May 28, 2018

Lunchtime Photo

Here in Irvine, we are observing Memorial Day by fighting over a veterans cemetery.

A few years ago, the legislature approved construction of a veterans cemetery here, and the plan was to build it on a picturesque plot of land near the Great Park, which is being slowly but steadily built atop the old El Toro Marine base that was decommissioned in 1999. Then some stuff happened—not all of it as transparently as one might hope—and the city council agreed with a local developer to swap the cemetery land for a different plot of land that abuts the San Diego Freeway. Uproar ensued.

So now it’s up for a vote. Yes on B is a vote to go ahead with the land swap. It allows the developer to put up offices near the Great Park and moves the cemetery to the freeway site. No on B is a vote to keep the cemetery where it was originally planned. June 5th will decide the matter.

May 27, 2018 — Irvine, California

WE CAME UP SHORT.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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