Resistance Radio – Indivisible East Boulder

“All of our members vote and we are all local constituents from Colorado and to the degree that we live in a representative democracy, we hope that they will factor in our points of view when they make decisions on whether to support or oppose either a nominee or legislation.”

Phyllis Rheiner says she was inspired to reach out to her neighbors earlier this year after seeing an article about the national Indivisible movement and their call to action for people around the country.

“Like many people I was really exhausted following the election and at the beginning of January there was a column in the New York Times about how to stop Trump by trying to apply some of the lessons from the Tea Party Movement. And I will say it was the first time I’ve felt energized since November 9th. The call to action was to gather your friends and neighbors at a house party over the Martin Luther King’s birthday.”

Rheiner reached out to two neighbors including Ann Rounds and they invited all the like minded friends and neighbors they could think of for a community meeting. What began as an initial group of 30 people has grown to Indivisible East Boulder with over 225 members on their Facebook page. They meet every other week and the last meeting had 75 people in attendance.

Rounds says that they have focused on several issues from the repeal of the Affordable Care Act to some of the cabinet nominations, and they encourage members to take action on a weekly basis. “We put a call to action on our facebook page as well as sending it in an email blast. The minimum we’d like people to do which takes about 15 minutes, is to call a Congressman or a Senator, our Congressman Jared Polis or one of the two Senators that we have.

Members of Indivisible East Boulder have visited the local offices of Senator Michael Bennet and Cory Gardner. “We come with talking points and we usually come with someone who is an expert in the field, so for example, for the ACA (Affordable Care Act) repeal, we brought a retired health professional who was very knowledgeable about the ACA. Rounds says that they have met with staffers at Cory Gardner’s office 3 separate times and one time with Bennet staffers.

Rheiner says that although Senator Gardner has voted in support of Education Secretary DeVos and has voiced support for the repeal of the ACA, two issues the group opposes, she believes that hearing from constituents will eventually impact elected officials.