Lori Askeland for Miami Twp Trustee (Greene County, O.): Neighborhood conversations, meet candidates Moir & Askeland in a beautiful barn, LWV video

Dear people! I am excited to share a few updates on my campaign--

1) meet & greet in a beautiful barn next week--Oct 1, 6 pm! RSVP! deets below!

2) Neighborhood Conversations in YS for local candidates begins this Sat Sept 27 - meet at 10 AM!--we could use your help! More deets below or email me and

3) League of Women Voters video forum with me and candidate Marilan Moir (Jed Hanna invited but not available) posted!

A quick aside: you may have noticed the Askeland yard signs mentioned last week are now popping up around the Township and villages! I'm slowly getting them out there. Especially if you don't see any in your neighborhood or on your road, I'd be happy to get a yard sign to you. Just shoot me a response! ($10 donation appreciated--check to Friends of Lori Askeland, cash, or online--but easily waived).

1) Please come meet/greet candidates Moir and Askeland in a beautiful barn, Wed Oct 1, 6-7:30! I'd love to see friendly supportive faces at a meet the candidates event this coming week in a beautiful barn out in the rural township, hosted by the farm owner. She will be inviting many of her own friends and neighbors, and capacity is a little limited, but there will be heavy appetizers plus wine/beer/ soft drinks, on what we hope will be a lovely fall evening, this coming Wed. October 1, 6 pm. Please let me know if you want to come and I will send you the details! Above is a photo that gives a glimpse of the dancefloor she's had polished up, and the loft she built! There is also outdoor seating with a beautiful view of the farm, weather permitting.

2) Neighborhood Conversations! (aka Canvassing) Lindie K. is heading up our Yellow Springs canvassing for the local Dems*! "We are starting a campaign of neighborhood conversations (aka canvassing), and we need you to talk to your neighbors. We'll train you! You can bring a friend or be paired with someone with experience. The suggested words we will use to help get out the vote were written by us and for us! Right here in YS, and right now!

Here are the details! Saturdays at 10 a.m. Spend a couple hours. Bring a charged phone (with Minivan downloaded, if possible) and a bag to carry campaign literature. Wear good walking shoes. Bring a friend or two. Help preserve democracy." Email askeland4trustee@gmail.com for more details about where and when.

3) The Dayton League of Women Voters (DLWV) "Meet the Candidates" Video for MT (Greene) is up and ready for viewing here, featuring Marilan Moir and me! Every election, DLWV invites all candidates to voluntarily share their brief bios and their answers to set questions in two formats--a print/ digital election guide with written answers to a few questions (which has not yet been released, so far as I can Google), and video.

I was a little nervous at first, but I think I come into my stride as the conversation goes on!

(Just as an FYI the DLWV Yellow Springs Village Council forum is here. The other local races--YS school board, YS mayor, Clifton Council--do not seem to have video conversations available.)

FINALLY: *A note on party affiliation and this race: * The canvassing will be for candidates who filled out the "preferred candidate forms" for the Greene County Democratic Party (which helps ensure that candidates have been examined about problematic things like driving with expired or revoked drivers' licenses) and then also responded to an invitation to participate in canvassing with volunteers who would help encourage voting and distribute their materials.

AND It is ALSO true that all of the local races are non-partisan offices.

So: I believe it is better for everyone concerned if candidates are simply honest about who we are and where we stand: I am a precinct captain for the Greene County Democratic Party, and I have always been open about my party affiliation--despite my own serious misgivings about the state of the National Democratic Party, which I often disagree with. But I stay and work in the party because I believe in these core values. And I believe the dangers of one-party rule in this state are very real, including very serious corruption issues. I'm not naive!--corruption can arise in any party that doesn't have to engage with voters because they have rigged the rules in favor of their own power. So I am working with the GCDP to reinvigorate local and state politics right here, in ways that are actually attentive 1) to the real needs of ALL the people, no matter what their politics and background--and 2) to the survival of this precious planet, our only viable lifeline.

Resisting corrupt, one-party rule can happen best if we use the tools at our disposal, and the biggest one is the seat at the table automatically given to a second party, the Democratic party, which we also need to hold accountable.

In lieu of a full poem, A STATEMENT BY AUDRE LORDE that I find inspiring: