FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: August 19, 2008
CONTACT: Tarrin McGhee, Community Voting Project, Manager
PHONE: (901) 517-2870
EMAIL: tarrin@newpathmemphis.com
Change Memphis to host Campaign Launch
Community Voting Project Will Educate Voters on Proposed Charter Amendments
MEMPHIS, TN-- On Thursday, August 21, 2008, Change Memphis, a coalition of organizations formed to promote voter education and advocacy will hold a press conference to launch its Community Voting Project (CVP) campaign. The purpose of the CVP is to educate and inform voters about the proposed amendments to the Memphis City Charter and increase voter participation and turnout in target communities.
The press conference will be held at City Hall located at 125 N. Main, and will begin at 2:30 p.m., prior to the Charter Commission meeting scheduled for 3:00pm. Representatives from Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, New Path, and Concerned Memphians United will address the media and the public on their objectives for the Community Voting Project, and encourage campaign participation and support.
New Path co-founder, Cardell Orrin said, “We expect several very important measures to be included in the recommendations from the Charter Commission. The decisions we make in these areas will impact our city for years to come.”
The proposed amendments to the Memphis city charter will appear on the ballot for the upcoming November 4th election. Change Memphis has developed an extensive campaign to ensure voters are educated on the potential changes, which includes phone-banking, canvassing, direct mail, and a series of community forums surrounding each issue.
“We want to make sure that our coalition works to avoid what recently took place with the Shelby County referendum that appeared on the August 7 ballot.,” said Brad Watkins, representative of the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center. “Because there wasn’t an education campaign associated with those amendments, and there were several issues grouped together, we believe voters weren’t given an opportunity to cast an educated vote.”
Members of the Memphis City Charter Commission will meet August 21 at 3:00pm to finalize the language for the proposed amendments that will appear before voters this November. With 6 other races set to appear on the ballot, including the presidential election, Change Memphis wants to ensure that voters make well informed decisions on each item, and that they are just as eager to do so.
“This is a very exciting election year throughout the country, and while national politics are tied up in the race to see who is going to 'change' this country, we cannot forget that change is also needed on the local level here in Memphis,” said Jacob Flowers, Director, Mid-south Peace and Justice Center.
For more information on this event, please contact Change Memphis Project Manager, Tarrin McGhee at (901) 517-2870 or email tarrin@newpathmemphis.org. To find out more about Change Memphis visit www.changememphis.net
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2 comments:
If we can get the proposed amendments written so that people can understand what they are voting for, that would go along way. The last two county ordinances 360 & 361 on the ballot were a mess.
Thanks for the update !!!
We have recieved copies of the final language of these amendments and will be creating plain language materials for all ballot items.
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