As I listen to the vitriol in the news and on Facebook about how angry these protesters are; I feel lucky and insulated that I live in Lisle. When I take my dogs for a walk in my neighborhood and I walk by my neighbors they smile and say hello andif the opportunity is there and we’re not too distant – but respectfully 6 feet apart –  we will strike up a conversation checking on each other. This is my world and I am so happy that it IS my world.

But I worry about the communities where the people on social media are so angry and I hear these news reports and I see these communities I wonder are they ever going to come together and be able to help each other?  I have begun a little campaign of my own to start calling out these reports and those who champion their causes: #NoEmpathy. It’s the only explanation I can come up with to explain why people can be so callous as to encourage anything that can and WILL cause harm to large populations of their communities, their neighbors and very likely even their families.  I encourage you to join me and not let these people’s posts slide, call them out either with my hash tag or one of your making.  Tell them to stop subscribing to conspiracy theories or challenge them to watch a few current episodes of the Rachel Maddow show; but do not let their ignorance in this case slide. It is a matter of life and death today.

I will always choose to look at the beauty around me and choose to be happy and think of ways to help my neighbors and help my community and build each other upand not tear each other down. I have a lot of empathy in me and I know that is why I will continue to follow the orders and stay at home/wear a mask and protect my neighbors and my community because I don’t know if I have Covid and no one knows if they have Covid unless they’ve been tested and we can’t get a test; so I’m going to do the right thing and I’m going to encourage others to do the right thing.

During my walks I’ve been snapping pictures to remind me that nature heals the earth, spring has sprung, nature is reborn every year and the pictures remind us that we too will overcome this disease.  Enjoy the pictures, stay positive,  and think of what you can do to help your community, trust me it does make you feel better and gives you a lighter heart; Sandy and I gave blood on Tuesday another thing thatdoes really make you feel better.

LTDO’s own Nancy Staczak and her art was recently profiled by Art Beat‘s “Artist Spotlight”. Nancy is posing here with “Grandma Triceratops”. Here’s the article.

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IT is a great time to fill in your census form. IT takes 5 minutes. GO: 2020census.gov.

The 2020 Census is Ready for America to Respond

•     https://2020census.gov/en/news-events/press-releases/invitations-to-respond.html

How the US Census Bureau Will Invite Everyone to Respond

•     https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/factsheets/2019/dec/how-census-invites-everyone.pdf

2020 Census Sample Copy of Questionnaire

•     https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/technical-documentation/questionnaires/2020.html

Join us for our virtual monthly meeting via Zoom from your digital device on Monday May 11, at 7:30-9PM. We will be hearing from our 2020 candidates and having a group brainstorming session for conversion to an enhanced digital strategy in 2020. Only active members and people that we know will be admitted.

Please register in advance. After you register you will be sent the access link by email.  If it is your first time download the Zoom application for easy viewing. here are tutorials support.

If you are new to Zoom meetings, please attend an office hour on Zoom or contact lisletownshipdems@gmail.com, or join us in order to be given access to our digital platform. We look forward to meeting you or seeing you again.

I know everyone is being impacted by this virus and I hope this email finds you as well as possible in these terrible times. I want to thank Gerry Galloway for being a fabulous chair, mentor and friend. He really helped our organization evolve. I wanted to thank you for promoting me to chair. I do not often talk about what I do. You all elected someone that wears 3 different political hats that LTDO should utilize. I wear the hats I wear because I care very deeply about getting Democrats elected. I developed a professional political consulting company, Progressive Action, that helps take local Democratic candidates to the next level with training, strategy, digital field work, communications, and data analysis. LTDO has utilized some of the developed processes from this small company. I am an activist leader who works on state and regional issues. Currently I am the president of Indivisible DuPage and the colead of a state coalition task force from Indivisible Illinois. Our goal is to increase voter turnout for 2020 in IL. We are focused on Vote by mail being expanded in Illinois so you all will see a lot of information on that topic.

As the chair of LTDO I promise you all my time, my focus, and work output to elect Democrats locally. Those are the most valuable things I can give. I am passionate, brutally honest, and imperfect but I will do my best to get Democrats elected in Lisle Twp. I am very much looking forward to doing the work this election cycle to get Democrats elected in 2020. As a natural non-communicator introvert, one of my personal goals is to help enhance the internal and external communication abilities of our organization.

• We want to know what you think. Can you take this 5 minute survey to help us as we improve?
• I will have a virtual office hour on Zoom everyday at 9am except Monday’s which will be at 7:30. I will put the next day’s link into the Slack channel events. Feel free to pop in for a conversation or question or a friendly face.
  • Wednesday 4/29 though Sunday 5/3 at 9AM: register here
  • Monday 5/4 at 7:30AM: register here
  • Tuesday 5/5 through Sunday 5/10 at 9AM register here
• Slack was restarted for 2020. Slack is our internal communication system. We need a method of sharing documents in virtual meetings quickly. Slack offers the most secure, organized, searchable communication platform that can be on your phone and computer, and is free to all. Emails and text messages are hard to organize, are not searchable or inherently organized. It allows for the sharing of information when the only other alternatives are phone calls and in person connections that are few and far between now. It will only work if we do it as an organization. If you have already been invited in and want to put it on your computer/phone or tablet then follow this link. If you have not been invited in to Slack but wish to be, then please send your request to Lisletownshipdems@gmail.com or stop in at a virtual office hour and I will add you if you are a local Democrat. You can see all the channels by clicking the “+” next to “Channels” and then choosing “Browse channels”; if you wish to be added to a locked Channel let me know. If you need any help please ask me or Mark Spieglan at mjspieglan@gmail.com That way in the future all of your LTDO information will be organized and curated into one place. All topics that may interest you, you can get ahold of others, you can easily see everything going on without searching through tons of emails, having tons of conversations and texts. It is the most efficient method of organizing our digital communications. Here is a good tutorial I have enjoyed https://slack.com/resources/slack-101. We will constantly gently be redirecting people to join Slack.
• I am updating the Google digital PC and general membership library titled “DuPage Tsunami 2018”. It needed reorganization and to be more user friendly. I am very open to suggestions. Any political content that would be helpful to share with others is being sought and appreciated. Please send it my way via the Slack channel for the #library. The PCs and paid members will be added immediately. If you want access to the digital library please email  Lisletownshipdems@gmail.com. Access is restricted to paid or active members.

I look forward to serving the Lisle Township Democratic Organization Community. Thank you!!

— Diane