SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL
COMMITTEE
6:45 pm, County Building cafeteria, 70 W. Hedding St.
San Jose
MINUTES FOR Thursday, May 3rd, 2007
1. CALL
TO ORDER: 7:10
2. ROLL
CALL
Absent: Julie Lind, Deepka
Lalwani, Ron Lind, Marsha Grilli, Kevin Moore, Dan Kenney, Charmaine Jabr,
Dennis Kennedy, Greg Sellers, Veronica Andrade, Alberto Torrico, Sally Lieber,
John Laird, Ellen Corbett, Joe Simitian
Excused: Anne Mack
Alternate: Andres Quintero
for Javier Gonzalez, Tim Quigley for David Parker, Alex Kobayashi for Ira
Ruskin, Claudia Shope for Joe Coto, Chris Cote for Anna Caballero, Jon Kessler
for Elaine Alquist, Swanee Edwards for Jerry McNerney, Alfredo Magallanes for
Mike Honda, Zoe Lofgren, Morteza Tajally for Mehdi Safipour
3. IDENTIFICATION
OF VISITORS
Bill Roth, Lisa Jenson, Sean
Bagley (the new Region 9 Director), Alan Breus, Thelma Spaziani, City Council
Member Pierluigi Oliverio, Council Member Nora Campos
4. ADOPTION
OF AGENDA
Notice of election of
delegates to the State Democratic Party Executive Board for the June meeting.
Motion to approve, second, so
carried.
5. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES (Minutes are posted at
sccdp.org)
Motion to approve, second, so carried.
6. ISSUES
Madison
Nguyen: Provided a City of San Jose update including her work to fight against
gang violence.
7. NEW
BUSINESS
Report on CDP Convention
The Chair asked for a show of hands of how many
people attended the convention: 95% of the room raised their hands.
The floor was open for discussion:
Congratulations to Tom Cochran, Swanee Edwards, and
Charmaine Jabr for winning the Volunteer of the Year awards in their regions.
Morteza told the members how he noticed and was
impressed by the support for the anti-war against Iran resolution at the
convention.
The members expressed gratitude that none of the
presidential candidates attacked each other and how they really complemented
each other.
The after hours parties were great.
Andrew Byrnes won the JFK award.
Discussion about resolutions issues that occurred
during the last day. The top 13 resolutions were: Democrats working together to
win in 08 and beyond, Opposition to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Fee Hikes,
Supporting health care reform, Oppose Gov. Schwarzenegger’s cuts to CalWorks
program in 2007-2008 California State Budget, Housing as a right for all
Californians, Support Park Integrity, Global Warming as a Presidential and a
local Priority, Calling for a full investigation into abuses of power by George
W Bush and Richard B. Cheney, Erase, rewrite, and reauthorize “No Child Left
Behind” (The Elementary & Secondary Education Act), Support of High Speed
Rail, Supporting a balanced global economy…from free to fir trade, Guarantee
Freedom of Choice, Support the Opportunity to vote the U.S. out of Iraq
Having a badge check for attendees for workshops
will be brought up to the rules committee (to avoid disruption for disruptions
sake)
Clark was elected to LBGT Vice Chair
The next convention may be in March of next year in
San Jose
Update on 11th CD Race: South County Democratic Club
Swanee and Charmaine provided a model of their
goals and activities, including an update of activity to support Jerry
McNerney:
Some of the goals for the club are: to have an
office space, volunteers, utilize Netroots information and voter statistics,
find precinct captains, get a club banner, have a meeting space for precinct
walking and GOTV events, finding financial aid to cover costs.
The office last year delivered 61% of the vote of
Jerry McNerney last year. We had volunteers from Sausalito to the North and all
the way from Pacific Grove to the South. We registered at least 40 Latino
voters from that office and were able to walk every Morgan Hill precinct twice.
It was an invaluable place to meet and brainstorm and organize. We were able to
promote the message and values of the Democratic Party, and bring folks
together for one common purpose and for one common goal.
We learned a great deal, and now know what works
and what needs to be done in 2008 to make this an efficient and effective space
to help our candidates win, and our party to continue growth.
We learned about the importance of good precinct
maps and effective phone banking. We learned that some systems of data
gathering (VAN) were awkward and time
consuming.
We are excited by the new precinct walking tools
that are in place and are excited about the party getting involved in
Grassroots and Netroots technology that make just one person a huge tool in
getting important information to the voters.
Finally, we are so excited to have the Democratic
Party, at the County and State level, reaching out to us and asking, “What do
you need, and how can we help?” Thank you for asking that question!
San Jose City Council District 4 Race
Council Member Nora Campos: promoted the importance
of electing Kansen Chu and the importance of working on campaigns to support
our candidates.
Justin: Sign up sheets for phone banking and
precinct walking were distributed.
David Cohen spoke as a resident in District 4 about
the importance of electing Kansen and of the bad politicking of the other
candidate.
Dan Hoffman and Jacquie Heffner also spoke in
support of Kansen and of the bad politics for the Democratic Mayor to promote
an unqualified Republican.
8. REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS
A. Executive Board: Steve Preminger
Discussed the convention, resolutions, San Jose
District 4 race, and the pollution at the Metcalf Center.
B. Chair:
Steve Preminger
Worked on resolutions and the San Jose District 4
race.
C. Vice Chair: James
Kim
Stressed the need for us to volunteer for Kansen
D. Treasurer: Drina Collins
$2435.26
E. Secretary: Hope Cahan
Dinner report: We brought flyers advertising the
dinner tonight, please take a copy and make additional handout copies for
distribution at any meetings that you will be attending this month.
Hope introduced Alan Breus who, in partnership with
Andrea Eaton, is leading the program ad sales. Alan discussed our plan for ad
sales and recruited 5 volunteers from the membership to join his team.
Hope will be approaching each club chair to find
out how he/she would like invitations to reach the club’s members.
F. Community Services and Voter
Registration: Carolyn Curtis
Organizing carpools to go to Stockton on Sunday for
voter registration for Jerry McNerney
G. Finance: Jim Thurber
Finance Chair Jim Thurber reminded Club
Presidents that the insurance forms were being distributed by the State Party
and to see him if their club didn't receive them. He urged the clubs to buy liability insurance
from the Party. Jim also reported the
first meeting this year of the Finance
Committee would be Monday,
May 7, 7:30 at his house.
H. Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Jon Kessler
Endorsement committee will have its questioner
review meeting Tuesday, May 15th at 6:00 please contact Jon for
direction. All the clubs need to give their representative’s information to Jon
this week.
I. Communication: David Cohen
If you are not a member of our SCCDCC yahoo group,
you may want to subscribe to it as we have a lot of important announcements
made through this group
We now have a candidate web page on our site for
the presidential
J. Campaign
Services:
K. Issues: Adrienne Grey
Summer tabling season has begun: the Berryessa Art
and Wine Festival at 3050 Berryessa Rd. on May 12th is in Kansen’s
district. The event is from 10-5. Please sign up to help Kansen and us.
The sccdp.org calendar will have the upcoming
events and you will be able to volunteer through our site.
L. Political
Outreach: Tom Cochran
Club, AD, SD, & CD Reports
DAWN: Carol Garvey
Congratulations to Volunteer of the Year, Region 5
award winner Tom Cochran and Region 9 winners Charmaine Jabr and Swanee
Edwards!
This is an early reminder of our next potluck
brunch on Sunday, June 3rd 11am-1pm at SEIU Local 521 (formerly 715)
at 2302 Zanker Rd, San Jose
DAWN has signed on to sponsor the Clubs Picnic on
Saturday, July 28th at Rainbow Park.
Thanks to Vice Chair James Kim, DAWN is purchasing
an ad to support the September JJ dinner.
Dean
Democratic Club: Wanda Bryan
The Club members voted to contribute $200 for
a 1/4 page ad in the DNC Western Caucus Program for the Western States Caucus
on the DNC in San Francisco May 25-27.
We voted to join the All Clubs Picnic to be
held on Sat. July 28, and contribute $100 toward the costs.
We voted to endorse several State and National
Bills: AB 583 Loni Hancock's Clean Money Fair Elections, U.S. SB 396
Durbin/Specter's Fair Elections Now Act, Tierney/Grijalva U.S. HR 3099 Clean
Money Clean Elections Act, AB 493 Ira Ruskin's Clean Car Discount Act, SB 411
Joe Simitian's Bill to get 33% of the state's energy needs through renewable
resources by 2020, and SB 840 Sheila Kuehl's Universal Health Insurance Single
Payer.
Members attended Jerry McNerney's Fundraiser
in Morgan Hill, Apr. 21. Members registered voters in Mountain House near Tracy
in McNerney's District.
Members met with Santa Clara County Registrar
of Voters.
Members will work with Sierra Club on their
Cool Cities Campaign.
Members went to Sacramento on Apr. 17 and May
2 to lobby for AB 583 - Clean Money.
Members plan to attend the Mt. View Public
Forum and Panel Discussion SB 840 on May 18, at 7:30pm.
The club is sponsoring a Wildflower Walk on
May 12, with the proceeds going to the Charlie Brown Campaign. See Flyer on
back table. Club member Stephanie Grossman will host a Fundraiser on May 24, in
Palo Alto for Ira Ruskin. Details to follow.
May 2, 2007
Our Club members wrote postcards to voters in
Charlie Brown's District. We had 17 elected Delegates and 1 Volunteer, who was
needed as a Proxy on Sunday, attend the State Party Convention in San Diego
this past weekend. We had a lively discussion about last weekend's convention.
We viewed "Kilowatt Ours" at the North County Meeting and "Waste
= Food", from the Sundance Channel at the South County Meeting. Both
documentaries have excellent information in them. There is hope for the planet!
Evergreen
Democratic Club at the Villages:
We were privileged to have Jacquie Heffner give a
presentation at our May 1st meeting. She informed and enlightened us
about the process leading up to the selection of the Democratic presidential
candidate. Using graphics and volunteers to demonstrate how states which have
caucuses operate we also were able to better understand that process and to see
how moving California’s primary earlier may or may not have an effect. We urge
other clubs to take advantage of effort she has taken to put together this
excellent program.
In addition to Jacquie’s presentation Beverly
Waller-Wharton gave a brief report on the State Democratic Convention in San
Diego.
We have a scheduled club discussion groups the
third Thursday of each month. Last month’s was well attended and grows bigger
each month. Ideas, opinions, debates are abundant and are suggested and issues
are decided at the end of each meeting. Of course, we all agree and agree to
disagree.
Silicon
Valley Young Democrats:
SVYD elections will be in June.
We are working with CYD for Chu’s race. The College
Democrats will organize a walk the weekend of May 5th and the Young
Democrats will have a GOTV weekend.
We are working on a Young Democrats fundraiser to
have a CYD party for next year’s convention. The date and location will be
announced once it is set.
Our website is up, please check it out at www.svyd.org
M. Regional Director: Emy Thurber
Thank you to everyone who donated your proxies.
Everyone who wanted to go got to go. Speaker Pelosi has a new project: “Win the
House 2008” and anyone interested in being involved should attend an event for
the project on Sunday May 6th. Robin Williams will be a guest!
Please contact Emy for more information.
Region 5 will most likely have its next meeting in
June.
The body congratulated Emy Thurber for her
re-election
N. Democratic
National Committee: Chris Stampolis
O. Pro-Choice Coalition: Claudia
Shope & Buu Thai
We had a successful Capitol Day visit in Sacramento
on May 2nd. Throughout
Planned Parenthood affiliates in California, we had 600 advocates participating
in the visit. Our 3 advocacy areas
included Medi-Cal provider rates increase, AB 629 (The California Community
Sexual Health Education Act) and AB 1541 (Comprehensive Reproductive Health
Care Act).
AB 629 The California Community Sexual Health Education Act (Brownley):
This bill is a reintroduction of SB 1471 (Kuehl) which created standards for
community based organizations providing state-funded sexuality education.
AB 1541 Comprehensive Reproductive Health Care Act (Nava):
This bill is similar to AB 2742 last year.
The goal of the bill this year is to make family planning services for
eligible Medi-Cal beneficiaries the same and to codify federal statute that
allows Medi-Cal Managed Care beneficiaries to go out of plan for family
planning services.
Federal
On April 18, 2007, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme
Court upheld the federal “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003.” This decision is a serious setback for
women's health.
Impacts:
·
The Bush Supreme Court has gutted the
protections for women's health previously protected by Roe v Wade.
·
The breadth of this abortion ban invites all
kinds of interference in the doctor-patient relationship. It opens the
floodgates for state and federal politicians to severely limit access to
abortion and reproductive health care.
·
This ruling shows utter disregard for women’s
health and safety. It tells women that
politicians, and not doctors, will make their health care decisions for
them.
EVENT
Announcement:
VOICES FOR CHANGE, JUNE 16, 2007 4:00-6:00 PM
Save the date for Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar
Monte’s second annual Voices for Change, a garden reception honoring
several distinguished individuals for their contributions to protecting
reproductive rights and privacy. Honorees include: KAREL, a popular radio personality, the HONORABLE JOE SIMITIAN, State Senator, and CAROL MAYER MARSHALL, community leader. Featuring FRED KEELEY, advocates board chair, as emcee. Contact Taylor Fields at (408) 297-9255 ext.
225 or taylor_fields@ppmarmonte.org for more information about becoming a
sponsor or purchasing tickets.
PRO-CHOICE COALITION MEETING
The next meeting of the Pro-Choice Coalition will
be held on Wednesday, May 9, 2007 at
6:30 p.m. at 1605 The Alameda. Please join us and get more involved with
the Pro-Choice Coalition.
P. DTV Report: Steve Chessin
Democratic Television Producer Steve Chessin
reported that our April taping was with Mountain View Mayor Laura Macias.
Our guest in May is our own Emily Thurber,
Region 5 Director for the California Democratic Party.
We will be on San Jose Comcast Channel 15A May
3rd and 31st with Mayor Laura Macias, May 17th with Hon. Kansen Chu, and June
14th and July12th with Emily Thurber.
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:
May 3 DTV 147 Hon.
Laura Macias
May 17 DTV
146 Hon. Kansen Chu
May 31 DTV
147 Hon. Laura Macias
Jun 14 DTV
148 Emily Thurber
Jun 28 DTV
149 TBD-149
Jul 12 DTV
148 Emily Thurber
Jul 26 DTV 149 TBD-149
Q. CDC Report: Jay
Jackman
9. OLD
BUSINESS
10. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Steve Preminger: No Century Club luncheon this month
Thank you to APA Democratic Club for the refreshments tonight
Carolyn Curtis: Fundraiser for Charlie Brown: lunch in a local park and
then a wildflower walk with a docent. A week from Saturday
Emy Thurber: next Century Club speaker will be Rod Diridon Sr. to
discuss public transportation
11. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
The
next Executive Board meeting is TBA
12. ADJOURNMENT: 8:45