Even though Donald Trump is no longer president, his handpicked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy remains in charge at the USPS -- and is still trying to run this cherished institution into the ground. Last year, DeJoy -- a GOP mega-donor with no previous USPS experience -- made headline after headline for his efforts to sabotage the Postal Service. He imposed outrageous restrictions on postal workers, had mailboxes removed by the truckload, and more. And though many of these dangerous directives were reversed by courts, thanks to lawsuits from voting rights groups -- we now know that hamstringing the USPS was a key part of Trump’s plan to undermine vote-by-mail in the 2020 election. Trump even admitted it, when he opposed funding the USPS by saying: “they need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.” [1] But even now that the election is behind us, DeJoy remains committed to bringing the Postal Service to a grinding halt. Earlier this year, he unveiled a 10-year plan that would further slow down first-class mail delivery, reduce Post Office hours, and raise postage prices. Recently, President Biden’s three nominees for the USPS Board of Governors -- which has the authority to fire DeJoy -- were confirmed by the Senate, potentially giving the Board a more reform-minded majority. But as of now, the Board hasn't made any commitments either way about DeJoy’s future at the USPS. So unless we take action immediately, DeJoy could remain Postmaster General for, in his words, “a long time,” [2] -- calling the shots for the very agency he has tried to destroy. Americans nationwide are counting on the Postal Service to safely deliver their paychecks, life-saving medications, and more. Add your name to tell the USPS Board of Governors to defend this vital public service by firing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. 1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/12/postal-service-ballots-dejoy/ 2) https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/24/politics/usps-board-of-governors-joe-biden-nominees/index.html

Right now, Mitch McConnell is using every dirty trick in his playbook to preserve his own power, stifle the will of the voters, and block progress on issues that matter to the American people. Just look at his latest outrageous move: despite the immense support for a 9/11-style investigation into the January 6th insurrection from constituents and legislators alike -- McConnell and his Senate cronies filibustered this bill. That’s just shameful. After a violent insurrection that put his colleagues in mortal danger, McConnell decided to protect his party and cover for Donald Trump rather than get real answers for the American people. Plus, this isn’t the only extremely popular bill that Republicans have committed to filibustering. The For the People Act (H.R. 1/S. 1), which would protect our freedom to vote and stop states from playing partisan games with their election laws, passed the House this year and is headed to the Senate floor. But McConnell has called blocking the For the People Act his “top priority” -- and has threatened to abuse the filibuster to do it. It seems that he and other Republicans have made their priorities clear: party over country, Trump over democracy, and obstruction over progress. Here’s what our elected officials can do about it -- the Senate must swiftly abolish the filibuster, an outdated and undemocratic parliamentary maneuver that McConnell and others have abused to hamstring Congress. If you agree that it’s time for our elected officials to step up and put a stop to Mitch McConnell’s dangerous partisan games -- add your name today.

It is incongruous for us to claim we want a two-State solution and that we support human rights but then fail to recognize Palestine as a State as 138 other countries do. How can we have an “even-handed” approach to the Middle East as espoused by Biden and many preceding administrations when we recognize one country, Israel, but not the other, Palestine? It is a position as likely to work as well as the “separate but equal” doctrine of the Jim Crow South. When the Palestinian people are denied justice, you and I lose it too. Recognition of the State of Palestine is a step in the direction of balance.

This has never been clearer. The GOP is spinning wildly out of control and headed toward the infringement of our basic right to VOTE in free and fair elections. The cult of 45 has infected the GOP, bringing needed legislation and accountability to a standstill. They won't stop folks. It is up to our Democratic Leaders to realize... They must now TAKE OFF THE GLOVES and do what is necessary to protect the freedoms of Americans like you and I. They must UPHOLD our Rule of Law by bringing the full weight of our DOJ and federal agencies to bear against those who promote bald-faced LIES and attempt to legitimize criminal behavior.

The U.S. military, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the Secret Service were *ALL* recently caught buying location tracking data from shady “data mining” tech companies. They’re using a flimsy legal loophole to bypass the Fourth Amendment and spy on all of us. This is unacceptable. Fourth Amendment protections exist to protect us all. U.S. government agencies should not be able to side-step these requirements just because data collection makes it easy. Sign now and demand Congress close these loopholes and protect our privacy by passing the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act.

The BREATHE ACT is crucial for our society to move forward and break the chains of our past, to accept accountability and start down the path to real change, real healing and a real reconstruction. WE MUST STOP, The Violence, the Over Policing, the School to Prison Pipeline and Over Mass Incarceration and all the unfair practices of our systematically racist system that has been failing its people and causing unbearable, unreasonable, unfair harm. The BREATHE ACT's own summary explains this perfectly! *(From - https://breatheact.org/learn-more/) “IMAGINE : Schools free of police and full of trained counselors and restorative-justice programs, where all our children are kept safe and their needs are met. IMAGINE : Easy access to trained, trauma-informed interventionists who can be called on in domestic-violence situations and who are equipped to facilitate long-term safety, healing, and prevention. IMAGINE : 911 operators dispatching unarmed mental-health experts instead of police in situations involving behavioral health crises, and callers being allowed to request responders that connect to the gender identity of the person in crisis. The BREATHE Act offers a radical reimagining of public safety, community care, and how we spend money as a society. We bring 4 simple ideas to the table: Divest federal resources from incarceration and policing. Invest in new, non-punitive, non-carceral approaches to community safety that lead states to shrink their criminal-legal systems and center the protection of Black lives—including Black mothers, Black trans people, and Black women. Allocate new money to build healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities. Hold political leaders to their promises and enhance the self-determination of all Black communities. Uprisings around the country changed what was possible. What felt impossible two months ago is being accomplished now; what seems impossible today is doable tomorrow, and we will be the ones to make it happen. We are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.” *From: ( https://breatheact.org/learn-more/) Please sign and share this petition and demand that Senate Democrats that this is NECESSARY NOW, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

It’s important because there are a lot of children that are been homeschooled for having a disability, been bullied and because they are not able to learn in a traditional school. They too deserve to be able to benefit from the P-EBT food program.

Autoplay and algorithm-driven recommendations on kids’ content are each dangerous on their own, and in combination they are even worse. Kids are being endangered by YouTube’s addictive content rabbit holes and recommendations that can quickly funnel children into inappropriate content. Autoplay should not be the norm for kids’ content, let alone the default setting for any account, as it currently is. In fact, YouTube even defaults to autoplay for content aimed at toddlers and preschoolers and can't be turned off on YoutTube Kids. Too much screen time has been linked to behavioral problems, sleep disorders, decreased mental health, and poorer educational outcomes in kids. Parental controls on YouTube are not sufficient, and they are difficult to figure out. Despite being concerned about screen time, most parents—60% according to a recent Pew study—don’t use parental controls to change default settings. YouTube has a responsibility to keep people safe—especially young people. Please set autoplay to be off by default for all kids content on YouTube and YouTube Kids and end algorithm-based recommendations for kids’ content entirely.

Pride Month is an entire month dedicated to the uplifting of LGBTQ voices, celebration of LGBTQ culture, and the support of LGBTQ rights. As a safe and accepting space, Ignite will reflect our values through our actions and practices as we embrace Pride Month within our school community. Celebrating Pride Month as a school advances the culture of safety and acceptance. Comprehensive socio-emotional learning will be elevated with the inclusion of LGBTQ+ pride for our scholars, faculty, and school community, as many of our students identify under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. By celebrating Pride Month, our scholars will feel empowered to use their voice & express their truth openly.

Will Rogers was once asked why he was not a war hero, in a time when many Americans were. His answer, just slightly elaborated on, went something like this: We can't all be war heroes. I mean, someone has to be left to handle the long and arduous job of sitting on the curb and applauding when they go by. For those of us who were not heroes during the Pandemic, that remains our job. I recently spoke with a friend, let's call her Ann-Marie, who served as a nursing administrator throughout the Pandemic at a major suburban medical facility. Her job, day in and day out, from which she never wavered, was to staff the facility with nurses willing to handle Covid-19 patients. It was not an easy job. Needless to say, some nurses and other ICU staffers resigned. At one point she was in competition with a New York City facility that was offering tens of thousands of dollars per month for nurses. At another point she was asked to staff a sports facility to do vaccinations. In return, the nurses would get early vaccinations. A handful of the nurses showed up, took the early vaccinations, and never came back. But that was all the easy part. The hard part came on the days when she was called to the Covid-19 wards to share the final moments of a patient who was dying without the accompaniment of any family members. Those were the hard days. A hundred years ago, during the Battle of Verdun in World War I, one of the longest, bloodiest and most ferocious battles of the War, each day the allied troops in their tunnels shared with each other in hushed tones this simple thought: Today: on ne passe pas" (French for, "they shall not pass"). So too, each day during the Pandemic, the essential workers and first responders who came together in hospitals across America brought with them only that same noble thought: as to this patient: "on ne passe pas." Mostly, they succeeded. We can at least do our job and applaud when they go by.

The Legacy of Roberta Jones Community theatre in Santa Clara began when Roberta Jones and a small group of hardworking individuals conceived the idea of a theatre group. Roberta Jones picked the shows, directed some, and served as executive producer of the entire program and also as "Mom" for her young charges, working to instill a sense of responsibility and dedication in each child. Since 1968 and for over 50 years, the legacy of Roberta Jones Junior Theatre continues to serve the community. Roberta Jones Junior Theatre Mission In keeping with the vision of founder Roberta Jones, and its 52-year history, Roberta Jones Junior Theatre provides youth in Santa Clara with high-quality recreational experiences in Theatre Arts. All children are welcome to participate on stage and backstage in productions. The program fosters a strong sense of place and community for participants and the general public. Youths are given opportunities for self expression in a fun, safe environment where they improve self esteem, confidence and social skills while learning the value of personal responsibility from adult role models. Audiences are provided with excellent, affordable, family-friendly special events where young performers inspire joyful appreciation for the Performing Arts in the Santa Clara community.

WHY: The Job Center opened in September 2020 and SETA is recommending defunding it. We CANNOT close its' doors. If ever there was ever a need for a Sacramento Job Center, it is NOW, especially coming out of the pandemic when more than ever the black and brown community is looking for work! Now more than ever we need a Job Center serving Oak Park and surrounding neighborhoods. Proposed Talking Points: 1. Oak Park is a critical community where a Job Center is needed. It is in the Promise Zone, Opportunity Zone, and designated an Enterprise Zone by HUD. 2. COVID 19 has significantly impacted Oak Park and has left many of its residents jobless and homeless. Having a Job Center in this area will be key to assisting residents find employment in order to provide for their families. Job Centers are designed to provide opportunities and resources to those most impacted by social determinants and racial equity. 3. The Fruitridge Career Center is part of a collective of non-profit organizations that work to develop the Oak Park community by reducing social and health disparities with children, adults and seniors. 4. SETA compared the performance of the newly established Fruitridge Career Center after seven (7) months of operation, during the pandemic, with the performance of Job Centers that have been open for decades, while acknowledging that even those centers under-performed because of the pandemic. 5. Pivot Sacramento as part of GoBiz operates an employment program that is consistent with the Job Center that targets people reentering from jail or prison. Through that program, we enrolled approximately 760 participants over 18 months, most enrolled during the pandemic. 6. The Fruitridge Career Center has developed relationships with employers and other community stakeholders, including the Black Child Legacy Campaign, CPS, DHA, Alchemist, River Oaks Resource Center, Unite Us and many others. 7. The Fruitridge Career Center partners with the Aggie Square Committee and Community Engagement Department at UC Davis to create employment opportunities for the Oak Park community. The termination of the Fruitridge Career Center will terminate those relationships. 8. SETA claims that funds are allocated to provide activities and services that assist unemployed and underemployed individuals to gain the skills necessary to enter high demand careers in the region. Closing the Fruitridge Career Center in Oak Park which has a high number of unemployed and underemployed individuals, especially as we near the end of the pandemic, contradicts those claims. We need you to SHOW UP and GET LOUD! MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT ON JUNE 3RD (10AM): ~Make a verbal public comment during a meeting. The public comment phone line will open 15-minutes prior to the start of the meeting. ~Refer to the agenda and listen to the live meeting to determine when is the best time to call to be placed in queue to make a public comment (ITEM III-B – 3 – ACTION). ~Dial (916) 263-3827 and follow the prompts to be placed in queue for a specific agenda item (ITEM III-B – 3 – ACTION) on or off-agenda matter. Each agenda item queue will remain open until the public comment period is closed for that specific item.