Two EDC members elected as DNC delegates

EDC members Rick Bova and Armando Telles were elected to be delegates to the 2012 Democratic National Convention.

On Sunday afternoon (April 29th) all over the state, Democrats came out to support their candidates to go to the DNC in Charlotte, NC next September. The official results won’t be in for a day or two, but the votes were tallied at each location and the results announced. Here in the 50th Congressional District (CD), all six delegates were elected including the two Escondido Democratic Club members. The delegates will be as follows:

• Betty Ball
• Mary Bayer
• Virginia Hill
• Richard Bova (EDC member)
• Mark Macarro
• Armando Telles (EDC member)

Most of the voters at the 50th CD caucus were from Escondido and San Marcos, but a few were from as far away as Temecula and some from the El Cajon area.

Results for other districts

The preliminary District Level Delegate results are available for other districts. The elections for these delegates were also held on April 29th across all California Congressional Districts. CLICK HERE to learn who has been slated as a District Level Delegate.

There are still ways to become a delegate!

There are still opportunities to become a delegate. California will be sending 134 at-large delegates. Sunday’s vote was only for the district-level delegates. To apply for a at-large delegate slot you need to go the state party web site (link below) and fill out Form B. The deadline for completing the form is June 13th. The delegates are selected from the applications on the bases of helping the state meet its demographic diversity objectives. http://www.cadem.org/about?id=0008

March Central Committee Meeting - List of Endorsed Candidates Finalized

by Rick Bova

Last week at the SD County Democratic Central Committee (CC) monthly meeting the last of the Party endorsements for candidates and propositions for the June 5th election were finalized. Previously, the Central Committee had endorsed friendly incumbents and candidates in races that had been deemed strategic. Most of the candidates and propositions were recommended by the CC area that the race is in. But for two of the races, the CC took more time debating on if the candidates should or should not be endorsed.

The discussion on endorsing Brant Wills for County Board of Supervisor District 1 was around his position on county pension reform. Some members thought that his position was not Democratic enough. In the end, the CC decided that we shouldn’t wait for the perfect candidate and he was endorsed.

The discussion on endorsing Dave Roberts for County Board of Supervisor District 3 was around his earlier endorsement of Bonnie Dumanis, a moderate Republican that he had worked with before, instead of endorsing Bob Filner, a Democrat, for Mayor of SD. Some members called it a slap in the face of the Democratic Party. Others thought it was hypocritical that he thought the his endorsement by the Democratic party was important for his race but didn’t think endorsing Filner was important. Others argued that since Roberts had admitted his mistake and withdrew his endorsement of Dumanis and that this is the first chance of getting a Democrat elected to the County Board of Supervisor in years. The latter argument prevailed and Roberts was endorsed.

The list of all Democratic candidates can be found HERE.

The list of all candidates can be found HERE.

County Dems mourn loss of Eleanor Mang

UPDATE: An informal potluck gathering will celebrate the time, talent and joy Eleanor gave to the Party and to her home Club, the Mesa Democratic Club.

When: Saturday, March 31, 1:30 to 3:00 PM
Where: Newt Ferris’ home, 3829 Sioux Ave, San Diego, 92117

This is a gathering to celebrate our wonderful memories of the time we had with Eleanor and to meet some of her family members. Please bring a food item to share. Beverages will be provided. For more information, please contact the Party Headquarters at 858-277-3367 or info@sddemocrats.org

Dear Democratic Friends:

We have lost a beloved champion of our Democratic family. Eleanor Mang died March 12 from the injuries received in the automobile accident the previous week.

I just spoke with her daughter Mary who wanted us to know that when Eleanor died, she was surrounded by Joe, her husband of 53 years, four of her five children and her grandchildren.

The family asked that I convey that in their eyes they believe Eleanor died at the peak of her 77 years passionately fighting for those values that were a driving force in her life — values that led to her strong connection and commitment with the Democratic Party. Her leadership of the Mesa Democratic Club and as a SDCDP Vice Chair and Director of Clubs are a testament to her willingness to give of her time and talent.

On a personal note, Eleanor was a true friend, supporter, advisor and hero to me. I will truly miss her warm smile, kind words, and boundless compassion.

As of yet, no plans have been made for services. We will share that information with you as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you wish to send cards, please send them to the our party headquarters, 8340 Clairemont Mesa Blvd, Ste 105, San Diego, 92111, and we will deliver them to the family.

Jess Durfee, Chair, San Diego County Democratic Party

EDC Participates in Endorsements but No Candidates
by Rick Bova

The California Democratic Party (CDP) held its pre-endorsement conference for North County Saturday, January 20, 2012, at the Joslyn Center in Escondido. The conference is where the CDP recommends candidates for endorsement in the primaries for the State Legislature and Congress in North County races. The actual endorsement is finalized at the CDP convention in February. Beside State and County Central Committees members residing in North County, each club is allowed to send a few representatives. The EDC sent six members to represent the club.

Six additional club members are members of the either the State or County Central Committees and were able to vote.

Escondido members were able to vote in the 75th State Assembly and 50th Congressional races. But no candidates has requested the CDP endorsement in these races. Some possible reasons for this are that the new districts used this year caused confusion and the new districts in Escondido have a high Republican registration advantage making a Democratic win unlikely. “This year’s conference was the most confusing one that I have seen in my life” said Phil Hanneman, the CDP region 20 director. Since the deadline for filing with the county Registrar of Voters to be a candidate in these races is not until March there may yet be Democrats in the races. But they will not be endorsed by the Democratic Party.

The results for the other races in North County were:

• 76th AD – no candidate
• 77th AD – RJ Hernandez
• 49th CD – Jerry Tetalman

SD County Party Central Committee January Meeting
by Rick Bova

At the meeting we did a lot of approving and endorsing:

- Approved the 2012 budget.

- Endorsed friendly incumbents in the SD Unified Schools Districts, SD Community College, SD County Board of Education, and Grossmont/Cuyamaca Community College in their June races.

- Endorsed candidates in the June Strategically Critical Race for SD City Council D-7 and Chula Vista City Council.

- Approved amendments to the bylaws to add a position on the CC executive board for the Go Team.

- Approved these resolutions: (SDCDP resolutions can be seen at http://www.sddemocrats.org/resolutions.asp)

• urging President Obama to reject the Tar Sands Pipeline. (A few days later President Obama did in fact rejected the Tar Sands Pipeline.)
• urging the State Democratic Party to add a separate plank to the 2012 Platform about transportation.
• opposing the SANDAG Regional Transportation Plan since it doesn’t meet its climate responsibilities and commending the groups and elected officials who spoke in opposition to the plan.

- Endorsed Jess Durfee in his DNC reelection.

- Reviewed changes to the future election of Central Committee members. In June 2012, during the primaries we will elect new members in the same fashion as previous elections. But with California now having open primaries the County Registrar of Voters will only facilitate CentralCommittee elections during Presidential election years. The Central Committee will have to determine how to facilitate future membership elections some time next year.

- Several vacancies on the Committee Executive Board were announced: Directory of Outreach and Director of Fundraising due to current persons running for elected offices. The North Area Vice Chair due to the resignation of Martha Sullivan to concentrate on Occupy SD.  A meeting of the North Area will be held on February 4th to elect a new Vice Chair. Kyle Krahel has announced his candidacy.

- We reviewed the 2011 year end financial statements. A interesting item is that it showed that we are half way there in funding the regional campaign offices.

In 2011 the County Party had about 1000 donors and of those 500 were first time donors. Over 1000 new email addresses were added to the County email list. If you would like to be on the list, visit the County Party Web page. http://www.sddemocrats.org/ The CC executive board will be having a retreat in February to determine the  Parties 2012 priorities.

The Go team reported that they over 1000 precincts now covered with over 500 being new GO team members. More Go team coordinators are needed.

The CC approved the rechartering of 14 clubs for 2012. Escondido Democratic Club was one of them.

Volunteer in San Diego at the California Democratic Party Convention

San Diego is hosting the annual state party convention February 9-12, 2012. This is a great opportunity to experience the excitement of the California State Party Convention at no cost. With the 2012 election quickly approaching there will be lots of speakers, candidates and special guests participating in the convention and enjoying our San Diego hospitality.

The State Party will need more than 400 volunteers to facilitate a productive and enjoyable convention for the approximately 3,500 delegates, guests and press in attendance. Volunteers are needed in several areas – some assignments will require sitting while others may involve standing or acting as a runner. There may be opportunities for volunteers to attend General Session and to hear some of our great speakers after their shifts.

Click here for more information and to register www.cadem.org/volunteer2012 . The deadline to sign up is January 3rd. Volunteering is first come, first serve.

If you have any questions, please contact Christopher Guerrero, Field Director at volunteer2012@cadem.org. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have any special needs and/or physical limitations. We will do our best to position you within your ability and interest.

Email Rick Bova budb@cox.net if you would like to first talk with some local people that have volunteered in the past before volunteering yourself.

SDCDP Central Committee “stands in solidarity” with Occupy movement

The County Party Central Committee passed a resolution supporting the Occupy Wall Street peaceful demonstrations at its October 18, 2011 meeting.

Read the resolution. 

Local GOP sets up fake Dem Twitter accounts; gets suspended

The Chair of the San Diego County Republican Party and the Party itself has had their Twitter accounts suspended after registering a number of phony accounts in the names of San Diego Democrats.

Read details in The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

Read this analysis by SDCDP Chair Jess Durfee, reposted from the Party’s e-newsletter.

Jess Durfee, SDCDP Chair

Twitter and the Twit
by Jess Durfee, Chair, San Diego County Democratic Party

My Republican counterpart got his comeuppance this week when Twitter shut down his @TonyKrvaric account along with the @sdrepublicans handle. For the compulsive tweeter who spends much of his workday dispatching grade-school taunts, it must have been a humbling moment.

The social media company additionally suspended several accounts impersonating Democratic candidates in San Diego after it determined that Krvaric had personally created them to deceive their supporters and prevent those Democrats from using their own names to tweet — clear violations of the user rules.

As a relative newcomer to Twitter (@ChairJessDurfee), I found it particularly weird that the Republican Chair was also impersonating me — and even posted a few times as me — before our County Party filed a formal protest through our attorney, wiping out all the false profiles.

Apart from the legal (and psychological) implications of Krvaric’s stunt, it speaks volumes about the political position our opponents are in.

The San Diego Republican Party threw a fortune into voter registration last year, only to see their countywide numbers still lagging ours. They went to ridiculous lengths to derail San Diego’s redistricting process — suing the city and slandering a Democratic commissioner — but their complaints were rejected by the public and the courts.

Facing a world full of inconvenient truths, our opponents have created their own universe, where lies are honest, evil is good, and Tony Krvaric is Jess Durfee. Their rejection of reality shows in every Republican presidential debate, in which no facts about climate change or the economy ever get in the way of a Tea Party applause line.

I’ll continue to do my part — in this space, on Twitter and Facebook, and elsewhere — to advance a reality-based political dialogue. And I invite you to follow our County Democratic Party (here and here) and work with us to get out the facts.

Given the importance of social networking in the coming elections, I hope you’ll contribute to the online conversation with reason, sincerity, and passion. To paraphrase one of my favorite quotes from Barack Obama in 2008: One tiresome twit can’t stand in the way of millions of voices calling for truth.

County Central Committee endorses Bob Filner for San Diego Mayor

by Rick Bova

Bob Filner

Bob Filner received the party endorsement in his bid for Mayor of San Diego at the September 2011 meeting. Three of the four Democrats who are running for Mayor participated in the endorsement forum. Beside Filner, the others were Loch David Crane and Sharam Adhami. At the forum the Central Committee was able to ask questions of the candidates based on their opening statements and their written answers to the party endorsement questionnaire. The City of San Diego elections are in June 2012 and if no candidate in a race gets over 50 percent of the votes, the top two candidates will face off in November.

Early ‘Friendly Incumbent’ endorsements were also given to Sherri Lightner, Todd Gloria, and Marti Emerald who are running again for positions on the San Diego City Council. All the known Democratic candidates for the 2012 races along with those endorsed by the County Party can be found on the County Party web site.

Two races were designated as ‘Strategically Critical.’ The county endorsement process allows such a designation for a race based on the recommendation of the executive committee and the race’s area committee (North, South, East, and Central). In each election, about a half dozen or so races are usually identified as Strategically Critical. These are races where having a Democratic win is possible, will make a difference and there is an identified candidate that would benefit from an early endorsement. Endorsement in Strategically Critical races can be made before the filing deadline. The two races designated this month were the Chula Vista City Council’s open seat and the San Diego City Council District 7.

A resolution to encourage members and the County Party’s Media Committee to promote the party’s platform was tabled in favor of directing the Administration Committee to modify the Party’s bylaws to make that an official responsibility of the Media Committee.

Jess Durfee gave a quick presentation of the new redistricting maps and the effect on upcoming elections. This is a cut down version of the presentation he will be giving to the Escondido Democratic Club at our October meeting. The Central Committee is expected to make a few minor changes by January to the various County Party Areas (North, South, East and Central) to better align them with the new districts.

The chartering of the new Veterans Club was ratified. It was announced that the Fallbrook Democratic Club had recently helped set up a Democratic Club at Fallbrook High School.

The executive committee is working on adding a position to the executive committee for the GO team. This reflects the importance that the GO team has come to play in the County Party. They are looking for volunteers for GO team coordinators and voter registration coordinators. If you are interested or want to learn more about it, contact the party headquarters (858) 277-3367 or info@sddemocrats.org.

It was announced that there will be a meeting of the Central Committee on October 22nd. Originally there was no October meeting scheduled but the executive committee felt that as we gear up for a busy 2012 it was important to have the meeting in order to address some pressing issues.

Big Blue BBQ raises funds for campaign offices

See SDCDP resolutions at http://www.sddemocrats.org/resolutions.asp
See SDCDP resolutions at http://www.sddemocrats.org/resolutions.asp
See SDCDP resolutions at http://www.sddemocrats.org/resolutions.asp