Page One

Indivisible East Bay is holding a town hall with or without Feinstein on Sunday February 26th 10am at Elmhurst Community Prep School, 1800 98th Avenue in Oakland. Groups representing 15,000 of her constituents have asked Senator Feinstein to hold such a forum and provide an opportunity to ask her questions directly. Senator Feinstein has declined to attend Sunday’s town hall but that’s not stopping Indivisible East Bay from holding an event to make their presence known and their voices heard. 

Over the last several months, groups of Indivisible Chapters have been popping up all over the Bay Area, meeting with staffers and representatives with direct requests to resist the Trump Administration. Their areas of concern include saving the Affordable Care Act, Immigration Rights and Protections, and opposing President Trump’s Cabinet and nominee for the Supreme Court. The recent resignation of Michael Flynn has Indivisible members eager to hear information from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. 

“Our security concern is that an adversary of our country has gained improper ascendency in the highest councils of our Government's Executive branch.” says Indivisible East Bay member Alex Alten. Growing concerns of Russia’s influence on the 2016 Election are inspiring voters show up to their representatives in record numbers with an ever-growing list of questions on national security. 

Senator Feinstein plans to make a public appearance on Friday 2/24 at an event at the Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco, but for many people, this isn’t enough. The venue offered seats for only 140 people. Senator Feinstein plans to take only 10 minutes of questions from the audience. “Ten minutes of audience questions is no substitute for the kind of town hall meeting Californians are crying out for,” said Amelia Cass, an organizer for the Empty Chair Town Hall this Sunday.

The event is expected to have a large turnout in Oakland this Sunday. Members of Indivisible SF and Indivisible East Bay are collaborating to send a message to Feinstein: we want you here and we have questions. The event will include speakers such as George Lakoff, linguist and Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley. It will also have an activist fair with information and a video booth for voters to record a message to be sent to Feinstein’s office. Over 30 political groups from as far North as Yolo County and as far South as Santa Cruz are slated to attend.

"San Francisco residents just want a chance to hear from Sen. Dianne Feinstein and raise their concerns directly” says Jacques Fortier, Indivisible SF organizer. “This is what we’re asking of all of our Members of Congress. We want to better understand her votes in the Senate so far and what we can to do to support her in resisting an administration that threatens basic American values.” 

Indivisible East Bay Press Coordinator Liz Kelley can be reached at lizkelley16@gmail.com or (650) 315-0596 for comment. Event Coordinator Amelia Cass can be reached at ameliacass@gmail.com or (617) 953-6908. 

Information on the event listed here : https://www.facebook.com/events/140766766439352/