Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley

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Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley

Welcome New Officers

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At our annual party on June 20, members got to meet Assemlymembers Ira Ruskin and Paul Fong, enjoyed a great potluck picnic, and elected new club officers.  Our newly elected officers are:

  • Spandan Chakrabarti, Co-Chair (continuing)
  • Dave Joki, Co-Chair (new)
  • Jennifer Sheppar, Treasurer (new)
  • Mary Gil, Recording Secretary (continuing)
  • John Comiskey (continuing)
  • Gerry Hun, At-Large (new)
  • Bruce Cuperstein, At-Large (new)
We would like to thank our outgoing steering committee members, all of whom served our club with dedication: outgoing co-chair Alice Smith, outgoing treasurer Edel Young, and outgoing at-large members Andrea Eaton and Marcene Van Dierendonck.  We will try to post some pictures from the annual party as soon as possible.  If you have any you would like to share, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Last Updated on Friday, 26 June 2009 08:18
 

Five Years of Activism: Annual Party June 20

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BaloonsIt's that time again!  The Dean Democratic Club will celebrate five years of activism with our annual party and election of officers on Saturday, June 20.  Please come join us at beautiful Ponderosa Park (Space 1) in Sunnyvale.  Please bring a dish to share as we are going to have a potluck!  Joining us will be Assemblymember Ira Ruskin, San Jose City Councilman Ash Kalra, other elected officials, and of course, you!

WHEN: Saturday, June 20, 2009 at 12 noon
WHERE: Ponderosa Park in Sunnyvale, Space 1.  811 Henderson Ave, Sunnyvale, CA (Map)

Everyone is invited - members and non members.  Bring your friends and family - the more the merrier!  We will mingle, celebrate our 5-year anniversary, welcome elected officials and elect our Steering committee officers.  Following are the steering committee offices:

  • Two (2) Co-Chairs;
  • Treasurer;
  • Corresponding Secretary;
  • Recording Secretary;
  • Two (2) At-large officers.

Please note that only members in good standing are allowed to vote, and only members in good standing for at least 6 months are eligible to run for office.  If you would like to nominate candidates for office (including yourself), please click on "Officer Nominations" under the main menu on the left.  Please follow the directions to go to our Forum for the online nomination process. You will need to register on our forum even if you had a previous User ID with our website.

In addition to election of officers, we will be voting on endorsing California's universal health care legislation by Mark Leno (SB 810) and approving a sponsorship for an annual event for Ira Ruskin.

 

Last Updated on Thursday, 04 June 2009 20:26
 

Joining the Coalition for Alertnatives to the Death Penalty

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At our working meeting on May 18, Alice Smith, Co-Chair of our club, spoke about her work with the ACLU on the Santa Clara County Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, which is focusing on reducing the incidence of prosecutors seeking the death penalty. They are lobbying district attorneys and politicians and trying to get group endorsements. Alice noted that it costs $1.25 million a year to have someone on death row; appeals can last 18-20 years. In five years, California would save $1 billion if the death penalty were eliminated. There are 640 men and 5 women on death row in California now. There is no evidence that the death penalty provides a deterrent, and studies have shown that students in grades as low as fourth can be assessed to determine who will eventually go to prison.

After Alice's presentation, members unanimously approved a motion for the Dean Democratic Club to join the Santa Clara County Coalition for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Marcene Van Dierendonck volunteered to represent the club in the coalition.

 

Apply for a Netroots Nation Scholarship!

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From: Spandan Chakrabarti, Co-Chair, Dean Democratic Club of Silicon Valley and Netroots Nations Scholarship Round 1 winner.

I'm spreading the word at the request of Mary Rickles, Communications Director, Democracy for America.  First, a few words about Netroots Nation, from Netroots Nation:

"Netroots Nation amplifies progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. Through our annual convention and a series of regional salons held throughout the year, we strengthen our community, inspire action and serve as an incubator for ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere."

Netroots Nation standard registration is $275 (student registration is $50), and then there is the cost of room and board.  Netroots Nation is partnering with Democracy for America to offer scholarships to deserving activists.  These scholarships will cover your registration fee and your room and board.  How do you become a Netroots Nation Scholar?

Go to DFA's Netroots Nation Scholarship page and apply!  DFA is making decisions in at least 3 stages, and the Round 1 winners have already been announced.  But there are still two more rounds to go.  Here are the deadlines still coming up:

Round 2 -- Ten recipients
Application Deadline: June 15th
Announcement: June 19th 
Round 3 -- Ten recipients
Application Deadline: July 6th
Announcement: July 10th

You can see the stories of the Round 1 winners on DFA's website.  You may notice that yours truly (Deaniac83) is among the winners.  Thank you all for reading, and if you feel you are qualified, please apply.

 

Last Updated on Tuesday, 26 May 2009 13:11
 

Dean Democrats get presentation on Instant Runoff Voting

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At the members meeting of the Dean Democratic Club on Monday, May 18, 2009, Blair Bobier of the New America Foundation made a presentation for Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), a concept of voting where voters would rank the candidates in order of preference rather than vote for just one candidate.  After the first choices are counted, if no one gets a majority, the candidate receiving the least first choice votes will be dropped and his or her votes will be distributed according to the voters' second choice.  The process would continue until there was a clear winner.  A modified version of this process will also work for seats where multiple candidates are elected on the same ballot.  You can learn more about it on FairVote.org.

Santa Clara County voters had already approved Measure F to institute IRV pending available technology, and the technology has now become available. San Francisco has had IRV since 2004.  The League of Women Voters and Common Cause are among the groups that support it. You can contact your Santa Clara County supervisor and ask them to support IRV; San Jose residents can also contact their city council members.

On June 11 there will be a panel on this topic with several speakers including Steve Chessin at the MLK Library in San Jose at noon; lunch will be provided. If and when there are more details, those will be added to our calendar

Last Updated on Thursday, 21 May 2009 20:27
 

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