ADA President Emeritus, former U.S. Representative Jim Jontz Dies
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) mourns the passing of our president emeritus Jim Jontz who lost a valiant battle against cancer on Saturday, April 14th. He was at his home in Portland, OR with family. Jim was 55.
Jim was born in Indianapolis on December 18, 1951. He graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington earning a degree in geology. He also did graduate work at Purdue and Butler.
Jim made a name for himself as a hard charging activist in his home state of Indiana by taking to the streets by foot and often on bicycle. He had a flair for overcoming the traditional ideological trends and won election by 2 votes over the reigning Republican Indiana State House Majority Leader to begin his service in the state legislature at the age of 23. He served 10 years in the House before serving 2 years in the Indiana Senate. In 1986 he ran and won election to the U.S. House and served there until his defeat in the 1992 election. Jim ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1994.
Jim continued his activism throughout his life as a powerful voice for working families and in support of environmental protection often bringing labor and trade activists together with the environmental community.
He served as ADA National President from 1998-2002 and as ADA President Emeritus from 2002 until his death.
For the past several years Jim was coordinator of the Working Families Win project of the ADA. The project began in 2004 in an effort to educate candidates for President and Congress about fair trade and environmental issues. The project grew to 38 organizers strong in late 2006 to engage and educate thousands of local activists around the country in support of working family issues such as fair trade, outsourcing, minimum wage increases, and affordable healthcare as well as in support of candidates with likeminded platforms. The project continues today with organizers in 5 states.
The ADA family sends its best wishes to Jim's mother and sister as well as the legions of Jim's supporters and friends.
Jim asked that memorial contributions be made to the ADA Education Fund to help fund Working Families Win.
Please share your stories about or memories of Jim in the comments section below.
Here's one from ADA Board Member Hans Johnson
Jim was born in Indianapolis on December 18, 1951. He graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington earning a degree in geology. He also did graduate work at Purdue and Butler.
Jim made a name for himself as a hard charging activist in his home state of Indiana by taking to the streets by foot and often on bicycle. He had a flair for overcoming the traditional ideological trends and won election by 2 votes over the reigning Republican Indiana State House Majority Leader to begin his service in the state legislature at the age of 23. He served 10 years in the House before serving 2 years in the Indiana Senate. In 1986 he ran and won election to the U.S. House and served there until his defeat in the 1992 election. Jim ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1994.
Jim continued his activism throughout his life as a powerful voice for working families and in support of environmental protection often bringing labor and trade activists together with the environmental community.
He served as ADA National President from 1998-2002 and as ADA President Emeritus from 2002 until his death.
For the past several years Jim was coordinator of the Working Families Win project of the ADA. The project began in 2004 in an effort to educate candidates for President and Congress about fair trade and environmental issues. The project grew to 38 organizers strong in late 2006 to engage and educate thousands of local activists around the country in support of working family issues such as fair trade, outsourcing, minimum wage increases, and affordable healthcare as well as in support of candidates with likeminded platforms. The project continues today with organizers in 5 states.
The ADA family sends its best wishes to Jim's mother and sister as well as the legions of Jim's supporters and friends.
Jim asked that memorial contributions be made to the ADA Education Fund to help fund Working Families Win.
Please share your stories about or memories of Jim in the comments section below.
Here's one from ADA Board Member Hans Johnson
31 Comments:
Jim is ever riding the wind, championing progressive change in our world, calling to all kindred spirits of the Earth: dwell in peace, justice and love.
We have lost a great leader and champion of environmental and social justice issues. Jim's career and his tireless activism have made our nation a better place.
My friend, my champion, my mentor -- there are no words. Jim was always the gentleman -- the knight on the white horse.
He would want all of us to continue his work and not be afraid of challenge and cynicims. He was one in a million and the earth has lost much in his passing.
Jim was the first person I ever met who made the link for me between electoral politics and grassroots activism. Things have never been the same ever sense. My decision to run for Secretary of State comes out of this journey -- and I am proud to say that Jim was nearly the first person in the coutry to call me up and urge me to jump into electoral politics when he heard I was considering this run. His wit and wisdom will be missed - but so much of what he gifted to us will stay forever.
More Action, Less Talk.
I friend of mine died of colon cancer on Saturday. He was 55. He had advanced colon cancer that had spread to his liver over the past two years. I know now that he knew he was dying. He was getting chemo every two weeks on a Monday and had negotiated with the Docs to let him have a pump for the next two days so that he could get two of his three days of chemo "on the road". The chemo as for maintenance, not for cure. I think he was well aware of that but never discussed it.
He was an activist, an environmentalist, a tireless advocate for working families. He spent most of his time crisscrossing the country, meeting with labor and the organizers that he had cultivated in several states. He was on the phone constantly and when he wasn't on the phone, he was answering hundreds of e-mails. He talked very little unless it was to settle a personnel problem in a given state or to buck up a discouraged staff person. He took the chemo with all its lousy side effects to keep himself going, to keep doing all of these things.
He had a wry sense of humor about politics...saw it for exactly what it was but was never discouraged by what he saw. He was in politics for many years so he knew what that life was all about. He took his knowledge of politics and used it.
I think he was fatalistic about his future but he never lost hope in the goodness of this country. He never gave up on peoples' capacity to see what is right and to act to make things right. He did and did and did...right up to the last week of his life. The last week!
When he was here, we would walk in the woods. Those walks were about the only time I could pry him away from the telephone or the laptop. And he knew the name of every tree and its history. He knew the plants and the birds. He's gone now, as with many good and valuable people, they leave us too soon. But he left me with one unmistakeable lesson, less talk, more action and action in the face of terrible hardship
Jim was a mentor, friend, inspiration and hero to so many of us. His loss is nearly impossible to adequately describe, but suffice it to say that his legacy will surely live on. On April 6, I went to Oregon with two friends and former colleagues to say a very difficult goodbye and give Jim all the encouragement we could. The outpouring of calls and notes that he received from so many people he touched was truly ovewhelming; it reflected his lifelong commitment to making this world a better place, one person, one issue at a time.
Jim made a difference to an extraordinary number of people over the years: the Hoosiers who wanted a local dam stopped and launched him into politics in 1974, family farmers who struggled to make ends meet, Vietnam veterans who desperately sought readjustment counseling, every American who wanted to preserve our nation's great forests and natural areas for future generations, and workers in the U.S. and around the world who fought for fair trade rules and economic justice.
Jim's time with us was far too short. He didn't waste any of the precious minutes that he was given, even when things got very rough. Every time I walk in the woods, where he was truly at peace, I will think of him, I will thank him, and I will miss him.
The world is a lot less intereting in the wake of Jim Jontz's passing. As a regional representative and later regional director for the Sierra Club's Midwest office I worked on two of his congressional races, running GOTV for him in Grant and South Lake Counties (he won both races for the record). He and I became good friends over the years, and he stayed in touch with me, visiting me here in Sacramento last year. No one campaigned harder than Jim Jontz. He knocked on thousands of doors. His campaign hallmark was meeting workers at the factory gates as they left the graveyard shift on Election Day. He would be out there from 3:00 am on. He wore out many a campaign worker. I once drove him on a campaign swing through a really rural part of his mainly rural congressional district (CD), along identical two-lane roads through miles of indistinguishable corn fields stretching ion every direction. Shortly after starting our drive he fell fast asleep. I drove for more than an hour until we hit a "T" in the road. Seemingly still-asleep he said "make a right". He literally knew that CD in his sleep. Another time he asked me why I hadn't requested he cosponsor an acid rain bill. I told him that we felt it would hurt him in his CD. He promptly cosponsored the bill. I really liked that odd Hoosier. He won his first electoral race (defeating the Majority Leader of the Indiana State Senate) by two votes. That is not an error. He won by two votes. I believe he was also a founder of the Hoosier Environmental Council. Our Sierra Club members loved him and would travel from all over Indiana to work on his electoral campaigns.
I will miss him.
Carl Zichella
CA/NV/HI Regional Director
Sierra Club
Davis, California
Jim was both an indefatigable, effective advocate for economic and social justice and the environment… AND a mentor and inspiration to many, including me. His passing is an enormous personal loss to all of those whose lives this gentle, brilliant man touched. By nature of the quality of Jim's personality and what his life’s work accomplished, his mission and his values live on. People often say things like that when someone has passed. In Jim’s case it is undeniably true.
As a member of Congress, Jim was an organizer extraordinaire - always providing strategy and a plan, often from a corner of the Rayburn room off the floor of the House where his allies awaited his wisdom between votes. A few weeks ago I dug out a legal pad from 1991 to read Jim the hilarious notes from our first meeting, in the Rayburn Room when I just started lobbying against Fast Track. On the margins of strategy ideas and to-do items Jim proposed, I had written a note to Evy Dubrow who was also attending the meeting and knew all about Congress, asking: “Does this guy always talk like a campaigner? Are there any others who do? Why haven’t we met with them yet?”
As the first Executive Director of the Citizens Trade Campaign, the national labor, environmental, consumer, family farm and faith coalition, Jim was an organizer extraordinaire helping to visualize and then create the nation's powerful fair trade movement. It was Jim who helped create CTC, yet another of his many lasting legacies. As leader of several environmental organizations, Jim was an organizer extraordinaire delivering real victory for the planet and its inhabitants. His work for ancient forests and in linking environmental and labor folks is known worldwide.
In creating the Working Families Win project for Americans for Democratic Action, Jim was an organizer extraordinaire creating from scratch an impressive program that has transformed the tone of U.S. political discourse on economic and social justice issues. In visualizing and implementing this project, Jim actually DID what many of us dreamed about, pondered -- and needed. He was conducting conference calls and doing funding outreach from his hospital bed to try to ensure this excellent project continues to build.
Because he taught by example and mentored countless young people, he is survived by legions of those who aspire to replicate his tireless, passionate and fearless advocacy for what is right. Jim Jontz raised a "family" of advocates who join him in living Margaret Mead's proverb: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
I worked for Jim for many years in DC when he was the executive director of American lands as the national organizer and years before as an activist in college . He taught me to never give up. There were many times when everyone would be convinced that we had no chance to win but Jim . More often than anyone expected he was right. He believed in the power of the grassroots like no one else I know esp a ex congressman who lived in DC for as long as he did. He taught me how important it was to work with , stand up for, and promote the issues of the grassroots. I was so proud of what we were able to achieve under Jim's leadership. He truly was the most committed and hardest working advocate for the environment and labor rights I have ever met. We have all suffered a great loss. But we must take the spirit of the way Jim fought on these issues as an inspiration to continue all the work he dedicated his life to and continue the fight in his honor.
Liz Butler
Organizing Director ForestEthics
I worked with Jim only occasionally through the Citizens Trade Campaign, but during one fly-in he taught me a lesson I have drawn from many times since. After hopelessly trying to explain an issue Global Trade Watch was considering campaigning on (and complaining that it was probably "too complicated"), he gave it back to me in a compelling 30 second pitch that stuck to common sense and core democratic values. (He was too kind to point out that the problem wasn't the issue, but my narrative!) Since then, whenever I get bogged down in the details I invoke my inner Jim Jontz... He will be missed.
Mr. Jontz was my congressman during his all - too - brief political career, and saddened a lot of people when he gave up the seat.
His views were more indicative of our district than most folks here would / will admit.
We lost track of him after he left the district, but good to know he was still fighting the good fight for all of us, right to the end.
Jim will be remembered by family farmers and the NFFC for his tireless efforts at many levels to connect the issues of fair trade, fair wages, and fair prices. He made those connections in a way that people really understood.
Whether in the House Agriculture Committee on the 1990 Farm Bill, on the streets in Cancun, on conference calls from around the country, or this past summer's NFFC meeting in Tomah, Wisconsin Jim was there to express his support, his vision, and his commitment to the issues we have and will continue to work on.
Thanks for sharing your life's work with all of us.
People who work together become much like an extended family. Jim was a tremendous asset when it came to government relations on behalf of NWU. He understood the shorthand of political expression and I never had to worry that he needed a longer explanation to help craft a message for our CAP committee. But more than that, he'd become a valued friend. I will miss his half-smile, gentle wit and his enthusiasm for social justice and progressive ideals.
As always,
Deb Kozikowski, CAP Chair
National Writers Union
Jim Jontz slogged through rain puddles to attend the 2004 Boston Social Forum where he sat in on different workshops-including those on water policy-he had arrived too early to check into a hotel, so he lugged his suitcase to the Forum. He later attended a 2005 November New Hampshire meeting about water where Maude Barlow was a guest speaker. He took the time to chat with people about whatever issues that concerned them, supplying pointers and potential directions when they might be helpful. He was a think tank with a kind heart and a keen mind.And a ready smile.
Remarks by Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin
Remembering Congressman Jim Jontz
April 17, 2007
Mr. President, I want to say a few words about a friend who died on Saturday. His name was Jim Jontz. For six years, from 1987 to 1993, he represented Indiana’s 5th congressional district in the House of Representatives. That is where I got to know and admire him.
In 1991, the Almanac of American Politics described Jim Jontz as “one of those incredibly hardworking and gifted natural politicians … who has routinely done the impossible.”
Two years ago, Jim was diagnosed with colon cancer that had already spread to his liver. We hoped at the time that he would find a way to “do the impossible” again and defeat his illness. He did manage to fight cancer for two difficult years. But he died on Saturday afternoon at his home in Portland, Oregon.
Jim Jontz defied narrow stereotypes. He was a progressive Democrat who was elected three times by residents of one of the most conservative Republican areas in the country to represent them in Congress.
People used wonder all the time how that was possible. I have some ideas.
For one thing, Jim had a flair for trademarks. He was famous for riding his sister’s rusty blue Schwinn with mismatched tires in parades.
Jim also practiced a very personal style of politics – something he learned from his days as a grassroots organizer. He ran what he called “shoe leather” campaigns. His goal in every campaign was to knock on as many doors and speak personally to as many voters as he possibly could. He owned four pairs of shoes that he rotated in and out of a local shoe repair shop every week. That’s how much “shoe leather” he put into his job. His campaign signs were always shaped like shoes.
Most importantly, Jim Jontz was a bridge builder.
There’s a school of politics that says the way you win campaigns is to divide people into groups and pit them against each other. Jim Jontz was a master of a different, better kind of politics. He worked to build bridges and understanding between groups that too often saw themselves as adversaries: organized labor and environmentalists, and family farmers and environmentalists.
He cared deeply about preserving the land and family farms, and he believed that the best way to preserve family farms was to help farmers be better stewards of their land. That seemed like a strange idea to some people 25 years ago. Today, it seems like common sense.
Because of his bridge-building abilities, Jim was tapped to mediate disputes between farmers and environmentalists during negotiations on the 1990 Farm Bill. One result was a wetlands protection program that that won strong support from farmers, environmentalists and sportsmen. That program has helped save family farms, preserve the natural beauty of the land and protect our supply of clean water. It is part of the great legacy Jim Jontz leaves.
In addition to his important work on the House Agriculture Committee, Jim served on and Education and Labor committees, the House Select Committee on Aging, and on the Veterans Affairs Committee.
On the Veterans Affairs Committee, he worked with another brave man, Lane Evans, to help veterans living with one of the most common but least understood injuries of war: post-traumatic stress disorder. Those efforts, too, are part of Jim’s lasting legacy. We are drawing on that legacy today as so many of our men and women come home from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, needing help to fight the demons in their minds.
And as everyone who knew Jim knew, he was deeply committed to preserving the ancient forests in the Pacific Northwest. That commitment earned him the support of celebrities and others who shared his love of America’s natural treasures. It also won him the enmity of powerful logging interests and their supporters in Congress.
During debate on the 1990 Farm Bill, Jim offered an amendment that would have prevented logging of ancient forests in national parks. A powerful House member in the other party retaliated by drafting legislation that would have allowed the federal government to create a 1 million-acre national forest – smack dab in the middle of Jim congressional district.
In the end, Jim’s efforts to save old-growth forests probably ended his career in Congress. The timber industry targeted him for defeat when he ran for a fourth House term in 1992, and he lost that bid. But that didn’t stop his work.
In 1994, he lost a race for the U.S. Senate – his last campaign.
In 1995, he moved to the Portland, Oregon area, where he continued his work to save ancient forests and preserve the Endangered Species Act.
In 1998, Jim was elected president of Americans for Democratic Action, a position he held for four years before becoming ADA president emeritus. His most recent project for the ADA was leading its “Working Families Win” campaign, which focused on raising the minimum wage, providing working families with affordable health care, and other issues of basic economic justice.
Jim Jontz grew up in Indianapolis and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University in 1973 – after less than three years – with a degree in geology.
He got into politics almost by accident a year later, in 1974. He opposed a dam-building project that he believed threatened his community, so he challenged the project’s chief sponsor -- who happened to be the Majority Leader of the Indiana House – and he won. At 22, he became a political giant killer.
He also served in the Indiana Senate before being elected to Congress in 1986 at the age of 35.
Jim won that first race, against the House Majority Leader, by only two votes. He always believed that he picked up those last two votes when he insisted on campaigning at 10 pm the night before the election at a Laundromat that was still open.
That was Jim Jontz – using every last minute to try to make a difference. It was the way he ran his campaigns – and the way he lived his life. And he did make a difference.
I join many others in offering condolences to Jim’s family: his mother and step-father, and his sister, who lives in Chicago. He was a good man who left a great legacy, and he will be missed.
# # #
An article about Jim from ADA Board member Hans Johnson.
HERE
It seems that only in passing do some learn of the great achievements one person has made.
It seems that only in retrospect is such a persons impact on so many others understood in greater detail.
It seems that only in tragedy do some who knew little of one mans impact and inspiration come to understand that a world existed prior to today and that in that past a great idealist, activist and mentor walked this earth fighting for exactly what I, and so many others, fight for today.
It seems that only when one stops to ponder does one really realize that looking to the past in order to create a better future is not only a good idea; but necessary.
I regret that I was unaware of how great an influence one man had on so many of my present day mentors. I regret even more that I did not look to the past and realize what I had in front of me with Jim and I will look to the future in a much different way because of Jim. I now understand him much more than I did when he was here among us and I thank him for this lesson and send the best of thoughts to him and his family.
I'm very sad to hear of Jim's passing. I got to know him a bit at the Citizens Trade Campaign
meetings in DC, and then spent time with him in Wisconsin going to presidential
campaign rallies, meeting with labor officials, etc. I fondly recall conspiring with Jim at a cafe about how to sidle up to John Edwards and put a fair trade petition in his hands.
Jim was smart, effective, easy to work with,
and he had remarkably progressive politics for someone who made it to Congress.
While doing some reading recently about the NAFTA fight, I've gained even
greater respect for his national leadership on fair trade issues.
Few people are really irreplaceable as national leaders; Jim might be one of them.
Steve Watrous, former coordinator
Wisconsin Fair Trade Campaign
Sorry to hear that Jim is gone. I remember him from the fair trade fights in the 1990s on the Hill. He was a great ally and an inspirational voice for social justice.
Carl LeVan
My first memory of Jim Jontz was as he wsa riding up to my parent's house on tha beat-up bicycle that would become his trademark in the summer of 1986. It was his first campaign for congress and I was 10 years old. It amazed me at the time that someone running for congress woulod come to our small lakeside community (approximately 200 registered voters) and seek my parents' support. Later that summer, I would see him again at the 4-H fair, still riding that bicycle through the streets in the parade, and still able to remeber our last name.
The 80's were hard times for working-class families and mine was no exception, our family of five living off the single income of my Boilermaker father's wages when there was work, unemployment when there was none. Jim knew it was hard for people like us and he worked for the working man his entire career.
He was a familiar sight over the next six years throughout the district, at parades, fish frys, or hosting town hall meetings or campaigning.
I had lost touch with what had happened to Jim after his failed 1994 campaign for Senate, but I often thought of him as I ran my own campaign for Town Council last November, winning that seat by one vote.
He dreamed the impossible dream and inspired far more than I think he ever knew. I know he inspired me to get involved at an early age.
If only we could have more Jim Jontzes in our midst, the world would be a better place.
Godspeed, Jim Jontz, may you continue to fight the good fight.
I'll be wearing my "Jim Jontz for Senate" t-shirt (from his 1994 run for the Senate) to several peace demonstrations and also to a meeting with my new U.S. Representative, Gabrielle Giffords, as a salute to Jim. And when people ask me about the shirt I'll be able to tell them about Jim and his work on behalf of all that is hopeful, good and right in America.
I am a dear friend of Jim Jontz who worked with him in the forest protection movement. And I was at his beside to provide comfort to him as he passed away last Saturday. To help pay tribute to his life, I am creating a remembrance book that will include stories about Jim, pics of him, congressional tributes, and news clippings. The book will be given to his family, as well as made available at upcoming memorial services. If you would like to contribute to the book, please send submissions about Jim or photos of Jim to me, Brian at: big_wildlife@shaw.ca
I worked with Jim the past year and a half in Working Families Win and the Citizens Trade Campaign.
Above all Jim was good. As a leader, he had vision; he was inspiring and he always had a strategy to solve problems big and small.
Although his accomplishments were so numerous and exceptional, he seldom talked about himself. Rather, he built people up to produce achievements of their own on a similar scale. He tapped and developed people’s individual and personal endowments to achieve the goal. He had incredible faith in and respect for people. He had a particular interest in including and developing minorities and people bearing hardship.
Jim’s work for ancient forest preservation and endangered species protection gave his spirit a particular rich and universal quality that is expressed in Rachel Carson’s words, “Those who behold the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.” The amazing thing about Jim is that he successfully directed this strength to issues of economic justice as well. He united the issues and the people on environmental and working families’ issues, particularly in connection with trade.
Jim was a hero. At best he knew his days might be numbered following his initial cancer diagnosis. But he continued to give his projects everything he had until just days before his death. He had the drive that it takes to make history. His spirit was vastly bigger than his body. That spirit has now burst its bonds and is spread among everyone he touched. He left a movement that we will continue.
I did not know him but give my
condolences for a person who spoke and acted for the people!!!!
I was Jim's roommate at Indiana University, in Parks House of Wright Quadrangle. Even then his amazing energy, his ability to multitask on any number of issues and his refusal to tke "no" for an answer were in full flower.
I'm the same age as Jim and he graduated the summer after my sophomore year. He took no time off and there was never a down moment with him; he fell asleep while working the phones on a pet project with his books open in the Crisis Biology office more nights than I can remember.
As an idea person, there were few who were peers, and I doubt many other IU dorm phones rang with calls from Otis Bowen, Vance Hartke, Birch Bayh and assorted legislative and state officials as ours did. Even then, they knew who he was and the respect was obvious.
Only Jim could have defeated Rep. Jack Guy in 1974, and only Jim could have flourished while a liberal in such a conservative district as the 5th. He knew his district and he served his constituents well.
It does not surprise me in the least to hear that as late as the middle of his final week, he was working the phones, trying to be the idea guy, and helping to set the agenda in a number of environmental and political battles.
No one should question Jim's devotion to making this planet a better world in which to live for everyone. That was his lifelong goal, and the work that he did will have a lasting impact. No doubt that is why he is urging that donations be made as he has.
Jim's care, concern, and some of his activism, rubbed off on anyone he knew. He was tireless. He was driven. And he will be missed.
How many ex-congressmen leave office not for DC's K and L St. lobby shops, but to become grassroots activists for progressive causes? Not many, but Jim Jontz did.
I remember Jim on tour, giving a presentation about the Western Ancient Forests campaign, still referring to himself as a "recovering politician." The grin, the wit, the insight, the tireless effort. Jim Jontz was the Bob Dylan of the environmental movement -- endlessly on tour.
He planted seeds of hope and justice during all those travels. God bless Jim Jontz.
When I first met Jim Jontz, sometime in the 1970's, he was The Nature Conservancy's land steward at Big Pine Creek in Indiana, west of Lafayette. The Corps of Engineers wanted to dam(n) the creek for a "flood control" reservoir. But it was, and still is, a unique ecosystem, especially in Indiana. The Corps and their dam were eventually defeated - it was one of the first that Congress actually de-authorized. I knew Jim as an Indiana Rep and Senator. I remember one time he came to our office in Bloomington, Indiana, wearing a rumpled suit that looked like he slept in it. Our office manager was astonished when he told her who he was! I well remember the election of 1992 when he was defeated by a campaign financed by pro-logging, anti-wilderness groups - what would now be called Swift-Boating. Unfortunately, I never lived in his District so couldn't vote for him. I will always remeber him as a kindred spirit who left us too soon.
I couldn't begin to try to do justice to the countless amazing contributions Jim Jontz has made to the struggle for a better world. But there is one simple organizing lesson he taught me that I'd like to share.
We always struggle with how to reach people in their busy, often cynical, lives and motivate them to take action, especially about something as complex as trade and globalization. A lot of the time we focus on telling people what’s wrong; attempting somewhat to frighten them into acting.
The lesson that Jim taught me, though, is: You have to tell them a story of how they can win.
Don’t just tell people what’s wrong. Paint the picture of the solution, the achievable victory that they can be a part of.
There’s something to be said for taking the time to think about winning, to envision a different future. It’s a crucial step from getting from the way things are to the way things could be. It’s a hopeful and empowering way of organizing that you could see a lot of in Jim and the way he turned so many ideas into real, successful organizations and efforts, and in all the ‘ordinary’ people he inspired and motivated to work for something better.
Thanks Jim, for imagining a different world.
Before there were Progressives there were Liberals
And before there were Liberals there were Progressives
In the golden age of the Progressive movement we had Teddy Roosevelt, Fighting Bob Lafollette and Eugene Debs. These gave way to liberals like Eleanor Roosevelt and John Kenneth Galbraith. Now we are in the age where it is not good to be liberal but we have assumed the mantel of Progressive again.
As a friend and colleague of mine noted we have seen another end of an era. With the passing of former Congressman Jim Jontz we have loss a tireless fighter for farmers, workers and the environment.
Jim’s first run for the Indiana State House came right out of college. He was concerned about a proposed dam that would endanger the wildlife of the area. He thought the best way to bring attention to this was by running for office. He used his run to educate the people of the area about the project and the impact that it would have not just on wildlife habitat but also on the local farming community. He ran to stop the dam but did not expect to win because he was an unabashed liberal in a very conservative area. He won that election by 2 votes.
After serving in the Indiana State government for 10 years he ran for Congress. Even though his district was still heavily Republican he continued to run and to serve with his liberal views as a guide. He was a stanch fighter for the environment and for labor.
He served for three terms but always had a fight because of well financed opposition from the Republican side. He never felt he should run to the middle and even in his loss his approval rating with his constituents was high.
When he lost his seat in Congress he continued to work for several liberal causes and also served as President of Americans for Democratic Action for a while. It is through ADA that I met Jim. The Chicago chapter of ADA were strong supporters and Jim south me out at one of his visits to Chicago,
It was clear that we shared common goals and Jim worked really hard to help me in my second run for Congress. He spent a lot time talking up my candidacy to labor and others in an effort to help me get through the primary. He even came out and did GOTV door to door for me on Election Day.
Jim was working on the program for ADA called Working Families Win. Jim called and asked me to be his field director and general IT guru after I lost the primary. How could I refuse?
The program targeted 11 Congressional Districts in 7 states that were held by Republicans that he felt could be turned. In some like NC-08 and PA-04 he was there before anyone else realized those seats would be in play. While we were officially non-partisan the three issues that we worked on were raising the minimum wage, implementing fair trade, and pushing for universal health care. With 36 organizers on the ground we organized around the issues and targeted swing voters in the electoral phase. Of the 11 districts 7 of them flipped and 2 were so very close that they were heart breakers.
The organizers and I always laughed and sometimes cried about Jim’s lack of technical savvy. Though we were only a few months apart in age we were miles apart in our use of technology. He even refused to carry a cell phone and opted to look for pay phones where ever he went to make his calls. His computer never had a wireless connection.
I think we made a good team. He had the connections and organizing skills and I had the ability to bring the project up to speed using the technology of the day. I really enjoyed my work with him and all the team members. Working Families Win is organizing for 2008 and if you are interested you can find them on the web at www.wfwin.org or ADA at www.adaction.org.
Consider giving a donation or joining a great organization and keeping up this important work. Losing Jim is then end of an era but the work that he so tirelessly gave his life to needs to continue.
What it does not talk about is the Jim I know. I met Jim on my second run for Congress. He heard of me through the Chicago Chapter of Americans for Democratic Action. On his next visit to the city I got a call that he wanted to meet with me. I remember picking him up at the CTA station in Cumberland with a friend’s American and clean car. We had a cup of tea together and talked about our politics. He had good advice since he had also run in a very Republican district.
He networked for me and it is through him that I met Marcy Kaptur the Congresswoman from Ohio that came out to campaign for me. He also introduced me to Dennis Kucinich’s staff and spoke about me to many of the labor unions. Jim was a strong supporter of labor and social justice. He would often quote Eugene Debs.
Working Families Win was Jim’s brain storm. We worked in 11 Congressional District in 7 states and turned 7 seats from red to blue. We also had two other seats that were so close it took days to find that we were not successful but both those seats will be in play in 2008. I had the honor of working for Jim during that time. Even as he battled with cancer he flew around the country helping us in this important election cycle.
I hope that in some small way I can continue to carry on hos work.
A quizzical gaze, a lop sided walk, an animal magnetism, "Okay, alright.. Alright, okay".
Sometimes cross with exhaustion, yet always a teacher. "I'm ok."
"Volunteers" made his campaigns tolerable. Dr. Seuss represented so much of his philosophy...Star bellied snitches...Pride in his Mom...love of his sister and her children...Crystal Lake and his special grandmother. Our country boy did "real good". I am so glad that I knew him.
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