SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE
Minutes of the meeting of September 6, 2001

1.  CALL TO ORDER
    The meeting was called to order by Chair Steve Preminger at 7:11 pm.

2.  ROLL CALL
    Absent were Dennis Chiu, Francine Davis, Bill Ferguson, Allan Thiessen, Rod Diridon, Jr., Larry Littlejohn, Alex Bantis, Larry Carr, John Dutra, Joe Simitian, Rebecca Cohn, Byron Sher, John Vasconcellos, Anselmo Chavez, Pete Stark, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Gap Kim, Alex Edelstein, and David Wilkes.
    Excused were Tom Cochran, Andrea Leiderman, Ron Lind, Emy Thurber, Jim Thurber, Simon Salinas, Jodi Wittlin, and Ann Shirkey.

3.  IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS
    Ian Bain, 21st AD Chair
    Judy Chirco, candidate for San José City Council, District 9
    Chris Kelly, candidate for Palo Alto City Council
    Patrick Faulk, candidate for Cupertino City Council
    Jay Jackman
    Brandon Sulser

4.  ADOPTION OF AGENDA
    Phyllis Ward added a new business item on the status of redistricting.  Gene Wagner added a new business item concerning state bills on individual privacy.  With these additions the agenda was approved.

5.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES    (Minutes are posted on  www.scc-democrats.org)
    Thelma Spaziani asked that her report of last month also include a comment that Liz McDavit did a great job with the new citizen swearing in ceremony.  With this addition the minutes were approved.

6.  REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS

A.  Executive Board:  Herb Engstrom.
    The Executive Board decided to establish a bylaws review committee to handle the CDP ruling that Central Committee votes must be open and the other minor issues.  This item was placed on the agenda for this meeting.
    The E-board wants to continue distributing new citizen cards.  However, we need to delete reference to a specific date so that the cards can be used  whenever appropriate.  Also we want to reword the text so that the card encompasses all registered Democrats, not just new citizens.  The cards should be distributed whenever voter registration is done.  Herb had worked up a new card and e-mailed it to the E-board for review:

One thousand copies of the card have been printed.  The cost of printing each card was about $0.20.
     Clubs are encouraged to register voters at festivals and other events.  However, Club representatives must first contact Liz McDavit to coordinate with Community Services and Voter Registration.  Liz has already taken care of obtaining the necessary approvals for many festivals.  Also, she will provide people if the Clubs are not doing this.  Such coordination is required.
     Jim Thurber reported that Sen. Kerry of Massachusetts appeared at a very successful meeting of 300 people.  The meeting was free – not a fundraiser.  Herb has made a video tape of the Kerry's talk.

B.  Chair: Steve Preminger.
    John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO were at the Labor Council Tuesday.  I want to thank those of you that turned out.
    Olivia Graeve has been working on the format for a newsletter.  She will talk to you about it.

C.  Vice Chair: Tom Cochran. (Absent)

D.  Treasurer: Dennis Chiu. (Absent)

E.  Secretary:  Herb Engstrom.

F.  Community Services & Voter Registration: Liz McDavit

G.  Finance: Jim Thurber (Absent)

H.  Campaign Services: Cristina Uribe
    No report.

    Steve Preminger announced that Supervisor Jim Beall had arrived and asked Jim to say a few words.  Jim held up a copy of "Roll Call," the newspaper of Capitol Hill.  The Headline read "Edwards still working for liberty."  Jim commented that former Rep. Don Edwards was still politically active and working at age 86.
    In answer to a request, Jim went on to say that welfare reform will be one of the top issues in Congress -- in particular, kids need child care. We need support in the budget.  Jim is a member of the national task force of county supervisors and appears before the Congressional committee dealing with welfare legislation.

I.  Candidate Services: Keith Garvey

2001 Democratic Party Central Committee Endorsements
Cupertino Union School District Board, 3 seats 5 on ballot
    Recommend: Pearl Cheng
Gilroy City Council, 3 seats 7 on ballot
    Recommend: Paul Correa, Guadalupe Arellano, Charles Morales
City of Palo Alto City Council, 5 seats 14 on ballot
    Recommend: Jim Burch, Yoriko Kishimoto, Chris Kelly, Litsie Indergand, Sandy Eakins
Sunnyvale City Council Seat One, 2 on ballot
    Recommend: Fred Fowler
Sunnyvale Seat Two, 3 on ballot
    Recommend: Julia Miller
Sunnyvale City Council Seat Three, 2 on ballot
    Recommend: John Howe
Cupertino City Council, 3 seats 6 on ballot, 5 Democrats
    Recommend: Dolly Sandoval, Sandra James, Patrick Kwok

    The Central Committee considered each of these councils and Sunnyvale seats separately and voted to endorse all as proposed.

J.   Issues: Willie Wool
    No report.

K. Political Outreach: Emy Thurber

21st AD Committee: Ian McBain.
    Ian commented on activities.

22nd AD Committee: Chris Stampolis.
    Chris commented on activities.

23rd AD Committee: Keith Garvey.
    Keith's report was not received in time for printing due to a virus on his company's server.

Asian-Pacific American Democratic Club: Peter Chiu.
    Peter commented on activities.

Clinton-Gore Action Network: Liz McDavit.
    Liz commented on activities.

Democratic Action for Women Now (DAWN): Claudia Shope for Lilian Hicks.
    We will be having our annual DAWN Night at the Movies fundraising event this month. It is scheduled for Thursday, September 13th from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Camera Three Theater at 288 S. Second Street.
    We will be previewing the movie "Bread and Tulips" which was the winner of Italy's National Film Award, and won for Best Screenplay at the US Comedy Arts Festival.
    The cost of this fundraising event will be $40. Prepaid admission only.
    Also, on Sunday, September 30th, we will be having a potluck brunch at Ponderosa Park in Sunnyvale from 10:00 am to 1:00 p.m. The park is located at the comer of Henderson and Iris in Sunnyvale. This is a potluck brunch. This is our November Election Endorsement meeting. We will be endorsing in the Cupertino School Board election and city council elections in Palo Alto, Gilroy, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino.

Evergreen Democratic Club at the Villages: Beverly Wharton.
    Our Club's annual August BBQ was a great success. Our honored guests were Mayor Ron Gonzales, Councilman Dave Cortese, AD28 Assemblyman Simon Salinas, and the mayor of Morgan Hill, Dennis Kennedy.  Assemblyman Salinas talked about the legislature's efforts regarding the energy problems, among other issues; Mayor Gonzales reported on the Green Hills Preservation Proposition and his efforts to provide affordable housing. Councilman Cortese told us about the funding for a engineering study to solve the problems at the Yerba Buena/Highway 101 exit/entrance and extended an invitation to the "Day in the Park" on Sept. 15 at L. Cunningham Park.  Dennis Kennedy requested support for his candidacy for County Supervisor.
    The Club hosted a special meeting on August II with the CDC.  CDC President Jim Clarke enlightened a full room of attendees about the history of the CDC, as well as a new strategy to rate precincts for the purpose of maximizing the effort to "get out the vote" aka GOTV.
    Last Tuesday we were back on our regularly scheduled meeting format.  Unfortunately, there was some miscommunication regarding our speaker.  We will try to reschedule her for another meeting.
    The club requested that I, as the Club's representative, ask the SCCDCC to introduce a motion to support State Senator Jackie Speier's bill, SB773, the Individual Privacy Protection Bill (as well as HR 203) and, if the motion passes, to inform the leadership of the State Senate and the Assembly by letter. We are not asking for a resolution, just a vote of support and a letter.
    For our October meeting we are hoping to have a speaker on Social Security.

High Tech Dems: Alyson Abramowitz.
    Alyson commented on activities.

Peninsula Young Democrats: Chris Kelly.
    Chris commented on activities.

Santa Clara County Democratic Club: Herb Engstrom for Ann Shirkey
    Ann has been busy taping another "Straight Talk" show in the field and could not attend.  Our summer picnic was held in the garden of the Winchester Mystery House; maximum capacity of 80- was exceeded with 85 attendees to make it a very successful event.  Congressman Mike Honda was our featured speaker but a number of other elected officials attended including Sen. Liz Figueroa and Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist.  Our current President, Cat LeBlanc, is moving to southern California, but our CC rep, Ann Shirkey, has agreed to run.  Our next meeting will be September 17th.  I will be speaking on the subject of "forgotten economics," some fundamental principles of economics that have important consequences for the future of Social Security, the trade deficit, inflation, and employment.

South County Democratic Club: Alex Kennett.
     South County Club covers from Bernal Road to the County line.  Depending on the version of the moment the club could have as many
as 3 congressmembers, 2 senators and 3 assemblymembers.  Morgan Hill ONLY stands to be in the new district that is now Gary
Condit's - but not San Jose, San Martin and Gilroy!  Very upsetting.
     The Club will hold it's endorsement meeting this Saturday the 8th at Gilroy Middle School, corner IOOF and Forrest.

L. Regional Director:
Region 5: Madge Overhouse.
    The dates for the next State E-board meeting has been decided: November 2 - 4.  However, the location has been changed from San Diego to Palm Springs. Normally, pre-endorsement conferences would have been held January 12 and 13, but due to the time limits imposed by redistricting, there will be no endorsements this election cycle.  Instead, we will use the time for forums.  We will notify the statewide candidates.
Region 4: Martin Gorfinkle.
    Assemblyman Joe Simitian will be holding an open house in his new office on Thursday, September 20.  The address is 160 Town & Country Village,  Palo Alto (corner of El Camino Real & Embarcadero Road).  Refreshements will be served.

M.  Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis.
    Chris commented on activities.

N.  Pro-Choice Coalition:  Claudia Shope.
    A Pro-Choice Coalition meeting with 23rd AD Rep. Manny Diaz will take place on Saturday, September 22 at 9 AM at the Planned Parenthood office, 1796 the Alameda, San José.
    Operation Rescue is planning a demonstration in Washington DC September 6 - 9.  In an email solicitation, the event sponsors write "We must physically intervene for the children locked hopelessly in test tubes.  Though these babies lie at 360 degrees below zero, they are very much alive."
    President Bush has nominated anti-choice conservative Carolyn Kuhl to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.  She has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.  Sen. Dianne Feinstein has already cleared her for consideration by the Senate.   Sen. Barbara Boxer has not yet done so and is asking for support from pro-choice Californians for her effort to stop this nomination.

O.  DTV Report:  Steve Chessin.
    Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported that our August taping was with DNC member Steven Ybarra, chair of the Hispanic Caucus Special Committee on New Citizens.  Our guest in September is not yet confirmed; I hope it will be one of the candidates we endorse(d) tonight.
    We will be on San Jose AT&T Channel 15A next week, September 13th, with Steven Ybarra, and that show will be repeated October 11th.  September 27th will either be a repeat of Latinos in Higher Education, or the show we tape this month.  In any event, the show we tape this month will also air October 25th.
    We could still use some more Democrats on the crew.  No prior video experience is necessary.
San Jose Channel 15A, 8:00 pm every other Thursday (serves part of Cupertino):
Sep 13  DTV 80  Steven Ybarra
Sep 27  DTV 79  Latinos in Higher Education     (**may change to DTV 81**)
Oct 11  DTV 80  Steven Ybarra
    See  http://www.scc-democrats.org/dtv.htm#dtv  for the full schedule.

P.  CDC Report:  David Wilkes. (Absent)

Q.  Welfare Reform:  Sal Alvarez.
    Jim Beall covered this issue.

7.  OLD BUSINESS
    None.

8.  NEW BUSINESS

A.  Bylaws revision
    An ad hoc committee to review bylaws and to address the issue of open ballots consistent with the decision of the CDP Rules Committee will be established.  Steve Chessin and Herb Engstrom expressed interest in participating.

B.  Redistricting
    Phyllis Ward commented that the currently proposed district boundaries do not look very promising.  The districts of Assemblyman Fred Keely and Rep. Bruce McPherson have been changed.
    Chris Stampolis spoke of concerns of the 22nd Assembly District.  The 22nd AD Rep., Elaine Alquist, has proposed emergency resolutions urging that we keep the smaller cities whole within the new assembly districts.  (Due to its size, San José will of necessity fall into several districts.)  Specifically, she has urged that the Central Committee pass the following resolutions:

BE IT RESOLVED that the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee formally states it support for keeping all municipalities in Santa Clara County (excepting San José) whole within their respective legislative districts, and,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee opposes any proposal to amend the proposed 2001-2011 Assembly lines by splitting any cities within the county which were whole in the draft proposal.

Cristina Uribe urged that delay passage until we have made certain that our delegations are behind us.  Where stand Rebecca Cohn, Joe Simitian, Simon Salinas, and John Dutra? she asked.  Madge Overhouse agreed with Cristina and urged caution.  But Chris responded that it was important that we send a message tomorrow, so that there was no time to check with legislators.  Sal Alvarez stated that Simon Salinas supported the principle of keeping cities whole and not carving up San Martin and Morgan Hill.  Martin Gorfinkle indicated this issue had statewide implications, and not just for San José.   He asked if the resolution implied endorsement of the current map.  No, replied Chris, it simply means that cities should not be divided between assembly districts when possible.  Claudia Shope agreed with Madge and emphasized that San José was already divided.  Lee Sturtevant asked if Elaine had already discussed this resolution with the other legislators.  Chris replied that she had spoken to about half, and there was substantial support for keeping cities whole.  One rep, however, wants to divide a city.  Cristina again urged more information and asked that action be postponed until Steve Preminger could check with the delegation, because we represent the entire county.  Steve Chessin came out strongly in favor of the motion to approve the resolution.  He said that we should show leadership and should not be afraid to take a stand.  Sal again urged passage indicating that he disagreed with the notion of unanimity of Central Committee votes.  He knew of nothing to be unanimous in other representative bodies.  We should stay with the principle of keeping cities whole.  Craig Mann also expressed support saying that the Evergreen District is split, which is offensive to Asians who constitute 42% of the district.  We should not bow to the self interest of one assemblymember.  Chris reiterated that this is now or never: the conference committee meets tomorrow.
    The question was called and the motion to approve the resolution passed by a vote of 21 to 1 with 4 abstentions.
    Steve Chessin commented on the proposed redistricting.  He noted that under the new proposal, Santa Clara County will include parts or all of 9 assembly districts, as opposed to 6 at present.  One of those districts, the 19th AD, has only 6 people residing in the county.  This presents an interesting problems for the Central Committee: assuming all 6 of those are Democrats, they would all automatically be members of the Central Committee, which has 6 representatives from each district.  District 26 is even worse; it has no population at all in Santa Clara County.  Whoever gets the Democratic nomination for AD representative can appoint all 6 member to the Central Committee.  Steve moved to urge adjustment of Districts 19 and 27 so that neither includes any portion of Santa Clara County unless they include whole communities.  The motion carried by voice vote.  Steve will draft a letter asking that the boundaries of these districts be adjusted, and Steve Preminger will sign and send it.

C. Privacy legislation
    Gene Wagner of the Evergreen Democratic Club at the Villages moved that the Committee send letters to Jackie Speier and Hannah-Beth Jackson telling them that we appreciate their work to pass the privacy acts SB773 and HR203.  Letters have already been drafted and appear in the Appendix below.  The motion carried.

D. Additional impromptu discussion
    Sal Alvarez noted that due to the energy crisis the governor has cut $98 million from the budget for construction and repair of community colleges.  There is now a backlash, and the governor is apologetic.  Sal moved that the Committee go on record as supporting the restoration of the $98 million to the budget.  The motion carried.
    Francis LaPoll moved that we urge restoration of funding for K-12 education as well.  He noted that the small district in which he lives lost $1 million, which is a large amount.  The motion carried.

9.  ANNOUNCEMENTS
    Steve Preminger recognized Sal and Sylvia Alvarez on the 35th anniversary of their marriage.
    Tony Alexander asked for support for grocery workers in their labor action here in the valley.
    Thelma Spaziani noted that Peter Szego spoke at her church on affordable housing, and she wished to thank him publicly.
    Madge Overhouse added to here Regional Director's report that redistricting will also affect the Democratic region boundaries.
    Steve Preminger noted that Dennis Kennedy, mayor of Morgan Hill, was present.
    Steve went on to thank the 21st AD Committee for providing very delicious refreshments and that the 22nd AD will be responsible next month.

10. ADJOURNMENT
    Steve called for a motion to adjourn.  It was made, seconded, and carried at 9:14 P.M.

APPENDIX

The Honorable Jackie Speier
State Senator, 8th District
Sacramento, California September 6, 2001

Dear Senator Speier,

I am writing, on behalf of our Senior Democratic club, to express our delight and thanks for your efforts to protect the privacy of consumers (Citizens.) Your Bill, SB 773, is surely an important call to others who are wavering in this matter.

Ours is the largest Senior Democratic Club in the area. If you are ever in the neighborhood, we would be honored to have you visit.

Very Truly Yours,

Pat Kirk, President, E.D.C.

The Honorable Hannah-Beth Jackson
Representative, Assembly District 35
Sacramento, California September 6, 2001

Dear Representative Hannah-Beth Jackson,

I am writing, on behalf of our Senior Democratic club, to express our delight and thanks for your efforts to protect the privacy of consumers (Citizens.) Your Bill, HR 203, is surely an important call to others who are wavering in this matter.

Ours is the largest Senior Democratic Club in the area. If you are ever in the neighborhood, we would be honored to have you visit.

Very Truly Yours,

Pat Kirk President, E.D.C.
c/c Jeanne Petersen

This page was last updated 9/22/01