Endorsements – Page 14 – El Cerrito Democratic Club

May 13, 2016May 15, 2016

RURAL CAUCUS RESOLUTION ON PAYMENT IN LIEU OF TAXES: INVITATION TO SIGN

Dear Friends,

Would any DFA groups, Democratic Clubs, County DCCs and/or their Chairs, CDP Delegates and/or CDP eBoard Members like to sign on as a supporter for this Resolution by the CDP Rural Caucus Leadership? See below. Thank you!

Susan Rowe
South Central Vice Chair, CDP Rural Caucus
Chair, Madera County Democratic Party

Resolution to Support Payment of PILT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) Funds to 36 Counties

Whereas, the state of California through the Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) has purchased private land for the establishment of wildlife management areas and for environmental purposes effectively removing it from the county property tax rolls in these 36 counties:

Alpine, Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Imperial, Inyo, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Merced, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Yolo; and Yuba; and

Whereas, from 1957 through 2002 the state of California compensated counties for the loss of property taxes due to the establishment of wildlife management areas, however DFW did not make PILT fund payments to counties from 2002 to 2015 due to the failure of the legislature to appropriate funds for this purpose and as a result the counties have suffered economic hardship in the form of the elimination of funding for such programs, including, but not limited to; public safety, fire prevention and fire fighting, social programs for homeless, including veterans, families with children, mental health programs including domestic violence, drug/alcohol addiction and more.

Whereas, 2015-16 the Legislature appropriated $8 million in funding to pay the arrearages, however the 2015-16 the final State Budget Package eliminated the $8 million in arrearages that has been required for 45 years under F&G 1504 and in addition made the PILT payments “permissive” rather than required.

Now, therefore be it resolved, that the Rural Caucus of the California Democratic Party supports repayment in full of the arrearages owed to the 36 affected counties by the appropriation of $8 million to the DFW.

Be it further resolved, the Caucus respectfully requests that the great State of California keep its promises to 36 of its 58 counties and again require these ongoing payments.

Adopted by the California Democratic Party Rural Caucus on February 26, 2016.

__________________________ Attest: _______________________

Jamie Beutler, Chair Becky Curry, Secretary

Section 1504. Amended in October 2015. – Amendments in bold.

(a) When income is derived directly from real property acquired and operated by the state as a wildlife management area, and regardless of whether income is derived from property acquired after October 1, 1949, the department may pay annually to the county in which the property is located an amount equal to the county taxes levied upon the property at the time title to the property was transferred to the state. The department may also pay the assessments levied upon the property by any irrigation, drainage, or reclamation district.

(b) Any delinquent penalties or interest applicable to any of those assessments made before September 9, 1953, are hereby canceled and shall be waived.

(c) Payments provided by this section shall only be made from funds that are appropriated to the department for the purposes of this section.

(d) As used in this section, the term “wildlife management area” includes waterfowl management areas, deer ranges, upland game bird management areas, and public shooting grounds.

(e) Any payment made under this section shall be made on or before December 10 of each year, with the exception of newly acquired property for which payments shall be made pursuant to subdivision (f).

(f) Any payments made for the purposes of this section shall be made within one year of the date title to the property was transferred to the state, or within 90 days from the date of designation as a wildlife management area, whichever occurs first, prorated for the balance of the year from the date of designation as a wildlife management area to the 30th day of June following the date of designation as a wildlife management area, and, thereafter, payments shall be made on or before December 10 of each year.

(g) Notwithstanding any other law, payments provided under this section shall not be allocated to a school district, a community college district, or a county superintendent of schools.

May 2, 2016May 13, 2016

CHALLENGE TO APRIL 26 ENDORSEMENT MEETING BALLOTING

On Tuesday, April 26, 59 members of the El Cerrito Democratic Club voted decisively (37 to 19 to 3) to endorse Nancy Skinner for Senate District 9, giving her 62% of the votes cast over Sandre Swanson and Katherine Welch, respectively. At the same time, Gabriel Quinto received 64% of the vote for Contra Costa County Democratic Central Committee (CCCDCC). Both Skinner and Quinto, receiving votes over a required 60% threshold, have the Club’s endorsement.

Two days after the April meeting, a club member who had not received the Club’s endorsement for his candidacy for election to the CCCDCC asked to inspect the ballots; he and a friend challenged the endorsement process, presenting evidence that in addition to the 59 ballots cast and tallied, a 60th ballot of uncertain origin had been included in the final tally.

Naturally, this was of grave concern, even though the margin of victory for both Nancy Skinner and Gabriel Quinto was large enough that the outcome would not change because of a single vote. “The integrity of our endorsement process was challenged.” said Greg Lyman, ECDC Treasurer. “Our endorsement is the most valuable contribution our club makes to the West County; we can not put it at risk.”

Although Club President Hilary Crosby believed the results of the voting were decisive enough to move forward without re-examining the ballots, she arranged for an independent agent to review all the materials and verify the results of the endorsement vote. Crosby said, “I am grateful to Joan Carpenter, and Mary Nicely; they both used their personal time to help us secure an accessible venue, inspected and recounted the ballots, and confirmed the results. I knew our process had been exemplary, especially for an all volunteer organization, but I realized that we needed help from our members and our larger community to confirm that our process was fair.”

The two endorsement proceedings reviewed involved 11 candidates; three candidates for the Senate District 9 office currently held by Sen. Loni Hancock, and 8 candidates for 5 seats on the CCCDCC. The single disputed ballot did not reduce Skinner’s percentage of the votes enough to change the endorsement; the challenger added a second complaint on Saturday – that the ballots didn’t include a line for “no endorsement”, a choice allowed in the standing rules. The independent election reviewer deemed this secondary complaint irrelevant. All the ballots distributed had been returned by the members, and that oversight had been addressed immediately prior to the voting with an announcement informing members to write that choice if they wished.

The Club revamped its endorsement rules in late 2015, but there were no policies, procedures or rules in place to respond to a challenge after the voting had taken place. This incident revealed where improvements are still needed; additions and modifications to the standing rules for endorsement will be presented at the May meeting.

“I have seen votes contested on site,” Carla Hansen, Immediate Past President said. “I’m glad that our process was consistent and careful enough to be sustained even days later.

“We were willing to act quickly and resolutely to demonstrate that our process could withstand intense scrutiny. ” asserted President Crosby “When all the votes are counted, we believe in working together to elect strong, progressive candidates, and hold them accountable to our platform is the best way to create positive change. That’s our mission, and we’re sticking to it.”

The ECDC has always been a voice for progressive Democrats, opposing the war in Vietnam when President Johnson was in office, and more recently supporting single payer health care and opposing the death penalty before the Democratic National Committee or the California Democratic Party. During those decades, the ECDC has held regular monthly meetings with presenters on a wide range of topics, published a monthly newsletter, hosted an annual dinner, and voted to endorse candidates and ballot measures. Their stated reason for being is a responsibility to the Democrats of West Contra Costa County.

“As a Democrat, I have come to rely on the ECDC to provide interesting content and well researched endorsements,” said Peter Chau. “I am happy with the final outcome of the endorsement election, which did not change as a result of the recount. Tuesday’s main program presentation was inspiring and offered important ideas about electoral organizing.”