Today, in addition to the California Democratic Party, Speaker Bass and Asm. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) have begun pushing against the Governor's proposals for the budget.
For her part, Speaker Bass said that her commitment was to ensure that California didn't eliminate the social safety net and to fight back against the all-cuts budget. While it isn't completely clear if the Speaker and Sen. Steinberg are on exactly the same page, the Democratic Leadership seems like they won't go down without a struggle.
"Assembly Democrats will be fighting for families affected by the budget by pursuing a balanced approach that includes revenues and reforms as well as cuts," Bass said. "Our responsible budget solutions will be aimed at minimizing hardship and maximizing opportunity for California's economic recovery."
Interestingly, the Speaker brought out the specter of some sort of court or federally appointed special master that would force some sort of reforms down our gut, IMF-style reforms, as California seems to be heading for a position to fit in well with that third world nation model these days. However, given the Constitutional requirements, both state and federal, it is not at all clear that such a system would be permissible. The reason why there is no provision for a state bankruptcy is that an Article III (or not, as Bankruptcy Judges do not enjoy Article III status) Judges cannot simply force states to do anything. That federalism issue is central to how our nation works, and forsaking it would be a far bigger deal than one budget crisis.
For their part, the CDP is trying to (paraphrasing here) "show our Democratic legislators that there is support for basic Democratic principles to help the neediest in our society," Chairman John Burton said on a conference call today. "Right now our goal is to protect millions of Californians."
The plan from the CDP is to press on traditional grassroots methods and combine them with some of the fancy new tech friendly means used so well by the Obama campaign. More details on that as they become available.
Last week, John Burton (the new Chair of the California Democratic Party) sent an update to members of the CDP's Executive Board about what the organization has been doing since he took the helm in late April.
Please see the message below in its entirety (edited slightly to make it easier to read).
Congratulations on your election to the California Democratic Party Executive Board! Our first meeting will take place in Burlingame on the weekend of July 17th through the 19th. I am looking forward to seeing you there.
And I also wanted to thank you for making the April 09 CDP Convention such a positive and high-energy event. Our team has hit the ground running. (See the update below)
During this transition time, we are looking for the best ways to address the needs activists expressed to us during the campaign, and putting the programs in place to answer the call.
During my campaign, I promised I would focus on the basics: getting Democrats elected - from local races all the way up the ticket: Push to move red areas to blue, in all 58 counties; Increase Democratic voter registration; give activists the tools and assistance they need to be successful; support our young Democrats; and re-energize the state party.
I wanted to share a couple of thoughts with Calitics readers about my experience running for chair of the California Democratic Party.
First, I really did mean it in my speech on Saturday when I said most of the good ideas were on the floor of the convention. Of the 12 points I presented in that speech, a couple were mine. A few came from things I heard at central committee meetings or regional events I attended across the state during the campaign. In some cases, they were things political friends of mine suggested, or even stuff I read on blogs and listservs. One friend of mine at the convention called it crowdsourscing, another fellow said it was the essence of democracy, and a third observed that that's what representatives are supposed to do--listen to their constituents. Of course they're all right. But the point is, all you have to do is show up and listen. We have a lot of bright, experienced people in the Democratic Party in California. They have a lot to teach us.
The other thing people kept telling me is that I was so brave to do this. Anybody who knows me can tell you I'm not an inherently brave person. Foolhardy on occasion perhaps. But I was so nervous on Saturday that my son had to type the changes to my speech because my hands were shaking. What motivated me was the belief that what I was doing was important, and that's not much different than most of the people who do extraordinary things in our party every day.
Coming into this weekend, I had lots of expectations for the convention, some of which have proved to be correct and others of which turned out to be pretty far off base from reality. But these past couple of days have certainly been incredible.
It's been great to spend time with people I know well, those who I just met, and friends who I've only known online up until now.
It's odd, because though I've been a Democrat since long before I could vote, I didn't start getting involved with the party until a few years ago, and didn't become intimately involved until several months ago. Yet I still sense that so much has changed, and that feeling has been echoed by others who have been involved for much longer than I.
At caucus after caucus that I attended, the “change” candidates were elected. Jenn Pae, a young Dem from the Bay Area, was elected as Northern California Chair to the API caucus, over an opponent who was nominated by Board of Equalization member Betty Yee. The vote was done by a raise of hands, and it was clear that young Dems carried this vote for Jenn. Karen Bernal, a Bay Area progressive activist, was elected as Chair of the Progressive caucus by a landslide. And on Saturday morning, hundreds of Democrats lined up at 7:30am to vote for Karen Weinstein and her change slate to lead the Women’s caucus.
Then the huge win came last night. As I was eating dinner with fellow Caliticians Robert and Julia, and several others, we got word that Hilary Crosby had won the race for CDP Controller. Why is this so great? I’ll steal the words of Edie Irons:
Hilary is exactly the change our party needs. She’s a CPA and auditor of nonprofits with a long history of Democratic activism. She’ll shine a light on the party’s finances and spending habits and raise big money from the grassroots and other untapped sources, so the party will be more accountable to voters and activists. She’ll train county committee treasurers to raise more money and keep good records, and she’ll take the Finance Committee out from behind closed doors. This strikes me as the only party office race where we have a stark choice between the status quo and a new direction.
It hasn’t just been the election results that have left me feeling like the Party could be headed in a new direction. Young Democrats have been very visible at the convention, and many of us for the first time served as delegates. I don’t think it’s a jump to conclude that young Dems were instrumental in securing Crosby’s win, as it was a close race.
Bloggers have also been recognized. Many statewide electeds and candidates held meetings with bloggers, including SF Mayor Gavin Newsom and Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi.
I’ve felt incredibly welcomed here, especially by fellow young Dems and Caliticians. Though I’ve been kicking myself a bit for not getting more involved in the Party earlier, I feel like I might have picked the perfect time to get active. We’ll have to see what happens today with the endorsement votes for the ballot initiatives, but regardless of what happens, I’m looking forward to the future of the Party and hope to stay involved for a long time to come.
The California Democratic Party elected statewide officers today, and the results showed a seismic shift away from insider politics in Sacramento.
The party has been roiled by internal controversy over the diversion of funds for campaigns by the former speaker of the state Assembly, Fabian Nunez. Many Central Committee members in swing districts have also been disgruntled at the lack of state contributions to funding for regional campaign infrastructure, including campaign offices and staff.
As a result, two grassroots candidates stepped up to run for statewide officer positions. Hilary Crosby, a CPA and activist from the East Bay, ran on a platform of financial transparency and accountability of the party to its elected delegates and executive board representatives.
We have the results of the CDP Elections. While most of the races were nearly preordained, with John Burton and Alex Rooker easily winning. The race for controller was far closer. Hilary Crosby won with about 54% of the vote. Congratulations to John Burton, Alex Rooker, Eric Bauman, Hilary Crosby, and Reginald Jones-Sawyer.
Tomorrow will be the showdown on the propositions. I'm not sure how to read the tea leaves on this taking the election results in to the equation. Be there or be square, every vote will count.
Recently, the first Vice Chair and Controller of the California Democratic Party joined a California Assemblymember to call for delegates to "help us rewrite the rules and make common-sense reforms...." They have proposed to change to one rule of the California Democratic Party.
I applaud their call for reforms. I support their call for rules changes to accomplish that reform. But, though the change they propose is an important one, it is hardly enough. Here are some other ideas that would actually bring the greater accountability these reformers call for:
This post was written by Asm. Hector De La Torre (D-South Gate) and is being promoted pursuant to our policy to bump post from candidates and electeds.
Democratic Party activists have complained to me for years about the Party's finances. Alex Rooker and Eric Bradley have also been concerned, and shared their frustration with me.
If we agree there is a problem, then we need a solution. That is why I decided to introduce a Resolution at the upcoming Democratic Party Convention and asked Alex and Eric to join as co-sponsors: to fix our Party so we can get more Democrats elected!
But we can't do it alone. This common sense CDP finance reform resolution is the beginning of coming together for reform. I strongly believe that when delegates come together in support of this resolution, it will send a loud message for positive change throughout the Party.
The companion measure to our resolution is a bylaw amendment that will block cash payments to politicians' campaign accounts (especially those that are termed-out). I am confident that broad delegate support will build momentum to make this long-overdue change happen--to stop spending that does not meet our main goal of electing more Democrats at the federal, state, and local level and supporting worthy ballot measures.
I encourage every delegate, and every Democrat, to visit our website: www.LetsFixCDP.com and sign up for our reform effort. As we saw in November, we can accomplish amazing things when we unite for change as Democrats.
In Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle, Sr. Political Reporter Carla Marinucci writes about the race for chair of the California Democratic Party:
"Even as the Democratic Party rides an Obama-fueled wave of youth, enthusiasm and "change," the Democrats of California look to be bucking the trend: They're preparing to elect former state Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, 77, the iconic, battle-scarred veteran of state politics, as their party leader.
It's a move not without controversy: The powerful former legislator, who first held the job of party chairman 36 years ago, is to his fans a colorful idol of progressive politics and to his critics the very symbol of old school, insider machine politics."
The article goes on to paint Senator Burton's election as nearly inevitable. But the comments are fascinating. In 6 pages of comments I read this morning, two supported Senator Burton. The rest were pretty consistent--the CDP needs to stop recycling retired politicians to lead the party. One poster wanted to know if this meant disco was coming back too. As hilarious as they were, they pointed to a pretty disturbing perception among California voters--that the CDP is resistant to, and even actively hostile to change.
A man asked me at the region 6 meeting on Saturday what I thought Democratic values are. I didn't give him a very good answer, but I keep thinking about the question and would like to attempt a better one--because it is something I've thought about, because it's the reason I'm working with the party.
It's pretty obvious who the Republicans represent: the rich and the religious right. The rest of us are irrelevant to them. In fact, I think they'd be pretty happy if we just all fell off the edge of the flat Earth some of them still believe in.
That leaves the rest of us two options: the Democratic Party or a third party. Since our system is structured to make it difficult for a third party, that leaves us with the current two. Since I'm clearly not part of the GOP demographic, the Democrats seemed like my best option. But I can't say the party was exactly representing the values I wanted it to. So here's what I think Democratic Party values should be:
In the January Assembly district caucuses to elect delegates to the California Democratic Party, many people reported that union members showed up to support delegates running on a slate for Senator John Burton for CDP chair. Many of these delegate candidates were also union members. I spoke to several of these union members running for delegate at my AD caucus. Both seemed like fine people. Clearly they were dedicated union members. Neither of them were Democratic activists. They had no links to or experience with the party. But, in my district, both are now delegates--or, officially, members of the state Democratic central committee.
I am a firm supporter of bringing new people into the party. But I find this development disturbing for several reasons.
The California Democratic Party (CDP) Convention will be in Sacramento, April 24 - 26. Delegates will elect new Party Officers. With all the wrangling and agony we're having regarding the California budget, it amazes me that the CDP, as the home base for Democrats, has had very little visibility and is letting the media paint the budget problem as a 'spending problem' rather than what it is, a revenue problem. The fault, we are told, lies with the "legislature" not the Republican legislators, which we all know is the true case.
We need a State Party on the forefront of this and other issues. California has arguably the strongest grassroots activist and donor base in the nation (maybe the world) yet the CDP has little relationship with the thousands of volunteers and small dollar donors who will be needed to power a Democrat to win the Governorship and other offices in 2010. Hilary Crosby, seeking election as the Party's Controller, has the right finance skills and relationship to the Democratic grassroots to help bring the CDP to the 21st Century. Here is some information from her website (http://hilary4controller.org/):
Our Seat at the Table for Critical Party Decisions
As Party Controller, Hilary Crosby will be our seat at the table to make sure our grassroots voices are heard and our knowledge and experience are factored into critical decisions. Successful Party fundraising and implementation of the 58-County Plan will depend on both sound financial management and on a strong partnership between the Party and its grassroots. Hilary is the candidate with the right finance skills and perspective to strengthen and build the California Democratic Party.
(This is in response to an earlier diary. I edited the title (by adding "Regarding Harassment Charge") and cleaned up the names and moved them over the flip. - promoted by Brian Leubitz)
We are offended by the content of a recent anonymous website posting. The complaint referenced underwent a thorough independent investigation, and it was found that there was no corroborating evidence to the claim of sexual harassment.
We, the undersigned, have worked for John Burton collectively for a period of 180 years. During that time we never witnessed, or heard of, any sexual harassment by John Burton against any employees or acquaintances, and we’re prepared to testify to that under oath. This includes staff members Michele Byrnes and Amy Lemley who worked for the Foundation at the time of the complaint.
John may have dropped an “F” Bomb here and there, but throughout our individual and collective careers, he has always shown us respect and gratitude.
Every female supporter of John’s, especially those who have had a long personal relationship with him, as well as women who worked and served with him in the State Senate and Assembly, would not add their names to his candidacy if they thought there was any truth to the allegation. And neither would we.
Endorsements for CDP Executive Offices were considered at last night's Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee meeting. As expected, the Committee voted to endorse Eric Bauman for Male Vice-Chair by voice vote; the committee did not take up the issue of Female Vice-Chair, as Alex Rooker was not in attendance and could not make it.
The endorsement for Chair, however, was very interesting. Chris Finnie spoke on behalf of her candidacy, and got quite a loud ovation despite having laryngitis and having practically no voice. After Finnie's speech, someone made a motion from the floor to endorse John Burton for chair. That motion was soundly rejected, with only 50 voting for, and more than 90 voting against.
At that point, the room was buzzing, and Eric Bauman made a motion from the podium that the issue be allowed to be reconsidered at the next month's meeting when John Burton would have a chance to speak; that motion was accepted unanimously on voice vote. I expect that John Burton will be easily endorsed at the March meeting, provided that he shows up to the meeting. But if last night was any indication, the Los Angeles County Central Committee members aren't going to roll over for Burton and they're going to make him earn their support.
As a side note, the Controller's race, which is hotly contested between current Controller Eric Bradley and Progressive Caucus favorite Hilary Crosby, was much closer than I expected. Eric and Hilary had a very cordial, if brief, forum at the meeting, and I honestly felt that Hilary gave the better answers and showed a knowledge of the inner workings of CDP finances that I would have only expected a party insider to have. Despite it being Eric's home turf, Hilary nearly denied him the endorsement; Eric needed to get 71 of the total votes cast, and ended up getting 72. Forcing the LACDP to go neutral would have been a big coup for Hilary, but the fact that she even got that far is a big testament to the strength of her campaign, and the big support she's getting in the progressive movement.
This is my opinion only, and I have written this in my personal capacity. My endorsement does not necessarily mean it is the endorsement of Calitics or the Editorial Board.
If I were to draw up a list of qualities I want in a chair, I think it would begin and end with the words "grassroots leader." Specifically, I would want somebody who has spent time in the trenches, building a Democratic club, and working to get Democrats elected. Not just from the 20,000 foot level, but from right there on the ground. Knocking on doors and generally doing the things that actually get people elected.
If you asked me a few months ago about the chair's race, the name John Burton would not really be the first name that leapt to mind. Yet, here we are, and John Burton is the best person for the job. He has built Democratic clubs, in fact he helped build a club of whose board I now serve, the San Francisco Young Democrats. He went door to door, not only for votes, but also for any spare change to help Democrats in San Francisco. He understands the hard work that is grassroots politics.And all the while, he understands the other end of politics. He's been there at nearly every level of politics, making the tough decisions. And in terms of politics and policy, you don't get much more progressive than John Burton.
But more than any background, the thing that has impressed me most during my conversations with John has been his ability to seek out the best answers. You think a Congressional candidate has a decent shot at a seat, well, let's run a poll and see if it is worth pursuing. You think we can be doing a better job at our online research, well, let's work together to make it better. It is an attitude of responsiveness an inclusiveness that would be helpful at the CDP.
There is no doubt that John Burton knows how to defend seats. He did that quite well in the past. But, it is becoming painfully clear over the past months that our majority is worthless until it becomes a working majority. In other words, we need to get to 2/3. We need to strike out into areas we thought unnwinable in the past. And come the implementation of Prop 11, who knows what opportunities and challenges we might be facing.
I have faith that John will work to carry out his platform and implement strategies to what he calls turning red areas purple. And, he'll have help on that front. Eric Bauman has been an outstanding advocate of challenging red seats, registering voters and working to give our candidates, and our ideals, a fair hearing across the state. As LA County Chair, he did a whole bunch of work in the red areas in and around LA County. While I am admittedly disappointed to not be endorsing myself, I believe Eric will do a great job as Vice-Chair.
I think these two gentlemen have much to work on. They should work on bringing in greater representation among the young activist crowd that was so motivated by the Obama campaign. They should work to put young Democrats in positions where they can help bring in new blood to the party. But both of them have shown an outsized ability to mentor young Democrats, and I think they will continue to do so.
There is a lot of work to be done to make the party not only more effective in the goal of electing more Democrats, but also making the party itself more relevant to Californians. But I think they have the tools to really help the CDP. I, for one, will be thrilled to work with these two men in the coming months and years.
As one final note, I have not yet taken a position on the female Vice Chair race yet. I don't believe that one has quite shaken out yet, so I'll have to get back to you on that.
A couple weeks ago I took John Burton to task for an email that didn't seem to get it. I didn't think he looked too good for that email when the California Democratic Party needs to think of ourselves as in the minority until we get a working majority in the legislature.
Seeing as damn near everyone other than bloggers have gone out of their way to endorse Burton, the key is what he wants to do with the CDP as he will be the next former state senator to Chair the Party. I have to say, I like what he said in today's email (after the jump).
Two years ago, a bunch of California bloggers got together and decided to run for CDP delegate slots. The expense involved and the relative pettiness of some of the obligations make it not everyone's cup of tea, but the time of the AD elections is here again, and the deadline to file is December 31st at 12:00PM.
The application process is easy--you can apply online here.
The caucuses themselves take place the weekend of the 10th (on either the 10th or the 11th--you can find your caucus location and time here.
Use this thread as an open forum to announce your candidacy. I'm running for re-election in the 42nd.
Several months ago, I announced that I was running for Vice Chair of the California Democratic Party. That was quite a while ago, it seems like ages now. That was before the incredible convention that nominated Barack Obama, before the election that brought us President-elect Obama, before I got married, before the passage of Proposition 8, before the upsurge of a populist movement to repeal Prop 8, and so on and so forth. It turns out that four months is a lifetime in an election year.
Also since then, we have seen the true validation of the 50 state strategy. Heck, not only did we win in North Carolina and Indiana, we took an electoral vote from Nebraska. Nebraska! It turns out that if you build it, they will come. And when we build local Democratic parties that speak to their areas, it turns out that Democrats win. Dr. Dean knew a few things, didn't he?
And so while running for the vice-chair position, I pointed out that the CDP would be well served to flesh out and fully implement the 58 county strategy. After doing some work in some red counties this cycle, I know we can win anywhere in this state. And seeing this budget disaster, I know we must win in areas outside our comfort zone.
All that being said, things change. The dynamics of these races are, in fact, quite dynamic. When I got in this race, I did so not simply to make a point. I believed, and continue to believe, that I would do an excellent job as the vice chair of the CDP. And with these changes, it is clear to me that I will not have the votes come April in Sacramento. While I am not afraid to run a race that is merely to make a point, I believe the goals of competing in every race and building the party throughout the party will be made.
So, I will not be running for Vice Chair at the April convention in order to pursue other priorities. However, I will continue to be as involved as possible. I will work with the incoming chair and all of the officers, and hope to be an asset to the party. The CDP has been more effective than it has been credited for, but not as effective as it could be. We still have a ways to go in terms of our abilities in online, and offline, organizing.
If we are to make the changes that both the party and the state need, we need grassroots leaders stepping up both inside and outside traditional power structures. I am sure that in whatever capacity I serve, I will be able to help this party going forward.
I want to thank everybody who supported me when I announced my run and since then. Rather than naming people individually, just know that I deeply, deeply appreciate it. And on we go...
CapAlert reports that on December 5, Don Perata took ANOTHER $400,000 from his unused campaign account and moved it into his legal defense fund.
The latest transfer means the Oakland Democrat has now taken a total of $1.9 million raised in an account earmarked for ballot campaigns and used it to shore up the legal fund he created to fight an FBI corruption probe.
The transfers are legal, though California's campaign watchdog agency is considering stricter regulations of ballot accounts like Perata's [...]
The FBI has been investigating Perata since 2004, inquiring about his business dealings and those of his family and close friends. Both Perata's and his son's homes were raided by FBI agents four years ago.
No charges have ever been filed, though Perata has tallied up more than $2.1 million in expenses fending off the investigation.
His defense fund was $250,000 in debt as of the end of September, as the former leader faced the unwelcome prospect of being out of office - and without leverage over potential donors.
So Perata has transferred $1.9 million (out of the $2.7 million he had amassed) from the ballot committee to ease his legal debt load.
Once the election ended, Perata had no use for that $1.9 million in his campaign account as a termed-out legislator. However, there was plenty of use for it BEFORE the election, when Prop. 11 was being outspent 10 to 1 and losing by less than 2 percentage points.
Again, the alibi that he needs this money to fight off a "fishing expedition" from Bush partisans at the US Attorneys office doesn't scan at all. Those prosecutors are all resigning in a month. If he's done nothing wrong, what use could he possibly have for $1.9 million dollars over the next 30 days? Or are the expected Obama US Attorneys going to continue this partisan witch hunt?
By the way, the rank and file in the CCPOA is pretty pissed off about what amounts to theft of their political donations.
On PacoVilla's Corrections Blog, a Web site popular with state correctional officers, one user wrote: "Not only did we (CCPOA) back the wrong horse (No on 11) but now we're paying for Perata's corruption defense and from (CCPOA spokesman) Lance (Corcoran)'s comment ... it sounds like we're very happy to be privileged to do so."
By the way, there's still $600,000 or so left in that account. So don't be shocked when Perata drains that out too.
