Jackie Spafford
Indivisible Santa Barbara hosted an emergency Town Hall meeting on Saturday that garnered attendance by approximately 1,500 people at the Unitarian Church in downtown Santa Barbara.
The focus of the meeting was on the alarming number of unconstitutional and illegal actions taken by the Trump administration that experts state are threatening American’s privacy, legal protections, and basic human rights.
The event was cosponsored by Commit to Democracy, 805 UndocuFund, Immigrant Legal Defense Center, and the Democratic Women of Santa Barbara.
Moderators Ian and Myra Paige introduced the speakers: Assemblymember Gregg Hart, State Senator Monique Limon, Rep. Salud Carbajal , Supervisor Laura Capps, former State Senator Hanna-Beth Jackson, and Julissa Pena of Immigrant Legal Defense Center.
“We are doing special things in California … we are the fifth largest economy in the world. We are creating opportunities for everyone in our society, because we embrace our diversity. It is our strength. The world is watching us at this moment. What is California going to do in the face of these challenges? I can tell you with certainty, we are going to resist,” said Hart.
Congressman Carbajal urged attendees to avoid being reactive to every Trump headline and claim. He called declarations such as the threat to “buy” Greenland, stunts and distractions. He was realistic about the threats to democracy, but emphasized the legal responses in process to stall these actions. He also said the wrecking ball approach by Elon Musk (an unelected official) and other cronies have to be taken seriously, and challenged.
“Donald Trump’s radical agenda is illegal and likely unconstitutional on many fronts. I am part of the congressional investigation into the scope of Elon Musk’s access to government systems and data. We will not take this invasion of privacy lying down,” said Rep. Carbajal. “What can you do? Organize, resist, engage and keep speaking out loudly. That’s what you can do.”
The hall at the Unitarian Church holds approximately 450 people; after the Fire Marshall capped attendance for safety reasons, an overflow crowd of about a thousand gathered in the church courtyard and on the surrounding sidewalks. Speakers were quickly set up so outside attendees could hear, and a Zoom link circulated for online watching.
The speakers and Indivisible SB provided concrete resources where residents can contribute time or money, and links to services and resources.
On social media, Indivisible SB asked residents to call and write to their U.S. Senators urging them to stop the usual business of the Senate until the “Trump/Musk coup is put down.”
I attended via Zoom. I expect there were many other Zoom attendees.
There were also many more who were in the long line that left after they realized the church was full.
It cannot be overstated how important it is for every person who is troubled by the slow rolling coup to call and/or write to their Senate and House representatives, as well as state officers such as the Governor and Attorney General to voice those concerns, and to do it frequently. Like once a week or more. Their power to act on our behalf increases with public input. That goes for messages of support and agreement as well as messages seeking change. They need to hear it from lots of people, many times! The people’s voice is competing with big money’s selfish bullhorn in our lobbyist-dominated halls of government, and it’s time to speak up loudly and often.
Is there any point in writing to Carbajal, and others who are already on the right track?
Yes, in fact there is. When representatives are flooded with messages it’s like a physical back up to their statements. It adds muscle and clout to their demands, and it impels them to act when they know that many people are watching. If they already agree with you that’s great, it shortens the distance between words and action, but the more voices the better, without a doubt.
Yes there’s a point. I’m calling schiff and Padilla multiple times per week. I connect directly to them through the Indivisible website, which also gives talking points. I usually leave a voicemail and always get an email response from the senator.
I called Schiff and asked him to vote no on every trump nominee and got a long letter in response. Here is an exerpt “Article II, Section II of the Constitution gives the President the power to make executive and judicial appointments with the “advice and consent” of the Senate. I take the advice and consent responsibility seriously and will be evaluating each of the President’s nominees rigorously to ensure that qualified and appropriate candidates enter the Executive and Judicial branches of the government.
Some of the nominees appear qualified and suitable for their intended roles, irrespective of whether I agree with them on every issue. ”
I responded to him that trump is blatantly disregarding the constitution, so why is he still playing by the rules???
Thanks for this story! There would have been two or three or more times that many had there been broad outreach, that is, outreach to those of us who vote but are not members of these groups and did not know of this meeting!
I am not sure it makes a difference if California legislators hear from Californians many times: “and to do it frequently. Like once a week or more. Their power to act on our behalf increases with public input. That goes for messages of support and agreement as well as messages seeking change. They need to hear it from lots of people, many times!” “Many times”??? But perhaps they don’t have a record of who writes them? … It would be very good to hear from Sen. Limon and Assemblymember Hart if it does make a difference.
Broad outreach? Are you volunteering your time, effort, and money to make that happen? And thousands of people, greatly overflowing the venue, shows considerable outreach.
This came together hastily and the outreach was via activist channels … people who have shown concern in the past are on such channels. It’s no one else’s fault that you weren’t on the list.
Here it was in the Independent: https://www.independent.com/events/indivisible-santa-barbara-emergency-town-hall-stop-the-coup/
And in Noozhawk:
https://www.noozhawk.com/local-grassroots-group-hosts-stop-the-coup-town-hall/
Stop assuming that things you don’t know about don’t exist.
There are many things you can do: https://indivisible.org/
Representatives may or may not keep records of who contacts them, but it is absolutely true that contacting them many times has more impact than contacting them once. They will listen/read/respond to every one if you ask them to. So it’s not like an election where you get to vote just once. You can amplify your own voice by repetition. So by all means be a pain in their rear! Call/write as many times as you want, and you can write a short message about one topic, followed by another short message on a different topic. You can copy/paste your comments to Carbajal, Padilla, and Schiff to make it easier for you, and since numbers matter it actually makes it easier for them too.
So happy to see this kind of local turnout and support!
>Apple App Store has “5 Calls” app which gives you your representatives info, lists issues, and gives typical remarks to make when calling.
Very effective.
You can actually have a voice!
“5 Calls” app — thanks for the mention; I did not know of it and have now downloaded the app! Hurrah for edhat for encouraging reader participation. (Maybe we all can agree on that?!)
Commenters are attacking each other more than the enemy.
Fernald: So true! Ship is sinking and the crew (commenters) are bickering, back biting, and only concerned about their position and their position only. What happens to the ship? That’s right. Keep bickering and take your eyes off the prize….and you win a stupid prize.
BEES – give it a rest, would you? The only commenters here that you whine about are those like me, who support law and order and liberal politics.
Spare us the feigned “bipartisan” kumbaya you keep trying to peddle here.
Sacjon: I have no argument with you my very good friend. You say “red” and I say “rojo”….so we are both saying the same exact thing in two different ways. Self-importance is good to a point, but beyond that…..hmmmm?
You’re not saying the same thing because sac is coherent.
“only concerned about their position and their position only”
Why are you so dishonest, BK?
FERNALD – who is “the enemy?”
No, we attack Trump/fascists/racists/Putin lackeys quite frequently.