RoxVote Coalition to host first picnic with city, state elected officials

Below is an update from The RoxVote Coalition posted here at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13:

Due to the prediction of thunderstorms this afternoon and evening, we are postponing today’s planned “Picnic with Our Elected Officials” until Weds. August 17th, same time 5:30–7:30 PM, same location – grassy area near the Orchard Gardens Community Center at 2 Dearborn Street, Roxbury. The event will go on, rain or shine, on August 17th and we’ll be sure to secure and advertise an indoor location nearby (most likely the Orchard Gardens Community Center), if needed, for that date.

We very much regret the last minute change of plans, and appreciate you spreading the word to your contacts and any community members you had invited. We are in the process of confirming elected officials’ attendance on the rain date and hope you’ll be able to join us then, too, and that you will continue to assist with outreach in the meantime to ensure that a large number of community residents will get to engage directly with their elected officials on Aug. 17th. A revised flyer will be forthcoming shortly and the Facebook event page has been modified.

The following is an announcement from The RoxVote Coalition:

On July 13 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., The RoxVote Coalition will be hosting our first “Picnic with Our Elected Officials” event. With food being served from local vendors, the event will take place at the grassy area next to Orchard Gardens Community Center located at 2 Dearborn Street in Roxbury

The RoxVote Coalition is a growing non-partisan coalition of Roxbury community organizations, resident associations and other establishments who unite around the desire to increase civic engagement in the greater-Roxbury area.

In a social-type gathering, our objective is to increase the community’s accessibility to elected officials – both local and state – whose office hours are not always convenient. Our communities are interested in being educated on what each elected official’s goals are, which committees each of the elected officials serve on and what each of the elected officials have accomplished during their time in office.

The elected city officials who have confirmed their attendance are At-Large City Councilors Felix G. Arroyo and John R. Connolly, District 7 City Councilor Tito Jackson and District 4 City Councilor Charles C. Yancey.

The state elected officials who have confirmed their attendance are State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and State Representatives Gloria Fox, Carlos Henriquez, Liz Malia and Jeffrey Sanchez.

Tentatively, the set up of the event is in the following manner:
5:30 to 5:45 p.m. - Arrival/mingling/serving of food.
5:45 to 5:50 p.m. - Introductions from The RoxVote Coalition.
5:50 to 6:00 p.m. - Introductions from each of the elected official which are no more than one minute.
6:00 to 7:20 p.m. - Elected officials will be seated, and conversations between community members and elected officials will take place. Each elected official will have about 10 minutes to converse with their constituents. In a round robin manner, elected officials will rotate tables after every 10 minutes and move on to the next table.
7:20 to 7:30 p.m. - Closing remarks from The RoxVote Coalition.

The RoxVote Coalition members and supporters include: Boston Workers Alliance ∙ Cornu Management Company, Inc. ∙ Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative ∙ Franklin Park Coalition ∙ Madison Park Development Corporation ∙ Maloney Properties ∙ Massachusetts Senior Action Council ∙ MassVOTE Civic Engagement Initiative Mothers for Justice & Equality ∙ NAACP: Boston Branch ∙ National Black College Alliance’s Greatest MINDS ∙ Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation ∙ Orchard Gardens Resident Association ∙ Think Politics ∙ Wards 4, 9, 11, and 12 Democratic Committees.

For more information about the event and/or The RoxVote Coalition, please contact Hasib Shaikh: 617-849-6321 or [email protected].