1.  CALL TO ORDER
    The meeting was called to order by Chair Steve Preminger at 7:22 PM.

2.  ROLL CALL
    Absent were:  Tony Alexander, Jewelle Gibbs, Francis LaPoll, Rod Diridon, Jr., Bart Fisher, Sal Alvarez, Larry Carr, Craig Mann, Rena Modell, Gene Wagner, John Dutra, Joe Simitian, Rebecca Cohn, Simon Salinas, Liz Figueroa, Anselmo Chavez, Pete Stark, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Ruth Ashford, Denelle Fedor,  and Teresa Daley.
    Excused were Francine Davis, Andrea Leiderman, Terry Gregory, and Alex Bantis..

3.  IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS
 

4.  ADOPTION OF AGENDA
    A motion to approve the agenda was made, seconded, and carried.

5.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES    (Minutes are posted on  www.scc-democrats.org)
    Two corrections were to the November minutes were suggested, and with these made a motion to approve the minutes of the November meeting was made, seconded, and carried.

6.  REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS

A.  Executive Board:  Herb Engstrom.
    Scott Rafferty spoke about the DNC web site.  The current Site needs improvement.  Scott, David Cohen, and Chris Stampolis were given responsibility to draft a resolution to be presented at the state party E-board meeting tomorrow.
    Jim Thurber reported on the UDC.
    Dec. E-board meeting will be Wednesday, Dec. 18th at the Thurbers.
    Next CC meeting will be second Thursday in January, the 9th, here in the cafeteria.
    On Monday, November 25, 2002, the Executive Board of the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee met with Chris Stampolis to review complaints relating to the October 31st issue of the Mission City News, of which Mr. Stampolis is publisher.  The complaints were that Mr. Stampolis used his newspaper to attack an endorsed candidate of the Democratic Central Committee in a manner unbecoming a leader of the Democratic Party.  The Executive Board found that the content, tone, and distribution made that edition of the newspaper little different from a campaign hit piece.  After discussion we concluded that Mr. Stampolis's actions were inappropriate and a source of embarrassment to the Democratic  Party.  Therefore, with great regret we reprimand Chris Stampolis for his conduct.
    Phyllis Ward asked if this report was a recommendation to this body.  Steve replied that the statement was the position of the Executive Board, and there would be no need for ratification by the Central Committee membership.
    Jim Boynton pointed out that the web site indicates that the January meeting will be held in the Supervisor's meeting room.  David Cohen replied this was an error and would be corrected.
    Phyllis also pointed out that the July meeting falls on the 3rd.  Steve recommended that we reserve the cafeteria for the 10th due to the holiday on the 4th.
    Jon Kessler asked if the E-board report reflected only the position of the E-board, or if it represented the Central Committee as a whole.  Steve replied that it is accepted by the body.  Martin Gorefinkel moved that the whole mody accept the report.  Steve said this is not normally done but was not out of order.  The motion was seconded and carried.

B.  Chair: Steve Preminger.
    No report.

C.  Vice Chair: Tom Cochran.
    No report.

D.  Treasurer: Dennis Chiu.
    The bank account has $123.85.

E.  Secretary:  Herb Engstrom.
    No report.

F.  Community Services & Voter Registration:  Liz McDavit.
    I wish to thank everyone who participated in voter registration and ask everyone to stand so we can thank you. I also wish to thank on behalf of the Party, organizers Margie Baker, Frank Bosche, Pat O'Hare, Lorre Vaughn, and Beth Shaw for all their work and the Evergreen Democratic Club which did voter registration as an organization for the first time and was a great help.
    We did a great job in Santa Clara County and I've put the totals of registered voters on a hand out for you of all the parties and decline to state. Here are the results of the two major parties as of December 5.

• Democrats:  337,050
• Republicans:  219,186

G.  Finance: Jim Thurber
    Jim Thurber reported that the accountant was working on a year-end financial statement which should be ready for the January Central Committee meeting.  He also asked for help from Committee memebrs in assembling a master mailing list for the JJ dinner.

H. Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Keith Garvey
    Keith Garvey commented on the terrific success of our endorsed candidates and recognized newly elected Santa Clara Mayor Pat Mahan (who was present).  He also commented, for the many students in the audience) on the success of our statewide candidates and the significance of adding Assembly members Sally Lieber and John Laird to am already strong democratic local delegation.  Alex Kennett and Keith represented the Central Committee at the State Capitol during the swearing-in ceremony for re-elected Speaker Herb Wesson Jr. and the entire Assembly. It was brought out that there is incredible diversity within the new leadership of the State Assembly.

I.  Campaign Services: Phaedra Ellis Lamkins
    No report

J.  Issues: Willie Wool
    No report.

K. Political Outreach: Emy Thurber.
    We have a new Democratic Club, the Mission City Democratic Club.  I got the paperwork tonight, they have applied, and they have enough members., wtc., so I would like to make a motion that we charter as an official Democratic Club the Mission City Democratic Club from Santa Clara.  The motion was seconded.  In the discussion Chris Stampolis rose to thank Jim Boynton, who put in a tremendous effort to pull this together, and Chris want this acknowledgement in the record.  Emy added that Chris is the acting President of the Club and Jim is the Secretary-Treasurer, and we wich them a long, happy, and active life.  The motion to charter was passed unanimously.
    Emy appealed to the Clubs to get a list of members to her before Christmas for the J.J. dinner.

20th AD committee:
    No report.

21st AD Committee: Rich Watters.
    The Executive Board of the 21st AD Committee met for the last time Wednesday evening, December 4th, at 7:00 pm at Hillview Community Center in Los Altos.  The activities of the Committee and its voter registration program were reviewed.
    The 21st AD Committee will join the Peninsula Democratic Coalition at their annual holiday party Saturday, December 14th.
    The reorganization meeting of the 21st AD Committee will take place Sunday, January 12th from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Lucie Stern Community Center in Palo Alto, 1305 Middlefield Road. In order to vote or run for office at this meeting, new members must join by December 16th. Interested persons may contact Rich Watters (650-856-7430) for additional information.

22nd AD Committee: Chris Stampolis.
    Chris Stampolis reported the 22nd Assembly District Committee would hold its biennial reorganization meeting, Sunday, January 12, 4 p.m. at Charlie Blair's Pizza in Santa Clara, 940 Monroe Street.  Chris said the AD Committee bylaws require him to certify membership 25 days prior to the meeting, December 18, so please contact him immediately and provide a $15 check to join the committee.  Checks may be mailed to P.O. Box 270, Santa Clara, CA, 95052.  If you have questions, contact Chris at 408-390-4748.

23rd AD Committee:  Tom Cochran.
    Awaiting report.

24th AD Committee: David Cohen.
    The 24th AD reorganization meeting will be on Sunday, Jan. 12 at 12 noon at the home of Jacquie Heffner.

28th AD Committee: Sal Alvarez.
    No report.

African-American Democratic Coalition: Tony Alexander.
    No report.

Asian-Pacific American Democratic Club: Gap Kim.
    Gap Kim, Chair of the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democractic Club (SVAPADC) thanked the Central Committee and all its members for supporting Margaret Abe-Koga for the Santa Clara County Board of Education seat.  He reported that she won big!
    Gap also informed Committee members that Margaret will be sworn in on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 5:00pm at the County Office Building.
    He also reported that the there will be a general meeting for the SVAPADC in February and that details of the general meeting, where they will elect a new Chair and officers, will be sent out to all of its members.

Clinton*Gore Action Network: Liz McDavit.
    No report.

Democratic Action for Women Now (DAWN): Carol Garvey.
    DAWN will be celebrating the victories of their many endorsed candidates at their meeting Dec. 8 at 11:00 at Braly Park in Sunnyvale. The brunch meeting will begin at 11:00 and will feature Wilma Chan the new Assembly Majority Leader from the 16th District in Oakland.  Newly elected assembly members John Laird and Sally Lieber will be among the speakers.  DAWN Board member Margaret Abe-Koga won overwhelmingly for the Santa Clara County Office of Education School Board.

Evergreen Democratic Club at the Villages: Bev Wharton.
    Since the last report at the October meeting, our voter reg efforts on October 5 at the Day in the Park produced 13 registrations (12 Democrats and 1 Decline to State) and on October 12 at Eastridge Mall, a total of 10 (9 Democrats and 1 Green). On election night we had a big turnout who partook heartily of the refreshments, but who disappeared quickly, except for a few of us "never say die-hards, " when the election returns showed disappointing results at the national level.
    Past club president, Pat Kirk and I responded to the call for Westly observers at the Registrar of Voters for the opening and counting of absentee ballots and verification of provisional ballots.  The difference between the two parties was obvious in the people who came to observe. For the three days I observed, all of the McClintock supporters were white, mostly middle-aged males except for one day when there was one white female. In contrast the Westly observers reflected the diversity of the Democrats with a middle-age Chinese male, and 30-something East Indian male, a Mexican-American female retiree, a 20-something white female, and a middle-age white male. The county workers' supervisor had high praise for the conduct of the Democrat observers over the intimidating and obnoxious behavior of the Republicans.
    For those of you who vote by absentee ballot, a word of caution. If two or more members of the same household wish to save money on postage by putting all of the ballots in the same envelope, be sure that all of you sign the envelope. If there is only one signature and more than one ballot in the envelope, none of the ballots are counted.
    Our speaker on Tuesday was Lynne Token-Holden, Co-Chair for Health Care for All Californians.
    The results of a survey taken by a club member on national issues of importance to the 40 members who completed it showed that of the 19 issues Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, Medical Costs, and Prescription Drug Costs were the top four, followed by Education, Women's Right to Choose, and Foreign Affairs, while the Stock Market took last place.

High Tech Dems:  Alyson Abramowitz.
    Awaiting report.

Mission City Democratic Club:
    No report.

Peninsula Democratic Coalition:  Emy Thurber.
    The Peninsula Democratic Coaliton will have its annual holiday party on December 14th at the Thurber's home in Los Altos.  We have received a $500 contribution from Steve Westly for which we are very grateful.

Peninsula Young Democrats: Mike Markman.
    PYD combined its December event with the PDC, at the PDC holiday party on December 14.  Sen. John Kerry made a surprise guest appearance, making this an especially memorable event.  PYD met on November 22nd for an informal election 2002 de-briefing, during which Bill James discussed his close race for the El Camino Hospital District.  PYD will next meet on January 23, 2003 (location TBD).  We will elect officers, and will discuss plans for the upcoming year.

Santa Clara County Democratic Club: Dan Hoffman.
    The November meeting was an open mike meeting on the November 5th election:  What went right, what went wrong, what are the next steps?  Most felt the Democratic Party lacked a clear message; some felt greater organization on the ground was required.
    On Wednesday, December 11th we will have our annual holiday party at Fiorillo's honoring our elected state and national representatives.  Cost is $45 each or $80 for two.  Party begins at 5:30 p.m.
    The January 20th meeting at Carrow's Restaurant on El Camino in Santa Clara will be devoted to brainstorming how our club can be effective in achieving political goals we share as Democrats.  We will plan activities for the year.

Silicon Valley Latino Democratic Forum: Drina Collins
    Awaiting report.

South County Democratic Club:  Alex Kennett.
    Alex spoke about: 1. Closing the UDC office; 2. Our upcoming workshop on the 14th about how to do things better; 3. Our record for our candidates and issues; 4. The head of the San Benito County Republican Party quitting.

West Valley Democratic Club: David Wilkes
    No report.

L. Regional Directors: Madge Overhouse and Martin Gorefinkel.
    Madge reported that the State Party Executive Board meeting will take place tomorrow and Saturday.  One topic will be the reorganization of the Assembly District Committees, which will take place on January 11.  Regions must also be reorganized.  Region 5 will now be made up of Assembly Districts 21, 22, 23, and 24; the 20th was deleted from this Region, which will be in Region 6, considered part of the East Bay.  Region 7 will take in ADs 17, 26, 27 and 28.
    There is an announcement: Sen. John Kerry will be here Saturday, December 14th from 2 to 4 P.M.  It's $1,000 a person, but it's a round table opportunity to sit down and talk with him.  If you're interested, I have the details.  It is at the Cupertino Inn on de Anza.  Also, in March there will be a big gala for $2,000 per person, but your $1,000 will count toward that.
    Former Chair Roy Christman retired from the San José State Poli Sci Department and is now in Pennsylvania.  He called to say he is now in a Democratic area and wanted to wish you all Happy Holidays.  If you want his address, I have it.
    Martin gave no report.

M. Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis.
    Chris Stampolis gave a report on the impact of the non-urban vote on the November 2002 Congressional results.  There was specific discussion regarding the Missouri Senate race, where the Democrats lost a seat when Jean Carnahan failed to win re-election.  Chris shared that the Cities of St. Louis and Kansas City both delivered 75 percent supermajorities for Senator Carnahan, and the suburban areas immediately around those cities also provided wins for our Democrat.  However, the Republican won more than 80 small counties, and was able to counterbalance the great results in urban Missouri.  There was a bit of floor discussion about the importance of message versus ground organizing.  Chris mentioned that communities with many small farms should be voting Democratic, since Republican "big corporate values" certainly aren't helping those folks, but our Party has a challenge in reinvigorating the neighborhood-based roots that helped us in past decades.  The report concluded with a statement that Democratic Party leaders (from local, state and national levels) need to push harder to have a presence in the rural communities where Democrats feel abandoned.  Talk radio in the urban areas tends to have a few shows that provide issues balance; however, in the rural areas, they receive mostly syndicated shows like Limbaugh's and Savage's.  Since our Democratic voice won't be heard on the radio out there, we need to provide special attention to the small Democratic committees if we hope to increase our turnout, and increase future Democratic voter registration.

N.  Pro-Choice Coalition:  Claudia Shope.
    The U.S. Senate confirmed two anti-choice judicial nominees.  Nominee Dennis Shed was confirmed 55 to 44.  Both Boxer and Feinstein opposed his appointment.  This is the beginning of a flood of Bush court appointments.  Michael McConnell described abortion as "an evil" and called Roe v. Wade an embarrassment to constitutional law.  He was confirmed on an unrecorded voice vote.

    January 22, 2003 marks the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade that protects the constitutional right of women to choose to have a safe and legal abortion. Reproductive freedom continues to be extremely vulnerable. Our future is uncertain. We want the voices of America's pro-choice, pro-family planning majority to be heard loudly and clearly.
    In commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we will run a signature ad in the San Jose Mercury News (if we receive over 1,000 signatures) or other local newspapers. We hope you will join us in sending a strong message that we are committed to a woman's right to choose.
    Please sign the form on the bottom of this sheet and return it to us by January 10, 2003, to have your name appear in our signature ad. A contribution of $10.00 or a special gift of $30.00 helps cover the cost of the ads. Any additional amount will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support.

    (The following is the substance of the ad text. It is NOT the final layout.)

On January 22, 1973, the United States Supreme Court rendered a decision declaring that all
women in our nation have the constitutional right to a safe and legal abortion in the landmark Roe v. Wade case.

On this 30th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we, the undersigned, declare that a woman's right to choose is a basic fundamental right. We firmly believe that each woman should continue to have the right to make her own reproductive choices, guided by her ethical beliefs, medical advice, and personal circumstances.

Accordingly, we steadfastly will oppose all anti-choice judicial nominees in order to preserve reproductive freedom.

The list of supporting organizations, signatures of individuals, graphics and a coupon regarding the Planned Parenthood 30 Anniversary event will be included in the ad.

Make checks payable to Planned Parenthood Mar Monte. Feel free to make copies of this form and pass it on. Addresses will not be printed in the paper; they are for record keeping only.

Please include my name in the January 22, 2003 Planned Parenthood Mar Monte signature ad commemorating the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade.  I understand that by signing below that I authorize the San Jose Mercury News and/or other local newspapers to publish my name.  (Please note, addresses will not be printed.)

Name                      Signature                   Address                                        $Amount

_____________________________________________________________________

Return by January 10, 2003 to: Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, Public Affairs Director Gayle M. Tiller, 1046 W. Taylor St., Suite 100, San Jose, CA 55126.

    Steve entertained a motion to support the Pro-Choice Coalition ad.  Such a motion was made, seconded, and carried.  A hat was passed and a few dollars collected to help pay for the ad.

O.  DTV Report:  Steve Chessin.
     Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported that our November taping was with Dr. Terry Christensen who analyzed the election results for us.
    Our guest in December will be Hon. Matt Neely, who was just elected to the Mountain View City Council in a highly-charged election.
    We will be on San Jose AT&T Channel 15A December 5th with Jenny Niklaus, December 19th and January 16th with Dr. Christensen, and January 2nd and 30th with Matt Neely.
    We could still use more good Democrats on the crew.  No prior video experience is necessary.

San Jose Channel 15A, 8:00pm every other Thursday (serves part of Cupertino) (408-918-3200):
2002:
Dec  5  DTV 94  Jenny Niklaus
Dec 19  DTV 95  Dr. Terry Christensen (II)
2003:
Jan 2   DTV 96  Hon. Matt Neely
Jan 16  DTV 95  Dr. Terry Christensen (II)
Jan 30  DTV 96  Hon. Matt Neely

See  http://www.scc-democrats.org/dtv.htm  for the full schedule.

P.  CDC Report:  David Wilkes.
    No report.

Q.  Welfare Reform:  Sal Alvarez.
    No report.

7.  OLD BUSINESS
    None.

8.  NEW BUSINESS

    The Executive Board approved three resolutions that have been submitted to the State Paerty Executive Board Resolutions Committee.  The resolutions concern the Internet Advisory Group, Iraq, and the Loss of Civil Liberties.  Text of the resolutions is posted on the web site  www.scc-democrats.org in the Position Papers section.
    Scott Rafferty discussed the Internet resolution.  The web is not a cure-all but it is the answer to a lot of the problems that Chris identified.  We had horrible turnout. particularly in urban areas.  A local web site here, where voter mobilization is already good, can help in Washington state, where they really needed the help.  We don't have a clear message coming out of the DNC.  This needs to be a part of the web site.  We don't have a sounding board where we can learn what the American people are really thinking about.  We don't have good grassroots fund raising.  We don't have it at the national level; we don't have it in a lot of the western states.  In Silicon Valley where we have so much expertise, it's our responsibility as Democrats to help ourselves and our sister states and our National Committee to be at the leading edge.  The bottom line is unlike talk radio, unlike those cable channels, the Internet is not a medium that is controlled by elites.  It is not edited by Rupert Murdoch.  It's the people's medium, we're the people's party, and we ought to be ought to be slaughtering the Republicans in this area.  I'm delighted that the County resolution is going to the State Party to be a unified California effort.  We've identified already MoveOn, which is a phenomenal web site, which is doing a lot of these things, and which wants to work with the Party and bring this kind of technological activism and make it a reality nationwide.  We really need help in identifying more leaders like that who can help with the technical side, help with the web design, with the business model, and put together a first rate presentation for the February meeting of the DNC to really get the ball rolling.  I think we have a very receptive audience in the secretary's office of the DNC and throughout the DNC.  They need all the help they can get.  They've had huge staff cuts.  This is the time that people have to come to the aid of their party.  So if any of you have leads on that I'd be very grateful to talk to you afterwards, and I hope there's not too much controversy about the resolutions.
    Emy spoke about the remaining resolutions on Iraq and the Loss of Civil Liberties.  Steve received a request from the San José peace group that we come up with a resolution on Iraq.  I wrote one which I tried to make fairly positive.  It basically resolves that the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee urges that President Bush focus his attention and our national resources on improving our government's ability to counter future terrorist threats and in regards to Iraq to work with the U.N. and support the weapons inspectors as they seek out and destroy any weapons of mass destruction.  It is critical of the president's putting too much emphasis on Iraq in contrast to trying to rout Al Qaida and cooperating with other countries.
    The third resolution came about at the request of Anne Mack.  She was very concerned as many of us are about some of the proposals the administration has made that restrict civil liberties of American citizens.  The resolution addressed some of the things that have been done such as the jailing of American citizens without right to counsel and the holding of individuals in secret, which we've done in collaboration with some other countries.  It talked about the total information awareness program, a proposal that would establish a database with public and private information about all Americans and could really be devastating in its consquences.  We resolved that the Central Committee urges the Congress to undertake a far reaching debate on the erosion of civil rights in this country and that Congress question the need for the total information awareness program and to take all steps necessary to ensure that  all of our citizens are afforded the privacy and personal liberties we have so long taken for granted.
    These three resolutions were put forward by the Executive Board and have been sent to the State.  They'll be heard this weekend.  We don't know what will happen, but we'll report at the next meeting.

10.  ANNOUNCEMENTS

    Merylee Shelton invited us for the 20th December to Terry Gregory's inaugural celebration and swearing in with this "strange person" - Steve Preminger - as MC.  It will be from 6 to 8:30 P.M.  at History Park in San José on Senter Road.  Many of you know it as Happy Hollow  It will be at the Pacific Hotel and the Empire Fire House.  It's free, and there should be a lot of food.  We'll be having Motown sound music.  You're all invited.  It's an opportunity for us to really celebrate a wonderful victory that Democrats throughout the entire county helped make, so please make sure to come and pass the word on.  Invitations should be in the mail by Saturday morning, but we don't have the electonic version ready quite yet so we really do need your help to spread the word..  Congressman Mike Honda will be there to swear Terry in.  The program itself will start at 7 o'clock, so please come, join us, celebrate, and enjoy the evening..  For those of you that have not been to History Park it's a really beautiful, underutilized place in San José, and the City of San José decorates this Victorian community really wonderfully this time of year so it will be a really magical place to be.  Please join us in this celebration.  You can turn in on Phelan, and you can actually come onto the streets of History Park that evening, and you don't have to pay to park.  For those of you that don't know, the first light pole in San José has been moved to that location, so it's a wonderful place.  Christmas caroling will be piped in over the wires.  There's a street car, and a lot of really beautiful Victorians, and the Gianini Bank Building is right next to the Pacific Hotel, and that was the first branch of B of A, so it's really an exciting place to celebrate the history of the City of San José and also Terry Gregory's vicotry, so please join us.
    Dan Hoffman said that Martin Luther King's birthday will be celebrated as a national hoiliday on Monday, January 20th.  On that day there will be a Good Neighbor awards breakfast at the Wyndham Hotel, 7 A.M., $25 per person.  It's always well attended and has a very good program.  Right after it is the Freedom Train ride to San Francisco and a Civil Rights rally at the Civic Auditorium.  It's $5 per person round trip.  I'll have tickets very shortly if you're interested, see me after after the meeting or call Dan Hoffman.  Dan is in the phone book in Saratoga, and he'll get tickets to you.  He'll have tickets at the next Central Committee meeting.
    Scott Lipton, former Districr Rep to recently retired Assemblywoman Elaine Alquist, announced that on December 18th from 5:30 to 7:30 there will be an end of term appreciation reception at the home of Rod Diridon, Sr.  All Central Committee members will receive an invitation towards the middle of next week, but for all visitors it's 890 Camino Drive, Santa Clara.  Until Monday the 2nd she was the seniormost member of the delegation, elected in '96, and she recently left office handing over her seat to Sally Lieber.
    David Cohen reminded everyone that at the next Central Committee meeting all members of the 2003-2004 term will be sworn in.  We'll have all of your forms.  He'll bring a camera to take a picture of the swearing in to post on the web site.  You'll also have to pay $25 in dues for the two year term.
    Steve thanked the 23rd AD Comittee for the refreshments and wished all Happy Holidays.

Executive Board meeting
    The next Executive Board meeting is Wednesday, December 18th at the Thurber's at 6 PM.

Next meeting
    The next Central Committee meeting will be at 7 P.M., Thursday, January 9th in the basement cafeteria of the County Building, 70 West Hedding St., San José.  The 24th Assembly District Committee will be responsible for refreshments.

11. ADJOURNMENT
    The meeting was adjourned at 8:56 P.M.

This page was last updated 12/29/02.