Changing America one election at a time.

It was great to see so many of you at the fundraiser Monday: a little bit of money goes a long way with us, and we’re grateful for all that you give. To those who donated, gave silent auction items, and spent their valuable time making the event a success: thanks!

At our last meeting we heard from Reps. Greg Harris and Ann Williams, who spoke eloquently about the Legislative session and the state’s budget woes (and the woes of those trying to come up with solutions to the budgetary problems). We also heard from Will Guzzardi, who spoke about the effort to put a referendum for an elected school board on the ballot: Chicago is the only municipality in the state with a school board appointed by the Mayor. Do the millionaires appointed to the school board really understand and serve the needs of Chicago public school students?

Meanwhile, upcoming events to put on your calendar:

1) If you are a voting member, you should have gotten the invitation to our annual retreat on August 4: all voting members are welcome to attend. At this retreat, we will be assessing how well we met the goals set last year at the retreat, and discussing new goals for the upcoming year. If you did not get an invitation and feel you should have, please check with NorthsideDFA@gmail.com about your voting member status. Please RSVP! We need exact numbers for the lunch order, though we will leave the full voting member list with the doorman (so if you find you can join us at the last minute, please do).

2) This Monday, July 30, there is a fundraiser for Leslie Coolidge at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum featuring Rep. Jan Schakowsky. It’s from 6:00 to 8:00 pm; tickets for NDFA members are $50 (regular event price is $100 – “friend of the campaign”). This activity counts towards voting membership: Leslie is now an adopted candidate for NDFA. Go to Leslie’s website to RSVP: http://coolidgeforcongress.com/ It was great to see Leslie at our fundraiser; we look forward to having campaign activities in her district starting in August.

3) Our next meeting is on Tuesday, August 14, at the Lincoln Restaurant. 6 pm for dinner/social hour, 7 pm for the actual meeting. Not all speakers have confirmed yet, but we’re looking forward to hearing from Wendy Katten from Raise Your Hand will be speaking on issues with the Chicago Public Schools. Democrat Brad Schneider, from the 10th Congressional District, is also scheduled to speak.

4) For those interested in helping out with the school board referendum project, there will be a final canvass on Tuesday, July 31, meeting at 6:00 p.m. at New Wave Coffee (2557 N. Milwaukee Ave). Email Will if you’d like to attend: will@willguzzardi.com.