SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE

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

 

MINUTES FOR Thursday, February 2^nd, 2006

 

1.         CALL TO ORDER: 7:15

 

2.         ROLL CALL

 

3.         IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS: Diane Rolfe, Wanda Brian, Pete McHugh, Mehdi Safipour: Bay Area Iranian-American Democrats, Andrew Pontious, Margaret Kriete, Ruth Dunn: Evergreen Democratic Club, Diego Barragam: new staff member for Congressmember Zoe Lofgren

 

4.         ADOPTION OF AGENDA

Add report about the State Executive Board meeting under the Regional Directors report

 

Motion to approve as amended, second, so carried

 

5.         APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Minutes are posted at sccdp.org)

Motion to approve, second, so carried

 

6.         ISSUES

Assemblymember Alberto Torrico: Discussed National and International problems and what we need to do in California to do our part for the Country.

 

Betty Yee: California State Board of Equalization: Opened with perspectives about California and how the Board of Equalization is affected. Her discussion included: campaign donations, term limits, and getting Californians engaged in the political process: representation does not reflect the demographics of the State.

 

Ms. Yee discussed her background, what areas the Board of Equalization covers, and the latest political successes of the California Democratic Party. Ms. Yee discussed the current spending requirements of California to continue providing good services and that the only way to continue keeping California at its current standard, will need to raise taxes. If additional money does not start coming in, we will start to loose many of the public services that we are currently enjoying.

           

7.         NEW BUSINESS

Pete McHugh: discussed his candidacy for County Assessor

 

Manny Diaz: discussed his candidacy for San Jose City Council

 

 

            8.         REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS

A.      Executive Board: Hope Cahan

The board discussed: the issues speakers for this meeting, the process for the upcoming endorsement interviews, the Democratic dinner on April 7^th, an update on the resolutions that we passed: they were passed on to the State Party, update on the Democratic Party activity on the Pombo race, the new citizens ceremony, the Korean American voter registration project, and the regional caucus meeting

 

B.      Chair: Steve Preminger

No report

 

C.      Vice Chair: James Kim

Discussed the Korean American voter registration project and the large number of declined to state voters that changed their status to Democratic Party after being informed of what our party stands for. Would like to expand this project to include the entire Asian American community.

 

March 31^st and April 1^st, the DNC is sponsoring the first API summit in San Jose.

 

D.      Treasurer: Drina Collins

$694 in our account. The dues are $25 for the two-year term, if you have not paid your dues, please do so.

 

E.       Secretary: Hope Cahan

No report

 

F.       Community Services and Voter Registration: Carolyn Curtis

DNC sponsored a ≥watch Bush≤ party. Many of the attendees to the parties were new attendees. Each attendee got a packet of information to get them involved.

 

Adrienne: New Citizen swearing in ceremony is a great opportunity to get new Democratic registrations. Need volunteers to help with the next ceremony. Have been working on portable voter registration kits for clubs or individuals that would like to go out for a day.

 

G.      Finance: Jim Thurber

We have less than $500 in our federal account and are not able to pay many of our bills because they have to be paid out of the federal account. The JJ dinner is coming up on April 7^th at the Fairmont. We have seats for 1,000 people and need to sell every seat. If candidates would like to buy a table, the more they pay for the table, the closer they will be to the front of the room.

 

H.      Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Jon Kessler

Endorsements interviews during the weeks of March 20^th and 27^th on Monday and Wednesday evenings of those two weeks. Filing begins in a week and lasts for a month. We will send out invitations to all of the registered Democratic candidates to interview for our endorsement.

 

I. Communication: David Cohen

Executive Board approved a resolution on protecting voter integrity. We have a press release section on our website were this information can be found. The blog is our most popular portion of the website. The brochure that we have has been updated by Adrienne and may be found electronically on our website. You are able to buy tickets for the dinner online. Next Saturday, February 11^th, there is a workshop ≥winning ways and what works on campaigns≤. The keynote speaker is Donny Fowler and there is a reception with elected officials at the end of the day. You are able to register for this through a link on our website.

 

J.        Campaign Services: Philip Bump

Please come out and volunteer when the campaigns are up and running.

 

K.       Issues: Herb Engstrom

See Issues above

L.      Political Outreach: Tom Cochran

Club, AD, SD, & CD Reports

 

Silicon Valley Latino Democratic Forum: Diego Barragam

We will be having board elections this month and are preparing for the endorsement process for mayoral race and city council races.

 

Evergreen Democratic Club: Beverly Waller Wharton

Membership as of January is 228

As a member of CDC, the Club is eligible to have 11 delegates attend the CDC convention on March 24^th-26^th to be held in Santa Clara. The Club has formed a Donations and Endorsements committee and a Speakers Committee.

 

More members are participating in activities outside the Villages such as the Century Club luncheons and attending events of other clubs.

Members donated $512 to provide a Merry Christmas for 4 Inn Vision families.

Januaryπs speaker was Karyn Sinunu, Assistant District Attorney and candidate for District Attorney of Santa Clara County.

Dr. Terry Christiansen, SJSU Professor of Political Science, is scheduled to speak at our February 7^th meeting.

We continue to have excellent member turnouts (60+) at our monthly meetings, good publicity in the Villages weekly newspaper as well as the Evergreen Times.

 

Bay Area Iranian- American Democrats: Morteza Tajally

The club is hosting an open discussion ≥ Iran-US Nuclear Dispute≤ on Thursday February 9^th, 2006 from 7-9pm at the SEIU building at 2302 Zanker Rd in San Jose. The discussion will be lead by Mr. Hamid Karimi and everyone will have a chance to voice his/her opinion. For more information, please call 408-594-1793. This event is an educational event and free of charge.

 

South County Democratic Club: Mark Moore

The South County Democratic Club welcomed the three Democratic Candidates for Congressional District 11 at their January meeting (Jerry McNerney, Steve Filson and Steve Thomas).   All were found to be strong candidates that the Party would be happy to have replace Richard Pombo as the Representative from that District.   At the next meeting on February 18, the Club will hear from Anna Caballeros and Ana Ventura Phares, Democratic Candidates for Assembly District 28, replacing termed-out Assemblyman Simon Salinas.   The Club is also planning a bus trip to Sacramento in April to visit the offices of Senator Elaine Alquist, Assemblyman Salinas and Assemblyman John Laird.

The Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club: Clark Williams

Clark Williams: The Silicon Valley LGBT Democratic Club thanked everyone who attended the

public forum for the four candidates running for Santa Clara County District Attorney. Nearly 100 people showed up at the Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center to hear the candidates debate a range of issues. The club has also decided to host two tables at the April 7th Annual Dinner and challenged other Democratic clubs to follow suit.

 

Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley: Carolyn Curtis

At our January working meeting, we prioritized the goals that we had brainstormed in December. The top ones are joining forces with other clubs to help out in "red" California; Clean Money; endorsing/getting involved in the gubernatorial primary; staying involved in election protection efforts; and diversifying our membership.

 

As part of our commitment to Clean Money, four of our members attended the Assembly Elections committee hearing in Sacramento & three attended the Appropriations hearing. Individuals wrote letters to local legislators at our January general meetings; the club had sent letters last month.

 

Besides endorsing for governor soon, we're voting on our secretary of state endorsement this month, and are gearing up for our March endorsement interviews for local races.

 

We currently have over 160 members.

 

Santa Clara County Democratic Club: Alicia Lanier

Our club has two new Straight Talk TV shows this month that will be airing on the public access TV station in your community. The first is a show on Capital Punishment with Terry McCaffrey, ACLU, and Lane Liroff, Santa Clara County District Attorney's office. The second show is on Electronic Voting & Paper Trails with Cheryl Lilienstein and Warren Stewart. Dolly Sandoval, Cupertino City Councilmember, moderated both shows.

 

Our Santa Clara County Democratic Club is organizing the San Jose Mayoral Candidates Forum that will be held at 7 o'clock on Monday, March 20, 2006, at Del Mar High School Auditorium.

This is a free event that we hope your club members will plan to attend. All candidates for the office of Mayor of the City of San Jose have indicated they will attend to present their platforms and field questions from the audience. It should be a lively event. We our pleased to announce that several groups have signed on as co-sponsors, including DAWN, the LGBT Democratic Club, the Dean/Democracy for America Democrats, and Planned Parenthood Miramonte. We invite other clubs to join us as well.

 

Moorpark Democratic Club:

There will be a membership meeting on Saturday, February 25^th at 1pm at The Commons-Clubhouse located at 21116 Freedom Drive, Cupertino, CA. Please RSVP to Clarence Madrilejos at clarencem99@gmail.com

 

M.     Regional Director: Emy Thurber

Emy Thurber, the Regional Director, said the California Democratic Party pre-endorsement conference for the 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th AD's will take place from 10 to 12 at the Central Labor Council on April 1, 2006. It is essential that we hold this meeting so that our local candidates can receive the state party endorsement. She urged all Central Committee members and club delegates to attend.

 

Emy also mentioned that the state party has raised its bounty for new Democratic voters to $3.50 and for voters whose card includes a telephone number and e-mail to $4.00. Clubs should coordinate their efforts through Adrienne.

 

She said that the state party executive committee meeting, held in Manhattan Beach last weekend, was very successful. She described a report from the Field Poll stressing the growing importance of Latino voters and also said that Scott Ritter, former United Nations weapons inspector, gave a sober assessment of the potential for American involvement in Iran as well as the effects of such possible action on the American economy and our currency.

 

The Santa Clara County resolution on voting integrity was passed by the state party. In addition, the party called for an investigation of the President's actions and also supported two resolutions that will appear on the June ballot, one supporting libraries and one funding universal pre-school.

 

N.     Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis

O.      Pro-Choice Coalition: Claudia Shope

1. Medi-Cal Provider Rate Cut:

The Governorπs office announced in December its intentions to instate a retroactive Medi-Cal service provider cut in 2006. Urgency legislation is being moved through the Senate and the Assembly to stop this cut, the legislation number is SB 912.

Main Points:

∑       For a small savings to the state, the implementation of this cut will have a devastating effect on access to care for hundreds of thousands of Californians- at a time when the stateπs fiscal outlook is not as severe as the recent past

∑       Californiaπs Medi-Cal rates are already among the very lowest in the United States, making it extremely tough on safety net providers like Planned Parenthood to continue to serve clients in our communities with high quality health care.

∑       We urge the Administration to stop the implementation of this cut! A rate reduction on top of already drastically low Medi-Cal provider rates could force community clinics to decrease services to low-income patients.

 

What you can do:

∑       Send a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger and urge him to withdraw his support of the provider cuts.

∑       Talk to local Assemblymembers and Senators and urge them to support SB 912 to stop the provider cut.

∑       Look out for information about upcoming phone banks in Sacramento lobby day on this issue. Contact Katie Desmond at 408.297.9255 ext. 217 to get involved.

 

2. Samuel Alito was confirmed to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, January 31, 2006

In Santa Clara, several groups organized phone banks to reach progressive constituents to urge them to everything in their power to oppose the confirmation of Samuel Alito, a judge with a history of hostility to women, working families, and the LGBT community.

 

3. January was the 33^rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade

January 22, 2006 was the 33^rd anniversary of the US Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. ≥Roe≤ has come to be known as the case that established the constitutional right of women to choose to have a safe and legal abortion. Several events in Santa Clara marked this anniversary including a 70πs themed event at the Dive Bar that Councilmember Forrest Williams attended, a Pro-Choice Coalition event featuring Assemblymembers Sally Lieber and Ira Ruskin, a panel discussion at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, and Step Out for Choice in Los Altos hosted by the AAUW.

 

Look for a Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte event in May.

 

P.      DTV Report: Steve Chessin

Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin reported that our January taping was with

Democratic activist Diane Rolfe, who discussed the Tobacco Tax Initiative for Health

Insurance for All California's Children.

 

Our guest in February is Congressman Mike Honda of the 15^th Congressional district.

 

We will be on San Jose AT&T Channel 15A February 9th and March 9th with the show we taped with Diane Rolfe, and February 23rd and March 23^rd with the show we will tape with Congressman Mike Honda.

 

See the sccdp web site for the schedule in the other communities.

 

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):

2006:

Feb 9   DTV 132           Diane Rolfe

Feb 23   DTV 133           Hon. Mike Honda

Mar 9   DTV 132           Diane Rolfe

Mar 23  DTV 133           Hon. Mike Honda

 

See http://www.sccdp.org/dtv.php for the full schedule, and to download our shows.

 

Q.     CDC Report: Jay Jackman & Herb Engstrom

Jay Jackman: Annual convention will be in Santa Clara on March 24-26^th (See attached flyer). Chris Stampolis has been responsible for energizing the organization.

              

Herb Engstrom:

This year costs to affiliate with the CDC are waived, so every Democratic club in the state can affiliate with the CDC at no charge.  Affiliation allows a club to send one voting delegate to the annual convention for every club member.

Every club that affiliates will be given a free copy of the CDC "Handbook for Democratic Clubs", a 228 page document that covers many topics critical to effective politics.  Among the topics

∑       How to start a Democratic club

∑       How to get and keep members

∑       Finding young Democrats

∑       Running a club meeting

∑       Organizing volunteer activities

∑       Effective communications

∑       Fundraising fundamentals

∑       Running a headquarters

∑       Precinct leader handbook

∑       Targeting precincts

∑       Guide to lobbying

∑       And much more

The Handbook comes with a diskette containing files of all the documents as well as a synopsis of Roberts Rules of Order.

There is even a second free handbook: "Microsoft Office Tutorials and Reference Cards".

The CDC will also provide a free web site for any Democratic club that needs one.

 

9.        OLD BUSINESS

 

10.       ANNOUNCEMENTS

Adrienne Grey: please review the current contact sheet to make any necessary changes.

 

Carol Garvey: Jim Bealπs ≥Friend Raiser≤ will be on Feb. 9^th for $25 and is a spaghetti event.

 

Steve Preminger: Democratic Central Committee filing begins soon.

 

Drina Collins: Reminder that the Manny Diaz kickoff for San Jose District 3 event will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2006 from 6-8 pm at 585 North 15th Street, San Jose.  

 

 

Diane Rolfe: Need people to gather signatures for the Childrenπs Health Initiative. Please sign up tonight to volunteer to help get this on the ballot.

 

Pete OπReilly, West Valley Club: Community Health Club hearing on Saturday, Feb 25^th at the Sheriffs office. A second upcoming event is ≥Why we wonπt shop at Wal-Mart≤

 

Fransco Lazono: Introduced himself as Manny Diazπs campaign coordinator

 

Carolyn Curtis: Wal-Mart movie for sale for $12

 

Dan Hoffman: Demonstration outside Flint with Colin Powel speaking had some protesters acting illegally.

 

Bill Ferguson: Elizabeth de la Vega, former federal prosecutor will be speaking on ≥Does the President really know best?≤ The talk will be on Friday, February 17^th at 7:30pm at the First Unitarian Church of San Jose at 160 N. 3^rd St.

 

Sherman Gee: Sophomore at San Jose State University. Will be participating in The Inaugural Year, a program that will bring one student from every congressional district to (Nancy Pelosiπs district) D.C. The group will be in the actual committee rooms working on drafting bills and will present them to the full house. Shared with the group why he is a Democrat: because we care about all people and fight to improve their lives. Sherman was an engineering major and switched to political science because he felt this was a better way to have a positive impact. The event is from April 17^th-21^st. Sherman needs financial support to go on this trip ($1,450) and if you would like to make a donation, make the check out to the American youth scholarship foundations. The donations are not tax deductible though.

 

Aurelia Figueroa: (founder of the event) continued the discussion about The Inaugural Year and invited all of the Central Committee members to attend this in D.C.

 

Herb Engstrom: Motion to donate $100 to the organization, second, so moved

 

11.        EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

            The next Executive Board meeting is February 16^th

 

2.         ADJOURNMENT: at 9:30 in memory of Coretta Scott King

54^th Annual Grassroots Convention
Friday, March 24 ≠ Sunday March 26, 2006
Santa Clara Convention Center

≥Building Coalitions for the 2006 Elections and Beyond≤

 

24 workshops on Education, Healthcare, Media Training, Club Finances, Coalition

Complete package (includes six meals, all workshops and three-day registration):

Early Bird: February 1 ≠ February 28: $210 After February 28: $260

 

Registration only (No Meals): $90 Friday Dinner: $75 Saturday Dinner: $60

 

I would like vegetarian meals

 

Register using this form or Online using a credit card at: www.cdc-ca.org

 

Name: __________________ At-Large Member Student

Club/Organization: __________________________ Position: _______________________

Address: ___________________ City: __________________________ Zip: __________ Phone: _________ E-mail: _____________

Occupation*: _____________________________ Employer*: ________________________________________

(*Required by Federal law.)

Pay by credit card or attach and mail a check to: Treasurer, CDC, 5974 Friar Way, San JosÈ, CA 95129