1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chair Steve Preminger
at 7:23PM.
2. ROLL CALL
Absent were: Tony Alexander, Francine Davis,
Bill Ferguson, Allan Thiessen, Jewelle Gibbs, Rod Diridon, Jr., Bart Fisher,
Liz McDavit, Larry Carr, Gene Wagner, Joe Simitian, Liz Figueroa, John
Vasconcellos, Anselmo Chavez, Pete Stark, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Ruth
Ashford, Gap Kim, Denelle Fedor, Beverly Wharton, and Mike Markman.
Excused were: Jim Thurber, Madge Overhouse, Martin
Gorfinkel.
3. IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS
Ian Purkis
Scott Lipton
Jim Boynton
Mariam Ayllon
Josh Wiser
Sandra Soto
Virginia Frank
Ron del Pozzo
Susan McKuhen
Chris Kelly, candidate for 21st Assembly District
seat
Tiffany Ente
Angie Razo
4. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
A motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda.
The motion carried.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Minutes are posted
on www.scc-democrats.org)
Alex Bantis and Thelma Spaziani noted that their
absences at last month's meeting were excused. The July minutes will
be corrected. A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes
of the July meeting. The motion carried.
6. REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS
A. Executive Board: Herb Engstrom.
The July E-board meeting was held Aug. 15,
6 PM at home of Tom Cochran. The date for August E-board meeting
was set for Aug. 15, 6 PM at home of Tom Cochran.
Jim Thurber suggested we arrange to accept credit
card charges for UDC. This was approved. David Cohen has had
experience doing this and will advise Jim, who as treasurer must actually
set up account.
UDC: In south county Alex Kennett managed
to secure Dennis Kennedy's old office at no charge. In north county
lease is to be signed July 24 for office at 1409 El Camino Real in Mountain
View (next to El Paso cafe). lease costs $4500 and expired Nov. 10.
We expect office to be open by Aug. 25. central county office will
be in trailers at Labor Temple. Discussion are under way with State
coordinator Kevin Acebo.
2003 JJ dinner: Jim has reserved Lou's Village
for Friday, May 2. David noted that this is only one day after Central
Committee meeting. Another ethnic theme was suggested (Jewish contributors)
but this was shot down for two reasons: 1) situation in Middle East with
Ariel Sharon not our kind of guy, and 2) ethnic themes are getting old.
We decided to salute Don Edwards.
The State Party E-board meeting will take place
in Sacramento, Aug. 2 and 3. There was nothing special for our delegation
to bring up.
Consideration of Bill Ferguson's campaign finance
resolution: We don't have enough information on this complex
subject. We'll have speakers pro and con. Until this happens,
Bill has withdrawn the resolution.
Replacement for Cristina Uribe, Campaign Services
Director. Steve will announce Cristina's vacancy at August
CC meeting. We will discuss a possible replacement at August E-board
meeting.
Absences from CC meetings. A number of people
have not attended all year. Members of the board will contact these
people and ecourage them to appoint alternates.
Democratic Party phone number: A potential
volunteer called the Democratic Party to volunteer. He left a message
but got no responses. Others have made same comment. Someone
at Labor Temple is checking. Steve will remind this person and ensure
that phone is answered.
B. Chair: Steve Preminger.
The UDC Committee is in place. We're working
with the State Party on a budget. We're looking to put offices in
the north county, south county, and central county, and an east side office.
We're talking with the State Party about staffing, paying the utilities,
getting copiers, and things like that.
We are having our State Party Executive Board meeting
this weekend. We'll see about how our negotiations with the Party
political coordinator are going.
C. Vice Chair: Tom Cochran.
We'd like to have every member of the Central Committee
have an alternate, so if you know of anyone that would like to be an alternate,
give me their names, and I'll follow up on it.
D. Treasurer: Dennis Chiu.
Our bank account is now at $114.46.
A motion to accept the report was made seconded
and carried.
E. Secretary: Herb Engstrom.
No report.
F. Community Services & Voter Registration: Frank Bosche.
Liz Will have a report next month.
G. Finance: Emy Thurber.
Jim was unavoidably detained taking care of five
grandchildren. But he did want to say that the date of the JJ dinner
has been changed from May 2 to Friday, March 14th so that Don Edwards can
attend. He is leaving early in April. We are working with his
son. It will be at Lou's Village.
H. Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Keith Garvey.
Endorsement interviews are scheduled for the last
week in August beginning Monday August 26 through Thursday the 29th. The
interviews will take place starting at 05:30 in the county building.
In case of delays we want to reserve space for September 3rd and 4th.
The intent is to make recommendations to the entire body at the September
5th Central Committee meeting. All committee members are welcome
to participate and to advise if there are specific races that they are
interested in.
We'd like to contact all Democrats running.
I've had a lot of help from people on the interview committees in the past.
In particular I'll be working with David Cohen to see if we can expedite
everything electronically to get the questionnaires filled out.
We had considered interviewing the judges.
There are two races, and Ron Del Pozzo is one of the candidates vs. Aaron
Persky, and George Chadwick vs. Art Bocanegra is the other race.
A lot of times our membership does not have as much information on these
races as we want.
We'll send out information when we see who has filed
for these seats.
Steve added that if someone recommends endorsing
a Democrat in a race, we'll interview all Democrats in that race.
Phyllis Ward asked about the time line. She
asked when the questionnaires would be distributed. In the past we
often did not have enough time to read them. David Cohen responded
that the blank questionnaire is now posted on line, and the candidate can
fill it out right away and e-mail it to Keith, and then we can get it posted
for everybody to look at.
Steve Chessin said that the PDC has a subcommittee
looking into the Mountain View election. They've developed their
own questionnaire, and we'd be willing to share it. Keith said he'd
like to look at it and would forward it to David for posting.
Steve Preminger said that the interview process
could be a long one. If there is not enought time to interview everyone,
we could continue after the September meeting and make the endorsements
at the October meeting.
Jacquie Heffner said she was interested in all the
school boards even though this puts a heavy burdon on the process.
She pointed out that school board elections are where stealth candidates
often emerge.
Chris Stampolis recommended including a question
asking candidates to respond to the issue of endorsing no Democrats.
He stressed the importance of asking candidates for nonpartisan offices
who want the Democratic endorsement to commit to not endorsing non Democrats
once they're elected.
Steve said that if people have suggestions, they
should get them to Keith.
I. Campaign Services: Cristina Uribe.
No report.
J. Issues: Willie Wool
No report.
K. Political Outreach: Emy Thurber.
I want to remind the clubs that voter registration is important, and
I will be calling the presidents to urge the clubs to do voter registration
before the election. Also, we do have a north county headquarters.
It's at 1409 West El Camino in Mountain View. It's next to good restaurants
and should attract a lot of volunteers. We're going to move the furniture
in in two weeks if we can get the strong arms of the Peninsula Young Democrats.
It is purposely in Mountain View so that it is in Sally Lieber's district,
and we're hoping to help in the Mountain View city election.
20th AD committee: David Cohen.
On July 13, we registered 12 Democrats at the Great
Mall. We will be doing voter registration at the Great Mall
on all four Saturdays in September. If you are able to help
out for a shift, please contact David Cohen.
22nd AD Committee: Chris Stampolis.
Awaiting report.
23rd AD Committee: Keith Garvey.
Assemblymember Manny Diaz is hosting a Women’s Health
Summit & Resource Fair on Saturday September 21,2002 at the Center
for Employment Training, 701 Vine Street, San Jose. The program is
from 08:30 to 3:00 p.m. This should be a very worthwhile event and an opportunity
to do some community outreach and voter registration as well.
Manny’s office will be staffing the Democratic Party
booth at the Santa Clara County Fair all day Saturday Aug 3.
28th AD Committee: Sal Alvarez.
Awaiting report.
Asian-Pacific American Democratic Club: Dennis Chiu.
We have a BBQ Saturday, August 10 in Sunnyvale at
the Baylands Park beginning at 11 am. We will also have our annual
banquest at Mings Restaurant, Friday, October 4 and we will be honoring
Steve Westley, Shirly Lee and Elaine Alquist. Margaret Abe Koga who
is a candidate for the County Board of Education will be having a fundraiser
on August 26th at Mings Restaurant at 6:30 pm - tickets are $99.
Century Club: Keith Garvey.
Terry Gregory, candidate for San Jose City Council
District 7, was the featured speaker for the July luncheon and did an excellent
job outlining the district’s concerns as well as sharing his personal biography.
August’s speaker will be Assembly Member Elaine Alquist, with Mt. View
Mayor and Assembly candidate Sally Lieber scheduled for September.
Democratic Action for Women Now (DAWN): Keith Garvey.
Dawn will be holding their endorsement brunch September
22 and is preparing for interviews and investigating options for a fundraiser.
High Tech Dems: Alyson Abramowitz.
Awaiting report.
Peninsula Democratic Coalition: Emy Thurber.
The PDC continues to register voters as does the
Evergreen Club. The PDC is hosting its annual picnic on August 24
from 5 to 8 at the home of Mary and Jack Davey.
Peninsula Young Democrats: Hope Allen.
PYD held a Campaign 101 event on Thursday, July
25th. The event's panel included Emy Thurber, Chris Kelly, Ira Ruskin,
Judy Chirco, and Mike Marshall. The event was well attended.
PYD's next meeting will be incorporated into the
PDC's annual picnic on August 24th.
PYD's President, Hope Allen, met with Elizabeth
Samara-Rubio from Project Vote Smart. This is a non-profit, non partisan
project to teach youth, ages 18-25, about how to inform themselves on candidates
and issues. PYD will be participating in this project. Please contact Hope
at khopea@yahoo.com with
any suggestions for the project on how to reach out to San Jose youth.
Santa Clara County Democratic Club: Herb Engstrom.
The Club had a great summer event saluting women
in politics. Elaine and Sen. Alfred Alquist, Rebecca Cohn, and Aldyth
Parle attended. Sally Lieber spoke as did Elaine Shaw, candidate
for the 11th Congressional District seat now held by very conservative
Republican Richard Pombo.
We did voter registration with four people two weeks
ago in Pleasanton. We'll do Tracy this Sunday.
Dale Leuthold had a very nice letter today in the
Mercury News supporting Clean Money Campaign Reform.
South County Democratic Club: Alex Kennett
South County has a UDC office at Tenneant Station
ready to open upon receiving insurance. Next meeting is August 24th at
our new UDC office. We have a September Fundraiser at Clos LaChance winery
on the 15th.
L. Regional Directors: Steve Preminger for Madge Overhouse.
The Executive Board meeting is tomorrow and Saturday.
Normally the meeting is Friday through Sunday, but this is something new
and will end Friday at 9 P.M. We'll be passing resolutions, taking
positions on ballot measures, and voting on new regions. There will
be an alteration of the Assembly Districts represented by each Regional
Director. Region 5, which is currently Madge's region used to include
the 20th AD. She's giving that up and taking on the 21st AD.
The Region 4 director, Martin Gorefinkel, who lives in the 21st, has thrown
his support to Madge when it comes time for reelection of Regional Directors.
Region 5 now comprises the 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th ADs. Region
7 will include the 17th, 26th 27th, and 28th ADs, so it will include Stockton,
Merced, over and down to Santa Cruz and Monterey, and it includes most
of the 12th Senate District. The 20th AD will be in Region 6, also
includng the 14th, 16th, and 18th; it's going to be an East Bay region.
After redistricting the 20th is barely in Santa Clara County.
M. Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis.
Awaiting report.
N. Pro-Choice Coalition: Claudia Shope.
We're going to have a fair booth, so stop by this
weekend.
(From an article by Kermit Pattison) Federal
and state authorities on Monday began to look for connections between two
recent attacks in which Planned Parenthood clinics in Grand Rapids and
Brainerd, Minn., were riddled with gunfire.
The most recent attack occurred early Monday when
someone fired shots into an unoccupied family planning clinic in Grand
Rapids. The shooting came 18 days after a similar attack on another Planned
Parenthood clinic in Brainerd. Neither clinic provides abortions.
...
(From an AP article) A federal appeals court overturned
the attempted-extortion convictions of a Florida abortion doctor, Dr. James
Scott Pendergraft and a business associate, Michael Spielvogel, saying
their lawsuit against Marion County was insufficient grounds to say they
were illegally trying to obtain money. The pair had been convicted
based on a federal lawsuit they filed against Marion County claiming the
clinic was not given adequate protection against anti-abortion protesters.
County officials, who were concerned about the potential for violence at
the clinic even before it opened, construed the lawsuit to be part of an
extortion plot in which they were expected to pay Pendergraft and Spielvogel
to close the clinic.
O. DTV Report: Steve Chessin.
Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported
that our June taping was with Dave Hennessy, President of the California
Mobilehome Resource and Action Association. Our July taping was with
Fran Cochran, President of the Peninsula Democratic Coalition.
Our August guest will be the Honorable Terry Gregory,
candidate for San Jose City Council District 7, and our September guest
will be the Honorable Sally Lieber, Democratic nominee for Assembly District
22.
We will be on San Jose AT&T Channel 15A August
1st and August 29th with Fran Cochran, August 15th with Dave Hennessy,
and September 12th and
October 10th with Terry Gregory.
We could still use more good Democrats on the crew.
No prior video experience is necessary.
P. CDC Report: David Wilkes.
No report.
Q. Welfare Reform: Sal Alvarez.
Awaiting report.
7. OLD BUSINESS
None.
8. NEW BUSINESS
Voting equipment: Steve Chessin.
The County has put out a request for proposals for
what they call direct recording electronics, which basically means touchscreen
equipment. The vendors have until the 9th of this month to respond
to this proposal and they have to participate in a demonstration of their
equipment, which will be open to the public. It will be three days,
Thursday August 15th from 6:30 to 9:30 in the evening; Friday August 16th
from 9 to noon, and Saturday, August 17th from 9 AM to 4 PM for the rest
of us. It will be at the Registrar of Voters office at 1555 Berger
Drive, Bldg. 2, in San José. People who are interested should
call to sign up: 408 299 2161 Ext. 2076. You can try out the equipment,
and you opinion will influence which vendors get to participate in the
pilot project. They'll select one or more vendors to provide equipment
to 25 precincts for this November's election, probably 5 in each Supervisorial
District. One vendor will be assigned to each of those precincts.
That equipment will also be available at the Registrar's office for early
voting, before election day, some time in October. You might have
to live in one of those precincts. Based on the pilot, if a vendor
qualifies they'll select that vendor to roll out the entire election for
the November 2003 elections in those cities having elections then.
The rest of us will get to use it in the 2004 elections.
This year should be the last year in which the county
uses punch cards.
Phyllis Ward added that the Grand Jury report said
that voting in Santa Clara County is done very well. One thing bothered
her: a recommendation that the Board of Supervisors recommend to the State
Legislature that new voter registants provide proof of citizenship.
She was not aware that the honor system presented any problems, and she
would be concerned it they adopted such a measure. It also recommended
that more college students be recruited as poll workers and that companies
give employees time off to work at the polls.
County fair: Steve Preminger.
The fair is this weekend. Anne Mack and Jim
Thurber went up and set up the booth in a new location - the Food and Wine
Pavilion, which may be an attractive draw. Anne will tell people
where to go, and Jacquie will make a plea for people.
Jacquie said Friday was covered. We need one
additional person from 2 to 5 Friday. Terry Gregory volunteered.
Drina Collins added that Manny Diaz's office will be staffing the booth
all day Saturday from 11 to 11. Steve added we're not too sure about
Sunday -volunteers are needed. Entrance to the fair is free, but
the bad news is that parking is more expensive, so car pool.
Anne said the booth in the Food and Wine Pavilion
is directly acress fronm the pepper steak place. We have a corner
booth, and I have all the instructions of what you are to do when you are
there. Anne passed out maps.
Political training: Steve Preminger.
A couple of weeks ago there was a special campaign
training workshop and some County Committee members attended.
Sari Wisch reported that the workshop was put on
by the California Democratic Party. There was instruction on get-out-the-vote,
voter registration, how to put together an election day operation, what
races the State Party is looking at. They are concerned about the
governor's race. It's always good to get a refresher course and learn
some updated information
Furniture giveaway: Steve Preminger.
Last month Steve mentioned the furniture giveaway,
although we can't legally call it furniture. That's all gone. There
remains partitions, kindling, etc. If you'd like to help us get rid
of it, that would be greatly appreciated.
9. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Voter registration: Dan Hoffman.
Dan encouraged people to volunteer with David Cohen
at the Great Mall in Milpitas. You can have a choice of 11 to 2 and
2 to 5 the first four Saturdays in September.
We'll be registering voters for Elaine Shaw in the
Tracy area this coming Sunday, and we're meeting at Herb's house at 9:30.
Another campaign is Dennis Cardoza for Congress,
a very important race to retain Gary Condit's seat. Dan hoped someone
would volunteer to head up that campaign, and volunteered to assist
when not working with Herb. If you want to contact that campaign
directly, it's PO Box 2749, Merced, 95344. He hoped these campaigns
would get a good assist from this county because these two races, Elaine
Shaw and Dennis Cardoza might very well be the keys to who is going to
control the next Congress. It is extremely important that we assist
in these efforts.
Bush war with Iraq: Emy Thurber.
Jim and Emy and others in the PDC are concerned
about a headlong rush to war with Iraq, and they were very pleased to see
that the Senate has held hearings this week. The PDC wrote a long
letter with a series of issues they hoped the Senators would look at.
Today's Chronicle reported that Sen. Feinstein was really questioning the
President's policy, and she is on the Intelligence Committee. Sen.
Boxer is on the Foreign Relations Committee, and anyone with similar concerns
is urged to email our two senators to commend Sen. Feinstein and to lay
out your concerns. The addresses are senator@feinstein.senate.gov
and senator@boxer.senate.gov
.
Terry Gregory campaign kickoff: Terry Gregory.
Terry announced his campaign kickoff for August
24th from 10:30 AM to 1:30 PM. It's a good place to meet all the
other campaign volunteers. We're going to be making a big push, but
there will be no precinct walking on that day. It's going to be a
luau with the roasting of a pig. A special guest will be Congressman
Mike Honda. Hope to see you all there at 1097 Cheswick Drive in San
José.
Main Event barbecue: Phaedra Ellis Lamkins.
After you finish the luau come to the Main Event
barbecue The South Bay Labor Council Committe on Political Education
is having our Main Event fundraiser. This year we are honoring volunteers
in the labor movement, the folks that help us win and make sure we really
have candidates in support or working family issues. It's August
24th at 6 o'clock at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Hall. If you have
questions see Phaedra or Miguel Carrillo. The cost is $125 and $250
a ticket, but if cost is a problem, pay whatever you feel comfortable with.
We really want people to be there. This is the COPE dinner, but it
will be a barbecue because we decided to have a little fun this year.
Lofgren Town Hall Meeting: Sandra Soto.
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren is holding her Town Hall
meetings on Saturday (Aug. 3) starting at the Willow Glen Senior Center
at 10 AM. Check the Mercury News for other times and locations, or
give Sandra a call.
Executive Board meeting
The next Executive Board meeting is tentatively
scheduled for Thursday, August 15, at the home of Tom Cochran, 196 S. 15th
St. San José 95112..
Santa Clara mayor's race: John McLemore.
"I am running for mayor of Santa Clara, which has
a unique situation in that it is heavily Democratic, so there will be tough
choices over the next month or so. Thae main thing is that I started
my campaign at the beginning of the season, which is May 1st. We
have a campaign limitation in Santa Clara where candidates can raise
only about $26,000. I have not had a kickoff party yet. I was
waiting until I found out how many Democratic people were running for mayor,
and the number continues to drop one or so every week. I believe
that a week from tomorrow there will only be two Democrats running for
mayor. SInce I haven't set up a kickoff party yet, I've been doing
an email campaign that has been going very well. The Mercury has
been nice enough to put my picture in the paper about every three weeks,
so I've been getting a lot more publicity than I ever expected, and I've
been getting a lot of money. I still could use some money but I don't
know about the kickoff party but I do know that I've already scheduled
the final "Thank God it's over" party, and everybody is welcome.
It is election night at Fiorello's in Santa Clara."
Superior Court race: Ron Del Pozzo.
"I'm Ron Del Pozzo and am running for Superior Court
Judge. I was the top vote getter in the primary, and I have a runoff
in November. If anybody is interested int he judicial races I do
have two functions coming up on August 9th on Friday night. Zoe Lofgren
has been kind enough to attend my function and help my candidacy.
On August 11th Richard Alexander and Nancy are having an event in Palo
Alto between 3 and 6 at their beautiful home. Byron Sher and Liz
Kniss may attendIf anybody is interested, I'll be here afterward to answer
any questions.
Steve thanked the 28th AD Committee for refreshments and reminded the 20th that it was their turn in September.
10. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:57 PM.
APPENDIX
| GENERAL
S.C. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION * CITIES: CAMPBELL LOS ALTOS HILLS LOS GATOS MILPITAS MONTE SERENO MOUNTAIN VIEW MORGAN HILL SAN JOSE SANTA CLARA SARATOGA SPECIAL DISTRICTS:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS:
HIGH SCHOOL & UNIFIED DISTRICTS:
COMMUNITY COLLEGE DlSfRICTS:
|
CITIES:
CUPERTINO GILROY LOS ALTOS PALO ALTO SUNNYVAlE SPECIAL DISTRICTS:
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICTS:
UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTS:
COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICTS:
PRIMARY SANTA CLARA COUNTY CITY: SAN JOSE SPECIAL DISTRICTS:
SPECIAL DISTRICTS WIO GOVERNING BOARD:
* TRUSTEES MUST LIVE IN TRUSTEE AREA & ARE VOTED ON BY TRUSTEE AREA
VOTERS.
|
This page was last updated 8/26/02.
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