Ralph Nader Is Coming to Town To Power Up Californians

Mirror staff

Ralph Nader, pioneer consumer advocate and Green party presidential candidate in 1996, is coming to Los Angeles later this month to “challenge Angelenos to take control of the political process,” in the words of his host group, the Oaks Project.
   On Monday, July 26, Nader will lead a discussion about the acquisition and uses of power by citizens. The event is sponsored by the Oaks Project, a Santa Monica-based non-profit, non-partisan citizen organization that was, in its words, “inspired by Ralph Nader to utilize and strengthen the tools of democracy through citizen organization.”
   The discussion, led by Nader, will “focus on strengthening tools of citizen power and how people can use “these tools in their roles as consumers, voters, taxpayers, workers and shareholders to build real citizen power through the initiative process, the legislative area and effective organizing.”
   Founded in 1997, the Oaks Project claims its first legislative victory was passing SB 1220 out of the State Senate by a two-thirds vote. The bill would require ballot initiative advertisements to disclose the top donors to the campaign on the ads themselves. It is now in the State Assembly.
   It’s also sponsoring three new bills. SB 21 would give consumers the power to sue their HMOs when denied care. SB 1273 would provide victims of automobile accidents the right to sue at-fault drivers’ insurance companies if the company low-balls them on claims. SB 171 would provide low-cost auto insurance policies to low income Californians.
   Nader’s appearance is scheduled for the Wilshire United Methodist Church at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, July 26. Attendance is free to the public, but reservations are required. Call 310 392 0522, extension 311.