Jan J. Moore, 57, is excited these days. And not just about the Packers.

“What I’m really optimistic about for our democracy is seeing how charged up people are,” he tells me over lunch in downtown Sun Prairie. Dressed in a Packers cap and a plaid shirt, Jan looks like your typical Wisconsin retiree.

Moore is one of the organizers of the Sun Prairie Action Resource Coalition, known as SPARC. It’s one of many grassroots groups that have sprung up in Wisconsin in 2011 in response to Governor Scott Walker’s agenda. Moore estimates 75 or 80 community groups like SPARC have formed this year.

“Whether one is Republican or Democrat or independent, we were all raised with a sense of ethics, a sense of right and wrong,” he says. “What we witnessed wasn’t right.”

Sun Prairie lies just outside of Madison and has a reputation for being a bit more conservative than the capital. The city of 29,000 voted for President Obama in 2008 and Democrat Tom Barrett in 2010, though Barrett just squeaked by Walker.

And while the city is represented by Democrats in the state legislature —Rep. Gary Hebl and Senator Mark Miller—its city council is conservative. Sun Prairie’s mayor, John Murray, served as chief of staff to Wisconsin State Representative Paul Ryan.

It other words, Sun Prairie is purple, like so much of the state.

SPARC’s mission is “building community and moving Wisconsin forward.” Part of moving forward, it says, is recalling Gov. Walker. On November 15, the first day signatures can be collected, SPARC is having a kick off party at a pizza place.

But it’s not just about the recall.

The city council voted to amend the local ordinance to allow concealed carry in city buildings and by city employees after the passage of Wisconsin Act 35. The council, SPARC says, did not invite public comment.

The Sun Prairie Public Library is separate under state law. So the group organized people to attend a public hearing on Thursday and put pressure on the library board to disallow weapons in the library. Thanks to SPARC’s efforts, concealed carry won’t be allowed in the library.

SPARC started out tiny in the spring with a handful of people but now has 200 volunteers. Ninety are already trained on how to properly collect signatures.

They are planning to hit high traffic areas first. Moore hopes SPARC can collect about 6,000 signatures.

“We have to work hard to save the democracy we love,” he says. “We can’t let corporations and the ultra-wealthy decide what’s right for everyone.”

If you liked this story by Elizabeth DiNovella, the Culture Editor of The Progressive magazine, check out her story "Occupy Chase Today, Transfer Funds Tomorrow."

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