El Cerrito Democratic Club

Did your blood feel delightfully  and inexplicably more blue over the weekend of March 7-9? The California Democratic Party partied (gathered) and took care of important busniess at the annual convention in Los Angeles. The ECDC was highly represented with delegates and their proxies from our region.

Check out the Mission Possible video staring our very own VP of Membership-Mister Phillips and the always fabulous Hilary Crosby.

If you didn’t make it to the convention here are a few highlights:

Endorsements

• Governor-Jerry Brown
• Lieutenant Governer- Gavin Newsom
• Attorney General-Kamala D. Harris
• Controller- No endorsement
• Treasurer-John Chiang
• Secretary of State- No endorsement
• Insurance Commissioner- Dave Jones
• Superintentant of Schools- Tom Torlackson
• Board of Equalization-Fiona Ma
• Congressional District 11-Mark Desaulnier
• Assembly District 15-Elizabeth Echols

Party Platform Updates

• Support an immediate moratorium on fracking, acidizing, and other forms of oil/gas well stimulation, with such a moratorium to remain in effect until legislation and regulations are put in place that repeal he exception in the Safe Drinking Water Act, guarantee public health and safety, mitigate the effects of climate change, protect the environment and allow government access and testing of the chemicals  used in all sites
•  Support the legalization, regulation and taxation of marijuana, in a manner similar to that of tobacco or alcohol
• Urge Congress, the California Legislature, the California Public Utilities Commission, and the California Energy Commission to take all steps necessary to ensure the safety and fully evaluate the economic  viability and full lifecycle costs of nuclear power, to decommission or withhold funding for license renewal for Mark 1 nuclear reactors that cannot be made safe or shown to be economically viable, and  to provide emergency plans and adequate liability protection for populations near reactors and in the event that nuclear reactors are decommissioned due to safety or economic concerns there shall be a comprehensive employment plan for workers affected by plant closure

 

 Photos taken by Rita Xavier

The March meeting will showcase a presentation on Prop 13 reform from an organization that is spearheading a statewide grassroots campaign to change the law.  Take a look at the article included in the newsletter for more information.  We expect a lively discussion after the presentation.  Join us.

Two important City of El Cerrito Budget Workshops are in March. Club members can learn about, participate and help shape the City’s budget.  See the events calendar for more details.

The annual Global Day of Action on Military Spending is April 14. Club members and non-club members can participate by volunteering to pass out flyers at the Del Norte and Plaza BART stations in the morning 6:30-8:30 a.m. (one hour shifts). Please contact Al Miller if you’re interested in volunteering- amil@sonic.net and (510) 526-4874. For more information about the Global Day of Action, visit the website http://demilitarize.org/

Keep Tuesday, April 22 on the calendar. The Club will discuss local ballot measures and County-wide races.

Club members and non-club members gathered Sunday, February 22 at El Cerrito High School for the endorsement meeting.  Before getting started, Club members voted to adopt a resolution to aggressively remove obsolete DOT-111 railroad tankers and to restrict their parking.

Candidates (and/or proxies) from Assembly District 15, Congressional District 11, Secretary of State, Board of Equalization,  and State Controller answered questions from the audience. The Club members voted to endorse the following races:

• Congress (CA-11)-Mark Desaulnier
• Controller-Betty Yee
• Board of Equalization-Fiona Ma
• Secretary of State-No endorsement
• Assembly-(AD-15)-No endorsement

Primary-endorsed candidates who go on to the general election will carry the ECDC endorsement. We will reconsider races with no endorsement before the general election in November.

Club members also voted on what meeting topics they would like to see this year: Prop 13 Reform-Split Roll, Climate Change and 50^th Anniversary of the War on Poverty.