OVEC Action Alert - November 24, 2003

Get the Dirt Out—Take Action For The WV Clean Elections Act!

Calls on The Energy Bill Still Needed

Blair Mountain And MTR—Help Us Locate A Historian

Kennedy on MTR--Read Up - Act Up

FTAA Protestors Brutalized By Miami Police

Catch Up On What Happened At The SOA Protest

Act Now for Clean Elections 

GET THE DIRT OUT—TAKE ACTION FOR THE WV CLEAN ELECTIONS ACT! 

Its crunch time for the West Virginia Clean Elections Act (which would help get special interests’ influence out of state politics) and we need your help! Last week during the interim session of the legislature, Sub-committee B did NOT vote the "Public Campaign Financing Act" (known to us as the WV Clean Elections Act) out of committee; however, they voted to carry this over to the December 7-9 interim session. 

Our goal is to get a majority of Senators and House members to vote this bill out of committee in December with a recommendation to the full Judiciary (who would then take the bill up during January interims). 

Please help us generate lots of phone calls, e-mails or letters from constituents within districts of key committee members. By "key" we mean those whom we can't judge to be supportive. (Some have said that they have NOT heard from their constituents that Clean Elections is an import issue). If you plan to contact your representative via e-mail, go to www.ohvec.org. Scroll down and look on the left hand side for the turquoise box that says, “Send A Personal Message.” Type in your zip code and you’ll get your representatives e-mail address. Hand-written, personal letters are always well received. As always, please get your friends and neighbors to take action, too! 

Please scroll to “Act Now for Clean Elections” at the bottom of this e-mail for a listing of Sub-committee B members, their contact information and key points for your letters and phone calls.

CALLS STILL NEEDED: CONGRATULATIONS ON STOPPING THE ENERGY BILL—SO FAR

Friday, West Virginia’s Senators were among those who stopped a vote on the ecologically and economically disastrous Energy Bill. But, it isn’t over. Major arm-twisting is going on right now. If you haven’t already done so, please, please call now to thank our Senators for their Friday votes. Request that the Senators hold their positions by continuing to support the filibuster! Senator Byrd: (202)224-3954 Senator Rockefeller: (202) 224-6472

BLAIR MOUNTAIN AND MTR—HELP US LOCATE A HISTORIAN

As you may know, coal companies want to mine Blair Mountain. In the early 1900s, coal miners sought to organize a union in order to win provisions such as an eight-hour work day, payment in US currency instead of coal company scrip, and better living and working conditions. Coal companies brutally resisted the organizing efforts. In 1921, Blair Mountain (in Logan Co.) was the stage for the biggest battle of all the Mine Wars, as the union organizing efforts and the coal company response came to be known. The US Army was called in, and bombs were dropped--the only time, aside from the Civil War, that US forces have dropped bombs inside the US. Hence, you might think Blair Mountain is deserving of placement on the National Register of Historic Places. Such a listing could save the mountain from destruction--coal underlies Blair Mountain, and guess what, Arch Coal wants to mine that coal by mountaintop removal.

The Friends of the Mountains Coalition (groups working to end mountaintop removal coal mining) and a Logan Co. citizen are working to complete the extensive application for Blair Mountain to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

A crucial part of the application which remains to be done is the historical narrative. Do you know of any historians who can help us with this important work? If so, please put let us know by replying to this e-mail. We do have a list of historians to contact, but we sure would like input from you. 

KENNEDY ON MTR--READ UP, ACT UP! 

Wow! What an article! Please take time to read the article by Robert Kennedy, Jr. in Rolling Stone “Bush--Crimes Against Nature.”  If you haven’t the time to read the whole article, please scroll down to the subheading “Big Coal and the Destruction of Appalachia” to read the information there.

The other article-link at the top of our home webpage is also very enlightening: “The Politics of Energy: How did coal become the Bush administration's fuel of choice?” 

TAKE ACTION--FTAA PROTESTORS BRUTALIZED BY MIAMI POLICE Take action to help people standing up for Fair Trade and against the economic, environmental and social injustices of so-called “Free Trade.”

See www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2080. To send a free fax to the Mayor of Miami demanding an end to the mistreatment of the protestors, go to: www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=245&source=19.

CATCH UP ON WHAT HAPPENED AT THE SOA PROTEST 

The New York Times reported 10,000 people gathered to protest the School of the Americas in Georgia. That’s the biggest showing ever!

On Dec. 3, students from Marshall University and, possibly, OVEC members who attended the protest will discuss the event and follow-up actions, as part of the regular meeting of MAPS—Marshall Action for Peaceful Solutions. The meeting is at 7 p.m. in Room 2W22 of the Student Center. That’s on the second 2nd floor, through the glass doors on the west side of the building, and down the hall. For more info: www.soaw.org/new/article.php?id=689.

ACT NOW FOR CLEAN ELECTIONS 

If you have any questions, please contact Janet Fout, Coordinator for Citizens for Clean Elections at 304-522-0246 or janet.ovec@gmail.com.

Sub-committee B members:
Senator Joseph Minard
Senator Steve Harrison
Senator Mike Oliverio
Senator Andy McKenzie

Delegate Robert Shadler
Delegate Steven Kominar
Delegate Lidella Hrutkey
Delegate William Stemple
Delegate Rusty Webb
Delegate John Pino

Their contact information is at the end of this e-mail.

Suggested talking points for an e-mail, phone call or letter (the talking points are the same for both!).

Dear Delegate (or Senator) _____________:

As a member of the legislative sub-committee studying the “Public Campaign Financing Act,” (also known as the West Virginia Clean Elections Act), I urge you to support this legislation. Under our current funding system it is increasingly difficult for the average West Virginian to effectively participate in our democracy and to make their voice heard above the special interests that finance campaigns. Comprehensive campaign finance reform is needed to reduce the influence of special interests in our political process.

 I urge you to support this bill and vote it out of committee for the following reasons:

• Fewer than ½ of one percent of voting age West Virginians contribute to campaigns leaving the door wide open for wealthy, special interest contributors to influence public policy. In West Virginia, many issues like better education for our children, greater environmental protection, and better access to healthcare for all our residents, take a back seat to the big special interests that currently fund many legislators’ campaigns.

• As a taxpayer and voter, I would rather have my tax dollars subsidize elections instead of projects that largely benefit special interests. In the 2003 legislative session, both coal and health care were handed “returns on investment” with a near doubling of the coal truck weight limits and a cap placed on medical malpractice awards to injured patients. In the meantime, taxpayers pay the major costs of road and bridge repairs, citizens lose their lives in collisions with behemoth coal trucks and nearly ¼ of all working West Virginians have no healthcare coverage. (You may have your own issue of interest or examples to “plug in” here.)

• Public financing of campaigns in West Virginia will decrease the public perception of corruption in our political system.

• Public financing will decrease the amount of time that a candidate needs to spend raising money and provide more time for a candidate to talk with voters in his/her district about issues that matter most to them.

• Clean Elections has the potential to reinvigorate democracy. This system would provide a candidate public funding through collecting many small qualifying contributions from registered voters within his/her district, making the candidate accountable to voters instead of special interest contributors.

 Sincerely,

Your name

----

For the phone call:

“Hi. My name is ________________________, from _____________. I’m calling to ask you to support the “Public Campaign Financing Act” (also known as the WV Clean Elections Act) currently in your sub-committee.  Under our current funding system it is increasingly difficult for the average West Virginian to effectively participate in our democracy and to make their voice heard above the special interests that finance campaigns. Comprehensive campaign finance reform is needed to reduce the influence of special interests in our political process.”

I believe that we need publicly funded, clean elections in West Virginia because: (Choose one or any of the following reasons; or give one or two of your own). 

Use the same talking points above!

Then close with:

“I really appreciate your time and urge you to vote this bill out of sub-committee. I’m counting on your support!”

Here's a complete contact list of sub-committee members. Feel free to send letters of support, e-mails, etc. even to those not on the list above, especially thank Delegate Amores, Senator Kessler and Senator Hunter for their support:

Sub-committee B Members

An asterisk (*) means they NEED to be contacted (from people living in their districts).

Senate

Jeffrey V. Kessler (ex officio)
Calhoun, Doddridge, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Ohio, Ritchie, Tyler, Wetzel
1514 7th Street
Moundsville, WV 26041
843-1386 home 845-2580 office
357-7880 Capitol phone Rm. 210W
E-mail: kessler@mail.wvnet.edu 

Jon Hunter (Chair)
Barbour, Grant, Mineral, Monongalia, Preston, Taylor, Tucker
1265 4-H Camp Road, Morgantown, WV 26508
291-3782 home
357-7995 Capitol phone Rm. 225 W
E-mail: senhunter@mountain.net 

Mike Ross (Vice Chair)
Berkeley, Grant, Hampshire, Hardy, Morgan, Pendleton, Pocahontas, Randolph, Upshur
P.O. Box 219 Coalton, WV 26257-0219
636-4398 home 472-4289 office
357-7973 Capitol phone Rm. 203 W
E-mail: cglagola@mail.wvnet.edu 

*Joseph Minard
Braxton, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis
510 Haymond Highway, Clarksburg, WV 26301
622-6488 home 623-1711 office
357-7904 Capitol phone Rm. 204 W
E-mail: jminard@mail.wvnet.edu 

*Michael Oliverio, III 
Marion, Monongalia
95 Hartford Street, Westover, WV 26501
296-1183 home 292-3339 office
357-7919 Capitol phone Rm. 207 W
E-mail: cglagola@mail.wvnet.edu 

Larry L. Rowe
Kanawha
P.O. Box 60076, Malden, WV 25306
925-1333 home 925-1333 office
357-7854 Capitol phone Rm. 215 W
E-mail: larrylrowe@larrylrowe.com 

Randy White 
Clay, Fayette, Nicholas, Upshur Webster
212 River Dr., Webster Springs, WV 26288
847-7489 home 847-5305 office
357-7906 Capitol phone Rm. 204 W
E-mail: crwhite@mail.wvnet.edu 

Steve Harrison
Kanawha
104 Bradley Drive, Cross Lanes, WV 25313
776-4896 home 984-1997 office
357-7841 Capitol phone Rm. 202 W
E-mail: stevehar@mail.wvnet.edu 

Andy McKenzie
Brooke, Hancock, Ohio
142 Miller Street, Wheeling, WV 26003
243-0244 home 232-2550 office
357-7984 Capitol phone Rm. 211 W
E-mail: senatormckenzie@aol.com 

House

Kevin Craig (Chair) 
Cabell, Lincoln
428 11th Ave., Huntington, WV 25701
522-6734 home 522-5515 office
340-3118 Capitol phone Rm. 210 E
E-mail: kcraig1@mail.wvnet.edu 

Jon Amores 
Kanawha
914 Chester Road, Charleston, WV 25302
344-2519 home
340-3252 Capitol office Rm. 418 M
E-mail: jamores@mail.wvnet.edu 

Barbara Fleischauer 
Monongalia
235 High St., suite 618, Morgantown, WV 26505
599-7883 home 296-7035 office
340-3169 Capitol phone Rm. 205 E
E-mail: barbaraf@mail.wvnet.edu 

*Lidella Hrutkay 
Boone, Lincoln, Logan, Putnam
P.O. Box 306, Logan, WV 25601
752-5242 home 752-6657 office
340-3156 Capitol phone 227 E
E-mail: lhrutkay@mail.wvnet.edu 

*Steven Kominar 
Mingo, Wayne
P.O. Box 753, Kermit, WV 25674
393-3017 home 393-3300 office
340-3248 Capitol phone 400 M
E-mail: kominar@mail.wvnet.edu 

*John Pino 
Clay, Fayette, Nicholas
300 Oyler Ave., East, Oak Hill, WV 25901
469-3295 office 465-0197 home
340-3114 Capitol phone 242 M
E-mail: jpino@mail.wvnet.edu 

*William F. Stemple 
Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer
HC 50, Box 380-A, Arnoldsburg, WV 25234
655-3112 home
340-3112 Capitol phone 216 E
E-mail: wlstempl@mail.wvnet.edu 

*Robert A. Schadler 
Mineral
P.O. Box 251, Keyser, WV 26726
788-4024 home
340-3191 Capitol phone 150 R
E-mail: schadle@mail.wvnet.edu 

*Rusty Webb 
Kanawha
5022 Bennington Drive, Cross Lanes, WV 25313
776-7083 home 343-2900 office
340-3157 Capitol phone 150 R
E-mail: rustyweb@mail.wvnet.edu 

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