Over 1,100 grassroots leaders are phoning and door-knocking in neighborhoods in ten counties of the state as California Calls winds down its sixth Civic Engagement Program this week. These leaders are working hard to identify voters ready to change California – to bring balance back to our budget by increasing taxes on the wealthiest Californians. Their organizing is building a base of 500,000 new and occasional voters in support of lasting tax reform that can make schools better, reopen shutdown libraries and firehouses, and bring opportunity back to our state. In addition, they are recruiting hundreds of new neighborhood leaders to participate in “grand finale” events, including Oakland Rising’s rally and concert for good jobs, Inner City Struggle’s “Tardeada in the Eastside,” ACCE’s community educational on how to hold banks accountable, and a “Toxic Tour” with Communities for a New California in the Coachella Valley. Quietly, under the media’s radar, these everyday people are talking to their neighbors and engaging them in community led events to set the stage for real, lasting reform.
The Alliance’s goal this month is to contact 104,567 voters and identify 68,741 who support increasing taxes on the wealthiest to bring more justice to California’s fiscal system. To date, 39,843 people have pledged to get involved in a 2012 battle to raise taxes on the wealthiest in the state.
See what we do – watch this music video, “Everyday I’m Dialin,” developed by youth leaders at Knotts Family Agency in San Bernardino.