Amador County Democrats

The theme of this years State Democratic Convention was "A New Era," and it was evident we have embarked on a new and exciting era going into the 2010 election cycle. Just as we are "Celebrating the Vision" as we move forward in Amador County, the state party is moving forward into a new era.

Not satisfied with sitting back, patting ourselves on the back after our November election victories, the message througout the weekend of the convention was Democrats are moving ahead with renew vigor in voter registration efforts, bringing in the vote, and in heading the call to compete in every election in every district, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant the seat might be.

Attending the convention from Amador County were ACDCC Chair Randy Bayne, Vice-Chair Caryl Callsen, Democratic Club President Liz McCulloch, 10th Assembly District Chair Marcie Bayne, Sally Trestrail, Judy Hotchkiss, Mirea Danielsen, and Janine Smalley. Brian Grey got a spot on the floor as a visitor.

Also seen in this picture seated next to the ACDCC delegation are our friends from Calaveras Co. DCC Tillman Sherman and Sharon Romano.

Follow this link to Flickr for more convention photos.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon and hit the ground running. Before things got started, Marcie, Tillman and Randy met with Dr. Amerish Bera to talk about his run for the 3rd Congressional District. Dr. Bera will be attending our May 5 club meeting, and I encourage everyone to attend and find out more about him.

During our brief time together, Dr. Bera talked about health care, water and the Employee Free Choice Act.

Compassion was the word on health care. Dr. Bera looks from the inside at a current system that he says lacks compassion. No one, he says, should have to decided if they can afford to get life saving procedures. They should just be able to get the care they need and not have to worry about losing everything else. Everyone is entitled to, at the very least, basic health care, and when more than basic care is required they should be able to get the full care they need without concern for their ability to pay. In a word, health care, in this doctors world is a right to be enjoyed by all, not just those who can afford it.

Dr. Bera is no fan of employer based care either. It isn’t right that someone employees are tied to jobs because they can’t get health care. Health care, he says, must be portable and stay with you wherever you go. It should not be employer based.

Employers are ill equipped to deal with the complexities of providing health care.

Water was another issue we talked about. The solution to California’s water issues isn’t more and bigger dams, said Dr. Bera. What is needed is conservation and a change in our attitudes about and behavior using water. He told us he would be very interested in a tour of the area that will be affected if the Pardee Dam expansion becomes a reality, and would like to learn more about this particular issue.

Friday evening was filled with caucus meetings and hospitality suites. The room where the Rural Caucus met was full to overflowing. So much so, I was unable to get in and so have no report.

Saturday was filled with two general sessions for the most part. There was a great line up of speakers on both Saturday and Sunday. In the interest of brevity I'm not going to go through them all.

New officers were also elected Saturday. They are Chair John Burton, First Vice Chair Alex Rooker, Second Vice Chair Eric Bauman and Controller Hilary Crosby.

In the evening was the was a tribute dinner honoring outgoing State Party Chair Art Torres. In another room was the Take Back Red CA Red to Blue Dinner which included the first Ron Platt Courage Awards. In honor of former Calaveras Co. DCC Chair Ron Platt awards were given by Governor Howard Dean to five outstanding candidates who braved running in conservative areas of the state. Courage Awards were presented to Lt. Col. Charlie and Jan Brown (CD-04), Francine Busby (CD-50), Dr. Bill and Diane Durston (CD-03), Rep. Jerry McNerney (CD-11), and Russ Warner (CD-26).

A PowerPoint presentation is available here.

The main business of the convention on Sunday was action on the six propositions on the May 19 ballot and final action on resolutions.

Debate was spirited and in the end the party split, endorsing three propositions and remaining neutral on three others.

Proposition 1A: Neutral
State Budget. Changes California Budget Process. Limits State Spending. Increases “Rainy Day” Budget Stabilization Fund.

Proposition 1B: Support
Education Funding. Payment Plan.

Proposition 1C: Support
Lottery Modernization Act.

Proposition 1D: Neutral
Protects Children’s Services Funding. Helps Balance State Budget.

Proposition 1E: Neutral
Mental Health Services Funding. Temporary Reallocation. Helps Balance State Budget.

Proposition 1F: Support
Elected Officials’ Salaries. Prevents Pay Increases During Budget Deficit Years.

Also on Sunday, Regional Directors handed out their awards recognizing an outstanding volunteer in their region. Region 7 Director Gary Robbins chose our own Marcie Bayne in recognition of the tireless efforts to promote issues important to Democrats and getting Democrats elected, not only Alyson Huber in the 10th Assembly District, but others up and down the valley and in the foothills.

We left the convention feeling exhausted, yet at the same time energized and ready to plow ahead into the 2010 election cycle. It is sure to see some exciting races as things are already beginning to heat up.

Don't forget - there are more convention photos here.