On the first Saturday in August every year, hundreds of politically-minded people (most associated with either the Republican or Democratic party), along with many candidates and public officials come to a tiny, tiny town in far, far western Kentucky for a rigorous day of stump speeches and barbecue that often set the tone for the three months leading to Election Day in November.

This year, the Fancy Farm Festivities fall on Saturday, August 7th.

In 2007, 2008, and 2009, KFTC sent between about 6 and 15 members to witness the spectacle of the event, but also to pass out stickers and balancing the scales newsletters and to engage the crowd and politicians alike on deeper issues and to build support for our campaigns.

Some of us are talking about what it would be like to try to make out mobilization this year much bigger, possibly with heavy support from the Bowling Green and Jefferson County chapters that are closest to Fancy Farm. 

If you're interested in participating, please contact Dave Newton at Dave@kftc.org for more information.  We'll likely carpool over on Friday, August 6th and return home late on Saturday, August 7th.  If we have a member with an RV that would like to come out with us, that would be especially great.

Yesterday, Saturday, May 15 was a pretty unremarkable day in most respects.  For us, collectively as Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, there wasn't anything singularly huge on the calendar, but we decided to try to compile quick stories about a lot of little things that happened throughout the day and present them as this - A Day in the Life of KFTC. 

At 7 a.m. KFTC members in northern Kentucky came together outside of Ockerman Middle School in Florence to start setting up tables for the big Relay for Life yard sale.  Alex Searles organized the KFTC table, but eight members participated in all, selling items that they donated to the  cause and passing out information about KFTC.  They also invited those interested to the big NKY KFTC Chapter Formation meeting on Tuesday.  By the end of the event at 4 p.m., they brought in $150 and made a lot of key contacts with new people.  Members also left with KFTC Voter Guides to hand out over the next few days.

At 10 a.m. the KFTC booth at the Butchertown Art Fair in Louisville got rolling.  Many of the candidates for mayor were there and most of them dropped by the KFTC table to say hello.  The event was in a neighborhood where KFTC does a lot of work, so many people at the festival  recognized us, and cheered for KFTC.  It gave a lot of our members who don't volunteer with us every month a chance to drop by and plug into our work.  A few people said they'd been meaning to join KFTC and took membership envelopes or joined on the spot.  Others asked about voting locations and we made lists of people to call back on Monday with that information.   Nine hours later, at 7 p.m., we packed up and headed home. 

At 10:30 a.m. a workshop started at the Pine Mountain Sustainability Symposium on "Steps Towards Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy" the workshop was facilitated by KFTC leaders Carl Shoupe and Roy Silver, among others.  This was just one of many events our members participated in throughout the powerful three-day conference designed to bring together specialists, practitioners, educators, and organizers to share their experiences and learn about model projects throughout southeastern Kentucky.  The symposium included hands-on trainings, workshops, woodland hikes, and garden tours with local and regional experts working on food, energy, and forest issues.

At noon, Tyler Birdwhistell and Bethany Baxter met in downtown Georgetown to go door-to-door in the Scroggin Park Housing Authority neighborhood - passing out KFTC Voter Guides and letting people know where their voting location is.   After about two hours, they had covered half of the neighborhood, which was enough for a couple of us to come back the next day and finish it up in an hour and a half. 

"I ran into one woman who is a former felon - so she'd had her right to vote taken away from her when she was much younger.  She told me the she worked for years to get her right to vote back and that she almost gave up a few times.  But she got them back during the Patton administration and has voted ever since." - Tyler Birdwhistell

At 3 p.m. a small group of KFTC folks visited the Peace and Global Citizenship Fair at Bluegrass Community Technical College in Lexington.  It was a great event organized by BCTC’s Students for Peace and Earth Justice.  For our part, we canvassed the crowd with a big stack of KFTC Voter Guides, asking people to cast an informed vote on Tuesday.  Kudos to BCTC’s Students for Peace and Earth Justice for putting together a great event that is getting a bit bigger every year. 

At 4 p.m. the Madison County KFTC members kicked off their Spring Friendraiser, with more than 70 people enjoying a potluck, cornhole and games, a great silent auction, live music by Mudpi, a short program about the awesome work of KFTC, and apparently a game that involved more than a little rolling around in the mud.  Members brought in $700 in donations and had a lot of fun before winds picked up and a hailstorm heralded an early end to the event.  We'll likely have a separate blog entry on this exciting event in the next few days, so stay tuned.  

In addition to all of that, members ran voter mobilization phone banks throughout the day in Bowling Green, Louisville, and in at-large (non-chapter) areas of the state, to name a few places, and members passed out KFTC Voter Guides or handbills about the election at events and in their neighborhoods throughout the commonwealth.  

No doubt, our 6,000+ members across the state accomplished an awful lot in the name of social justice on Saturday that will never make it to this blog - conversations with neighbors, writing letters to elected officials, etc.

It's a lot of little things, but this was just one day.  And day after day in community after community, it adds up.  So keep at it folks. 

What can we do tomorrow?

Kentucky's Primary Election is two weeks from today, falling on Tuesday, May 18th.  Polls will be open across the state from 6am to 6pm.

If you'll be out of the county you're registered in on election day, you can arrange to vote in advance at your County Clerk's office or you can vote by mail.  Just contact your County Clerk's office to make arrangements.

Expect to get your Voter Guide from KFTC in the mail shortly and our KentuckyElection.org website will be fully up and running within a few days.

Over the next few weeks, KFTC members will be calling our entire membership rolls, plus everyone who has registered to vote with us or signed a petition on one of our issues - asking them all to cast an informed vote on election day.  If you'd like to volunteer to help call members, give rides to the polls on election day, or otherwise help out, please contact your local KFTC organizer.

In just the last few days, we've had great phone banks in Bowling Green, Northern Kentucky, and Louisville.  We're looking forward to having many more and we could always use a hand. 

"Rock Out For Justice!"

The Bowling Green Chapter has organized "Rock Out For Justice!" -- a benefit show starring some of Bowling Green and E-town's most beloved bands!  Only a $5 cover, and all the proceeds go to KFTC.

Friday, August 28 at 8:00pm at the Wesley Foundation at 1355 College Street.

A big thanks to our performers--Derbyandme, The Budget Band, Polytheon, Canago, and Austin 'Been Broox' Ashford--and the Wesley Foundation for letting us use the space!

(Come, by all means!  It's a guaranteed good time and we want to see you there.  But if you can't come, consider contributing $5 anyway!)

Voting Rights will be on Kentucky Tonight on KET tonight at 8pm EST (7pm Central).  If you have a chance to watch and call in, I think it would make a big impact.

Please pass the word along!

Guests:
- State Rep. Jesse Crenshaw, D-Lexington
- State Rep. Joseph Fischer, R-Fort Thomas
- David Stengel, commonwealth's attorney for Jefferson County
- Chris Cohron, commonwealth's attorney for Warren County and president of the Kentucky Association of Commonwealth's Attorneys

Questions that focus on themes of Democracy and fairness would be great.  We have to challenge the notion that this is an issue that's just about "criminals" (something having two prosecutors as guests reinforces).  To the degree that this is a criminal justice issue, though, it's about crime prevention because voting is highly correlated with low recidivism rates.

For more information about this issue, visit www.kftc.org/votingrights

I think it'd be especially powerful to have people from Bowling Green (Cohron's area) or Fischer's district in Northern Kentucky to call in.

Lately, KFTC has broadly encouraged our fellow community members who have been involved in organizing work to consider running for public office in 2010, or at some other point in the future.

One of the most common questions people are asking is “What would that take?”

Some general answers include time, dedication, an idea of how to make things better, a solid connection to your community, friends, some money (raised from your community), and a lot of self-motivation and drive.

It depends a lot on what office you’re interested in running for, but we’ve found that a good way to illustrate the amount of effort it would take to win an election is to talk about how many (or few) votes it has taken to win different offices in past similar elections. 

Here are some examples to give you an idea. We use the 2002 results in most cases because it was the last year we had U.S. Senate race in a non-presidential year, similiar to what we'll have next year.

State Representative Races, 2002 – 7,115 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, only 33 of the state House races were contested.  The 67 other elections ran with no opposition.  Of those 33, the winner received 7,115 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 3,956 votes.  

State Senate Races, 2002 – 16,503 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, 12 of the state Senate races were contested.  The 7 other elections ran with no opposition.  Of those 12, the winner received 16,503 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 13,162 votes.  

KY US House of Representatives Races, 2002 – 116,664 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election year to the one we're about to have in 2010, the winner received 116,664 votes on average, with winning vote counts as low as 87,776 votes.  

Bowling Green City Commission, 2008 - 8,579 votes.  This was a 7-way race in which the top 4 vote-getter become the city council.  The four winners got between 8,579 votes and 11,530 votes.  Turnout would be expected to be lower in 2010 without the draw of a presidential election.  

Lexington City Council Races (District), 2002 – 3,497 votes (average).  In 2002, a similar election to the one we’re about to have in 2010, 8 of the 12 seats were contested.  The winner in those eight district races received 3,497 votes on average and winning Lexington district City Council members received vote counts as low as 1,666 votes.

    Still one of our newest chapters, the Bowling Green chapter of KFTC is running strong, building campaigns and alliances while having a lot of fun doing it. 

   Whether it's a tour of the local coal-fired steam plant, a Haiku contest fundraiser, door-to-door campaigns around Housing work, running phone banks or coming out to ally events, Bowling Green KFTC members are full of energy and enthusiasm that's more than a little contagious.

   A mutli-tiered campaign around housing and tenant-landlord agreements is at the heart of the chapter's work, but supporting KFTC's statewide campaigns are increasingly a big piece of the work as well.

   Members have spent a lot of time lately building relationships with elected officials and are starting a process of intentional chapter development and strategic planning.

   Earlier today, many chapter members attended a city council meeting to weigh in on stimulus funds coming into the city to encourage them to be used for weatherizing low-income rental housing - where members have done a lot of door-to-door outreach and found that many tenants have outrageous electricity bills.

   If you live in Bowling Green, please consider coming out to one of our events.  We also welcome visitors from other chapters across the state like Joe Gallenstein (below) who visited from Lexington at our April Chapter Meeting.

    

- Housing Workteam meeting - Monday, May 11th at 7:30pm at Dana's House (1325 Indianola St.)
- Bowling Green Chapter Development Meeting - Tuesday, May 19th at 6:30pm at K-Scope
- Bowling Green Chapter Meeting - Tuesday, May 26th at 6:30pm
- Statewide Chapter Development Training - Saturday, June 20th, Lexington

   Bowling Green KFTC Members met with new Kentucky Senator Mike Reynolds earlier today, as part of a broader resolution by KFTC to spend more time building relationships with legislators outside of the annual General Assembly sessions near the start of each year.

   Apart from just teaching Senator Reynolds about KFTC's background, members talked about local issues including housing problems and our issues in the state legislature, including the Streamsaver bill.

Reynolds was very aware of the legal system in Bowling Green with respect to landlords and tenant law, said member Dana Beasley-Brown.  "It'll be really useful to keep that conversation going, including what kinds of legislation we can pass on a statewide level to make things safer for renters here."

   Members also thanked Reynold for his support of HB 70 to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society. 

It was really important to have your vote on the Senate committee for that," said Greg Capillo.  "We hope to bring the bill back to you next year and get a hearing from the Chairman so we can pass it."

  

   

   This was the first time some of the nine KFTC members who made it out to the meeting had ever lobbied a legislator.

He was really frank and easy to relate to and it was great to work on building a relationship with him," said Kristen Houser.  "It was easy and we should do this kind of thing more often."

   Bowling Green KFTC members will have the opportunity to meet with another legislator quite soon, actually.  They have a meeting with Congressman Brett Guthrie tomorrow morning.

Fossil Fools Day pictures from Bowling Green KFTC members and allies from an event earlier this month.  We're showing that "clean coal" is every bit as real as magical fairies, wolf man and dragons and such... and having a lot of fun doing it.  Photos by Jacob Hill.  

It was a great opportunity to raise awareness in an unconventional way while passing out information about mountaintop removal mining. 

Late last week, 15 students and KFTC members in Bowling Green took a tour of the campus steam plant at WKU. Organized through Greentoppers, the campus environmental sustainability group, the tour allowed concerns students and KFTC members to get a first-hand look into how WKU is heated and cooled.

Members of the tour learned that over 95% of the campus heating comes from coal fire power, with natural gas contributing to the rest of the energy. Natural gas is used to heat the campus at the very beginning and very end of the heating season, but does not have the capabilities of carrying the campus demands for the entire season. The coal burned at WKU each heating season amounts to roughly 500 pounds of coal for each person on campus every year - this includes those who live on campus, commuters, all faculty and staff. However, according to WKU Sustainability Coordinator Christian Ryan-Downing, this is a relatively small amount, compared with most other campuses in the state and region.

The group also learned that none of the coal burned at WKU comes from mountaintop removal mines. "Deep mined coal burns better, longer and cleaner," said the tour guide and Facilities Management worker of over 20 years. KFTC member Ka'Seana Jones, however, was quick to remind the group that "Clean coal does not exist."

Christian Ryan-Downing stressed that most of our coal dependency lies in the electricity that we get from TVA, and not campus heating, and expressed that conservation education is the first step to alleviating the coal problem at Western. Our coal dependency, she said, cannot be replaced overnight, but in the meantime, we can take "no cost" steps to reduce our energy consumption on campus. "Entire computer labs are left running all night long," Ryan-Downing said. "And lab managers refuse to turn them off."

Ryan-Downing also commented on implementing green jobs for Facilities workers on campus - soon there will be training available that deals with green jobs and green energy for all Facilities employees.

Members of the group left the steam plant with many questions as to how to go about pressuring the administration to transition away from coal. KFTC member and WKU student Greg Capillo observed, "I think there's a lot to be said for energy conservation and education, as a short-term solution."

Bowling Green KFTC members have an event planned on WKU's campus in celebration of Fossil Fool's Day this coming Wednesday April 1st, including a "Clean Coal Monster Mash" at 11 am and a critical mass at noon. The events aim to spread awareness about the Clean Coal myth, and to encourage students to become less dependent on fossil fuels such as coal.

Photos courtesy of Emily Wilcox.

                                                - Meredith Wadlington, KFTC member from Bowling Green