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VOTING NO ENDORSEMENT DUCKS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO LEAD!

The El Cerrito Democratic Club has been an important part of the political landscape in El Cerrito, Kensington, and the West Contra Costa Unified School District literally for decades.  However, at our August 27 Endorsement Forum, we ended up endorsing only 4 candidates even though voters will be asked to vote to fill 11 seats.

Since California voters approved the misguided policy of allowing the top two – and only the top two – finishers in the primary election, regardless of party affiliation, to advance to a general election, there has been a lot of maneuvering by weaker candidates to block the official California Democratic Party endorsement of stronger candidates, especially in the post-primary election season.  It is a tactic that we can expect to see more and more often as Democrats battle Democrats all the way to November.  In the “good old days,” when the top finisher from each party became that party’s candidate in the November election, opponents had a Kumbayah moment, and the party united behind the candidate with the stronger finish.

However, now those days are gone, and we will see Democrats – good, solid Democrats, like Loretta Sanchez and Kamala Harris, Nancy Skinner and Sandre Swanson – campaigning in opposition to each other.  

This is not, and should not be, the example offered by the El Cerrito Democratic Club.  Our process for determining our endorsements provides information to our members about the candidates in our pre-endorsement newsletter, as well as an all-day candidate forum where our members can listen to, question, and evaluate all candidates who seek our endorsement.  To vote NO ENDORSEMENT, at that point, is to forsake our responsibility to lead!

Our Club has long been respected for making informed endorsements and sharing our conclusions with other voters in El Cerrito and Kensington.  However, this year we had so many votes for “NO ENDORSEMENT” that we didn’t endorse at all in FOUR races: AC Transit, BART District 7, District 1 Board of Education, and Kensington Police and Community Services District.  In the West County Unified School District and El Cerrito City Council we didn’t endorse a full slate!

Perhaps we had voting members who believed that a “NO ENDORSEMENT” vote was neutral, and would have no effect on the outcome.  If so, it is our responsibility to let them know that “NO ENDORSEMENT” counts as a vote, and becomes part of the denominator when calculating the 60% needed to win our endorsement.  Thus we may decide to include “ABSTAIN,” which will not have this effect, as a vote choice at our next endorsement forum in 2018.

However, to members who intentionally voted “NO ENDORSEMENT” to create a situation where the El Cerrito Democratic Club produces no recommendation to make to voters, I say “SHAME ON YOU!”  Our Club has a reputation as providing informed political leadership from a progressive perspective.  I hope that in future, we will unite to take that responsibility seriously.

Hilary Crosby
President, ECDC

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Measure B
for a Safe, Modern Library
for El Cerrito

Yes on Measure B will provide locally-controlled bond funds to build a functional, modern 21st century library that is up to earthquake and fire codes, with a computer learning center, more space for children’s story times,  space for after-school programs for youth and teens, increased senior and disabled access, group study/community meeting areas and more public access computers.  

The measure includes fiscal accountability provisions such as mandatory audits and annual review by the Financial Advisory Board to ensure that funds are spent as promised.  Moreover, El Cerrito residents will have the opportunity for public review and comment regarding operations and building design once the bond is approved and the detailed design planning phase begins.

Built in 1948, the current El Cerrito Library does not meet earthquake safety standards or the educational and technology needs of today’s El Cerrito residents.  The $30 million bond measure is not a blank check, but would be used to acquire land, design and permit and construct a safe, modern building in line with the 2014 Library Space Needs Assessment that was developed based on best practices for modern libraries, as well as community feedback and input from library staff.  Only those funds necessary will actually be borrowed and, as discussed at City Council, options were well below $30 million. Those who say the library could be built at a much lower cost are not using an apples to apples comparison for the full cost to build a new library given recent inflation and often fail to include the cost of land, site grading and utility connection, seismic protections and other, necessary costs.  In order to prepare the cost estimates, the City has engaged well respected library architects and construction management firms who project these expenses to be well within the norm for new libraries. Finally, there is not enough space to accommodate a larger library facility at the current site next to Fairmont Elementary School. Therefore, the City and its professional consultants developed a selection criteria based on the Needs Assessment and other data to evaluate other potential sites. The site selection process is still underway as the City is evaluating multiple options in order to develop the most cost-effective building and operational program for the new library.

Yes on B requires a 2/3rds vote.  We urge each and every one of you to find Measure B on the ballot and vote “yes” because a safe, modern library will provide a much-needed, learning environment for us and for future generations.

Marlene Keller
Yes on Measure B Committee

For more information about Measure B, see   http://www.el-cerrito.org/

 

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AUGUST 27 ENDORSEMENT FORUM RECAP

The August Endorsement Forum was a resounding success in many ways!  To begin with, we endorsed Rebecca Saltzman for BART District 3; Greg Lyman and Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto for El Cerrito City Council, and Mister Phillips for West Contra Costa School Board.  For a full report of results, see http://ecdclub.dev.haveabyte.com/?p=1373.

Over 50% of our members attended; 160 ballots were distributed, and 159 were turned in.  In addition, there were about dozen people who came to listen to the candidates.  

Our system of voting cards worked very smoothly, thanks to our sign in and ballot distribution volunteers Pam and Paul Gilbert Snyder, Russell Skeahan, Gloria Merrill, Tom Cesa, Mary Lyman and Michelle Fadelli, Grace Shimizu and Jonee Grassi.

Bob MacDonald, Scott Lyons, and Dwight Merrill collected questions from the audience; Sue Roberts and Al Miller kept the refreshment table orderly, Ruby MacDonald kept tabs on everyone, and Amanda Staunko and Caroline Damon spent the day counting the votes.  With so many races on the ballot, it was a huge job; they stayed cheerful and focused the entire day!

Several folks pitched in for set up and clean up – Joanna Pace, the Gilbert-Snyders, Greg Lyman, Gabe Quinto, Peter Chau, and I know I’ve left some folks out.

We were also lucky to have three excellent moderators: our Vice President of Records Mollie Hazen moderate d the two transportation panels (BART and AC Transit); Peter Chau, communications volunteer and past candidate for school board, moderated the two education panels (Board of Education and West County School Board), and the Mayor of San Pablo moderated the Kensington Community Services Board and the El Cerrito City Council panels.  And our vice president of Publications, Kip Crosby provided excellent timekeeping throughout.

All but two of the candidates who have qualified for local races participated.  Our new Superintendent of Schools Matthew Duffy led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and spoke about Measure T; Chris Peeples from AC Transit spoke about Measure VV; Mayor Pro Tem Janet Abelson spoke about Measure X.  This just shows how broad and generous our community of Democrats is in West Contra Costa County.

And speaking of generosity – the refreshments provided by our candidates showed the whole gamut of delights: fruit salad, homemade cookies, sushi, sandwiches, cut up vegetables, flavored popcorn – all prepared and donated by our candidates.  Special thanks to Al Miller for providing the wonderful coffee from Well Grounded.

But nothing comes close to the dedication and generosity of Craig Cheslog who served as our endorsement voting judge.  He showed up at the beginning, steadfastly checked and cross checked the number of sign ins against ballots handed out, sat with our ballot counters to make sure the ballots were correctly counted and tallied, and finally, at the end of a very long day, moderated two challenges.

When Mister Phillips examined the ballots, he discovered one vote that hadn’t been counted for him, and noted that two ballots had to be disqualified because the voter had marked more than two boxes.  This lowered the denominator, increased the numerator, and ended up winning him the 60% majority need for our endorsement.

Nick Arzio, who had 36% of the vote for El Cerrito City Council, challenged the count for fellow City Council candidate Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto.  Upon careful examination of the ballots, our election judge Mr. Cheslog agreed to disqualify one ballot, but Rochelle still received 60% of the votes cast, and the Club’s endorsement.  Once the two challenges were settled, the results were announced, photographed, and posted on Facebook.  And the meeting was adjourned.

Our standing rules state that there can be no further challenges once the meeting has been adjourned; however, we did received several more emails from Mr. Arzio citing certain technical points in Roberts’ Rules of Order that could have affected the outcome.  However, our election judge, Mr. Cheslog, stated unequivocally even had Mr. Arzio brought citations forward before the meeting was adjourned, they would not have stripped the endorsement from Ms. Pardue-Okimoto.

As a club, we can be proud that so many of our members participated in our forum, that our process provided us with indisputable ballot distribution, and that the ballots themselves were organized in such a way that challenges could be raised and resolved.