On June 25, I had the joy of going over to the beloved Publik’s coffee house to participate in Alliance for a Better Utah’s letter-writing party.
The party began at 6:30 p.m. and invited the community to pen letters to Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, calling for accountability.
Lee had been showing Utah in a less than favorable light with his comments and actions, from mocking the assassination of a Democratic leader to proposing to sell off millions of acres of public land to the highest bidder. Many have found themselves dissatisfied with his policies – myself included.
When I arrived, there was already a long line stretching around Publik as people waited to enter and check in. Based on RSVPs alone, there had to be an estimated 350 people. But when I went inside, even more people were being written in.
I thought the party would have a good attendance, but nothing prepared me for the sheer turnout of the event. It was frankly incredible to see so many coming in to make their voices heard. I saw people, young and old, all writing their notes on scraps of paper, cards, and postcards.
I spoke to some of the people there to get a consensus of why people had come to the event, and got enlightening responses.
“It’s about community,” one person told me. Another individual let me know that she and her compatriot worked in mental health, and they both thought the recent WIC cuts, a special supplemental nutrition program for woman, infants and children, were horrendous.
I also had the chance to speak to some of the coordinators of the event, Jackie Morgan and Gabi Finlayson.
“Today’s event is certainly not just about one bad bill or one bad tweet — it’s about a track record of Mike Lee not representing Utah or the needs of Utahns or his constituents and consistently and constantly doing what is best for him, for his donors and for the national GOP [Grand Old Party],” Finlayson said. “This is not partisan, it’s personal.”
What made the event so incredible was the community effort in having its voices be heard over the drum of government officials, like Sen. Lee, who seem to be writing bills to line their own pockets instead of for the good of the people.
“People are really excited right now; they’re really fired up and really angry because of so many things that are happening,” Morgan said. “And we are seeing protests across the country, but we like to see things that are actually taking action, and people writing their senator and being able to actually get in front of them — hopefully have their senator listen to the things that they’re saying — is the best thing some can do right now.”
Morgan added that events like the Dear Utah letter-writing party is also about “being able to come together and meet some new friends and new people in Salt Lake.”
Finalyson and Morgan both hope to have more events like this in the future. To get involved, check out the organization’s website, call 801-893-2281 or write an email.
