VOP Newsfeed4/11/10 Why do I pay only $474 in Virginia income tax?
4/7/10 Grassroots Response to Health Care Passage
4/3/2010 Grassroots group eyes reform
3/30/10 Augusta Free Press audio show on VOP's state budget proposals
3/15/10 New Yorker audio slides on Martinsville, site of VOP's newest office
1/22/10 VOP on NPR's Morning Edition
Great New Books on Organizing:
It’s off and running for revitalized Lynchburg VOP Chapter
After several years of inactivity in the greater Lynchburg area, on July 14, 2008, local leaders and supporters submitted the necessary signatures to be recognized as a local VOP Chapter.
“I am excited to be a part of re-establishing this Chapter and working on issues that directly affect people,” said Lynchburg VOP Chapter member Charles Wood.
Even before the Chapter was formally re-established, initial core member meetings led to working with VOP’s four Lynchburg interns to distribute non-partisan voter guides and canvass neighborhoods. As a result, a lot of people told VOP they would be interested in attending a local health care forum and a meeting with local legislators.
The Lynchburg VOP Chapter was also visible during the Legacy Museum’s Juneteenth Heritage Festival where interns and Chapter members distributed voter guides and registered voters. Chapter members Gerald Cheatham and Ada Smith coordinated voter registration activities during the National Night Out event at the College Hill Apartments in Lynchburg.
During August and September, the Lynchburg VOP Chapter shifted to planning local health care forums. Chapter members took the lead in finding locations to hold three forums, contacting citizens interested in attending, and coordinating outreach and publicizing the forums.
The goal of the local health care forums was to document and collect stories and experiences from citizens directly affected by the current health care system. The local Chapter held the first forum where 10 people participated, including a surprise visit by state Delegate Shannon Valentine. Two more forums were held in October.
In just a short time, the Lynchburg VOP Chapter has shown they can have an immediate impact at the local level. Chapter members continued to support Civic Engagement efforts and encouraged voters to vote in the election on November 4.
For more information, contact VOP’s Lynchburg Organizer Barry Butler at bbutler@virginia-organizing.org or (540) 588-2197.
Petersburg VOP Chapter — democracy in action
Democracy in Action was the theme for the Petersburg VOP Chapter this summer. Throughout the summer, the Petersburg VOP Chapter teamed up with VOP’s 2008 Civic Engagement Project. Chapter members canvassed with VOP’s summer interns, distributed non-partisan voter guides and planned civic participation workshops.
On July 12, the Chapter held a voter registration and restoration of rights workshop at Zion Baptist Church in Petersburg. The first session of the workshop focused on helping voters to register.
Petersburg’s local registrar, Dawn Williams, spoke and identified common problems with applications. For example, the registrar’s office has observed that people pass over the questions relating to being a citizen of the United States, convicted felon or being judged mentally incapacitated. Another common error is not having a Social Security number on the application; people are hesitant to put their Social Security number on the form. She also covered common mistakes made when filling out the registration form, what information was required, how she responds to applications not completed correctly, and the common reasons applications could be rejected.
Participants asked questions about the new application form, college students registering to vote in the area, absentee voting, when can you vote absentee in Virginia, whether there will be long lines, and what to do if you can’t find your voter registration card. Citizens were encouraged to contact the local registrar’s office if they had any concerns or questions before November 4. After the workshop, the Chapter held a voter registration and restoration of rights drive. Chapter members also held a voter registration and restoration drive in Hopewell.
The second part of the workshop was conducted by Carly Vendegna, summer intern, and Cathy Woodson, VOP organizer, and focused on the restoration of voting rights process. The training dealt with the application for restoration of rights for non-violent offenders. It identified who is eligible to apply, the application forms, the rights restored by this process, how to expedite the process, where to get documentation, and all contact information for the Restoration of Rights office. “The voter registration and restoration of rights workshop was informative and I think more of these workshops should be done to educate the community,” said L.D. Cook.
On August 25, the Chapter held a civic engagement workshop. This workshop provided participants with Election Day information including a demonstration of the voting machine.
Juanita Brown said, “This was a great workshop and it made me realize that I need to get more involved. I took this information back to my faith community and we were able to conduct a voter education seminar and distribute 500 voter guides throughout the community.”
During October, Chapter members made phone calls to remind citizens to vote on November 4.
For more information about local Petersburg work, contact Cathy Woodson at (804) 261-7497 or e-mail at cwoodson@virginia-organizing.org.
Washington County VOP Chapter kicks off open government campaign
The major concern of the Washington County VOP Chapter is sustainable economic development — economic development that provides jobs consistent with the beauty and environment of the area.
“We live in a beautiful area. We have seen what development and incompatible practices have done in other parts of the state,” said Teresa Harless, a Washington County resident who worked to stop digital billboards from expanding around the area. “We need to learn lessons from what happened elsewhere and make sure similar mistakes don’t happen here.”
But when Washington County residents want to take their ideas to the county planner, they have a problem: there isn’t one. When they want to speak up at the comment period at Board of Supervisors’ meetings, that’s a problem too: there’s no comment period.
To make sustainable economic development possible in Washington County, there also have to be changes in how local government deals with development.
In the past, many development issues (such as proposed truck stops, dozens of new digital billboards and zoning changes) sprang up, seemingly from nowhere. People emerged to fight around their issue and then went back to their everyday lives when that issue was won or lost. Now, the idea of a more strategic approach has provided a jolt of energy for the local Chapter. More than 40 people attended at least one of the meetings over the summer to strategize the campaign.
“Citizens fighting big box stores, proliferating electronic billboards, airport expansion, a truck stop, eight-laning I-81 and other concerns will be able to call upon each other’s resources when political action is called for,” said Rees Shearer, who has been a leader of many such fights.
The Chapter sees an open government campaign as a critical step. Key issues in that campaign will be getting a public comment period at board meetings and opening up ways for residents to impact the county’s Comprehensive Plan.
“We’re interested in developing local economies and food is a starting point for that. We’re building ways for local farmers and crafts people to connect with local consumers. We’re also interested in local energy generation and cooperation and building a local network,” said Steven Hopp, local VOP member and leader of a local farmers’ guild. “In all of these it is of the utmost importance to have an open system so that all residents of the community can engage in the local democratic governing process.”
The Washington County VOP Chapter will raise issues of citizen input and open government at upcoming public hearings on the revision to the county’s Comprehensive Plan. Committees are currently meeting to strategize those tactics.
“There is power in numbers, and that’s why it is so vitally important that residents from across the county and across issue areas come to work together,” said Charlie Chilton, who’s been active with the local VOP Chapter.
For more information about VOP’s organizing in Washington County, or if you are a resident or group that wants to connect to that organizing, contact Brian Johns at bjohns@virginia-organizing.org or (276) 619-1920.
The College of William and Mary VOP campus Chapter activated
by Nik Belanger
Inspired by their experiences as Virginia Organizing Project summer interns, students at The College of William and Mary recently formed a campus VOP Chapter.
Two of the W&M students were interns elsewhere in the state, while four university students from across the Commonwealth canvassed Williamsburg and the surrounding Tidewater area as VOP interns this past summer. One of the local canvassers was Cherie Seise, a William and Mary junior majoring in women’s studies and history. For Seise, the conversations with those community members with whom she spoke left a lasting impact.
“I really learned a lot from what people had to say and their ideas for improving their communities,” said Seise.
Led by VOP summer interns Lenore Dukes and Addie Alexander, the students have undertaken several projects, working closely with VOP Lead Organizer Ben Thacker-Gwaltney. One project is registering voters — both on campus and in the community. Another is working with VOP’s statewide health care campaign.
“I think working with the Virginia Organizing Project is a great way for students to use that energy and drive strategically to impact Virginia,” said Alexander. “I hope that having students participating in VOP’s health care campaign, civic engagement drive, and other movements this year will intensify those efforts and helps students by giving them the power to participate.”
On campus, the Chapter has focused on voter empowerment and education. On September 13, as students, parents and alumni filed into Zable Stadium for the Tribe’s first home football game, members of the campus Chapter posted themselves at the entrance gate with clipboards and voter registration materials. While many students approached by VOP volunteers said that they had already registered, a statement that the volunteers gladly accepted, several unregistered students took a few minutes to fill out the necessary paperwork and became eligible to vote on November 4.
The Chapter has also jumped into VOP’s new health care campaign. Members gathered in a residence hall on the evening of September 24 to transcribe health care stories from audio recordings gathered during canvasses and phone calls conducted throughout the summer. Chapter members were struck by how these stories spoke to the immense and urgent need for affordable health care coverage throughout Virginia and the nation on the whole. Also, at one of the Chapter’s weekly meetings, members called state delegates and senators to voice their concerns about the state of health care in Virginia. One member spoke with her senator directly to encourage reform.
According to Seise, the grassroots nature of Virginia Organizing Project’s work makes it a motor for positive, lasting change.
“I wanted to work with VOP because VOP really cares about having a strong grassroots base,” wrote Seise. “The focus is always on following the lead of community members, and I think that’s great. I think that’s the only way to make real change doing this kind of work.”
In the coming months, as the campus Chapter of William and Mary continues to grow in numbers and activities, members of the Chapter hope to play a role in ushering in just that kind of real change.
To get involved with VOP at William and Mary, or for more information, contact Chapter co-chairs Addie Alexander at awalexander@wm.edu or Lenore Dukes at lhduke@wm.edu.
Charlottesville, VA 22903-5208
Phone: (434) 984-4655 Fax: (434) 984-2803
