TThhee NNeeww DDeemmooccrraatt A Publication of the Peninsula Democratic Coalition (PDC) June 2014 In Memoriam Mark Your John Bernard Vasconcellos, Jr. Calendar! May 11, 1932 ~ May 24, 2014 Annual PDC Picnic Sunday, August 16, 2014 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Shoup Park, 400 University Avenue, Los Altos More information and registration coming soon at www.peninsulademocrats.com Democratic Party Endorsements John Vasconcellos died at his home in Santa Clara on May 24, 2014 at the age of 82. John was in the State Legislature, first as a member of the Assembly, then as a State Senator from 1966 until term limits forced his retirement in 2004. I met John in 1968 when he was running for re-election to the Assembly and I was the Democratic candidate in the 22nd Assembly District. (At that time the 22nd ran from Palo Alto, down through Saratoga and Los Gatos to Gilroy; the incumbent was a moderate Republican, George Milias, and the district was heavily Republican.) We shared the stage at a number of candidates’ nights over the course of the campaign. I got to know Vasco and his Because the PDC welcomes all Democrats and in order to positions on a wide range of topics. John was then, and foster unity, it has been club policy not to endorse candidates continued to be through his tenure in the legislature, a staunch in contested primaries with more than one viable Democrat. advocate for education, for health care, and for the interests of But the PDC Board at times does endorse initiatives. Here are the neediest in our population. the California Democratic Party endorsements resulting from Over John’s years in Sacramento he was able to combine his delegate votes at the March 2014 California Democratic Party humanitarian outlook with an encyclopedic knowledge of the Convention, in which PDC delegates cast their ballots. budget and the workings of state government. Vasconcellos was Endorsed Democratic candidates cleared the 60% or more bar the epitome of the argument against term limits for legislators – of delegate votes cast. not that he might not have retired in any case; there needs to be For more information on endorsed candidates and ballot a chance for legislators to learn and to grow; the institutional initiatives, visit the California Democratic Party website wisdom amassed by Vasconcellos was invaluable! www.caldem.org . Along with his firm views on important issues, John believed Whatever you decide, it is crucial that you VOTE in the strongly that political discourse should be civil and open ended. June 3 primary and again in the November 4 midterm He was willing to work with almost anyone in Sacramento in the elections. interest of progress. After Vasco retired he created a foundation to further the Politics of Trust; see www.politicsoftrust.net . (Continued on page 8) (Continued on page 10 The New Democrat 2 June 2014 Francisco Chapter of the Truman National Security Project – see the article in this President’s newsletter. If you missed that, find Mike at a PDC event and ask him Column about it – he’s an expert Amy Pearl and a very interesting guy! In May we had an informative talk on Human Trafficking in Santa Clara County by Santa Clara County Recent and Upcoming District Attorney Jeff Rosen. Jeff gave an Events and a Board Report overview of what PDC President Amy Pearl (left) and human trafficking is, the Events Review and Picnic Planning! Amanda Renteria at the Santa Clara scope of the problem, Thanks to our new VP of Programs, Judy Plaska, and all of our County Democratic Party’s Annual JJ and what is being done great board members and volunteers, we had a wealth of events Fundraiser Dinner. locally. See the article in May. And Save the Date: Saturday August 16 we have our elsewhere in the annual club Picnic and Barbecue Bash in Shoup Park in Los newsletter. Thanks to Altos! This is one of our two big social events and our big everyone who supported these events and the club volunteers fundraiser for the year (most of our fundraising goes to getting who helped make them possible. Democrats elected, so come for the fun, bring your friends and bring your “checkbooks”!). If you’d like to help, please Board First Quarter Report contact Andrew Heaton, [email protected]. The Board has Thank you for your confidence in us, the Board of the PDC. discussed having a Climate Change Forum in September and a We have a great board right now, with a balance of longtime pre-election event in October, possibly with George Lakoff – stay board members with a lot of “institutional knowledge” and tuned for details as events develop. newer board members with lots of new ideas and energy. Eleven The fundraiser for Congressional candidate Michael Eggman of our 24 current board members joined the board last year or which we co-hosted with the Democratic Volunteer Center and this year. This is not only due to some regular turnover, it is the the Dean Democratic Club raised over $6,000 from 50 people. result of a concerted effort by the Board to rejuvenate and bring Michael gave a great talk and it was a lot of fun with delicious in new (and frankly some younger) board members. These new food. Thank you to our hosts Jackie and Ralph Wheeler. board members are stepping up, taking on responsibilities, and The fundraiser for Kentucky Secretary of State Alison becoming integral to the PDC. Lundergan Grimes (running for US Senate to defeat incumbent We had a board retreat in May, prior to the regular monthly Kentucky Senator and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, board meeting (which is the second Wednesday of each month, perhaps the most important Senate race in the country and and which all PDC members are welcome to attend). After a probably the most expensive), which we co-hosted with review of the club’s history by Emy and Jim Thurber, we had Progressive Women Silicon Valley, sold out and raised over breakout sessions to discuss three areas in which the operations $65,000! It was a beautiful reception, Anna Eshoo introduced of the club need improvement: our “marketing” of and Alison, and Alison spoke and took questions. Thank you to those communications about the club and our activities; increasing of you who attended and/or donated and to the PDC for helping visibility of the club’s existence to reach out to new members, to make this a successful event. You can still donate at especially in new communities; and improving our policies about https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/05.05.14pw . Note: things like endorsements and what affiliated activities we support I am considering organizing a group to go campaign for her in (such as co-hosting events and including non-PDC events in our Kentucky prior to the election – let me know if you are weekly email calendar). We ended with a discussion of ways to interested. improve our actual board meetings. Here are some outcomes of The Santa Clara County Democratic Party JJ Fundraising Dinner the retreat: featured two fantastic Central Valley California Congressional Involve non-board members in the club: The Board really runs the candidates, Michael Eggman and Amanda Renteria. Michael club and our activities, with some wonderful members Eggman gave a rousing speech and Amanda Renteria is incredibly volunteering to help with things like events and voter registration. charismatic, with a great personal story. Thanks to all who Some of our newer Board members would like to see more attended – the PDC had three tables! There will be future involvement of non-Board club members in our decision making. fundraisers for Amanda, and the PDC should host. While all members are welcome at Board meetings (Second In April we had a great panel on Cybersecurity and Privacy , Wednesday of each month, gather at 7:15pm, see website or moderated by PDC member Mike McNerney with the San (Continued on page 5) The New Democrat 3 June 2014 In fact, the mailer may advocate votes for five candidates in five different races – and each of the five paid to be included. In Martin’s other words, that card is not an endorsement of any kind – it is merely a commercial venture to make money for those doing the EDITORIAL printing and distribution. Full disclosure of who is behind a mailing and what the “endorsement” really means would help the card recipient reach a sound judgment. We live in a world of too much communication without Another benefit of requiring attribution would affect postings responsibility. This column is signed; anyone with a problem on the web as well as items on the air on in the paper: people about, question on, or compliment for the opinions expressed might watch what they say a bit more carefully if they knew the can easily contact the source. However, people sending email, words would be attributed to them. Thus, merely by forcing placing a phone call (automated or live), buying advertisements accountability, we are likely to improve – at least marginally – the on television or in the newspaper, or posting information on the level of political discourse. internet can hide their identity. We need a law providing that public distribution of false Sometimes the source does not matter. There is no need for information as part of a news story, a paid commercial, or a mass attribution of the weather report that no one much believes in mailing is subject to civil penalties. Information would be any case. Sometimes the source is obvious.