Photo courtesy of the League of Progressive Voters
Knowledge is power. That never changes. As the country’s population ages, seniors are taking charge and getting involved. The League of Progressive Seniors’ (LPS) mission statement reads, “To help rebuild a Wisconsin that values all families and individuals, invests in critical public services and commits to real democratic decision-making at all levels of government.”
Off the Cuff spoke with the League’s board members Karen Royster, David Weingrod and Sally Callan about why the organization is a force for change, social and economic justice and committed to protecting services for people who are elderly or disabled.
How did the organization begin?
K.R.: We got started in late 2015. Many of us had been activists, and we noticed there was not an organization of senior activists that was politically visible. We thought we could use our experience to build a network to present a united front around issues that affect seniors.
D.W.: Another factor is that most of us are uneducated about how our county and city run. A lot of it is providing information in understanding how budgets work. When we hear “We don’t have enough money”…
S.C.: The goal is to be informed as well as advocates.
K.R.: Congressional members care about getting reelected. They listen to the people who vote for them and the people who donate.
What are issues where LPS has gotten results?
K.R.: The first issue was family care. There was a bill to privatize family care services and reduce access. We worked with people on the North Shore to pressure Sen. Alberta Darling, who was chair of the committee. She herself had family members with long-term care issues. The group of people who met with her spoke from personal experience. And Darling never brought the issue up—so it worked. Publicizing issues, getting directly involved and fighting for those issues was effective.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
What does LPS do to raise the organization’s profile?
D.W.: We attended town hall meetings and challenged Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner when President Trump set out to dismantle Obamacare. We encouraged people to attend these meetings, to speak out and be heard—make them visible and bring the press in. We were going out of our way to be demonstrably loud, not sit back like this was a normal discussion on the pros and cons.
Meeting over health care issues, a Mother’s Day March, coordination with other Wisconsin progressive groups—after Obamacare survived (for now at least), what was next?
S.C.: In 2018, when Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele sought to close the David Schulz Aquatic Center, the proposed budget cut hit home. That was one of the issues that brought the crisis of the county budget into focus. The bad news was they put it on the chopping block. The good news was we had a neighborhood that was organized through the Lincoln Progressive Seniors offering skills and information. We organized mostly grandmothers and kids who spoke to county supervisors. I think it was the most exciting thing we did as a neighborhood. And we won, I think, because it was wrong to cut that pool. We were talking truth.
D.W.: Government likes to talk about open discussion, but they [meetings and hearings] are maybe not well publicized. We worked on bringing lots people with us. With the deliberations for cutting senior centers, we brought in lots of people from the centers to the meetings and help to force them from making any cuts.
