Karissa does a quick update and reflection on happy developments in the Rey Reynold's story, and what is coming up next for Everything is Fine in SWWA.

More quality content coming up soon now that we've got more free time. Thank you so much for sticking around despite the inconsistent output from your working class comrades!

See you soon!

PS: Music showcase "Rodent's Revenge" by Customer Service Robot of Vancouver, WA.

Also featured: LT Page's "Life is a Circus."

Phillip and Karissa had the pleasure of speaking with local dogged activist for all that is good, Leah Perkel, who is now taking the next step to advocate for Vancouver via a city council seat. We speak about her allyship with progressive indigenous millennial, Kim Harless, who won her election in 2021 despite many odds and a big money opponent through the power of the grassroots, and the moment that Leah decided it was time to take on conservative councilmember Sarah Fox.

We discuss so many issues, including the lack of conversation around raising the wage for Vancouver workers when our cost-of-living has skyrocketed, current compensation for city councilmembers that ensures working class and diverse voices rarely have a shot, addressing the root causes of homelessness, the political opportunity to implement a CAHOOTS program in Vancouver, the warehouse moratorium, the Building Industry Association’s undemocratic influence, and the frightening lack of urgency in implementation of Vancouver’s Climate Action Framework.

We also discuss Leah’s yearslong advocacy for single payer healthcare and her personal story about being crushed by medical debt in order to save her husband’s life after a heart attack.

There is SO much good stuff here. This is absolutely a campaign to get involved in that needs all hands on deck to win a Vancouver City Council that is TRULY for the people!

Get involved with Leah’s campaign here: https://www.leahperkel.com/contact-us

RSVP to Leah’s campaign kickoff event at Loowit on Wednesday, June 14th : https://fb.me/e/XCnNDGLW

Vancouver City Council Community Forum on June 12th: https://www.cityofvancouver.us/citycouncil/page/city-council-community-forum-housing

“Healing Us” Documentary by Kenny Ballentine featuring Leah and her husband, Steve Perkel: https://www.healingusnetwork.com/

Music contribution by Karissa covering Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’.”

Karissa and Phillip come clean with their thoughts about Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of the 3rd US Congressional District in light of several disturbing votes she has cast in Congress, including her vote for the Resolution Denouncing the Horrors of Socialism, the vote to “Unleash American Energy”---aka unleash more oil and gas, and the vote to repeal the Biden administration’s cancellation of student debt (which is currently advancing in the Senate). We discuss whether her behavior lines up with her promise to fight for working people and uncover the truth about whether she fulfilled her pledge not to take corporate money, which was a central tenet of her campaign. We also discuss the company she is keeping in Congress following her recent kickoff of the Congressional Blue Dog Caucus.

We share memories of her campaign and the things that we liked about her, as well as the betrayal and disappointment we are feeling now. We also talk about the incestuous nature of Democratic fundraising that makes sure everyone ultimately falls in line---unless you buck the party from the right. We question the discourse that is highly protective of Marie given the alternative being MAGA fascist Joe Kent who we were all happy to see defeated---but is sticking with Marie our only option in the 3rd? Is kicking young people, working people, and our strong environmental movement in the face with the hopes of appeasing a handful of never-Trump Republicans an effective campaign strategy? Is being in a “red/purple district” a legitimate excuse for these recent betrayals?

We also go deeper to question the notion that she has other opinions but must behave as a right-winger to stay in office. There were many red flags during her campaign that revealed her contempt for educated people and government that may explain her recent student debt vote, even when she herself received an education as well as debt forgiveness from the government. “Rules for thee, but not for me!”

Special shoutout to our sound engineer, LT Page, who received his AA (back in the day) after completing a CTE program for Audio Engineering from Lower Columbia College in Longview. 😉

Correction: Karissa and Phillip mistakenly referred to the the House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as the Speaker of the House.

Karissa sits down separately with two amazing LGBTQ+ advocates, David and Emily, to discuss two different local developments involving more queer targeting and hate speech.

TRIGGER WARNING for the intro, as we play clips of hate speech from multiple Independent Fundamentalist Movement pastors who will be attending Aaron Thompson's Sure Foundation Church on Memorial Day weekend.

There are multiple action items for this episode:

1) Attend the Big Gay Wedding event that will be held outside the Sure Foundation Church during their hate convention. The episode art is the flyer for this event.

2) Attend the La Center School District board meeting on May 23rd in support of LGBTQ+ students' safety and protection by speaking out against their gender policy.

3) Join the FVRL Libraries Drag Queen Story Hour defenders FB group and plan for the June 20th Goldendale Community Library meeting!

4) SHARE this episode far and wide to raise awareness and get the biggest showing for these action items!

This is the third episode of the “Money and Power in Clark County” series, where Karissa and Phillip finally discuss the third candidate who was running against John Blom and Karen Bowerman for Clark County Council District 3, Jesse James. James, even though he ultimately didn’t win, is a shining example of people power versus corporate power because he finished just shy of Bowerman by under 3 percent of the vote while opting for a more ethical campaign donation structure and having less than half of the finances that Bowerman had with the likes of Eric Temple backing her. We also contemplate the uncomfortable unanswered questions of why all the other councilors ultimately signed the settlement with Pioneer Industrial when the county had previously been willing to take on Eric Temple. As always, we finish by discussing the need for expanded engagement in local politics and the reminder that WE CAN WIN if enough of us are willing to put ourselves out there. This is underscored by Karissa’s outro and call-to-action so stay tuned for it, and then PM us to join our People’s Clark County Discord server!

This is the second episode of the "Money and Power in Clark County" series, where Karissa and Phillip continue their conversation relating to the concrete batch plant saga by investigating how corporate interests have an obscene level of influence in our local government through the lens of the 2020 Clark County Council elections, particularly in the Karen Bowerman campaign. We detail our extensive research and analysis of campaign finance disclosures and news reports from the 2020 Clark County Council elections, uncovering a trail of conflicts of interest, indication of campaign finance violations, and overall, a concerningly oversized influence and interference in our local democracy by the railroad baron who doesn’t even live here. Based on a multitude of facts, we speculate and let listeners draw conclusions about Eric Temple’s shenanigans surrounding this election and about the state of our democracy as a whole.

Today Phillip and Karissa partner together once again to discuss the saga of the concrete batch plant, which is the perfect case to use as a vehicle to evaluate our broken political system, detail by detail. In our previous episode, we talked about *what* happened, but in this series of episodes we discuss the disturbing answers to how and why it happened. This story goes FAR beyond this one incident and helps us understand what we are up against going forward as the county makes decisions for its Comprehensive Plan Update that will impact all of us, especially young people.

We discover the existence of a railroad baron from Bellevue who has been influencing our politics and the decisions that get made in the county for years, tell the story of the shenanigans surrounding the 2020 Clark County Council elections, and lament over the issue of campaign finance that everyone wants to ignore.

A LOT of research went into this series, so we hope that you will SHARE, LIKE, RATE, and REVIEW everywhere you can. We believe this is a story everyone needs to hear in order to reignite their righteous outrage, become activated, and band together to make our county finally work for the PEOPLE.

Also, apologies and a heads-up for the copious profanities on this one…

For this episode, Karissa and Phillip interviewed Jan Kelly about the story of the proposed concrete batch plant and her work with Friends of Central Vancouver, a group who formed to mobilize against it.

Friends of Central Vancouver is holding a Fund Raising Event on April 12th from 5:30pm to 8:30pm at Ghost Runner Brewery and is holding their next meeting on Friday, April 28th at 6pm at Cascades Presbyterian Church.

Go to the Friends of Central Vancouver website to learn more and to get involved: https://www.focv.info/

Today Karissa spoke with Alex Brennan, the Executive Director of Futurewise, an organization from Washington that believes the elements of a strong, resilient community are the same no matter its size. You should have a healthy home you can afford; be able to walk, bike, roll, and take transit where you need to go; have access to food from local farms; and enjoy stunning natural spaces and wildlife habitats.

We talk all about the Growth Management Act and the climate element amendment working through the legislature, as well as how to get the most out of the Clark County Comprehensive Plan Update, which is in the early but very important stages of being developed.

This bill has NOT YET PASSED, which is why we need your help to make sure it moves through. Here are your action items for this episode:

HB1181 state leg page:

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?billnumber=1181&year=2023

Comment on the bill to voice your support here:

https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/1181

Futurewise legislative priorities:

https://www.futurewise.org/projects/legislative

Sign up to get updates and calls to action from Futurewise:

https://futurewise.salsalabs.org/legupdates/index.html

Artist Showcase: "The Earthly Vessel Wants to Show Me More." LT Page (our sound engineer) https://soundcloud.com/eltee-page/the-earthly-vessel-wants-to-show-me-more

Today Karissa speaks with Kristin Edmark, a local climate ally who specializes in the movement to divest from fossil fuels. We discuss the Third Act effort to stop American banks from investing in environmental destruction. We also discuss how Washington state is still INSANELY investing peoples’ pensions (amounting to BILLIONS OF $) in fossil fuels, and the effort to change that being lead by a group called Divest Washington.

Action Items:

1)3/21/23: Dis-Credit the Dirty Banks Day of Action in Downtown Vancouver!

March 21, 2023, Third Act https://thirdact.org/ along with other organizations are having a nationwide day of action. We will draw attention to how Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citibank have invested one trillion dollars since the 2015 Paris Climate Accord in dirty fossil fuel projects and companies, slowing a transition to clean energy. Please join us March 21, 3:30 to 5:30, on the sidewalk near Chase Bank, Broadway and E 12th Street for a fun time with possible chalk art, posters, songs, and street theater.

2) Whether or not you can make the event, MAKE A POINT to close your accounts at these banks to send a message of disapproval and to threaten their bottom line!

3) JOIN Divest Washington in their efforts to write and speak to the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB): https://wadivest.org/

Check this out: https://www.bankingonclimatechaos.org/