The holidays are such a wonderful way to wrap up the year. However you celebrate or recognize the holiday season, I hope it was filled with joy, love and kindness, with family, friends, and loved ones.
And what a year 2016 was!
We nominated the first woman for president for a major political party. We also watched in utter disbelief a billionaire business tycoon get elected president.
With the uncertainty of what the next four years of a Trump presidency will bring, I expect many of us are making a myriad of New Year’s resolutions to help bring us some direction during these unsettling times.
Here are two resolutions I’m making for 2017: Be Engaged and Be Kind.
Be Engaged
In 2017, I will continue to commit myself to engaging with the world in positive ways through Tongass Democrats.
I invite you to participate with me in all the Tongass Democrats meetings and events. You can find dates, times and locations at the Calendar link in our website toolbar.
Please call, text or email me if you have questions about any of the items on the calendar.
Many readers are asking about the Alaska Democratic Party’s Statewide Central Committee (SCC) winter meeting in Juneau January 27-29, 2017. Please watch this blog for details about the SCC meeting.
On the national level, we all know there will be a lot of controversial decisions being made and votes being taken. Each of us has to voice our opinions on such critical matters.
Please call or email your U.S. Senators and Congressman at the following:
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski
709 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202)-224-6665
Fax: (202)-224-5301
U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan
702 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: (202)-224-3004
Fax: (202)-224-6501
Congressman Don Young
2314 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-5765
Fax: (202) 225-0425
On the state level, please make your voice heard by contacting your District Senator and Representatives at the following:
Senator Dennis Egan
Senate District Q (Excursion Inlet, Gustavus, Haines, Juneau, Klukwan & Skagway)
State Capitol
120 4th Street
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907-465-4947; toll free 855-465-4947
Email: Senator.Dennis.Egan@akleg.gov
Representative Sam Kito III
House District 33 (Downtown Juneau to Sunny Point, Douglas & North Douglas)
State Capitol
120 4th Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182
Phone: 907-465-4766; toll free 877-465-4766
Email: Representative.Sam.Kito.III@akleg.gov
Representative Justin Parish (to be sworn in January 17, 2017)*
House District 34 (Juneau valley Sunny Point to Berner’s Bay)
State Capitol
120 4th Street
Juneau, Alaska 99801-1182
Phone: TBA
Email: TBA
*Prior to Rep. elect Parish’s swearing in, you can contact him at justinforjuneau@gmail.com.
The Alaska State Legislature’s website http://akleg.gov/index.php has a wealth of information for anyone looking to engage with the Alaska State Legislature. I encourage readers to check it out and find out how to best engage with our State legislators.
Finally, as they say, all politics is local. Juneau’s Assembly and School Board make a lot of decisions that greatly affect us. Everyone needs to engage in their decision making processes. I’ll share more on getting engaged with the Assembly and School Board in future posts, but for now, here are their websites and contact information:
Juneau City and Borough Assembly
Website: http://www.juneau.org/Assembly/
Email: BoroughAssembly@juneau.org
Juneau School District Board of Education
Website: http://www.juneauschools.org/board-of-education-ddebe663
Email: schoolboard@juneauschools.org
Be Kind
The Juneau Police Department is spearheading a “Year of Kindness” initiative in 2017. If you missed it, here’s the Juneau Empire’s article on the initiative.
JPD has organized two “2017 Year of Kindness Kick-Off” events. Here are links to their Facebook events:
I encourage you to share these events and invite your friends!
Having experienced months of vitriolic language and hateful actions throughout the 2016 Presidential election, it now seems such behavior has become the norm. To turn this tide of negativity, each of us needs to make above-and-beyond effort to be kind and show kindness to others, in 2017 and many years to come.
So as we roll into a new year, I encourage readers to join me in resolving to Be Engaged and to Be Kind.
Until next week….
Nancy Courtney
Chair, Tongass Democrats
ncourtney.tongassdems@gmail.com
(907) 321-2285
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