Campaigning for State Representative Lisa Hernandez - 3/10/2012

           I just returned home from a day of campaigning for Lisa Hernandez. Hernandez is running for re-election in the 24^th District for State Representative. Being that this class is called Doing Democracy and this assignment is about observing the democratic process, I figured what is more democratic than campaigning.

I showed up to her office on W. Cermak in Cicero at 9:30am. Immediately when I entered, I was greeted with smiles and warm faces. I was offered coffee and donuts before I was even able to introduce myself. Needless to say I felt very welcomed. I looked around and noticed that most of the people there were workmen. I later found out that these men were plumbers that came out to support Hernandez because of her support for the workers union.

            I arrived with two other people representing the Tamms Year Ten (TY10) organization. Hernandez has been a great political ally for TY10 for years. As a way to show thanks/support to Hernandez and to encourage her continued support for TY10, we volunteered to help her campaign. After meeting Hernandez, I got a great since of the type of woman she was. She seemed very down to earth, and after learning about her stance on raising property tax and on politicians’ salaries, it sounds like she is very “for the people”. Last week, my friend Laura made numerous phone calls along side of Hernandez to the residents of her district. They informed people about where she stands on current issues, answer the questions people had, and spread the word about the upcoming election on March 20^th. This week we hit the streets and went door knocking.

We were handed flyers and clipboards, then supplied with a list of addresses and names. We were given a map of our area to cover, briefed on the door knocking process, and sent on our way. This all seemed very foreign to me, as I have not done this type of work before. I was nervous about ringing doorbells to strangers’ houses in an area I was not familiar with. I was concerned I would not having all the answers to peoples questions, or not be well received by the community. Thankfully I had two other people with me because they made the experience memorable.

Laura, Darryl and I packed in the car and headed to our designated area. We jumped out and immediately started knocking. At first a lot of people didn’t answer their doors, in which case we were instructed to leave a flyer and place a “NH” (Not Home) next to their name on our sheet. House after house we went to, our sheet began filling up with “NH”s. I kept thinking, “this isn’t hard, I barely have to talk to anyone”. Then someone answered.

When people did come to the door we first introduced ourselves, who we were representing, and handed them a flyer. We proceeded by asking if they had heard of her before and offered to answer questions. Next we described the petition we were encouraging people to sign for a policy Hernandez was trying to pass. It stated that if your property value decreased the county would not be able to raise your property tax. People were very receptive to this, as it seemed raising property taxes directly effected many of them. After they signed the petition, we reminded them of the up coming election and asked if we could count on their vote. If they said yes, placed a “+” next to their name on our list and asked if they would be interested in having a sign placed in their yard to show their support. I met many different characters today. I had a great time interacting and listening to the stories of the people. Each one was different and offered different insight into the policy issues impacting their lives. 

After checking off the names on the list we headed back to Hernandez’s office to drop off the results and describe our experience. The campaign manager was interested to hear how well people responded to us. He was excited to see the signatures we collected on petition and the number of people who volunteered their yards for sign placement. He thanked us tremendously and encouraged us to come back next week.

The democratic process is based on the people voice and frequently this is expressed through the voting process. The right to vote is something someone should not take for granted: it is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal.  The election process has many layers to it, but it is important that the people running for office (and their campaign) meet the people and hear their voices directly. 

Tamms Year Ten Meeting- 3/2/2012

           Tamms is a city in southern Illinois that is home to the state’s supermax prison. In a supermax men are housed in solitary confinement for no less than 23 hours a day. What started as one-year program facility, several men have been there since it’s opening in 1995: that is 17 years! The United Nations’ Human Rights Declaration has deemed long-term isolation torture.  While the supermax facility was a popular trend for “corrections” in the 80’s and 90’s, many states have closed these facilities due to their high financial cost. 

On the tenth anniversary of Tamms, SAIC alum Laurie Jo Reynolds (LJR) and others founded an organization called Tamms Year Ten (TY10). This group has been fighting for the closure of Tamms for seven years. On February 22, 2012 Mayor Quinn announced the purposed closing of Tamms Correctional Center. While this was a huge victory for TY10, the fight is far from over. The state of IL has a super strong workers union (AFSCME) and the correctional officers have come out swinging. Many politicians from southern Illinois (Senator Forbes, Representative Phelps, Ex Gov. Edgar, and Lt Gov Shelia) have also created a backlash of arguments against the closing.  These forces main concerns are the number of jobs lost (about 300) and the safety of the public (which is ridiculous considering none of these men would be released into the public, most would be transferred to Pontiac Correctional Center which was home to Illinois’ Death Row).

I just got home from one of TY10’s meetings and you could sense the excitement in the air. First thing on today’s agenda was organizing and TY10 just adopted an excellent tool for it called Base Camp. This program is an organizer’s dream because it allows you and your group’s members to post and keep track of events, meetings, assignments, campaigns, etc. LJR was a prominent voice of the meeting, partially because she was the most knowledgeable about the recent events taking place and also because she has lots of experience dealing with policy work and organizing.

Action is critical right now with closure proposal being announced. The closure is in no way guaranteed and everything could change in the blink of an eye. In order for TY10 to secure this closure, everyone is called to action. This task is more daunting than it may seem, the network of TY10 participants is huge and the spreadsheet of contacts is a mess. Once TY10 has found the active participants, there is a list of crucial events and projects almost a mile long: these include campaigning for politicians with excellent stances on criminal justice reform for this coming election, lobbying for the COGFA hearing to be held in the Chicago area instead of down state and organize a mass attendance of TY10 supporters, keeping pressure on our political allies to do the right thing in the House and Senate Appropriation Committee budget plan, and thanking endorsers and encouraging their continued participation during this crucial time. This is on top of the routine concerns of TY10 of corresponding with men in Tamms and their family members about their treatment, the Photo Project for Men in Solitary Confinement, and continued press on the horrendous human rights violations taking place at Tamms.

The great thing about LJR is her ability to create and open democratic space in which there is room for everyone’s voice to be heard. Her goal is not to dictate but to collaborate. She asks for volunteers for tasks and allows people to be in control of their participation. She has a great knack for playing off people strengths and creating an infectious movement towards action. Watching her orchestrate this meeting into roles for everyone, including herself, reminded me that although there can be a driving force in a group, that person alone can’t accomplish as much as the collective.