Civic Engagement & Community Organizing
CPC staff is out
knocking on doors!
June 2010
After a successful
legislative session, and with an eye towards our upcoming election mobilization
work, CPC staff are out knocking on doors in our key neighborhoods. As
part of our Membership Integration Project, we are out asking three questions:
1. What issues are most
important to you?
2. Do you think it's
important for the government to invest in key public structures that benefit us
all? Are you ready and willing to protect their ability to do this in November?
3. Will you sign up to
be a CPC member?
In just the short time
we have been engaged in this project, we have already found this to be an
informative and valuable use of our time.
CPC Supports the 2010
Census:
To show our support of
the 2010 Census, CPC conducted a six week canvass operation, going door to door
asking our neighbors, members and community members to be sure to complete
their 2010 Census form. We know that the Census is important for so many
reasons, including determining the delegation of money and resources, as well
as data for redistricting. In our canvass efforts we reached out to over 10,000
people asking them to commit to filling out their 2010 Census!
2009 Victory: Defeat the
Denver Impound Initiative:
In November of 2009 Denver was
faced with an unnecessary, vague and dangerous ordinance that would have force
police officers to impound the cars of anyone driving without a state issued
driver’s license. Dan Hayes, an anti-immigrant Arvada resident, petitioned to
put this issue on the ballot to target immigrants, particularly undocumented
immigrants in Denver. This initiative immediately caught the attention of
the progressive community in Denver. The hateful and racist intent of I
300 was poorly masked with a weak public safety argument. This issue would not
only target immigrants and people of color, but would also inflict
unnecessarily harsh consequences to anyone who made a simple and common
mistake. Further, I 300 would have required a $2700 bond to retrieve an
impounded car, making this an economic justice issue where clearly the
punishment did not fit the crime.
Coloradans for Safe
Communities (CFSC) was formed as a broad-based coalition (which included
Colorado Progressive Coalition) to defeat these harmful initiatives. CFSC and
CPC understood that this issue had statewide and national importance, as Colorado has
continued to be a testing ground for right-wing ballot measures. Not only did
CFSC and CPC defeat this harmful initiative, but we won with a 70% margin.
Results:
Vehicle Impound turned
out voters:
While Denver had
a lower turnout than expected, only 20%, I 300 had the largest turnout of any
of the items on the Denver 2009 ballot with only 1% drop off.
CPC and CFSC made a
difference:
Turnout: While only 20 % of Denver voters turned out, 35 % of
the people contacted by CFSC cast their ballots.
Mail: As a coalition, CFSC sent three rounds of mail to 46,300
targeted voters, 84% of which voted.
CPC Voter Outreach: CPC worked along side 9to5 National Association of Working
women, Colorado ACORN, Mi Familia Vota, and others to knock on over 58,000
doors. CPC alone knocked on 5000 doors and made nearly 2500 phone
calls.
Vote “No” Message: Of the voters CPC contacted, an astounding 87% committed to
voting no on I 300 proving that if we could reach people with our message, they
would support our position.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recognized nationally as
a leader in connecting community organizing issues to civic engagement
participation, CPC has been a lead organization on several remarkable victories
in Colorado through our get out the vote efforts. CPC works in communities
often overlooked by mainstream political campaigns. In 2006, CPC was one of the
lead groups working to increase the state's minimum wage. Of all the partner
groups, CPC collected the most signatures in order to be placed on the ballot.
In 2008, CPC led a coalition of individuals and community-based organizations
in defeating a deceptively worded anti-equal opportunity measure run by
California businessman Ward Connerly. Our coalition turned around a
50-point deficit in the polls to become the first state to ever defeat this
deceitful measure!
During and in between
elections, CPC registers new voters, educates thousands about ballot
initiatives, and conducts non-partisan voter education drives so that low- and
middle-income people, people of color, young people, and GLBT-identified
people fully participate in our democracy. In 2004, CPC conducted the
largest civic engagement drive in Colorado history, registering 27,061 new
voters and conducting an intensive door-to-door campaign to engage and inspire
145,000 infrequent voters to vote.
In 2008, CPC built a
large-scale, community rooted civic engagement campaign in five cities
statewide that engaged 120,000 Coloradoans. In addition to our victory
defeating an anti-affirmative action initiative, we also supported partners and
helped defeat other attacks on women's and workers' rights.
Most importantly, civic
engagement isn't only about voting. We seek to build community participation
and education yearround on issues at the state legislature, with local City
Councils and commissions, and after elections to ensure politicians remain accountable
to all Coloradoans. We are also a leader in developing innovative tactics to
raise the voices of people who can't vote because of citizenship status, prior
criminal records, or age.
JOIN OUR CIVIC
ENGAGEMENT STREET TEAMS!
Get involved today by contacting Shannon Masden, CPC's Lead Civic Engagement
Organizer, at 303.866.0908 or shannon@progressivecoalition.org. Thank you!
CPC is a grassroots
membership organization and we depend on your support to help us build power
across the state. Please become a member today. Your
contribution to CPC is tax-deductible.
