August 2019 – Balancing the Scales

VOLUME 38 NUMBER 5

INSIDE …

Registering voters everywhere .... 5 PSC decision could set the future of solar in Kentucky ........................... 7 Solidarity with miners: black lung and Blackjewel ......................... 10-11

AUGUST 28, 2019

2019 ANNUAL MEETING Photo remembrances, annual awards, reflections, timeline, powerful poetry and more .................................. 14-22 Fairness moving forward ............ 23 … and much more inside!

2019 Annual Membership Meeting Building inclusive, unstoppable leadership

Important KFTC endorsement announcement – page 4

Change Service Requested

scales

Kentuckians For The Commonwealth P.O. Box 1450 London, Ky. 40743

BALANCING THE

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

2 | Balancing the Scales

is a statewide grassroots social justice orga­­ni­ zation working for a new balance of power and a just society. KFTC uses direct-action organizing to accomplish the following goals: • foster democratic values • change unjust institutions • empower individuals • overcome racism and other discrimination • communicate a message of what’s possible • build the organization • help people participate • win issues that affect the common welfare • have fun KFTC membership dues are $15 to $50 per year, based on ability to pay. No one is denied membership because of inability to pay. Membership is open to anyone who is committed to equality, democracy and nonviolent change.

KFTC STEERING COMMITTEE Cassia Herron, chairperson Alan Smith, vice chairperson Rebecca Tucker, secretary-treasurer Fannie Madden-Grider, at-large member Meta Mendel-Reyes, immediate past chair Chapter Representatives Emily Baldridge, Big Sandy Tiffany Duncan, Central Kentucky David Miller, Cumberland Carl Shoupe, Harlan County Connor Allen, Jefferson County Alondra Garcia, Madison County Greta Elenbaas, Northern Kentucky Courtney Combs, Perry County Amelia Cloud, Rolling Bluegrass Alvin Madden-Grider, Rowan County Joy Fitzgerald, Shelby County Summer Bolton, Southern Kentucky Jim Gearhart, Western Kentucky Shannon Scott, Wilderness Trace Alternates: Mikaela Curry, Big Sandy; Rachel Norton, Central Kentucky; Stephanie Kingsley, Cumberland; Chase Gladson, Harlan County; Courtney Kearney, Jefferson County; Susan Haddix, Madison County; Paul Schwartz, Northern Kentucky; Bobby Duff, Perry County; Kali Reagan, Rolling Bluegrass; Allie Secor, Rowan County; Tammy Barrett, Shelby County; Teresa Christmas, Southern Kentucky; Shannon Davis-Roberts, Western Kentucky; Eric Mount, Wilderness Trace

Table of Contents KFTC News Creating the space to have the hard conversations .................................................................. 3 This really matters: KFTC’s endorsement for governor ............................................................ 4 Summer and fall staff changes ........................................................................................................... 9 Visioning retreat next step in racial justice assessment ......................................................... 10 KFTC Calendar of Events ................................................................................................................... 27 Voter Empowerment KFTC registers hundreds of students as school starts .............................................................

Who can and cannot vote in Kentucky ...........................................................................................

Many activities moving voting rights campaign forward ........................................................

Meet and Greets build the base for real democracy .................................................................

5 5 6 6

Environmental Justice Who is in office matters for protecting our water quality ..................................................... 13 New Energy and Just Transition PSC hearing is key to future of rooftop solar in Kentucky ...................................................... 7 Apply today for the Empower Kentucky Leadership Network ............................................. 8 Open Records ruling favorable for KFTC and solar allies ........................................................ 8 Consumers hurt by loss of weatherization program options ................................................. 9 Miners’ black lung bus trip to Washington, DC .......................................................................... 10 Blackjewel miners say: “No Pay, We Stay.” ... ................................................................................ 11 Lessons from the Blackjewel picket line in Harlan County ..................................................... 11 Economic Justice Legislators further erode public pensions in special session .............................................. 26 Many of the quasi employees are middle age and mid-career ........................................... 26 Three ways the alternative is better than the governor’s proposal .................................. 26 Local Updates – Building Grassroots Power Northern Kentucky Loves Democracy upcoming events .....................................................

Fairness growing in northern Kentucky and around the state ...........................................

Wilderness Trace members celebrate drinking water source .............................................

Benham$aves is up and running with new resources ............................................................

Shelbyville Pride. First ever! .............................................................................................................

23 23 24 25 25

2019 Annual Membership Meeting Annual Meeting Photo Spread .................................................................................................... 14-15 Acknowledging our presence on indigenous land ................................................................... 16 Mary Love, Bennie Massey honored with Lifetime Achievement Award........................... 17 KFTC Annual Awards ........................................................................................................................... 18 Reflections from Maria Truitt and Greta Elenbaas .................................................................... 19 Disability Justice 101: Community Care for Every Body .................................................. 20-21 Up From the Grassroots by Mikaela Curry ...................................................................................22 Balancing the Scales is published by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and sent as third class mail from Louisville. Reader contri­butions and letters to the editor should be sent to P.O. Box 864, Prestonsburg, KY 41653 or jhardt@kftc.org. Subscriptions are $20/yr.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 3

executive committee corner

Creating the space to have the hard conversations

By Rebecca Tucker KFTC Secretary-Treasurer After a wonderful weekend in Berea for KFTC’s Annual Meeting, I was walking through the woods on some trails near my house catching up on podcasts. One of my favorites is The TED Radio Hour, but when I looked at the title of the episode on my playlist, How to Be Better, I balked.

I did not want to listen to patronizing speakers telling me how I should breathe out my frustrations, which include a parading cycle of horrible policies and politics in state and national arenas. I did not want to meditate until I felt complacent about gun violence and concentration camps.

Choosing other podcasts, I walked on, through the woods near Brushy Fork, a place where I feel most at home. As happens with podcasts though, they come to an end, and How to Be Better began playing automatically. I did not turn it off and I was pleasantly surprised with the episode.

For those unfamiliar, The TED Radio Hour chooses a theme and creates an audio compilation of curated TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) talks. These talks are rehearsed presentations of ideas worth spreading.

The theme of the episode I listened to on the Sunday afternoon was, simply, how to be better. It lifted up the TED talks of five women who spoke on improving dialogue, making better decisions, building confidence, workplace hacks and reframing the way we think about stress.

The first of these women speakers, Priya Parker, made me contemplative of the platform discussion in the annual business meeting I had just helped co-facilitate.

Priya was little when her parents divorced and they formed two very different households. She said “every other Friday afternoon, I would leave my mother and stepfather's home, which is this kind of Indian and British Buddhist, atheist, vegetarian, you know, World Bank-y (ph), liberal, Democratic household and travel, you know, about a little over a mile away to my father and stepmother's home and step into this white, evangelical Christian, conservative, Republican, twice-a-week churchgoing,

climate-skeptic family.”

When it comes to conversations we are often told to avoid sex, politics and religion. Pryia had to learn to walk these divides but disagrees that they should be avoided.

I am grateful to be a volunteer with Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, because this is an organization that does not shy away from talking about these topics openly. However, even though many of us believe in KFTC’s mission, that we are … working for a new balance of power and a just society. As we work together we build our strength, individually and as a group, and we find solutions to real life problems. We use direct action to challenge – and change – unfair political, economic and social systems. Our membership is open to all people who are committed to equality, democracy and non-violent change.

from difficult conversations, and instead talked openly about erasure of Indigenous Peoples and amnesty for marijuana charges, which are unfortunately taboo topics at many dinner tables.

Priya says that the danger of avoiding sex, politics and religion is that “it squeezes out heat, relevance, interests, identity, values, figuring out life together, grappling. And to think that everybody in the room is basically in opposition with one another is a very flat way to both look at people but also to look at conversation.”

I am thankful that KFTC is not afraid of the heat. I am proud of the efforts we made to have better conversations (and if you have ideas on making it better please share them).

With the upcoming elections it is important that we as members are also not afraid of the heat. We grow together as we learn together, and a good way to do that is to talk to each other. Please remember, we are all in, and we choose each other, even when it is hard.

This does not mean that our conversations do not have fire and passion. This was all too evident in https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radiothe 2018 annual business meeting. Many members hour/747317435/how-to-be-better gave strong appeals across a spectrum of topics that left other members feeling tense and anxious. In her talk, while Priya enRead KFTC’s 2019-2020 Platform, couraged listeners to engage in these taboo subjects, but she went on to say adopted at the August 4 annual business it is rare that we actually learn how to meeting, at kftc.org/platform. have these conversations. We are only told to avoid them.

Instead of hoping for the best at the 2019 annual business meeting, a group of dedicated KFTC volunteers put in the time to think about how to engage all KFTC members with the shaping and forming of our platform, especially when it comes to tough topics.

This group developed a detailed flow chart of the three layers of member-driven groups that develop new platform planks. They came up with ideas to encourage more conversations about new planks. And they thought about ways to make the KFTC's 2019-2020 Executive Committee elected by members at discussion more structured, which the annual meeting (left to right): Cassia Herron (chairperson), gave members a better understanding Rebecca Tucker (secretary-treasurer), Fannie Madden-Grider (atof their individual roles and power. large representative), Meta Mendel-Reyes (immediate past chair) In the end we did not shy away and Alan Smith (vice chairperson).

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

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P.O. Box 1450 London, Ky. 40743 606-878-2161

Dear KFTC Members, Friends and Allies, We are Kentuckians; we choose each other. KFTC is making that choice every day, going “all in” on Kentucky’s 2019 elections. We’re knocking on doors, talking to neighbors, training new leaders, registering voters, calling, tabling, texting and tweeting, all in an effort to activate tens of thousands of Kentucky voters – voters who are Kentuckians, and who will choose each other.

The election this November could hardly be more important to the future of Kentucky, and if each of us does our part, together we can have a decisive impact on the outcome. Together, we have the opportunity to build a brighter future for all Kentuckians, no matter our age, our income, the color of our skin, or which county we call home. To reach our shared potential, we also must choose elected leaders who will support our vision.

their past. In the starkest of contrasts, Matt Bevin reversed a similar executive order in his first days as governor, robbing tens of thousands of the opportunity to participate in our democracy.

We choose a just transition to a new economy for Eastern Kentucky. Andy Beshear has pledged to support new energy and new jobs for coalfield communities. In the past three years, Matt Bevin has demonstrated that his promises to coal communities and coal miners were empty at best.

Who fills the office of governor matters. This election matters. The contrast between Andy Beshear and Matt Bevin could hardly be more stark, or the choice more clear. We urge you to vote for Andy Beshear on November 5.

It is with great pleasure and firm resolve that we announce Kentuckians For The Commonwealth’s New Power PAC is endorsing Andy Beshear and Jacqueline Coleman for governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky.

As Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, we choose a bright future – for all of us. That future depends on us as much as on any candidate or elected official. As grassroots community leaders, each of us has the opportunity – the privilege actually – to help elect the next governor and lieutenant governor of Kentucky.

We choose access to health care for all Kentuckians. Andy Beshear has pledged to support Medicaid and protect health insurance coverage for pre-existing conditions. As governor, his opponent Matt Bevin has worked to strip away health care from the most vulnerable.

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to visit WeAreKentuckians.org and sign up to volunteer your time or donate. Join your local KFTC Democracy Team, sign up to help canvass your neighborhood or make calls to undecided voters.

We choose to honor our commitments to teachers and public workers. Andy Beshear has fought to protect hardearned pension benefits promised to our public employees. Matt Bevin has attempted to eliminate pension benefits and then heaped personal insults against teachers to boot.

We are Kentuckians; we choose each other. We hope you choose to help bring more voters into our Democracy, and we encourage you to choose Andy Beshear and Jacqueline Coleman on November 5.

We choose to protect and restore voting rights, the absolute foundation of a healthy democracy. Andy Beshear has pledged to sign an executive order restoring voting rights to hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians with a felony in

Thank You. KFTC Executive Committee

Cassia Herron Rebecca Tucker Meta Mendel-Reyes

Alan Smith Fannie Madden-Grider

Paid for by the New Power PAC, www.NewPowerKY.org. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 5

Voter Empowerment

KFTC registers hundreds of students as school starts By the end of the first day of classes for some Kentucky college students on August 19, KFTC members had registered 164 students to vote at nine events at Northern Kentucky University, Jefferson County and Technical College, Thomas More Uni-

Shelby County KFTC members tabled and registered voters at a Back To School event at Shelby County High School. Pictured are Cynthia Dare, Sarah Spicer and Cathy Hobart. Photo by Joy Fitzgerald.

versity and Gateway Community and Technical Col- to get involved in local voter registration work lege.

Even more students were registered at campus on campus or elsewhere. events on August 26 and the days following.

While many don’t realize it, students not living at Caitlin Powell, right, home have the right to register and vote at the school registered students where they live. That’s an especially good idea if their at Thomas More home is far away.

University in Kenton Tuesday, November 5 is Election Day, and it’s County. Below, the also a school day. KFTC wants voting to be as accesJefferson County sible as possible for students, and that means being chapter was at Jefable to vote where they live. ferson Community Also, 17-year-olds can register to vote now if and Technical Colthey’ll turn 18 on or before November 5, 2019. The lege in Louisville. voter registration deadline is October 7.

By m i d - Au g u s t , many colleges were still not yet in session, but KFTC members have plans to be at colleges and universities across the state throughout the fall. Reach out to a KFTC chapter organizer (list on page 27)

Who can and cannot vote in Kentucky To register and vote in Kentucky, you must be at least 18 years old

by Election Day. 17-year-olds can register to vote if they will be 18 on or before November 5, 2019.

You must be a U.S. citizen and live in Kentucky. Students going to school away from home have the right to use a permanent home or temporary student housing as their voting address. If you're a student, we encourage you to register where you'll be living on November 5, 2019.

Kentucky’s criminal justice system also plays an unusual role in denying people's right to vote: People with misdemeanors in their past – Can Vote!

People serving probation and parole for a misdemeanor – Can Vote!

People who have had their record expunged of felonies – Can Vote!

People currently in jail pretrial – Can Vote!

People in jail awaiting trial or sentencing for any offense, misdemeanor or

felony, do have the right to vote, unless they were previously convicted of a felony. That's a big deal, because in many Kentucky jails about 70 percent of the population is pre-trial.

While folks in jail pretrial can legally vote absentee, the process can be difficult to navigate. KFTC may be able to help.

People currently in jail for a misdemeanor – Can’t Vote This disenfranchisement comes from section 145 of the Kentucky Constitution, along with felony disenfranchisement.

People with felonies in their past – Can’t (generally) Vote.

Kentucky has some of the harshest disenfranchisement laws in the country, creating a barrier to the polls for 312,000 Kentuckians. KFTC is organizing to change Kentucky's Constitution so that people automatically have their voting rights respected after they've completed a sentence.

People with felonies in their past can request restoration of their rights.

Learn more and find the required form at www.kftc.org/campaigns/restoreyour-right-vote. The process can be difficult to navigate, and Governor Matt Bevin denies many requests. KFTC may be able to help.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

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Voter Empowerment

Many activities moving voting rights campaign forward The campaign to restore voting rights to 312,000 Kentuckians with felonies in their past continues to move forward during this election season, with work happening all over the state.

There were two Voting Rights workshops at the KFTC annual meeting in early August, planned and led by three people who have lost the right to vote.

Most participants at the workshops pledged to circulate a voting rights petition at events and among friends between now and the election, and pledged to reach specific numbers of signers.

In all, members at the training pledged to get 1,421 people to sign the petition in the next few months.

To pitch in and help, download the petition at www.kftc.org/voting-rights-petition.

KFTC field work has helped identify supporters of this issue during many events in Lexington, Frankfort, northern Kentucky, southern Kentucky, and Fancy Farm, etc. Hundreds of people have signed petitions.

Community Radio WMMT-FM in Whitesburg did a Restorative Justice program that included interviews with KFTC members Debbie Graner and Corey Logan talking about their fights to get back the right to vote (available at www.soundcloud.com/restorative_radio with KFTC Graner and Logan on 18:30 into the recording).

There was a guest column in the Lexington Herald-Leader (found at: www.kentucky.com/opinion/ article233667777.html) recently by William Rone talking about losing his right to vote in Kentucky. “I moved to Kentucky and lost my right to vote. I will never truly be free without it.”

The Courier-Journal hired an investigative journalist with an emphasis on getting deep into the Voting Rights issue. KFTC and other groups working on this issue have had conversations with him.

The Kentucky Historical Society is organizing an exhibit on Voting Rights next year, including a historical perspective of Kentucky women fighting for suffrage, Black Kentuckians fighting for the right to

vote, and people with felonies in their past fighting for the right to vote today. Three staff Historical Society staff members came to the KFTC Annual Meeting to conduct interviews as part of the ongoing process.

There are many upcoming events related to Voting Rights, coming up but here are three big ones to watch out for: • • •

Lexington Roots and Heritage Festival – Sept. 6-8 Singing for Democracy in NKY – Sept. 28 Rally for Recover in Louisville – Sept. 29

Overall, work to register and educate voters this year and build electoral muscles is absolutely key to winning this issue. KFTC plans on registering more than 2,000 voters and contacting 62,500 voters in the next few months.

"If I'm serious about democracy and fairness, I have to get over my hang ups about being shy or not wanting to talk to people," said Arnold Farr, a Central Kentucky member and volunteer.

Meet and Greets build the base for real democracy Most Kentuckians know that the political leaders now in office tend to not have the best interests of the people at heart. And until they do, we have a hard time bringing to life our vision for stronger and more just Kentucky.

To build strength and get more progressive people elected and better policies passed, KFTC members are taking to the streets, going door to door, talking to their neighbors, hosting events across the state and using phone, email and text to reach out to voters and remind them that who’s elected really does matter.

A new tool in the toolbox is an event they're calling a "Democracy Meet and Greet."

Through canvassing, tabling and other outreach efforts, KFTC meets a lot of new people in the community. Some are interested in getting involved in fighting for democracy and better representation. It's going to take a tremendous effort to win in November and beyond, so large numbers of people need to be engaged in KFTC’s work.

KFTC wants people who agree on issues to be welcomed into the organization in a way that makes them want to engage further. KFTC seeks to build real relationships with new people and listen to them, and have them do good volunteer work that they find fun and fulfilling while carrying a shared vision forward.

The Meet and Greets are events filled with food, discussion about what "home" means and how can fun, music, cultural sharing, bridging cultural divides, folks build a community where all of us belong and are hearing stories of impacted people and clear next steps listened to and valued. about what we can do to change the political land- Arnold Farr, a CKY KFTC member and leader rescapes in our communities. minded us how powerful we are. "There's the power of KFTC members have hosted Meet and Greets in people and the power of money, but money can't vote. northern Kentucky, southern Kentucky, Lexington, Money can't speak, go door to door, connect, produce Louisville, eastern Kentucky and elsewhere. More are empathy, produce love." scheduled.

To host or join a Democracy Meet and Greet, One, for example, was organized by member Am- reach out to a local KFTC organizer (see list page 27). ber Hoffman in her home in Boone County, where a dozen of her friends came out to learn more. They talked about how elections and politics also felt out of reach for them, and were excited to dig into the possibility of reclaiming their power and voice in the community.

Hoffman continues to invite friends monthly to come to her house, learn about what’s at stake, and talk about how elections work.

Some are small but impactful. Four people got together in Louisville in August ago to talk about local issues and commit to Arnold Farr facilitates a discussion at a KFTC Democracy Meet getting involved and making a difference.

In Lexington, 15 people got into a deep and Greet in July with the Central Kentucky chapter.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 7

New Energy and Transition

PSC hearing is key to future of rooftop solar in Kentucky The 2019 General Assembly was disappointing for many Kentuckians who work to advance a clean, accessible and locally-controlled energy economy.

Utility-backed legislators finally succeeded in pushing through an anti-solar bill despite public outcry from Kentuckians who knew this bill would take Kentucky in the wrong direction.

The fight for rooftop solar in Kentucky did not end with the 2019 legislative session, however. The Kentucky Public Service Commission has scheduled a public hearing and comment period to assess how it should implement this bad bill. KFTC members and allies are gearing up to show up in full force in support of accessible rooftop solar that works for everyone.

To understand what this public comment period could mean for solar and other renewable energies in Kentucky, a look at the specifics of the bad solar bill, Senate Bill 100 sponsored by Sen. Brandon Smith, maybe helpful.

Kentucky’s monopoly utilities paid roughly half a million dollars for legislative lobbying and GOP campaign contributions in 2018 and 2019 to back SB 100. The bill, now signed into law by Governor Bevin, rewrote the rules on how rooftop solar energy is valued in Kentucky in a way that favors utilities and potentially restricts Kentuckians’ ability to have a say in where they get their energy.

Specifically, the bill gutted a popular policy called net metering, which allowed Kentuckians with in-

Support a clean energy economy with some of the following steps: •

RSVP to show up in Frankfort at bit.ly/PSC-Hearing to make your voice heard at the PSC public hearing on net metering, Tuesday October 1 at 9 a.m. EDT, 211 Sower Boulevard, Frankfort. Your presence is needed even if you don’t plan to speak.

•

Submit written comments about solar net metering to the Public Service Commission by its deadline of September 19. (Be on the lookout for an email from KFTC with suggested talking points and an easy way to submit written comments.)

•

Volunteer to help KFTC talk with voters everywhere in Kentucky about the benefits of clean and affordable energy and the need to reverse attacks on home-grown rooftop solar.

•

Build the movement for clean and equitable energy! Apply to the upcoming KFTC leadership cohort for climate justice and just transition organizing at kftc.org/leadership-network

by September 22. Share this opportunity with people you know.

stalled rooftop solar to get a one-for-one credit on their electric bills for the excess energy their panels provide to the grid. Net metering was what made rooftop solar accessible for most Kentuckians, and undoing it was a direct attack on Kentucky’s small but steadily growing home-grown solar industry.

Elected leaders were swayed by utilities and helped squash the perceived competition that independent solar power generation poses to monopoly utilities.

With SB 100 now in place, new solar customers are no longer guaranteed a full, fair credit for their solar power generation. Instead, the bill directs the Public Service Commission (PSC) to decide how large – or small – a credit utilities must give to rooftop solar customers for their power.

That amount can change with each new rate case.

As the PSC commissioners prepare to make a decision on the value of rooftop solar in 2020, they put out a request for writMembers of KFTC and other organizations, as well as solar businesses, met with ten comments and many legislators during the 2019 General Assembly to urge support for a Kentucky scheduled a public solar energy economy. hearing on how

they should implement SB 100 and what kind of credit solar customers should receive.

The way that the public shows up during this process will have an enormous impact on how the PSC chooses to value rooftop solar energy going forward.

If PSC commissioners undervalue solar in the way that monopoly utilities are pushing for, Kentucky’s thriving, independent solar industry – and the good-paying jobs that come with it – could come to a screeching halt, while our utilities carve themselves a monopoly over solar energy in our state.

Conversely, if the PSC values solar for all that it provides to Kentucky’s economy and energy grid, Kentucky could continue to grow a strong, accessible, clean energy economy.

“The monopoly utilities spent enormous amounts of money to voice questionable claims about the costs of rooftop solar,” said Cathy Clement, a member of KFTC’s New Energy and Transition Committee.

“With an upcoming public hearing we now have an opportunity to make sure the Public Service Commission hears the voices of the public they serve and gets the complete picture,” Clement, of Lexington, continued. “We need to make sure the PSC understands the value of rooftop solar to the grid, public health, the economy, and the environment, and that they explicitly factor in these values in making their compensation decisions.”

Kentuckians don't need to be energy experts to demand that the Public Service Commission protect their interests over monopoly utilities. Support for rooftop solar and the good-paying jobs that come with it are what commissioners need to hear.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

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New Energy and Transition

Apply today for the Empower Kentucky Leadership Network KFTC is launching a new, exciting leadership development opportunity through the Empower Kentucky Leadership Network.

Kentuckians have long been on the frontlines of struggles to end strip mining, fight toxic pollution, and protect land, water, air and people. KFTC members have always stood up for what they love and need to make a better life for themselves and others.

Today, many are leading efforts to shape a Just Transition and fight the climate crisis, understanding that the corrupt power of the fossil fuel industry threatens health, climate and democracy. High energy bills, the lack of good jobs, extreme weather, asthma and health problems, and other consequences of an extractive economy hurt low-income folks and people of color first and hardest.

So KFTC members keep showing up for each

other, organizing to build an economy that works for everyone – no matter the color of our skin or where we live.

This six-month leadership program will bring together a diverse set of Kentuckians for two weekend-long trainings (November 8-10 and June 5-7), plus monthly video training sessions and peer-support calls. Topics will include: “Fundamentals of Just Transition and Climate Justice,” “Core Skills and Strategies for Organizing and Movement Building,” “Communications and Messaging,” “Centering Racial, Economic and Gender Justice,” “Understanding Kentucky’s Energy Landscape,” and more.

Participants of the network will also have the opportunity to take part in optional day-long field trips to communities across Kentucky, and in additional training sessions, such as how to run for office and

a Train-the-Trainer session on KFTC’s Power House Energy Efficiency workshops.

This opportunity is open to Kentuckians who share values of inclusion and racial, economic and gender justice and are committed to organizing, communicating, and building a powerful movement for Just Transition and climate action. Participants must make a good faith commitment to participate fully in the training sessions.

KFTC members are encouraged to apply, as are other Kentuckians who serve in different organizations or public roles, including folks in public office or considering running. The goal is for a diverse group, including people from rural, urban and small town Kentucky; folks from all race, class, gender and age backgrounds; and people with a range of experience, from deeply to newly involved.

Apply by September 22 at midnight at kftc.org/ leadership-network. Applicants will be notified by October 1 if accepted or on a waiting list.

Participation is free, and KFTC will reimburse or cover most expenses, including food, lodging, mileage and child care. KFTC also may be able to provide a small stipend to help cover lost income for low-income and working class people who work weekend shifts.

Open Records ruling favorable for KFTC and solar allies The Kentucky Attorney General’s office has determined that the Kentucky Public Service Commission violated the state's sunshine laws by illegally withholding internal records related to the 2018 bad solar bill, in an open records request appeal filed by KFTC. Earlier this year, KFTC filed two open records requests to the Public Service Commission (PSC), to obtain copies of any correspondence with legislators, utilities or lobbyists about the 2018 bad solar bill HB 227, or about the 2019 bad solar bill, SB 100 (which ultimately passed).

Kentucky’s “sunshine laws” require government agencies to make available public records available for members of the public to inspect when they request it. There are only a few exceptions by which an agency can deny the public the right to access records.

Despite this, both open records requests were denied by the PSC, citing some of these exemptions.

These rejections prompted KFTC to appeal both PSC refusals to the Attorney General’s office.

While the office is still deciding on the latter appeal (regarding 2019’s SB 100), they recently ruled in favor of KFTC’s first appeal, regarding HB 227.

Specifically, the Attorney General explained that the PSC had refused to turn over records of internal communications within their agency to the Attorney General’s office, which was a request that office made in order to verify (or disprove) the PSC’s claims that it was exempt from open records law. Despite the Attorney General assuring the PSC that the records they provided would be kept confidential and destroyed after a decision was made, the PSC only provided a

log of internal email communications. This listed only the parties involved, date and a title for the emails.

The PSC continued to withhold the actual text of the emails.

The Attorney General’s office thus concluded that PSC violated Kentucky’s open records laws by refusing to comply with its request, and by not providing a satisfactory explanation for why they withheld their records.

Given this decision, the PSC may appeal or provide KFTC with the records within 30 days. If it does not, KFTC can go to court to enforce the Attorney General’s decision.

A decision on KFTC’s second open records request appeal, regarding PSC communications regarding SB 100, should be forthcoming.

To impact the elections in 2019 and 2020, we’re recruiting 1,000 Democracy Leaders to engage 100,000 voters who share our vision. Sign up to volunteer at WeAreKentuckians.org • Donate to support the work at kftc.org/support

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 9

New Energy and Transition

Consumers hurt by loss of weatherization program options

By Rachel Norton The energy industry experiences constant fluctuations in demand, technology and structure. In the past three years, electricity has remained inexpensive in our state. Even with access to inexpensive electricity, high energy bills remain a burden to Kentuckians due to addressable inefficiencies in an economy that doesn’t allow people to thrive.

As coal is phases out, solar panels are becoming cheaper Rachel Norton and more accessible every year. And yet, utility companies are rolling back energy efficiency programs, attempting to corner the market on renewables and doubling down on a business model that is clearly out-of-date.

Residential energy customers have experienced roll-backs of energy and money saving programs starting in 2018. Most of these programs were originally designed in order to manage the fluctuation in demand for large-scale energy consumption. Those programs did help utilities that were in great need of extra capacity, and they saved consumers money, improved housing stock, incentivized energy efficiency and provided people with much-needed services.

Utility companies’ current roll-backs are now ending those programs, which include energy audits, recycling programs for old equipment, and rebates for energy efficiency improvements on homes and commercial spaces.

As these rollbacks continue, many are losing access to services like energy evaluations, leaving some households without easily-accessible options unless they qualify for low-to-moderate income programs.

Because the utility has long provided these programs, most customers are unaware of other options. Even when they are made aware, they can’t always afford market prices, which are significantly higher than the costs utility companies subsidized for many years.

Despite these troubling losses, our communities were under the impression that those who really need the programs being cut by utilities would be able to access them through state weatherization programs.

However, state weatherization programs have experi-

enced succession problems, and the number of qualified service providers to support Kentucky’s weatherization needs are now down 35 percent.

These weatherization programs have become the last option for some Kentuckians, but it’s clear those programs cannot serve all the needs that exist. In fact, right now the weatherization program only serves people below 200 percent of the poverty line even though many families with incomes above that level still struggle to pay their bills. And it is sometimes the case that homes are in such a state that they are beyond repair within the scope of the program.

As always, Eastern Kentucky is hit the hardest.

Many grassroots organizations, energy professionals and nonprofits work hard to address this gap, but the truth is Kentuckians still need more options.

We live in a state heavily affected by the economic depression left in the wake of the coal industry’s collapse. The people and entities that profited heavily off of the coal industry have long since gone, and left behind bad housing stock that was originally built for coal camps. Many of these homes were originally heated with coal fire in the basement, and are completely uninsulated. They also aren’t furnished with proper central heat, and many are left to pay higher prices for propane, as it’s too expensive to run natural gas lines to their homes.

The folks who have worked hard to retrofit their

homes still are faced with old wiring, and other code violations that result from outdated codes, and from buildings that went up quickly, without regard for longevity. This has left some folks in rural Kentucky in housing that is unsellable. Others are forced to abandon it and face unknown hardships elsewhere.

Many Kentuckians – myself included – are coordinating efforts around weatherization, community economic development, policy advocacy and public education in order to build more resilient, accessible solutions. But we cannot expect one state-run program to be the only option for people.

It is likely that by structuring this work in such a way that makes it more collaborative and cooperative, rather than competitive and disconnected, we can improve the quality of our work and the resiliency of our state.

As many Kentuckians have said before me, “There is no silver bullet, but many silver bee bees.” There are many solutions to address the challenges we face.

We need options, we need to fill gaps and we need to hold utility companies accountable for the unnecessarily high rates they are charging people who otherwise have no options.

If all of that isn’t enough of a burden, many utility companies have been hitting consumers hard through two other avenues this year. We’ll focus on that in the next issue of Balancing the Scales.

KFTC News

Summer and fall staff changes

Two members left the KFTC staff in August.

Sasha Blankenship was the organizer for the Madison County and Wilderness Trace chapters and helped staff the Racial Justice and other KFTC committees. She accepted an organizing job in rural Oregon.

Tyler Offerman worked for several years as KFTC’s Tax Justice Organizer, organizing across the state and coordinating legislative work around taxes, the budget and preserving public pensions. He also helped in the Wilderness Trace chapter in recent months. He is now a Food Justice Fellow at Kentucky Equal Justice Center.

KFTC currently is advertising for a new organizer to serve the Madison and Wilderness Trace chapters.

Some interviews have taken place and others are expected after Labor Day. For information and updates on the job, visit kftc.org/jobs.

KFTC also conducted interviews in August for an Eastern Kentucky organizer or organizer apprentice, and may have an announcement after Labor Day. Finally, KFTC is in the process of hiring more than a dozen temporary, part-time and full-time voter empowerment organizers in regions across Kentucky. Their work will include door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, volunteer management and data entry, with the jobs lasting through Election Day.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

10 | Balancing the Scales

Racial Justice

Visioning retreat next step in racial justice assessment As was shared in the previous issue of balancing the scales, KFTC began a Racial Justice Assessment and Visioning Process in the late spring with Frontline Solutions, a Black-owned and led consulting firm in Durham, North Carolina.

This Racial Justice Assessment and Visioning Process will help identify KFTC’s strengths and challenges in racial justice in order to grow to be a more multi-racial and welcoming organization, bringing together people of color and poor and working-class folks across the state to build the political power necessary to win.

This is the latest update in this ongoing series.

As part of the initial phase of the Racial Justice Assessment and Visioning Process, Frontline Solu-

tions developed and administered a self-assessment survey to gather feedback from KFTC staff, former staff, leaders, allies and other key folks about their experience with racial justice and anti-oppression within and across the organization. This included looking at organizational culture around racial justice and antioppression, and identifying priorities for this work going forward.

After the survey closed, Frontline Solutions has been conducting one-on-one interviews with some staff, leaders, allies and former staff.

A weekend visioning retreat will take place in October. At the retreat, Frontline Solutions will present findings from the surveys, interviews and assessment of KFTC they have already gathered, lead a visioning

process based on those findings and our goals.

This will set the stage for Phase 2 of our racial justice assessment, which will be designing the future of our internal and external racial justice work. This includes organizational culture, policies, practices, as well as how that lens is applied to the work we are doing in the field and with members.

Invited participants include staff, current and previous steering committee members, members of our racial justice committee, and members of our people of color caucus.

Sharing what comes out of the visioning retreat and next steps will be reported widely to members through Balancing the Scales and emails, at chapter meetings and other communications.

New Energy and Transition

Coal miners’ black lung bus trip to Washington, DC

KFTC members Patty Amburgey (front) and Teri Blanton stand with the group calling on Congress to do right by our miners with black lung disease and their families and communities.

Nearly 150 coal miners with black lung disease, family members and supporters traveled to Washington, DC in July to push for full funding of the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. More than 25,000 miners and their dependents rely on the fund for monthly income and health benefits.

The reporting and diagnosis of black lung disease has skyrocketed in Central Appalachia in recent years, including more severe forms of the disease affecting miners at a younger age.

Last year, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell and Congress allowed funding for the Fund to be cut by more than half. Already the Fund was $4 billion in debt, which is now projected to grow to $15 billion by 2050.

Miners and others met with many members of Congress and their staff, the media and national allies to press their case. McConnell gave them literally about one minute of his time, passing through a meeting with his staff.

KFTC, the Appalachian C i t i ze n s L aw Center, AppaAndrea Massey lachian Voices, and others UMWA President Cecil supported and Roberts (third from left) helped coordistands with a large group nate the trip. from Central Appalachia in the lobby of a Senate office building, calling on Congress to support miners with black lung

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 11

Economic Justice

Blackjewel miners say: “No Pay, We Stay.”

Since early July, Harlan County miners laid off by Blackjewel LLC have occupied the train tracks outside a shuttered mine site, refusing to allow a loaded coal train to leave the property until the workers are paid.

The company, which until July had been run by a West Virginian coal baron named Jeff Hoops, surprised workers and creditors on July 1 by locking the gates to its mines and filing for bankruptcy. By law, coal companies operating in Kentucky are supposed to have a bond to ensure workers get 60 days notice and severance pay if the company goes under.

But the Kentucky Department of Labor allowed Blackjewel to operate without the necessary bond. Not only did the workers not get any severance pay, but their paychecks from late June bounced.

Even in an industry known for boom and bust cycles, the Blackjewel case stands out as especially chaotic, unlawful and painful for affected workers and communities.

The company, which operates hundreds of mines and employed 1,700 people in Kentucky, West Virginia and Wyoming, now owes millions in unpaid wages; payments to other businesses; payments to funds used for reclamation and black lung benefits; and payments owed to governments and school systems for taxes, fines, fees and royalties, and more.

Since the company did not follow normal pro-

cedures when it filed for bankruptcy, workers found themselves locked out of their workplace but not officially laid off. That made it difficult for some to file for unemployment or adjust child support payments.

Some employees also reported that for months the company withheld money from their paychecks, but did not make the required payments to federal and state taxes, 401K accounts, or child support. The Kentucky Attorney General is investigating those claims.

In July, after Blackjewel workers in Harlan County realized that the company was preparing to move a train loaded with more than $1 million worth of coal from its mine site, they quickly organized to block the tracks. That action drew attention and support from other workers, community members, organizations, politicians, and local and national media.

The workers have since created a small tent city near the tracks, and have occupied the space continuously since.

“If the trains get out, that’s more money for the company and nothing for the coal miners. And they have shafted these coal miners,” KFTC member and retired UMWA miner Stanley Sturgill told a journalist with WFPL-FM News. “It’s terrible they … left them high and dry. They can’t go to doctors, they can’t eat – that’s why we’re trying to help them.”

The encampment has been supported throughout

Lessons from the Blackjewel picket line in Harlan County

By Roy Silver During the first weeks on the Blackjewel picket line, a former student shared that his faith in people had been restored by the experience (many had given money, school supplies, food, etc.). I would add, the empathy generated in Harlan County and beyond has renewed the hope that we can meet the challenges of the exploitation of our friends and family. With proper care, we can create a sustainable, healthy community.

From the miners we learned that Blackjewel acquired the mines and in exchange for a low purchase price they took on very high debts and risks. Another miner told how the company created more debt by not paying small and large local vendors. Another miner said that he knew things were bad when they could not buy replacement bits for the continuous miner.

Blackjewel was run by a bunch of vulture capitalists. On the eve of bankruptcy, CEO Jeff Hoops had Blackjewel pay him back a more than $50,000,000

loan. While this was happening coal miners’ checks were “clawed back,” leaving too many in debt.

One woman told of how their checking account was $1,900 in the red. When she went to cash a $750 disability check for their child, the bank used the money to pay down their debt.

Blackjewel vulture capitalists could not have committed their dastardly deeds without the support of our political economy. For generations the 1 percent weakened or ignored many regulations that could have prevented this hardship on our community.

Politicians in Washington, D.C. and Frankfort, Kentucky shirked their responsibilities as watchdogs for the public well-being. Kentucky Department of Labor officials were negligent when they chose not to enforce a law that requires companies like Blackjewel to post a cash bond to cover the wages of workers.

Your acts of solidarity for the struggle of the former Blackjewel miners will be appreciated. Come on down for a visit, learn and be rejuvenated.

Ways to support affected Blackjewel miners in Kentucky: • Follow on Instagram: @blackjewelminersblockade or Twitter: @minerblockade • Amplify: Share news about their struggle on social media. Use the hashtag #NoPayWeStay • Donate and encourage others to donate to support the miners, the miners' families and the blockade. GoFundMe: https:// tinyurl.com/supportminers

the occupation by the Blackjewel Miners Blockade, a group of trans anarchists who showed up in solidarity and helped establish an on-site kitchen and other dayto-day operations.

Local businesses have donated tent canopies, food, haircuts and supplies. A retired local mine operator pledged $2,000 to each affected worker. And local volunteers have organized fundraisers in Harlan and nearby counties.

“These coal miners have my heart,” said Harlan County KFTC member and disabled miner Carl Shoupe. “By now it is clear that the coal industry is really bottoming out, and workers are being left out in the cold. Before I’d go back underground and risk my life for some other company, I’d want some representation from the United Mine Workers of America.”

Mikaela Curry, a KFTC member from Pike County, has shown support by spending many days at the camp with her four-year-old son Evan.

“What has felt meaningful to me about the Blackjewel protest is the way that so many folks outside of the mining community have shown up to support this effort. There have been donations and inquires from as far away as the UK and Australia.

“The initial decision of five individuals to put their bodies and voices on the line to stand up against injustice has people paying attention internationally. I hope that this inspires others to know that not only can they take action that matters, but also that there is a deep hunger in communities all over for folks to stand up against injustice where they witness it,”Curry said.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

12 | Balancing the Scales

You can build grassroots power in KentucKY through an automatic, recurring gift, you can help ensure that KFtc’s work to build grassroots power keeps happening every day, all year long. when you become a sustaining giver: • You get to choose how much and how often you give.

• You make a bigger impact. Small monthly gifts add up to a deeper investment throughout the year.

• it’s easy. once your Sustaining Gift is set up, you never have to worry about renewing your membership. become a sustaining giver, and we’ll send you our new KFtC tote!

become a sustaining giver or update your sustaining gift today. name: _____________________________________________ addreSS: ______________________________________ citY: _____________________________________________ State & Zip: ____________________________

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phone: _____________________________________________ email: _____________________________________________ Note: Donations to KFTC are not tax-deductible and may be used for electoral work.

Sign up online: www.KFtc.org/support

Become a Sustaining Giver: Your automatic, recurring gift provides steady income to support KFtc’s work throughout the year. Become a Sustaining Giver or update an existing Sustaining Gift today, and help build power to achieve our vision for Kentucky. and we’ll send you a perk!

Make me a sustaining giver! i will contribute $ _____ every:

month

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to update an existing Sustaining Gift, contact ashley at ashley@kftc.org or (606) 878-2161.

To thank you for becoming a Sustaining Giver, we’ll send you our new KFTC tote! ___Yes! Send me my tote. ___No thanks. Put more of my donation straight to work.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 13

Environmental justice

Who is in office matters for protecting our water quality

By Maria Truitt The Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) is a water pollution control agency established in 1948 among eight states that border the Ohio River. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia celebrated the 70th anniversary of ORSANCO in 2018.

Since its creation, ORSANCO has made great progress in its ultimate mission of protecting and preserving the water from the Ohio River for legitimate uses. But with great steps forward come big leaps backwards as the ORSANCO commissioners voted in June to make the agency’s water pollution standards voluntary. With the no-longer mandatory regulations, many anticipate more threats to our environment, economy, and public health.

Nineteen of the 21 representatives on the ORSANCO board voted in favor of the voluntary standards. Nineteen who ignored the abundance of calls, the more than 4,000 emails and the cries of concerned citizens whom occupy the basin. Nineteen members who neglected their responsibility to protect the health of the Ohio River and those who rely on it.

The Ohio River supports 27 million people (10 percent of the U.S. population) with drinking water, jobs, recreational activities and more. It supports diverse aquatic ecosystems – nearly half of freshwater fish and one-third of mussel species in the U.S. can be found in the river.

The Ohio River also is a working river, meaning

it provides the necessary water resources to support industries for manufacturing and energy production.

With industrial use comes the likely potential of pollutants being released into the water, making it unsuitable for others.

Part of the importance of ORSANCO’s water pollution standards, other than the obvious, is it provides a framework for regional cooperation and agreement on pollution limits and ensures individual states are accountable and cannot cause harm downstream to the 981-mile-long river.

With the rise of petrochemical plants along the Ohio, this is a problem far from going away. According to scientists, natural gas infrastructure leaks methane at a higher rate than burning coal. It is also known that through the process of fracking and plastic production the chemicals released are “carcinogenic, endocrine disrupting, and obesogenic” that become persistent and more prevalent the more our environment is exposed.

Another threat we cannot ignore is nutrient pollution (includes sedimentation and storm water pollution). According to a recent ORSANCO report, this issue is only getting worse, one reason being the outbreak of blue-green algae along the river.

The reason we experience algae outbreaks is due to an excess of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water – which typically is a result from agriculture runoff (manure and fertilizers). Blue-green algae is harmful because when the bacteria die and split open, toxins are released that are very poisonous to animals specifically and even aquatic life.

TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT THE OHIO RIVER Ask ORSANCO commissioners to revisit their decision to make water protection standards voluntary for states. Send an email to these commissioners from Kentucky.

MESSAGE: Hello, my name is _______ and I’m a concerned resident in the state of ___________.

Making the ORSANCO water quality standards voluntary is not acceptable and puts millions of people at risk of contaminated drinking water. I demand ORSANCO holds another public hearing before the scheduled meeting in October to take further consideration of making the standards optional.

Federal appointee Tom FitzGerald – Director, Kentucky Resources Council – fitz@kyrc.org Kentucky commissioners Ronald Lovan, President/CEO, Northern Kentucky Water District – Rlovan@nkywater.org Charles G. Snavely, Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet – charles.snavely@ky.gov Jenean Hampton, Lieutenant Governor – jenean.hampton@ky.gov

Adding to the waste, rainwater runoff and sewage overflow also contribute to increased algal blooms as well as pollution to our water. A sewage overflow is when our raw sewage exceeds the pipe capacity and falls directly in our waterways, and ten percent of these outfalls contributes to the Ohio River.

I bring these threats to attention because they show our river is not clean, if you can’t already tell by its murky brown appearance. The purpose of the Ohio River Valley Sanitation Commission reads:

“ORSANCO and its member states have cooperated to improve water quality in the Ohio River Basin, ensuring the river can be used for drinking, industrial supplies, and recreational purposes; and can support a healthy and diverse aquatic community. ORSANCO operates monitoring programs to check for pollutants and toxins that may interfere with specific uses of the river.”

Obviously, these issues aren’t going to go away overnight, and I’m not denying that ORSANCO has done great work the past 70 years working towards its goals. But we still aren’t there yet. Why weaken your stance when half the fight isn’t even through?

Water boil advisories are becoming more common. Not being able to swim or kayak because of toxins is the norm. Fish aren’t safely consumable out of the Ohio. And our aquatic life is dying because of the chemicals released into the waters.

The Ohio River always has faced threats from pollutants. But this river that supports more than five million people with drinking water faces more problems than ever. We need to tighten up to enforce and create laws that help protect the Ohio, not lean back.

With a federal administration that has been successful in 43 environmental rollbacks with 34 more in progress, we need an agency that will uphold strict regulations. Voluntary adherence to water quality standards means they eventually will become nonexistent.

One thing I encourage readers to do is vote in upcoming elections. The governor of each state has the power to appoint new commissioners to represent that state, and the federal representatives get appointed by that current administration. If we elect leaders who align more with our needs and goals, the commissioners they appoint will represent the vision we want.

It is time we step up for our health and the environment. It is time for our needs to be heard and addressed. It is time for change, and that starts with us.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

14 | Balancing the Scales

Sarah Martin and Becki Winchel

Rowan County Chapter Petition: Allie Secor, Kristin Busby and Erik Lewis

UP FROM THE GRASSROOTS

K.A. Owens and John Wade dig into weekend’s theme of building inclusive, unstoppable leadership.

Yesenia Soriano-Altamirano

Tina and Mark Jackson

BUILDING INCLUSIVE, UNSTOPPABLE LEADERSHIP

Ebony and Mia O’Rea

Bringing about change in our communities, whether or not we hold formal positions of authority, is something that requires bottom-up, grassroots leadership. Supporting the development of diverse grassroots leaders in our communities is central to democracy and to healthy, vibrant communities. KFTC believes change happens from the ground up, and must be led by those most affected by injustice. We help our members discover and build their skills, understanding and confidence to be effective change makers, based on the unique gifts, life experiences and styles of leadership each of us brings to the table.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 15

Annual Meeting welcome by Cassia Herron

Jarrett Cox co-hosted the Annual Awards Ceremony

From Apathy to Action: Climate Talk That Works

Tiffany Duncan facilitated Disability Justice 101: Community Care for Every Body

Building Resiliency Through Mindfulness: Finding Balance in an Imbalanced World

Changing the Landscape: Running For Office as a Woman and Person of Color in Kentucky panel: Janiah Miller, Derek Guy, Jeanie Smith, Rep. Nima Kulkarni, Rep. Jim Glenn and Serena Owen

Stairway to Housing: Opening Doors to Our Housing Future

Lijah Fosl and Erin Bridges

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

16 | Balancing the Scales

KFTC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Acknowledging our presence on indigenous land At the annual meeting, members received written information (a portion follows) and a brief presentation about the indigenous people who called Kentucky home before the land was taken from them.

Compiled by Big Sandy members Tiffany Pyette (Eastern Band Cherokee) and Mikaela Curry, with help from Madison County member Wendy Warren and staff member Nikita Perumal.

Indigenous peoples have always lived on the land that is now called Kentucky, and continue to live here today. The place we now call Kentucky is primarily Shawnee, Cherokee, Chickasaw and Osage land.

A commonly cited claim many of us heard in history class growing up is that this region was merely a hunting ground. This claim is a myth, perpetuated at first by land speculators who wished to improve land sales, and still today as a way to absolve settler colonists and their descendants from grappling with their history of land theft, genocide, and white supremacy. The continuation of this myth is harmful for all of us.

Indigenous peoples have lived on the land now

Tiffany Pyette introduced the Indigenous Lands Acknowledgment at the annual meeting. “I would like you to join me in acknowledging that we are meeting on the traditional land of the Shawnee and Cherokee,” Pyette said and spoke of “the pain of separation that comes from the removal of those ancestral lands. It is very important that we dispel myths that this land was only a hunting ground. Kentucky was home to many natives, and still is.”

called Kentucky for at least 12,000 years. Over thou- • homicide, the third leading cause of death among sands of years various indigenous nations and cultures native girls and women ages 10-24, the fifth leading have called this place home – many with overlapping cause of death among native women ages 25-34. histories and territories. Those that avoided/survived • “Indian” sports mascots [that] are harmful, perpetuate negative stereotypes and contribute to a forced relocation still have a large presence here, but disregard for the personhood of Native peoples. not an effortless one.

The Trail of Tears is only one piece of a very pain- • environmental justice and protection. ful history for Natives on the land that would become Kentucky; assimilation and suppression are common Continue reading at kftc.org/indigenous-lands experiences that were necessary for survival. For many Native peoples in Kentucky, this meant traditions kept These maps of native land, as they overlap with the map of what is now quietly, languages passed on called Kentucky, are adapted from Native-Land.ca–a crowdsourced, a few words at a time, hidden online mapping project. Native-Land.ca warns that its maps may be preservation of connections. inaccurate and incomplete, but hopes they serve as a starting place for They are still here. In the important discussions about indigenous land.

2010 Census, there were a recorded 31,335 Native Americans living in Kentucky.

Kentucky Indigenous Territories

Berea College sits on Shawnee and Eastern Band Cherokee land It’s important to note that native history and culture can not be easily summarized, and it is our responsibility to learn carefully and respectfully.

You can learn more about the Shawnee and Cherokee. We also encourage you to research their practices, history, and way of life. When possible, it is best to refer mostly to the tribes themselves for their historical accounts, as erasure in academia is a significant problem.

Native people are still here, and are fighting for a wide variety of issues that are critically important to recognize: • an epidemic of murdered and missing indigenous women (murder rates more than 10 times the national average);

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 17

KFTC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Mary Love, Bennie Massey honored with Lifetime Achievement Award KFTC awarded two Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Annual Awards Ceremony on August 3.

Mary Love

tively she works.

Mary is the person you most want by your side if you are hosting a conference and desperately need a 40 foot extension cord, or a WiFi hotspot, or a special adapter for the projector. Her car is like Mary Poppins’s bag loaded with practical tech gadgets.

For the last 15 years, Mary has been a road warrior and a dedicated people connector. She connects people who should know each other and ought to be working together. She connects the dots between issues, helping people see how voting rights, just transition, water pollution and economic exploration are all connected.

It is hard to imagine KFTC over the past 15 years without Mary Love. Mary has dedicated herself to service to KFTC and others, and has been an indispensable and beloved member of KFTC over the past 15 years.

Mary grew up in east Tennessee. While she lives in Oldham County and is active in the Jefferson County KFTC Chapter, she is devoted to eastern Kentucky and struggles to protect the land, water Bennie Massey and people of the Central Appalachian region. official in Kentucky, having served on the Lynch City The list of Mary’s leadership roles within KFTC Council for more than three decades. In that role he is extensive and exhausting – and it doesn’t begin to Bennie is a retired union coal miner from Lynch has worked tirelessly to protect the city’s drinking include her many other commitments through her in Harlan County. He is a member of the Mount water, oppose strip mining that threatens the town, Sinai Spirituals, a men’s gospel singing group and a work to bring new jobs and opportunities for young church, as a poll worker and devoted great aunt.

Mary his among the most consistent and active lifelong leader in his church. people to his community, and champion investments members of KFTC’s Land Reform Committee and Bennie is a driving force behind the East Ken- in energy efficiency that can save the city energy and New Energy and Transition Committee, which tucky Social Club, an organization with chapters in money. together guide KFTC’s work on stopping harmful cities all across this country of African Americans with Bennie has been a KFTC member for nearly and polluting practices and building a new, just, and family roots in eastern Kentucky. This September the two decades, ever since the successful fight to protect sustainable economy. She serves or has served on her social club will celebrate its 50th annual reunion.

Black Mountain, the highest point in Kentucky, from chapter’s Air Quality Team, and on KFTC’s Leader- Bennie also may be the longest serving elected being strip mined. He and three other KFTC memship Development Committee, bers have prevented the historic Steering Committee, Executive communities of Benham and Committee and the board of the Lynch from being strip mined.

Kentucky Coalition, KFTC’s He marched at nearly every I tax-exempt affiliate organization.

Love Mountains Day in Frank Mary has represented KFTC fort. on the board of the Alliance for

In July he rode the bus to Appalachia, and on committees of Washington, D.C. to tell Sen. the Kentucky Sustainable Energy Mitch McConnell to do right by Alliance and a national network coal miners with black lung disfocused on Extreme Energy Exease and protect miners’ pensions. traction. She has been a spokesSince then he’s been a presence person and outstanding grassroots and force at the train tracks in lobbyist in campaigns for clean Cumberland, showing up to deenergy, against mountaintop remand fair pay for the Blackjewel moval mining and against payday mine workers. And he’s gearing lending.

With the appreciation and love of all in attendance, Mary Love of the Jefferson County up to create a museum of African But none of that long list chapter and Bennie Massey of the Harlan County chapter received KFTC Lifetime Achieve- American History in eastern Kentells us how diligently and effec- ment Awards at the 2019 Annual Membership Meeting. tucky.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

18 | Balancing the Scales

KFTC 2019 Annual Awards At each annual meeting, KFTC recognizes the remarkable work and commitment to KFTC and social justice shown by some outstanding individuals and groups. Here are this year’s award winners.

The Gladys Maynard Start of Something Big Award

The Alice O. Martin Award

Presented to the member or group of members whose commitment and action leads to the development of a major movement or event in the cause of justice.

Presented to the member who has done the most work behind the scenes to strengthen KFTC as an organization.

2019 Recipient

Anastasia Kaufmann

Xavier Fogle

The Joe Begley and Everett Akers Award Presented to the member who is jailed, loses a job or faces some other major adversity because of their work for social justice.

2019 Recipient

The Highlander Center

2019 Recipient

The Joyce Wise Award Presented to the KFTC member who has overcome personal adversity to help others.

Ally of the Year Presented to the ally organization that has done the most over the past year to support KFTC’s work and goals of organizing.

2019 Recipient

Pikeville Pride The Daniel Thompson Bridge Builder Award Presented to the members who diligently and faithfully worked to bring together diverse groups of people within KFTC. 2019 Recipient

Johnalma Barnett Grassroots Fundraising Award Jefferson County Chapter

The Evelyn Williams Award Presented to the members who have persevered against great obstacles and over time to win an important victory.

2019 Recipient

Letcher Governance Project The Sister Marie Gangwish Award Presented to the member who has worked steadily and creatively to raise the grassroots funds that support KFTC’s success.

2019 Recipient

Matthew Frederick Funder of the Year Gladys Washington Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

2019 Recipient

Shameka Parrish-Wright Special Friend Awards Appalshop • Shelbyville Human Rights Commission • Tom Pearce and Angela Perry (awarded posthumously)

Membership Recruitment Awards Cumberland Chapter

(largest membership growth by percent in the past year)

Central Kentucky Chapter

(recruited the largest number of new members)

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 19

KFTC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Member Reflections Maria Truitt Walking into my first KFTC annual meeting felt like opening the doors to a family reunion, but rather than judgmental remarks and looks, there was an abundance of smiles and supporting words.

To be in a place where you feel a sense of belonging is a rarity any more in this world, but that’s what KFTC does, makes you feel at home. I spent three days working alongside 200+ people, not even knowing half, like I had known these individuals for years. It was a truly remarkable experience.

The annual meeting took place at the beautiful Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. For those who didn’t know, Berea was the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, and offers high-quality education to students of limited economic resource. It is one of nine federally recognized work colleges in the United States – meaning students do not pay tuition rather work for the school while attending. So they graduate with little to no debt.

Many of the school’s philosophies reside closely with those of KFTC, like racial equality, gender neutrality and affordable schooling for all. It was a perfect place to gather and discuss some of these issues and steps to create a better Kentucky.

The location of Berea College sits on Shawnee and Eastern Bend Cherokee land. Throughout the conference we took time to honor our indigenous people, including some of our own members and the history they shared with us (see page 16).

This year we had the privilege of having Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson as the keynote speaker. Along with her many acts of leadership regarding environmental racism and justice, she is the first black women to hold the position of co-executive director at the Highlander Center in Tennessee.

One of her many great points she brought to discussions was our vision of a utopian Kentucky. Many people shared similar aspects. I know mine included a land where everyone shares the same platform with an economy driven by renewable energy. Among this, we were to envision next steps to make these perfect visions come through and reflect as if KFTC is working towards these steps as an organization.

Her words gave me a sense of self-power, for it is possible to create the future I want to see. Ash-Lee resembles a woman of power and integrity through the many adversities she has faced, and that charisma rubs off on the room and puts a spark in people’s eyes.

Another component that created such a meaningful conference was the excellent range of workshops.

The first workshop I attended was about Climate Change. I found this session very beneficial for it gave me a new set of skills and strategies to talk about climate change that uses apathy and turns it into action.

The group also collectively gained a better understanding of how this issue affects Kentucky through the personal experience of others and concrete examples on why we must act. Included in this workshop was a presentation about effective ways to discuss climate change in your community by the insightful Jack Zhou, who manages social science resources for the Climate Advocacy Lab. The second workshop I was thankful to attend was Disability Justice 101. This perceptive session was aimed around how ableism intersects with other socially constructed identities to reinforce systemic oppression.

Particularly, this workshop had much meaning to me because my best friend is a paraplegic and often feels she is the obstacle rather than society by not being able to meet her needs as a handicapped individual.

“When I have my access needs met, I’m fundamentally not disabled” – Patty Berne

This workshop went into depth about the discrimination, microaggressions and violence people may encounter for their visible/invisible disabilities. It was such an open and welcoming space where we all shared our accessibility needs and the comfort felt when they are met versus the discomfort when they’re not.

I truly believe we are all destined to come together, and being in the same room with all these amazing beings that weekend proves my point even more. Brothers and sisters of all color and faith joining hands to protect our home of Kentucky and, on a broader scale, the sacredness and purity of our Mother Earth.

Let these days be remembered, let these days be worshiped, let the flame embarked in our souls’ reign forever. For the fire in our hearts will burn eternal love no matter what battle we face. With love anything is possible, even a fight with evil.

“Do not be daunted by the enormity of the World’s grief Do justly, now Love mercy, now Walk humbly, now You are not obligated to complete the work, But neither are you free to abandon it” ­— The Talmud We are one, and always have been.

We are Kentuckians, we choose each other.

Greta Elenbaas My utopia? Ash-Lee asked this pointed question and I know exactly what I want. A Kentucky where I don’t have to worry about anyone because everyone already feels loved, included and valued. Where health care isn’t dependent upon a job, education is a given and everyone has the opportunity to reach their fullest potential, and gun violence isn’t a thing. Where women have choices because they’re trusted, and parental leave solidifies women and men as caretakers.

I want a Kentucky where medicine can come from the ground, water is sacred, and we give thanks for the space we’re lucky enough to occupy each day.

I’m not sure what it looks and feels like, smells and tastes like just yet (I’m just not that creative), but I am so excited to get there! Getting there takes heavy groundwork and vision; I am super thankful to KFTC for being an organizational leader at both of those things.

For me, the annual meeting re-solidified the importance of trying to figure out who’s not in the room so we can get them there, and the need to connect with others to find common ground. In northern Kentucky, I have work to do. SO.MUCH.WORK. And I’ll get to do that work in a fun way – getting to know my community, lending support to key leaders, and helping some super-fab folks get elected to represent the REAL KENTUCKY, because we choose each other.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

20 | Balancing the Scales

KFTC ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Disability Justice 101: Community Care for Every Body KFTC’s annual meeting featured a Disability Justice 101 workshop co-facilitated by Central Kentucky member Tiffany Duncan and staff members Chandra Cruz-Thomson and Beth Howard. The workshop gave an introduction of Disability Justice concepts, a timeline of disability justice and disability rights organizing, and modeled ways to incorporate disability justice tools and principles into meeting spaces.

“Disability justice is a multi-issue political understanding of disability and ableism, moving away from a rights based equality model and beyond just access, to Tiffany Duncan a framework that centers justice and wholeness for all disabled people and communities,” said disability justice activist Mia Mingus If you are interested in learning more about disability justice and/or bringing some resources or trainings to your chapter, please talk with a KFTC organizer.

And in an effort to ongoing political education, here is a shortened version of the timeline featured in the annual meeting workshop (see the full timeline at kftc.org/ disability-justice-timeline). The timeline was compiled by member Tiffany Duncan.

The purpose of this timeline is to display the ways bodies and minds have been invalidated and oppressed throughout our national history and how resistance took form in the fight for disability rights and eventually a movement for collective liberation called disability justice.

1751 – The Pennsylvania Hospital opens a treatment ward for mental illnesses and cognitive disorders. Five years later, the hospital begins chaining patients to the basement walls. The patients are put on display for a fee.

1883 – The “Eugenics Movement” is started by Sir Francis Galton in the United Kingdom. This leads to the American Eugenics Movement and laws to stop people with disabilities from immigrating to the U.S., getting married or having children.

1899 – A doctor named Henry Clay Sharp starts performing vasectomies on prisoners who were considered “degenerates.”

1907 – A compulsory sterilization law passes in Indiana. It is the first sterilization law in the U.S. 1910 – An American biologist named Charles Davenport founds the Eugenics Record Office in Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

1912 – Henry Goddard publishes the book “The Kallikak Family,” a best seller that pushed the idea that people inherited intellectual disabilities and were immoral.

1920 – Emma Buck, a Virginian, is diagnosed as feeble-minded and committed to Virginia Sate Colony for Epileptics and Feeble-Minded. Her diagnosis is attributed to what the physician described as “promiscuous” behavior.

1923 – Carrie Buck (Emma Buck’s daughter), an unmarried teenager, becomes pregnant. Carrie gives birth in 1924 and is sent to the Virginia Colony. Her child is removed from her custody.

1924 – Virginia passes a sterilization law. Carrie is selected to participate in a court case to determine the constitutionality of the eugenics law.

1927 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s law is constitutional and that it was permissible for Carrie to be sterilized. Between 1927 and 1972, 8,300 Virginians are sterilized under the state law. The law served as a model for 30 other states and 50,000 U.S. citizens are sterilized without their consent.

1935 – The Works Progress Administration, a public works program to alleviate unemployment during the Great Depression, stamps the letters PH on more than 300 job applications. The PH stands for physically handicapped and the stamp is a way to weed out undesirable job applications. A group called The League for the Physically Handicapped forms to protest the discriminatory practice. The members of the league, mostly polio survivors and people with cerebral palsy, led a 9-day sit-in that eventually generated several thousand jobs across the U.S. 1935 – Dr. Alexis Carrel, a surgeon and biologist at the Rockefeller Institute, publishes “Man the Unknown.” The book describes the systematic execution of mentally ill and criminal people in small euthanasia institutions using gases.

1939 – Hitler orders the killing of the sick and disabled via gassing in a program called Aktion T4. 100,000 people are murdered by the 1941 end of the program.

1946 – The Mental Health Foundation was formed by conscientious objectors.

They worked in mental institutions during WWII and exposed abusive conditions within the facilities. As a result, a movement for releasing people begins.

1947 – Willow Brook State School opens in Staten Island, NY. The school was created to educate students with intellectual disabilities, but the students are subjected to medical experiments, overcrowding, and various abuses.

1948 – Patients organized a mental health self-help group at the Rockland State Hospital in New York City. The group is called We Are Not Alone (WANA).

1954 – The US Supreme Court rules that separate schools for children of different races are unequal and unconstitutional in Brown v. Board of Education Topeka. This decision was a catalyst for the civil rights movement and became a major inspiration to the disability rights movement.

1958 – “Rehabilitation Gazette” begins as a grassroots organization. It served as a voice for disability rights, independent living and cross disability organizing.

1962 – Edward Roberts sued to gain admission to UC-Berkeley and become the first student with a significant disability to attend the university. He was a polio survivor and used a wheelchair and an iron lung. In the same year, James Meredith becomes the first black person to attend University of Mississippi.

1964 – The Civil Rights Act outlaws discrimination in public accommodations and employment because of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin or creed, with gender and disability added later. It is a model for future disability rights continued on next page legislation.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 21

Disability Justice 101: Community Care for Every Body (cont.) continued from previous page 1973 – A lawsuit is filed against the Willow Brook State School in New York to end horrible conditions there. A television broadcast from the facility outraged the public, who saw the terrible treatment of people with developmental disabilities. The exposure and other advocacy led to the end of similar institutions.

people who felt isolated by the mental health mainstream system.

1973 – The Rehabilitation Act was passed. For the first time, discrimination against people with disabilities is addressed. This law provided the outline for the future Americans with Disabilities Act. Section 504 is an anti-discrimination, civil rights statute that requires the needs of students with disabilities to be met as adequately as the needs of the non-disabled are met.

2004 – The first ever Disability Pride Parade was held in Chicago and other communities around the country.

1977 – A group of people with disabilities took over the San Francisco Department of Health, Education and Welfare office to protest Secretary Joseph Califano's refusal to sign regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

They stayed for one month. It became the longest sit-in of a federal building on record. Because of the demonstration, the 504 regulations were ultimately signed.

2004 – Patty Berne becomes executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society’s project on disability, race, and eugenics. After running it for several years, she decides that she wants to do more than defend her right to exist.

2005 – Leroy Moore, Patty Berne, Todd Herman, and Amanda Colsor join forces at the Center for Genetics and Society. Todd and Amanda get a grant from Theater Bay Area to create a show on disability. The group begins meeting to plan a live performance called “Sins Invalid” about disability and sexuality.

2005 – Support Group International becomes MindFreedom International. They are dedicated to activism, advocacy, peaceful protest, public education, mutual support, lobbying, organizing and never ever giving up our dream: Equal opportunity of mental and emotional well-being for all.

1983 – Sharon Kowalski was disabled by a drunk driver in Minnesota. Her parents learn she is a lesbian and refused to allow her to return home to her lover Karen Thompson. They put her in a nursing home instead. Thompson’s eightyear struggle to free Kowalski became a focus of disability rights advocates and led to links between the lesbian and disability rights communities.

2006 – The Autistic Self Advocacy Network, or ASAN, was founded. It is an organization run by and for individuals on the autism spectrum. ASAN's mission statement says that Autistic people are equal to everyone else, and important and necessary members of society.

1988 – The Fair Housing Amendments Act added people with disabilities as a protected class and set minimum standards of accessibility.

2007 – Sins Invalid becomes a formal organization with a mission to do work on disability and sexuality.

1990 – ADAPT organized The Wheels of Justice campaign. Hundreds of people with disabilities rallied in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Activists occupied the Capitol rotunda and were arrested when they refused to leave.

President George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law on July 26. The law mandated “reasonable accommodations” in government buildings and employment for disabled workers. The act also mandated access in public transportation, communication and in other areas of public life.

1995 – Sandra Jensen, a member of People First, was denied a heart-lung transplant by the Stanford University School of Medicine because she had Down Syndrome. After pressure from disability rights activists, administrators there reversed their decision, and in January 1996 Jensen became the first person with Down Syndrome to receive a heart-lung transplant.

1996 – Not Dead Yet was formed by disabled advocates to oppose Jack Kevorkian and the proponents of assisted suicide for people with disabilities. Disability rights advocates were concerned by movements to “ration” health care for people with severe disabilities and the imposition of “Do Not Resuscitate” (DNR) orders for disabled people in hospitals, schools, and nursing homes.

1998 – Leroy Moore starts Disability Advocates of Minorities Organization (DAMO). The next year he meets Patty Berne. DAMO closes in 2000.

2001 – The Commonwealth of Virginia House of Delegates approved a resolution expressing regret for its eugenics practices between 1924 and 1979.

2003 – The Icarus Project began in 2003, to build community support among

2008 – Sins Invalid forms a relationship with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Creating Change Conference.

2008 – Patty Berne, Mia Mingus and Stacy Milbern meet to talk about if work being done by queer and disabled people of color is a second wave of disability rights or something new: disability justice.

2010 – The Disability Justice Collective, originally called together by the National Gay Lesbian Task Force, becomes its own organization. The DJC includes Patty Berne, Mia Mingus, Eli Claire and Sebastian Margaret.

2015 – Sins Invalid publicly releases strategies for mixed-ability organizing, an accessibility assessment, definitions of disability justice and graphic illustrations of the 10 principles of disability justice.

“The only way to bear the overwhelming pain of oppression is by telling, in all its detail, in the presence of witnesses and in a context of resistance, how unbearable it is.

If we attempt to craft resistance without understanding this task, we are collectively vulnerable to all the errors of judgment that unresolved trauma generates in individuals. It is part of our task as revolutionary people, people who want deep-rooted, radical change, to be as whole as it is possible for us to be. This can only be done if we face the reality of what oppression really means in our lives, not as abstract systems subject to analysis, but as an avalanche of traumas leaving a wake of devastation in the lives of real people who nevertheless remain human, unquenchable, complex and full of possibility.” – Aurora Levins Morales A bibliography can be found at: kftc.org/disability-justice-timeline

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

22 | Balancing the Scales

Up From the Grassroots

by Mikaela Curry

We may often find ourselves with heavy burdened hearts,

Did you see them put their bodies, voices, and intentions on the line?

We may often find ourselves unsure of where to start,

And, have you seen those Harlan miners sleeping out there on the tracks?

Cause it’s not just the oppression, it’s the heavy-handed silence.

Anything can happen when we have each other’s backs.

It’s not just the abuse of power, it’s the institutionalized violence.

But it’s not just the one thing, it’s everything that’s next,

It’s the murdered and the missing, and all the kids in cages,

it’s long-term visioning and we know that it’s complex.

it’s the health care, and the dying, it’s the workers and the wages, it’s the poison in the water, it’s the poison in the air, it’s the mountains that are missing and the prisons everywhere.

It’s hard to feel this struggle, it’s hard to bear the pain, when you know with such deep certainty that it all should change And, not only that it should - but it can, it has, it could be something that is better than maybe anything before.

It’s necessary to be hopeful, it’s brave to ask for more.

Anything that was built, can too be broken down we can dismantle and rebuild, starting from the ground

Up from the grassroots, watch the way we rise: rooted and still growing, but unwilling to compromise when compromising means that someone’s left behind: We don’t fall for false solutions, and we are not colorblind.

We see the ways systemic racism divides and hurts us all, and we listen to the truth, and we answer when it calls It’s ok to be uncomfortable, it’s ok what you don’t know, But, once we have the knowledge, we keep learning and don’t let go and we listen, and we listen - and then we listen more We follow the impacted, they know what they’re leading for

Up from the grassroots, watch the way we rise: always all together, committed and organized

We choose each other because that’s the only way we win,

Did you watch in Puerto Rico as they made that governor resign?

“We choose each other because that’s the only way we win”

We know that it’s the truth so let’s say it once again

But it can’t be transactional, short-sighted or performative, We’ve got to make it action-based, clear-visioned and transformative And I know that we can do it, I know you know it, too, Let’s commit ourselves today for all that we can do Up from the grassroots, watch the way we rise: building a future where all of us can thrive Up from the grassroots, watch the way we rise: purposefully together, our power energized.

Mikaela Curry is a published writer, award-winning poet, community organizer, environmental scientist and member of the KFTC Big Sandy chapter. Learn more about her at mikaelacurry.com. You can watch Mikaela reading her poem at the annual meeting at: https://vimeo. com/353038788

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 23

Building Grassroots Power

Northern Kentucky Loves Democracy upcoming events To capture that energy, and to bring attention to the work, the Northern Kentucky chapter is planning more than a week’s worth of events aimed at registering voters, lifting up the voices of those left out, and getting the community to think about both the voter registration deadline, as well as what is next.

The event kicks off on Friday, September 27 at a community festival in Erlanger, where members will register voters and promote the upcoming Singing For Democracy, and will end with a concert at Lil’s Bagels and Roebling Books on October 6 called “We Choose What’s Next!”

Some of the big events planned are: Northern Kentucky chapter leaders Greta Elenbaas and Jason Worms registered voters and talked about KFTC to students as they returned to school at Gateway Community College in Edgewood.

Northern Kentucky KFTC members love democracy. That’s why they spend so much time fighting for voting rights, fair representation, registering voters, compiling and distributing their Voter Guide and doing all they can to make sure that every voice is heard and respected in our democracy!

• •

•

September 27 – Community Block Party, 6-8 p.m. in Erlanger September 28 – Singing For Democracy: featuring music from MUSE, community gospel singers, and stories from those shut out or just entering our democracy; at Dietz Auditorium inside Lloyd Memorial High School (450 Barnett Ave in Erlanger) October 1-4 – Voter registration at Northern Kentucky University, Thomas More University

and Gateway College from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

•

October 2 – Democracy Meet and Greet at Esperanza Latino Center (234 Pike Street) at 6:30 p.m.

•

October 4 – Foxy Democracy Party! Democracy Meet and Greet and friendraiser at Crazy Fox Saloon (21+), 901 Washington Street in Newport.

•

October 5 – Bourbon, Ballots and Brews: A Democracy Pub Crawl! 6 p.m. in Mainstrasse Village in Covington.

•

October 6 – We Choose What’s Next!: music, poetry and speakers celebrating what we’ve done and what we are working towards in this election and beyond! Lil’s Bagels at 308 Greenup in Covington (rain location is Roebling Books at 306 Greenup Street).

Join NKY KFTC members at these (and other) events to engage voters in the upcoming election. Follow their work on social media through #WeChooseKy and #NkyLovesDemocracy!

Fairness growing in northern Kentucky and around the state On August 6, Dayton became the 12th city in Many members across the state continue to push Kentucky to pass a fairness ordinance! forward on the issue, from Shelby County to Pikev Mayor Ben Baker, who helped found the North- ille to Somerset and elsewhere, to plan events aimed ern Kentucky KFTC Chapter and served as its Steer- at raising the need for these basic non-discrimination ing Committee representative for several years, led a protections across the commonwealth. process that resulted in a 5-0 vote in support of ex- While fairness ordinances go a long way toward tending non-discrimination protections to LGBTQ+ creating legal equality, they do not create equity. The Kentuckians living and working in the city! attacks of Kentucky’s current governor and some leg This is another important step in the march for islative leaders on quasi-government funding, such as statewide fairness, and many people are wondering health departments, hurt marginalized communities, where will be next? Henderson in western Kentucky like queer Kentuckians, low-income Kentuckians became the 11th city in late June, and following a and others. discussion at the August 19 meeting, the city of Fort It especially hurts marginalized communities Thomas (which neighbors Dayton) will be exploring that are largely dependent upon private, religious an ordinance through the Law, Labor and License health care, where LGBTQ+ people may not have all of their needs met.

Committee. Highland Follow the Northern Kentucky chapter The fact that Kentucky Heights may discuss the still allows conversion issue in September, and on social media: Instagram @norththerapy, which is legalized Georgetown had a readernky_KFTC • Twitter: @NKY_KFTC • ing on fairness on August psychological torture to Facebook.com/nky.kftc.

26.

LGBTQ+ youth, is a seri-

ous threat to the community’s safety.

To continue this effort, KFTC members are working with the Fairness Campaign and other allies across Kentucky. Some upcoming events include: • • •

•

An inaugural Western Kentucky Pride Festival will take place August 24 and 25 in Paducah.

The first Pride event in Shelbyville will be held on September 14.

Members working with the Fairness Campaign and Georgetown Fairness in Rolling Bluegrass chapter are planning another Georgetown Pride event on October 19.

There also are Pride celebrations this fall in »» Bowling Green on October 5 »» Frankfort on October 12, and »» Pikeville on October 12.

To learn more about this work, and what you can do, reach out to a KFTC organizer to talk about your chapter’s capacity to grow this work.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

24 | Balancing the Scales

Building Grassroots Power

Wilderness Trace members celebrate drinking water source

By Shannon Scott

Members of the Wilderness Trace KFTC Chapter are concerned about the impact of the E.W. Brown Power Plant in Mercer County on the quality of water in the local drinking water system, groundwater and in Herrington Lake (and the broader Kentucky watershed).

Kentucky Utilities (KU) damned the Dix River, a tributary of the Kentucky River, to provide hydroelectric power in 1925, creating Herrington Lake.

Today, E.W. Brown has three fossil-fuel generating units, seven combustion turbines and a solar facility in addition to the hydroelectric plant.

Chapter members applaud KU’s shift away from its coal-powered units toward more sustainable energy sources. But in the meantime there are many questions about what KU is doing to address pollution.

A recent study (https://lge-ku.com/HLstudy), required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2015 Coal Ash Rule and paid for by KU, confirmed that there is coal ash pollution in Herrington Lake, though the company argues that there are “no significant impacts.” We are not quite sure what the new report means and would like clarity.

The pollution also is the subject of litigation, filed

by Earthjustice on behalf of others. That includes

seeking access to records withheld by the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet – records that show what KU is doing about the well-documented pollution and if the state is requiring the company to take corrective action.

Earlier this year, chapter members invited people concerned about E.W. Brown and KU’s lack of apparent openness to community concerns to try to address the problem. Meeting over two different Saturdays, the group learned about and used the Story Based Strategy (a model from the Center for Story Based Strategy www.storybasedstrategy.org) to develop a plan for approaching KU. As a result, the chapter decided that an obvious first step would be to ask KU to hold an open, public meeting to discuss what actions it is taking to address the pollution problems and water quality concerns around Herrington Lake. The chapter is currently conducting a petition drive to ask for that meeting, found at: https://bit.ly/2ZioOtM. In order to raise awareness about this issue and gain signatures for the petition, the Wilderness Trace Chapter is holding a Love the Lake event on Saturday, September 14, from 12 noon to 3 p.m. in the field/lot across from 471 King’s Mill Road in Boyle County.

This event is focused on educating the community about the value of this beautiful resource, current threats to the lake and what we can all do to make it

Rolling Bluegrass chapter (Scott and Harrison counties) members met in July for their regular monthly meeting to discuss fairness and other local issues.

cleaner. The event is free to the public, but donations will be gratefully accepted.

There will be music by Conrad “Doc” Shiba, kids activities, door prizes, hot dogs and the chance to try out a kayak or paddleboard on the lake. Community partners have been invited to provide information about water quality and lake pollution (and the role we can all play in keeping our water clean).

Everyone who is interested is welcome to attend.

If you would like to sign the petition, go to: https://bit.ly/2ZioOtM.

A recent Wilderness Trace chapter meeting to talk about Herrington Lake included (left to right) Shannon Scott, Preston Miles, Julie Pease, Bobbie Curd, Christa Faulkner, Jim Porter and Linda Porter.

Southern Kentucky members (from left) Joyce Adkins, Tom Morris, Stephanie Morris, Akisha Townsend and Gretchen Mitchell teamed up to canvass voters.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 25

Building Grassroots Power

Benham$aves is up and running with new resources

Members of the Benham Power Board, Kentucky’s smallest electric utility serving about 280 customers in Harlan County, voted in August on updates to the Benham$aves energy efficiency program – and received new resources to support those efforts.

“I’m proud to wear several hats today,” said Carl Shoupe, a long-time KFTC member who also serves on the Benham Power Board, “and to present this check for $203,909 given by donors to Kentuckians For The Commonwealth for Be nham$aves.”

Most of these funds were given to KFTC by an anonymous donor in support of Benham’s innovative energy efficiency program. Since January 2019, KFTC staff and members have worked closely with Benham Power Board and other community partners, including the Harlan Community Foundation and local affordable housing groups and energy efficiency contractors, to revise the program’s design and prepare to deploy the new resources.

Benham$aves was created in 2015 by the Benham Power Board with support from KFTC, MACED and COAP (Christian Outreach with Appalachian People), a local housing nonprofit.

The program pays for the upfront costs of home

energy retrofits. Participating customers pay back that investment over 15 years using a portion of the money they save on their electric bills. Those payments are recycled back into the program and used to retrofit additional homes.

Importantly, residents don’t need good credit to qualify, and don’t take on new personal debt when they participate in the program. Instead, if they move, rent or sell their home the obligation to pay back the investment shifts to the next utility customer at that address.

Most of the homes in Benham were built a century ago when the town was first constructed as a coal camp. Many structures are poorly insulated, and the community has the highest average household electricity use of any utility in Kentucky.

Benham$aves is an innovative approach to financing energy efficiency that produces multiple benefits, including increased comfort, improved home values, lower electric bills, and good new local jobs and income for local contractors.

The new resources were immediately put to work.

On August 19 and 20 the next four homes on the waiting list in Benham received an energy audit to determine what efficiency measures are needed and

Carl Shoupe (left), a long-time member of KFTC and a member of the Benham Power Board, presented a check for more than $200,000 to Ron Frazier of the Harlan Community Foundation to be used in support of energy efficiency retrofits in Benham.

cost effective. That work was performed by a skilled local contractor, a fourth generation coal miner who just completed a MACED apprenticeship program in energy efficiency and renewable energy installation.

Shelbyville Pride: First ever!

By Dahlton Lang Shelbyville’s first LGBTQ+ Pride event, co-hosted by the Shelby County Chapter of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and the Martha Layne Collins High School GayStraight Alliance, will take place on Saturday, September 14.

This event has many in the community feeling sentimental and excited. Ciara, a student at MLCHS, expressed her feelings by explaining that “when Pride comes around you feel like you have this gigantic family that supports you no matter what.”

It seems to be that overwhelming sense of community that draws individuals to Pride events all over the world, with Shelbyville now included. During a recent planning meeting, KFTC member Joy Fitzgerald recalled a time when celebrating Pride meant going camping with a few close friends, out of the eye of the larger community.

Shelbyville’s first Pride will be a fun day with food, games, music and more. It’s also a declaration that the community welcomes and celebrates its LGBTQ+ residents, and everyone who calls Shelby County home.

“It’s the feeling of safety and love for everyone, not just members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Ciara explained.

Ashley, a student member of the MLCHS Gay-Straight Alliance expressed that she never thought there would be a Pride event in her town. “Being accepted means a lot because sometimes, it’s hard to accept yourself. Shelbyville is moving forward.”

Pride will be held at Clear Creek Park’ Colonel Sanders Pavilion at 717 Burks Branch Road in Shelbyville on September 14 from 1 to 5 p.m. All ages are welcome, and so are pets.

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

26 | Balancing the Scales

Economic justice

Legislators further erode public pensions in special session

By Annie Williams In July I attended the special session at the Capitol regarding House Bill 1 [Gov. Bevin’s pension bill].

Several KFTC members were there from Louisville, Lexington, Rowan County, Somerset and northern Kentucky.

I am one of many quasi-governmental employees that will be negatively impacted by Gov. Bevin’s recent pension bill. I have stayed with my agency for 19 years because I was promised a pension at the end of my career. We have low salaries and have gone many years without raises since our employers’ contribution rates to the Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS) continued to increase.

Most quasi-governmental employees harmed by this bill are middle-aged and mid-career. We do not have time to start over saving for retirement and do not make enough to meaningfully contribute to a 401(k).

For years we have been counting on the pensions we worked hard for and were promised, but could now be frozen. I am very anxious about my financial future and disheartened that Bevin is breaking promises made to several thousand Kentuckians.

This breaks the inviolable contract, but Bevin does not seem to care about what is right, fair, or even legal.

When I started my job almost two decades ago, I was required to participate in the pension system. Quasi-governmental agencies make up about 25 percent of KERS. By taking out our contributions, this further increases the unfunded pension liability and will cost taxpayers more. Plus, it opens the door to freeze pensions on all other employees in the system.

Bevin bullied the special session by putting such restrictions on it that the other options and amendments could not even be considered. Bevin’s bill barely passed and has now given Kentucky a negative credit rating. Meanwhile the politicians’ own pension system

is 98 percent­funded.

Kentucky workers deserve better than this. I am extremely grateful to KFTC for all their hard work fighting for us and standing up for what is right. Please sign up to help with local voter work so we can elect better leaders that will work for all of us.

KFTC members watch from the Senate gallery during the special legislative session.

Many of the quasi employees are middle age and mid-career The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy provided, prior to the special legislative session in July, data and analysis on how Gov. Bevin’s pension proposal (HB 1) would harm quasi-government employees and cost the state more money. They also examined alternative proposals focused on protecting employees. The General Assembly passed Bevin’s plan, 52-46 in the House and 27-11 in the Senate.

KCEP’s research provides an understanding of the consequences of legislators’ action.

By Jason Bailey and Dustin Pugel July 19, 2019 As the General Assembly considers options for pensions and quasi-governmental organizations, too often missing from the conversation are the potential harms to the 9,000 employees at these community mental health centers, health departments and more.

All of them could have their pensions frozen under HB 1, including over 6,000 who were hired before 2014 and are protected by the inviolable contract.

Many of the employees at these organizations are middle age and mid-career, which exacerbates the harm of freezing their pensions.

Mid-career employees stand to lose the majority of their pensions under HB 1. Offering them a new 401k-style defined contribution plan at the time their pension is frozen will be of little value in the short

time period before they reach retirement age. Many mid-career workers stand to lose over $100,000 in net

retirement income, and much more in some cases, because of HB 1.

Three ways the alternative is better than the governor’s proposal

By Jason Bailey July 16, 2019 A pension alternative sponsored by Rep. Joe Graviss protects employees, quasi-governmental organizations and the underfunded pension system in ways the governor’s proposed legislation does not. Here’s why the proposal, introduced as HB 2 in the special session, would work better than HB 1, the administration’s plan.

It fully protects the inviolable contract for over 6,000 current employees, and supports retirement security for future employees. The governor’s proposal pressures quasi-governmental organizations to leave the retirement system, and incentivizes them to freeze the pension benefits of employees hired before 2014. In contrast, HB 2 would keep quasi-governmental employees in the pension system and therefore fully protect their benefits.

It is more affordable for quasi-governmental organizations – thereby better safeguarding the vital services they provide. Contribution levels for community mental health agencies, domestic violence shelters and other quasi-governmental organizations that choose to stay in the retirement system would spike from 49 percent of employees’ pay to over 80 percent next year under HB 1. The governor’s bill encourages them to leave the system.

HB 2, in contrast, would cap contributions at 49 percent and continue at that percent of pay for only 23 years.

It costs the KERS non-hazardous system $706 million less than the governor’s plan and avoids added risk.

Adding more costs further weakens what is already the poorest funded pension system in the United States.

In addition, the governor’s plan adds more risk to the pension system in the future.

Shortened for space. Find KCEP’s complete research report at: https://bit.ly/2L72fPC

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

Balancing the Scales | 27

CALENDAR OF EVENTS More events at kftc.org/calendar

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KFTC OFFICES AND STAFF MAIN OFFICE Morgan Brown, Burt Lauderdale, Ashley Frasher 131 North Mill Street P.O. Box 1450 London, KY 40743 606-878-2161 | Fax: 606-878-5714 info@kftc.org

September 2 and October 7 Wilderness Trace chapter meetings 7 p.m. at InterCounty Energy 1009 Hustonville Road, Danville Info: Jessica@kftc.org or 859-276-0563

September 19 and October 17 Central Kentucky chapter meetings 7 p.m., Episcopal Mission House 203 E 4th Street in Lexington Info: Meredith@kftc.org or 859-276-0563

September 3 and October 1 Big Sandy chapter meetings 6 p.m. at the KFTC office 152 N. Lake Drive in Prestonsburg Info: Jacob@kftc.org or 606-497-9262

September 21 KFTC Steering Committee meeting 10:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Location: TBD Info: Michael@kftc.org or 859-756-4027

September 5 Harlan County chapter meeting 6 p.m. at the Rebecca Caudill Library 310 W. Main St. in Cumberland Info: Lisa@kftc.org or 859-200-5159

September 22 Cumberland chapter Brisket & Badminton Picnic, 2-4 p.m. at NIBROC Park 108 S. Main Street in Corbin Info: Lisa@kftc.org or 859-200-5159

Bowling Green Laura Harper Knight and Alexa Hatcher 958 Collett Ave., Suite 500 Bowling Green, KY 42101 270-282-4553

September 5 and October 3 Rolling Bluegrass chapter meetings 6:30 p.m., Scott County Public Library 104 S. Bradford, Georgetown Info: Joe@kftc.org or 859-380-6103

September 23 and October 28 Perry County chapter meeting, 5:30 p.m.

Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky office 420 Main Street in Hazard Info: Jacob@kftc.org or 606-497-9262

Northern Kentucky Joe Gallenstein, Caitlin Sparks and Dave Newton 640 Main Street Covington, KY 41005 859-380-6103

September 9 and October 14 Jefferson County chapter meeting 6 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church 809 S. 4th St., Louisville Info: Coreydutton@kftc.org or 502-589-3188

September 23 and October 28 Madison County chapter meetings 7 p.m. Berea Friends Meeting House 300 Harrison Road, Berea Info: Michael@kftc.org or 859-756-4027

Central Kentucky Jessica Hays Lucas, Beth Howard, Heather Mahoney, Laura Greenfield, Erik Hungerbuhler, Meredith Wadlington, Tayna Fogle, Nikita Perumal 250 Plaza Drive, Suite 4 Lexington, KY 40503 859-276-0563

September 17 and October 15 Northern Kentucky chapter meetings 7 p.m. at Center for Great Neighborhoods 321 ML King Boulevard, Covington Info: Joe@kftc.org or 859-380-6103

September 24 and October 22 Southern Kentucky chapter meetings 6 p.m. at The Foundry 531 W 11th Ave. in Bowling Green Info: Alexa@kftc.org or 502-599-3989

September 19 and October 17 Rowan County chapter meetings 6 p.m. at St. Albans Church, 145 E. 5th Street, Morehead Info: Nikita@kftc.org or 502-488-3830

October 7 Deadline to register to vote in the November 5 General Election Register at GoVoteKY.com or at your local county clerk’s office

September 19 Shelby County chapter meetings 6:30 p.m. at the Stratton Center 215 Washington Street, Shelbyville Info: Carissa@kftc.org or 502-741-8759

October 13 Cumberland chapter meeting 2-4 p.m., location TBD Info: Lisa@kftc.org or 859-200-5159

FIELD OFFICES Louisville E’Beth Adami, Alicia Hurle, Carissa Lenfert, Chandra Cruz-Thomson, Corey Dutton 735 Lampton Street #202 Louisville, KY 40203 502-589-3188

Floyd County Jessie Skaggs, Jerry Hardt, Jacob Mack-Boll and Taylor Adams 152 North Lake Drive P.O. Box 864 Prestonsburg, KY 41653 606-263-4982 Berea Lisa Abbott, Amy Hogg and Michael Harrington 210 N. Broadway #3 Berea, KY 40403

859-756-4027

Email any staff member at firstname@kftc.org except for Beth Howard use bethhoward@kftc.org and Laura Greenfield use lauragreenfield@kftc.org

www.kftc.org | August 28, 2019

28 | Balancing the Scales

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