Democracy Day in Kent will be held on Wednesday, October 3rd, 3:00 - 6:00 pm in Kent Cityity Council Chambers in the basement training room of the main fire station, 320 S. Depeyster St.
This is the same place the event has been held for the past two years.
This public hearing will "examine the impact on the City, state, and nation of political influence resulting from campaign contributions by corporate entities," say the event organizers, adding that "any person wishing to be heard on the subject matter may appear at the time and place set forth above. Persons are strongly encouraged to submit their comments to the Clerk, in writing, for inclusion in the minutes of proceedings." The minutes are forwarded in their entirety to Kent's state and national representatives.
Bill Wilen is spearheading the efforts to get speakers and hopes that participants will give a five-minute talk about some aspect of the Move to Amend issue, which aims to eliminate "corporate personhood and money as speech." If you have not presented at the previous Democracy Day public hearings, you might want to go to the movetoamend.org website for information about the issue. A good place to start might be the "Examples of Corporate Rule" section for ideas on how to approach the issue.
Wilen plans to present a quick update of the progress of Move to Amend in Congress and discuss corporate influence on the climate change issue. A variety of respected news sources have given extensive coverage to the influence of pharmaceutical and chemical corporations; fossil fuel corporations; privatization of public utilities, education systems, and prisons; lobbying by corporations at the state and federal governmental levels; and more. The corporate influence will continue until Citizens United is overturned and/or a 28th amendment to the Constitution is adopted.
If you would like to meet with and discuss your ideas for your five-minute talk, contact Wilen. Otherwise, you can just show up and make your presentation. Or you can just show up with your 5-minute talk. Keep in mind that even if you do not want to speak, your attendance is appreciated. Thanks for your consideration.
Event Description:Democracy Day in Kent will be held on Wednesday, October 3rd, 3:00 - 6:00 pm in Kent Cityity Council Chambers in the basement training room of the main fire station, 320 S. Depeyster St.
This public hearing will "examine the impact on the City, state, and nation of political influence resulting from campaign contributions by corporate entities," say the event organizers, adding that "any person wishing to be heard on the subject matter may appear at the time and place set forth above. Persons are strongly encouraged to submit their comments to the Clerk, in writing, for inclusion in the minutes of proceedings." The minutes are forwarded in their entirety to Kent's state and national representatives.