What is CSCC?

CSCC is a grassroots organization centered in Union County that also reaches out to the rest of the Central Susquehanna Valley. We seek to be the shortest path from conviction to action. A large group of citizens created CSCC in 2004 in response to their feeling that the U.S. was dangerously off track at home and abroad. We continue to provide opportunities to get involved in ways that fit your life and schedule.

What does CSCC do?

CSCC seeks to connect, inform and empower its members to participate in the democratic process in order to realize our shared, progressive vision of a society that is stronger, freer and more just.

CSCC works to build a regional network of people and organizations working for progressive change. help local citizens to make their voices heard at the local, state and national level. We encourage people to participate in local politics--not just around Election Day through voter registration, candidate recruitment and grassroots campaigning--but also year-round.

CSCC tries to develop events and ideas around the issues that CSCC people say most matter to them.  Here are the results of our 2010 member survey:

Top 5 Issues

1. Clean energy & environment
2. Healthcare
3. Marcellus Shale development
4. State energy development
5. Job and wage growth

We plan to continue to hold events, and advocate progressive views, related to health care and to clean energy in 2011, and will promote other events related to these issues as we learn of them.

CSCC also helps to recruit, train and elect local, state and federal candidates who share our progressive vision. We endorse candidates, but because we are not a PAC, we do not contribute directly to any candidate. We simply share information about candidates and notify our members about opportunities to volunteer.

What has CSCC done in the past year?

In 2010, we hosted 7 regular meetings ("meetups") at the First Baptist Church and Union County Public Library in Lewisburg, covering a wide range of topics and invited speakers. These included:

"The Buffalo Valley Rail-Trail Project" with special guest speaker Trey Casimir, LARA (February 2010)

"It's Primary Election Time!" (May 2010)

"What's Happening With the Thruway?" with special guest speaker Ryan Unger, Principal Program Analyst, SEDA-COG (June 2010)

"What Healthcare Reform Means For You, and What's Next" with special guest speaker Allison Hirsch, Pennsylvania Healthcare Action Network (July 2010)

"CRUDE: The Real Price of Oil" documentary film screening at the Union County Public Library (September 2010)

"Guinea Pigs Atop the Marcellus Shale" with special guest speaker Barb Jarmoska, Responsible Drilling Alliance (October 2010)

"Post-Election Wrap-Up" (November 2010)

We hosted a special discussion forum at the Union County Government Center on energy titled "Energy and How We Pay For It In Pennsylvania: The Next Five Years" (April 2010). Guest speakers included: Stacy Richards (Director, Energy Resource Center, SEDA-COG); Steve Connolley (Owner, Hometown Energy Systems); Preston Boop (Owner, Briar Patch Organic Farms); and William Steinhurst (Consultant, Synapse Energy Economics, Inc.).

We used our email list to promote over 53 local events sponsored by other organizations including the Center for Nonviolent Living, Organizing for America, Pennsylvania Healthcare Action Network, Merrill Linn Conservancy, Union County Democratic Committee, and many others.

We also used our email list to keep members informed about opportunities for local political activism throughout the year, including public meetings with our elected representatives.

Several individuals from CSCC contributed articles to the Williamsport Guardian, and many CSCC people had letters to the editor published in The Daily Item and Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader.

We held two CSCC social events, a family potluck in December and a CSCC picnic in August, to promote friendship and fellowship among our members.

For a copy of our last two Annual Reports, describing these and all our other activities, please click here for 2009, or here for 2010.

Our success is due to the energy of our volunteers. Using the power of technology to communicate and coordinate, we seek to create a shared sense of urgency and agency. What we do is determined by what volunteers want to do.

CSCC Steering Committee for 2011
Jove Graham, Chair
Juli Cooper, Treasurer
Patricia Dudek
Joseph Manzi