1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Steve Preminger
at 7:15 PM.
2. SPECIAL GUEST: Ed Hoffman.
Mr. Hoffman encouraged everyone to attend the State
Party Convention or find a proxy. He offered to help find proxies.
Dolly Sandoval will help in this effort; she'll help with filling the forms.
Several student organizations would like to send delegates and need proxy
authorization.
3. ROLL CALL
Absent were: Bill Ferguson, Allan Thiessen, Jewelle
Gibbs, Rod Diridon, Jr., Larry Carr, Craig Mann, Rena Modell, Gene Wagner,
John Dutra, Joe Simitian, Elaine Alquist, Manny Diaz, Rebecca Cohn, Liz
Figueroa, Byron Sher, John Vasconcellos, Anselmo Chavez, Pete Stark, Anna
Eshoo, Mike Honda, Gap Kim, and Alex Edelstein.
Excused were: Tom Cochran, Anna Song, Keith Garvey,
and Lilian Hicks.
4. IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS
Denelle Fedor
John Coyle
Barbara Nesbet, former Mayor of Monte Sereno.
Kinshasa Curl, campaign manager for Terry Gregory
for San José City Council
Chris Gilliard
5. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
A motion to approve was made and approved.
6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Minutes are posted
on www.scc-democrats.org)
Anne Mack commented that the January minutes were
too long, and Steve suggested that perhaps we should call them "hours."
Nonetheless, a motion to approve was made and passed.
7. CANDIDATES
Two endorsed candidates in the March election were
granted time to make statements.
Terry Gregory: Candidate for San José City Council District 7.
"Thank you very much for your sole endorsement; it
means a lot. Just to give you a quick update: we are just under four
weeks away from March 5th. We have until 5 o'clock next Friday to
raise money. If you are so kind to write a check before then, we
would appreciate it. Two other opportunities we have are walking
and phone banking. I've got a lot of support from the South Bay Labor
Council, and I've also got their endorsement. We still need a lot
of people to volunteer. This race is going to be won on the ground.
We are leading right now, but we won't win without people on the ground
contacting voters and if we don't have a lot of people on the phone banks.
My appeal to you is to please find a way to come out and support us.
Come to the Labor Temple 9 o'clock in the morning on Saturdays, and I think
it's 11 o'clock on Sundays. And the phone banking opportunities are
5 pm to 9 pm every evening at the Labor Temple. So please come out;
we really need to have your support. We want to make sure we win
this outright in March. I know you don't want me to come back here
in April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November talking
about getting people to walk, so make it happen right now. And it's
very doable, so contact Kinshasa, my campaign manager, and give her your
card, phone number, whatever you have so that we can contact you.
"Thank you very much."
Dennis Kennedy: Mayor of Morgan Hill and candidate for Board of Supervisors, District 1.
"My race for Board of Supervisors is going to be
decided on March 5th, so this is not a primary; this is it, and I'm happy
to have the endorsement of the Democratic Central Committee. We've
raised over $130,000, and we're just slightly behind my opponent, Don Gage,
in terms of funds in the bank, so if you have some funds that are available
after February 17th, and you can't give those to Terry, we'll be glad to
accept them! We are doing our precinct walking with a strong group
of over 50 volunteers.
"District 1 is huge geographically; it's everything
in south San José south of Capitol Expressway, and on the east side
south of Yerba Buena, so it includes the Villages, Silver Creek, Edendale;
when you go further west, west of Almaden Expressway, everything south
of Blossom Hill Road including Los Gatos, all the mountains are all part
of this district."
"It's critical that I win this election What
is happening to our hillsides, our agricultural lands, our open spaces
is terrible under Mr. Gage's reign in office, his term in office.
A lot of development is occurring in open space areas either in violation
of county ordinances or there are ordinances and policies that are not
being followed. It's critical. We cannot afford another four
years of Mr. Gage in office.
"To win this election just as Terry said, we have
to get out there and reach our voters. We've got a grass roots program
working. Maria Smith is my campaign manager. She's doing an
outstanding job, by the way, and I'm going to give you our campaign number
if you're willing to volunteer. It's 779-7758. I've got some
literature in the back - envelopes, literature, more information.
To win this election we've got to reach the voters throughout the entire
district, whether it's Silver Creek, Los Gatos, Santa Teresa, Vista Park,
Almaden Valley, Yerba Buena, San Martin, we need your help.
"Once again I'm very pleased to be here today and
would be honored to have your help and support in this race. Thank
you very much."
8. ENDORSEMENTS: Keith Garvey.
Steve said that Keith Garvey is in Sacramento, so
Steve gave the report.
"Keith and a group interviewed the candidates in
the mayoral race. They interviewed the current incumbent as well
as José Posadas, one of the challengers. The other Democratic
challenger declined to be interviewed due to her schedule. The recommendation
of the endorsement committee is that we endorse Mayor Ron Gonzales.
While the endorsement committee felt that José was a sincere candidate,
they felt that his campaign lacked the kind of support required to win
the race., and they felt that Ron as Mayor has been a good Democrat.
"As people may remember we tried to bring
this up last month but the direction of the Committee was to take it back
and make sure all the interviews were completed, so now the process is
over with and the committee is recommending an endorsement of Ron Gonzales.
Is there a motion to endorse?"
Anne Mack moved to endorse, and Thelma Spaziani
seconded. There was no discussion, and the motion carried unanimously.
Steve continued: "The next part is consideration
of doing endorsements in judicial races. If Keith were here
he would say that he didn't feel that we were ready to actually hold those
interviews. However, the next election cycle he feels that we should
hold those interviews in a timely way to coincide with the other endorsements
that we do partly because of the discussion that we held last month.
He feels that judicial races are a lot more politicized than they ever
had been.
"One of the things that we wanted to work on was
an instrument; what would we ask candidates for judicial office given the
fact that they can't make commitments on how they would rule in cases that
come before them. So we asked our legal scholar, Dennis Chiu, if
he could draft a questionnaire. So I wanted Dennis to come up and
talk about the questionnaire that he would propose that we use for the
next round of judicial elections."
Dennis described the questionnaire as follows:
"How on earth do you ask a judge how they might
rule on a particular issue without them trotting out the canon on judicial
ethics, which precludes them from basically saying what he or she might
do for an issue that might come before him or her? The things that
I felt were important are at two levels: one, is experience or basic competence
level, and the second one was judicial temperament or judicial philosophy
in a kind of historical or contemporary context."
Dennis went on to say that in terms of experience
judges preside over both criminal and civil cases and should have experience
in both areas, so he devised questions about how many trials they have
they conducted, what their practice as attorneys was, and what kind of
cases they handles. A classic breakdown for a criminal attorney might
be 50% drug possession 25% domestic violence 20% assault 10% murder or
for a more civil trial attorney it would be 60% insurance, 20% high tech
transactional, and 20% real estate. We want to find if the candidates
are experienced both to handle trials and also what their background is
in the law so that when an issue comes before them how much information
they have.
The second part is what they believe and how to
we determine this. One way is to ask them who is their favorite Supreme
Court justice currently on the bench. If they select Antonin Scalia,
you'll have an idea. If they select Justice Stevens, who started
out as one of the conservative justices and ended up being one of the most
liberal, you will know where they stand on the current issues. And
we've thought about historical justices. If they pick Thurgood Marshall,
you'll have a good idea where they stand.
Another important thing is their judicial temperament:
Are they going to be really hard or really soft? Another question
is to pick a current Superior Court judge whom they respect and hope to
emulate just to figure out what their court room style would be.
With regard to some of the hot button issues there
is a historical question: Provide comment on Roe vs Wade and the premise
that the COnstitution through a number of rights creates a right of privacy,
which is at the heart of Roe vs Wade.
An active issue in the criminal justice system is
the three strikes law. One question is: "Discuss your thoughts about
the three strikes law, and how does this impact the criminal justice system
and judicial discretion?"
Dennis concluded, "Trial court judges are often
elevated to the Appellate Court and are often selected for higher courts,
even the Federal bench, so it's important to seed the lower courts early.
It's an excellent idea to start putting judges that we consider within
the philosophy of the Democratic Party into office."
Dennis took questions, the first from Dave Wilkes
who commented that judges are the hardest to "pin down" in terms of getting
voter information about them. "Where do I go for information?" he
asked. Dennis acknowledge this problem and pointed out that typically
40% of people that vote decline to vote for judges, because they just don't
know. Until we get into the endorsement process and start interviewing,
people won't have that information. Even Dennis admitted having to
ask his personal friends who are attorneys for such information.
Thelma Thomson asked if we can put the candidates
under oath when we interview them. Dennis replied no, we do not have
the power of subpoena.
Michael Markman followed up on David Wilkes question
by commenting that other organizations that do endorsements in judicial
races include the Santa Clara County Bar. All members of the Bar
received an e-mail within the last three weeks that allows them to log
on and vote in a plebiscite the result of which is made public. The
Bar emphasizes the experience and is not a substitute for this Committee,
but it is a good secondary source. Dennis cautioned that one candidate
was Bill Priest, who had been president of the Bar and would get much support
for that very reason. Charlie Ahern then asked if the Bar does anything
in terms of evaluating candidate qualifications. Michael replied
that the plebiscite is more political, so there is a danger that someone
like Bill Priest could hijack the process. Would we be redundant,
Charlie asked. No, Michael replied, we would cover issues.
Francis La Poll commented that what Dennis was doing
was great, a sentiment echoed by Alyson Abramowitz, who went on to ask
if we could ask candidates about some of their rulings. Dennis replied
that they generally don't have rulings because they are not judges.
Although some might be incumbents, incumbents generally do not have challengers;
it is hard to unseat a sitting judge.
Chris Stampolis also praised the work and said that
he knows of know County Committee in the nation trying to devise standards
for evaluating judicial candidates. We might even want to evaluate
State Supreme Court candidates.
9. PROPOSED CHANGES TO BYLAWS: David Cohen.
Steve invited David Cohen to come forward to discuss
the proposed bylaw changes. David said that the bylaws committee
is presenting a slate of recommended changes that we can vote on all at
once. It requires a 50% +1 vote to effect these changes. He
asked for questions and then recommended that we approve as we would a
consent calendar. Members could pull certain proposals for discussion
after the balance of the proposals are approved.
Thelma Spaziani pointed out an inconsistency in
language wherein a majority is sometimes called half but in other places
50%. David replied that he would accept such comments as friendly
amendments unless a member of the bylaws committee objected. He considered
the change to 50% throughout as such a friendly amendment.
Dan Hoffman questioned the addition of Sec. III.F.
"No vote shall be taken by secret ballot." He said that that if two
candidates are running for a position, a Committee member might like both
and not want to offend one, so we should make an exception so that on a
case-by-case basis a vote could be taken by secret ballot. Steve
replied that the National Committee requires all state parties to have
no more secret ballots, and this is in the spirit of that law. People
always have the option of abstaining if they don't want to hurt people.
Although we've always done it by secret ballot, this is coming down from
the top, and we are looking for consistency. David added that a secret
ballot could mean written ballots with names on them, ballots that are
retained for some period of time and available. That period of time
could be as short as an hour. Alex Bantis asked how the national
party came to this decision. Jim Thurber replied that it was decided
that there would be no secret ballots beyond the first ballot, the first
ballot being when we (the Central Committee) are elected, which is by secret
ballot. All following elections must be in the open. David
added that we are elected to represent voters on issues and as such we
should be voting publicly so that our constituents know how their representatives
are voting just as in Congress and the Senate. Chris Stampolis clarified
that this procedure is different from what is being required from Assembly
District committees where any registered Democrat can join simply by paying
dues. Thus, secret ballots in the AD committees are still OK, but
if your executive committee of the AD committee or the officers got together,
any vote there would have to be by open ballot. Dan asked if anyone
knew what the rationale for this policy was, and if we did not like the
policy we might pass a resolution asking that it be changed. David
replied that since we are elected members, we should have open ballots.
We could, however, reject this change to the bylaws. We are recommending
that we make this change, because it is in line with the state and national
parties. If there is sentiment to separate this change, somebody
can make a motion to remove it. There was no such motion made.
Alyson raised a point of clarification. The
bylaws refer to regular monthly meetings held at the permanent headquarters
of the Democratic Party of Santa Clara County. She asked where that
is. David replied that we are recommending a change in language because
no such headquarters exist, we are recommending that the Executive Committee
be allowed to decide where to meet, rather than asking the entire body
to vote on that. We want to leave in a reference to the permanent
headquarters because we have this dream that one day there will be such
a headquarters. Alyson asked why the bylaws don't reflect current
reality? David replied by asking who knows if we will be able to
continue to meet at this location? We wanted flexibility. Chris
Stampolis proposed an amendment that would add "or by the SCCDCC" to the
executive committee as the decision maker. David accepted this amendment
for the committee as friendly.
Chris proposed another friendly amendment: All references
to "residing in Santa Clara County" be changed to "registered to vote in
Santa Clara County." This change, too, was accepted as friendly.
Dan Hoffman asked about the definition of a quorum
of "at least 50% of its voting members," and whether this excluded club
representatives. David replied that most people that attend the CC
meetings are the elected members, and we sometimes have trouble meeting
quorum. If we did not include the club representatives in the requirement
for meeting quorum, we would more often not have a problem.
Steve asked for a motion to approve the proposed
bylaws changes as amended, and Alex Bantis so moved. There was a
second, and the motion carried unanimously.
Anne Mack was recognized and said that she wanted
to thank David and the committee for the wonderful job that they did in
putting the bylaws together.
10. REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS
A. Executive Board: Herb Engstrom.
The Executive Board met on January 16th and discussed
the following issues:
B. Chair: Steve Preminger.
"We'll talk later about the State Democratic Party
meeting next week in LA. The Republican annual meeting will be here
at the San José Fairmont tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday, and there
may be some e-mail appeal to come and help support our candidates by displaying
signs. The three Republican candidates for governor will hold another
debate in San José. As one of the three people that attended
the last debate I can assure you there there are tons of media present,
and it would be a real opportunity for us to be out there holding our signs
and talking about issues like choice. At the last debate Tom Cochran
and I were there as well as another Democrat who somehow ended up getting
arrested for demonstrating. He was told twice to turn off his bullhorn,
and the third time he was shouting and was arrested for using amplified
sound - a real nice guy, too. We'll communicate more about that.
"We've also heard that the Vice PResident will be
in town in the near future doing a fundraiser for the Chamber of Commerce.
Jacquie Heffner interjected that she had a date: the 21st of February,
but she wasn't positive. That will provide ample opportunity to remind
people of the Enron energy policy; there'll be a lot of media for that,
so we'll communicate on that, too."
Chris Stampolis referred to the mention of the Chamber
of Commerce and said that former Assemblyman, Republican Jim Cunneen is
now running the Chamber and is doing an effective job in trying to portray
this valley as friendly to Republicans across the country. Chris
believes that Jim still lives in San José's District 10 and suggested
that the E-Board have an off-the-record discussion about Cunneen and what
his future is. Is he going to run to replace Dando when she's out;
is he going to want to be mayor? He's putting an awful lot of energy
in strengthening a political base that goes way beyond what a Chamber of
Commerce would normally do. Jacquie added that she interviewed him
for a class last semester, and that he will be back.
Steve continued, "On another issue the Registrar
of Voters asks the political parties if they want to monitor the vote count
on March 5th. Some members of the Committee have stayed all night
at the registrars making sure those chads are counted and taken off, so
we the right to have an observer and if anybody's interested in doing that
it's a volunteer position -- you won't get paid and you won't be where
the action is in the sense of seeing the votes being put up -- that would
be great. Please let me know."
Hayes Alexander volunteered.
Steve went on, "It looks like the county fair will
be three days only this year with no admission, so we should get a good
crowd. This being an election year, and assuming the fees for having
a booth go down correspondingly, it should be a great weekend. The
dates are August 2, 3, and 4.
"The last thing is that the newsletter that Olivia
has been working on is out. It's a great newsletter with great articles.
Charlie worked hard on an article as did others." In response to
a question Steve said that the newsletter was not yet on line, but it will
be. Our goal is to share hard copies with our tabling efforts so
that people registering to vote in the malls and shopping centers can learn
more about the party.
C. Vice Chair: Tom Cochran.
Tom was not present.
D. Treasurer: Dennis Chiu.
No report.
E. Secretary: Herb Engstrom.
Dues must be paid tonight for all delegates. I need
to submit list of paid up members. Deadline is tomorrow, 5 pm.
Apologies are due to the 28th AD Committee: I neglected
to bump the AD to the 20th as responsible for refreshments. Hope
we have food tonight. (We did, thanks to David Cohen).
Those of you that are giving reports, please e-mail
me a copy for inclusion in the minutes.
F. Community Services & Voter Registration: Liz McDavit.
Last day to register before March primaries is Feb.
19th.
Anyone can now have Permanent Absentee Ballot Status
without claiming a disability. It is a blue form at the Registrar's and
it is legal to make copies.
California State Party is now accepting Decline
to State which means that anyone registered to vote that way can ask for
a Democratic ballot for the primaries.
Please let us know if your club or AD intends to
table at a festival this spring and summer. If we don't hear from you
we will assume the event needs to be covered and we will arrange for the
Democrats to be there. Since we don't want to duplicate efforts and
waste resources, we would appreciate knowing if you have a festival or
event in mind. Please just e-mail us at CGactnet1@aol.com
.
The County Fair this year is in August and only
for 3 days. During the past few years it has been in the spring but it
has always been for two weeks. This year it will be August 2-4. (Friday
- Sunday). If anyone is interested in doing voter registration at the Fair
or any of the festivals, please just e-mail me at the above address. Thank
you!
G. Finance: Jim Thurber
Jim talked about the upcoming JJ Dinner on
May 3rd and the need for every member of the Central Committee to make
a committment to sell or buy or both a table.
H. Campaign Services: Keith Garvey
Not present.
I. Candidate Services: Cristina Uribe
Not present.
J. Issues: Willie Wool
Not present.
K. Political Outreach: Emy Thurber
Political outreach clubs and ADs: Emy Thurber.
It was moved, seconded and passed that the Peninsula
Democratic Coalition, the Evergreen Valley Democratic Club, the West Valley
Club and the Santa Clara County Democratic Club be reaccredited with the
Central Committee since they had completed the necessary paperwork.
21st AD Committee: Rich Watters.
No report submitted.
22nd AD Committee: Chris Stampolis.
No report submitted.
Asian-Pacific American Democratic Club: Dennis Chiu.
The Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic
Club completed its endorsement process and has been working on its annual
retreat to plan for the future.
Clinton*Gore Action Network: Lorre Vaughn.
The Action Network helped do outreach for the Barbara
Boxer fundraising reception with President Clinton. The event took place
at the San Francisco Fairmont on January 28. We were able to sell 14 tickets
to members. Both Senator Boxer and President Clinton gave wonderful speeches
in which they passionately pledged their support for the war on terrorism
while just as emphatically stating that we must stop the Bush Administration
on domestic policies.
Democratic Action for Women Now (DAWN): Lilian Hicks.
DAWN had its endorsement brunch on Sunday, January
27th. After much heated debate among everyone the following candidates
were endorsed: Hon. Sally Lieber for 22nd Assembly District. A dual
endorsement for Judy Chirco and Chris Hemingway for San Jose City Council
District 9 and Terry Gregory for San Jose City Council District 7
We encourage all of our membership to send money,
walk, phone and stuff envelopes. There is only one month left until
election day and we want our candidates to win.
We also interviewed Dennis Kennedy at our DAWN Board
Meeting on Monday, February 4th. Please have either Claudia Shope
or Keith Garvey give everyone a report on that as they were among the Board
Members who did the interviewing.
High Tech Dems: Alyson Abramowitz
High Tech Dems (HTD) had another successful event
in January. Our panel entitled, "Is There Privacy After 9/11?" featured
panelists:
Peninsula Democratic Coalition: Emy Thurber.
No report submitted.
Peninsula Young Democrats: Michael Markman.
PYD held officer elections at our January 24, 2002
meeting. Andrew Byrnes was elected as Chair of PYD. Hope Allen was
elected as our new Vice Chair, Michael Markman was elected Secretary, and
Chris Stone was elected Finance Director.
PYD recently re-chartered with the California Young
Democrats with over 100 members, placing PYD among the largest Young Democrat
organizations in California. Our next social event will be held on Thursday,
February 28, location TBA (details will be available through info@peninsulayd.org
).
Santa Clara County Democratic Club: Charlie Ahern.
Based on the candidate forum we held in January
at the Cupertino Library, the SCCDC e-board recently finalized the club's
endorsements for the elections in March. The club endorsed Chris Hemingway
and Linda Lizotte for SJ city council, Dennis Kennedy for county supervisor,
and Sally Lieber in the 22nd AD. The e-board also authorized campaign
contributions to Hemingway, Kennedy, and Lieber. We will recruit club members
to do some precinct walking for Dennis and Sally. Feb 23 and March 2 were
designated walking dates for Sally. Ann Shirkey will coordinate walkers
for Dennis.
We have tentatively scheduled our summer event for
August 17. Please pencil us in on your calendars.
South County Democratic Club: Alex Kennett.
We had a Super Bowl social at El Toro Brewery in
Morgan Hill and raised almost $1,500.00 for the Club and Dennis Kennedy.
February 23rd and March 2nd are working club meetings where we will do
precinct walking, etc. for Dennis. March 25th is a Issues and organizational
meeting and preparation for our Club elections in April.
West Valley Democratic Club: David Wilkes.
No report submitted.
L. Regional Director: Madge Overhouse.
It is important to remember that at the convention
the endorsement of the state constitutional officers will be from 5 to
7 on Saturday and you have to be registered or have the proxy submitted
between 7 AM and 1 PM on Saturday. After that you may not vote in
that election. If you are sending a proxy, make sure they register
by Saturday, 1 PM. Special guests will be Tom Daschle, John Kerry,
John Edwards, Nancy Pelosi, and there is still no "no" from
President Clinton.
I would like to thank those of you that helped on
the January 13th Democratic fair and rally. It was a success.
We had about 150 people. Here are Liz McDavit, Frank Bosche, Margie
Baker, Jacquie Heffner, David Cohen, Thelma Spaziani, Jim Thurber, Anne
Mack, and Charlie Ahern brought his son. Bill Lockyer came, we had
a representative from the governor, and a lot of our elected officials
were there.
Tomorrow at the Century Club luncheon we will have
the candidates from the 22nd as our guests -- Rosemary Stasek, Sally Lieber,
and Rod Diridon, Jr. -- so if you can come, please see me. It will
be at Lou's Village.
And I wouldn't be able to do a lot if this if it
weren't for our chairman, Steve, so thank you.
M. Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis.
No report submitted.
N. Pro-Choice Coalition: Claudia Shope.
On February 15th, 2002, Planned Parenthood Advocates
Mar Monte along with leaders of the pro-choice community will hold a press
conference at the Downtown Santa Clara County Superior Court opposing anti-choice
Santa Clara County Judicial Candidate Michael Millen who formerly represented
protesters organized by Operation Rescue.
In 1993, attorney Michael Millen represented 16
anti-choice protesters who were organized by Operation Rescue. They picketed
a local doctor's home in San Jose. The anti-choice protesters were arrested
for violating San Jose's Residential Picketing Ordinance. The protesters
challenged the ordinance on the ground that it violated their first amendment
rights.
On February 15, 1995, the California Court of Appeals
in City of San Jose v. Superior Court (1995) 32 Cal. App. 4th 330 later
found the ordinance was in fact constitutional.
On the 7th Anniversary of this important California
Court of Appeals decision, we are holding this press conference at Downtown
Santa Clara County Superior in order to voice our opposition to anti-choice
Judicial Candidate Michael Millen.
The press conference will be held on:
Date: Friday February 15, 2002For more information, please call (408) 297-9255 ext. 17 or e-mail sanjosepa@ppmarmonte.org
Time: Noon
Place: Downtown Santa Clara County Superior Court
Address: 191 N. First Street (First and St. James Street)
San Jose, CA 95113
It looks like this is another current thrust of the
anti choice movement. The anti choice movement runs "Crisis Pregnancy Centers."
In the San Francisco Bay Area some of these non clinics have changed their
names to "First Resort," "Community Pregnancy Center," "Pregnancy Choices"
etc.
Anti choice people consider these to be clinics,
however most do not have a doctor present at a facility .A woman can get
a free pregnancy test. The woman may then be given heavy-handed religious
counseling where she is urged to keep her baby whatever her circumstances
or desires. Typically the counselors have only had religious (Biblical)
training and many of these centers, if not all, are affiliated with a church
or group of churches. Fundraising for the centers is often conducted at
churches. There are both Catholic and Protestant affiliated centers. The
training that the "counselors" in these places receive is often given in
a church. (There is one San Francisco Bay Area CPC, the "Valley Center"
in the East Bay, I think, which is hoping to become a "California licensed
medical facility .")
If a woman does decide that she wants an abortion,
but needs Medi-CAL coverage, she must have her pregnancy certified by a
doctor. By having gone to a CPC, the women adds extra delay which may push
her into a later term abortion, increasing the risk and cost of the procedure.
Of course, this delay is intentional on the part of the anti choice people
who run the clinics.
The religious and/or anti choice non-clinics outnumber
the legitimate clinics at perform abortions by 3 or 4 to 1. In many cases
there is a fake anti choice clinic near a real clinic, sometimes the fake
clinic is in the same shopping center or even in the same building.
The anti choice clinics try to appear as if they
offer all options to a pregnant woman, including abortion. This helps them
to lure women in so that they can receive an intensive sales pitch against
abortion.
Note that the anti choice movement is trying to
get federal money to purchase the sonogram
machines. Some states already provide funds to these anti choice clinics.
There are major issues of separation of church and state, since the centers
are, or would be, using government money to push their religious beliefs.
Convinced that a look inside the womb will dissuade
many pregnant women from abortion, anti-abortion activists hope to provide
ultrasound equipment to hundreds of pregnancy centers that promote alternatives
like adoption.
Congressional allies are drafting a bill that would
provide federal funding for the project, which abortion rights groups bitterly
oppose.
"They're using medical technology as political propaganda,"
said Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Feldt said most so-called crisis pregnancy centers
-also known as pregnancy help centers -are guided by an anti-abortion agenda
that may override a woman's best interests.
Backers of the ultrasound initiative confirm their
goal is to reduce abortion, but say their strategy is non-coercive -they're
simply giving pregnant women more information.
"When they get the information to make an informed
choice -once they see the ultrasound -the majority of women chose to carry
the pregnancy to term," said Tom Glessner, president of the National Institute
of Family and Life Advocates.
Glessner says his institute represents 750 pregnancy
centers across the United States, out of a total of more than 2,000 which
counsel pregnant women on alternatives to abortion. His goal is to have
1,000 centers equipped with ultrasound and certified to use it by 2010.
Some centers are acquiring ultrasound equipment
with private funds. An ally of Glessner's in
Congress, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., plans to introduce a bill that
would help many others by allocating up to $3 million to acquire ultrasound.
Centers could qualify for funding regardless of
the ideological tilt of their staff, but Stearns is clear about his intention.
"When a woman looks at the ultrasound, she'll have
the full measure of what it means to see a live person in the making,"
he said. "Our long-term goal is to reduce the number of abortions."
Kate Michelman, president of the National Abortion
and Reproductive Rights Action League, said ultrasound is a valuable technology
that is being misused by abortion foes.
"It never fails to amaze me how little respect they
have for women's capacity to understand what goes on in our bodies," Michelman
said. "I faced a crisis pregnancy after having three children, and I didn't
need anyone to show me a sonogram to inform me that my pregnancy would
result in giving birth to a person."
Supporters of Stearns' bill "have one purpose in
mind -to intimidate women out of choosing abortion, and using government
money to do that," Michelman said. "That is wrong."
Abortion-rights groups have campaigned for years
against crisis pregnancy centers, accusing them of deceptive and coercive
attempts to manipulate women who may be unaware of the centers' ideological
bent.
"They don't provide true medical care," said Feldt.
"What they do is malpractice, by not giving women unbiased information
on all their options."
After some pressure from abortion-rights groups,
Yellow Pages directories now list crisis pregnancy centers under the h-eading
of "abortion alternatives," often accompanied by a note explaining that
these agencies do not provide counseling on abortion.
"More women are learning to be cautious about where
they go for help, but a lot of women are unsuspecting," Michelman said.
In New York state, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer
is investigating pregnancy centers after receiving complaints of deception.
One allegation is that some centers misleadingly imply that they offer
abortions, with the aim of identifying women who want them and seeking
to change their minds.
"We're not trying to shut down the centers," said
Spitzer's spokesman, Darren Dopp. "We're trying to bring them into compliance."
Ultrasound can be used only by trained medical personnel
working under a doctor's supervision. Part
of Glessner's campaign will be to ensure that pregnancy centers meet
these requirements by qualifying as medical clinics.
Glessner said data from pregnancy centers suggests
the percentage of women who abandon plans for an abortion more than triples
if they see ultrasound fetal images.
"Shame on NARAL (Michelman's group) for opposing
a woman's right to choose life," he said. "This scares them, because they
know what women do when they see the images."
So please come out and support these events.
O. DTV Report: Steve Chessin.
On Feb. 2, Steve Preminger interviewed San Jose
City Councilmember Nora Campos (District 5), who is running for re-election,
about her experiences on
the council in the past year.
If you'd like to be part of our studio audience,
contact Steve Chessin at 650-962-8412. Except where noted, all tapings
are on the third Saturday morning of the month, and you must arrive at
the studio by 11 AM on the day of the taping in order to be admitted. (10:30
AM beginning in March.).
P. CDC Report: David Wilkes.
No report submitted.
Q. Welfare Reform: Sal Alvarez.
No report.
11. OLD BUSINESS
There was no old business not already covered.
12. NEW BUSINESS
Endorsements of Measures
Steve raised the issue of considering the ballot
measures on the local ballot. There are about 15 of them, mostly
school bond measures like those we have supported in the past with a few
exceptions.. He made copies of the Labor Council sheet. We've
had requests from only one campaign, which is the Yes on Measure O campaign,
which calls for a property tax addition of $2 per month to increase fund
for police, fire, 911, and paramedic services. If people are interested
there are copies, or we could refer them to the Executive Board.
Chris Stampolis asked if a motion to endorse would
be in order. Steve replied that he felt we should endorse the measures
that we feel are fairly noncontroversial. The measures are as follows:
Measure B, Santa Clara County Board of Education: Transfer of
territory from Santa Clara Unified School District to the East Side Union
and Orchard School District (majority);
Measure D, Gilroy Unified School District: School bond
measure to upgrade. renovate and rehabilitate all schools to District standards,
and construction of needed classrooms. $69 million. (55%)
Measure E, West Valley/Mission Community College District: Bond
measure for construction, repair, and acquisition of classrooms and labs.
Upgrades and improvements to facilities. $268 million. (55%) .
Measure F, San José Unified School District: School
bond measure to complete the repair and rehabilitation of local schools,
including health and safety repairs. Upgrade inadequate plumbing, electrical.
heating and ventilation systems remove asbestos and replace portable classrooms.
$429 million. (55%)
Measure G, East Side Union High School District: School
bond measure to provide greater security and safety, relieve overcrowding,
and improvements at the high schools, Alternative schools. and Adult Education
centers. $298 million. (55%)
Measure H, Campbell Union High School District: School
bond measure to complete the repair. renovation, modernization, and construction
of neighborhood elementary and middle schools; upgrades, improvements,
and enhancements. $74 million. (55%)
Measure I, Oak Grove School District: Measure granting
the four-year extension of the 1991 parcel tax for the repair of school
buildings and grounds and purchase of instructional supplies and equipment.
(Majority)
Measure J, Moreland School District: School bond measure
for the repair t renovation, upgrade and modernization of elementary schools.
$35 million. (2/3)
Measure K, Loma Prieta Joint Union Elementary School District: School
Bond Measure for the repair, renovation, upgrade, and modernization for
elementary schools. Replace earthquake damaged classrooms at CT English
Middle School. $4 million. (55%)
Measure L, Saratoga Union School District: School bond
measure for the renovation of Redwood Middle School; repair of older classrooms,
and the construction, renovation of other school facilities and sites.
$ 19 million. (55%)
Measure M, City of Cupertino Utility Tax Initiative: Extension
of current 2.4% tax of utility use from 2015 to , 2030 for general city
services and programs. (Majority)
Measure O, City of San José: Police, Fire. 911, Paramedic
Services. Bond measure to improve fire, police, and paramedic response
time by adding and improving fire & police stations, training facilities,
and state of the art 911 communication facilities. $ 159 million (2/3 vote)
Steve recommended that we not take up Measure N,
which has to do with the development of commercial property, Measure P,
an annexation measure, and Measure C, which calls for the abolition of
trustee areas in the Gilroy Unified School District. The rest are
rather straightforward. Chris Stampolis moved that the County Committee
endorse all but the three mentioned.
In the discussion that followed Charlie Ahern responded
to a question regarding Measure M in Cupertino, which extends a 2.4% utility
tax. This has to do with bonds for libraries and such things.
Hayes Alexander asked about the controversy surrounding
Measure E, the bond measure of the West Valley/Mission Community College
District. Steve responded that funds would cover expansion of an
athletic field, which generated opposition. Dave Wilkes added that
local residents feared that expansion of the field would include sound
boards and night lighting, which were specifically prohibited in an original
construction agreement. People want the original agreement to be
enforced. Hayes suggested that we exclude this measure from support,
but his suggestion was opposed by Chris Stampolis.
The measure was pulled temporarily, and the Committee
voted to endorse the remaining measures proposed (excluding Measures C,
N, and P).
Discussion of Measure E continued. Steve said
the issue would cost $268 million. Chris Stampolis said that he (Chris)
was chair of the Santa Clara Citizens Advisory Committee. One third
of the funds would go to Mission College (in Santa Clara) and two thirds
to West Valley. Santa Clara wants this measure to pass, but Santa
Clara did not address the particular concern of the athletic field.
Dave alleged that the measure description showed obfuscation: The
term "facilities" sounds like classrooms, when in fact it includes lights
and sound boards to promote games and night time activities. Steve
pointed out that the language came from the Registrar of Voters rather
than from the backers of the measure, so the language is supposed to be
neutral.
Steve asked for a motion to endorse the measure,
and a motion and second were made. The motion carried. All
the measures in the list above are therefore endorsed.
Right wing opposition
David Cohen showed a newspaper published by Congressman
Mike Honda's Republican opponent, Berryessa Union School Board member Linda
Rae Hermann. One of her political stratagems is to claim that multiculturalism
is destroying our society. She actually claims to be promoting and
returning to the ideals of John F. Kennedy. She has written
a book, The Kennedy Legacy: It's time to Fulfill it, and her web
site is www.thekennedylegacy.com.
We must make clear who are the bad candidates.
Jacquie Heffner added that the conservative Christian
right wing pushes to get its people on school boards. We need to
make the effort to identify this kind of stealth school board candidate.
They make decisions affecting our children.
Steve noted that we had been in a coalition with
Republicans to do a canvas to root out such stealth candidates such as
the LaRouchies.
Alex Bantis added that the California Teachers Association
are well aware of this problem. The Association conducts interviews
of school board candidates. Steve asked Alex if he could obtain such
information.
13. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Steve thanked the 20th AD Committee for the refreshments
and said that next month it is the turn of the 21st AD.
Lee Sturtevant announced that there are many vacant
positions on county Boards and Councils to which Supervisor Jim Beall is
to make appointment. Among the most important of these are:
14. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 PM.
This page was last updated 2/26/02.