SANTA CLARA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL
COMMITTEE
6:45 pm, County Building cafeteria, 70 W. Hedding St.
San Jose
MINUTES FOR Thursday, July 10th, 2008
1. CALL
TO ORDER: 7:20
2. ROLL
CALL
Absent:
Julie Lind, Bill Ferguson, Deepka Lalwani, Ron Lind, Marsha Grilli, Sara Lind,
Francis La Poll, Margaret Abe-Koga, Anna Song, Xavier Campos, Kevin Moore, Alex
Kennett, Dan Kenney, Dennis Kennedy, Greg Sellers, Craig Mann, Deniese
Alejandro, Alberto Torrico, John Laird, Anna Caballero, Ellen Corbett, Joe
Simitian, Anna Eshoo, Chris Stampolis, Bill Roth, Rich Watters, Justin
Carvalho, Manny Diaz
Alternate:
Ralph Wheeler for Diane Rolfe, Carolyn Curtis for Jim Thurber, Steve Chessin
for Alyson Abramowitz, Alex Kobayashi for Ira Ruskin, Chris Riley for Sally
Lieber, Claudia Shope for Joe Coto, Sunshine Borelli for Jim Beall, Jon Kessler
for Elaine Alquist, Swannee Edwards for Jerry McNerney, Mike Honda, Diego
Barragan for Zoe Lofgren, Dan Hoffman for Jay James
3. IDENTIFICATION
OF VISITORS
Ken Yeager, Rose Herrera, Spandan Chakrabarti,
Charlene Loomis, Lee Sturtevant, Peter Szego, Adan Lupercio, Jordan Eldridge,
Noelani Sallings, Jennalynn Sallings, Sidney Sallings, Karen Wark, Sousan
Manteghi-Safakish, Erin Sherbert
4. ADOPTION
OF AGENDA
Motion to approve, second, so
moved
5. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES (Minutes are posted at
sccdp.org)
Motion to approve, second, so moved
6. ISSUES
We heard from the following
candidates:
Rose Herrera: San Jose City Council District 8
candidate
Supervisor Pete McQue: candidate for Milpitas City
Council
Diane Riche: candidate for Superior Court
7. NEW
BUSINESS
Resolution
against drilling off shore and in ANWR and to support a governmental
encouraging of Californians to Drive 55: Jacquie Heffner
Motion to approve, second, discussion. Motion passes
Report from the
Silicon Valley Obama campaign: Giselle Schmitz
Values of the campaign: building from bottom up and campaigning
with no drama. The local office’s main focus is on building neighborhood
programs in every neighborhood.
The office is in Palo Alto. We have 4,000 volunteers in database,
500-600 of which are active on a regular basis.
Request to
endorse the Santa Clara County bond measure to fund improvements to Valley
Medical Center: Jon Kessler
The county GO bond is an $840 million bond to seismically upgrade
two VMC buildings before the 2015 state deadline. It also includes $50 million to build a SJ
downtown clinic. The Board of
Supervisors voted unanimously for the bond, and it is currently the only bond
scheduled for November.
Motion to endorse this bond measure, second, so moved
Campaign
Headquarters: Will have at least one office in Palo Alto, one in San Jose
(looking into downtown) and are working on a Morgan Hill office and possibly
one in East San Jose.
8. OLD BUSINESS
San Jose City
Council District 8: Motion to endorse Rose Herrera, second, motion passes
9. REPORTS FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS
A. Executive Board: Steve Preminger
Discussed offices, Obama campaign, software,
endorsement of Rose Herrera
B. Chair:
Steve Preminger
Working with leadership in the Obama campaign and
with others to find location for the San Jose office.
C. Vice Chair: James
Kim
D. Treasurer: Drina Collins
E. Secretary: Hope Cahan
F. Community Services and Voter
Registration: Adrienne Grey
Pride festival in San Jose was a great event. The
new citizens swearing in happened twice this month. We registered 70 new
democrats at last month’s registration.
Encourage clubs to participate in the new citizens
swearing in ceremonies.
G. Finance: Jim Thurber
H. Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Jon Kessler
10 City council races & 20 School Districts
races are coming up.
The committee will meet on a Saturday during the
last 2 weeks in August, most likely the 23rd
I. Communication: David Cohen
We have new activity on our blog. Please post your
events to the calendar so that they can be added. The system is still set up
for precinct captains, so please sign up if you are interested.
J. Campaign
Services: Tom Cochran
Looking for headquarters space in San Jose and am
looking forward to working with the Obama campaign.
Still collecting donations to fight the recall
Madison Nguyen campaign
K.
Political Outreach: Carolyn Curtis
Thank you to the
South County office for the refreshments. Santa Clara County Club will provide
the refreshments next month.
All of the club
people should be at the Obama offices meeting the new volunteers so that they
become aware of our clubs in the event they want to join.
Club Reports
Dean
Democratic Club of Silicon Valley: Wanda Bryan
At our Annual Potluck Picnic/Election of
Officers on June 21, 2008, we elected our New Officers:
Co-chairs: Spandan Chakrabarti and Alice
Smith
Recording Secretary: Mary Gill
Corresponding Secretary: John Comiskey
Treasurer: Edel Young
At Large Members: Marcene Van
Dierendonck and Andrea Eaton
Electeds attending and speaking at our
Picnic were Ira Ruskin, Sally Lieber's Assistant Chris Riley, Joe Coto's
Assistant Darcy Green, San Jose City Council District 2 Candidate Ash Kalra,
and Spandan Chakrabarti with a message from Santa Clara City Council Jamie
McLeod, who is running for re-election.
Santa Clara
County Democratic Club: Aldyth Parle
1. The August 18th general meeting was
cancelled since we are hosting an event with John Dean on August 26th.
2. Voter Registration was addressed by Bill
Bartmettler. His volunteers registered 100 new citizens at the naturalization
ceremonies held last week.
3. Dixie reviewed the fund raising drawing held at
the June meeting. They netted $25.
4. 8 club members attended the Health Care Rally in
San Francisco.
5. 3 members- Herb Engstrom, Craig and Date
attended the Clean Money Bill hearing in Sacramento.
6. The upcoming Robert Scheer event (co-sponsored
with the Peninsula Democratic Coalition and the Dean Democratic Club) is
scheduled for July 23 at 7pm at the Santa Clara United Methodist Church, 1700
Lincoln St, Santa Clara. After Mr. Scheer’s speech titled the “Pornography of
Power” there will be a Q&A session and book signing.
Robert Scheer is a nationally syndicated columnist
currently based at the San Francisco Chronicle.
All local Democratic Clubs are invited to attend.
Straight
Talk:
On Saturday, June 28th, Straight Talk
taped 24th District Assemblyman Jim Beall discussing with host John
McLemore what next year’s new leadership under Karen Bass will bring to
California State government. Jim also talks about some of the problems the
state will face, particularly in health care.
The show is available on the web at
democraticclub-scc.org/straighttalk/
L. Regional Director: Emy Thurber
The Executive Committee of the
California Democratic Party (CDP) met in June.
They elected 19 members to the DNC including Chris Stampolis. There were 3 new members elected and 16
incumbents returned to office. The
committee adopted positions on the 11-ballot initiative that will be on the
ballot in November. Their endorsements
included recommending a yes vote on the animal treatment initiative and a no
vote on #11, the redistricting proposal.
She also described a rapid response team being formed by the CDP. One of the first actions of this team is to
protest John McCain's visit on July 28 at the Fairmont Hotel in San
Francisco. She asked all interested
activists to sign up on the party website.
Jim and Emy are working as liaisons for the Silicon
Valley for Obama team. The State party is forming a rapid response team to
write letters and hold signs. Please contact the CDP if you are interested.
M. Democratic
National Committee: Chris Stampolis
N. Pro-Choice Coalition: Claudia
Shope
Ø PROP 4:
Parental Notification Initiative
The third parental
notification initiative officially became Proposition 4 on June 27th.
The proposed Waiting
Period and Parental Notification Initiative would require a parent be notified
by a doctor and that there be at least a 48 hour waiting period for a minor
under 18 to have an abortion. Prop 4 goes further than propositions 73 and 85
and would also force medical professionals to report the parents of a teenager
to Child Protective Services if the teen chose to tell a family member other
than a parent. The teenager would be required to state in writing that the
choice to tell a substitute family member is because there is an abusive
environment. This would then trigger a law enforcement investigation into the
home.
This new initiative also
mandates reporting requirements, including reports from physicians regarding
abortions on minors and authorizes monetary damages against physicians for
violation. Although the initiative allows for the Court to permit a waiver
notice based on clear and convincing evidence of a minor’s maturity or best
interests, the teenager would have to travel to court and appear before a
judge. This is the third attempt by the supporters of Prop 73 (2005) and Prop
85 (2006) to put our teenagers’ health at risk by limiting access to safe
quality medical care for vulnerable teens.
We will need your help again- this issue is too important to lose! Our teens need access to safe, quality
medical care without fear of being criminalized or having their parents
criminalized
O. DTV Report: Steve Chessin
Democratic Television Producer Steve
Chessin reported that our guest in June was Ash Kalra, candidate for San Jose
City Council District 2.
Our guest in July will be four waters,
Chair of Take Back Red California.
We will be on San Jose Comcast Channel
15A July 10th with Palo Alto City Councilmember and Tuolumne River Trust Bay
Area Program Director Peter Drekmeier, July 24th and August 21st with Ash
Kalra, and August 7th and September 4th with four waters.
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): 2008:
Jul 10
DTV 160 Hon. Peter Drekmeier
Jul 24
DTV 161 Ash Kalra
Aug
7 DTV 162 four waters/Take Bad Red California
Aug 21
DTV 161 Ash Kalra
Sep
4 DTV 162 four waters/Take Bad Red California
There may be no DTV report in August, as
Steve will be on vacation then.
P. CDC Report: Jay
Jackman
10. ANNOUNCEMENTS
Diego Barragan: Annual Lofgren for Congress BBQ on
Saturday, August 2 from 1-4pm at the History of San Jose. For more information,
please contact Lofgren@lofgrenforcongress.com
or visit lofgrenforcongress.com
Ann Mack: Century club luncheon tomorrow: Bill Monning
will be the speaker. The speaker for the August luncheon will be the Silicon
Valley for Obama Campaign, September’s speaker will be Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins,
and October’s speaker will be John Laird.
Carolyn Curtis: Boycott Sebastiani wines: they are
funding Prop 4
David Parker: Please contact the Human Rights
Commission to express support for our resolution opposing the marriage ban.
Please sign up for “Vow to vote no”
Craig Dunkerly: The California clean money act was
approved by the Senate actions committee. That is the furthest that we have
ever gotten in the process. Our next challenge is the Senate Appropriations
committee in August. Please send emails to Don Perata and Darrell Steinberg asking
them to leave this as part of their legacy to improve the State of California
by pass the act.
Spanden Chakrabarti: The Dean Democratic Club monthly business meeting is
this Monday at the Santa Clara County IHOP
Anyone willing to give time and money to fight the
marriage amendment: equalityforall.com
Network nation convention (Bloggers convention) is
still accepting registrations.
Dan Hoffman: Provided information about the difference
between Obama and McCain
Carolyn Curtis: Charlie Brown fundraiser September 7th
2-4, Jerry McNerney August 17th in North County
Jim Brady: Going to ride 100 miles in Honolulu and
will be asking for support for that. 3 weeks ago I was in DC with 43 students.
Washington cancelled our tour at the last minute, but Lofgren came out and
spoke to the students and had her office provide a tour.
Jacquie Heffner: Pat Weight is claiming endorsements
that he does not have and supports issues that we are opposed to. Please
support Rose Herrera to make sure that Weight does not get elected.
11. EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
12. ADJOURNMENT: 9:00