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Yesterday I attended a Culver City Council meeting to agitate for rent control. The lack of it is a big problem in the area, with landlords frequently forcing tenants to pay for all maintenance themselves by raising their rent every time they make a maintenance request. This is why I recently paid to have my own gross carpeting replaced, even though it's been there for over 10 years and should have been done by the landlord.
The City Council took TWO HOURS before they even started on rent control, which was what everyone was there for, discussing stuff like amortizations and pension plans. I was with Yana, my five-year-old former neighbor who still drops by sometimes to visit my cats, her older brother (age nine), and her parents. At one point Yana leaned over and whispered, "I'm bored." I whispered back, "Me too."
I ended up spending two hours entertaining her via photo editing on my camera. I also fed her and her brother with bison jerky and peanut butter granola bars, as each parent had thought the other brought snacks. After her mom spoke, the kids, their dad, and I bailed as it was past 9:00 and there were 150 speakers at 2 minutes each and I hadn't had dinner other than my share of the bison jerky and granola bars.
My emergency supplies were extremely useful! I call a bored and hungry five-year-old and eight-year-old sitting through two hours of the city council discussing pension plan percentages an emergency.
The meeting went till 1:30 AM! The rent freeze was passed 4-1.
And that was not my only in-person activism this month! Last week I registered voters at Orange County Pride.
Here is a Yana-decorated photo of me doing so (note my rainbow shirt AND hair):
Also, have a rainbow unicorn:
The City Council took TWO HOURS before they even started on rent control, which was what everyone was there for, discussing stuff like amortizations and pension plans. I was with Yana, my five-year-old former neighbor who still drops by sometimes to visit my cats, her older brother (age nine), and her parents. At one point Yana leaned over and whispered, "I'm bored." I whispered back, "Me too."
I ended up spending two hours entertaining her via photo editing on my camera. I also fed her and her brother with bison jerky and peanut butter granola bars, as each parent had thought the other brought snacks. After her mom spoke, the kids, their dad, and I bailed as it was past 9:00 and there were 150 speakers at 2 minutes each and I hadn't had dinner other than my share of the bison jerky and granola bars.
My emergency supplies were extremely useful! I call a bored and hungry five-year-old and eight-year-old sitting through two hours of the city council discussing pension plan percentages an emergency.
The meeting went till 1:30 AM! The rent freeze was passed 4-1.
And that was not my only in-person activism this month! Last week I registered voters at Orange County Pride.
Here is a Yana-decorated photo of me doing so (note my rainbow shirt AND hair):
Also, have a rainbow unicorn:
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Those are remarkably restrained decorations for a five-year-old.
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By far the best place to register voters is high schools. You can pre-register at 16, most of them are not already registered, and they're not yet jaded and against the entire concept.
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I’m glad the high school kids aren’t jaded. I will keep that in mind.
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Honestly, if you're at all interested, talk to a city council person to find out just how long meetings typically run and what other additional stuff you might have to do. We need more people involved in government at all levels, especially women. If that seems like too much work, see if there's a way to start smaller like a public library board or renter's association or something.
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That's nuts! Congratulations!
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Love the photo of you at Pride.
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As I type this, I am wearing the same Cranky Girl rainbow shirt (okay, another shirt with the same design). It's my favorite of her designs. I think I have three of them, and I just might buy another couple.
At least, I assume yours is also from Cranky Girl, because I don't know how two dyers could have that same design.
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