BCDC March 2005 Newsletter, page 2

Page 2

Beach Cities Democratic Club

From the President's Pen

Congratulations to Jim Aldinger for his reelection and to Nick Tell for being the top vote getter in the Manhattan

Beach City Council race, thereby establishing an unprecedented Democratic majority on the council.

Winning election to the Redondo Beach School Board were Drew Gamet and Todd Loewenstein. Steve Aspel, running in District 1, and Dave Wiggins, for City Attorney, both qualified for runoff races.

Although not all our candidates prevailed, we’re thrilled to have one proven Democratic leader and three new ones going to City Hall. I want to thank everyone who ran for such a strong Democratic presence on the ballot. I know what it takes to make that commitment to put yourself out there, and I hope you will stay engaged in the democratic process, we need you. And thanks to all our volunteers.

Now, after what seems like one continual election season, the recallpresidentialmunicipial marathon, what we all need is a day at the beach. Too bad it’s March. I feel so happy to have had all the great experiences these races have provided and to have made so many wonderful new friends.

We now must find a permanent location to pursue those Democratic goals and have an ongoing presence in the South Bay. To that end, our AD Committee and all the local clubs are committed to finding ways to fund an office. We’ve started a Fundraising Committee, with Ranoo Shipper as Chairwoman. We all know how dedicated Ranoo is!! She has already started planning for a big “Cinco de Mayo” party on Saturday, May 7. She wants to have a garage sale too, so start your Spring Cleaning.

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February Recap

Gov is Vulnerable

Speaking to our February attendees, Senator Debra Bowen said that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s popularity is starting to erode. The Democrats who first supported him did not intend to start a war with teachers or jeopardize the police and firefighter force in our state. But the governor’s ability to command the media and send out paid signature gatherers—who receive up to $12 per signature—has changed the political landscape in California and launched a historic battle for our future.

With his star power, Schwarzenegger is pushing for measures that would have gone nowhere under another administration. He is threatening to hold a special election to let voters decide on merit pay for teachers, privatization of pensions, and changing the rules of redistricting.

What’s wrong with merit pay? It

may seem like a good idea, but exactly who gets to decide what constitutes merit? Four members of the State Teachers Retirement System who opposed the idea—people who were appointed by Schwarzenegger—have seen those appointments rescinded.

Bowen has recently introduced bills in favor of fairer elections. SB 469 would require signature gatherers to tell people whether they are being paid and by whom. Meanwhile, the Governor has gone to court to sue the Fair Political Practices Commission that keeps him from raising unlimited funds to support ballot initiatives.

She has also introduced SB 1050 to prevent a repeat of the San Diego ballot controversy (called “Bubblegate”), in which over 5,000 votes for write-in candidate Donna Frye were not counted because voters didn’t darken the oval next to the write-in line. Her bill would require votes to be counted as long as the voter’s intent could be

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The Candidates

RB Mayoral candidate Kurt Schmalz gave an update on campaign events and said he had been endorsed by the police and firefighters. He thanked BCDC for our endorsement.

Lee Fink read from a flyer put out by the South Bay Republicans mentioning BCDC and saying they feared that the Democrats had a plan to take over the city council. Lee has also been

of his fellow teachers and thanked us for our endorsement.

Todd Loewenstein reminded us that he is running on a partnership program to include teachers, administration, and the school board. He said the Daily Breeze and Easy Reader have run stories saying that the superintendent appears to be involved in electioneering, which is against the education code.

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endorsed by the police and firefighters.

Two of the candidates for city attorney spoke: Steve Colin encouraged people to use and promote absentee ballots, the safest way to get your vote counted. Dave Wiggins predicted a large turnout in his district over the open space issue.

We also heard from Drew Gamet, a teacher running for Redondo Beach school board. Gamet says he has the support

Bob Pinzler, Lee Fink, and Kurt Schmalz.