All posts by Editor

Our Next Meeting – Tuesday, October 10

MEMBER MEETING
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2023, 7:00 PM

ZOOM MEETING

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Our next meeting will be Tuesday, October 10, at 7pm, held on Zoom.  We’re excited to have our new city manager, Mario Giuliani, as our guest speaker.  He’ll be addressing Benicia’s budget crisis and the various and complementary ways the City is working to manage it.  We’ll also have a Q&A period for our attendees.  Remember, our meetings are open to everyone and everyone is welcome.  (Mr. Giuliani is a City employee and the time he spends with PDB does not reflect his support or opposition to any political party.  He is speaking to us in an informational capacity.)

At this meeting, we will also take time to hear from our members so we can plan for next year. Meeting by Zoom has advantages, but one of the biggest disadvantages is not being able to talk to one another freely at meetings. We hope to have conversations between members at this meeting. I’m especially looking forward to hearing from our new members.

Zoom Sign-In

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, October 10 at 7:00 PM! 

 

Our Next Meeting – Wednesday, September 13

MEMBER MEETING
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2023, 7:00 PM

ZOOM MEETING

___________________________________________________________________________

There is a hotly contested State Senate race this year to replace Bill Dodd. We have the fantastic opportunity to hear from and ask questions of all three candidates at our next meeting on Wednesday (note the day), September 13, at 7 pm. Many of you met the candidates at our July Garden Party.

This will be a more formal meeting with each candidate presenting separately, followed by a time for us to ask questions.  The candidates (in alphabetical order) are Christopher Cabaldon, former Mayor of West Sacramento, Jackie Elward, City Council Member of Rohnert Park, and Dr. Rozzana Verder-Aliga, Vice-Mayor of Vallejo.

 

From left to right: Christopher Cabaldon, Jackie Elward, & Rozzana Verder-Aliga

The candidates have answered a few questions in writing to give you more background before this meeting:

State Senate Race 2024:
Candidate Questions & Answers

 

Please read through them. We want to be able to really zero in on their responses to these questions and use this meeting for your more specific questions.

After the meeting, we plan to use our Google Group to discuss the candidates before we have our endorsement vote.  We will have our endorsement vote a week or so after our candidate meeting, and we will most likely run it through our website.  In the primary only the top two candidates will advance, so our endorsement is important.  The top two will likely be from this group.  Please make sure your dues are paid, as only current members can vote.  

We will also hear briefly about the Save our Streets initiative that is currently gathering signatures. You can sign at the Farmer’s Market for the next few weeks.

Finally, we will vote as a club on whether or not to send a letter in support of Solano County boards and commissions.

Check Out the United Dems Candidate Interviews

The United Democrats of Southern Solano have already held in-depth, hour-long interviews with Jackie Elward and Christopher Cabaldon.  The recordings of these interviews are available on their Facebook Page.  Their last interview will be with Rozzana Verder-Aliga and will take place on Wednesday, September 6 at 7pm.  Everyone is welcome to attend and we will share the link when it is available.

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 when we send them out and seeing all three on the same night will help you make an informed decision.

Zoom Sign-In

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, Wednesday, September 13 at 7:00 PM! 

 

Response to Untrue Allegation in Recent Media

There have been recent allegations that PDB was somehow responsible for having a local resident “cancelled” and fired from her job. This is untrue. I want people to know the truth. Here is how I responded to requests from the media and here are the facts.

The resident’s allegations that the Progressive Democrats as an organization had anything to do with her firing are untrue. As an organization, we did not write any letters or contact her employer. The letter that was written to a local paper was not written by a member. A letter to her employer was written by a member, but under her own name. We do not require our members to seek club approval before exercising their free speech rights and we do not control our members’ activities.

This club was not consulted and did not approve of any letters regarding the resident. In short, the Progressive Democrats of Benicia had nothing to do with her being fired. Put simply: we did not fire this person, her employer did, using their own internal guidelines, which we did not seek to influence, nor do we even have access to.

The Progressive Democrats of Benicia do firmly support LGBTQ+ rights and recently had a speaker about the current threats and attacks on that community. The resident’s website promotes the views of the American College of Pediatrics, which has been labelled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. As a club, we believe people need to know the truth, and the truth is we had nothing to do with the resident’s firing. But we wish she would not promote hate groups on her website.

Please feel free to contact us at [email protected] if you have questions.