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A Call to Action on Red Counties and Districts at California Democratic Convention

Resolutions Need Delegate Backing to Realize Party's Goals

[We have received this response from Mayme Hubert of Take Back Red California leaders of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party and other delegates who will be working to bring about changes of the party at the upcoming state convention.]

Open letter to County Central Committee Chairs

Re: Resolutions to be considered at the State Convention April 27-29, 2007

Dear County Committee Chairs,

By now you will have received the State Party Chair’s email about a 58-County Strategy. It certainly outlines assistance to rural counties on a number of topics. It is up to all of us to see that these offers are accepted and that the resources for these plans are firmly committed. It is time we began a serious discussion.

Indeed, organizational and financial assistance from the State Party and hard work from the counties is the only way we can elect more Democrats to the State Legislature and to the US Congress. Contrary to the trend nationwide in 2006, California Democrats did not increase their representation in Sacramento. Not one seat changed party. However, with enormous effort the grassroots were able to beat Pombo and send Jerry McNerney to Congress.

The missing ingredient in 2006 was organizational and financial assistance from the State Party. $4 million was left over in the CDP coffers on election day in November 2006. These funds were turned over to the Speaker who declared that he would spend it on “consultants, polling, retreats, and meals” for sitting Assembly Members. Perhaps, that $4 million could have been spent on embattled candidates in the 2006 campaigns. And we are thinking of Charlie Brown who came within 3 percentage points of beating John Doolittle in CD 4. Click here for the news story on the $4 million.

In a few days, at the State Convention, delegates will be considering resolutions some of which address the health of the Party. One among those is the Financial Transparency and Accountability Resolution attached to this email. It asks the Party to establish a Standing Audit Committee elected from the 21 regions. The Audit Committee provides independent oversight with special attention to the effectiveness of Party expenditures with respect to its stated goals and priorities. Instituting an Audit Committee will go some way towards preventing misallocations in the future. Too many loyal Democrats are choosing to write their checks to local candidates rather than to the CDP. Assurances provided by an Audit Committee will help restore faith and increase donations to the State Party.

Assistance to the red counties and districts in order to elect Democrats to office is a stated goal of the Party to be effected through the 58-County Strategy. Therefore, we would like to bring your attention to a second resolution submitted to the Resolutions Committee for consideration in April. Please see attached “All District Resolution” and “All District talking points”. This resolution proposes that Democratic candidates running in open seats or seats held by well-funded Republican incumbents should have some financial assistance.

The CDP cannot afford to deny candidates in rural and red districts some funding if we hope to keep California in the Democratic column when electoral votes are counted. Click here and scroll down to the second story for a report on what the California Republican Party is doing for its grassroots.

There is some history with respect to the 58-County Strategy. About three years ago Mary Longmore of Placer County developed a 58-County Plan. The Plan requested financial aid for County Central Committees to promote Democratic visibility. Janet Stromberg was the primary author of the written document.

At the August 2006 E-Board the Rural Caucus presented a resolution to Take Back Red California, attached above. This resolution requested help for Assembly and Senate candidates running against well-funded Republican incumbents. It asked for assistance with filing and ballot statement fees, mailings, and a mobile headquarters to register Democrats. The Rural Caucus Resolution was endorsed by 23 County Central Committees representing almost 20% of our Democratic voters as well as nine clubs and other Democratic organizations. The resolution was not approved, but the CDP redirected a token amount of Bounty Program funds to five rural central committees.

In conclusion, as you know, resolutions should state a philosophical belief or principle. Many Democrats hold the opinion that budgets and financial plans are statements of philosophical belief and strongly held principles. They are documents that describe the priorities and moral compass of an organization or a government. We hope you agree about the significance of the funding priorities of the California Democratic Party and the importance of matching expenditures to the priorities.

Please forward this email to the delegates from your County Committee. We need everyone’s help to collect 300 signatures to bring these resolutions to the floor on Sunday morning, April 29 for the consideration of all delegates. It is necessary to collect the signatures since we believe that neither the Audit Committee nor the All District Funding Resolutions will be approved by the Resolutions Committee.

Our central meeting location will be the Outdoor Amphitheatre on the upper level of the Convention Center. If you can help with signature gathering Saturday, April 28 from 8:00-4:30, please respond to Mayme – maymehubert@att.net.

Most sincerely,

Ralph Miller, Executive Director Latinos for America, Elected Delegate AD 6
Leon Thompson, Elected Delegate AD 77 and E-Board Representative
Janet Stromberg, Elected Delegate AD 14 and E-Board Representative
Mayme Hubert, Secretary Progressive Caucus, Elected Delegate AD 6 and
E-Board Representative
Mal Burnstein, Co-Chair Progressive Caucus, Delegate Appointed by Assembly Member Loni Hancock (AD 14)

Resolution in support of a Permanent 58 County Strategy
All District Strategy for Funding California Legislative Races Resolution
Resolution for a 58 County Strategy That Concedes No Territory
Audit Resolution- Final

Posted on April 23, 2007

Comments

A vigorous debate is a healthy part of the Democratic process, and it is something the CDP encourages. In the interest of clarity, however, it's important to note that funds raised for state races cannot be used in federal elections - for example: funds raised for Assembly races cannot be used for Congressional races.

Posted by: Roger Salazar at April 23, 2007 01:09 PM

In the interests of clarity, what is truly clear is that $4 million was not spent in 2006. It is also clear that funds raised for Assembly races were not spent for Assembly races. And, further, it is clear that Charlie Brown received little or no money from other appropriate pots of money controlled by the CDP.

Posted by: Mayme Hubert at April 24, 2007 05:23 PM

In the interests of reality. This is not a resolution, it's an attempt to rewrite the CDP Bylaws.Whatever semantic sophistry is employed
a proposal that sets out specific financial action items is clearly not
an"expression of philosophical belief and principle."

Posted by: Judy Hotchkiss at April 24, 2007 09:25 PM

Hello Mayme et al, It's not about whether the CDP should have a 58 County Plan, it's about how to spend the money that would be accrued on a viable candidate, that's the key word...'viable candidate'. I hope two sections are in the 58 Co. Plan: 1. How to do door-door registration outreach, and, 2. A candidate questionnaire that will ferret out, for a number of reasons, non-viable Dem. candidates. Once the Democratic registration figures are up in a particular county/AD/SD/CD, then you'll see action from the CDP/DCCC. Too often we've allowed our own candidates to just be someone from out of the blue, with little or no grass roots political involvement; and I'm talking about elected positions/appt. positions. Not just being a member of a DCC/AD Committee. This is critical if voters are to take our candidates serious. But, just to ask the CDP for money,etc because we're Dems is not enough. We have to groom viable candidates and register voters, then we'll see change. For example, putting a progressive candidate up in any deep Red Co. would be a waste of money and time for all without an accompanying voter reg. outreach. And sitting at malls, stores or events is a waste of time, ya gotta get the foot soldiers door-door to find those 1000s of eligible un-registered voters, they're there !

Posted by: Frank Treadway at April 25, 2007 07:23 AM

I live in a red county, red Assembly district, red State Senate district, and red Congressional district. The first thing I noticed was that a Democrat was not running in the congressional race. Subsequent races have found the candidates to be students, and other less than qualified people. Our last race had a fairly decent candidate for congress but no support from the state Democratic party. I agree with the republicans who never give up on a district even if it is an indigo blue such as where my sister lives. The state Democrats should help in our district.

Posted by: Linda Robinett at May 21, 2007 10:45 AM

Sorry, comments are temporarily disabled. We're doing a bit of server maintenance on the commenting area. We'll be back up and running shortly. Thank you for your patience.

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