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Thanks for joining us Bryan.
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How did you start at Clean Water Action?
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I started when I was in college.
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I was actually looking for field work,
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because I was studying political science.
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I also wanted to get out of working for a company.
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So I wanted to see what the non-profit world was like,
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and I saw a posting
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so I called and applied and came out.
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Obviously, the environment and water
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has always been important to me.
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So came out, tried it out, and I loved it,
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and that's how I got here.
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And you worked as a canvasser and field manager,
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and now you're working with Senator Peters.
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What do you think was most effective
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about the work we did
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talking to Michiganders about these issues?
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I think actually talking to folks
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is what was most effective.
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I think a lot of people
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of different ideologies
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care about water and the environment.
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And might not really know
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how to get involved and get engaged.
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So talking to people,
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in some instances educating them about the issues,
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in other instances
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just giving them an avenue to get involved.
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I think that was effective,
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just being there, at the door,
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having regular conversations with people.
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What sort of memory sticks out to you,
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having a connection, or a victory,
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making a difference door to door
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and having those conversations?
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Definitely I think the two that I recall
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working on the most
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were the Line 5 oil pipeline
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and the water infrastructure.
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Of course, also, the Flint Water Crisis...
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I think an instance that really sticks out to me
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was when we were up north,
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northern Michigan, Traverse City,
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talking about the Line 5 pipeline.
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Really seeing the difference between
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the opinion of folks down here
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and folks up there.
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Wasn't very different.
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And actually I might've thought that
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people up there would've been
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more opposed to shutting it down.
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But they weren't.
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That's one instance -
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Then I think the campaign
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that I really enjoyed working on
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because it really was bringing up an issue
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that a lot of folks didn't know about
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was - the septic tanks!
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Yep! - Michigan is the only state in the country
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without a statewide septic code.
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Something we're still working on.
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Yeah, that a lot of folks don't know that,
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a lot of people didn't know how much sewage
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is leaking into our groundwater
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and local lakes and rivers.
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Also with the water infrastructure
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it's the same -
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I really enjoyed talking to people about that
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because it's important for people to know,
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and give them a way to get involved.
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I think what I remember most working with you
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was when we went up to Flint
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doing the triage project early days -
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beginning of the water crisis.
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It's good to have the skills to talk to folks
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but that was a lot.
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Yeah - I almost forgot about that.
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When we went up to Flint
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and we were canvassing in Flint neighborhoods
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talking to people.
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You know, that was very important work.
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And it was also I think very emotionally taxing.
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You saw people that really didn't have
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- didn't know, were scared, were worried
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about what was happening
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with their families.
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And also didn't have the means
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to really go anywhere else.
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That was definitely a very impactful moment for me.
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Something I appreciated about that
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we were there supporting
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not barging in saying we knew best.
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Then we went out into non Flint communities
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to get people to show their support.
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I think we got letters
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from every single county in the state.
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to get support there.
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I was trying to remember what my main memory was
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working with Bryan and it was when we went up there.
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To go a little bit lighter -
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What's your favorite memory
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of working with your coworkers specifically?
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The training we did and the priorities we had -
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what did you gain out of the experience
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of working with Clean Water in Ann Arbor?
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I think what I gained most was
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a unique perspective
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that I wasn't necessarily exposed to prior to.
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Lasting friendships, lifelong friendships,
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and of course being able to hang out with people
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at work and after work was great.
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To work with a bunch of young folks,
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you don't really see doing this type of work,
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to see them working hard
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and really committing to organizing
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and getting involved politically
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was very motivating and inspiring.
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Let's talk a little bit about what you've
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been doing since you left Clean Water Action
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and how that experience has influenced you since.
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Right after I left Clean Water Action
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I started working for
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a few different political campaigns
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the organizing skills that I learned at Clean Water
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were extremely beneficial because
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when you're doing campaign work
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but really just any type of work,
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it really teaches you the professionalism,
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confidence, and skills needed to
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succeed I think in any field really.
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I use the organizing skills that I learned
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at Clean Water and took them to
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campaign work, and it went well.
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From there I went and worked for
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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell,
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where I was her Field Representative
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for the Downriver area where I grew up.
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Which was great -
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worked on a ton of environmental issues.
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worked on a ton of issues in my own community,
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water issues.
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Again - the skills that I learned
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really transferred over well
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because to do your job successfully,
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you have to be able to reach out to people.
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After working for Congresswoman Dingell
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I just recently accepted a position
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with Senator Gary Peters
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to be his Regional Director
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for Southeast Michigan.
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To continue the same work,
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working in my community.
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I would consider Southeast Michigan
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my community, really the whole state.
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Continuing to work for the greater good
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and continuing to work
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to protect our environment
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and protect the people.
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Why do you care about Clean Water -
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(and I know saying this as a Michigander
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is a really easy answer but...)
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You know - as a Michigander,
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it's our lifeblood.
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Not only economically
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but that's what we've all grown up on
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Like I said I'm from Downriver,
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I grew up in Wyandotte,
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which is a city on the [Detroit] river.
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A river that years back
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didn't have a great fish population
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there were dead spots.
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Right down the street from the Rouge River
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that caught on fire in the 1970s.
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It's important that we protect
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the beautiful Great Lakes
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but also protect the people
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who live here.
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And the animals who live here,
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and ecosystem.
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In the 50 years since Clean Water Action
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has been founded,
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since the Clean Water Act
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has been passed,
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there's been significant improvements
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but there's a long way to go still.
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The Rouge River isn't on fire,
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but we still have fish advisories
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in the Detroit and everything else.