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# They Go Low. We Go Local!
February 20 2017
Written by Julie Butcher.
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RESISTANCE---Right now, the most effective political action we can take is local. Not Congressional District local: school board local, state house local, city council local, neighborhood council local, #Indivisible group local!
There’s an election in Los Angeles on March 7. Absentee ballots are long out. For many of us, there’s only one item upon which to vote in this election. My La Crescenta ballot has [Measure H](http://voteyesonh.com/) on it and that’s it.
(We voted yes!)
Perhaps the most significant local decision for the people of the City of Los Angeles is Measure S.
From two writers I hold in great esteem, Damian Carroll writes the [No on S](http://www.goestoofar.com/) argument in the form of a sonnet and my friend John White replies with the [Yes on S](http://www.voteyesons.org/) argument in fine haiku form:
**NO ON S:**
*The Measure S proponents aren't wrong:
The City's planning process is a mess
But this proposal takes a tack too strong
And hurts our plans to combat homelessness
We can't afford a two-year building freeze
Our need for housing's sorely overdue
(What's more, the measure's author is a sleaze -
He's trying to stop a tower that blocks his view)
The measure's backers want to take away
Discretion from the leaders we elect
And give more power to the folks who say
Their parking's most important to protect
I get that growing neighborhoods is hard
But we must get past "Not in my back yard."*
*-- Damian Carroll*
**YES ON S:**
*Mansions have their place
Speculator greed, excess
Jam them in small lots
Opponents scream, yell
Recession! Poor homeless rubes!
Their squeals are untrue*
*-- John White*
CityWatch LA has invited all local campaigns, candidates, initiatives, and charter amendment campaigns to submit free video space on our well-visited public [Great LA Election 2017 OnLine Debate](http://www.citywatchla.com/index.php/la-election-2017) page. If your candidate or position isn’t up yet, please nudge them to get me a YouTube link. It’s an effort in progress and we’ve been greatly helped by feedback (Thanks Eric! Thanks David S.!) so please continue to help us make this better, more useful, more leveling of the local field. Email me your video!
Me? I’m totally inspired by the national [Indivisible](https://www.indivisibleguide.com/) movement and urge every single everyone to download the guide! There are two Indivisible groups organizing in La Crescenta! Two! Now is the time to pay attention and get involved!
Find your own way to participate. There are many great guides out there, like this good one from The Nation: [Your Guide ... to the Resistance Movement](https://www.thenation.com/article/your-guide-to-the-sprawling-new-anti-trump-resistance-movement/) And check out this amazing [compilation of local meetings, nationwide from the Town Hall Project](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yq1NT9DZ2z3B8ixhid894e77u9rN5XIgOwWtTW72IYA/edit#gid=1473996386).
Fill out your ballot now if you’ve got it handy! And look for me out in the streets!
*(Julie Butcher writes for CityWatch, is a retired union leader and is now enjoying her new La Crescenta home and her first grandchild. She can be reached at* [*juliejbutcher@gmail.com*](mailto:juliejbutcher@gmail.com) *or on her new blog ‘The Butcher Shop - No Bones about It.’)*
*-cw*
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