Skip to main content

Town Hall Meeting


I'm a great believer in Democracy in action.  Even though I disagreed with much of  what Tea Party activists said  at town hall meetings and the cranky way it was said, I liked that they came to the public forum.  Yesterday , National People's Action demonstrators in Washington were chanting "What does democracy look like? This is what democracy looks like." Again, another public forum.  

This morning I got email from Rep. Jaime Pederson saying that he will be having a town hall meeting here in Seattle at:

43rd Legislative District Town Hall
Saturday, March 12, 2-3:30 p.m.
Seattle First Baptist Church
1111 Harvard Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122

Speaking of foreclosures Pederson claims as one of his legislative accompolishments doing something about it. He says, "During the past two years, more than 77,000 families have lost their homes to foreclosure in Washington.  Another 40,000 are seriously delinquent and at risk. We also know that some big banks have not followed the rules regarding foreclosure. One of our highest priorities this year in the House Judiciary Committee, which I chair, was to increase protection for families who are facing foreclosure.  I am delighted to report that the House passed the Foreclosure Fairness Act of 2011, House Bill 1362, which encourages banks and homeowners to work collaboratively to explore alternatives to foreclosure so that families can stay in their homes whenever possible. The banking industry has agreed to a substantial new fee to pay for housing counselors to help homeowners understand their range of options. And if banks fail to play by the rules, the bill provides enforcement mechanisms, including application of the Consumer Protection Act and mandatory mediation"  If you want to contact Rep. Pedersen :Jamie.Pedersen@leg.wa.gov


I may go and tell Rep Pederson, thanks for the bill, but it's not enough, more is needed.  What more can we do? And I may speak of those that have been demonstrating in Washington.  I may also talk about high unemployment   and ask him to do more about that. I urge you also to consider going and "sounding off. "  




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seeking the Romance of Life

A recent trip back to California, where I spent the middle half of my life (the part between the Seattle bookends)  and other smaller events have made me reflective of past events and places.  My brothers and I stopped in Santa Cruz, briefly, where I had lived for years, and stopped by a nightclub I had spent time in, the Catalyst, and asked the bartender the current status of local things. I found out Club Zayante in the Santa Cruz Mountain had closed.  When I got home I researched the Club, which was once of the hottest nightclubs in Central California to learn what happened.  I found out the club had closed for financial reasons then burned down. But what I learned about the owner, Tom Louagie intrigued me. He had come out from the east coast on a romantic quest, to find the Cannery Row he had read in Steinbeck. He had the idea of moving there and living a literary dream from the past.  He didn't know that that Cannery Row had died...
3 comments
Read more

Swing States Swinging Against Meat Axe Budget Cuts and Anti-Labor Laws

Polls are showing wide swings of voters away from recently elected Republicans who are charing ahead with budget cuts and dismemberment of collective bargaining for public employee unions.   These polls are holding also for many of the recently elected Republican Congress people and in many states where the politics has been less volatile than the Upper Mid-West States. In Wisconsin, polls suggest that if there was a do over of the gubernatorial race in which Scott Walker decisively beat Tom Barret, Barrett would easily win by 52%.  Walker's support in union households has dropped from 40% to 33% and Tom Barrett's union household support has jumped from 54% to 64%.  Barrett's support among Republicans has risen to 10%.  In Michigan the new Governor created what people are calling financial martical law, where he can declare a financial emergency in a local government, take it over, and void union contracts. ...
7 comments
Read more