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RECAP OF FEBRUARY 28 MEETING

Guest speaker Mayor Janet Abelson’s  talk on “El Cerrito Economic Development and Future Vision for the City” discussed the significant progress the city has made to develop housing and commercial space in the city.  She discussed the city’s El Cerrito San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan that emphasizes transit-oriented and mixed-use (combining housing and commercial space) development along the BART Del Norte to BART El Cerrito Plaza corridor.  Affordable housing projects include Hana Garden Apartments at 10848 – 10860 San Pablo Avenue, El Cerrito (on the former site of Tradeway).  Once constructed, there will be ~ 62 units available for seniors.   

For more information on these development projects, you can visit www.el-cerrito.org/CommDev/MajorProjects.  For a copy of the San Pablo Avenue Specific Plan/Complete Streets Plan, visit www.el-cerrito.org/SPASP.   You can also view progress in providing affordable housing on the city’s Community Development Department website — and sign up for e-notices by the city’s Development Commission.

During the Q & A session, it was mentioned that the city has applied for a ~ $4M federal grant to add sanitation capacity to accommodate the added usage from the approved and proposed development projects.

President Chau encouraged everyone to participate in our membership drive — and ask friends, family and neighbors to join.  For every 20 additional ECDC members, we get one more vote at the state level.

We also discussed the looming federal fiscal cliff: the expiration of our country’s debt limit suspension on March 15 (preventing our country from borrowing needed money to pay our bills) and the March 31 expiration of our federal government’s continuing resolution (a stop-gap measure that prevents a federal government shutdown).

VP -Records Keller recommended a by-law update to include a records retention policy and this was approved.

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ENDORSE THE NEXT CHAIR OF THE CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Please mark your calendar and attend our normal fourth Tuesday membership meeting. I will be formally inviting both campaigns for Chair of the California Democratic Party to ECDC so that ECDC members can hear each campaign’s vision for the future of our party. ECDC members will also have the opportunity to vote on an ECDC endorsement for either Eric Bauman or Kimberly Ellis.

This blog post is intended to satisfy our club’s 10-day notice requirement in our standing rules for endorsement. However, I am posting this notice well in advance so that 1) new members can join before the 45-day window closes, and 2) previous ECDC members who are *not* in good standing can pay their annual membership dues before the endorsement meeting to vote.
The candidate forum may include other local Democratic Clubs. For now, the candidate forum will be held at our normal time and location (April 25, 2017 @ 6:30PM, Zion Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Avenue in El Cerrito). If more people come than our meeting space can handle, I will look into other locations to accommodate larger crowds. I will publish any changes to the meeting place in advance.
What will a candidate do to promote progressive values? What can Democrats do to press on in 2018 and beyond? What – if any – measures should be implemented to address Democratic disinfranchisement?  Start thinking of your own questions and come ready to ask on April 25!
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TOWN HALL WITH CONGRESSMAN DESAULNIER

Hello, Democrats! Are you concerned about the March 31 end of the Continuing Resolution, a stop-gap measure that funds our government in the absence of a federal budget? What about the restoration of the debt limit on March 16, preventing our country from borrowing what it needs to pay its bills? What will Congress do to address these fiscal issues that affect all the causes we advocate for?

Please join Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) for a political town hall on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017. The event will be held at UA 342, 935 Detroit Ave., Concord, CA 94518 from 6:30AM to 8:00PM.

Click here to RSVP: https://act.myngp.com/el/-299949392901306368/-28285435754706944

Please send any questions to Rebecca Barrett at rebecca.faith.barrett@gmail.com.

Thanks,
Peter