6:45 pm, County
Building cafeteria, 70 W. Hedding St. San Jose
MINUTES FOR Thursday, September 7th, 2006
1. CALL TO ORDER: 7:15
2. ROLL CALL
Absent: Francine Davis, Bill Dias, Cathy Dias,
Deepka Lalwani, Thelma Spaziani, Francis La Poll, Claudia Shope, Hope Cahan.
Jim Brady, Alex Kennett, Mark Moore, Dan Kenney, Brittany Bach, Peter Arellano,
Kristine Dillon, Alberto Torrico, Joe Coto, Simon Salinas, Joe Simitian, Elaine
Alquist, Chris Stampolis, Ruth Ashford, Carol Garvey, Beverly Waller-Wharton,
John Nguyen, Geni Gerrard
Alternates: Sandra Soto (Zoe Lofgren), Clarence
Madrilejos (Herb Wadley), Diego Barragan (Anil Babbar), Philip Bump (Peg
Pinard), Alex Kobayashi (Ira Ruskin), Jon Kessler (Rebecca Cohn) Clark Williams
(John Laird) Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins (Liz Figueroa), Jim Ross (Jerry McNerney),
Margaret Abe-Koga (Anna Eshoo), Michael Wang (Mike Honda), Swanee Edwards
(Dennis Kennedy), Laura Macias (Scott Rafferty)
3. IDENTIFICATION OF VISITORS
Identification of
visitors: Diane Rolfe, Spandan
Chakrabaiti, Kristen Lohnes Johnson, John McLemore, Marty Grimes, Craig
Dunkerley, Pat Mahan, Mehdi Safipour, Maryam S. Karson, Ronit Bryant, David
Parker, Burga Santiago, Pierluigi Oliverio, Vanessa Cooper, Jamie McLeod,
Gilbert Wong, Charlie Ahern, Francis Tsang, Peter Leroc-Munoz, RM “Auros”
Harman, Jacob Hay, Joan Goddard, Ralph Wheeler
4. ADOPTION OF AGENDA
Agenda was adopted
after adding endorsements of candidates, a resolution regarding Joe Lieberman,
endorsement of Measure I for the Evergreen School District and also of
Proposition 89.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES (Minutes are posted at sccdp.org)
Minutes of the last
meeting were approved
6. ISSUES
Jacquie Heffner
discussed the upcoming ABC show on 9/11 which places blames on Bill Clinton for
much of the attack. The show will be on
Sunday and is filled with errors. She
has a packet of information to help us take action against ABC. Laura Macias wrote to ABC and said she is
boycotting the channel until they change the show and urged all of us to do the
same.
Prop 89. Jan Rodolfo from the California Nurses
Association made a presentation on Prop 89 asking that we endorse this Clean
Money Proposition. Herb Engstrom moved,
Anne Mack seconded, that we, the Santa Clara County Democratic Party, endorse
Proposition 89. Motion passed.
Assemblywoman Sally
Lieber spoke in favor of the clean money campaign. She believes the governor has been pressed to support some very
progressive legislation including a rise in the minimum wage and a
groundbreaking bill to reduce global warming.
She would like to become speaker pro tem of the Assembly to push
progressive legislation. Only two women
have previously held this position. She urged everyone to come to her annual
fundraiser on September 15.
7. NEW BUSINESS
Resolution re
Senator Leiberman: the Chair asked
permission to hear the resolution on an emergency basis. David Harker from the LGBT Club introduced
the following resolution:
The Santa Clara
County Democratic Party realizes the urgency for the Democratic Party to
maintain, if not gain, seats in the United States House of Representatives and
the United States Senate
We further support
the Connecticut Democratic voters’ election of Ned Lamont as their candidate
for the United States Senate in the November general election.
We further declare
that any third-party candidate, including Senator Joe Lieberman filing as a
third-party candidate, may jeopardize a U.S. Senate seat currently held by a
Democrat from Connecticut.
Therefore, the Santa
Clara County Democratic Party respectfully asks Senator Joe Lieberman to
withdraw his candidacy as a third-party candidate and support the State of
Connecticut’s Democratic candidate for the United States Senate.
The resolution
passed.
The chair asked that
we support Measure I to support funding for the Evergreen Elementary School
District. The measure passed.
8. REPORTS
FROM OFFICERS AND OTHERS Most
reports were waived because of the lateness of the hour.
A. Executive
Board: Hope Cahan
B. Chair: Steve Preminger
C. Vice
Chair: James Kim
D. Treasurer: Drina Collins
E. Secretary: Hope Cahan
F. Community
Services and Voter Registration: Carolyn
Curtis
Adrienne Grey said that we have registered 736 since the beginning of
the year of whom 600 are Democrats. The
pace is picking up with a number of switches from Republican to Democrat. There is regular voter registration at
the Mountain View and Palo Alto
Farmer’s Markets each week. We have
50,000 DNC doorhangers and need people to walk their precincts with them.
The Chair mentioned that Chuck Reed put out a news release saying he
was endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Club and the club’s
endorsement was embarrassing to the Central Committee’s endorsed
candidate. He admonished that clubs
need to be careful of their endorsements and keep in touch with the party.
G. Finance: Jim Thurber
H. Candidate Recruitment and Endorsement: Jon Kessler
Endorsements: Jon Kessler,
Endorsements chair, presented the endorsement report. There were six nights of interviews and 36 candidates
interviewed. He read off the names of
the committee members. He commended
their dedication. Candidates were
invited to give brief statements. The
following people spoke: David Cohen,
Berryessa School Board, Patty Mahan, Santa Clara Mayor, Ronit Bryant, Mt. View
City Council, Clark Williams, San Jose City Council, Charlie Ahearn and Esau
Herrera for Santa Clara County Board of Education, John McLemore, Santa Clara
Mayor, Margaret Abe-Koga, Mt. View, City Council, Evan Low, Campbell City
Council, Pierluigi Oliverio, San Jose City Council, Bill Ferguson, Milpitas
City Council,
Jon then presented the endorsement slate which included:
Berryessa Union SD David
Cohen and Kansen Chu
SCC Board of Education: Charlie
Ahearn (#2) and Esau Herrera (#7)
West Valley/Mission CCD: David
Montagna and conditionally Jack Lucas (will be referred to the Executive
Committee)
Campbell City Council: Evan Low
and Margie Mitchell
Los Altos Hills CC: Breene Kerr
Los Gatos Town Council: Diane
McNutt and Joe Pirzynski
Milpitas Mayor: Henry Manayan
Milpitas CC: Bill Ferguson and
Carmen Montano
Morgan Hill Mayor: Steve Tate
Morgan Hill City Council: Alex
Kennett and Greg Sellers
Mountain View City Council:
Margaret Abe-Koga, Ronit Bryant and Jac Siegel
San Jose City Council (6):
Clark Williams
Santa Clara Mayor: Patty Mahan
Santa Clara City Council:
Dominic Caserta (2) and Joe Kornder (5)
Saratoga City Council: Kathleen
King, James Sorden, Jill Hunter
San Jose City Council, #6, Santa Clara Mayor and Milpitas City Council,
Carmen Montano were pulled.
The endorsements were approved with the above exceptions. After discussion, Carmen Montano, Clark Williams
and Patty Mahan were endorsed. Assemblywoman Lieber commented that it is
important that we also work with the Democratic candidates we did not endorse
as committed Democrats are few and far between.
I. Communication: David Cohen
J. Campaign
Services: Philip Bump
Discussed the Chavez-Reed race for mayor of San Jose which he described
as terribly important. There will be a
San Jose Democratic headquarters which will open next Saturday. Swanee Edwards spoke about the opening of a
headquarters in Morgan Hill..
K. Issues: Herb Engstrom
L. Political Outreach: Tom Cochran
Club, AD, SD, & CD Reports
South County Club,
Swanee Edward
The
South County Democratic Club held our annual FUNdraiser at San Martin Country
Park in August. Our Special guests included CD11 Candidate Jerry McNerney, and
John Garamendi, Candidate running for Lt. Governor. Also attending, Karyn
Sinunu, Anna Caballero, and Rosemary Kamei. The weather was perfect and
we had our most successful event ever! Thank you to all of our incredible
volunteers.
The South County Democratic Club and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party has opened the South County Party Headquarters located at 237 W. Main St, in Morgan Hill. One of our first guests at the Grand Opening on September 16th, included, Mayor Dennis Kennedy, City of Gilroy Councilman Peter Arellano, and several Morgan Hill City Council Candidates. Our phone # at the Headquarters is: 408-779-9260, or Swanee Edwards, at 408-219-7739
Santa Clara County Democratic Club: Alicia Lanier
At our
August 21 meeting, our club members endorsed the following 2006 candidates
& approved donations to their campaigns:
Mike Honda for
Congress
Zoe Lofgren, for
Congress
Jerry McNerney, for Congress
Phil Angelides, for Governor
John Garamendi, for Lt.
Gov
Debra Bowen, for Secretary of State
Jerry Brown, for Attorney General
John Chiang, for Controller
Jim Beall, for Assembly
Ira Ruskin, for Assembly
Sally Lieber, for
Assembly
John Laird, for Assembly
Karyn Sinunu, for District Attorne! y &
nbsp;
Ken Yeager, for SCC Board of
Supervisors
Dual endorsements and donations were also approved for:
Cindy Chavez, for San Jose Mayor
Chuck Reed, for San Jose Mayor
Patricia Mahan, for Santa Clara Mayor
John McLemore, for Santa Clara Mayor
The club also voted to endorse
Proposition 89, the Clean Money Clean Elections initiative, in the November
election.
Upcoming Meeting on Sept. 18
For our program, we will show the
very interesting documentary, The
Big Buy: Tom DeLays Stolen Congress. We also will show a musical photo
montage DVD of activities from our clubs past 25 years.
Please arrive at 6 p.m. if you wish
to have dinner with us because once we darken the room there will be no food
service. We meet at Carrows Restaurant on El Camino in Santa Clara.
Voter Registration Tabling
We have three voter registration
events scheduled in September. On September 16, we
will have tabling at Santa Teresa
Community Fest and on September 23-24 we will register voters at
Westfields Valley Fair Mall on Stevens Creek Blvd. We welcome volunteers
from other clubs to assist with these important activities.
New Straight Talk TV Shows
Look for our two new Straight Talk
TV shows on your local public access TV station and on our website at www.DemocraticClub-scc.org. Both shows were hosted by John McLemore, a
long time member of our club.
The first show, "Hot Political Races," featured political consultant
Mary Hughes of the consulting firm Staton Hughes. The second show was on
"Proposition 89: The Clean Money Act." Guests were Greg Miller,
who is on the Board of Directors of the California Nurses Association (CNA),
and Greg Bonaccorsi, an official of the California Teachers Association
(CTA).
Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley:
Wanda Bryant
At our August working meeting we
endorsed No on Prop85. Yes on Prop86, Yes on Measure A, and also Lofgren,
Honda, Eshoo, Garamendi, Ruskin, Lieber, Chiang, plus Angelides & Bowen,
whom we had endorsed in the primary.
On August 20, two members of our club sponsored a very succ3essful fundraiser
in Palo Alto for Jerry McNerney, raising over $9000. Club members are hosting
fundraisers for Debra Bowen, Karyn Sinunu, and Phil Angelides in the next few
weeks.
At our Sep 6 concurrent general meetings, the south group folded Angelides
brochures for tabling, and watched a tape of Chairman Dean on Meet the Press.
The north group watched a Democracy for America training segment on effective
phonebanking & heard from a McNerney campaign represenative who's setting
up a phonebank for Jerry starting Sep 13; discussed how to pressure ABC not to
run their so-called docudrama on Sep 11; and watched Countdown and Face the
Nation Dean interviews .
DAWN: Joan Goddard
Iranian American Club: Morteza
PDC: Rich Watters
1) The PDC's annual summer picnic was held August 19th at Shoup Park in Los Altos. Over
one hundred people attended, and a good time was had by all. Steve Preminger, SCCDCC
Chair, was our auctioneer. Long-time PDC member Fran Cochran was given the Thurber
Award for his many years of service.
2) PDC members are actively engaged in Voter Registration activities in the North County,
including the Palo Alto Art and Wine Festival on August 26th and 27th, and the Mountain
View Art and Wine festival this coming week-end.
APA Democratic Club:
Pearl Chang
West Valley Democratic Club: Peter O’Reilly
Silicon Valley Latino Coalition: Enrique Colin
M. Regional
Director: Emy Thurber
N. Democratic National Committee: Chris Stampolis
O. Pro-Choice
Coalition: Claudia Shope
P. DTV Report: Steve Chessin
Democratic Television
Producer Steve Chessin reported that our August taping was with San Jose City
Councilmember and Mayoral candidate Hon. Cindy Chavez.
Our guest in September will be State Senator Debra Bowen, Democratic nominee for Secretary of State.
We will be on San Jose Comcast Channel 15A September 7th, October 5th, and November 2nd with the show we taped with Hon. Cindy Chavez, and September 21st and October 19th with the show we will tape with Senator Bowen.
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):
2006:
Sep 7 DTV 139 Hon. Cindy Chavez (II)
Sep 21 DTV 140 Hon. Debra Bowen
Oct 5 DTV 139 Hon. Cindy Chavez (II)
Oct 19 DTV 140 Hon. Debra Bowen
Nov 2 DTV 139 Hon. Cindy Chavez (II)
Nov 16 DTV 141 TBD-141
Nov 30 DTV 141 TBD-141
Dec 14 DTV 142 TBD-142
Dec 28 DTV 143 TBD-143
2007:
Jan 11 DTV 142 TBD-142
Jan 25 DTV 143 TBD-143
See http://www.sccdp.org/dtv.php for the full schedule, and to download our shows.
Q. CDC Report: Herb Engstrom for Jay Jackman
Herb Engstrom said that the CDC has a list of speakers available for
club meetings on it’s website.
9. OLD BUSINESS
The filling of vacancies
in the 21st and 22nd AD’s was postponed until next month.
10.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Phaedra
Ellis-Lamkins talked about the differences between the Democratic Party
principles and Chuck Reed.
Jacob Hay from the
“No on 85” campaign talked about the campaign.
He mentioned that Prop 85 is similar to prop 75 from the special
election. He talked about ways to get
involved to defeat this initiative.
Carolyn Curtis said
that Debra Bowen is having house parties and there will be one in Palo Alto on
September 14. There is also a party for
Ira Ruskin on Tuesday the 12th.
Jon Kessler: Anna Eshoo will have an event on Saturday
September 15th at the Adobe House in Mt. View.
Peter O’Reilly said
that there will be a movie telling the history of the anti-war movement against
Viet Nam on September 8th at the MACLA Arts Center
Anne Mack said Joe
Simitian will be speaking tomorrow at the Century Club. She also commended Senator Simitian for
passage of his bill on reverse mortgages.
Peter from the
Defenders of Wildlife said he needs people to volunteer for Days of Action to
help Jerry McNerney. There will be a
bus to take volunteers to Pleasanton and Stockton.
Auros Harman said
there will be two Angelides events in San Francisco, one tomorrow and one the next
day.
Herb Engstom says
that the McNerney race is leaning Republican and he is going to help McNerney
in Dublin and would welcome help.
Steve Preminger said
there will be a march against domestic violence on October 5 sponsored by the
Warriors for Peace. Men are especially
invited.
11. EXECUTIVE
BOARD MEETING
The next Executive Board meeting
TBA
12. ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at
9:45.
Respectfully
submitted by Emily Thurber