2019 has kicked off with another significant milestone for Brits in LA, as just a few days ago we celebrated passing 15,000 members in our community group on Facebook! We run a tight ship and only allow new members to join if they have friends in the group; although we do make an exception as we realize that the information we share is particularly useful to those of you who don’t know anyone in LA year. You have to send us an email telling us why you would like to be a part of our community. We currently have over 1000 pending requests, so if you are one of them make sure to drop us a line at info@britsin.la
This week a lot of you have been concerned over the US government shut down and particularly on how it will affect your visa applications. The good news is that at the time of writing the US embassy in the UK is still functioning as normal. You can check for real time updates on their Facebook page: facebook.com/ukusembassy. They are also on Twitter @USAinUK but they don’t seem to update that as frequently.
The current state of affairs in politics seems unfathomable. I really feel for the over 800,000 federal workers, of which 320,000 have been given a leave of absence with no pay and are basically stuck in limbo. Many of them have had to take temporary jobs or borrow money, trying to make ends meet. It’s even worse for over 400,000 employees that are exempt from the furlough, as they still have to work but don’t get paid, and therefore have no opportunity to earn cash on the side. This includes the staff at Homeland Security and the TSA, so if you are traveling anytime during this chaos make sure to be nice and thank them for their service.
For those of you who are really furious about this mess and think you could do a better job, why not consider running for your local council? Contrary to popular belief you don’t need to be a citizen to be eligible. According to empowerla.org you don’t actually even need to be a resident.
“Neighborhood Council elections are inclusive. They are open not just to residents who are US citizens, but also to those who work, own property or a business, go to school or church, or have some other substantial, ongoing participation within the community served by a particular Neighborhood Council. You do not need to be a US citizen or legal US resident to run for a seat, even if you are undocumented or were formerly incarcerated. However, candidates must meet the minimum age to qualify for the seat they are running for. You’ll see details about minimum age requirements for specific seats during the candidate registration process.”
If you are curious to see what board seats are available in your area visit EmpowerLA.org as they have a great website that can help guide you.
Have any of you ever been through this process? If so we would love to hear from you. And if any of you are planning to do so in the near future, make sure to let us know. You can drop us a line at info@britsin.la
CALLING ALL ACTORS, writers, musicians and budding filmmakers amongst you: we have our annual film competition The Toscars coming up. Our selection night will be on January 22nd, and our awards ceremony will be on February 21st. Can you believe that it is the 12th year of our parody of The Oscars award show?! If you want to be a part of it or learn a little more visit us at TheToscars.com, we guarantee it will be the most fun you will have throughout the entire awards season!
We will also be looking for volunteers so if you want to give a hand please give us a shout.
If you have any questions or comments you can email us at info@britsin.la
For those of you planning to come to Breakfast Club next Tuesday make sure to wish our darling Mayor of Breakfast, Bernard Skibben a Happy Birthday (it’s actually January 13th) and if you are feeling a little flush bring along anything from Cadbury’s and I can assure you he will be over the moon!
Cheers for now!
Eileen
