Contents:
- Upcoming Meeting Preview for September 24, 2019
- Agenda – from Janet Abelson
- Program – Supervisor John Gioia
- Meeting Minutes – August General Meeting
- Reminder: October 26 Annual Dinner Nancy Skinner
PREVIEW OF UPCOMING BUSINESS MEETING
September 24, 2019
Upcoming regular Membership Meeting will be held on September 24, 2019 at the Presbyterian Church at 545 Ashbury Ave, Back Building, El Cerrito 94530. Meeting will start at 6:30 pm
Agenda submitted by Janet Abelson
6:00 Doors Open: Pizza available ($5)
6:30 Call to Order
6:35 Minutes
6:40 Treasurer’s Report
6:45 Other Officer Reports
6:50 Report from Club Representative to Central Committee
6:55 Report on Selection of Club Representatives to the CDP process
7:00 Upcoming ECDC Meetings/ Speakers
September 24 Tuesday Supervisor John Gioia
October 26 Annual Dinner Nancy Skinner (no separate meeting) at Kensington Community Church
7:05 Announcements
Date of Next Climate Committee Meeting
Other
7:20 Program – Supervisor John Gioia is speaker.
John Gioia is Chair of the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors. First elected in 1998, John has been overwhelmingly re-elected five times and represents 210,000 residents in the western most urban and diverse area of the county. He previously served for 10 years on the East Bay Municipal Utility District Board, serving as President in 1995 and 1996.
John is a recognized leader in Bay Area regional government and on air quality and climate change issues. He was appointed by Governor Brown in 2013 to the California Air Resources Board and has served on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board since 2006, serving as Chair in 2012.
John has served as President of the California State Association of Counties and the California Cities Counties Schools Partnership. He has been a leader on environmental issues and serves on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and as Vice-Chair of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority where he helped lead an effort to pass an historic measure to raise $500 million for S.F. Bay. John is also Co-Chair of Rise Together, a regional effort to reduce poverty in the Bay Area.
John grew up in Richmond, graduated from El Cerrito High School and the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Political Science and also earned his law degree at U.C. Berkeley. He completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. John practiced law until his election to the Board of Supervisors.
8:29 Good of the Order
8:30 Adjourn
Program – Supervisor John Gioia
John Gioia is Chair of the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors. First elected in 1998, John has been overwhelmingly re-elected five times and represents 210,000 residents in the western most urban and diverse area of the county. He previously served for 10 years on the East Bay Municipal Utility District Board, serving as President in 1995 and 1996.
John is a recognized leader in Bay Area regional government and on air quality and climate change issues. He was appointed by Governor Brown in 2013 to the California Air Resources Board and has served on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board since 2006, serving as Chair in 2012.
John has served as President of the California State Association of Counties and the California Cities Counties Schools Partnership. He has been a leader on environmental issues and serves on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) and as Vice-Chair of the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority where he helped lead an effort to pass an historic measure to raise $500 million for S.F. Bay. John is also Co-Chair of Rise Together, a regional effort to reduce poverty in the Bay Area.
John grew up in Richmond, graduated from El Cerrito High School and the University of California, Berkeley with a B.A. in Political Science and also earned his law degree at U.C. Berkeley. He completed the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. John practiced law until his election to the Board of Supervisors.
ECDC Membership General Meeting – August 27, 2019
- Call to Order
President Janet Abelson began the meeting of the El Cerrito Democratic Club (Club) at 6.30 pm.
- Minutes
A motion to approve minutes of the June 25, 2019 and July 23, 2019 meetings was seconded, and unanimously approved.
- Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer Kathy Flemming reported a balance of $9,426.04.
- Report from Club Representative to the DPCCC
Neither of the Club’s representatives attended the recent meeting of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County’s (DPCCC). However, a member who was there reported bylaws were discussed, and no items were considered for vote.
- Upcoming ECDC speakers
- September 24: Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia
- October 26: The ECDC Annual Dinner features California State Senator Nancy Skinner
- Announcements
- Next meeting of the Climate Committee is September 12 at Janet’s house.
- Stonewall Democratic Club will hold a breakfast September 7 followed by the Oakland Pride March.
- Cerrito Vista Sip & Savor, sponsored by the El Cerrito Rotary, happens October 13 at the Berkeley Country Club.
- Video “Power to Heal” will be shown September 14 at the Cerrito Theater.
- Bob MacDonald of the Climate Committee reported that nearly all of the 300 “Fight Global Warming and Save $$$” brochures were distributed from the Club’s booth at the El Cerrito July 4th Festival.
- The Sierra Club’s Annual David Brower dinner will honor Kevin de Leon, President pro Tempore of the California State Senate, September 21
- Program – WCCUSD transition to area elections
Marcus Walton, WCCUSD Communications Director, provided an overview of a new system of district election for the Board of the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Starting in 2020, voters will elect only the board member who represents a defined area within the district where they reside. The change follows a lawsuit to compel the Board to comply with the California Voting Rights Act of 2001. The Board eventually agreed to the change, and will pay plaintiff’s attorney fees totaling $310,600.
All five Board seats will be voted upon in 2020. Those in Areas 1, 2 and 3 will have four-year terms. Those in Areas 4 and 5 two-year terms. El Cerrito is in Area 5, along with portions of the south Richmond shoreline. Area boundaries will change in 2020 following work by an independent districting commission utilizing 2020 Census data.
- Program – Schools and Communities First Funding Act
Michael Nye and Gordon Miller, both from the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA), discussed the Schools and Communities First Funding Act appearing on the November 2020 ballot. If passed, the measure wouldgenerate $11 billion a year in revenue for schools and local communities by rolling back Proposition 13 protections for most commercial and industrial properties. There would be no change for homeowners, renters or apartment building owners, as well as small businesses properties of $3 million or less.
- Adjourn
The Club adjourned at 8:10pm.