"Renewed hope was the sentiment of most people attending a Sept. 6 health care assembly, after state officials committed to create a system where public and private insurance providers offer education, affordable insurance and quality care…"

State Officials Urges to Make Healthcare More Affordable, The Tidings

After months of battling for cleaner air, Pomona Valley leaders of the Inland Empire Sponsoring Committee leveraged multiple concessions on a waste transfer station agreement. A maximum of 50 trucks would be permitted on and off the site per day. All trucks would be required to operate on clean compressed natural gas or other alternative fuels. Tonnage limits (at 66% of the original proposal) will help prevent neighboring suburbs from shrugging off its processing responsibilities; the transfer station will accept trash almost singularly from Pomona. And a new code enforcement position has been created to monitor particulate standards and ensure that other stations in the region operates in complies with clean air standards.

Read more

"Saturday morning, McClellan was one of 49 Inland Valley residents who participated in a jobs workshop organized by the Pomona Valley Cluster of the Inland Empire Sponsoring Committee, formerly known as One LA....

The workshop drew a diverse group of job seekers, among them recent high school graduates, people approaching retirement age, day laborers and out-of-work executives, said the Rev. Robert Linthicum, a retired minister who is a Sponsoring Committee leader.

Read more

"Peter Stemp, ministry outreach coordinator at the Diocese of Monterey, is helping collect signatures for COPA's Stand Up and Take Charge Campaign, launched March 12. They're 200 signatures toward an October goal of 30,000, in support of a broad agenda: the rights to affordable housing, healthcare, safety, economic opportunity and education for citizens and immigrants alike."

Coalition of Faith and Community Groups Seeks 30,000 Signatures for Political Agenda, Monterey County Weekly

"Tony Cardoso didn't think there was much point to voting. After all, what could his one vote do? Then he learned about an organization of 24 religious, education and nonprofit groups working together to solve economic and social justice issues....Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action, or COPA, launched a campaign Monday to push for affordable housing, health care access, public safety, economic and educational opportunity, and immigration reform."

Campaign Seeks to Enlist Voters in Support of Social Change: COPA Sets Agenda for Host of Issues Including Housing, Immigration, Santa Cruz Sentinel

Read more

"Residents living near the proposed site of the transfer station and leaders of the Pomona Valley cluster of One LA, gathered the letters that call for City Council members to refrain from scheduling an appeal hearing for the proposed project....

Among those in the group who delivered the letters was Anselmo Olmos, a retired construction worker who lives about a block away from the site of the proposed transfer station...Among Olmos' concerns is the impact of the proposed project on the health of a 2-year-old grandson who is a heart transplant recipient living near the site...Olmos spent much of November and December talking with residents on neighborhood streets asking they sign the letters that were delivered to City Hall. 'I spoke with mothers, and the majority said their children have asthma,' Olmos said.

The majority of residents and business people he approached signed letters."

Read more

In mid-November, more than 400 COPA leaders (from 24 institutions across Monterey and Salinas counties) launched their first-ever "Stand Up and Take Charge" campaign with a goal of organizing 20,000 voters in support of a common agenda of issues including health care, education, affordable housing, economic opportunity, immigration and safety. Leaders see this as a way to engage in public life and cut through the state of divisive, hyper-partisan politics in California. Leaders ratified a year-long plan that includes a regional agenda of issues, a core team of 60 captains, 400 leaders responsible for signing up 50 voters each and accountability sessions with county supervisorial candidate in May and US Congressman Sam Farr in October.

In a November meeting, One LA assembled 678 people from 20 institutions to consolidate organizing and recruitment efforts in the San Fernando Valley and conduct public business around foreclosures, healthcare and education. State, city and school district officials committed to working with leaders to pressure banks to lower loan amounts, pass an Assembly bill that would give state officials the power to regulate increases in health insurance rates, and improve the health of school meal plans while attending to children's tastes.

Communities Gather for Change, Los Angeles Daily News

Read more

While interviewed on KCRW's 'To the Point', One LA-IAF leader Yvonne Mariajimenez asserted that the One LA foreclosure prevention plan "provides a better return for investors than going through with foreclosure." This is the same plan that has been adopted by the City of Los Angeles.

Beltway Bubble, KCRW

 

"We believe healthy communities require willing institutions to engage with each other in the public square for the common good..."

-- IESC Statement

Read more