by PCCI
Dear friends and colleagues,
I am leaving Iowa, ICANs commitment to the Our Common Values program
is firm. In preparation for the transition, over the last several weeks
Amy Logsdon ICANs Political Director and I have been working on
all aspects of the Our Common Values program together, and we will
continue to do so through the month of July. Amy, our Executive
Director Betty Ahrens, and other ICAN staff including a new staff
member, who we are looking for right now (see below) will continue to
make Our Common Values one of ICANs top priorities, through the
caucuses and well beyond.
those interested in the personal aspects of this: I will be studying
Public Policy at Berkeley, and my wife will be studying Science and
Environmental Reporting in their Journalism program. The opportunity
for her is simply too good to pass up, as shell get to learn from a
writer who is basically her hero, Michael Pollan. This will be a return
to Berkeley for me I was an undergraduate there and so there are
many things about the move that I am excited about.
However,
four weeks before our move, I am honestly far more disappointed and
regretful about leaving ICAN than I am excited about moving back to
Berkeley. ICAN is doing fantastic work, on many fronts at once, and I
absolutely love the pieces of it that fall to me. In particular, the
work leading Our Common Values has been a simply incredible opportunity
I still find it a bit hard to believe that I found an organization
looking to hire someone to do this kind of work. I fe el extremely
fortunate to have found this great position and organization, and to
have had the opportunity to work with all of you. I will miss our
collective work on the Our Common Values program very much.
A job announcement has been posted on the ICAN web site: http://www.iowacan.org/about/jobs.html.
Please spread the word far and wide about this opportunity to work with
ICAN! If you have questions about the staff transition, or about the
positions open at ICAN, please feel free to contact me or other ICAN
staff.
In solidarity,
Program Director
Iowa Citizen Action Network (ICAN)
3520 Beaver Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50310
(***Please note: if you are calling from
Des Moines, you need to dial the full 10-digit
number to get through to my cell phone.***)
Iowa is anticipating approximately 100 Burmese and 120 Iraqi refugees by the end of this year.
Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services, 515-283-7999, refugee@dhs.state.ia.us
Lutheran Services in Iowa, Des Moines contact: Jill Stuecker, 515-271-7418, jill.stuecker@lsiowa.org
JULY 10, 2007 10-11 AM
ON KSUI (or on 90.1 or 640 am)
This event is sponsored by Iowa CURE, Iowa Reform Consortium, and Womens International League for Peace and Freedom
For Opposing the War!
disobedience to end the Iraq War in February, more than 320 citizens
have been arrested in communities around the country for occupying the
offices of their representatives in congress, calling them to pledge
not to pay for requests from the White House for funding the war.
occupying Senator Charles Grassley's office in Cedar Rapids while
seven were arrested occupying the senator's office in Des Moines. On
Friday, July 6, the Cedar Rapids 11 will be sentenced for criminal
trespass in a Linn County courtroom and on the next Monday, July 9,
five of those arrested in Des Moines will begin a trial before a Polk
County Jury.
defense presenting its case on Tuesday, July 10. Join Occupation
Project defendants Kathleen McQuillen, Chet Guinn, Dixie Webb, Brian
Terrell and Elton Davis in the courtroom and at a solidarity rally at
Chet's firehouse on Monday evening.
Monday, July 9 at 7 PM
Chet Guinn's Firehouse
1041 8th Street, Des Moines
(one block west of Downtown Holiday Inn)
co-coordinator of Voices for Nonviolent Action and the Occupation
Project Jeff Leys speaking on: “Never Ending Funding for Never Ending War”
billions of dollars to fund this illegal, immoral and unjust war, the
Occupation Project in Iowa and around the nation will be planning more
nonviolent direct actions.
6:30 8:30pm
State Historical Museum
Atrium
(600 East Locust street parking & garage at E. Grand and Penn.)
defined this summer in the 2007 Farm Bill create the food and
agriculture landscape of Iowa and the entire country. All VOICES need
to be heard & represented.
farm organizer and 2006 candidate for Iowas Secretary of Agriculture,
talks about the road map for agriculture. Whats in the Farm Bill?
What makes effective food policy? How do we insure the Farm Bill meets
our food and agricultural needs?
Every year our elected
officials create, evaluate and pass laws that impact every aspect of
all our lives. All VOICES need to be heard & represented.
Jochum, State Representative from District 27 in Dubuque, talks about
VOICE (Voter Owned Iowa Clean Elections) legislation, HR 805. How do
we take big money out of politics? Can publicly financed campaigns
work? How do we insure that legislation is evaluated according to the
best interest of all Iowans?
SPONSORS INCLUDE
Womens International League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF), The League
of Women Voters, American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME), Progressive Coalition of Central Iowa (PCCI),
Oxfam, Iowa Farmers Union, Iowa Citizen Action Network (ICAN) &
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI).
Blog For Iowa 