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THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL: JANUARY MEETING RECAP

Many thanks to the ECDC membership who came out to vote for the 2017 Executive Board. We have a fantastic all-volunteer board this year (listed in the order prescribed by our bylaws):
President:                             Peter Chau
Executive Vice President:    Mister Phillips
Immediate Past President:   Hilary Crosby
VP Membership:                  Tom Cesa
VP Treasurer:                       Greg Lyman
VP Publications:                   Kip Crosby
VP Records:                         Marlene Keller
VP Programs:                       Gabe Quinto
VP Media:                             Mollie Hazen
I want to honor and thank our immediate past president, Hilary Crosby, who served our club with passion and dedication. As a small sample of her accomplishments: she ran the most professional, well-run endorsement forum that I’ve ever attended (ever!); organized great speakers like CA State Treasurer John Chiang for our annual dinner; and mentored the next generation of Democratic leaders. I am inspired by her progressive convictions and work ethic. If I can fill half of her shoes, I’ll call 2017 a success.
At our last meeting, our members approved a new budget for the 2017 year; approved changes to our by-laws to align our by-laws to our club’s best practices; and laid out club priorities for 2017. The Executive Board will work to implement our members’ approved priorities. Many great ideas were considered and approved, making 2017 an exciting year to come. We, as the progressive voice of El Cerrito, will continue to think global, act local.
In the spirit of service,
Peter
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PREVIEW OF JANUARY 24, 2017 MEETING

We have a very packed agenda for January 24, 2017!  It is our annual re-organizaiton meeting at which we will elect our officers for 2017, approve our budget, and vote on program proposals for our 10 2017 meetings, as well as consider dates and possible speakers for our annual dinner.

In addition, we will consider some revisions to our by-laws, and discuss a procedure for the selection/appointment of a representative to the Contra Costa County Democratic Party Central Committee in anticipation of suggested changes to the Central Committee By-Laws.

This agenda was developed at the Executive Board meeting on December 29, 2016, at which a quorum was present (President, Executive Vice President, Vice President-Treasurer, Vice President Media, Vice President Communications, Vice President Membership).

Although our we were not able to review a completed budget draft, our treasurer reported on the actual revenues and expenses for 2016, and compared the preliminary actual figures with our 2016 budget.

We also considered a couple of ideas for programs and or club activities in part because after the November election results, so many club members and other Democrats want to “DO SOMETHING!”  Under the circumstances the eboard proposes these activities as possible meeting topics and/or activities:

  • Partner with a Democratic Club in a neighboring congressional district where there’s a Republican Congressional representative and do a joint canvass of Republican voters to discuss the local impact of revocation of Affordable Care Act and encourage those voters to contact their Congressional Representative to discourage termination of the entire ACA (aka Obamacare.)
  • Identify potential state legislative races in Republican States where electing a Democrat could affect Congressional re-districting in 2020
  • Partner with other East Bay Democratic Clubs to sponsor a debate between the two declared candidates for Chair of the California Democratic Party.

Although we won’t be able to finalize topics and speakers for the entire year, we rely on suggestions from members at the January meeting to secure speakers for our meetings.

[This preview of the January meeting should be considered a report on the proceedings of the Eboard meeting.]

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WELCOME TO THE NEW NEWSLETTER

If you are an electronic newsletter subscriber, you will now receive your a digest of new website postings every Friday.  Posts that are also newsletter articles will be tagged so that you will be able to find them easily on our website (www.ecdclub.org).  We will continue our policy of only communicating electronically with our members through the newsletter and keeping urgent updates and announcements to a minimum.  If you would rather not receive electronic communications from us, please write to ecdc.pubs@gmail.com, and make a payment – either by check or online – of $10 to receive the monthly newsletter via US post.  We will remove you from the list of electronic subscribers, and include you as a paper subscriber