I’m here at the Press Conference for the United We Stand Fest that has been planned for UCLA tomorrow. Tuesday of this week, the school notified the organizers that they would not be hosting the event. A replacement venue has not been announced, and it’s due to start in 24 hours. Nothing is happening at the Press Conference yet. No one running things is concerned about the lack of a venue. Rumors are that it will end up in Pauley Pavilion, after all. Apparently, many many people have called the school.
Open Thread for United We Stand Fest
By Jill Pyeatt on May 9, 2014 6:00 PM
Jill Pyeatt
Jill Pyeatt is a small-business owner and jewelry designer from Southern California. She currently serves on the Judicial Committee of the Libertarian Party of CA. She can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
What exactly did this on-again, off-again, event accomplish? Woodstock at least had some good music. Other than a few newspaper and blog pieces about the Pauley Pavilion cancellation, it didn’t really receive any media coverage. In fact, there’s nothing about it in Google News as of 6AM Monday morning. By her own admission on Friday, Christina Tobin said that Free & Equal had already spent about $200,000 promoting the event — and the figure she quoted was apparently before her mysterious financial “angel” belatedly wired UCLA an additional $90,500 earlier in the week in a last-ditch attempt to secure the campus site.
Do people in the third-party community really take the Free & Equal organization seriously — you know, the one acting as a kind of arrogant “gatekeeper” of America’s minor parties that excluded most of the third-party candidates for President from its 2012 presidential debates on the grounds that they weren’t on the ballot in enough states to theoretically win an Electoral College majority, yet conveniently made exceptions for Virgil Goode and the Justice Party’s Rocky Anderson? If they do, that’s really, really sad.
Imagine what a few of the cash-strapped minor-party and independent candidates running this year, including those campaigning against long odds in California’s “Top Two” primary in June — the state where Christina parachuted in from Illinois to run for Secretary of State four years ago — could have done with even a small fraction of those kinds of resources. Just saying.
I know I said that I’d write something up today about the event, but I’m tired from the big weekend and have some Mother’s Day things to do. These photos were taken by a Los Angeles activist named Mike Chickey, who is a man I’ve heard about for years, but I don’t think I’d met until yesterday.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10202782701263422&set=a.10202782699663382.1073741953.1077093564&type=1&theater
It may have been too late to make that happen. Or perhaps he did. Maybe he had something entirely different he needed to do. I don’t know, and can’t even guess; yet I know him a lot better than you do.
“paulie May 11, 2014 at 3:35 pm
Thanks for the reports Jill. Sounds like a good event despite all the location and date changes and various acts and speakers cancelling. Disappointed that Gary Johnson did not make it especially since he passed on other events to schedule this one.”
Since Gary Johnson did not go to the Free & Equal event he should have gone to his own state party convention in New Mexico.
Thanks for the reports Jill. Sounds like a good event despite all the location and date changes and various acts and speakers cancelling. Disappointed that Gary Johnson did not make it especially since he passed on other events to schedule this one.
The 1982 group in Illinois appears to have had little or no relation to Free and Equal and the claim made in the wikipedia article is unsourced and seems suspect. I would not be surprised if the (unknown to me) person who added that to the article made it up or passed along misinformation.
Another panel: Abby Martin, Ben Swann, May Someone, Luke Rudkowski, Sean Stone, Gary Franchi will talk anout independent journalism,
Now Steve Stokes is speaking. He’s running for Congress as an Independent. He also spoke at my meeting in April, but seems to have broken his leg between then and now.
Yes, Matt, I would definitely call this a success!
This band is called Rooftop Revolution. They’re also good.
Now there’s another panel talking about wars and terrorism. Included are Ben Swann, Sean Stone, Dan from PANDA, the woman working to get Chelsea Manning freed, Nick Somebody, Richard Gage. They’re saying the right things! No more war!!!! The crowd has taken up chants a few times tonight.
So, the place is full, or close to it, and people are having a good time, right? If so, doesn’t that mean the event is a success?
Now there’s a hip-hop hop band.
Now, there’s a panel of people; Freddy Someone, Nick Sage, Foster Gamble, Rosa Koire, Jill Stein, and Sean Stone to discuss the environment.
Now there’s a band from San Diego called “Songs of Solidarity”. They’re very good.
There are some tables set up with info for peopl to pick up. At least one of them has info to register to vote.
Now, comedian Lee Camp. He’s funny. The attitude here is great! Everyone is excited. It’s easy to figure who’s here for music versus those here for the speakers.
Now a pretty white girl is singing rap.
I’m pleased to say that the place is full! There was talk of having to turn people away, but I don’t want to leave my seat to find out, because someone will snatch my seat.
The event just started. Christina Tobin spoke for a few minutes, and now someone is playing acoustic guitar and singing, but I missed his name and I don’t think he was listed on the list of performers.
Interesting. Never heard of this Foundation for Free Campaigns and Elections before. No citation. I know Jim Tobin had nothing to do with it. Maybe it was an old dormant organization or something, but they weren’t doing anything in Illinois that anyone in the ballot access movement heard about from at least 2000 until present. Christina Tobin was barely born in 1982. Neither Christina or Jim had ever mentioned that 1982 Foundation.
Trigg got the name from the Illinois Constitution, Article III, Section 3. “All elections shall be free and equal.” Many states have something similar in their Constitutions.
Richard Winger might know about this supposed 1982 organization. Never heard Richard mention it either.
“ILLannoyed May 10, 2014 at 11:45 am
Jim Tobin didn’t start Free & Equal in 1982.”
According to Wikipedia, Free & Equal (or at least the first incarnation of it) was formed in 1982.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_%26_Equal_Elections_Foundation
“The Free & Equal Elections Foundation (Free & Equal) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan, grassroots organization in the United States, the mission of which is to empower American voters through education and advocacy of electoral reforms.[1] Free & Equal was first organized in 1982 as the Foundation for Free Campaigns and Elections, before being formally reorganized in 2008 by Christina Tobin, an American activist and leader in the election reform and voters’ “
I’m here at the event. I got to the theater easily and paid $12 to park right next door. There’s a press room set up which is where I am. This is good, because there long lines on either side! It looks like a young crowd, and I’m sure they’re here for the music. Jill Stein was right in front of me at the bag check, and Richard Gage is being interviewed here in the corner of the room.
I wonder if anyone is located at the place where it was going to be to redirect people to the new venue?
Free & Equal via mail89.atl11.rsgsv.net
2:19 PM (0 minutes ago)
to me
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Dedicated supporter,
United We Stand Festival is ON at the historic Belasco Theater in Los Angeles!
Join our gathering of creative, spiritual, intellectual and political leaders to unite and empower young voters this Saturday May 10
Tickets are Free ~ All are Welcome
Festival organizers are thrilled to announce that the United We Stand Festival will be held today, May 10, at The Belasco Theater, 1050 S Hill Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Doors open at 4PM and the show starts at 5PM.
Christina Tobin, founder and chair of Free and Equal, stated:
“We are creators of our own fulfillment, and when creating something that entails actual real change, obstacles will be in the way. But I will not give up. I am committed to activism to create a better world, and I am playing my part in advocating for a balanced economy, sustainable environment, and level playing field for all. I am also very dedicated to elevating women’s leadership on the critical issues of our present times and ensuring women are equally represented throughout our society.”
“We are so very grateful to The Belasco Theater for accommodating Saturday’s festival with less than 24 hours notice. This event sets up an even greater path for future festivals. We look forward to producing an inspiring and empowering event for our talent and guests today.”
Click here or on the image above to watch the video of Christina Tobin addressing United We Stand Fest talent and supporters on May 9th.
Original tickets purchased will be honored at the new venue. People who purchased non-refundable tickets, through IndieGoGo and elsewhere, will get priority entrance and seating. All Ticketmaster purchases have been automatically refunded. However, due to inconveniences to ticket buyers, Free and Equal will now be offering free admission for all event attendees.
About United We Stand Festival
Free & Equal Elections Foundation, the grassroots organization that in 2012 hosted the open presidential debate moderated by television legend Larry King, will gather iconic musicians, intellectuals, and activists to empower American’s voting youth to hold their elected leaders accountable for free and equal elections. The “United We Stand” University Bus Tour will launch this educational movement May 10, 2014. The festival co-sponsored by a number of socially-responsible businesses including Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, Nature’s Path Organic, and Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, and numerous grassroots activist organizations brings together various perspectives which are not currently represented in Washington.
Musical headliners include founding members of Wu-Tang Clan, Immortal Technique, The Siren, Paul Masvidal of Cynic, Tatiana Moroz, Rooftop Revolutionaries, A-Alikes, Luminaries, Kellee Maize, Jon Goodhue, Sounds of Solidarity, and more.
Speakers include Larry King (media legend), Chuck D of Public Enemy, Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield (Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream; via video), Dennis Kucinich (former Ohio Representative), Marianne Williamson (New York Times bestselling author & independent congressional candidate, CA-33), David Bronner (CEO of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps), and Sean Stone (son of Oliver Stone, host of Buzzsaw).
For a full list of performers and speakers, click here.
Warmest regards,
The Free & Equal Team
Thanks for the background, ILLannoyed.
Jim Tobin didn’t start Free & Equal in 1982. Jeff Trigg created the first version of it in 2002, Free & Equal Elections Coalition of Illinois, to push for better ballot access legislation in Illinois. They got bills introduced to try to make ballot access better, and they helped organized the lawsuit Lee v. Keith which resulted in Illinois election law being ruled unconstitutional as it violated the 1st and 14th amendments. Richard Winger and COFOE were essential in the successful Lee v. Keith ruling as well. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2005 that Lisa Madigan did not appeal to SCOTUS.
In 2004, Trigg and Free & Equal Elections Coalition held a press conference at Jim Tobin’s office to help fight the Democrats effort to kick Ralph Nader off the ballot. Several “other” parties were at the press conference and volunteered on Nader’s petition challenge. Several news stories from the press conference quoted Trigg as the leader of Free & Equal at that time. Nader tried to hire Trigg away from the LP to defend his petitions, but that didn’t happen so Christina Tobin was suggested and hired by Nader for the petition challenge. Nader got kicked off the ballot anyway, which is Illinois for ya.
After getting Badnarik and Jerry Kohn on the statewide ballot in 2004, Trigg was booted from the LP IL and went to work for Jim Tobin in 2005, which is when Christina Tobin took over the “organization”, or more accurately, she re-created it. Christina’s Free & Equal was created in 2006 but was inspired or influenced or whatever by Trigg’s Free & Equal from 2002. Trigg’s just dealt with getting legislation introduced in Illinois (which they did every session for 4 years although none passed because of Michael Madigan) and with lawsuits against Illinois election law (Lee v. Keith) and he mostly dropped out of activism after a Parkinson’s diagnosis. Trigg helped with Christina’s Free & Equal a little bit, but she created what it has done and become. For what its worth.
I was in the car with Gary Johnson last month when he was told he would be speaking there (it had been announced for months before that). He was very surprised and excited 🙂
Thanks for the updates Jill. I really hope that the event goes smoothly despite the issues going on. I hear Gary Johnson is coming to event. Everyone who is going have fun and promote the cause. If someone needs to be fired then so be it but I wish for it to be great event.
Good reporting, Jill. Look forward to hearing more about this event.
Good point, Clay. Christina Tobin showed up about 7:30 and told us all about this week, and the frantic search for a place to meet. It was utterly astonishing, but I’ll tell you all about that tomorrow. i wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from going, and I’ll write a longer report tomorrow night or Sunday morning.
There will be tremendous talent tomorrow, and I expect the night to go well in spite of what I’ll call “little to no” planning. They have found a theater in downtown Los Angeles which will seat 1800 that will host the event. They announced the address, but I couldn’t hear it. They told us there would be an announcement written for Facebook that we can all share and tweet to get the word out. I’ll do so as soon as I see the announcement.
Special thanks to both Alex Fidel and Derek Leininger, who are both great young men who worked, very very hard for the event.
So, more milling about. I saw Jill Stein in a corner surrounded by lots of people. I met a young man named Justin who proudly to me he’d stated a political party called the “After-Party”, who was delighted to hear that I knew about it and that there had been an article posted here about it. I had a conversation with a woman I liked very much called Pamela Donnelly, who has written a book about education reform. She also has been working with Marianne Williamson in her campaign (Ms. Williamson wasn’t there tonight. I spoke with Rosa Koire, who wrote “Beyond the Green Door” (or something similar) about Agenda 21, and met Luke Rudlowski, the fouinder of We Are Change. I saw Dan, the young founder of P A N DA. I met a woman who works full time at trying to get a pardon for Chelsea Manning..
More soon–
I think Free and Equal are having the same problem Americans Elect had. They’re trying to start a movement, but they don’t have a compelling figure at the center.
Okay, so I went to the Press Conference tonight. There were maybe 40 or 50 people there. No one had name tags, so most of us started conversations with something like “Hello, my name is Jill Pyeatt. Are you speaking tomorrow, or are you here as a member of the press?” I met some interesting people, and several that I thought were really extraordinary.
We were milling about in about three rooms by the bar, but there was a room off the main room that had three long chairs assembled in a big ‘U’ with chairs set around it. It appeared that it was set up as a panel, which made sense since we were at a press conference. It got to be about 6:45, so the friend I made, Carlita, and I decided to ask when the panel would start. The answer was, “well, we don’t know, We should know if there will be one in about 15 minutes.”
To be continued
“Deran May 9, 2014 at 11:54 pm
Randy said ‘These “petitioner’ monkeys are riffraff and bums, basically hobos with clipboards. ”
hobos? Hmm, who likes to use the word hobo a lot?
I thought CLC got banned?”
It is probably the same person posting under multiple names.
Randy said “These “petitioner” monkeys are riffraff and bums, basically hobos with clipboards. ”
hobos? Hmm, who likes to use the word hobo a lot?
I thought CLC got banned?
“Randy May 9, 2014 at 11:04 pm
These “petitioner” monkeys are riffraff and bums, basically hobos with clipboards. Who cares if they get “cheated” out of money they don’t deserve for the incredibly easy “work” they do? Besides, they lie constantly – for a living and for fun – so why should anyone believe anything they say, including claims about getting cheated, broken promises or whatever? And the irony of these ingrate assholes calling the greatest petition coordinator of all times an ingrate and an asshole is just too much!”
LOL! If it was really so easy then petition proponents would not have to pay out so much money to get on the ballot. The reason they have to pay is because it is difficult work that most people do not want to do, or in some cases, are unable to do.
It is unethical to not pay people money that they are owed, whether it is a petition circulator, a carpenter, a plumber, a pool cleaner, the person who mows your lawn, etc…
Sean Haugh the greatest petition coordinator of all time?!?!?!? Now that is just silly. Nobody seriously believes this.
These “petitioner” monkeys are riffraff and bums, basically hobos with clipboards. Who cares if they get “cheated” out of money they don’t deserve for the incredibly easy “work” they do? Besides, they lie constantly – for a living and for fun – so why should anyone believe anything they say, including claims about getting cheated, broken promises or whatever? And the irony of these ingrate assholes calling the greatest petition coordinator of all times an ingrate and an asshole is just too much!
“Randy May 9, 2014 at 10:42 pm
The Texas and Georgia petition drives were run in a highly competent and professional way by Sean Haugh, the greatest petition coordinator who ever lived. ”
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know petitioners who worked on those drives. They said that the drives were a mess, and that they got cheated out of money, and that there were several broken promises. They also said that Sean Haugh was useless, and was a nightmare with whom to deal, and that he was an ingrate and an asshole. Sean Haugh was fired from Free & Equal during the petition drive in Georgia after he had one of his crazy freak outs.
Now I’ve got to wonder if “Randy” is Sean Haugh.
The Texas and Georgia petition drives were run in a highly competent and professional way by Sean Haugh, the greatest petition coordinator who ever lived. Petition mercenaries are the scum of the earth and deserve even less than what they got, and should be happy they were paid anything. They should have volunteered or worked for twenty to twenty five cents a signature. Christina Tobin is an evil little witch who double crossed the great Sean Haugh and tried to blame him for her thievery and drunken incompetence.
Andy
May 9, 2014 at 10:36 pm
“How about divulging this information?”
Perhaps one day it will be in a book, but I certainly don’t have the strength in my fingers for such a dissertation tonight.
It just boggles my mind that people can still be persuaded to give money to this organization.
“JP Quick May 9, 2014 at 10:33 pm
As someone who knows more about Free & Equal’s shenanigans over the years than anyone except perhaps Mrs. Tobin herself, I sincerely hope no one else wastes there money on this debacle of an organization.”
How about divulging this information?
Ugh. ***Their*** money.
Seriously though, I wonder if anyone actually knows the amount of money Free & Equal has blown over the years…
“paulie May 9, 2014 at 10:31 pm
That was the Free and Equal petition company, which was a separate entity from the non-profit Free and Equal Elections Foundation, at least in theory. Christina Tobin head(ed) both of them up though, and used contacts built through the non-profit to steer work to her company, which not coincidentally had the same name.”
Yes, but they were both shells operated by the same person.
Incidentally, I found something on-line that said that it was actually Christina Tobin’s father, Jim Tobin, who started Free & Equal back in the 1982. Apparently the “organization” sat dormant for a long time until Christian resurrected it.
As someone who knows more about Free & Equal’s shenanigans over the years than anyone except perhaps Mrs. Tobin herself, I sincerely hope no one else wastes there money on this debacle of an organization.
That was the Free and Equal petition company, which was a separate entity from the non-profit Free and Equal Elections Foundation, at least in theory. Christina Tobin head(ed) both of them up though, and used contacts built through the non-profit to steer work to her company, which not coincidentally had the same name.
“Jill Pyeatt May 9, 2014 at 10:13 pm
OMG, just wait until you hear my report. I’ve met some very interesting people, and I’ve really enjoyed myself. I predict, however , that this event will destroy Free and Equal, or, at the very least make it and Christina no longer a force to be respected.”
Free & Equal was already pretty much destroyed from the clusterfuck petition drives they had in Texas and Georgia in 2010. The Texas one made it, but only because they got a ton of money from Republicans. The Georgia stuff failed to make the ballot. There were many petition circulators who left both of those petition drives upset over the shoddy way that got treated and a lot of them got ripped off on their pay. I don’t think that Free & Equal has had any petition drives since then.
It will be interesting to see what happens if this event turns out to be a bust.
…waiting with bated breath!
Christina is very resilient 🙂
Looking forward to your write-up, or give me a call.
OMG, just wait until you hear my report. I’ve met some very interesting people, and I’ve really enjoyed myself. I predict, however , that this event will destroy Free and Equal, or, at the very least make it and Christina no longer a force to be respected.
In addition to the music acts they are also supposed to have a lot of speakers as well. I think the idea is that the music acts will get more attendees to hear the speakers than would come for the speakers without the music. I guess we will see how it goes tomorrow.
This has just been a complete disaster. Numerous postponements, and now they don’t even have a venue. And please, Free & Equal, don’t try to blame this on UCLA, it’s due to your own incompetence. Plus, how is a hippie jam-fest packed with musical acts past their prime supposed to advance opposition politics? Waste of time, waste of money, waste of resources. I was a F&E fan after the two amazing debates from 2012. They’ve almost completely lost me.
I’m hoping so too. I guess we’ll see.
I’m hoping the lack of further posts or comments means the press conference actually happened & had good news about the venue…?