Marin Organizing Committee Meets Tonight to Solve Local Social Problems

May 8, 2008

Tonight, May 8th, at 7:00pm – 8:30pm I will be attending Marin Organizing Committee’s Action Assembly. The event will be held at the Gymnasium of St. Raphael Catholic Church, located at 1100 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael (map).

This will be the first action assembly of the new Marin County power organization to address the most pressing needs in the county and challenge officials to get on board. Hundreds of delegates from 20 MOC member and guest institutions from across Marin County will introduce themselves to the public, present their initial agenda of issues and challenge public officials and candidates to work with them.

Public officials and candidates for office have been invited to the Action Assembly to learn about MOC’s Action Agenda for Marin County and to address the delegates. Confirmed invitees include: Marin County Board of Supervisors Hal Brown and Charles McGlashan; State Senator Carole Migden; State Assemblyman Jared Huffman; and State Senate District 3 candidates Mark Leno and Joe Nation.

I got to speak with Meredith Parnell on the phone about the goals and intent of this organization. The organization is a coalition of religious coalitions and democratic institutions. Their focus would be education and creating consensus in solving the county’s most immediate problems. They want to tackle problems with mental health services, oversight at the Redwood Landfill, Contempo Marin and eminent domain, and emergency shelters for families and homeless individuals. They feel that the more that a community is educated about the issues in this county the more likely a consensus solution can be arrived at. This organization wants to be inclusive of republicans, democrats, and independents and move beyond partisan bickering to solve problems.

Currently in this county individuals with mental health issues are either too rich or too poor to get adequate mental health services. Families and individuals in this county who find themselves without shelter are being referred out of the county to Petaluma while the County is getting HUD funds to take care of the problem within the county.

The issues of transportation, education, teens, and immigration will also be addressed.

This organization hopes to incorporate as a 501(c3) in October of this year.

There are 11 organizations who are financially supporting this effort with 14 others expressing interest in joining.
For more information, contact: Meredith Parnell, or 415.479.3441 or Linda Xiques, or 415 383-1929.