Hopefully, the multitude of reasons why this is such a critically important action to take should be self-evident, Common Sense, well-understood by most. However, for more information go to CompassionateAmerica.org. Thank you.

The curve has flattened. The virus doesn’t survive in UV light. Campers and fishermen can practice social distancing better than shoppers and Oregon has some of the lowest rates of Covid deaths compared to other states. Oregonians need to be able to go camping and fishing this summer and we will all be healthier when we can get back to doing the things we love and be out in nature. Opening parks during warmer weather months is safer than seeing bored people crowding in the grocery stores because they don’t have other options to get out of the house. It’s time to reopen Oregon State parks.

The charter change will change the employment status of the City Attorney from reporting to Mayor and Council to reporting to the City Manager, affect the Council’s ability to effectively pass policy via ordinances without involvement of the Mayor, and gives the Mayor universal veto power. We need your leadership to protect our charter as is.

Because just as those who have been out of work are at risk and need help, so are the people who still have to go to work every day...

Because Senator Sanders is still on the New York ballot and no institution should ever get away with spitting in the face of democracy, including the New York Board of Elections.

College students are struggling and our grades are suffering from being forced to take online courses. We did not sign up or pay for an online education. We paid for the experience and in-person instruction.

The current PPP program is of no use to businesses that have already temporarily shut down, which, along with laying off employees, also entailed cancelling or reducing coverage for vehicle and other insurance policies, etc. It makes no sense to keep employees on payroll if there is no way to gain income. However, businesses will need funds to pay employees, renew insurance policies, catch up on rent, purchase materials or goods, and more upon reopening or adding back staff and taking on more work. Loan forgiveness is key. Small businesses typically operate with some level of debt, and business owners will be going into more debt on a personal level just to survive until able to reopen or otherwise get back to operating at full capacity.

For me and many of these businesses, this is our livelihood. We have absolutely NO money coming in but still have to pay our state and federal taxes along with utilities, insurance, etc. Please reconsider this.

The American economy has taking a huge hit with unemployment skyrocketing over March and April 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the numbers will continue to rise. We are witnessing a domino effect of massive job loss. Businesses close, then the taxpayers have no income to report to the IRS and no taxes to be paid. Of course no income means a steep decline in the agriculture industry, food processing, banking, and mortgage industries just to name a few. Our tax dollars are what makes this economy rise or fall. It is the government's spending of this money which determines what programs are funded or not, and what is considered valuable. Well, now it is time for our government to show its appreciation to loyal American taxpayers by helping us through one of the most financial difficulties in current times. Way too often, large companies such as banks receive MILLIONS OF TAXPAYER MONEY so they will not collapse even though CEO's receive million dollar bonuses and the company makes millions in profits. The government is EAGER to provide them with tax breaks and trillion dollar relief funds at American taxpayer expense. Millions of American taxpayers are working making under $30,000 a year, many more are working 2 jobs, such as teachers, just to somewhat survive. The cost of rent, utilities, food, gas, etc., continues to grow except incomes. A basic income of $2000 a month for American taxpayers age 18 and older and $500 a month for children would give a great start in boosting the economy. Once this financial difficulty has lifted, the economy won't take as long to recover.

This is important to curve the amount of staff and inmates from contracting the virus. This is important to save lives. The inmates live in close quarters and congregate within close proximity therefore it would be almost impossible to socially distance while incarcerated.

The corrosive combination of coronavirus and capitalism is tearing through our communities to underscore the deepest divide between us, that of the haves and the have-nots. The most egregious assault lands where it always does, in the most marginalized communities among us: the poor, with multi-generational (often multiple) families living together; black and brown communities, who were discarded by society long before coronavirus; single mothers, who are forced into the impossible choice between rent and food for their children; immigrants, who are deprived of any safety nets and devoid of rights; the unhoused, for whom the phrase “stay at home” is cruel and absurd; the out-of-work breadwinners who can no longer provide for their families; domestic abuse victims who are pressed to “shelter” in place with their abusers; the newly unemployed masses now frequenting foodbanks; the imprisoned, detained, or institutionalized; and the anti-stay-at-home protesters, who assert “my job is essential too.” The middle and impoverished classes lack the privilege of escaping to the Hamptons, to their personal island, or to their well-stocked yachts. In many cases, they lack the “luxuries” of running water, the room to socially distance, paid leave when they or their family members are sick, and personal protective gear for their jobs, which – in an act of cruel irony – have now been heralded as “essential.” A contagion of greed infected our society long before the arrival of coronavirus. Lulled into complacency by sleek models, shiny gadgets, and digitized entertainment, we became prime targets for hungry overlords, who amassed their spoils off our labor and consumption. Nursing at the teat of consumption, we became “unpaid data laborers,” while gaping maws scrambled to exploit our data for profit. These titans of industry filled their own pockets on the backs of their workers – fellow humans who markets invisibilized and rendered disposable. This colossal corporate greed is what informs our “Democracy.” Those who usurp our power leave us begging for scraps or working in unsafe conditions, and these immoral deficits have never been more evident than with four rounds of coronavirus stimulus packages. Profiteers advance on the imperiled masses with glee, hoarding the lion’s share of the stimulus and pillaging the coffers designated for the poor. Our representatives listen to the lobbyists in DC, where they’re plied with sweet deals and lavish funds for special interests. The lobbyists work to promote the corporate agendas of those who have money and those who will do anything to protect that money. Whether Democrat or Republican, our representatives evidently and appallingly need greater incentives to look out for the common good and essential needs of the citizens. It is up to us to demand that they do. In a world cracked open by COVID-19, it’s time for the masses to assert their own power – they and we matter. We are not dispensable. We are not disposable. We are not invisible. It is time NOW for the PEOPLE to use the powers that they still have – the powers of their vote, their voice, their pen, their labor, and their consumption. VOTE, WRITE, STRIKE, BOYCOTT together while apart like your life – and the lives of all those you love – depends on it. Because it does. At the nexus of coronavirus and runaway capitalism, it is imperative that we untangle the essential rights of citizens from profit. This is a moral choice. We must IMAGINE a better world where all are deserving of conditions that will enable us to not only survive, but thrive. The time is now for Medicare for All, for a guaranteed basic income, for housing standards that ensure shelter for all, for green jobs with livable wages, with paid sick leave, healthcare that’s not tied to our paychecks, and where workers own the rights of production. While our citizens suffer a devastating mix of uncertainty, isolation, grief, and economic despair, the richest people on the planet are poised to determine our fate. We shelter on this globe together, and the time is ripe for demanding fundamental and lasting improvements to our social safety net. Our top-heavy society is fragile in ways that leave us increasingly vulnerable to coronavirus and future pandemics. We must build resiliency from the bottom up, collaborating with our communities, and honoring the diversity therein to protect us all. We’re riding a slow train of uncertainty amidst an amorphous viral threat. If quarantine teaches us anything, it brings home the truth that the health and wellbeing of ONE is intimately connected to the health and wellbeing of ALL.

Haven’t we learned anything from our current pandemic? Factory farms and processors need to be held accountable. The cruelty animals suffer and the horrifying conditions they live in must stop.