Category Archives: Solano County

Meeting Reflections – August 8, 2023

MEETING REFLECTIONS
AUGUST 8, 2023


___________________________________________________________________________

Our August general membership meeting was held on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, at 7pm, via Zoom.

Agenda:

  • Call to Order
  • Quorum
  • Treasurer’s Report
  • Acknowledgements/Announcements
  • What are Advisory Boards/Commissions?
    • Ramon Castellblanch, Ph.D. ED ADAB
    • Monica Brown, Solano Co. Supervisor, Dist. 2
  • Jonathan Cook, ED Solano Pride Center
  • Endorsement Poll – membership
  • Wrap Up – Next Meeting 9/13 at 7:00 pm

Announcements

  • Mayor Steve Young reported on:
    • City Council appointed Mario Giuliani as City Manager
    • the City Council meeting on August 15th – topics to be discussed: shutting off water for non-payment; resolution in opposition to SB 532 on bridge toll increases
    • Sept. 5th meeting: two-step request to drop Wells Fargo as City’s bank
    • Concern about Flannery Assoc. buying up land around Travis Air Force Base
  • Supervisory Brown gave a quick report on today’s board meeting
  • PDB is looking for members to join the ByLaws Subcommittee and the Steering Committee
  • United Democrats of Solano County are holding in-depth, hour-long interviews with each state senate candidate. Recordings of these interviews will be made available on their Facebook page.
    • August 9 – District 3 Senate Candidate  Christopher Cabaldon, former mayor of West Sacramento
    • Sept. 6 – District 3 Senate Candidate Rozzana Verder-Aliga, Vice-Mayor of Vallejo

Program

We had a discussion about the Advisory Boards and Commissions in Solano County. Maggie Kolk described the role played by the County boards and commissions.  Supervisor Monica Brown and Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board (ADAB) Chair Rámon Castellblanch, Ph.D. discussed the future of the boards. Both fielded questions.

Steering committee member Jack Kolk shared more about the PDB Google Group and why you should sign up to join it.

Our featured speaker was Johnathan Cook, Executive Director of the Solano Pride Center.  He described the meeting he attended in Vacaville organized by a conservative group speaking out against recognizing June as Pride Month and against raising the Pride flag.  He also spoke about:

  • the numerous anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in state legislatures across the country in 2023.
  • AB 1314 mandating that teachers “out” students to their parents. Solano Pride Center opposes this bill.
  • Similar battles going on in school districts throughout the state.
  • HR 734 banning trans and intersex students from participating in sports. Solano Pride Center opposes this bill.
  • AB 957 introduced by Assemblymember Lori Wilson: TGI (Trans Gender-Expansive Intersex) Youth Empowerment Act seeks to update the Family Code allowing judges to take into consideration in custody hearings a parent’s or guardian’s  acceptance of a child’s gender identity. Solano Pride Center supports this bill.

Membership Poll

The membership poll favored voting on which candidate to endorse via the PDB website.

Here is the link to the video recording of this important meeting! If asked, enter the passcode:   %!gQaHZ9

Sept. Meeting Date Moved for State Senate Endorsements

Our September meeting will be on Wednesday, September 13 to accommodate our speakers.  We will be hearing from all three candidates who are running to replace Bill Dodd in the State Senate.

We will offer members an opportunity to vote on which candidate to endorse via the PDB website.  The bylaws state “New Members shall be entitled to vote on all Club matters sixty (60) days after payment of dues. Existing members, upon payment of membership renewal dues, shall be eligible immediately to vote on all Club matters.”

In other words, if you haven’t yet renewed your membership, please do so as soon as possible to ensure you are eligible to vote on the endorsements in September.

An endorsement from the Progressive Dems is important both to candidates and to our club, and there may not be unanimity in our membership regarding who we support.

Don’t miss this important meeting!

 

Our Next Meeting – Tuesday, August 8

MEMBER MEETING
TUESDAY, AUGUST 8, 2023, 7:00 PM

ZOOM MEETING

___________________________________________________________________________

Our next general membership meeting will be on Tuesday, August 8, 2023, at 7pm, via Zoom (scroll down to find the link, which will be included in a reminder email as well). We have a program lined up that could not be more pertinent to the times we live in.

Our feature speaker will be Johnathan Cook from the Solano Pride Center.  He’ll be speaking about the attacks on the LGBTQI+ community.

We will also have a discussion about the boards and commissions in Solano County.  Supervisor Monica Brown and Alcohol and Drug Advisory Board (ADAB) Chair Rámon Castellblanch, Ph.D. will discuss the future of the boards.

Steering committee members will also be on hand to share more about the PDB Google Group and why you should sign up to join it.

Sept. Meeting Date Moved for State Senate Endorsements

Our September meeting will be on Wednesday, September 13 to accommodate our speakers.  We will be hearing from all three candidates who are running to replace Bill Dodd in the State Senate.

We want to give our members an opportunity to exchange ideas about who to endorse, but we won’t have time at the September meeting itself to do that.  At our August meeting, we will ask current members to vote on whether to have a separate, follow-up meeting or carry on that discussion over our Google Group.  We will also ask the members to approve a questionnaire that will be sent to the candidates.

Our bylaws state “New Members shall be entitled to vote on all Club matters sixty (60) days after payment of dues. Existing members, upon payment of membership renewal dues, shall be eligible immediately to vote on all Club matters.”

In other words, if you haven’t yet renewed your membership, please do so as soon as possible to ensure you are eligible to vote on the endorsements in September.

The United Democrats of Southern Solano are holding in-depth, hour-long interviews with each state senate candidate.  The recordings of these are or will be made available on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/UnitedDems.  They have already interviewed Jackie Elward, a City Council Member from Rohnert Park (here is the video).  In August, they will interview Christopher Cabaldon, former mayor of West Sacramento.  Their last interview will be for Rozanna Verder-Aliga, Vice-Mayor of Vallejo, and will take place in the first week of September.

An endorsement from the Progressive Dems is important both to candidates and to our club, and there may not be unanimity in our membership regarding who we support. Watching these interviews in advance, reading the questionnaires and seeing all three on the same night should give you the information you need to make an informed decision.

Our Zoom meeting details are below.  Our Zoom link and sign-in details will be the same through October if you would like to save them to your calendar.

Join PDB Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82362109045?pwd=bG9SMzE3RnA5VlJWeXhUMWhUNjk5Zz09

Meeting ID: 823 6210 9045
Passcode: 039610

One tap mobile
+16699006833,,82362109045#,,,,*039610# US (San Jose)
+16694449171,,82362109045#,,,,*039610# US

Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdtJHvmFU6

Don’t miss this important meeting!

See you on Zoom, Tuesday, August 8 at 7:00 PM! 

 

Dana Dean, others pull papers for November election

Repost from the Vallejo Times-Herald
[NOTE: The Progressive Democrats of Benicia have not yet endorsed any candidate for the November election.  Posting of this article does not constitute endorsement.]

Six pull papers on first day of candidacy period

By John Glidden, 07/16/18, 6:15 PM PDT

The first day of the fall election period opened up on Monday with possibly the surprise of the year as local realtor Ryan Messano pulled candidacy papers for the Vallejo school board, according to the Solano County Registrar of Voters website.

The self-proclaimed foe of pornography has been active in recent months, speaking out at school board and Vallejo City Council meetings about his perceived dangers of pornography on youth and society.

Messano in April was removed from a City Council meeting after making homophobic remarks regarding Brenda Crawford — who is an African-American and openly gay.

Crawford was scheduled to be appointed by the council as the city’s new representative to the Senior Coalition of Solano County.

“We now have a nest of homosexuals infesting our city right now — who have absolutely no business getting involved in our politics,” Messano said during the meeting.

Three of the five seats are open on the Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Education this November. The incumbents include Board President Burky Worel, and trustees Tony Ubalde and Ruscal Cayangyang.

Two City Council incumbents — Vice Mayor Katy Miessner, and Councilwoman Pippin Dew Costa — wasted no time as both pulled candidacy paperwork Monday, according to the Vallejo City Clerk’s Office.

Just like the school board, three seats are open this fall.

Dew-Costa and Miessner are each seeking a second term on the council after being elected to the seven-person body in 2013.

Vincent May also pulled candidacy papers on Monday as well, the clerk’s office said.

Vallejo City Council candidacy paperwork can be obtained from Vallejo City Clerk Dawn G. Abrahamson at the City Clerk’s Office, 555 Santa Clara St.

Abrahamson can be reached at (707) 648-4528 and/or at [email protected].

Dana Dean pulled papers on first day of nomination period as she seeks re-election to the Solano County Board of Education.

Dean represents Trustee Area 3, which includes the city of Benicia, a portion of East Vallejo, sections of South and East Fairfield, the city of Cordelia, Collinsville, and Travis Air Force Base.

She was first appointed to the board in March 2013 and then ran uncontested for the same seat in 2014. Prior to joining the county, Dean served on the Benicia school board for five years.

Former Solano Community College math professor A. Marie Young also pulled papers as she seeks a fourth term on the college’s governing board.

Young represents Area 2 which includes all of all of Vallejo located east of Interstate 80.

Nomination paperwork for all other contests can be found at the Solano County Registrar of Voters, 675 Texas St. Suite 2600, Fairfield, Calif. 94533.

For more information, call (707) 784-6675 or email [email protected].

The filing deadline is Aug. 10. Should an incumbent fail to file papers, the nomination period will be extended for five days up to Aug. 15 so non-incumbents have an extra opportunity to file.

The election is Nov. 6