Ward Representation now the law of Springfield's land

Ward representation was passed by Springfield's voters today by an overwhelming 74% Although I believed ward rep would win a majority of votes, I am truly stunned by the level of support. I've been casting my mind around for another candidate or issue in the recent past that won by the same 3 to 1 ratio, but so far have been unable to think of one.

A few thoughts tonight: Eight by ward and five at-large for city council is not the version of ward representation preferred by most of those advocates who really studied this issue, but was instead a pragmatic decision made by City Councilor Jose Tosado (tonight's top vote-getter). It was not easy for those of us in Arise, Oiste, most other plaintiffs in the voting rights lawsuit and other activists to decide to put our weight behind Tosado's version. Hell, he wasn't even in office when we started this campaign. But we did it and I believe ward representation will, as Nick Camerota says, bring an end to politics as usual in this city.

Ward representation received more votes than any single mayoral, city council or school committee candidate-- almost 3,000 votes more. This was also the case in the 1997 election. Of course we worked hard to turn people out, but our hard work cannot take full responsibility for this. A 74% margin represents something deeply true in its urges toward democracy.

Yet at the same time, except for the huge upset of our incumbent Mayor Ryan by challenger Dom Sarno, every single incumbent on the city council and school committee was re-elected. People may want democracy and change, but mostly they don't know how to get it. I know that today, I voted for exactly two city council candidates, and neither was an incumbent. If you're in an at-large system, and you're trying to get a non-incumbent elected, you have to bullet-vote.

This kind of entrenchment of the incumbents is just one effect of an at-large system, now, thankfully, dead. But we still have a lot to learn about how to use ward representation so that we can all really benefit..

--- One last thought for tonight: we Arise folks met up at the Caribbean Club with Vera O'Connor to await poll results. Oiste, Out Now and Neighbor to Neighbor folks joined us, as well as Nick C (who designed our ad in the Springfield Republican) and E. Henry Twiggs, Chair of the City Democratic Committee. What a motley crew we made! From bowlers and overcoats to jeans and sneakers, we looked like the city I know and love. These folks are just the best, and I love them..

No New Jails!

The new Chicopee jail for women (official name: Western Mass Women's Correctional Center) had its Grand Opening today, with 200 public officials attending Sheriff Ashe's big bash.

On my lunch hour I ran over to a second, satirical demonstration of about 30 people "celebrating" the jail's new opening.

"Free Housing! Free Health Care! Sorry, no childcare."
"We want a jail in our community, too! How do we get one for Longmeadow? For Sixteen Acres?"

We held signs saying "Feminists for Cages" and "Out of the Homes and Into the Lock-up." We gave away keychain souvenirs with little stuffed orange jumpsuits dangling from them. We had balloons and a cake and offered some to the police stationed across the street to make sure we behaved.

The "celebration" was sponsored by the Statewide Harm Reduction Coalition (SHaRC), which includes the groups present: Out Now, the Freedom Center, Arise and the Community Church of Boston. We also had students from Smith College and a number of formerly incarcerated women.

"I know that guy!" one of those women said about one of the law enforcement officials standing across the street. "He used to wake us up on purpose in the middle of the night."

In reality, of course, there was little to celebrate. The jail cost $26 million to build and will cost $13 million a year to maintain. Do I think incarcerated women will be "happier" in Chicopee than they are in their current cramped quarters at the men's jail in Ludlow? Of course. One huge benefit is that busses run by the new jail regularly, so it will be easier for women to keep in touch with their families.

But should they be there in the first place?

Even the Sheriff will admit that most of the women sentenced to serve their time there will be in for prostitution and drug-related offenses.

All of them would be better served by getting in the community the best of what they will be getting in jail-- be it job training, counseling, drug treatment or education. And it would certainly cost a lot less money.

We are so on the wrong track in our thinking about how to live in a safe community. I will be writing more about this.
Photos by Liz Bewsee

Best of my inbox

Back from vacation, seems like all I've been doing is reading emails and washing clothes. Above is from Cute Overload.

STUDY OF THE WEEK: FOOD GIANTS BRAINWASHING KIDS A new study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine indicates that the annual $10 billion the food and beverage industry is spending on advertising foods to kids is working alarmingly well. The study found that four out of five kids preferred the flavor of foods served in McDonalds packaging as compared to the exact same foods served in packaging without the McDonalds brand. By the time they are two years old, children may already have beliefs about certain brands, and by the age of six they can recognize brands and specific brand products. Not surprisingly, the study found that kids with more televisions in the home had stronger preferences for brands. The authors suggested this study strengthened the justification for tighter regulation or banning of advertising and marketing of high calorie, low nutrient food and drink, and perhaps a ban on all marketing that is aimed at young children. Learn more and take action in OCA's "Appetite for a Change" campaign: http://www.organicconsumers.org/afc.cfm

Cooling Tower Collapse Raises Concerns about a New License for the Aging Vermont Yankee Reactor*

After key components of a Vermont Yankee cooling tower fell to the ground Tuesday, members of Safe Power Vermont are saying "no" to renewing Entergy's license to operate for another 20 years.

Safe Power Vermont - a coalition of experienced citizen, environmental, legal, and anti-nuclear organizations committed to closing the nuclear power plant - said that while alarming, the collapse of the cooling tower is not surprising.

"Vermont Yankee is running at 120% of its designed capacity. This surge in power combined with its already ailing infrastructure leaves Vermont Yankee incredibly vulnerable to dangerous accidents just like this one," said Deb Katz, Executive Director of Citizens Awareness Network.

Advocates questioned the clean bill of health that the cooling tower recently received from Entergy's experts. They called into question Vermont Yankee's claims that the 35 five year old reactor is not experiencing serious aging strain that jeopardizes the plant's future. "Vermont Yankee telling us that the plant is running like new is like a hair dresser telling you that you look twenty years younger, its nice to hear but far from the truth," said James Moore, Clean Energy Advocate for VPIRG.

The plant's history of defects and accidents is not insignificant. Just in the past decade, Vermont Yankee has documented 76 cracks in its steam dryer, three fires in its transformer station, a dangerously overcrowded spent fuel pool for radioactive waste and now a cooling tower collapse. Despite this, Entergy is aggressively looking to extend the plant's license to operate for an additional 20 years.

Advocates also noted that Vermont Yankee benefited from the recent expiration of a rate payer protection plan. This fact will leave Green Mountain Power, Central Vermont Public Service, and Vermont rate payers with higher bills in the future.
"Any further reliance on Vermont Yankee will pass on to future generations both financial as well as safety risks. Vermont Yankee was built to run 40 years and at 35 it is already testing "father time", the plant must close in 2012," said Ed Anthes of Nuclear Free Vermont.

In accordance with Act 160, the Vermont legislature has the power to prevent Vermont Yankee from running past its 2012 lifespan. Safe Power Vermont says the coalition will continue to work for the facility's closure to prevent a seemingly inevitable accident of catastrophic proportions.

*For More Information: * James Moore, VPIRG, 802-223-5221
Chris Williams, VT CAN, 802-767-4276
Deb Katz, MA CAN 413- 339- 5781

Two years after Katrina, the Gulf Coast is still recovering, and thousands of personal stories remain unheard. Experience them here. Tell us yours. VOICES FROM THE GULF.

Pioneer Valley

Latin Jazz Festival

Saturday, September 1^st, 2007

La Finca,
24 Jones Ferry Road , Holyoke 01040,
l ocated alongside the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts

12:00 to 7:00

Featuring:
Curtis Brothers' Insight
Victor "Papo" Sterling's Sabor a Timba
Art (Jayko) Clinton's KomboJaZZ
Angels Rodriguez' "Mundo Nuevo Latin Jazz Ensemble"
Faith Conant's "Mi la Woe" (We will do it!)

$10 adults, $5 for College students/seniors, Children free

The donations will provide funding to support other cultural activities at El Mercado including poetry readings, art shows by local artists. For further information call 413-687-0399 or cena.elmercado@gmail.com

CENA Centro de Artes

@ El Mercado, 413 Main Street, Holyoke 01040 * cena.elmercado@gmail.com * 413-335-6224

CENA is where the community can create, see, support, and learn about different artistic disciplines and promises to enhance the South Holyoke neighborhood, assist in the revitalization of Main Street Holyoke, and bring resources to the area. This space serves as an anchor to a network of programming and educational opportunities related to cooperative economic development in conjunction with other community institutions, programs and institutions of higher learning.

Sponsors: Centro de Artes @ El Mercado, Nuestras Raíces, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Mass Latino Chamber of Commerce, Massachusetts Fair Housing Center (MFHC), Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA), NetValley Networks, COOP Power, New England Cooperative Fund…

ONE MORE TIME! READY TO GO TO WASHINGTON, D.C. AND SAY NO MORE WAR?
*September 29: March Against the War at Home & Abroad

FOR INFORMATION on BUS TRANSPORTATION FROM WESTERN MASS. for the Sept. 29 "Healthcare Not Warfare DC Mobilization," phone us at 413-896-5219 (Springfield) or 413-587-0059 (Northampton), or email wmassiac@hotmail.com please type "S29 DC BUS" in your email's subject line.Troops Out Now.