SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE

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

 

MINUTES FOR Thursday, February 1st , 2007

 

1.             CALL TO ORDER   7:15

 

2.             ROLL CALL

 

3.                 IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS

 

4.                ADOPTION OF AGENDA – moved, approved

 

5.                APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Minutes are posted at sccdp.org)  - moved, approved

 

Barbara Graves – region 9 director spoke – announced March 4 event with Art Torres, CDP trainings – introduced Sean Bagley, running for region 9 director

 

6.             NEW BUSINESS

                Election of SCCDCC Directors*

                Slate proposed by Chair, Steve Preminger:

·         Community Services and Voter Registration - Carolyn Curtis

·         Finance - Jim Thurber

·         Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Jon Kessler

·         Communications: David Cohen

·         Campaign Services: Philip Bump

·         Issues: Adrienne Grey

·         Political Outreach: Tom Cochran

*The directors will be proposed as a slate.  The committee may approve the slate all together unless a member asks to have one or more of the nominees pulled from the slate.  The non-pulled nominees would then be approved, followed by discussion (and alternate nominees) of the pulled position(s).

Steve presented slate – David Parker pulled Candidate Recruitment/Endorsement

Slate minus Jon Kessler approved

No discussion on Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement, approved with 1 no vote – after vote, David Parker spoke about his no vote

 

Move Old Business – filling of SCCDCC vacancies

No nominations in 20th AD

27th AD - Greg Sellers nominated, approved

 

Completion of DSCC appointments – filling of vacancies

1 vacancy (James Kim, elected at AD mtg) – nominees: Bobby Lapour (?), Greg Sellers, Craig Dunkerley, Timothy Tom, Elisha Brady

 

Veronica Andrade nominated to 27th AD vacancy and elected

 

7.                REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS

 

A.      Executive Board: David Cohen for Hope Cahan – met Jan 17

B.      Chair:  Steve Preminger – committee needs to be fully functional and do everything we should be doing – March meeting will be a brainstorming session about what SCCDCC should be doing

C.      Vice Chair:  James Kim – talked about SJ City Council races with endorsed candidates (district 6, district 4)

D.      Treasurer: Drina Collins – no report

E.         Secretary:  David Cohen for Hope Cahan – no report

 

Each director will discuss the roll of his/her committee and request that members of SCCDCC (including alternates and associates) sign up as committee members.

 

Steve told members that they are expected to participate in moving the party forward by joining a committee

F.       Community Services and Voter Registration:  Carolyn Curtis – precincting, voter registration (Democratic registrations are staying up, lots of work) – Sal suggested that community services should have greater role

G.      Finance:  Jim Thurber – chief fiscal officer – fundraising – chair of budget committee, includes treasurer of UDC – JJ dinner

H.      Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement:  Jon Kessler – committee interviews candidates – may expand to judicial races – refine questionnaire

I.      Communication: David Cohen – three areas: internal, external (newsletter, collateral, website), media

J.        Campaign Services:  Philip Bump – do everything to help elect endorsed Democrats

K.       Issues:  Adrienne Grey – open to suggestions for this area – forum for issues – moving forward on issues

L.       Political Outreach: Tom Cochran – works with clubs, helps new clubs start

Club, AD, SD, & CD Reports

·         SCCDC – Jay James – had retreat and talked about goals to move club forward, developed 5 main issues of focus, January voter reg at Campbell Community Center (raised $946 through voter reg), Straight Talk TV

·         South County – Swanee Edwards – next mtg Feb 17 w/ guest John Laird, March 17 precinct walking workshop, Jerry McNerney visit Feb 21

·         APA – Buu Thai – annual membership mtg last week, elected new officers, APA endorsed Kansen and Pierre

·         LGBT – Clark Williams – tripled number of open gay elected officials over 2 years (2->7), encourage gays and lesbians to join club

·         Moorpark – Clarence Madrelejos – endorsed Kansen Chu in district 4, Feb 24 second annual membership meeting (will elect officers)

·         Dean Club – Carolyn Curtis – At its January working meeting, the Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley prioritized its goals for the year, with precincting (Grassroots Champions) coming in first, followed by: working on global warming, election reform legislation, clean money, getting us out of Iraq, single-payer health care, & equal rights legislation; setting up a media critique group; cosponsoring events with other clubs; a fundraiser for DFA with Jim Dean & Jerry McNerney; & adopting more sites for registering voters.
In the AD election meetings about 15 of our members were elected, including two e-board representatives.
Stephanie Grossman hosted a popular State-of the Union watch party, titled "Watch Jim Webb & the Smirking Chimp." About 40 people attended, including reporters from a TV station & a newspaper, which both quoted members at this party.

·         PDC – Rich Watters –  The annual Peninsula Democratic Coalition holiday party was held on December16 at the home of Jim and Emy Thurber. The PDC annual meeting will be held on Sunday, February 25th from noon to 2:00 pm at the Los Altos Youth Center. Officers and directors will be elected for the coming year. The PDC Nominating Committee has proposed non-incumbent candidates for two offices (President and Vice President) and one-third of the at-large directors, representing one of the largest changes in club leadership in recent memory.

·         Latino Forum – Xavier Campos – electing new officers in Feb, also doing voter reg

·         DAWN – Carol Garvey – potluck brunch coming up – will endorse in SJ elections, Darcy Green new member of board

·         Mission City Democratic Club: Chris Stampolis

The Mission City Democratic Club met Monday, February 5, 2007 at 1160 Jackson Street in the Old Quad portion of Santa Clara.  2006 Club President Anna Song called the meeting to order at 7:14 p.m.

The attendees reviewed the results of the 2006 elections, including a discussion of local, state and national races and the impact of MCDC's recommendation mailer sent to more than 10,000 Democratic households in Santa Clara.  The club's recommended candidates were received positively by the voters on Election Day.  Club members also received a report on the DNC meeting in DC from the previous weekend.

In addition to substantial discussion regarding growth ideas and strategies, the meeting included officer reports from the 2006 officers who completed their terms, and a review of the club's FPPC reports.  The club voted to meet six times for general membership meetings in 2007: Feb. 5, April 9, June 4, August 6, October 1 and December 3 and to rotate meetings to different parts of the City.  All dates are Mondays and meetings will begin at 7 p.m.

Additionally, the club voted to hold committee meetings during the in-between months.  The Outreach Committee will meet Monday March 5, 2007, at 7 p.m.  The club also voted to participate in the annual Creek Cleanup in late April and to reserve publicity space at Santa Clara's 2007 Art & Wine Festival scheduled for September.  The members discussed the outreach goals suggested by the California Democratic Council, aiming towards three percent of registered Democrats in the City of Santa Clara.  The Outreach Committee was asked to consider a speaker series that could present panels on important local issues and reports from elected and agency representatives, in a format that would reach out to diverse age ranges, backgrounds and parts of the City.  The Outreach Committee also was asked to consider a member-to-neighbor recruitment program.  For now, membership rates continue to be $25 per individual; $40 per household; $10 for full-time students and "senior citizen" Dems.

With other business complete, the club then elected 2007 officers.  Each officer was nominated from the floor and was elected unanimously.  The 2007 Mission City Democratic Club officers are:

President: Todd Fitch
Vice-President: Pat Mahan
Secretary/Treasurer : Chris Stampolis
Outreach Director: Kamran Merchant
Liaison to County Committee: Todd Fitch (with authority to appoint a proxy as needed)

·         Following congratulations to the new officers, a symbolic passing of the gavel and some brief announcements, 2007 Club President Todd Fitch adjourned the club meeting at 8:53 pm.

 

M.       Regional Director: Emy Thurber – hotel info not known yet, packet coming Feb 13, let her know if you need/want proxy, regional mtg for ADs 21-24 Sat March 24, resolutions for convention must be submitted 30 days prior (can be submitted by any 25 DSCC delegates), forum Feb 10 on kicking oil habit
Barbara Graves – region mtg in Castroville March 4

N.      Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis – no report

O.      Pro-Choice Coalition:  Claudia Shope – written report

P.       DTV Report: Steve Chessin –

Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported that our January taping was with Congressmember Jerry McNerney (11CD), who told us what it's like being the new kid on the block.

 

Our guest in January is TBD.

 

We will be on San Jose Comcast Channel 15A February 8th with the show we taped with Congresswoman Lofgren, February 22nd and March 22nd with Congressmember McNerney, and March 8th and April 5th with whomever we tape this month.

 

See the sccdp web site for the schedule in the other communities, and to download our shows.

 

We could still use more good Democrats on the crew.  No prior video experience is necessary.

 

San Jose Channel 15A (also serves part of Cupertino), 8:00pm every other Thursday (408-918-3200):

2007:

Feb  8                DTV 143                Hon. Zoe Lofgren

Feb 22                DTV 144                Hon. Jerry McNerney

Mar  8                DTV 145                TBD-145

Mar 22                DTV 144                Hon. Jerry McNerney

Apr  5                DTV 145                TBD-145

Apr 19                DTV 146                TBD-146

 

Q.     CDC Report:  Herb Engstrom – umbrella group for all clubs in state, successful convention last year, grassroots democrats had chance to participate in endorsing statewide candidates, this year’s convention will likely be in LA, next month SCCDCC should consider affiliating with CDC

 

9.             OLD BUSINESS

Filling of Central Committee vacancies (1 in 20th AD and 2 in 27th AD)

 

10.                  ANNOUNCEMENTS

                Steve Preminger - thanks to 23rd AD for refreshments

                David Cohen - please post events on SCCDCC website calendar

                Justin Carvalho – field coordinator for Kansen Chu, come out and volunteer

                Anne Mack - Century Club lunch Fri Feb 9 – Kansen and Pierre will be speaking

                Jay Jackman - Rally and March for peace and unity in East Palo Alto Feb 3

                Dan Hoffman – Thanks to Herb Engstrom and Steve Chessin and their organizations for producing the great TV programs that bring Democratic issues to the public

                David Parker - SJ Human Rights Commission forum a couple weeks ago – 2 weeks from now there will be another meeting to discuss police auditor findings

                Anne Mack - Closing Sunnyvale mobile home park – contact city council in Sunnyvale asking them to change their minds

                 

11.                EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

                The next Executive Board meeting is February 21st

 

 

12.                ADJOURNMENT in memory of  Molly Ivins – 9:05