Read This If You’re Going to the Pima County Board of Supervisors Meeting Tuesday Morning, Nov. 22

Planning on going to the Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting at 130 W. Congress Avenue at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Tuesday, November 22^nd, to tell the board in no uncertain terms that to vote NO on the proposal to give Monsanto a tax break? We’re counting on you! Please join us as we fight against this outrageous idea!

Here are some things you should know:

• Bring several snacks or mini-meals. It could be a very long day, and they usually don’t stop the meeting for lunch.
• There is no limit to how many people can speak on this issue during the Call to Action. The more people we have passionately speaking against Pima County giving a tax break for Monsanto, the more pressure we put on the supervisors to vote against it.
• If you wish to speak, be sure to fill out a card when you first arrive, and check Call to Action.
• Make sure your statement runs no longer than 3 minutes, or you will be stopped from completing it.
• Make your statement your own. We need people speaking from many different perspectives and backgrounds. Please don’t ever think that what you have to say isn’t important. It is.
• If you want to come to the meeting but don’t wish to give a statement, the best strategy is to still fill out a card, check Call to Action, and when your name is called, say, “I do not wish to give a statement, but I want to go on record as saying I vehemently oppose a tax break for Monsanto” or something to that effect.
• We need the meeting room to fill up! If the meeting room gets full, the overflow of people will be directed into the lobby or hallway outside the meeting room, and there is a TV screen there at which you’ll be able to watch the whole proceedings. If you end up with lots of people in the hallway, be vocal out there!

We’re fighting for the food system we want and deserve in Pima County, and there is no place for multinational chemical corporation Monsanto in that. Going to a very long meeting downtown may not be easy, but it’s important that we the people speak out en masse and put democracy into action!

If you need to get filled in on the details of Monsanto’s proposed plans in Pima County, see the original article I wrote, A Call to Action for Pima County and Arizona Citizens and Visitors.

If you’d like to read all the citizens-oriented articles in the “Stop Monsanto in Pima County” collection of articles on my blog, click here.

Finally, if you feel like you need more inspiration to get involved to protect our local land and food system, be sure to watch the 30-minute video, Molokai MOM: Standing Up to GMO. We showed it at the Stand Up to Monsanto community meeting at the Oro Valley Public Library on Saturday, and the crowd loved it. The short, inspiring film fired up most of the audience to come to the board meeting!

Thank you in advance for joining us at the meeting downtown on Tuesday morning and helping us fight to protect the Pima County community that we love!

Copyright 2016 Melissa Diane Smith