Michael Swayze's Community Resources

Blog

  • Blog and Website: New Version

    To all my subscribers, I wish everyone a joyful Hanukkah, a merry Christmas, and a happy Kwanzaa. How are you?

    Since November this webmaster/blogger has been trying to stay busy. The best thing to do following a bad event is to get back to work. These days my work is local politics, voter engagement, and sharing resources. Let me share what I’ve been up to this past month.

    Every webpage, all twenty, have been updated since mid-November. No more broken or dead links.

    You will notice, if you were a subscriber from a few years ago, a new layout. Please excuse the “under construction” look. Some things need some work.

    Two webpages are updated this time of year, NJ Energy Programs and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Feel free to share the links to both pages. Many households are in need of help with there utility and heating bills. The EITC page provides information on a free tax filing program, Direct File, regardless of income.

    The EITC page provides information on the best new program to come along in years, known as Direct File. It is a free tax software program that allows taxpayers to file their federal income tax return directly to the IRS. Rolled out in 2023 as a pilot program in twelve states, it has been made permanent and available this coming tax year in twenty-four states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Since it is a new program, it does not have all the bells and whistles and is useful to individuals who take a standard deduction and do not itemize.Save some of those dollars or get benefits you need.

  • Philly Voter Engagement Linktree

    This list of voter engagement links is produced for the benefit of voters in Philadelphia, across Pennsylvania, and for my fellow Democratic Committeepeople. It originated as “Websites for Philadelphia Committeepeople” in 2018. This new set of links is stored as a Linktree page at https://linktr.ee/phillyvoterengagement.

    The set of voter engagement links were compiled to help voters navigate numerous government voting websites and to make canvassing easier for fellow members of the 22nd Ward Open Caucus. Some have suggested it as a useful smartphone tool. The vast majority of links are useful for voters in any part of the state of Pennsylvania. Please share.

    The links appear in the following order:

  • Court Ruling Supports Rights of Committeepeople

    Early yesterday morning I received an another email from a friend and fellow Democratic Committeeperson, sharing historic news about a court ruling issued on June 3rd. The ruling supports rights of Committeepeople against unjust actions by a Ward Leader, my own.

    Here is his email and the accompanying court ruling.

    “I am pleased to announce that a Court Ruling issued on Friday, June 3rd  by Judge Ann Marie B. Coyle in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas represents a complete victory for the disenfranchised 22nd Ward committee persons, validation for the 22nd Ward Open Caucus, and a precedent-setting ruling for the advancement of the Open Wards movement in Philadelphia.

    “The Court Ruling orders the Philadelphia Democratic Party Chairman Robert A, Brady and the Philadelphia County Democratic Committee  to “specifically direct the 22nd Ward Democratic Executive Committee, including its current Ward Leader Cindy Bass, to provide advanced reasonable notification to permit and promote attendance and full participation including voting of all duly elected 22nd Ward Democratic committee persons at all future meetings of the 22nd Ward Democratic City committee including the organizational meeting on June 6, 2022”

    “The order also directs  City Councilwoman and 22nd Ward Leader City Bass  to “cease and desist from excluding duly elected members from attending and fully participating and voting of duly elected 22nd Ward committee persons in all future meetings” and to ” fairly distribute the normal election paraphernalia accorded to all its members” and to ” apply and govern with the referenced Robert Rules of Order to conduct its meetings and encourage civility among its members” and to be “civil and respectful of differing viewpoints of other members”

    “I have attached the formal copy of the Court Order.

    “Profound thanks to Carla Cain for her courage, to her attorney John Carnes in pursuing this legal remedy that sets a precedent that will reverberate far beyond the 22nd Ward, and finally to those of us enjoined in the 22nd Ward Open Caucus. Together we have demonstrated that given faith, determination, perseverance, and solidarity justice can prevail – even in Philadelphia.”

    Special thanks to Maurice Sampson II, Philadelphia Democratic Committeeperson 22-06, and fellow member of the 22nd Ward Open Caucus for permission to share his statement.

    A copy of the Temporary Restraining Order and Special Preliminary Injunction by The Honorable Anne Marie B. Coyle, Judge for the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas is available here.