SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE
 Minutes of the meeting of March 7, 2002

1.  CALL TO ORDER
        The meeting was called to order by Chair Steve Preminger at 7:16 PM.

2.  ROLL CALL
    Absent were:  Jewelle Gibbs, Rod Diridon, Jr., Bart Fisher, Liz McDavit, Larry Carr, Craig Mann, John Dutra, Joe Simitian, Rebecca Cohn, Liz Figueroa, John Vasconcellos, Anselmo Chavez, Pete Stark, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Ruth Ashford, Gap Kim, Lillian Hicks, and Alex Edelstein.
    Excused were: Tom Cochran, Francine Davis, Terry Gregory, and Gene Wagner.

3.  IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS
    Dan Kenney, newly appointed representative of the South County Democratic Club.
    Laurel Chessin, wife of CC member Steve Chessin
    Sylvia Chessin, new Democrat, age 7 weeks.  Daughter of Laurel and Steve.

4.  ADOPTION OF AGENDA
    Emy Thurber proposed an emergency resolution on the requirement for U.S. citizenship for airport security personnel to be considered as new business.
    Dave Wilkes proposed to discuss a problem with slate mailers, and also added that we would share recent CDC resolutions, all to be considered as new business.
    Sal Alvarez proposed to discuss Cesar Chavez commemorative activities.
    With these modifications the proposed agenda was approved unanimously.

5.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES
    A motion to approve the minutes of the February meeting was made and approved.

6.  REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS

Special report on the recent California Democratic Party Convention of 15 - 17 February in Los Angeles: Herb Engstrom.

    Outgoing State Controller Kathleen Connell spoke on how she saved us money..
    DNC chair Terry McAuliffe on the top 10 events of the year:  Nancy Pelosi highest ranking woman in Congress; Spanish lessons for RNC members; New Jersey and Virginia elected Democratic governors; 39 of 42 mayoral elections went to Dems; movement on campaign finance reform; and #1, the return of Gray Davis.
    Treasurer Phil Angelides: He wants support for 4 more years, and aren't we a great Party?
    Attorney General Bill Lockyer and his top 10 elements of the new periodic table:

     10. Pelosium: unifies wayward atoms of progressium.
      9. Burtonium: highly volatile.  Explodes in contact with Republicans, cell phones, air, water, etc.
      8. Wessonite: catalyst for Burtonium and Graydium.
      7. Fundraisium: combines with Graydium to make governium.
      6. Enronium: unstable, only attracts subpoenas.
      5. Microsoftium: crabgrass element - it consumes other elements and is impossible to split.
      4. PG&Eium: used to be reliable generator of electrons but now has few benefits.
      3. Riordonite: many poorly understood properties; it gives weird emissions when TV cameras are present.
      2. GeorgeBushium: not really an element; it's an oil by-product.
      1. DickCheneyum: Must be stored in a remote location; used to extract fundraisium from petroleum.
    He listed a number of accomplishments including the establishment of a DNA lab to aid in convicting the guilty and freeing the innocent.  "If Republicans claim to be the descendants of Abraham Lincoln, I'm gonna use my DNA lab to check this."
    Sen. Barbara Boxer spoke.
    The convention provides an opportunity for people with presidential aspirations to gain both exposure and support.  Among these aspirants were Senators Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and John Edwards.
    Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle: Listed the accomplishments of the Senate.  He commented, "They call me obstructionist and unpatriotic and even compared me to Saddam Hussein.  They can call me anything they like as long as at the end of the day they call me 'majority leader.'"
    In my opinion the most interesting speech was that of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.  He called California is the promised land for Democrats. "You've asked if I want to to run for the most powerful office in the land.  I have no interest in becoming Secretary of State of Florida."  The real strength of America comes not from our M-16s and B-52s and the accuracy of our missiles; it comes from the education of our citizens, from airline passengers stopping terrorists, from police and firefighters rushing into the World Trade Center: these things are not measured by the GNP.  We must fight for values, one of which is fairness. Referring to Enron he said no worker should be robbed of his labor by personal greed.  One of his colleagues compared the arrogant executives of Enron to the Corleone family, which he described as an insult to the Corleones.  Present administration is undermining unions, but the police and firefighters of New York that they are so quick to praise are all members of unions.  He called for universal health care, prescription drugs for seniors, early child care.  We need a "new mission to the moon."  "We cannot drill our way to energy independence; we must invent out way there."
    First Lady of California Sharon Davis introduced her husband by way of a 15 minute video listing the accomplishments of his administration.  Then Gov. Davis spoke and called for more for education, stricter gun laws,  and more for roads, transportation, a patient's bill of rights, treating Mexico as and ally, not an adversary.
    Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina is  young, dynamic, attractive, and possible presidential material.  He told of three Mississippi whites that burned a cross on a black man's property.  They were caught and convicted, but a judge refused to punish them and in fact bent over backwards to find ways of letting them off the hook..  Now that judge, Charles Pickering, has been nominated to a federal bench.  Edwards said that he comes from a poor family--his father was a mill worker.  He went to the senate to represent people like that.  "Everyone should be represented as well as the guy who can write a $100,000 check and educated as well as the wealthiest.
    Congresswoman Maxine Waters is one of the most loyal Democrats.  She was there again and stressed election reform.  She visited many states and found inconsistencies all over.  But we passed campaign finance reform: "Nancy Pelosi did a whippin' job never before seen!"  Referring to Enron, her quoted her grandma, "If you lie down with dogs you get up with fleas."  The present system of campaign finance has corrupted Democrats as well.
    There were lots of candidates seeking Democratic Party endorsements.  March Fong Eu, Michaela Alioto, and Kevin Shelley all sought support for their races for Secretary of State.  Shelley got the endorsement with 73% of the vote, and went on to win in last Tuesday's primary.
    Steve Westly and Johan Klehs both spoke in support of their races for Controller.  Klehs certainly had the largest number and most noisy supporters on the floor of the convention.  Nonetheless, when the votes were counted, Westly had a slight majority but did not receive the 60% required for an official endorsement.

    Jean Cohen added that Keith Garvey won an important award -- the Region 5 Director's award.  Martin Gorfinkel added that Jim and Emy Thurber won the Region 4 Director's award.

Election report: Comments on the Tuesday March 5 primary.  Steve Preminger

    Steve invited Charlie Ahern to give the results of the Central Committee contested elections:

The remaining Districts were not contested.  People that ran in the 23rd were Rena Modell, Claudia Shope, Keith Garvey, Terry Gregory, Deniese Alejandro, and Tom Cochran.  In the 27th Alex Kennett.  In January the County Committee will hold elections for all the vacancies.  In the 28th the two people that filed in time were myself (Steve) and Craig Mann, so there are four vacancies there.  A city like Morgan Hill is entitled to 6 slots, so we might want to do some proportional representation, but we're certainly not going to consider that tonight.

    Herb Engstrom made a comment on the election:  He said, "We have witnessed an incumbent California liberal Democratic governor winning the Democratic primary after a very bloody Republican primary in which a moderate Republican big city mayor  was defeated by a very conservative, right wing Republican with no political experience and who had never held political office.  I am not talking about Tuesday's election; I am talking about the election of 1966.  Pat Brown was the governor of California running for a third term.  The big city moderate Republican mayor was George Christopher, mayor of San Francisco.  The neophyte right wing conservative with no political experience was Ronald Reagan.  I think we ought to all keep this history in mind before we think that Gray Davis is going to have a walk in November.  This is serious, everybody.  We have work to do."
    Jacquie Heffner added that Simon is already moving toward the middle, and if there is low voter turnout, and we already saw historic low voter turnout, we're going to end up with Simon as governor.   We're going to end up with oil wells outside the state and anti-abortion laws.  Jacquie said we should commit to at least one weekend in September to help with this or at least taking ownership of our own precinct, because it's going to be anything but a walk in the park.
    Steve added that we'll do all right in this county but we need to work with the Democratic Party in the state and the fundraising , to do voter registration and new citizen outreach, and things like that so we don't have the repeat that Herb mentioned.

    Steve Chessin said that he found himself handicapped by unfamiliarity with the candidates for judge.  He thinks we should do interviews and endorsements of judges.  It's important that we have Democratic judges.  Steve Preminger replied that we had a long discussion at the last meeting and that the consensus was that we do want to go forward on this.  Dennis Chiu had developed a questionnaire that we could use., so we'll certainly be entertaining that idea.  The one candidate that we were concerned about, (Michael) Millen who did pro bono work for anti-abortion protesters, was pretty soundly defeated.  Nevertheless there is a void among the voting public about judicial candidates.

A.  Executive Board:  Herb Engstrom.
    We had no meeting this month, so there is no report.

B.  Chair: Steve Preminger.
    No report.

C.  Vice Chair: Tom Cochran.
    Vice Chair is not here.

D.  Treasurer: Dennis Chiu.
    "No report. Everything's fine.  I'm just paying bills."

E.  Secretary:  Herb Engstrom.
    No report.

F.  Community Services & Voter Registration: Liz McDavit
    Absent.  Steve said that Liz is planning a meeting for people wanting to do voter registration possibly on the first Saturday in April, the 6th..  Those interested will be notified.

G.  Finance: Jim Thurber.
    Jim Thurber, finance director, reported that the UDC had made one independent expenditure in the March 5 election--about $7,000 on behalf of Terry Gregory.  He also reported on progress on the May 3rd JJ Dinner noting we are still trying to get a guest speaker and will be mailing invitations in early April.

H. Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Keith Garvey.
    It was pointed out that it is difficult to get much information regarding candidates for judicial office. We are preparing to do judge interviews and endorsements in the future. At the March meeting there was a lengthy discussion regarding the merits of interviewing and a sample questionaire drafted by Dennis Chiu was mentioned.  Keith mentioned that our endorsed candidates did extremely well and thanked people again for their participation.  He also gave the opinion that interviewing candidates who had little or no opposition was still very valuable as a means of exchanging information with our elected officials.

I.  Campaign Services: Cristina Uribe.
    Absent.

J.  Issues: Willie Wool
    Absent.

K. Political Outreach: Emy Thurber.

Democratic Action for Women Now (DAWN): Keith Garvey.
   Dawn is planning a small fundraiser in the next few months at Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren's home.  Details will be worked out at the next Dawn Executive Board meeting. Dawn is also planning an annual retreat in April.

Evergreen Democratic Club at the Villages: Bev Wharton.
    Four of our members attended the CDC meeting January 26th at Foothill College.
    The Club's February meeting featured a presentation on Medicare and how to use it to one's advantage.
    Due to the Primary election, our March meeting date and place was changed to next Tuesday, March 12. Our speaker will be Assemblyman for the 23rd District, Manny Diaz. Due to redistricting, the majority of the Villages is now in AD 23.  A small portion of Cribari and Verano Villages, however, remain in the 28th, represented by Simon Salinas. There was some confusion as a result when we published in our newsletter the recommended Democratic slate and included ballot numbers.  Those numbers corresponded to the ballot for the 23rd AD residents, but for those of us in the 28th, the numbers on our ballot were different for Governor, Controller, Attorney General, and Insurance Commissioner.
    We delivered Club information and Kennedy fliers to every registered Democrat in the Villages.

Peninsula Democratic Coalition: Emy Thurber.
    The PDC had its annual meeting on February where it elected its board of directors and new officers.  On Saturday March 23, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren will speak at Chef Chu's at a PDC Legislative Lunch.

Peninsula Young Democrats: Michael Markman.
   Andrew Byrnes has, regretfully, stepped down as PYD Chair.  He will, however, remain an active member of PYD, and we all look forward to the continued participation of our friend, founder, and Chair Emeritus.  Hope Allen, formerly PYD Vice Chair, has assumed the role of Chair.  PYD will hold elections for a new Vice Chair at our March 23 meeting.
    On Saturday, March 23, PYD will hold its Second Annual PYD Strategic Planning Retreat. PYD will meet at 2680 Custer Drive, in San Jose (Hope Allen's home), from 10am to 1pm.  This is a unique event that distinguishes PYD from every other Young Democrats organization in California (and quite possibly the United States).  The strategic retreat is designed to allow the membership to collectively set an agenda for the future of our organization. The retreat is conducted by Udaya Patnaik (a Bay Area consultant, and friend and member of PYD).  Our 2001 retreat was a fantastic success, and led to many of the most successful events that PYD hosted last year.  Those interested may RSVP as soon as possible to khopea@yahoo.com.
    On Saturday, April 13, PYD will hold its first fund-raiser -- an evening at the San Francisco Symphony.  The event will begin with a wine and appetizer reception at the Green Room at 6:30pm, and the concert will begin at 8pm. Tickets will cost $90 for PYD members, and $100 for others.  The event is, of course, open to people of all ages.  Please RSVP as soon as possible to khopea@yahoo.com.  The program for the evening includes Mozart Divertimento in D major, K.251; Bartók Violin Concerto No. 2; and Nielsen Symphony No. 6. The symphony has this to say about the event: "Blomstedt conducts Bartók and Mozart Mozart's Divertimento is an abundance of melody. Bartók calls for a full measure of mind-boggling virtuosity.  Nielsen's Sixth is the composer's last symphony-funny, acerbic, reflective, and deeply touching."  Conductor and Featured Artists include:  Herbert Blomstedt, Conductor; Christian Tetzlaff, Violin.

South County Democratic Club: Alex Kennett.
    The South County Club spend the last month and a half walking, phoning and otherwise helping both Dennis Kennedy and John Laird get through their respective elections.  We had our own fund raiser on Super Bowl Sunday which will probably become a Club tradition.

Special Guest: Sally Lieber.
    Sally Lieber won the Democratic primary election for the 22nd AD seat being vacated by Elaine Alquist.  Steve invited her to speak.
    "I really hope I make it in November.  It was a great campaign, and I really credit the two other folks who were in the campaign as well as everyone who helped with bringing out the issues that really mattered to folks in Santa Clara County. All three of us put everyone in a very difficult position in terms of choosing, but it's a credit to our party and all the activists who are involved in our party that we would have three good candidates coming forward for an office like this.  I really want to take the next eight months to gather ideas from activists and community members about things that I'd like to do in Sacramento starting in January.  Marva Diaz,  my campaign manager, is here, and she was just fabulous and helped everyone to pull together in our campaign, and she's going to be helping me in Sacramento as well..  Evanna is my campaign coordinator during the primary campaign is going to be helping through the general election.  I'd like to encourage everyone who is here to contact us and to help us out, not just with precinct walking and all the things we need to do to win in November but with your ideas about what we should do after we win.  Thanks very much for your help and support."
    Steve added the we look forward to working with Sally and make sure that her Republican opponent, "Stan the Man" (Kawcynski), stays where he is, a three time loser.

L. Regional Directors:

Region 5: Madge Overhouse.
    Madge noted that Sally had to spend a day and a half in Sacramento right after the election.
    There was a mention of the Regional Director's awards at the convention; that was on Sunday morning so there was a sparse crowd.  For Region 5 the winner was Keith Garvey and for Region 4, headed by Marty, it was Emy and Jim Thurber.  Marty and I followed the program and did not make reports, but about five directors later, people started giving lengthy acceptance speeches, so we felt bad because I know Keith had a long speech.
    The E-board meeting will be in Sacramento, and they will be using the same hotel as last July, the Sheraton, which was a wonderful hotel.  They are considering the second weekend in July, but that's not firm, but it will be in July.
    About the new lines for the region, the reorganization will be under the Organizational and Development Committee of the State party.  There is a subcommittee that is looking at the new lines, and that is headed by Chris Wagman.  We will be voting on those at the July meeting.  So after July we will know what Assembly Districts we will be representing.

Region 4: Martin Gorfinkel.
    Steve asked Martin to describe Region 4 so that the scope of the realm in which the Thurber's won could be appreciated.  Martin said the Region goes from the 21st Assembly district all the way up to and including San Francisco, so it's four Assembly Districts: two in San Francisco, one in San Mateo County, and the one down here.

M. Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis.
    Awaiting report.

N.  Pro-Choice Coalition:  Claudia Shope.
    Claudia thanked everyone for making sure that Mike Millen got slaughtered in the race for judge.  We got good judges.  Anna Eshoo's event was very, very good and was heavily attended, but what was disconcerting was that the audience predominantly was older.  There were not that many young women.  Claudia sat next to a teenage woman, whom she thanked for being there.  This woman commented that her classmates don't feel that choice is an issue, because they've always had it.  There is definitely a complacency, and we need to remain vigilant about choice, because we are one vote away.
    The next Pro-Choice Coalition meeting will be Tuesday, at 1746 the Alameda.  We'd also like to get people out to the clinics Saturday morning on the Alameda and also in Sunnyvale on Evelyn and Fair Oaks Thursday and Saturday mornings, where the anti-choice people are demonstrating.
    Thankfully we don't have to worry about the judges this time, but we need to stay educated, so that we have good ones.  You're all invited to the Pro-Choice Coalition meetings.

O.  DTV Report:  Steve Chessin.
    Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported that our February taping was with San Jose District 5 City Councilmember Nora Campos.
    We have not yet confirmed our March guest.
    We will be on San Jose AT&T Channel 15A March 14th with a re-run of the show we did with the 22AD candidates.  The show with Hon. Nora Campos will air again on March 28th.
    We could still use more good Democrats on the crew.  No prior video experience is necessary.

P.  CDC Report:  David Wilkes.
    Awaiting report.

Q.  Welfare Reform:  Sal Alvarez.
    Awaiting report.

7.  OLD BUSINESS

Central Committee newsletter: Olivia Graeve.
    The first issue of the newsletter was published the first week of February.  Mailings to the members of most of the Democratic Clubs were done by the second week of February.  At this point, the newsletter editor has received many requests for subscriptions.
    The Democratic Club members need to ensure themselves that they are subscribed if they want to receive future issues of the newsletter.

8.  NEW BUSINESS

Resolution Opposing the U.S. Citizenship Requirement for Federalized Airport Security Personnel: Dennis Chiu.

    The complete text of the resolution as submitted is given in the appendix.
    Emy Thurber  noted that Dennis had first proposed this resolution.  Dennis thanked Emy for having put the resolution into the proper format.  He went on to say that the Aviation Transportation Security Act was passed on Nov. 19, 2001 in response to the attack on September 11.  There was a tremendous urge to pass something to protect airports.  Included in that legislation was a requirement that all airport screeners and security workers be United States citizens.  It contains insidious language.  Congresswoman Lofgren recently told a group of us that it was put in by a bunch of right wing Republicans.  It is based on the assumption that every non-U.S. citizen is less qualified to be an airport security worker than every U.S. citizen.  It is patently discriminatory particularly for the Asian-American community.  The San José airport has told us that 90% of the screeners are Filipino; 75% of those are noncitizens.  The impact in this area will be tremendous -- a couple hundred workers.  It says they can't even apply to become airport workers even though they have done nothing wrong and have shown no disloyalty whatsoever, but by the very nature of their citizenship status they are assumed to be less loyal than an American who has less experience.
    For one woman, a Democrat, the issue was very clear: the September 11 attack was by noncitizens, so why not require airport baggage screeners to be U.S. citizens?  It was hard to convince her that national origin has no relation to their experience level, their competence, or their attention to detail.  In times of war there is a fear of foreigners.  It has happened over and over again, and when the history of this war is written, it will be clear that this is another incidence of the fear of foreigners, a reaction to an external threat.
    The fight for freedom and justice is not just always abroad but also at home.
    Ross Signorino asked how far along this requirement is.  Dennis said it was scheduled to have been implemented February 19th but because they have to hire and train airport security workers, the date is late summer or early fall.  They will go from east to west according to Mike Honda's office, which has been talking to Norm Mineta.
    Sal Alvarez provided additional comments: In Northern California screeners are predominantly Asian; in Southern California they're Latino. SEIU, which organized the screeners has joined with several Latino organizations to let the Congressional delegations know that this is simply not going to fly.  At the convention we had long conversations with national party chair Terry (McAuliffe), (Cruz) Bustamente, and Hilda Solis.  This has been elevated to a national civil rights issue.  San José is very much in this fight.  The religious community is being mobilized; clergy are prepared to engage in civil disobedience.  If you can be a mechanic or be in the armed forces and not have citizenship, why do screeners?  Why minority people?  Other screeners around the country are white, but this still will be a national issue and a civil rights issue.  Both Latino and Asian communities are saying this is not going to stand.  We met with Mike Honda and asked him why he voted for this bill.  We had the same conversation with Zoe Lofgren two days ago.  They clearly understand that they are going to have to fight hard to undo this mess.  That's where those of us from the minority community are coming from.  When there are arrests at the airport and there is a national outcry we want this Democratic Central Committee to be there with us.  I'm standing with Dennis to urge very strong support for the repeal of this racist measure that on the books that will go down in history as having done tremendous harm.  The Filipino community here is not only terrified, they are very depressed.  That's why we're passionate about the need to stand by them.
    Steve Chessin moved to adopt the resolution, which was seconded by Chris Stampolis.  Steve added that he heard a statement by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren who pointed out that National Guard troops, who need not be U.S. citizens, are patrolling airports with guns.  It is therefore ridiculous that we require screeners to be citizens.
    Sal Alvarez, Jr., then said that Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist is carrying Assembly Joint Resolution 39 with several others.  It says that requirements for airport screeners be the same as if you serve in the military.  He proposed an amendment to the resolution that would support AJR 39.
    Steve Preminger said that we did not want any specific reference to legislation in the resolution.  If we pass it, then specifics can be followed up on.  Sal asked that the California Democratic Party be a sponsor or supporter of the resolution.  Steve replied that that was our process and can't see any reason why this would not be supported.
    Thelma Spaziani noted that in her last four flights she had been searched sometimes by people whose English language skills were poor.  She wondered if this were not part of the problem and if it was being dealt with.
    Dan Hoffman referred to the phrase "back job" in the fifth paragraph.  There was confusion as to whether the word "back" was an adjective or a verb.  Emy agreed to try to improve the clarity while maintaining graceful language.
    Phyllis Ward commented that the crux of the matter was the proposal to federalize airport security personnel, and federal employees are required to be citizens.  She proposed that the system be improved while keeping it locally controlled or else speed up the naturalization process.  Dennis Chiu replied that it is actually not a requirement that federal employees be citizens and cited military officers as an example.  He cited a 1976 court case, Wong vs U.S. Civil Service Administration.  There had been a requirement that postal workers be U.S. citizens.  A Chinese postal worker sued and the Supreme Court ruled in his favor and reinstated him because  national security was not involved in delivering the mail.  There is precedent for noncitizens to be federal employees.  As for speeding up the naturalization process, there is a bill, HR3505, submitted by Hilda Solis and backed in the Senate by Dianne Feinstein that would expedite citizenship for airport screeners.  In addition there is a bill, HR133, submitted by Congresswoman (Patsy) Mink of Hawaii to eliminate the problem of those who do not want to apply for citizenship because they are bringing their families over.
    Francis LaPoll proposed adding "Whereas there is no basis to presume that citizenship is a guarantee of competency or loyalty to the interests of the United States."  Emy pointed out that we cannot add another whereas clause, so it was decided to concatenate it to the second paragraph with some changes to wording.
    The question with the proposed amendment was called and passed.
    Chris Stampolis then moved that the County Committee sign on as a supporter of Assembly Joint Resolution 39.  Sal Alvarez, Sr., seconded the motion, which passes unanimously.

CDC resolutions: David Wilkes.
    A heads up: The sample ballot included a post card which asked if you wanted the text of the propositions removed from the official voter information guide.  There will be a resolution on that.  The second has to do with the civil rights which are being removed in the wake of the events in New York on September 11th.  Both resolutions are given in the appendix.
    Dave held up a slate mailer and asked if anybody recognized it.  It says, "Democrats, vote Democratic.  The Democratic Party was established in 1823."  It has our great Democratic team: Gray Davis, Tom Calderon, Yes on Prop. 45, Steve Westly, Cruz Bustamente, Kevin Shelley, Bill Lockyer.  You turn it over and it says Arthur Bocanegra, Sally Lieber, and Michael Millen for judge!  He had talked to people about this and was told there was nothing we could do about it.  We've got a bunch of smart people here; we've got to figure out how to do something about these slate mailers.  This is an outright lie, he said.  When you go down a little further, you've got county supervisor District 1, Don Gage.  "Last time I checked, he's still a Republican.  Then I turned it over and it says 'Make a difference. Join your local Democratic Club."  He appealed for someone to come up with something we can do about these disingenuous slate mailers.
    Dan Hoffman pointed out that there is an asterisk by the names of those who paid to have their names on the mailer, but Steve Preminger replied that it is still misleading.  Legislation by Senator Sher requires them to be more up front about who they are and that they have nothing to do with the Democratic Party, and that these mailers are cash cows for the organizations behind them.

Cesar Chavez: Sal Alvarez.

    This is the 9th year since Cesar Chavez's passing, and we're going to have some special events.  On April 1st, the City of San José is organizing a breakfast at the Mexican Heritage Center.  The event is backed by Nora Campos and Cindy Chavez.  We also have Richard Chavez, Cesar's brother, who will be appealing to the Filipino community.  He speaks fluent Tagalog.  He'll join the fight for the airport screeners.  Then on the 4th, Delores Huerta is coming in for an interfaith breakfast at the National Hispanic University.  Sal chairs the county Farmworker's Support Committee and the interfaith effort.  She hasn't been to San José for three years and we're glad to have her back.  She'll be leading a rally for the screeners later on that morning with a couple of Filipinos from the community.  We're going to combine the Farmworker's week with this civil rights struggle.  We also want to change the names of King Street to Martin Luther King Street and Story Road to  Cesar Chavez Road.  At San José State the president's office is working to put a major statue of Cesar there on the campus.
    Sal moved that the Santa Clara County Democratic Party become a co-sponsor of these two events - the two breakfasts, one by the city and the other by the Support Committee.  And also to support the street renaming efforts.  The motion was seconded and carried.

9.  ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Steve thanked the 21st AD Committee for the bountiful refreshments and reminded Chris Stampolis that next month it was the turn of the 22nd AD.
    Thelma Spaziani reminded us to be good housekeepers and remove our trash from the tables when we leave.

10. ADJOURNMENT
    Steve proposed adjourning the meeting in the memory of Skip Ritchie, a long time Democratic arty peace activist who passed away recently.  There was a well attended memorial service for her today.
    The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 PM.

APPENDIX

Resolution Opposing the U.S. Citizenship Requirement for Federalized Airport Security Personnel

Whereas, The Aviation Transportation Security Act signed into law on November 19, 2001, requires that all airport security personnel be United States citizens; and

Whereas, there is every reason to believe that legal aliens who are noncitizens will be competent or loyal to the interests of the United States; and

Whereas, many of the present airport security workers are not citizens but are qualified and experienced and dedicated to providing the highest standards of security protection, and those trained workers will be laid off for no reason other than lack of citizenship and be replaced with new workers who will lack depth of experience and thus possibly decrease the security we wish to enhance;

Now, therefore be it resolved, that the California Democratic party opposes the citizenship requirement in the Aviation Transportation Security Act, and encourages efforts to repeal such requirements; and

Be it further resolved that we support legislation to assist noncitizen airport security workers attain their citizenship and back job retraining and other assistance for airport workers who lose their jobs solely because of the citizenship requirement.

CDC resolution on including complete text of propositions in the ballot
(This is a sample to be submitted to Clubs for their endorsements.)

WHEREAS voters need to have easy access to the text of propositions on the ballot; and

WHEREAS the Official Voter Information Guide issued by the California Secretary of State has arguments and analysis about the text of propositions; and

WHEREAS including the text of the propositions in the guide is the easiest and most useful possible manner of supplying the voters with the information they need to cast an intelligent vote;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT (name of your club) opposes the proposal to remove the text of propositions from the state voter information guide;
and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT (name of your club) inform the Secretary of State Bill Jones of this position.

Resolution on Constitutional Rights
Submitted by the Hayward Demos Democratic Club
Mike Kessler 510-352-4371 phone/fax

WHEREAS, generations of Americans have struggled to achieve and preserve the rights enumerated by the Bill of Rights, including the First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amend rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and religion, and the complementary rights to personal security, protection from arbitrary search and seizure, right to a fair trial and due process of law,

WHEREAS, these rights are being violated by presidential orders setting up military tribunals and the arbitrary detention and questioning of residents; and the misnamed PATRIOT Act which authorizes warrantless surveillance and searches of private residences, which is unconstitutional on its face,

WHEREAS, fighting terrorism need not and should not involve depriving U.S. residents of their constitutional rights, nor of killing innocent residents of other countries,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Council congratulates those 66 members of Congress who voted NO on the PATRIOT Act; and we urge  all other Congress members and Senators, upon reflection, to act to rescind this blot on our record and pass legislation to halt implementation of the Bush Administration's unconstitutional orders, and

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the California Democratic Council urges all Democratic officeholders to do all in their power to oppose and repeal these dangerous attempts to make our country a police state.
 

This page was last updated 3/24/02.
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