Hindsight 2020

Happy New Year!

We have done a lot in a year of lockdowns and are planning for 2021 to be even better.  Somehow we connected with each other – there were six monthly meet ups down at the beach where we averaged 45 people – together.  We paraded in red, white and blue on July 4th.  There were large gatherings on freeway overpasses – in Santa Cruz County – representing America and FREEDOM. 

 

Thank you for showing up to fight for conservative values and getting people out to vote.  And for those who didn’t feel safe, they did what they needed to protect themselves and we met online. 

 

TWO elections!  Republican voters in our county had a 63% turnout in March, and with 2,000 more Republican voters in November, the turnout was 85%! The Republican vote was the difference in the Supervisor race that uprooted John Leopold and elected Manu Koenig. Leopold was endorsed by every local union, group and activist organization in the county, and he lost!  People are ready for change and slowly waking up to what isn’t working (and maybe even why…). Manu shares many of our same values, and we appreciated him reaching out to listen to our concerns.  

 

We clearly live in an extremely progressive and liberal county. This is not a surprise, but they’re coming around.  At the Recall tables people are being friendly and supportive; which was not always the case in the summertime.  If the November election statewide had gone the way Santa Cruz voted, every single measure would have been opposite of our recommendations.  It’s a relief things didn’t, but that also means we have a lot of work to do locally to get our voices heard and spread some common sense. Being silent is not an option. If you have any suggestions on how and where to get our message out, please speak up. One of our biggest hurdles is a platform – the Sentinel rarely prints our letters or covers our candidates or opinions and we’ve experienced much bias in other local papers.  We’re going to give Nextdoor a try. Details below. 

 

If 2020 has been terrible on you and you are hurting due to the shutdowns and pandemic, please let us know.  There are many of us who are available and willing to help.  Please let us fight with you. 

 

I’m proud to be a Republican. I’m proud to be among people who truly care about others – no matter their religion, race, age, sexual orientation, whatever. We do care and we stick together.  Be who you are and we’ll support your happiness.

 

 

Foresight 2021

Moving forward, we will be starting strategy meetings – and our monthly meetings will resume. 

 

We’ve been censored on social media, so we’ve started a new group on Nextdoor.  It’s called Santa Cruz County Conservatives and the link is (HERE).  Invite your friends!  It’s just beginning, and modeled after a couple other counties who are having great success in communicating privately, so join us!  It is a private group, so you either need to be registered as a Republican, or have a good reason not to be to be admitted. 

 

Other areas of strategy and ways to get involved: 

 

Recruiting and voter registration – there are business groups and organizations we need to become members of and support.  Could be fun and provide strong relationships locally. 

 

 

Membership – if you haven’t become an official member of our local party, now is a great time to do so!  Memberships start at $35.  Start 2021 off supporting our efforts to communicate with every single Republican in our county and also help us support the Recall Gavin effort. It’s been an eye-opening, door-opening experience, for sure.  Click (HERE) to pay your dues for 2021!  

 

 

Events/Speakers – with online meetings, it’s created some good opportunities and we want to capitalize on a few more.  Get involved and help us get together online with interesting topics and speakers.  

 

 

Communication – we could use some help with our website and communications with members.  If you’re good online, please step up and help us out. We’re learning, but could use a few experts in the field to help us move forward and succeed!  Hello!  Happy New Year to you and your families! 

 

 

Our next Central Committee meeting will be online on January 27.  All of our meetings are open to the public and we welcome everyone. This meeting will be laying down the business plan for 2021 (not super invigorating to watch), but the next ones will hopefully include speakers and calls to action.  We will be working on our calendar for the year, so be sure to check back!

 

 

In the meantime, if you’d like to get involved in the RecallGavin campaign, we have a strong local leader who would welcome the help!  You can reach her through our website under ‘Get Involved’ – just fill in your information and she’ll get back to you.

 

Blessings to you and your families for 2021!

Most Sincerely,

Kristen Collishaw

Chair

Santa Cruz County Central Committee