SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE

 6:45 pm, County Building cafeteria, 70 W. Hedding St. San José

MINUTES FOR Thursday, September 2^nd, 2004

 *************** Refreshments provided by the Peninsula Democratic Coalition *****************

1.  CALL TO ORDER: 7:15

2. ISSUES

Suzy Wilson, former SCC Supervisor – Campaign Ethics Foundation

Suzy was unable to join us this evening

3.  ROLL CALL

Absent: Bob Dhillon, Terry Gregory, Larry Carr, Greg Sellers, Susan McKuhen, John Dutra, Joe Simitian, John Laird, Simon Salinas, Byron Sher, Anna Eshoo, Frank Bosche, Clark Williams, Teresa Daley

Excused: Drina Collins, Sylvia & Sal Alvarez, Manny Diaz, Madge Overhouse

Alternate: PDC, African-American Democratic Club, Sandra Soto for Zoe Lofgren, Jim Brady for Rebecca Cohn, Paul Fong for Mike Honda, John Kessler for John Vasconcellos, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins for Liz Figueroa, Bill James for Sally Lieber, Alex Bantis for Phyllis Ward, Jennifer Myronuk for Jean Cohen,

4.  IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS

Enrique Colin, Juanita Ramirez, Clarence Madrilejos, Dominic Carerta, Kevin Moore, chuck Blair, Fran Bennett, Peter O’Reilly, Margie Mitchell, Margaret Abe-Koga, Pearl Cheng, Jay Jackman, Paul Fong, Heidi Hi Pham, John Coyle, Jim Lawson, Julie Lind, Karen Hopez, Carol Miller, Mariel Caballen, Jamie McLeod, Jamie Matthews

5.  ADOPTION OF AGENDA

Motion to approve, second, so carried

6.  APPROVAL OF MINUTES    (Minutes are posted on  www.scc-democrats.org)

Motion to approve, second, so carried

7. NEW BUSINESS:

Tom Cochran: Barbara Ord passed away last week. Tom discussed what a wonderful woman, mother, and Democrat she was.

Endorsement of candidates (report of Endorsement Committee)

Recognition of endorsement committee: Jon Kessler – Chair, David Cohen, Carol Garvey, Emily Thurber, James Kim, Steve Preminger, Denise Alejandro, Steve Chessin, Anne Mack, Alyson Abramowitz, David Wilkes, Chris Stampolis, Anna Song, Jacquie Heffner, Hope Cahan, Phil Bump, Tom Cochran, Craig Mann, Dennis Austin, Peter O’Reilly, Claudia Shope

Recommendations:

All endorsed candidates in bold

Campbell City Council

2 seats/5 candidates

Evan Low

Don Burr

Town of Los Altos Hills

2 seats/5 candidates

Colette Cranston

Craig Jones

Carol Jean Gottlieb

Jean (John) Mordo

Mike O’Malley

City of Milpitas – Mayor

Jim Lawson

Milpitas City Council

2 seats/5 candidates

Patricia Dixon

Deepka Lalwani

Bob Livengood

City of Morgan Hill – Mayor

2 candidates – dual

Dennis Kennedy

Greg Sellers

Morgan Hill City Council

2 seats/5 candidates

Larry Carr

Mark Grzan

Allan Abrams

Julia Starling

Mountain View City Council

4 seats/6 candidates

Margaret Abe-Koga

Laura Macias

Nick Galiotto

Tom Means

Santa Clara City Council – Seat #3

2 candidates

Will Kennedy

Nam Nguyen

Santa Clara City Council – Seat #4

2 candidates - dual

Gap Kim

Kevin Moore

Santa Clara City Council – Seat #7

2 candidates – dual

Chuck Blair

Jamie McLeod

Santa Clara City Clerk

2 candidates

Rod Diridon

Elise DeYoung

County BOE – Seat #1

Jeff Ota

County BOE – Seat #4

Alex Bantis

County BOE – Seat #5

2 candidates

Anna Song

Toan Le

Berryessa Union SD

2 seats/3 candidates

Francine Davis

Rudy Nasol

Heidi Pham

Campbell Union High SD

2 seats/6 candidates

Margie Ito Mitchell

Matt Dean

Mark Graper

Tim Flynn

East Side Union HSD

2 seats/7 candidates

Craig Mann

Xavier Campos

Juanita Ramirez

Cecil Lawson

Lan Nguyen

Khanh Tran

Franklin – McKinley SD

2 seats/3 candidates

John Lindner

Sam Sandy

Phil Renteria

West Valley-Mission CCD

Chris Stampolis

Items removed from the consent calender for further consideration: County Board of Education District 5, Santa Clara City Council Seat 4, Berryessa School Board, Los Altos Hills Town Council

Move the rest of the consent calendar, second, motion passed

Candidates for pulled races introduced themselves and then stepped outside of the room for discussion

David Cohen explained how many votes a candidate needs to win (2/3 vote for a sole endorsement, 50% vote for a dual endorsement)

Santa Clara County City Council Seat 4

Kevin Moore:

Gap Kim:

Discussion on for dual endorsement and Jon Kessler gave an explanation of the endorsement committee’s recommendation of a sole endorsement for Gap, other discussion about sole endorsement vs. dual endorsement

Motion for sole endorsement of Gap: 25 for 16 against, motion does not pass

Motion for dual: Motion carries

Berryessa School Board

Motion to endorse Francine and Rudy, discussion on, 27 for, 7 opposed, recommendation passes

County Board of Education District 5

Anna Song

Ben Minor on behalf of Twan Lee

Motion to do a dual endorsement, discussion on, vote: 7 for, recommendation fails

Motion for a sole endorsement, second, so carried

Los Altos Hills City Council:

Collette Cranston and Craig Jones

Motion to recommend dual endorsement, discussion on, motion carries

Recommendation that we provide financial support for Margaret Abe-Koga and Gap Kim because of their ongoing participation with the Democratic Party.

County ballot measures. Please visit www.sccvote.org for full list of upcoming bond measures.

Recommended slate for endorsement:

San Jose/Evergreen Community College District Measure G

West Valley-Mission Community College District Measure H

Palo Alto Unified School District Measure I

Santa Clara Unified School District Measure J

East Side Union High School District Measure K

Fremont Union High School District Measure L

Campbell Union High School District Measure M

Evergreen School District Measure N

Cupertino Union School District Measure O

Sunnyvale School District Measure P

Franklin-McKinley School District Measure Q

Alum Rock Union School District Measure R

City of San Jose Measure S

Motion to approve, second, so carried

8. REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS

A.  Executive Board: Hope Cahan

Did not have an August meeting because of the number of members out on vacation

B.  Chair: Steve Preminger

Appointment of Linda Spangler as the new Community Services & Voter Registration member

Motion to appoint, second, so moved

Introduction of Beth Brimley, hired by State Party to help us get Ira Ruskin elected to the 21^st Assembly District

C.  Vice Chair: Drina Collins

D.  Treasurer: Gap Kim

$126.80

E.  Secretary:  Hope Cahan

Thank you to David for filling in as secretary at the last meeting

F.  Community Services & Voter Registration: Linda Spangler

We have a number of activities, please volunteer

G.  Finance: Jim Thurber

Campaign finances are very challenging this year with all of the new finance laws and the number of campaign offices that we have. No expenditures over $100 may be spent without filling out an approval form

Anyone may donate to us through our website

H. Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Jon Kessler

I.  Campaign Services: Phaedra Ellis Lamkins

J.  Issues: Emy Thurber

K. Political Outreach: Tom Cochran

Another San Jose office 408-292-7934 is now open on Moore Park

L. Regional Directors: Madge Overhouse

Century Club meeting featuring Ira Ruskin next Friday

M. United Democratic Campaign: Steve Preminger

N. Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis

Everyone should write letters tomorrow about how much better the DNC convention was than the RNC

O.  Pro-Choice Coalition:  Claudia Shope

Gail Tiller is leading precinct walk on Sept. 11^th from 10-4 in Fairfield.

Injunction preventing the enforcement of the prevention of late term abortions is still effective

Have not received the $34 million for this year for the United Nations fund.

Take part in voter registration contest online at www.ppmaramonte.org. Highest card getter is $250 from Amazon

P.  DTV Report:  Steve Chessin

Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported that our August taping was with North County Precinct Coordinator Carolyn Curtis and Central/South County Precinct Coordinator Linda Spangler, who spoke about the Democratic Party's precinct-based get-out-the-vote program.

Our guest in September will be Redwood City Council member Ira Ruskin, Democratic nominee for the Assembly from District 21. We have confirmed his booking with his campaign manager.

We will be on San Jose AT&T Channel 15A September 9th and October 7^th with Carolyn Curtis and Linda Spangler, and on September 23rd, October 21st, and November 18th with the show we will tape with Council member Ruskin.

Our shows are also aired in Mountain View, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Stanford, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, and San Martin. The complete schedule is posted at the Santa Clara County Democratic Party web site, <www.sccdp.org>.

Please note that our airdates in Morgan Hill are now 7pm every Monday and 8pm every Tuesday.

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):

2004:

Sep 9 DTV 115 Carolyn Curtis and Linda Spangler

Sep 23 DTV 116 Hon. Ira Ruskin

Oct 7 DTV 115 Carolyn Curtis and Linda Spangler

Oct 21 DTV 116 Hon. Ira Ruskin

Nov 4 DTV 117 Steve Chessin

Nov 18 DTV 116 Hon. Ira Ruskin

See http://www.sccdp.org/dtv.php for the full schedule.

Q.  CDC Report:  David Wilkes

May view endorsements online

R. Welfare Reform:  Sal Alvarez

Political outreach clubs and ADs

20th AD committee:

21st AD Committee: Thelma announced that the 21^st AD gave a $1000 contribution to Ira Ruskin

22nd AD Committee:

23rd AD Committee:

24th AD Committee:

27^th AD Committee:

28th AD Committee:

African-American Democratic Coalition:

American Sikh Democratic Club:

Asian-Pacific American Democratic Club:

Clinton*Gore Action Network:

Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley

Dean will be in town at Zoe Lofgren’s house on September 19^th, fundraiser for DCCC

Democratic Action for Women Now (DAWN):

Evergreen Democratic Club at the Villages:

Mission City Democratic Club:

Peninsula Democratic Coalition:

Peninsula Young Democrats:

Santa Clara County Democratic Club:

Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club:

Silicon Valley Latino Democratic Forum:

South County Democratic Club:

Grand opening for South County office on Friday the 17th at 7pm

San Jose State Democratic Club:

West Valley Democratic Club:

9. OLD BUSINESS

Call To Action Reports

· Speakers Bureau

· Media Committee-Jennifer

o Getting a lot of letters published. Page 16A in Mercury news, article that Karl Rove is planning to win California

· Message Committee- Elisa

o Will be working on 11 themes to do 1 page handouts should all be done and ready for print by 9/17

· Volunteer Committee

Scott Rafferty: update on lawsuit to allow people to go to the VA hospitals to register voters.

10. ANNOUNCEMENTS

Joe Simitian will have a town hall meeting on September 26^th at the Palo Alto City Council Chambers on Sept. 26^th.

Steve Preminger thanked Drina Collins for chairing the meeting last month

Steve Chessin: Jon Vasconcellos benefit at Lou’s Village on Sunday the 12^th at 4:00. This event is tax deductible

Dan Hoffman: The Ira Ruskin headquarters is looking for volunteers. The office is located at 3898 El Camino Real in Palo Alto

Clarence: Yes campaign on prop 57. This imitative needs your volunteer help

Thank you to PDC for brining refreshments

11. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

    The next Executive Board TBA

12. ADJOURNMENT: 9:30pm in honor of Barbara Ord