[pjw] RSVP/ PJW UPDATE: Our December newsletter & Feb. 13 annual meeting

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hello again PJW supporters

Below is the text of the December 27 PJW UPDATE, our twice-a-year 
newsletter that many of you should have received via snail mail late last 
week.

Our annual meeting is being held next month on Sunday, February 13. I will 
send a reminder out closer to the day-of, but if you already know you can 
make it please let me know.

There's also info here on Friday's rally about Guantanamo, 20 years later.

People in our project groups, general PJW members/supporters and the board 
use these "quarterly" meetings to keep up to date. At the annual meeting, 
we also elect the board and officers. The meeting starts with an informal 
discussion at noon with a meeting from 12:30-2:15 PM.

You can find the laid out version online
  http://www.pjw.info/supporters/pjwupdate0122.pdf .

It has been password protected with the phrase
NoMoreWar!
(note the capital letters, no spaces).

Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

dan handelman
secretary
peace and justice works

PEACE AND JUSTICE WORKS UPDATE
December 27, 2021

Dear Peace and Justice Works members, volunteers, and supporters:

PEACE AND JUSTICE WORKS' 30th ANNUAL MEETING
Sunday, February 13, 2022
12 noon (conversation); 12:30 PM (meeting)
*Conference call- contact us for info*

Please join Peace and Justice Works for our 30th annual meeting on Sunday, 
February 13. Though we're hoping to meet in person soon, our meeting will 
be held by conference call-- contact us to get login info. We'll begin 
with casual conversation at 12 noon, followed by the business meeting from 
12:30-2:15 PM.

The proposed agenda includes:

--updates on 2021/2022 activities from Affinity Groups (Iraq, Copwatch, 
other);

--discussion on absorbing an established organization as a new Affinity 
Group;

--election of board of directors and officers*

(Nominees: Shelley Bedell, President/Authorized Check Signer [ACS]; Dan 
Handelman, Secretary/ACS; Linda Tomassi, ACS; Jocelyn McAuley, ACS; and 
Alice Mott);

--financial report, office updates, volunteer outreach.

General meetings are good places to learn about the group and find out how 
to plug in.

* To vote: If you got this in the mail and the mailing sticker says "PM" or "VM"
  (paid/volunteer member) and the date is 1/22 or earlier, you need to
  renew your membership. If you only received it by email, ask us about
  your membership status.

Iraq Affinity Group: Marking Guantanamo & Other 20 Year Milestones

PJW's Iraq Affinity Group (IAG) has continued using the weekly Friday 
Rally for Peace and Justice to meet our goals of educating the public on 
the effects of US war policy. In September, we recognized 20 years since 
the events of 9/11/2001. In early October, we held a rally saying "20 
Years of the War in Afghanistan: It's Not Really Over," pointing out the 
US plan to continue bombing that country from "over the horizon" despite 
the troop withdrawal in August. The first week of November was 20 years 
since Portland Peaceful Response Coalition started the weekly event. And, 
upcoming on January 7, an expanded rally (starting at 4:30 rather than 5 
PM) will declare: "20 Years Into the 'War On Terror,' It's Way Past Time 
to Close Guantanamo." Like every Friday, it will be at Pioneer Courthouse 
Square, SW Yamhill & Broadway. We ask people to wear a face covering and 
stay a safe distance apart-- and only come if you feel safe doing so.

The IAG cosponsored the virtual Physicians for Social Responsibility 
Hiroshima Day event in August and marched from the Friday rally to the 
waterfront to show support. We continue to augment the outdoor events with 
the Ann Huntwork Peace Memorial Sign, a digital readerboard carrying 
messages against US militarism/occupations and police brutality.

Working with allies around the state, the IAG also sent a letter to 
Governor Kate Brown in November, urging that she consider stopping any 
future deployments of the National Guard to undeclared war zones, now that 
the Afghan war is supposed to be over. Join the Group on the 2nd Tuesday 
of each month at 7 PM for our meetings (3rd Tuesday when the month starts 
on the 1st).

Portland Copwatch Gets Council Input Restored, Attends Advisory Groups

Our police accountability affinity group Portland Copwatch (PCW) won a 
minor but important victory when, joined by people from four other 
organizations, we convinced Mayor Ted Wheeler to reverse a four-year-long 
ban on public testimony when Council hears Reports. This will open up the 
late January annual report on the Police Bureau's cooperation with the 
FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force to community input.

PCW also continues to monitor/give input to advisory groups such as the 
Training Advisory Council, Portland Committee on Community-Engaged 
Policing, and the Citizen Review Committee, which hears appeals of 
misconduct cases. The CRC is under the umbrella of the "Independent" 
Police Review (IPR), the civilian oversight body that does intake and some 
investigation into complaints. IPR will get replaced sometime in 2023 or 
2024 after a new Police Accountability Commission completes its work 
designing the system put into the City's Charter by a 2020 ballot 
initiative. PCW member Dan Handelman is a member of the Commission.

To the extent possible, Copwatch also is keeping tabs on the negotiations 
with the Portland Police Association (PPA), which began in January 2021 
and went behind closed doors in June. A big issue is the US Department of 
Justice (DOJ)'s requirement for Portland to get body-worn cameras. The PPA 
wants instant access to the footage, but PCW and others say that at least 
in force/deadly force cases they should not view footage until after their 
responses are captured in a report. The DOJ Settlement Agreement with the 
City, now over nine years old, is being revised due to use of force and 
other violations during 2020's racial justice protests.

The Portland Police shot eight people in 2021, the largest number in 16 
years, killing four of them. At least 34 deadly force incidents in Oregon 
put 2021 close to the record high, as we note in reports to the Attorney 
General. PCW updated its web page infographic showing officers involved in 
deadly force and the top 25 settlements. We continue to run our incident 
report line (503-321-5120) to help people resolve complaints, and publish 
our 3x/year newsletter, the People's Police Report-- see 
https://www.portlandcopwatch.org .

Thirty Years Pushing for Peace-- Let's Keep Working Together!

As of March, Peace and Justice Works will have been connecting the issues 
of war, police violence and the death penalty for 30 years. There are 
challenges now as the US "pivots" its military machine to focus on China 
and Russia, the environment continues to be degraded, and other human 
needs are not met due to overspending on war.

The ongoing challenge of COVID has made it difficult to do much of our 
face-to-face organizing, but using virtual meetings and live gatherings 
each Friday, we manage to keep getting the word out that violence is not 
the answer to the world's problems.

We recognize that many people are experiencing financial hardship due to 
the impact of the pandemic. If you are able to donate to help our 
all-volunteer organization keep offering alternative ideas to violent 
state actions, please do. Make a general donation or request an annual 
membership ($20-45 sliding scale or 4 hours volunteering). Checks or money 
orders (and/ or items from our wish list - 
https://www.portlandcopwatch.org/wishlist.html ) can be sent to PO Box 
42456, Portland 97242. If you received this by snail mail, your mailing 
label should show the date of your last donation as "LD." You can also 
make one-time or recurring donations online through Network for Good via 
the Donate tab at https://www.pjw.info .

It has been great to have people continue to volunteer by putting out 
mailings, helping in the office, being part of events and donating funds 
in the nearly two years of COVID. Thanks to all and let's continue making 
the planet a better place to live.