Getting
involved!
I want you
to be a Democratic Party activist!
Everybody has an opinion about the government. There oughta be a
law, they say, about crime in the streets, welfare reform, affirmative action,
illegal immigration, social security, health care, illegal drugs, violence
on TV, poor schools, traffic jams, taxes, trade imbalance, unemployment, the
environment, homelessness, campaign finance reform, and dozens of other issues.
But like the weather, very few people do anything about it.
But some of us are doing something about it. We are involved in grass
roots activism within the Democratic Party to bring about improvements in
our government, our environment, our schools, our quality of life, and in
the Democratic Party itself. If you are unhappy about the way things
are in this country today, the thing to do is to get involved! How?
One way is to become active in any one of a number of Democratic clubs
in Santa Clara County. Members of these clubs are interested in political
issues and are active in endorsing candidates for public office and in their
political campaigns. Some clubs are oriented toward specific issues
or groups; others draw members from certain geographic areas. Most
clubs meet once a month and publish a monthly newsletter. Below is a
list of active clubs chartered by the Santa Clara County Democratic Central
Committee, their orientations, and contacts. Call the President/Chair
for specific information about meetings, membership, dues, and activities.
In addition to clubs, each Assembly District in California has
a group of Democratic Activists organized in Assembly District Committees.
These committees
elect delegates to the state Party convention and provide a forum for elected
officials, members of the Central Committee, and the public to meet and exchange
ideas and views. AD committees meet monthly, and any registered Democrat
may join the committee representing his or her district. The geographic locations
of the districts given below are only approximate. You can find a map of
the assembly districts in your phone directory Yellow Pages. The AD committees
located entirely or partly in Santa Clara County are listed below, with contact
information for their chairs.
For more information about which club is right for you,
contact our Outreach Chair.
| Democratic Clubs |
Assembly District Committees |
- African American Democratic Coalition. Silicon Valley African-American
Coalition focuses on involvement of African-American Democrats in the political
process. Merylee Shelton, (408) 293-8300, AADEMCO@aol.com .
- American Sikh Democratic Club. Focusing on
involvement of American Sikh Democrats in the political process. Singh
Sohal, 408-782-1068, sikh@scc-democrats.org.
- Clinton*Gore Action Network. Perhaps the most active grassroots organization in the county, it has a large membership reaching all over the State. Formed specifically to support the Clinton/Gore Administration, it worked to deliver a large majority for President Clinton in 1992 and 1996. Ongoing Programs include voter registration / community outreach, media and other events to support the President, petition drives, fundraising, and more. Liz McDavit, PO Box 24092 San Jose 95154-4092, CGactnet1@aol.com.
- DAWN (Democratic Activists for Women Now). DAWN is a grassroots democratic organization working to elect progressive, prochoice women. Carol Garvey, President, 408-275-6981, dawn@scc-democrats.org.
- Mission City Democratic Club. A club serving
members of the city of Santa Clara. Chris Stampolis, 408-390-4748, stampolis@scc-democrats.org.
- Peninsula Democratic Coalition. The largest club in the county,
this organization draws its membership from the north county area. This club
plays a critical role in voter registration, precinct organization and operating
the north county Democratic election headquarters. Mark Solomon, President, 650-949-1009 (club phone),
pdc@scc-democrats.org, www.peninsulayd.org/pdc.htm.
- Peninsula Young Democrats. Genni Gerard, pyd@scc-democrats.org,
serves as chair
of the Peninsula Democratic Coalition's Youth Caucus. All Democrats under
36 who join the PDC get an automatic membership in PYD as well.
- Santa Clara County Democratic Club. An issue oriented club
that is focusing on campaign finance reform and energy independence. This
club is pressing legislators to support effective reform including public
financing of elections. The Club also produces a weekly series of television
programs on current issues for public access TV from West Valley College.
More information is available from the club web site http://www.democraticclub-scc.org/
. Ann Shirkey, President, president@DemocraticClub-scc.org.
- Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club. This club focuses on issues relating to Asian Americans. Pearl Chang serves as club president. Contact, Gap Kim, apa@scc-democrats.org.
The club's homepage is http://www.svapadc.org/
.
- Silicon Valley Latino Democratic Forum. A
venue for local Latinos to become active in the Democratic Party. Joe
Coto, 408-926-COTO, SVLDF@aol.com.
- Stanford Democrats. Draws members from students of Stanford
University.
- South County Democratic Club. Another geographic orientation,
this time in the south county Morgan Hill-Gilroy area. President: Alex Kennett
(408) 779-1773, southcounty@scc-democrats.org, http://www.demsclub.org/.
- South County Young Democrats. The youth caucus of the South
County Democratic Club, serving Democrats under the age of 36. By joining
the South County Democratic Club, all members under 36 automatically are
members of the South County YDs.
- Sunnyvale Democratic Club. For residents of
the city of Sunnyvale. Fred Fowler, 408-747-1454, sunnyvale@scc-democrats.org.
- Villages Democratic Club. Another club drawing membership from
a geographical area. This club limits its membership to Democrats living in
the Villages complex in the Evergreen area of San Jose. Bob Applebaum,
President, villages@scc-democrats.org.
- West Valley Democratic Club. With a geographic orientation,
this club draws its membership primarily from Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell,
and west San Jose. Barbara Nesbit, President, (408)395-5908, westvalley@scc-democrats.org.
|
- 20th Assembly District. Milpitas, Newark, Union
City, Fremont. Alberto Torrico, Chair, 510-793-5957, 20AD@scc-democrats.org.
- 21st Assembly District. Southern San Mateo County and Palo
Alto. Beth Shaw, Chair, 650-529-1911, 21AD@scc-democrats.org.
- 22nd Assembly District. Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara,
west San Jose. Martin Gorfinkel, 650- 969-1197, 22AD@scc-democrats.org.
- 23th Assembly District. Most of San Jose. Tom
Cochran, Chair, 408-298-1518, 23AD@scc-democrats.org.
- 24th Assembly District. Saratoga, Campbell, parts
of San Jose and Santa Clara. David Cohen, Chair, 408-926-7368, 24AD@scc-democrats.org.
- 27th Assembly District. Morgan Hill, Watsonville,
Santa Cruz. Edward Manning, Chair, 831-688-9177, 27AD@scc-democrats.org.
- 28th Assembly District. South county including
San Martin and Gilroy. Sal Alvarez, 408-274-0929, 28AD@scc-democrats.org.
|
| California Democratic Council
The CDC is the official statewide organization of grassroots Democratic
clubs in California. CDC membership is open to any Democratic Club affiliated
with its County Central Committee. AD Committees and Democratic Central
Committees are also eligible to send representatives. A bottom-up
organization, CDC policy is determined by vote of its delegates to its open
Annual Convention and State Board meetings. Members of CDC-affiliated
clubs may join statewide e-mail discussion groups and are also invited to
lobby the State Legislature during our annual Lobby Day. Visit the
CDC website at http://www.cdc-ca.org/.
|
California Young Democrats
CYD is the official statewide organization of Young Democrats clubs throughout
California, representing Democrats between the ages of 14 and 35. The
organization also includes all the college Democrat clubs as well.
Check out their statewide website at http://www.youngdems.org/ |
This page was last updated 5/1/03.
