Jefferson County KFTC celebrates another great year at the annual chapter meeting
The June 9th Jefferson County annual chapter meeting brought together 30 new and old KFTC members for the annual chapter potluck.
Updates were given on issues the local chapter is hard at work on. The Air Quality Team, focused on the unfair West Louisville air pollution burden caused by Rubbertown factories, has established a partnership with Rubbertown Emergency ACTion (REACT) and continues an effort to establish Odor Response Teams to report chemical smells coming from the area and Air Pollution Control District’s (APCD) response to odor complaints. The team is also working with local philanthropists to set up air quality monitoring equipment in West Louisville to identify what chemicals are being emitted. Two members of the team, Brian Deis and Sean Hardy, along with a KFTC member from Eastern KY recently traveled to North Carolina to make a presentation on the project and get input at an EPA sponsored event. The next meeting for the group is TBA. To stay current, check out the team on Facebook.
The Economic Justice committee gave an update on their work in the Smoketown area, where they have started the process of getting neighborhood residents’ feedback on how they feel about their neighborhood with the Smoketown Community Survey. The project seeks to collect opinions as the neighborhood undergoes drastic change through economic development efforts, and to help interested residents reinvigorate the currently inactive neighborhood association. So far, approximately 40 surveys have been completed. Going forward, the team is going to partner with the Center for Neighborhoods to help analyze the results. The team will continue canvassing the neighborhood on Saturday June 21 at 11am and June 26 at 5:30pm. Anyone interested in door knocking to tell people about the surveys can meet at the KFTC office. The team’s next meeting is Wednesday, June 18 at 6pm at the KFTC office.
This year the chapter also signed on to support the successful ban the box ordinance that prevents employers from asking applicants if they were ever convicted of felonies. The chapter also agreed to support a local minimum wage ordinance, a 20-year Fair Housing Action Plan, dedicated funding for the Louisville Affordable Housing Trust Fund, MSD workers’ efforts to secure binding arbitration, and a local resolution to support automatic restoration of voting rights for former felons.
After raising $10,057 from June 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014, the chapter set a $5,000 goal for the rest of the year. Achieving this will require events! Brainstorming at the meeting yielded: Adult Field Day, Fundraising at the Saint James Art Fair, J-Town Gaslight Festival, or the Pride Festival, host an open mic night, bingo, a 5k race, Apples to Apples Tournament, Art Auction, Trivia Night, KFTC Idol competition, lawn party at the Braden Center, and/or a KFTC brewfest in Louisville in addition to the upcoming Smoketown GetDown. Other ideas are welcomed, and watch for opportunities to help make some of the ideas a reality.
The chapter plans to work to recruit 150 new members for the rest of the year, which would make 416 new Jefferson County Chapter members for the year. Members proposed continuing to table at events around the city, promote membership through public service and announcements, and volunteering with other organizations to spread the word about KFTC.
We also discussed upcoming events:
- KFTC Voter Empowerment Volunteer Training, July 12, Danville
- KFTC Annual Meeting, August 22 to 24, General Butler State Park, Carrollton
- KFTC Smoketown Getdown for Democracy, September 19
- KFTC Tabling (send around sign up sheets)
- 2Not1 Father’s Day Picnic, June 15
- WLOU Summerfest, June 21 (tentative)
- Bates X-travaganza, July 26
- West Louisville Appreciation Day, July 26 (tentative)
- KFTC’s KCADP Day at the State Fair, August 1
- WorldFest, August 29-September 1
- Rally for Recovery, September 20
Members also worked through proposals for changes to the KFTC statewide platform. New language is underlined, deletions have strikethrough:
- “We support campaign spending limits and mandatory public financing . . ."
- "We support policies that promote a strong statewide cooperative economy."
- “We demand quality, truly affordable and preventive health care, including reproductive health and choice, with universal coverage for all Kentuckians, and support commit to a single payer health care system.” OR: "We demand quality health coverage for all medically necessary care, for preventative health care, and for reproductive health services for all Kentuckians, and we reaffirm our support for a single payer health care system as detailed in HR 676 (endorsed by KFTC)."
- “We condemn and oppose oppression and harassment of all people by public or private individuals or institutions based on ability, age, gender, gender expression, familial status, national origin, citizenship . . .”
- “We also support open pathways to citizenship for youth people who are undocumented.
At the close of the busy meeting, all members present voted to remain a chapter of KFTC and nominated people for statewide committees and elect members for statewide offices. Results are below.
Statewide committee nominations:
- Voter Empowerment Committee: Kendra Oatis & Ashanti Dallas
- Economic Justice Committee: George Schuhmann & Rebecca Grant
- NET Committee: Ryan Fenwick
- Litigation Committee: Rebecca Grant
- Leadership Development Committee: Carla Wallace & Nan Goheen
- Executive Committee Chair: Dana Beasley-Brown
- Kentucky Coalition Board: Mary Love & Homer White
Statewide officer nominations:
- Steering Committee Rep: Ryan Fenwick
- Steering Committee Alternate: Nan Goheen
- Membership Coordinators/Team: Solange Minstein, Kendra Oatis, Ashanti Dallas
- Fundraising Coordinator: Teresa Lajara
- Publicity Coordinator Team: Ryan Fenwick, Elijah McKenzie, Shavaun Evans