Posted on

2014 Endorsement Forums – UPDATED

UPDATED – August 15, 2014 

With the candidates’ filing period now closed, there are a few updates. The Club will consider endorsing candidates in two contested races–AC Transit  Board and El Cerrito City Council–on Tuesday, Aug 26 at 6:00 p.m at our regular club meeting in the Presbyterian Church on Ashbury.  See below for an updated candidate list for these and all other races.

The final ECDC endorsement schedule is as follows.

Endorsement Forum I 

El Cerrito High School cafeteria at 1 PM on August 23. Doors open at 12:00 and candidates and visitors are encouraged to arrive early.

SESSION I (1:00 – 3:30 PM)

West Contra Costa Unified School District (3 seats)

      • Elizabeth (Liz) Block
      • Chester R. Stevens
      • Raquel Donoso
      • Madeline Kronenberg
      • Elaine Merriweather
      • Otheree Christian
      • Mister Phillips
      • Peter Nicholas Chau
      • Valerie Cuevas
      • Ayana Kirkland Young

Stege Sanitary (2 seats)

      • Dwight Merrill
      • Alan Miller
      • Jay Z. James
      • Joshua M. Dickinson

West Contra Costa Healthcare (3 seats)

      • Irma L. Anderson
      • Beverly Eve Wallace
      • Nancy Casazzar
      • Marilynne L. Mellander

 SESSION II (3:30 – 5:00 PM)

Assembly District 15 (1 seat)

      • Elizabeth Echols
      • Tony Thurmond

 Contra Costa Community College Board (1 seat)

      • Cheryl Sudduth
      • John E. Marquez

 City of El Cerrito Sales Tax Measure 

Endorsement Forum II (Presbyterian Church at 6 PM on August 26):

El Cerrito City Council (2 seats)

      • Janet Abelson
      • Nicholas Arzio
      • Gabriel Quinto

AC Transit Board (1 seat)

      • Dollene C. Jones
      • Adrienne C. Andrews
      • Joel B. Young

 Contra Costa County Central Committee

      • Cecilia Valdez

Endorsement Forum III (Presbyterian Church at 6 PM on September 23):

The Club will hold an endorsement forum for the following Kensington races and candidates at the regular Club meeting on September 23. Kensington members should make sure their membership is current in order to vote in the endorsement forum. Note that the cutoff for current memberships for the September 23 meeting is August 24.

Kensington Police Protection and Community Services District (3 seats)

      • Alan (Len) Welsh
      • Steven B. Bates
      • Simon Brafman
      • Peter Conrad
      • Derek Suring
      • Kim Zvik
      • Rachelle Sherris-Watt
      • Vanessa Cordova

Kensington Fire Protection (2 seats)

      • Janice Kosel
      • Nina Harman
      • Michael Kassarjian 

The process will be the same for each forum.  For each race (listed below), we will open with short statements from each candidate, followed by a moderated Q&A from the audience, and concluding with brief (1-2 minutes) closing remarks. The Club members will then vote to endorse according to our endorsement rules. If a candidate receives 60% of the vote (voting members who are present) then they will receive the Club’s endorsement. If no candidate receives 60% of the vote, then there will be no endorsement.

In addition, we will also take a straw poll in each race of any non-members present—the results of the straw poll should not in any way be construed as a replacement or proxy for the Club’s endorsement process.

We have invited all candidates to the endorsement forums; however, the Club will only endorse Democrats.

ECDC endorsements are made in each election cycle according to our by-laws (pdf). Only members in good standing for 30 days prior to the endorsement forum may vote, and the ECDC may only endorse Democrats in any race whether partisan or non-. A candidate must be selected on 60% of the members present to gain the club’s endorsement.

 

Posted on

July Meeting Recap

By Hilary Crosby

We kicked off our meeting by giving our members a chance to sign the City Council nomination papers ECDC members Janet Abelson and Gabriel Quinto. This task was made more enjoyable because ECDC member Sylvia brought a chocolate cake to share her celebration of her 75th birthday. Betty Brown announced the July 30 rally for the 49th anniversary of Medicare celebrated by the Campaign for a Healthy California (CHC) and included groups like National Nurses United and the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA) and pointed out that there are several other events going on.
Program Vice President Gabriel Quinto convened the meeting and introduced the State-wide propositions that will appear on the November ballot. The Club voted on the following propositions:

  • Proposition 43–Safe, Clean and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act-no action; further discussion needed
  • Proposition 44-State Reserve Policy- no action; further discussion needed
  • Proposition 45-Approval of Healthcare Insurance Rates-YES
  • Proposition 46-Drug and Alcohol Testing of Doctors. Medical Negligence Lawsuits-no action; further discussion needed
  • Proposition 47-Criminal Sentences. Misdemeanor Penalties-YES
  • Proposition 48-Referendum to Overturn Indian Gaming Compacts-NO
  • Proposition 49-Amendment to overturn Citizen United Ruling-YES 
Posted on

City of El Cerrito Ballot Measure

The City of El Cerrito sent out the following information to community leaders (many of our Club members have already have seen this) about the sales-tax measure for the City on the ballot in November:

The El Cerrito City Council placed a local funding measure on the November 2014 ballot to extend the existing voter-approved Measure R at the one cent rate for twelve years. If enacted, this continuation measure would generate additional locally-controlled funds for local projects and services, with money that could not be taken by the State.

Measure R was previously approved by local voters four years ago. Measure R is extended at the one cent rate, the City will be able to maintain current levels of public safety, including police services, neighborhood patrols, crime prevention programs, and rapid 9-1-1 response times, as well as after-school programs for children and teens and city parks, playfields, paths and open spaces.

The focus of the sales-tax extension is:

  • Maintaining current levels of firefighters, fire protection and emergency medical services
  • Maintaining rapid 9-1-1 response times, neighborhood police patrols, crime prevention and investigation
  • Maintaining earthquake and disaster preparedness programs
  • Maintaining after-school programs for children and teens
  • Maintaining and improving city parks, playfields, paths and open space

The Club will consider endorsing this measure on Aug 23.