More than 200 people gathered in person and on Zoom on Thursday, Oct. 10th at GCC’s action at Trinity Cathedral to support Issue 1 and end gerrymandering once and for all in Ohio.
“We believe politics is about people. It’s not about the powerful deciding how the game is played. It’s about people making their voices heard,” said Rev. Bernard J. Owens, Dean of Trinity Cathedral, in his opening remarks.
Rev. Dr. Lisa Goods of Shiloh Baptist Church compared the politicians to players in a game, and said the people have to be the referees and call foul when it comes to gerrymandering and unfair maps in Ohio.
“Imagine what would happen if the other team decided to change the rules in the middle of the game,” commented Rev. Dr. Goods. “That’s exactly what gerrymandering does. It changes the rules of our electoral process to favor the votes of some and disenfranchise the votes of others.”
Mimi Plevin-Foust, a member of Kol HaLev, said that passing Issue 1 would be equivalent to taking the “cheaters” (the politicians who have consistently defied voters by passing gerrymandered, unfair maps) out of the game.
Before the friend banking campaign, Judge Lisa Forbes, a current appellate court judge in Cuyahoga County who is running for a seat on the Ohio Supreme Court, spoke and responded to questions from GCC.
“The Supreme Court in Ohio is the last stop for justice,” Judge Forbes told the crowd. “It has the power and duty to interpret laws and apply laws and constitutional rights, like the reproductive freedom amendment that just passed last year.”
Rev. Dr. Lisa Goods asked Judge Forbes what she would do to enforce the Ohio Supreme Court decision on fair maps in Ohio. Judge Forbes responded, “We have the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, all of which have the power to make laws and all of which should be respected equally. When people, like members of the redistricting commission, do not abide by a ruling of the Supreme Court, they are breaking the law. They are abdicating their responsibilities and not living up to their oath. The power is up to the people. The politicians can be voted out if they’re not doing their constitutional responsibilities.”
Goods also asked if Judge Forbes would meet with GCC within 90 days of taking office, to which Forbes gave a resounding “YES!”
At halftime in the program, GCC Neighborhood Captain Coordinator Vikki Jackson got the crowd fired up and kicked off the friend banking campaign. Over a 30-minute period, people on Zoom and in person contacted 3,399 people to urge them to vote YES on Issue 1 on November 5th! According to our records, that’s the largest friend bank in Cuyahoga County history!
Want to get involved? Sign up to volunteer with GCC at a neighborhood canvass, on Election Day, or at an upcoming friend bank.
Volunteer on Election Day here.
