Escondido Indivisible’s weekly action plan for October 12, 2020! Early voting has started and mail ballots went out on Oct. 5th to all registered voters. Check Where’s My Ballot. We are 15 days away from Election Day. Stay safe and healthy!
Events
- Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020, 6:00 PM: Escondido City Council Meeting via teleconference. Agenda includes item #10 on lowering campaign contribution limits and #13 on establishing citizen oversight review boards to investigate complaints against law enforcement officers. Live broadcast of the meeting will be at escondido.org here. Public comments may be made via Public Comment Form.
Escondido Citizen Oversight of Police Conduct
- Comment on Item #13 of the City Council Agenda and express support for establishing citizen review boards to investigate complaints against law enforcement officers as recommended by a 2015/2016 Grand Jury Report from San Diego County Civil Grand Jury. See Grand Jury Report: Citizen Oversight Boards Of Police Behavior and Escondido Response to Grand Jury Report.
- Contact Mayor McNamara and the City Council and express support for establishing citizen review boards to investigate complaints against law enforcement officers.
- In related news: read-up on Escondido continues DUI checkpoints despite past controversy. Choice Quote: “An Escondido City Council discussion about whether to accept a state traffic safety grant of $515,000 — some of which will be used to pay for the operation of DUI checkpoints — stirred up long-standing suspicions in the Latino community that checkpoints have historically been used to target undocumented immigrants [...] While the council failed to approve acceptance of the grant, City Manager Jeffrey Epp later determined he had the authority to accept the funds on behalf of the city, and he did so, meaning the city will receive the full $515,000 grant from the state.” See this article from 2012, Escondido Police Under Fire.
Escondido Campaign Finance Reforms
- Comment on Item #10 of the City Council Agenda and express support for lowering “the maximum personal contributions from $4,300 for city council candidates and mayoral candidates” to $1,000 for city council candidates and $1,700 for mayor or city treasurer candidates.
- Contact Mayor McNamara and the City Council and express support for lowering “the maximum personal contributions from $4,300 for city council candidates and mayoral candidates” to $1,000 for city council candidates and $1,700 for mayor or city treasurer candidates.
Election
- Read-up on EDC's How to Vote PowerPoint Guide.
- Vote! Mail ballots went out on Oct. 5th. Early in-person voting has also started on Oct. 5, 2020: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday starting Oct. 5 at the Registrar’s office and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 31 through Monday, Nov. 2 at your assigned polling place or the Registrar’s office. Track your ballot at Where’s My Ballot. See Election Day 2020.
- Watch Escondido Times-Advocate’s County Supervisor District 3 Candidate Forum and read-up on Gaspar, Lawson-Remer offer differing visions for San Diego County in race to determine balance of the board.
- Watch NBC 7’s 2020 50th Congressional District Debate Part 1 and Part 2 and read-up on Local Democrats Angered By 50th District Candidate Campa-Najjar’s Interview With Far-Right Group.
- Read-up on No Reports Of Unofficial Ballot Drop Offs In San Diego, Says Registrar Of Voters and California Disputed Ballot Boxes Removed, Arguing Continues (GOP parties put unofficial ballot boxes in LA, Orange and Fresno Counties but no reports in San Diego. Check your mail ballot for official ballot box locations).
Economy, Public Health and COVID-19 Response
- Read-up on Inside the Fall of the CDC and White House puts ‘politicals’ at CDC to try to control info.
- Read-up on 8 Million Have Slipped Into Poverty Since May as Federal Aid Has Dried Up, White House Opposes Expanded Coronavirus Testing, Complicating Stimulus Talks, and As Coronavirus Spread, Reports of Trump Administration’s Private Briefings Fueled Stock Sell-Off.
- Read-up on Opinion: “A Senate GOP strategist privately confided to Bloomberg that a key Republican goal right now is to lay the groundwork to revert hard to austerity, should Biden prevail, crippling the possibility of any serious stimulus efforts next year, even amid continued economic misery.”
- Contact Senator Feinstein and Senator Harris and express support for additional COVID-19 relief proposed by the HEROES Act and for continued funding of testing and tracing. Note that the HEROES Act has passed the House. See Tell your Members of Congress: Fight for the Emergency-Relief We Need and Indivisible's HEROES Act Summary.
- In related news: read-up on State Department signals it will keep most details of its spending at Trump’s properties hidden until after election and Trump’s children brought Secret Service money to the family business with their visits, records show.
Escondido Indivisible is a grassroots group dedicated to affecting changes in our local community. Our website is at EscondidoIndivisible.com, and our sister group is at Escondido Indivisible on Facebook. Send us links and comments at EscondidoIndivisible50@gmail.com and @EscInd50 on Twitter. And feel free to forward our newsletter to interested parties! If you were forwarded this letter, you can subscribe here, and check the archive here.
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