The League of Young Voters

Over a year and half ago, young activists and former students in the Portland public schools approached me about the challenges facing immigrant and refugee students and students of color in our public schools.  I met with former students who had gone through the English Language Learners (ELL) track in high school who felt under-supported in their aspirations for college and families who weren’t receiving the proper notification that their kids weren’t receiving credit for the classes they were taking.  I met with advocates who spent the last ten years trying to access data of dropout and completion rates based on race or ethnicity, gender, class year, and free or reduced lunch eligibility from the school department and State Department of Education, but told no such data exists.

As The League became more involved on the issue of educational equity, it became increasingly clear that young voices, especially immigrant experiences, had been left out of the debate around education in our schools.  Many of the students I’ve worked with have the aspirations but lack the opportunities, resources, and support to be truly successful in school and in the community.  These are the stories that need to be heard firsthand by our elected school officials and education leaders—a purpose shared by other advocates like the NAACP and Maine Civil Liberties Union who worked to organize the diversity panel last Wednesday at the Portland School Committee’s workshop.

The panel consisted of current and former students of Portland Public Schools – Jean Paul Kamanzi, Joseph Perez, Kelsey Phillips, and Alfred Jacobs – who spoke about their experiences in our Portland schools to illustrate the challenge and opportunities for educational equity. All students agreed that high school was an exciting time for them.  Portland High School grad and Sudanese immigrant, Alfred described his experiences as a former ELL student who enrolled in college after high school, only to drop out of college because he felt ill-equipped and prepared despite having a high school diploma.  For Jean Paul who also attends PHS, his frustration is that he’s not able to take more challenging classes in math and science because he is an ELL student.  Joseph who was a successful member of the wrestling team when he attended Portland High but eventually dropped out, talked about how the only time he got to see the principal was when he got into trouble.

Our public schools are our most vital areas of investment—it has potential to be the greatest equalizer for our most vulnerable families.  It’s possible for Portland to become a model district in which all students are prepared to learn actively, think critically, and pursue even greater successes after graduation.  We have the opportunity to provide the training, support, and tools needed for all our youth to be successful, productive members of our community.  It’s not okay that our public schools fail to meet the needs of our young people.

With a new superintendent and a fresh School Committee, there’s hope for education advocates to participate in meaningful dialogue to reduce race and class inequalities in our educational system.  Teachers and former community advocates have made equity and diversity a critical part of their work in education, but this work needs the increased support of the superintendent, school committee, and the principals.  We look forward to taking the next steps needed to ensure all our students are learning for their future.

As someone who works on sustainable transportation issues with the League, I am all about cyclists’ rights. Since moving to Portland a year ago, I have started bike commuting and driving my car less. I feel that cyclists have just as much right to be on the road as motorists, and they should be given the same respect. Some cyclists are biking due to financial necessity, while others are simply choosing to be more environmentally friendly or friendlier to their bodies. Motorists should learn to share the road with these people and acknowledge their rights.

That being said, if we cyclists want the respect of motorists, we too need to follow the rules of the road. In the past week I have seen at least three cyclists blatantly running red lights. And I’m not talking about stopping at the light to make sure there was no oncoming traffic, and then proceeding with caution. No – I am talking about riding on Park Avenue through a red light at the super busy Deering intersection, without even looking to see if there are oncoming cars, and almost causing a major accident.

Riding like this is irresponsible and unsafe! It creates a hostile relationship between motorists and cyclists.  Those of us who actually follow the road rules end up getting lumped into a category of disrespectful cyclists by some motorists, making it difficult for us to ride safely on the roads.

So please, I ask of you, for your own safety, the safety of those around you, and for your fellow cyclists who are trying to make the roads safer for us all to ride… please, follow the rules of the road and be responsible!

The Peninsula Transit Study passed unanimously by the City Council tonight! After sitting through a very lengthy discussion about the difference between a liquor license and an entertainment license, and the policy that goes along with deciphering between the two, I thought we would never get to the vote. I did learn, however, that ‘Naked Shakespeare’ is simply Shakespeare without costumes and is not nearly as provocative as it sounds.

But alas, the time came for item 10 on the agenda and Felicia Teach, Hilary Frenkel and Stephen Scharff, all dazzled with “Pass The Peninsula Transit Study” stickers, made comments in support of the study. We reminded the Council that passage was great, but without implementation it meant nothing. They also heard about the strong need for better bus routes with more stops to accommodate people’s needs.

There was only one testimony against the study by a man who felt that the passage of the study would mean an effort to eliminate roads and all single occupancy vehicles (SOV’s).

When it came time for the Council comments, Councilor John Anton clarified that this study would do no such thing. It would simply level the playing field, giving no mode of transportation priority, but giving each fair and equal resources. And Councilor Kevin Donoghue eased our worries about implementation by giving examples of parts of the plan that have already been implemented. He also assured us that the Transportation Committee has already outlined their plan for the rest of the legislative year.

The Councilors all seemed quite honored to be given the opportunity to vote on this study. Councilor Dan Skolnik gave credit to The League of Young Voters for doing such great work on this issue. He also gave props to Councilor Donoghue for spearheading the committee and making this happen.

The victory is ours. Now we need to make sure the City is held accountable to the implementation so our win matters. Congratulations to all who worked so hard on this!

The Portland Community Chamber and The League of Young Voters Urge the Charter Commission to Include a Popularly-Elected Mayor in Recommendations to Voters

Tonight, Portland‟s Charter Commission will ask the public for guidance on which issues it wants the Commission to examine.  The unlikely pairing of the League of Young Voters and the Portland Community Chamber highlights an important issue: Portland‟s mayor should be elected citywide, and should serve a longer term than the current one year.

During the 2008 election cycle, The League of Young Voters and Portland Community Chamber were instrumental in creating the Charter Commission, and both organizations have maintained their focus on their priority issue: elected mayor. The Chamber convened a task force and published a report that examines the balance of power among mayor, manager, and council. The League held a forum with Commission candidates and published a voter guide with endorsements.

“When it comes to local policy and politics, the people of Portland are well-informed and highly-engaged,” said League Director Harris Parnell.  “Yet voters have no real say in who occupies the City‟s highest office.”

Chris O‟Neil, the Chamber‟s City Hall liaison, says the Commission needs to consider mayoral models that will work in Portland. “We are cautious about a „strong‟ mayor with Executive powers, but we think the Commission should, at the very least, offer voters a mayor with political power.”

Both The League and the Chamber agree that the exchange of ideas in a mayoral campaign will produce a leader who has a political mandate from the people, and that leader should then have three or four years to fulfill the mandate.  The two organizations also urge the commissioners to set aside personal opinion so that they can offer voters choices about the structure of Portland‟s government. The 1986 Charter Commission discussed an elected-mayor, but in the end did not offer a model to voters.

“A Commission this diverse is unlikely to reach consensus on an ideal mayoral model, but it should still send one or more to the voters for debate and approval,” O‟Neil said.

While there are other issues of interest to the Chamber and The League, including Instant Runoff Voting, they want the Commission to focus on an elected mayor.

Parnell said, “A major reason Portlanders voted to open the Charter was to create an elected mayor and we hope the Charter Commission allows the public the opportunity to vote on this important issue.”

I have recently, through The League, started a coalition called the Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation (MaST). Our Steering Committee currently consists of representatives from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, the Conservation Law Foundation, the League of Young Voters, and Portland Trails. We, at MaST, believe that all people deserve to have affordable, accessible, reliable and sustainable transportation, and here’s why:

• A sustainable transportation system advances economic development, a cleaner environment, fiscal accountability, stronger communities, and healthier people.

• Financially and environmentally, Mainers can no longer afford the roads-focused transportation policies and infrastructure of the 20th century.

We feel that Mainers need a diverse transportation system with several viable modes so they can choose the best one for a particular trip, and so the system is robust to change. While motor vehicles will continue to play an important role in the coming years, other, more efficient methods of transportation – from human-powered mobility in neighborhoods to high-speed regional railroads – must receive greater consideration and investment.

For More Information:
Katie Diamond, The League, 772-3207, katie@theleague.com
Jackie Okot, The New Generation, 332-8753, nevadye@yahoo.com

On Thursday, July 2, the Portland Police Department released a video of incidents that occurred over 2 months ago in Kennedy Park. The League of Young Voters and The New Generation are concerned about the content of this video and how it affects youth throughout the city, and undermines community conversations that are currently underway. By focusing on specific communities in Portland and altering police tactics to be specific to those communities, the Police Department is taking on a form of profiling. Heightened tactics are not the best way to work with and for a community—and these types of actions affect youth of color throughout the city.

“Our efforts to heal over many of the bad things that have happened over the past year have gone back to square one—we hope the Police Department comes back to the table to continue working with us and speaking with us, instead of speaking to the media and giving us a bad image,” Mohammed Dini, a community member, said. “Releasing such a video is a political statement.”

The League and The New Generation, along with other youth groups and community leaders, are slowly gaining momentum throughout Southern Maine to work to create safe, educational programming and events for youth of color in the Greater Portland area. By working with young people, these groups are working together to build community, grow youth leaders, and educate young people.

There will be a Press Conference in the next week to highlight the positive contributions youth of color have made in the community, and to create a strong and unified community.

As director of an underfunded youth empowerment group (that is pro-choice) I find it appalling that a organization like Catholics for Choice chooses to use its resources to attack other progressive organizations. Groups like Catholics United might not share our entire agenda, but they aren’t standing in the way of it either.

Learn about what Harris is referring to here.

LD 1195: An Act to Allow Non-Citizen Residents to Vote in Municipal Elections

Maine is a distinctive state for its welcoming culture, and its values for community and inclusivity. Unfortunately for a growing part of Maine’s population, participation excludes the fundamental right of having a voice in our democracy—the right to vote. LD 1195 “An Act to Allow Non-Citizen Residents to Vote in Municipal Elections” would encourage civic engagement and responsibility, and give voice to one of the last disenfranchised segments of the population; to increase government accountability in communities with large immigrant population.

Why We Need LD 1195:

– Resident voting is the next step in expanding democracy. Democracy building is a process of continual evolution. Women and people of color fought hard-won battles for the right to vote. It was just over forty years ago that we extended the franchise to those under 21 years of age. It is time to include immigrants in our democracy.

– Resident voting is not a new right; it is the restoration of an old practice. For the first 150 years of U.S. history, immigrants in America were allowed to vote. It was not until the intense anti-immigrant backlash of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that immigrants lost this critical right. The Revolutionary War statement, ” no taxation without representation” is as relevant today as it was over 200 years ago.

– Resident voting is provided for constitutionally. There is nothing in the U.S. constitution that prevents immigrant residents of Maine from voting in municipal elections.

– Residents already have voting rights in some parts of the United States and in other countries. Immigrant residents have the right to vote in local elections in parts of Maryland, Massachusetts, San Francisco, Chicago, and in countries around the world

– Individuals should have a say in the laws that govern them. Laws apply to everyone in a society. Government services are established for the benefit of the public at large, not individuals. In Maine that public includes up to 64,000 immigrants who live, work, go to school, or pay taxes, and deserve to have a say in the laws that govern them and the programs that they pay for and use.

– We need to close the gap between local government and the people it serves. Many non-profit groups and writers have documented and released reports on the social and economic contributions immigrant make in Maine communities. Extending the right to vote will increase civic and political engagement in Maine and help ensure that elected representatives take the needs of all of their constituents into account.

– The path to citizenship is currently flawed. For many legal non-citizens, this isn’t a matter of “if they will get citizenship”—it’s a matter of when. Becoming a U.S. citizen can take as long as 10 years.

– This bill would strengthen our local control. Municipalities who want to allow its community members to vote should be able to instead of letting our Federal and state control who makes decisions.

– Non-citizens are held to the same obligations to serve our country as those who are citizens. They are required to register for the selective service (or the draft). If we lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 because we wanted to extend that right to an age group because we believe in accountability, we should make those rights at least available on a local level.

ReEmergence’09 SCHEDULE OF Performance EVENTS

8:00 PM: Doors Open : DJ Lady Zen

8:30-9:20 PM: Sean Mencher

9:20-9:30 PM: Bunny Wonderland

9:30-9:45 PM: Port Veritas

9:45-9:55 PM: Belly Dancers

10:00-10:50 PM: Dreamosaic

10:50-11:05 PM: Port Veritas

11:05-11:15 PM: Bunny Wonderland

11:20-11:30 PM: Belly Dancers

11:30 PM-Close (1:00 AM) DJ Lady Zen dance party set

Presentation: Understanding the Local Needs and Uses for the Maine State Pier
March 26, 2009

a) Understanding what the community members value
b) Leads to understanding what are priorities or principles for economic development
c) The most important question to address in future discussion is “what kind of economic development do we want in our city?

Examine how to maximize the pier’s development potential for the public, including islanders, neighborhoods and businesses.

My name is Jenna Vendil and I’m the Field Director for The League of Young Voters.  I’m very grateful for this opportunity to talk in more depth about how we can maximize the pier’s development potential for the community.  I realize the unusual nature of having a member of this panel represent a part of the community that, on the surface, doesn’t seem to be a typical stakeholder regarding waterfront development issues.  However, the interests of young people actually coincide with the mutual interests of many members of the community regardless of their age, their class, where they live, or how long they’ve lived in this city.  The crux of understanding local needs is to understand what residents value from our waterfront and our community as a whole—What characteristics make Portland provide the quality of life and be the place people want to move to?  How do we not just preserve it for the future years, but enhance it to meet the needs of a shifting and developing economy, without shooting ourselves in the foot?

After negotiations with Olympia failed several months ago, I began to sit down with community members from all walks of life in order to figure out what it is community residents wanted to see out of the pier development.  Some of the folks I met with were young, transportation activists who lived on the peninsula.  Others were minivan-owning soccer moms who lived by Deering Center.  Some were labor organizers who care deeply about the working conditions of those who work in Maine’s burgeoning service industry.  One was a union construction worker who hasn’t been able to find work in that field for months.  Another was a local business owner who was a part of Portland’s economic and cultural transformation in the 90’s.  A few were retirees from Peaks Islands who are year-round residents of the island and saw the waterfront as their “backyard.”  It wasn’t a scientific survey or a poll by any stretch—but it is anecdotal evidence on how different members of our community share similar values about the potential for the Maine State Pier and our city.

I want to share a brief list of some of the commonly cited uses and needs that these individuals value in our city—

a.) Transportation.  Transportation development on the waterfront doesn’t just mean transportation for tourism or recreational use, but intermodal forms so people from the Greater Portland area so we can reduce parking density on the peninsula and residents can get to and from work.
b.) Alternative energy.  Yesterday’s analogy that “wind energy can make Portland the Saudi Arabia of Maine” should be explored.  Alternative energy and green jobs have the potential for generating revenue our city can benefit from.
c.) Jobs.  Not only do we need more jobs, but we need good, high-paying jobs for both constructions and operations.  It’s hard to get by with on full-time $7 hour hospitality jobs.
d.) Tourism.  What kind of tourism development do we want to bring?  If we are committed to building Portland’s tourist economy, we need to build it on assets like our local economy and the city’s unique characteristics…  As much as I like visiting Old Orchard Beach, that’s not where I chose to live or what I want Portland’s development to look like.
e.) Open Space:  The ideas of open space and public use shouldn’t be limited to whether or not there’s a private gate on our waterfront or not.  Thinking more broadly about what people in our community feel open to explore and use.  An example is Deering Oaks Park—it’s a public space that feels actually welcoming to both residents and tourists because of its diverse attractions with community festivals and events.
f.) Other values.  The list can go on and on and includes our local arts and entrepreneur spirit of Portlanders.

So all of these points of values, local needs, and local uses dance around a bigger question of why, after decades of discussion, we’re still having these conversations about what we should with the Maine State Pier.  That question is “what kind of economic development do we want in our city?”  Through my conversations with members of our community, it became clear that while a residents may share similar values about our city, we weren’t using those values to define a vision for the pier.  It’s critical that as a community, we give input that influences design standards and zoning limits, but that in and of itself is not enough.  We as a community must be included in the bigger conversations around the specifics, like what kind of business development should go into the pier.  For example, we have a strong local economy, which is an asset in our city.  We have the creative entrepreneurial minds to really flourish.  I’m really excited that the City has taken this step with public input and dialogue around the Maine State Pier and I look forward to a more holistic approach to the discussion of local needs.

Read Jenna’s testimony on LD 774!

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TESTIMONY OF JENNA VENDIL

LD 774 – Ought to Pass

An Act to Create Jobs and Improve Energy Efficiency Through the Transformation of Maine’s Housing Stock.

Submitted to the
JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON MAINE’S ENERGY FUTURE

March 25, 2009

Good afternoon, Chairman Bartlett, Chairman Martin and members of the Joint Select Committee on Maine’s Energy Future, thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of LD 774, “An Act to Create Jobs and Improve Energy Efficiency Through the Transformation of Maine’s Housing Stock.”  My name is Jenna Vendil; I’m the Field Director for The League of Young Voters and a Portland resident.

The League of Young Voters empowers young people to be engaged in politics on a local level and collaborates with organizations to solve problems in our communities.  We’ve joined the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition’s campaign to support this bill because it addresses two of the most critical problems that young people are facing in these tough economic times: investment in affordable housing and job creation.

The League is statewide organization, though we’re based in Portland where a large number of Maine’s young people reside.  Like the rest of the state, Portlanders are feeling the impact of rising food, energy, and housing costs.  The current economic climate doesn’t help the problem that good paying jobs are in short supply—a problem Mainers were dealing with before this economic recession.  As the Portland Press Herald recently cited, Maine has lost about 8,900 jobs since December.  This economic downturn has human faces—they are our parents, our spouses, our neighbors, and our friends.

Housing is frequently cited by our members as one of the biggest costs and barriers for achieving economic security and stability for young people, especially those in low or moderately income households.  Those who are fortunate to have job currently are paying anywhere between 30-50% of their incomes on housing.

A member of our organization, “George,” came to me last week asking for help looking for a job.  After talking to him, he informed me that over the last six months his roommates had one by one moved out of their three-bedroom apartment to move in with their partners and families.  He had been working twelve-hour days during the election and didn’t have the time to dedicate to apartment searches.  Now that the election is over and he’s back to looking for another job, his final roommate gave him an unexpected two weeks notice to find new roommates so he could keep the apartment.  He hasn’t been able to find a job yet, and can’t afford to move into a single-bedroom apartment by himself.  George told me that if he didn’t find a job or a roommate, he would have to move back to Northern Maine to live with his parents.  As a passionate activist and a contributor to neighborhood groups in my community, it would be a shame if he had to move against his will because of the lack of opportunities.

The League wants to ensure that investment in housing meets the people with greatest need—severely low-income, homeless, as well as single people.  LD 774 would address the issues of jobs and housing for Maine by providing a steady revenue source to ensure adequate investment is made for energy efficient affordable housing.  It rewards businesses and its employees who commit to living near their place of work, reducing their carbon footprint.  It makes a commitment to build multi-family units so it can meet the needs of working families in Maine.  We support the bill and encourage you to pass it, but to also consider single young people like George to have his affordable housing needs met through this bill.

Check out the Press Herald article regarding the School Committee hearing last night! We’re proud we got so many folks to come forward for public comment.
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http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=233157&ac=PHnws

Hmmm, an interesting article of things coming down the pipeline for Maine…

Tell the city we need more bike racks!

Read this great article on AlterNet about “What Americans Really Want: 10 Policies We Can All Agree On”!