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November Meeting Recap

At the November 2015 meeting, the Chair Contra Costa County Central Committee, Jeff Koertzen address the Club about the status of the Democratic Party.

Overall, the Party is doing well but not great. Dems will likely win the Presidency in 2016 but won’t take back the house. Turn out is a huge issue.  The Party isn’t listening to the electorate as well as it could be.

The Central Committee has started a Club-Council forum with meetings that rotate through the County. There has yet to be a meeting in West County. Club members are encouraged to participate.

Region 2 ( the Club’s region) will gain a seat on the Central Committee due to higher turnout in the last election.

The Central Committee is working to better communicate how the Party is organized and how Club members can get involved. Elections to the Central Committee will be held on June 7.

By-Law Changes and Approval 

The Club approved recommended by-law changes with minor revisions. The Club voted to postpone action on changes to the Standing Rules to a later meeting.

Pre-Endorsement Conference Delegates 

The Club voted to confirm the list of delegates submitted to the Regional Director and Chair of Central Committee, send a strong letter to the Regional Director about the lack of adequate communication on the new process of selecting delegates and vote on who the delegates should be voting to endorse at the January 26 meeting

 

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November Meeting Preview

On November 24, 2015, the ECDC welcomes Jeff Koertzen, Chair of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County as its final guest speaker of 2015. Jeff will give a short presentation on the state of the DPCCC followed by Q&A.

The Club will consider a number of Bylaws and Standing Rule changes.  Please see the summary article in the newsletter and the for full text of those changes, please visit www.ecdclub.org.

Stay tuned to a new date for the annual Holiday Party. We’re changing the date and format this year.

 

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Action Requested: Changes to Bylaws and Standing Rules

At the November 24th member meeting the membership will consider changes to the bylaws and Endorsement Standing Rules.

The Executive Board recommends changes to the Bylaws and Endorsement Standing Rules to clarify current dues renewal processes, improve officer definitions, redefine when members need to join for election year endorsements, define literature the club will carry and how delegates are selected. The documents can be reviewed at the ECDC website and limited hardcopies will be available at the November 24th meeting.

Specific bylaw changes proposed include:

Adding a sentence about member renewal upon payment (Section III) and adding sentences regarding timing of annual dues (Section IV).

Adding a subsection that only paid members can vote (Section V.E.1)

Section VII Officers was revised to clarify term of office (Section VII.A), election processes (Section VII.B, VII.C, VII.D and VII.F) and changes to duties (Section VII.E).

Section VIII Executive Board was revised to provide more structure and clarify how the Executive Board acts (Section VIII.C)

A sentence that was inconsistent with the Endorsement Standing Rules was eliminated (Section IX).

Two sub-sections regarding the use of the ECDC identity were added (Section X).

Specific Endorsement Standing Rule changes proposed include:

Elimination of the term “Self-Identified Democrat” (former Section A.3, Section B.1, Section B.2, Section B.3 and Section B.4)

Increasing the time on the ECDC membership role from 30-days to 45-days and addingthat members must be in good standing by June 1st to participate in endorsements (new Section A.3).

Clarification language on invitations to candidates in Section B.2, Type of Forum.

Addition of Section E, Distribution of Endorsed Candidate and Ballot Measure Literature.

Addition of Section F, Selection of California Democratic Party Delegates.

See full text of changes in the links below:

By Laws Proposed Changes

Standing Rules Proposed Changes