1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Steve Preminger at 7:14 P.M.
2. ROLL CALL
Absent were Dennis Chiu, Ron Lind, Rod Diridon,
Jr., Terry Gregory, Larry Carr, Liz Figueroa, Byron Sher, John Vasconcellos,
Anselmo Chavez, Pete Stark, Anna Eshoo, Ruth Ashford, Mike Honda, Gap Kim,
Jodi Wittlin, and Alex Edelstein.
Excused were Emy Thurber, Aldyth Parle, Sal
Alvarez, Craig Mann, and Rena Modell..
3. IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS
Bob Dhillon
Armando Gomez
Nancy Bain
Rosemary Iglesias
Chris Hemingway
Linda Holroyd
Charlie Ahern
Sally Lieber
4. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Rita Duncan added one item, a discussion of the attack ads on Rebecca Cohn and Simon Salinas under new business. The agenda was approved as modified.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
A motion was made to approve the minutes of the May 3rd meeting as posted. The motion was seconded and passed.
SPECIAL REPORT Redistricting in Santa Clara County by Steve Chessin.
Steve Chessin was appointed by Assemblyman
Joe Simitian to be on the Supervisorial Redistricting Committee (SRC),
which is charged with developing new supervisorial district boundaries
based on the 2000 census. Steve said that the law requires that the
difference in populations between the largest and smallest districts must
be within 10% of their mean. Today, that difference is 16%, so some
changes in district boundaries is required by law.
To devise a redistricting plan, two teams,
called “A” and “B”, were created. Each team was asked to come up
with a redistricting plan. A third team, Team O, consisting of the
Committee Chair, Steve, and others, would evaluate both plans and select
the best features of both. June 13th is the last meeting of the SRC;
public hearing is at 5 pm and after that we adopt our final recommendation.
Public hearings on the plan are to be held June 26 and August 14.
The Board of Supervisors adopts the final plan on August 14, just after
including any input from the public hearings.
Go to http://www.sccredistricting.org/
and see in particular Meeting Schedule and Meeting Agendas.
6. REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS
A. Executive Board: Herb Engstrom.
· Because Independence Day falls the
day before our normally scheduled meeting, Steve suggested that there be
no July Central Committee meeting.
· There will be a rally for unjust eviction
defense and fair wages. The rally will be Thursday, June 14 from
4:00 to 5:30 P.M. at Mi Pueblo Market, 1745 Story Road. The rally
is sponsored by the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council and a number of local
unions.
· On the energy issue there will be
a rally on Wednesday July 11 at a place to be determined. Steve will
publicize the real villains beginning with President Bush, who refused
to cap oil prices. This rally is sponsored by the State Federation
of Labor, local labor organizations, and TURN.
C. Vice Chair: Tom Cochran.
No report.
D. Treasurer: Dennis Chiu.
Dennis submitted a written report: Out of 91 members of the Central Committee, 60 have paid their dues. Current bank balance is $1,528.66.
E. Secretary: Herb Engstrom.
The Sunnyvale Art and Wine festival was the week-end of June 2-3, and we had a major success. Thank you to Margie Baker who lives in Sunnyvale for going down to the office and making sure the application was completed on time. Thank you also to Lorre Vaughn, Frances Stearns, and Shirley Blake. Normally we would not get too much business in an "off-year" election . Perhaps 3 or 4 registrants and 300 comments asking why we are here. This was dramatically different. We never sat down all week-end. The public is very angry with Bush and we actually registered 65 Democrats which is what would be expected during a Presidential election year. The other part of the story is that there was an unusually high number of Republicans and others switching to the Democratic Party.13 Republicans, 3 Decline to State (they never switch), 4 Ind., and 2 Greens. There was never a word about the Governor or questions about the energy situation. It was all about Bush -- his right wing agenda and that he is not up to the job.
G. Finance: Jim Thurber
Thanks go to members for helping with the JJ dinner. We had a wonderful turnout with a record 515 people in attendance. Our balance is now $39,975 with another approximately $10,700 in accounts receivable for a total of $50,675 in income. We have accounts payable of $16,826 leaving a net profit of about $33,848. Of the $100 cost of each ticket, $33 went to cover the dinner and other costs leaving a net profit of $67.
Special report on the fair: Anne Mack.
I want to thank all the volunteers – there
were 65 of them. All of the time slots were covered. The Evergreen
Valley Club, the Santa Clara County Club, the PDC, and the PYD all covered
their days. We registered to vote a total of 70 Democrats of which
one third changed their party affiliation from Republican.
The fair was a total disaster in terms of
attendance, so that there were fewer visitors at our booth this year than
in years past.. However, the Republicans were not even at the
fair. The County is thinking of changing the date of the Fair back
to August the way it used to be.
The Registrar of Voters had a booth and provided
information. Democratic Clubs brought their own information
There were some difficulties with people wondering
why they needed to staff on certain days and it was reported that the Fair
dictated which days were "Milpitas" days, or "Senior" days, or "Labor"
days, etc. Anne assigned those days to the Clubs and ADs as seemed appropriate
H. Campaign Services: Cristina Uribe
No report.
I. Candidate Services: Keith Garvey
Efforts will be on recruiting candidates, and the place to begin is service on boards and commissions. The Board of Supervisors has a list of these. If anyone is interested, we can work on this as a project.
J. Issues: Willie Wool
No report.
K. Political Outreach: Emy Thurber
21st AD Committee: Nancy Bain
The 21st AD is trying to arrange a forum for Steve Westly and Johann Klehs to present themselves to Peninsula Democrats. The event will take place in Atherton, and we're shooting for the last weekend of July, probably July 29th. Details will be forthcoming at the next meeting. Questions or suggestions can be directed to Ian Bain at (650) 361-8528 or ibain@arpartners.com.
22nd AD Committee: Chris Stampolis.
The 22nd AD Committee will move its full committee meeting to mid-summer to allow each municipal caucus to meet. The Mountain View Caucus of the AD Committee will meet Sunday, June 10 at Steve Chessin's home in Mountain View. Other "municipal caucus" meetings will be announced soon.
24th AD Committee: Jacquie Heffner.
Report for the 24th AD: We had a picnic
on June 9th with Assemblymember Rebecca Cohn attending. Though we
had only a small number of attendees, we are encouraged and look forward
to building up our active membership.
If anyone knows of people in the 24th that
would be interested in joining, please let us know.
Also, there is an effort going on from a right
wing Christian group in regards to current legislation pending in the Assembly.
Please let your friends and neighbors know what they can do to counter
this extremist group.
28th AD Committee: Gene Wagner for Sal Alvarez.
The 28th AD had a Committee retreat, which happened to coincide with the meeting of the State Party e-board. We’ll change the date in the future.
Clinton-Gore Action Network: Margie Baker.
The Clinton*Gore Action Network is working
on an event for later in the summer where we will ask people to come and
donate a portion of their "tax return" check to the DCCC in order for democrats
to be able to take back the house in 2002. We will keep you informed.
A small side note: I was fortunate to be able
to spend 3 out of the last 4 weeks in England, and I had forgotten
that I have a small button on my purse, which I got at the California Democratic
Party convention in March, which says: "Okay, Joke's over, Bring
back Bill!" I was visiting Oliver Cromwell's house in a very small
town named Ely, and I heard a very British voice from behind me say: "I
agree with your button 100%, PLEASE bring back Bill!" Throughout
my trip I found that people in England don't like "THE SHRUB."
Democratic Action for Women Now (DAWN): Lilian Hicks.
On May 15th members of our group met with Mayor Gonzales to discuss gender pay equality. Ann Schneider appeared before our June 4th Board meeting seeking support for election reform. We are also concerned with unjust evictions – I am liaison with other groups on this issue. We have established a web site and found a volunteer to update it. Our annual fundraiser will be Sept. 13, at which we will again show a first run movie.
Evergreen Democratic Club at the Villages: Beverly Wharton.
We registered 5 voters including one that changed
affiliation from Republican to Democrat. We passed a resolution to
support current privacy bills.
James Brent of San José State
was the speaker at our last meeting. He suggested three goals for
Democratic activists: 1) Expose Bush as the conservative that he is.
2) Point out the connections between oil companies and campaign contributions.
3) Emphasize his positions on issues.
There will be a 4th of July celebration at
the Villages. We’ll be there.
High Tech Dems: Alyson Abramowitz.
High Tech Dems is a new group. We filled two tables at the JJ dinner. We will have a brainstorming meeting at a Sunday barbecue. Our website is www.hightechdems.com and e-mail at info@hightechdems.com .
Santa Clara County Democratic Club: Ann Shirkey.
The Santa Clara County Democratic Club will be having a barbecue at the Winchester Mystery House on Sat, August 18 from 3:30 - 6:30 PM. Our guest speaker will be Mike Honda. Please call Pat Regdon at 408-298-1076 for ticket information. Also, our San Jose airing time for Straight Talk will be moving to Monday nights at 7:30 starting in July. (Update: The new time will be 6:30 PM Sunday nights.)
South County Democratic Club: Peter Burcat/Alex Kennett.
South County Demo Club met on the 9th in Gilroy to discuss a slate to gain the majority on the Gilroy Council. We have two and are looking for the third candidate. Elections are this November. Also discussed was Dennis Kennedy's campaign for the first supervisorial district. Young Demos gave their first ever report as part of our Club. The Club opted to join the CDC. Next meeting at Alex Kennett's house on August 4th.
West Valley Democratic Club: David Wilkes
The next meeting will be June 24 from 3 to 5 PM in Monte Sereno. Steve Chessin will speak on voting systems. Contact David Wilkes 408-996-1613 for more information.
L. Regional Director: Madge Overhouse.
Note that the CDP has a new address.
(1401 21st St, Suie 100, Sacramento, CA 95814-5221). The State Party
E-board will meet in Sacramento July 13 – 15 at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento
Hotel, 1230 J St. The 2002 State Party Convention will be at the
Los Angeles Bonaventure Hotel.
There was discussion of regional platform
hearings. What is the view of the Central Committee? Diane
Tripousis said that we’ve always had such hearings and that we should continue.
Her office would provide volunteers if necessary.
M. Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis.
The DNC Western Caucus met in Jackson, Wyoming over Memorial Day weekend. Nearly every western state was represented there. In addition to a variety of guest speakers, pertinent topics included the presence of the Federalist Society at Law Schools across the Country, and how "gun control" is hurting Democratic candidates throughout the Mountain West. Chris was selected as California's representative to the Western DNC's ad-hoc committee on "gun safety issues." Also, it is good to note that the total US Senate contingent from the Pacific West is 8 Senators, and from the Mountain West is 18 Senators. So, the elections in our neighboring states water down our California votes for Boxer and Feinstein. Stanford and Santa Clara both have Federalist Society chapters, so the County Committee may want to put some support energies into bringing the new "Madison Society" onto both SCU and Stanford's campuses. The Federalist Society is a well-funded project supported by Clarence Thomas and Anthony Scalia to influence the next generation of attorneys and jurists. Many judges are using Federalist Society membership as a litmus test for receiving clerkships. This is a conscious effort to create a Skull and Bones type of judiciary across the country. The Madison Society is a new "progressive" wave which has launched at some East Coast law schools. Chris suggested that we may want to invite local contacts to speak at a future County Committee meeting. The next full DNC meeting will be in September in Miami, Florida.
N. Pro-Choice Coalition: Claudia Shope.
Claudia referred to legislation, AB 916, authored
by Fred Keely and co-authored by Joe Simitian relating to 7th to 12th grade
health care. (I could find no reference to such a bill on the State
Assembly web site – Herb.)
The next meeting of the Coalition will be
this Tuesday, the 12th, at Planned Parenthood on the Alameda.
Clayton Lee Waggner, who has been convicted
of stalking abortion providers, is still on the loose.
O. DTV Report: Steve Chessin.
Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin
reported that our May taping was with Lisa Breen Strickland of the Support
Network for Battered Women. The June guest is TBD.
DTV will be on San Jose AT&T Channel 15A
tonight and July 5th with Lisa Breen Strickland. The rest of the
schedule has yet to be determined.
DTV 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):
2001:
Jun 7 DTV 77 Lisa Breen Strickland
Jun 21 DTV 78 TBD-78
Jul 5 DTV 77 Lisa Breen Strickland
Jul 19 DTV 78 TBD-78
See http://www.scc-democrats.org/dtv.htm#dtv for the full schedule.
P. CDC Report: David Wilkes.
The annual CDC Convention was held on May 18
through the 20th in Los Angeles. The CDC met at the Furama
Hotel since it was the only union hotel in the area.
The Convention theme was, "Remembering Our
Past; Charting Our Future".
There was a dinner Friday night with a retrospect
on the life and activism of Alan Cranston and a Saturday luncheon salute
to the activism of outgoing president Quincy Beaver.
Johan Klehs and Steve Westly, candidates for
State Controler, Shawn Casey, candidate for Secretary of State, and State
Senator Debra Bowen spoke, among other guests.
There were workshops on Globalization, Police
Abuse and Criminal Justice, Electoral Reform, Fund Raising, Social Security
Protection, Establishing Young Democratic Clubs Within Democratic Clubs,
Strategic Planning for Targeted Local Elections, DNC and the Party Structure.
Saturday night there were nominations and
election of officers.
Sunday morning, there were workshop, caucus,
and committee reports. Also on Sunday, newly elected President Jim
Clarke, outlined a plan of action for CDC in light of the present state
of the Party.
Resolutions were approved on the following:
No report.
7. OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business.
8. NEW BUSINESS
Diane Tripousis said that an ad in the newspaper
attacked Rebecca Cohn and Simon Salinas. The ad asked readers to
sign on to the defense of marriage pledge and asked for participation in
a telephone campaign. Backers have mobilized people in our district
(the 24th). The ad is naively homophobic, and some don’t realize
how offensive it is. The ad was placed by the “Campaign for California
Families,” which has ties to the Christian Coalition. There was a
high vote total in support of the “defense of marriage” proposition 22.
Chris Stampolis commented that one way to
counter such campaigns is by means of mid-term precinct walking.
We should tell voters the good things that Rebecaa and Simon Salinas are
doing.
9. ANNOUNCEMENTS
The meeting was adjourned at 8:27 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Herb Engstrom
Secretary.
This page was last updated 7/7/01.
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