The Montgomery County Council is considering Bill 19-15 to: • Require landlords to offer 2 year leases at each renewal • End excessive month-to-month lease fees • Increase code inspections • Require the use of clear, legal "model" County leases • Publish information about landlords who raise rents 100-150 percent higher than County recommended guidelines • Require landlords to distribute the Landlord/Tenant handbook at lease signing • Require accurate and thorough rental housing data collection for use in public policy

Wish to request an exceptional pardon consideration by the state board of pardons and paroles concerning Malik White. I believe the board should consider him for parole before the scheduled time because of the lack of evidence to support said charges.

This summer, Sunday Home, a furniture store, commissioned artist Seth Carnes to create a mural on the side of their building. They had permission from the building’s owner and a signed contract. The words “time to unperson” were to be painted in large white letters on a black wall, part of the artist’s ongoing project.  After four days of painting, a local man approached Carnes and ordered him off the scaffold. He called the mural “vulgar” without explanation, and threatened to paint over the mural immediately. This man is not a town official and has no financial interest in the building.  A report was filed with the NY State Police against the man. To protect the mural from vandalism, surveillance cameras were installed and signs have been posted.  Since then, the mural remains unfinished, with continuing threats and efforts to censor and remove the mural by those who find it objectionable. Carnes has been issued a citation from the town claiming the mural is commercial signage which requires a permit. The citation includes a threat of fines and imprisonment. This mural is artwork. It is not a commercial sign. It is simply paint on a wall.  The phrase “time to unperson” does not discriminate against any protected class. Misinterpreting an artwork as objectionable should not lead to censorship . Questions of meaning, or perceived offense should be a matter of discussion and tolerance, not brazen aggression. We believe this censorship is a violation of the artist’s First Amendment rights. If you believe in freedom of speech, tolerance, and 1st amendment rights for artists under the US Constitution, please sign this petition! BACKGROUND ON THE ARTWORK AND ARTIST This mural is part of the Miniluv project, created by Seth Indigo Carnes and originally co-curated as an intervention in 2023 with Rodney Harder at the Deep Water Literary Festival in Narrowsburg, New York, with the work of George Orwell as a theme. Similar versions of the same artwork, with the same wording have been displayed over the last two years in nearby public places like Narrowsburg, NY without complaints. The word “unperson” comes from the George Orwell novel 1984, a fictional depiction of an oppressive government using language to control citizens. Carnes takes an interpretive approach to the invented poetic phrase “time to unperson,” which combines the language of Orwell, advertising, self-help, escapism, and social media, with an intention that meaning will form in the eye of the beholder, where art acts as a mirror. Here’s what Seth Carnes writes in his artist statement: One of the concepts in 1984 was called doublethink, where words and phrases contain contradictory meanings and people may hold both to be true… Some invented words in the novel, such as ‘unperson’, suggest a meaning, but it is never clear, only implied. In this imaginary world, without free speech and open public discourse, there is no established meaning, only constant edits, censorship, and control by those in power… Art and poetry often feature a related but less severe effect, where symbolism, metaphor, irony, and play with language leave the work open to multiple interpretations. MORE INFORMATION: “Un-muraled: Community backlash leaves mural half-finished in Roscoe”, River Reporter https://riverreporter.com/stories/un-muraled-community-backlash-leaves-mural-half-finished-in-roscoe,210127 Artist Website: www.sic.studio

Memphis and Shelby County are overwhelmingly Democratic. The Republican echo chamber is in full force, and Trump money is pouring in to normalize their fringe positions. Our issues need to be debated.

Launch an investigation of Exxon and its fellow fossil-fuel companies for deliberate and malicious climate deception.

We call on the Boston City Council to pass a resolution declaring Indigenous Peoples Day on the second Monday of October.

Sign our petition for Disney to disclose the names in the Toxic File List so those employees know where they stand with this employer.

We are demanding that Ashland, Washburn, and Bayfield City Councils declare a climate emergency. We need to acknowledge the crisis that is before us and hold decision makers accountable to the looming global deadline. Here is a sample climate emergency resolution: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YEz2YA_jvL2F9Vrz1bMbAIMcUGlZxFX3g5qzoL5sCDo/edit?usp=sharing

Baby boomers are retiring at an alarming rate! To boost their retirement cost, medicaid, healthcare and other services we provide to retirees, I suggest we consider the economical benefit of having working immigrants in our midst.

Dear Mr. President, YES YOU CAN! Our children's future is in your hands. We owe it to them to end our gun culture now and create a culture of peace for the next generation. Problem: Violence is a deadly social epidemic disease. As Americans, we are fascinated with guns and violence, therefore totally numb and desensitized to the tragedies that happen to us everyday. We need to rewire our brains and be re-sensitized again. FACTS : • Violence is a learned behavior. Weapons+Violent Culture=Disaster. • Values and behaviors learned during childhood have the most lasting effect throughout life. • Guns are not toys. Guns are for killing and toys are for playing, the combination of these is deadly. iherc.org • The media’s glamorization of violence, the widespread possession and use of dangerous playthings, like toy guns, toy weapons and video games have desensitized children to violence. Stop feeding our innocent kids' fascinations with guns & violence by eliminating anything that teaches kids violence, and by investing in & supporting violence prevention/intervention projects.