May 1997 May 1997 CALENDAR OF EVENTS Older Americans Month
Why We Live in San Francisco
From: Ubitquitus@aol.com Date: Fri. 18 Apr 1997 Subject: Thank You!
Thank you for the enjoyment I had visiting your site. I'm a Labor activist in Greenville, S.C. Probably the least likely place to find such a person
You-all are fortunate to live in such a progressive city where caring, compassion, understanding and clear thinking is at the forefront. I live in a town where the county council is worried more about "Playboy" magazine in the library and making resolutions condeming people with gay lifestyles rather than fixing potholes or budgets. This town is full of Bible totting robots hellbent on making this a puritanical village like those in the sixteenth century. They are beginning to be involved in witch hunts bending the laws to fit their agenda.
Tommrow, April 19, We are having a Gay & Lesbian Pride march and rally. I'll be one of the speakers (expressing labor) and we need your prayers to get us threw the day. 6-8,000 expected with many hecklers to cause problems.
I stumbled onto your site trying to find inspiration for tommrow. I did. Please keep us in your thoughts.
Sincerely, Roger Finch, Unitarian Universalist-Labor Activist
[Roger was more intent on his thought than his
spelling. That's OK with us and we wish him luck!]
Live Alone???
If you live by yourself in one of the numbered,
impersonal apartments or studios that pervades our
city, you may, at times, wonder how long it would take
if you were suddenly incapacited and unable to
contact anyone.
Sure the kids call once a week and your brother in
Oshkosh always calls on Sunday but . . .; Hook up with
another Gray Panther in the same situation. Call the
office and tell us you want to exchange daily phone
calls and we'll do our best to put you in contact with
another "loner." You'll both feel better!
Neighborhood House Needs Your Help
Potrero Hill Neighborhood House (PHNH) is like a
home-away-from-home for the people who take
advantage of the many activities it offers to the
community.
Right now the PHNH could use some donations
which may be "spares" in your home: cutting knives
and boards, can openers, big serving bowls and trays,
cutlery, dishes, etc. Computers to teach needed skills
and a Cusinart would also be appreciated
The Neighborhood House is located at 953 De
Haro. The cross street is Southern Heights. Telephone
number is 826-8080. Our own Agnes Batteiger, 921-
8522, will be coordinating donations.
Regional Convocation
Gray Panthers of our region ended our April 12 joint
meeting with the song "For We Are Jolly Good
Panthers" and "Solidarity Forever." Hopefully it will
be the first step towards better communication between
the Northern California networks.
For three hours we received reports on work in progress from Sacramento, Mendocino, Contra Costa, Berkeley, Oakland, Marin and San Francisco. Then we considered how we can best use the ideas and new materials presented in the most effective way. As a region, our only endorsement, subject to local ratification, was for public funding for sufficient jobs to meet the demand occasioned by the new welfare policy. Already introduced is the Dellums HR l050, "Living Wage Jobs for All Act." Not yet introduced is the Martinez "Jobs and Infrastructure Restoration Act" and the Owens-Sanders "Job Creation and In- vestment in America Act 1977."
Other issues considered were: welfare reform; So- cial Security; universal health care; concern for hos- pital mergers and lowered quality of health care; nu- clear problems with spent nuclear rods from other countries docked in Concord and transported to Idaho. Concern was expressed about the plutonium used to fuel the Cassini rocket due to be launched in October; plus anxiety for the environment; corporate wealthfare injustices; privatization and the loss of pub- lic property and participatory democracy; union sup- port; advocacy for handicapped persons; ecology; "edible schoolyards"; books vs computers in public libraries.
Additionally, we addressed the challenge presented by the National Gray Panthers Convention to be held in San Francisco on Sept. 26-27-28. Volunteers will be needed to help with the logistics of the convention.
It has been said that the Gray Panthers deal with too many issues. Rather they should focus on fewer issues with greater concentration. Perhaps we can do it both ways, because it also has been said that our strength lies in our diversity. The regional Gray Panthers must decide on the direction we should take.
To strengthen our regional communication system and thereby our resolve, we agreed to appoint a re- gional coordinator to receive and disseminate infor- mation between networks; i.e. coalitions we are work- ing with, conferences we attend, effective outreach techniques we discover, pertinent news dealing with Gray Panthers issues of social justice, etc. We agreed to work on a regional e-mail link to the Sacramento network regarding bills that are intro- duced and heard in our state capitol.
If you're interested in becoming more involved in
regional issues, we'll send the meeting minutes to you
upon request.
Public Works Jobs Now! Our Goal-
Full Employment!
At its regional meeting the GPs unanimously endorsed
the Martinez Emergency Public Works Jobs Bill (HR
950) and the Dellums Living Wage Jobs for All Bill
(HR 1050).
The Martinez Public Works Jobs Bill was intro- duced in Congress by Rep. Mathew Martinez (D-Los Angeles, ) and Maxine Waters. Northern California co- sponsors include Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), Pete Stark (D-Hayward), Lynn Woolsey (D-Marin), and Zöe Lofgren (D-San Jose).
The bill has the endorsement of various city coun- cils, among them the San Francisco and Marin Boards of Supervisors, and wide support from the labor movement including the AFL-CIO.
The Martinez Bill is an emergency solution to the crisis created by so-called "welfare reform," and continuing massive downsizing and joblessness. HR 950 calls for government-created jobs. HR 950 pro- vides $250 billion over five years for jobs to rebuild our infrastructure; it provides for a living wage and union protection and gives priority to young people, long-term unemployed and people kicked off welfare. It also provides skill training.
Please, call your Congressperson and ask her or him to co-sponsor HR 950. If they already have signed on-congratulate them. Get organizations to endorse and circulate a petition (one is available in the GPs office).
The Dellums full employment bill has similar
Congressional support. The campaign for HR 1050 is
organized by the Full Employment Coalition. We urge
you to take action in support of HR 1050 in the same
ways outlined for the Martinez Bill.
May Meeting-Taking a Stand
Discussion of the crucial issues of our time will be the
subject of our May meeting: the Martinez/Dellums full
employment bill, the Patient Bill of Rights, the Cassini
space probe which plans to use plutonium for fuel and
the privatization of Muni.
We will establish our positions at this meeting and communicate our findings to other networks to pro- mote a national consensus.
Tuesday, May 20, First Unitarian Church at Geary
and Franklin. Let your voice be heard!
The Newsletter of the San Francisco Gray Panthers is published each month, and distributed free of charge to members and friends of this nonprofit organization.