SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE
6:45 PM, County Building Cafeteria, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose
MINUTES FOR Thursday, March 4, 2010
a. Absent: Ron Lind, Xavier Campos, Sousan Manteghi-Safakish, Denise Alejandro, Bill Monning, Anna Caballero, Elaine Alquist, Marie Highby, Carol Garvey, Juan Vergara, and Martin Monica.
b. Alternates For: Ken Yeager, Jim Brady, Alberto Torrico, Ira Ruskin, Joe Coto, Ellen Corbett, Joe Simitian, Jerry McNerney, Anna Eshoo, Mike Honda, Zoe Lofgren, Rena Modell, and Clarence Madrilejos.
c. Proxy For: James Rowen
d. Excused: Jacquie Heffner
a. February 4, 2010 Minutes
a. Motion to Approve, Seconded, Motion Approved.
i. Amend to correct spelling of Jamie McLeod’s name; Motion Approved as Amended.
i. Democrats Running for Office
1. Richard Gordon – Candidate for 21st Assembly District and Current President of San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. Website: richgordon2010.com.
2. Janet Barnes – Candidate for 28th Assembly District and Current Salinas City Councilmember for 12 yrs. Website: janetbarnes.com.
3. Hector De La Torres – Candidate for Insurance Commissioner, Current Assemblyman for 50th AD (Southern California) and former City of Southgate Councilmember. Has stood up to insurance companies and healthcare providers. He is committed to serving 8 years. Feels insurance commissioners do not need subpoenas to obtain information from insurance companies. Website: delatore2010.com
ii. Local Taxpayer Public Safety & Transportation Protection Act (Signature Gathering Effort)
1. Rebecca Elliot and Swanee Edwards – Discussed Santa Clara County Signature Effort.
2. The state would no longer be allowed to shift local property tax or transportation funds to solve the budget deficit.
3. March 27, 2010 will be a main signature gathering event. Well over half way in meeting the required 1million signatures.
iii. California Democracy Act – End 2/3 Vote Requirement (Signature Gathering Effort)
1. Ellis Goldberg – President Tri-Valley Democratic Club. The Tri-Valley Democratic Club passed the resolution. The initiative needs 700,000 signatures to be placed on the ballot.
2. Attendees can download and mail-in the petition.
i. Craig Dunkerley – Santa Clara County Democratic Club passed the Resolution unanimously. Encouraged Congressional democrats to think about the Resolution and put the fear in Republicans that Democrats may follow through.
ii. Whereas Senate Rule 22 can be changed at the beginning... Research indicates the 2/3 vote can be changed by a simple majority.
iii. Motion to Pass Resolution; Seconded; Motion Passes. No-3; Abstain-1.
i. Marsha Grilli – President Milpitas Unified School District requested attendees endorse the District’s Parcel Tax.
ii. On the June 8th ballot. $84/parcel for 5 years. There will be a Senior Exemption.
iii. Move to Endorse; Seconded; Motion Endorsed Unanimously.
i. Move to Support Initiative; Seconded
ii. Tom Cochran – Initiative was discussed at E-board meeting. Question that came up: Why should Central Committee support it? Response: Good for the community. Provides jobs. Informed attendees the right thing to do is to support the initiative.
iii. Jim Beall, Assemblyman 24th AD – Informed attendees it was a good decision; Important to do everything we can to stimulate public works. It would create a lot of jobs. This would partially mitigate the problem of the closure of the Nummi plant.
iv. Jamie McLeod, City of Santa Clara Councilmember – Project does not meet the minimum requirements of standard Democratic Values. One-half of the community supports the stadium. Feels this is a City of Santa Clara issue.
v. David Cohen – Given a large number of voters are Democrats, a large number from Santa Clara are on Central Committee. Five Democrats on Santa Clara City Council support the initiative.
vi. Motion Passes. Support-34; Oppose-8; Abstain-5
i. Diane Rolfe – The Council of Clubs will be held on March 13. Lunch at 12:15 to 1:00pm. Meeting to begin at 3:00pm. The Call-to-Action agenda is being set by each club.
ii. Event will be on March 27 at the IBEW Hall. Diane would like a minimum of 200 people in attendance. Breakfast at 9:30am; Guest Speakers at 10:15am. There will be 3 presentations.
i. Mike Potter will draft the letter, which will then go to E-Board.
ii. Motion to Approve the Request; Seconded; Motion Approved.
a. Executive Board: Margie Mitchell
a. Discussed agenda and items that are to be discussed this evening.
b. Chair: Steve Preminger
a. Working on getting speakers for JJ Dinner.
c. Vice Chair: Clark Williams
a. Call-to-Action – Requested attendees to support Diane Rolfe in this effort. Important we all come out and hear from each other. The Call-to-Action will be interactive. The event will give people an opportunity to work with each other.
d. Treasurer: Drina Collins
a. New Membership sheets were distributed to attendees. Requested attendees complete and return so the membership database can be updated.
b. Account Balance: $543.81.
e. Secretary: Margie Mitchell
a. Nothing to Report
f. Issues: James Kim
a. Nothing to Report
g. Community Services and Voter Registration: Judy Pipkin
a. Democrats have been protesting at Carly Fiorina’s functions. Voter registrations are increasing.
h. Finance: Hope Cahan
a. JJ Dinner is on May 7th. Asked clubs to take out ad space in the program. Currently taking table and ticket sales. Attendees can also buy tickets and tables online.
b. Insurance Report-Insurance program to take over liability insurance for Central Committee and Clubs: Best deal is for Democratic Central Committee to go through State Democratic Party for liability and some cases personal property. Clubs need to purchase their own insurance. Club Costs: $550/yr for liability only and $700 will also include property. Clubs will need to notify Sacramento of each event.
i. Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Jon Kessler
a. Endorsements to begin week of March 22, 2010. Will be endorsing for primary races, including county seats that are up this year and City of San Jose races.
b. See Jon Kessler if you want to be on the Endorsement Committee.
j. Communications: David Cohen
a. City of San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen fundraiser will be held on March 10 at 6:30pm at the residence of Tom Cochran.
k. Campaign Services: Tom Cochran
a. Nothing to Report
l. Political Outreach (Clubs): Diane Rolfe
a. Thanked Mission City Democrats for the evening’s refreshments. Next month will be PDC.
b. DEAN Democratic Club was the first club to purchase an ad for the JJ Dinner.
c. Thanked clubs for building cooperation and caring between the clubs. Also thanked Herb Engstrom and his son-in-law, Tom Layer, for showing everyone what they could do for the clubs.
m. Regional Director: Emy Thurber
a. Hillary Crosby – Controller of party is trying to raise enough money to cover expenditures of the party. Urged members to donate.
b. Public Employees Union – Call for majority vote for the budget. Punitive clause: if budget isn’t passed by June 15th, legislators would not get paid or get per diem.
c. Convention will be held in Los Angeles April 16-18. If anyone cannot attend, sign proxy form and submit to Steve Preminger or Emy Thurber.
d. Pre-endorsement meeting to be held March 20 at 9:00 am.
n. Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis
a. Had conference call with DNC members and Tim Kaine regarding healthcare. Requested attendees write letter to their Congressmembers and both Senators letting them know you are a Democratic activist in the Santa Clara County. Ask them what can you do to help bring this home.
o. Pro-Choice Coalition: Claudia Shope
a. Family planning talks were postponed to regular budget talks in May.
b. Planned Parenthood is working towards healthcare reform. They are having difficulties with the Nelson amendment.
c. Lobby Day - Planned Parenthood is going to Sacramento on May 5, 2010. There will be busses from San Jose to Sacramento for this event. Contact Fran Linkin at 795-3678 or go to Planned Parenthood website for additional details.
p. DTV Report: Steve Chessin
a. February guest was former Assemblyman John Laird. March guest to be announced. See Central Committee website for schedule and shows.
q. CDC Report: Jay Jackman
a. Nothing to Report
Club Reports:
Milpitas DemClub: General meeting was held and the guest speaker was Supervisor Dave Cortese. Thanked David Cohen for serving as Parliamentarian. April meeting will be an organization meeting.
Santa Clara DemClub: February guest speaker was Bob Applebaum who spoke on healthcare. Guest speaker for the March 15 meeting will be Rob Davis, San Jose Chief of Police.
South County DemClub: Signed 35 new members, voted on a new executive board, new website and upcoming endorsements.
DEAN: Discussed ballot propositions and the Santa Clara 49er Initiative.
Latino Dem Forum – Monitoring Santa Clara County Water District redistricting. Chair attended CYD conference and met with candidates.
East San Jose DemClub – Candidate Forum on March 22, 2010 at 6:00pm.
Democratic Caucus of SJSU: Endorsement process has been completed. Currently working on census campaign. A Census Rally to be held on March 23rd. Each month the Club is getting new associate members.
DemClub of Sunnyvale: Endorsed fair elections campaign. Next meeting Supervisor Dave Cortese will be speaking on Santa Clara County issues.
Silicon Valley DemClub: Working on Club’s newsletter and developing a slate of activities.
PDC: New board was installed and Goerge Lakoff was speaker. Democratic candidate forum for 21st assembly will be held on March 15 at 6:45 pm.
SVYD: Thanked attendees for supporting SF 49r stadium. A fundraiser will be held to re-elect Campbell Mayor, Evan Low, on Saturday at Noon at the Spot in Campbell.
West Valley for Change: Second general meeting will be held on March 14 at the Santa Clara Public Library. Megan Fluke of the Sierra Club will be discussing building climate friendly communities. Will be electing officers and passing bylaws. Three letters were published in Mercury News.
DAWN: Potluck Endorsement Brunch will be March 14 at 11:00 at SEIU. Women’s tea for the re-election of San Jose City Councilmember Madison Nguyen will be on Sunday at the residence of Darcie Green. Donation-$35.
SVAPADC: Annual Dinner will be held in Mountain View. Registration begins at 5:30 pm.
DemClub at the Villages: Francisco Dominguez, Candidate for 28th Assembly District, introduced himself and was well received.
LGBT: A very positive meeting was held last week. No intention of terminating the club at this point in time.
21st Century DemClub: Next meeting will be on Friday, March 12. Guest speaker will be Assemblyman Jim Beall.
Filibuster Resolution
WHEREAS the principle of majority rule is fundamental to our democratic form of government, and the political party in the United States Senate which the voters have chosen to be in the majority is currently prevented from implementing the will of their constituents by virtue of Senate Rule 22 which requires a 60% super majority to end debate and proceed to a vote on any bill under consideration, and
WHEREAS Senate Rule 22 can be, and in recent history has been, flagrantly abused by the party chosen by voters to be in the minority, and
WHEREAS Senate Rule 22 can be changed at the beginning of each new session, or at any time during a session by a simple majority vote if the Rule is deemed unconstitutional by the President of the Senate,
THEREFORE be it resolved that the Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee hereby urges the current Democratic majority in the United States Senate to take action as soon as possible, but in no case later than the beginning of the next session, to amend Senate Rule 22 such that one or more of the following conditions is met:
· Debate can be ended by a simple majority vote, and/or
· Debate can be ended by something less than a 60% super-majority, and/or
· Unless granted a specific exemption by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader (with tie votes on such an exemption broken by the Vice President of the United States), those refusing to end debate shall be required to actually remain on the Senate floor and continue that debate until they are finished and/or are prepared to allow a vote on the bill under consideration.
FULL BALLOT TEXT
The following is the full ballot text of the proposition to be presented to the voters by the Milpitas Unified School District in the ballot pamphlet:
Milpitas Unified School District high quality education and local control Measure
To help protect local schools from state budget cuts; provide revenue to stabilize local school funding; help maintain existing math, science, engineering, arts, music, athletic programs and smaller class sizes; and help prevent reduction in classroom instruction days, shall the Milpitas Unified School District assess an annual parcel tax of $84 for 5 years, with annual audits, exemptions for senior citizens, no money for district office administrators, and citizen oversight?
Parcel tax funds shall be used to support educational programs and projects such as the following:
• Helping to maintain math, science and engineering programs;
• Helping to maintain smaller class sizes;
• Helping to ensure adequate student supervision and safety at all schools;
• Helping to maintain existing athletics, art and music programs;
• Helping to prevent reduction in days of classroom instruction.
Basis of Tax
The tax shall be levied on all parcels of taxable real property in the District. "Parcel of taxable real property" is defined as any unit of real property in the District that receives a separate tax bill for ad valorem property taxes from the Santa Clara County Treasurer-Tax Collector's Office. All property that is otherwise exempt from or upon which are levied no ad valorem property taxes in any year shall also be exempt from the special tax in such year.
An exemption may be granted on any parcel owned by one or more persons aged 65 years or older who occupies said parcel as a principal residence, upon application for exemption.
With respect to all general property tax matters within its jurisdiction, the Santa Clara County Tax Assessor or other appropriate County tax official shall make all final determinations of tax exemption or relief for any reason, and that decision shall be final and binding. With respect to matters specific to the levy of the special tax, including the Senior Citizen Exemption and contiguous parcel determination, the decisions of the District shall be final and binding.
Pursuant to California Constitution article XIIIB and applicable laws, the appropriations limit for the District will be adjusted periodically by the aggregate sum collected by levy of this special tax.
Accountability Measures
The proceeds of the special tax shall be applied only to the specific purposes identified above. The proceeds of the special tax shall be deposited into a fund, which shall be kept separate and apart from other funds of the District. No later than January 1 of each year while the tax is in effect, the District shall prepare and file with the Board of Trustees a report detailing the amount of funds collected and expended, and the status of any project authorized to be funded by this measure.
In addition, an independent Citizen's Oversight Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees to ensure that the special tax proceeds are spent for their authorized purposes, and to report annually to the Board of Trustees and the public regarding the expenditure of such funds.
Severability
The Board of Trustees hereby declares, and the voters by approving this measure concur, that every section and part of this measure has independent value, and the Board of Trustees and the voters would have adopted each provision hereof regardless of every other provision hereof. Upon approval of this measure by the voters, should any part be found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid for any reason, all remaining parts hereof shall remain in full force and effect to the fullest extent allowed by law.
A RESOLUTION OF THE
Santa Clara County Democratic Party
IN SUPPORT OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARA’S PLANS FOR A NEW STADIUM THAT WOULD BE HOME TO THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE FRANCHISE
WHEREAS, the County of Santa Clara — commonly known as Silicon Valley — would reap hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits for local businesses and hotels as well as thousands of new jobs and development opportunities from a new, state-of-the-art, multi-purpose stadium in the City of Santa Clara ("Stadium"); and
WHEREAS, the San Francisco 49ers National Football League franchise (“49ers”) has identified the City of Santa Clara ("City") as their principal choice for a new stadium; and
WHEREAS, the City has placed on the ballot for the regular election of June 8, 2010, a binding citizens' initiative ("Stadium Initiative") which, if passed, would approve the term sheet agreed to between the 49ers and the City on construction and financing of the Stadium ("Term Sheet"); and
WHEREAS, the Term Sheet calls for no new taxes on local residents and no negative impact on the City’s general fund; and
WHEREAS, the Santa Clara County Democratic Party expects the 49ers and the City to produce quality jobs for our residents that pay appropriate wages and benefits, in terms of the stadium construction and ongoing operations; and
WHEREAS, the proposed site for the Stadium is immediately accessible by multiple transportation options, including three major freeways, bus, light rail, ACE, Amtrak, CalTrain, and bicycle path; and
WHEREAS, the 49ers’ community outreach programs and 49ers Foundation have provided significant benefits to young people throughout the Silicon Valley region over the 20-plus years the 49ers have been headquartered in the City of Santa Clara.
THEREFORE, the Santa Clara County Democratic Party hereby resolves to support the development of a new, state-of-the-art, multi-purpose stadium in the City of Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, California, and urge the passage of the Stadium Initiative on June 8, 2010.
02/25/10