Monthly vigils at Rep. Schiff's office

[Brian]

For the past three years, Roberta has organized a vigil on the third Wednesday every month outside Rep. Adam Schiff's district office in Pasadena, then she’d go inside to present letters and petitions signed by participants and passersby. Brown Bag Lunch Vigils were initiated nationwide by Progressive Democrats of America and promoted on its website. After PDA scaled back the vigils to bimonthly, Roberta and other loyal attendees stuck with the monthly schedule. I was lucky to get off work a few times to join them.

Schiff's old office is not in his redrawn district, so he's moved to 245 E. Olive Ave. in Burbank, two blocks from where I work. So if Roberta's coming on Wednesday, January 16, from noon to 1 p.m., I'll be there too.

[anni]

WooHoo! Count me in, too!

[Brian]

Progressive Democrats of America has all but erased Brown Bag Lunch Vigils from its website. Under "Take Action!" on the right side of the page, if you click on "Start a Brown Bag Lunch Vigil," you get an error link.

Instead, the PDA wants each constituent to sign the PDA's Educate Congress letter on budget positions advocated by Rep. Keith Ellison, then drop it off inside their House representative's district office. Here's the PDA's webpage for our 28th District this Wednesday:

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The PDA will no longer promote any vigil we have. And the letter drop campaign isn't conducive to lunch hour sidewalk organizing. The weighty letter covers a host of issues (and none of them addressing war or peace). The PDA wants each letter bearing constituent to go upstairs, identify himself or herself as a PDA member, then post a photo taken inside the district office on Flickr.

[Brian]

Roberta, Anni and I were in front of Rep. Adam Schiff's new district office in Burbank starting at noon Wednesday. No other Brown Bag Lunch Vigil participants from the past three years in Pasadena came. Before the hour was up, we went upstairs to Schiff's office, introduced ourselves and gave the PDA letter we signed to his receptionist. Anni took a photo of Roberta and me there.

Compared to Schiff's old neighborhood in Pasadena -- or the sites of the weekly peace vigils in Montrose and Glendale -- the Burbank location is a lousy place to try to engage with pedestrians and to reach drivers and passengers with signs. The sidewalk is almost always vacant, despite its proximity to City Hall -- parking is around the corner. And because the office building on Olive Avenue is halfway between the nearest intersections, the vehicles invariably pass at top speed.

[anni]

And here's the picture proof!



Please note Rep. Schiff's picture on the wall behind Roberta's left shoulder! We didn't even plan that!

[Sharon W]

You guys look very professional!