MINUTES of the meeting of January 4, 2001

1.  CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order by Chair Steve Preminger at 7:12 PM.  Melinda Waller announced that she had moved to San José and therefore must resign her Central Committee seat representing the 28th AD.

2.  SWEARING IN OF 2001-2002 CENTRAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Twenty-five elected members of the Central Committee were sworn in by Phyllis Perez, Clerk of the County Registrar of Voters.

3.  ROLL CALL

Absent were: Joe Simitian, Manny Diaz, Simone Salinas, John Vasconcellos, Anselmo Chavez, Pete Stark, Anna Eshoo, and Mike Honda.
Excused were: Rod Diridon, Jr., Jewelle Gibbs, Dennis Chiu, Larry Carr, Elaine Alquist, Liz Figueroa.

4.  IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS

• Jodi Wittlin, Peninsula Young Democrats.
• Francis LaPoll, former CC member from the 21st AD, who seeks reappointment.
• Charlie Walton, Los Gatos activist.
• Jim Brady, activist from 24th AD.
• Jay Jackman, recently returned from 2 years in New York.  He wants to see more Democrats elected.
• Denise Alejandro, UAW, Fremont and California State Labor Council.  Wants to help elect Democrats.
• Cat LeBlanc, newly elected president of the Santa Clara County Democratic Club.
• Vicki Day, from Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren's office.
• Sandra Soto, West Coast representative of Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
• Francine Davis, elected to Berryessa School District.
• Bob Dhillon.
• Tony West, former candidate for 23rd Assembly District.
• Claudia Shope, former member of Central Committee and representative of Pro-Choice Coalition.
• Patricia Ramos, DAWN.
• Nora Campos, candidate for San José City Council, District 5.
• Javier Campos.

    Charlie Walton proposed adding to New Business a discussion of a new way of activating Democrats.  The modification was accepted.  Alex Bantis moved acceptance, and the agenda as modified was adopted.

6.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES    (Minutes are posted on  www.scc-democrats.org)

    Minutes of the meeting of December 7, 2000 were approved.

7.  REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS

    Nora Campos, candidate for San José City Council, District 5, spoke.  She has been a resident of San José for 35 years.  She was Chief of Staff in the Council office of Manny Diaz for 6 years.  She said she was familiar with the issues and most qualified of the candidates running for District 5.  She will take the district into the future.  She has been an active Democrat and did voter registration of Latinos and others.  She worked in the campaigns of Sen. Alan Cranston, Janet Gray Hayes, Jerry Brown, and Cindy Chavez.  She was a fundraiser for Manny Diaz.  She organized community groups and worked for empowerment of the disadvantages.  She worked to create and support a living wage policy.  She wants to take the policy providing health insurance for children one step further: to cover adults as well as seniors.  She wants to work with the Central Committee to take on issues affecting the East Side and the City of San José.  She will run a strong campaign and has been endorsed by Ron Gonzales, Manny Diaz, Blanca Alvarado, Cindy Chavez, George Shirakawa, Ken Yeager, and COPE.

Special tribute to the late Sen. Alan Cranston

    Jim Thurber began this tribute by saying that a very distinguished gentleman died on December 31st.  Jim met Sen. Alan Cranston during the heyday of the California Democratic Council.  Alan had a great role in bringing Democrats to a position of power.  He gave Jim advice in Jim's Congressional campaign.  Jim's wife, Emy, worked in Cranston's Washington office.  Alan's two children also worked for him.  He was energetic, athletic, idealistic, and pragmatic.  A major goal was to rid the world of nuclear weapons, and he noted that the U.N. Charter did not take into account nuclear bombs.  He was a firm supporter of the United Nations, but denied the allegations of some that the U.N. was to be a super world government.  "That was not the plan."  In the late 40's Cranston met Albert Einstein, who had written to President Roosevelt recommending the development of atomic weapons.  Later, Einstein warned that nuclear weapons could wipe out all life on this planet.  Today, a global community is emerging due to international communications and the economy.  We still have no world government and we still have nuclear weapons.  Alan favored strong international institutions but not a world government.  Near the end of his life, he led the Global Security Institute in San Francisco.

    On the political side of his life Emy Thurber read the following:

The sharply divided 107th Congress would do well to ponder the quiet but enduringly effective political skills of the late Senator Alan Cranston of California.  His 24 year Senate career, during tumultuous and partisan times, showed that strong beliefs make good politics, but success begins with respecting the motives and sincerity of others, including your opponents.

Alan Cranston's sudden death, just hours before the first day of 2001, ended a life devoted to issues about which he was passionate: international peace and arms control, human rights and protection of the environment.  For this Californian, the quest for high public office -- even the United States Senate -- was never a simple pursuit of power, nor an end in itself.  Politics and policy were the means by which he could make the human passage on earth fairer, safer, and more serene.  His commitment to halt future use of nuclear weapons began when he was introduced to Albert Einstein in 1945.  He was still working tirelessly toward that goal when death came at age 86, eight years after he left the Senate.

In the shorthand of the obituary writer, Cranston is remembered for winning four Senate elections, seven consecutive terms as Democratic Whip, for having run for President as the champion of a nuclear freeze, and for being tarred by the so-called Keating Five scandal.  While all true, that doesn't begin to describe a political career of amazing productivity and accomplishment, showing just how much one person quietly can do to shape his or her times.

By one count, there were 2,500 votes in the Senate between 1969 and 1989 that were decided by fewer than five votes, and often by a single vote.  Cranston's influence was often crucial, not only for his vote alone, but as a behind-the-scene strategist, head-counter, marshaler of forces and shrewd compromiser who always lived to fight another day.

He was frequently one half of various Senate odd couple pairings where his principles and pragmatism could merge.  He teamed with conservative Senators such as Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) to improve veterans programs, Alphonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) on public housing measures, and the legendary Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) to protect press freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment.

Alan Cranston was liberal and an idealist to the core, but never an ideologue nor blindly partisan.  That balance allowed him to become one of the most durable and successful California politicians of the 20th Century.  He was elected a total of six times to statewide office from California.

Representing the West Coast mega-state in the U.S. Senate meant skillfully balancing myriad insistent and often conflicting home state interests.  Even as California changed politically and demographically, Cranston managed to steer a delicate course between the state's giant agribusiness interests and those of consumers, family farmers and farm workers.  He weighed the claims of home builders and growing communities with the need to preserve open spaces and wildlife habitats.  Amazingly, he helped end the Vietnam War and was a major figure in the nation's arms control and peace movements, even as he effectively represented the epicenter of the nation's defense and aerospace industries.

It is a measure of the man that he was able to separate the warriors of Vietnam from the war itself.  From 1969 to 1992 all legislation concerning America's veterans bore his stamp, especially measures improving health care and mental health services for those who fought the nation's most unpopular war.

Teamed on environmental issues with the late Rep. Philip Burton of San Francisco, the two Californians managed to place under federal protection as much acreage as all the national park lands created earlier in the 20th Century combined.

Today theirs is a catalogue of thousands of bills and amendments he personally authored affecting virtually every aspect of national life: civil rights, adoption and foster care reform, wild rivers, research to improve aging and longevity, workplace safety, emergency medical services and much more.  He lived by the maxim that a leader can accomplish great things, if he doesn't mind who gets the credit.

The Cranston style has not been much in evidence in Washington in recent years.  Members of the 107th Congress -- where many a cause will be determined by one or a very few votes -- would do well to consider the lessons of his ennobling career.  If they study the Cranston legacy, and seek to emulate it, the nation and the world will be better for it.

---------------------------------

The author served on Senate and campaign staffs to Senator Cranston from 1972-1985.  He currently heads the not-for-profit Alliance for Aging Research in Washington, D.C.

    There will be a memorial service for Sen. Cranston at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on Tuesday, January 16 at 3 PM.  There will be a reception afterward.

A.  Executive Board:  Steve Preminger.

    The e-board met to set the agenda.

B.  Chair: Steve Preminger.

    No report, other than this promises to be an interesting two years.

C.  Vice Chair: Dolly Sandoval.

    No report.

D.  Treasurer: Margaret Abe-Koga.

    No report.

E.  Secretary:  Herb Engstrom.

    The web page has been updated to remove the outdated election stuff as well as the addresses of the campaign offices; only that of the Labor Temple remains.  There are two new links.  One is to the web page of Santa Clara County, which contains much useful material.  The other is to the Bureau of the Census, which has the results of the 2000 census.
    The Secretary requested names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of all Central Committee members and alternates.
    The Secretary has applied for and obtained a new email distribution list under the address democrats@svpal.org.  This list will be used for all Democratic activists.  The domain name, www.scc-democrats.org has been renewed.

F.  Community Services & Voter Registration: Liz McDavit.

    The voter registration program has been fabulous and was the result of a team effort.  The State Party is excited and has called it "the model program in California."  I'd like to recognize specific people: The Thurbers and Tom Cochran in North County, Frank Bosche in Oak Ridge Mall, Pat O'Hare at West Gate, David Cohen at the Great Mall, Lorre Vaughn at the San José Flea Market (where there are many new citizens.  Lorre had the materials translated into Spanish and Vietnamese.), and Don Seratti at the Meridian and San Carlos Safeway.  People took the initiative.
    Margie Baker had an idea: on inauguration day, January 20th, turn out in force at all the stores and malls.  Register voters with the slogan "Your vote counts with us!" to take back Congress in 2002 and the White House in 2004.  We are proposing a bumper sticker: "Re-elect Gore in 2004."  Please sign up to help.
    Jay Jackman asked how many voters were registered.  Liz replied that it was difficult to say because registration continues all year, but we got at least 10,000.  In one weekend we registered 1,800 Democrats.  We were so far ahead this time that we were given no quota by the State Party.
    Phyllis Ward commented that someone had reported that we are eligible for 41 delegates to the DSCC.  Herb confirmed this figure.
    Diane Tripousis expressed thanks to Liz.

G.  Finance: Jim Thurber.

    No report other than to say that we're closing the books for the FPPC.  The annual dinner will be May 4th at Lou's Village.  This is a change of venue due to increased costs at the Hyatt.  We need the money, so set your calendars.  There'll be no excuses for not attending.

H.  Campaign Services: Cristina Uribe.

    No report.

I.  Political Outreach:  Emily Thurber.

20th AD:  David Cohen.
    The organizational meeting will be held 2 PM, Jan. 14th at the Fremont Library, 2400 Stevenson Blvd., Fremont.
21st AD Committee: Rich Watters.
    The organizational meeting will be held at 11 AM, Saturday, Jan. 13th at the Twin Pines, 1225 Ralston Ave. Belmont.  Member Joe Huber was elected Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge.
22nd AD Committee: Chris Stampolis.
    The organizational meeting will be held at 3:45 PM at the Santa Clara Senior Center.  A Metro article claimed that Santa Clara County may lose the 22nd AD, but this was vehemently denied by Bob Mulholland.  It will be August or September before final lines are drawn.  Don't believe anything you hear before then.
23rd AD Committee: Diane Tripousis.
    The organizational meeting will be held at 1 PM on Jan. 14th at the State Building.  See me for more details.
24th AD Committee: Thelma Spaziani.
    The organizational meeting will be held at 10 AM, Jan. 13th at the South Bay Labor Council, 2102 Almaden Rd., San José.  We are proud of the success of the 24th AD; the election of Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn is evidence of that success.
28th AD Committee: Sal Alvarez.
    The organizational meeting will be held at 10 AM Sunday Jan. 14th at the Watsonville Community Center.  Simone Salinas will be there.  Taking back the 28th Assembly District seat is significant.  One of the first to call was Arturo Rodrigues of the UFW.  It is unheard of to have a Democrat representing the Salinas Valley.  Our County Committee could not have done more to help the farm workers.  With reapportionment we hope to remain part of Santa Clara County.  The AD committee chairs need to meet with Steve about district reapportionment.
African-American Democratic Coalition:  Tony Alexander.
    Several members were elected to public office: Craig Mann, Terry Gregory, Francine Davis, T.J. Owens, and Mary Lee.  Alice Woody and R.B. Jones are leaving office.  The year 2000 was great.  We saw Terry Gregory at the Party convention on national TV.
Asian-Pacific American Democratic Club: Peter Chiu.
    We held a very successful holiday party in December.  Dennis Chiu is leaving the presidency, and new officers will be elected in February.
Clinton-Gore Action Network: Liz McDavit.
    The focus has been the same: voter registration and community outreach.  We want to make certain the community does not forget what happened on Nov. 7.  We sponsored a luncheon with Congressman Mike Honda.
Democratic Action for Women Now (DAWN): Keith Garvey.
    The next meeting will be Sunday from 1 to 4 PM.
Evergreen Democratic Club at the Villages:  Rena Modell.
    We now have 120 members.  At our last meeting a professor from San José State talked about the election -- what we did right and what we did wrong.
Peninsula Democratic Coalition: Emy Thurber.
    The PDC had its most successful holiday party with 139 people in the Thurber home.  
Peninsula Yound Democrats: Jodi Wittlin
    Elections will be held at the first meeting of the New Year, Jan. 25th.  We are planning a retreat Feb. 10th to study the past election.  The Peninsula Young Democrats became a year old in November.  It is open to young people of any age and residing from San José to San Francisco.  If you know a young person that might want to be involved, I have application cards.
Santa Clara County Democratic Club: Ann Shirkey.
    The next meeting is to be held Jan. 22nd 7 PM at the Mission Library Community Room, 1098 Lexington Ave. in Santa Clara.  Topic: Strategies for the year; what we can do to take back the House; campaign finance reform.  We continue to produce the Club's TV show, which received coverage by the San José Mercury News.
South County Democratic Club: Alex Kennett.
    The Club now has 85 members.  We maintained a UDC office at a shopping center and wish to thank the UDC for its support.  Every candidate we supported was elected.  In the Morgan Hill parade the Club had a float which featured Simone Salinas.

    In December there was an endorsement interview for San José City Council District 5. Two candidates, Nora Compos and Richard Tanaka, returned questionnaires.  We recommended a sole endorsement for Nora.
    Tom moved for a sole endorsement.  The motion was seconded and passed by a voice vote.  Nora Campos is the recommended candidate for San José City Council District 5.

K.   Issues: Willie Wool.

    No report.

L. Regional Director: Madge Overhouse.

    There has been one big change since the last meeting, when it was reported that State Party Chair Art Torres would not seek re-election.  After appeals from many people, Art has reconsidered and now will seek re-election at the Party convention at the Anaheim Hilton, March 30 to April 1.  Official notice of the convention will be given at the end of January.  I have a list of Assembly District reorganization meetings.  Feb. 7th is the last date that the required forms can be filled in. You can't vote if you haven't paid your dues.

M.  Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis.

    The DNC will meet in Washington February 1st.  The biggest agenda item will be the election of the DNC chair.  Joe Andrew was to run for re-election, but he was urged to step aside.  President Clinton asked Terry McAuliffe to run.  Maynard Jackson, Mayor of Atlanta has entered the race.  Let me know what you think.  Liz McDavit noted that McAuliffe is a very successful fundraiser.  Sen. Art Torres and Gov. Gray Davis have both endorsed McAuliffe.  My instinct says it's a done deal.  Probably Jackson will be offered some other role.

N.  Pro-Choice Coalition:  Claudia Shope.

    The Coalition will be meeting this Tuesday to plan Roe v Wade activities.  The meeting will take place at Planned Parenthood, 1691 the Alameda in San José.

O.  DTV Report:  Steve Chessin.

    Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported that our October taping was with Sunnyvale Community Services Executive Director Nancy Tivol, who spoke about what happens to the people who are being hurt by the Silicon Valley boom.
    Our November taping was with Dr. Terry Christensen, Chair of the Political Science Department of San Jose State University, who analyzed the results of the election for us.
    Our December taping was with our own Keith Garvey, who spoke about his involvement with the Democratic Party and the election outcome.
    We hope to have Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist as our guest in January.
    We will be on San Jose AT&T Channel 15A January 4th and February 1st with Keith Garvey, and January 18th with Dr. Terry Christensen.  We are on the waiting list for a weekly time slot.
    We could still use some more Democrats on the crew.  No prior video experience is necessary.

San Jose Channel 15A, 8:00pm every other Thursday (serves part of Cupertino):
Jan  4  DTV 72  Keith Garvey, Democratic Activist
Jan 18  DTV 71  Election Results with Dr. Terry Christensen
Feb  1  DTV 72  Keith Garvey, Democratic Activist

    On Dec. 31st we lost Alan Cranston, who founded the CDC at a time when there were no Democratic Party associations.  In recent years the CDC has turned into a subset of Democratic Clubs that affiliate voluntarily.  The new CDC is changing the membership rules by dropping the dues requirements.  We will thus return to the original concept in which all Democratic Clubs will be voting members of the CDC.

Q.  Welfare Reform:  Sal Alvarez.

    This is the year of reauthorization of the Welfare Reform bill, which was signed 5 years ago.  I met Jim Beall to discuss how to respond at the state level.  This bill excludes illegal immigrants.  The Latino Health Summit in San Francisco discussed what the Latino community was going to do.  I'll go to Washington in March to work on our Congressional delegation.  We're in for a long four years.
    Thelma Spaziani asked if Sal had any updates on the Delores Huerta situation.  Sal replied that he had visited her when at her most critical state.  O'Connor Hospital in San José had medicine that she required to get her kidneys working.  Cruz Bustamente was instrumental in securing this medication and having it delivered to her in Bakersfield.  By Sal's second visit to her she was conscious but had an infection.  She was brought by helicopter from Bakersfield to UCLA, where they were able to take care of her infection without the need for a potentially dangerous operation.  She was released three days before Christmas and is doing very well.  Both Bill Clinton and Al Gore called.

9.  OLD BUSINESS

a. Proposal for an appreciation party for the campaign 2000 volunteers, January 24th.

We are working on a database of volunteers.  Lee Sturtevant will report on Monday if the database can be used for mailing.  We plan a spaghetti dinner at which clubs can do outreach.  If the 24th is not possible, we'll have a later party.

b.  Redistricting, how it's done.  A report by Peter Szego.

    I helped Phil Burton on redistricting.  Like baseball, redistricting has two components: the rules and how the game is actually played.  I know nothing about the second component, so I'll talk about the rules.
    There are four categories of district: 1) State Assembly; 2) State Senate; 3) Congressional Districts; and 4) the Boards of Equalization.  The redistricting is done by passage of a state law, just like any other law.  It is passed by the State legislature and signed by the Governor.  One could put all four districts into one bill, but this is generally not done.  Rather, the State Assembly and Equalization districts are in one bill, and the State Senate and Congressional districts each have their own bills.
    Both houses must approve the bills, but it could happen that nothing gets done.  In 1991 we had a Democratic legislature and a Republican governor.  The bills did not pass.  The Supreme Court refused to allow elections if redistricting was not done, so the State Supreme Court stepped in and drew the lines.  This year the same party controls both houses and the governorship, so this situation is unlikely to occur.  In the Court reapportionment of 1991, there are exactly 2 assembly districts in each senate district -- the assembly districts are said to be "nested.".  (There are 40 senate districts and 80 assembly districts in California.)  In a reapportionment by the legislature the districts will probably not be nested, because interests of the Assembly and Senate are not the same.  This complicates life a little, whereas the Court puts a premium on neatness.
    Like any law, reapportionment is subject to a referendum, in which case the reapportionment is frozen, and you put it on the ballot.  Republicans did this once.  You can't have an election in time, but the Supreme Court requires reapportionment.  There was, therefore, a temporary reapportionment.  It went to a vote and the Democrats won; lines as drawn by the legislature were approved.
    In the last spring primary there was a referendum (sponsored by Ron Unz) to change the rules.  Democrats charged that the referendum covered two subjects and was therefore illegal.  The Court agreed and the referendum was thrown out.
    Some have suggested that there be a reapportionment 5 years after the census.  There was once an initiative to do this, but the State Supreme Court threw it out.  The state constitution requires redistricting immediately after the census.  There was once a mid-decennial reapportionment of supervisorial districts in Santa Clara County.  The County paid for a local census to be taken on which the redistricting was based.
    If school boards are elected by district these technically must be reapportioned as well, but this happens only if someone goes to court to demand it.
    The number of U.S. Congressional seats depends on the national constitution.  Originally, House seats were added as the population of the country grew, but since the 1920's the total number of seats has been fixed at 435.  How they are allocated is complicated.  California has gained one seat, but if a corrected census count is used (estimating the number of uncounted people) we might gain two.  But the Supreme Court has ruled that a corrected count cannot be used to allocate House seats, but it can be used within each state.
    The S.F. Bay Area has not grown as much as other parts of the state, so we will have less representation as a result of the census.  Sometimes in such situations the districts are stretched out.  This is gerrymandering.  One way to reallocate districts is to consolidate people of like politics.
    Phyllis Ward asked if the Speaker of the Assembly appoints a committee to develop the redistricting plan.  No, the leadership hires knowledgeable experts to work in a back room.  There will probably be public hearings, but it is unlikely that there will be much opportunity for public input.

10.  NEW BUSINESS

Election of Central Committee officers.

    Chris Stampolis nominated Steve Preminger for Chair.  There were no further nominations, and a motion to close nominations was made and approved by voice vote.  Steve was thereby re-elected Chair.
    Keith Garvey nominated Tom Cochran for vice Chair.  There were no further nominations, and a motion to close nominations was made and approved by voice vote.  Tom was thereby elected Vice Chair.
    Chris Stampolis nominated Herb Engstrom for Secretary.  There were no further nominations, and a motion to close nominations was made and approved by voice vote.  Herb was thereby re-elected Secretary.
    Cristina Uribe nominated Dennis Chiu for Treasurer.  There were no further nominations, and a motion to close nominations was made.  Chris Stampolis asked if we know that Dennis will accept the nomination given that Dennis was absent.  Chris was assured that Dennis had agreed to the nomination.  The motion was approved by voice vote.  Dennis was thereby elected Treasurer..

Election of Democratic State Central Committee members

    Steve noted that DSCC members can be elected or appointed by the AD Committees as well.  Chris Stampolis moved to table the DSCC election until February, so that we'd know by then who had been elected by the AD Committees.  Sal Alvarez objected, and Diane Tripousis asked if we could at least elect the County CC members now and that she and Sal would support such an election.  This would free up people to vote in the AD meetings.  Chris said that anyone elected to the County CC gets first priority for the DSCC.  They can therefore with full confidence get a position on the DSCC.  Steve Chessin suggested that we declare all such people elected to the DSCC and that gender balancing in the AD elections will be easier if we know who's elected tonight.
    The following motion was put forth:

Elect all County Central Committee members that were sworn in tonight to the DSCC and fill the County CC vacancies at the February meeting.

If someone elected tonight is subsequently elected or appointed to the DSCC by their Assembly District Committee, they automatically vacate their seat on the DSCC from the County Central Committee.

11.  ANNOUNCEMENTS

    The 21st AD Committee will be responsible for refreshments at the February meeting.

12. ADJOURNMENT

    The meeting was adjourned at 9:49 P.M.
 

This page was last updated 1/18/01.
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