Happy November everyone,

Like most of you, we've been relieved to see the outcomes of the recent  federal and state elections.  We were excited to see NEWR and Our Mayor,  Our Choice pass locally.  At the state level we witnessed Cory Gardner  removed from office, the passage of the Family & Medical Leave Act,  and the repeal of the Gallagher amendment.  And while the outcome of the  presidential race bodes well, the results also point to more work that  needs to be done.  But fear not, even in normal times federal influence  on local issues isn't as impactful as one might think (both good and  bad).

Rather, much of our daily life is governed from our own communities.   This has always been a core belief here at Boulder Progressives, that by  enacting change locally we can have a greater progressive impact on  people's lives here at home.  Some issues that are coming before City  Council in the next few months that we'll be working on include the  Police Collective Bargaining Agreement, occupancy limits, safe overnight  parking, and the East Boulder sub-community plan (a chance to weigh in  on housing, employment, and recreation in a long-neglected part of our  city).  If any of these are of interest to you please reach out.

Sierra Club

In  our last newsletter we encouraged you to join our local Sierra Club  branch, the Indian Peaks Group.  If you happened to do so, or are  already a member we'd encourage you to take part in their executive  committee election that's going on now thru Friday, November 20th.  So  get your ballots in!  If you are looking for a guide on which candidates  to consider or the specifics of how to vote we built out a mini site  that will help you with everything you need.  You can find that here.  

Friends, Allies & Other Shout-Outs

Just  as we did in our last note, we'd like to continue to introduce you to  some of the other groups that we work with here in town.

Bedrooms are for People
BAFP  has quickly become a powerful organizing force in the community.   Despite not getting their measure on the 2020 ballot they have  persevered, and continue to gather resources and work to build a more  equitable Boulder.  We were disappointed to see five council-members  twist themselves in knots to deny the Bedrooms initiative a spot on the  ballot.  Their behavior is clear evidence of the conservative bent of  the current majority.  We are incredibly excited to continue to work  with BAFP to bring about progressive change in Boulder's housing  policies.

Independent Journalist Emma Athena
This fall, Emma has produced a series of six articles on the housing  crisis, homelessness policy, and unhoused residents in Boulder for the  Boulder Weekly.  At BP we're fans of understanding problems in all their  complexity, and not just addressing their symptoms.  Emma's work does  just that.  There's no central landing page so we've linked them here.  On Dangerous Ground, An Incomplete Picture, Gaining Traction, In Pursuit of Stability, A Tiny House A Big Step, Managing Scarcity.  Additionally, she's compiled them into a podcast format that you can find by clicking this paragraph's header.

Boulder Valley Schools removing SROs from District Campuses
A big shout out to NAACP Boulder County for pushing BVSD for action in  June, and to all of the community members who showed up to support this  important change.

Thanks  for reading all the way to the end!  We appreciate it. :)  We'll be  ramping up our involvement for the 2021 elections soon so if you'd like  to get involved, please let us know.  

Till next time,
BP