Category Archives: Meeting reflections

Meeting reflections

Meeting Reflections – January 11, 2022

General Membership Meeting
Tuesday, January 11th
7:00 pm

Featured Speaker:
Congressman John Garamendi, Congressional Dist. 8

Our January monthly meeting was held on Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 7:00.

U.S. Representative John Garamendi

Our program featured Congressman John Garamendi, who represents Congressional District 8, which now includes Benicia. Cong. Garamendi announced last month he is seeking reelection in 2022 and will introduce himself to Benicians, share with us his priorities for Congress this year, and let us know how we can support his efforts. The newly drawn lines for Cong. Dist. 8 now mean that all five oil refineries in the Bay Area are located in an area represented by one U.S. Representative, John Garamendi. Let’s have our questions ready for Cong. Garamendi!

We also continued discussion from our last meeting on possible changes to the Club and votes on any motions that may arise. We announced appointments to vacated Officer and Steering Committee positions, including a new Interim Chair, Kathy Kerridge, and Treasurer, Nathalie Christian – and two new Steering Committee members, Lisa Reinertson and Terry Mollica. But, we still need to fill the Vice-Chair position who will be assisting the new Chair in overall club responsibilities, and we need 2-3 additional members to join the Steering Committee to help lead the Club into 2022 in supporting candidates and actions at the local, state, and national levels. It’s time to step up!!!

Non-members were welcomed to participate in the discussion and Q&A with Cong. Garamendi. The remainder of the meeting on Club issues was open only to current and lapsed PDB members.

Black History Month, California Democratic Party, Meeting reflections

Meeting of March 9, 2021 – Benicia Black Lives Matter


Tuesday, March 9, 7 PM
Getting together with Benicia Black Lives Matter

Discussion with Benicia Black Lives Matter

On March 9, we welcomed about a dozen Benicia Black Lives Matter members who joined us in conversations and brainstorming how we might support one another and collaborate in the future.

First, each group gave a brief overview of their group’s origins, goals, successes, and membership.  Nimat Shakoor-Grantham and Brandon Greene presented for Benicia Black Lives Matter.

Mayor Steve Young presented an update on the City of Benicia’s responses to BBLM issues, including the status on hiring of the Diversity and Equity Manager.

After these introductions, we divided into six ZOOM “breakout rooms with 5-7 participants, where we shared conversations around areas of work and issues where we might collaborate on projects and actions.

The reports back from the 6 breakout rooms were full of good ideas, comments and suggestions.

PDB looks forward to ongoing strong relationships with BBLM.

Benicia Black Lives Matter is a local, grassroots community group organized to address anti-Black racism in the city of Benicia.  BBLM is the principal reason the City of Benicia is presently interviewing for an Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Manger, establishing a Commission United for Racial Equity (CURE), and will be conducting an Equity Audit of Benicia’s government and services.

We strongly support BBLM’s strategy to get Benicians to “Actively Commit to Change” and its mission to have the City create and target a specific, actionable vision of what a better, more inclusive and equitable future looks like.

PDB’s mission is to ensure equity and justice for all people, and support the election and appointment of officials that support this mission.  Our programs and actions since 2017 have promoted our mission, and we hope collaboration with BBLM will help us operationalize racial and social justice into our work more effectively.  More broadly, through collaboration we hope we can combine resources and energy for greater impact in Benicia and our communities.

Black History Month, California Democratic Party, Meeting reflections

Meeting of February 9, 2021 – Black History Month / CA Dem Chair Interview for Endorsement

Tuesday, Feb. 9, 7 PM
Black History Month and
CA Dem Party Chair Candidates

At our February meeting, we celebrated Black History Month, hearing from two local African-American poets, Bobby Richardson and LaPaula Parker.  Bobby and LaPaula shared their thoughts and poetry on the achievements of African-Americans in the U.S. and the work towards racial justice that must continue in this country and Benicia.  Benicia’s Poet Laureate, Mary Susan Gast, introduced Bobby and LaPaula, and shared her own poem on white privilege.

Our program also included a discussion and Q&A with the two candidates running for Chair of the California Democratic Party, Rusty Hicks, present chair, and Delaine Eastin, challenger.

PDB members will endorse one of these candidates by voting online via the PDB web site during the week after our meeting.    Results will be posted on our Endorsements page.  Party Delegates may consider our endorsement when they vote for the Party’s officers, including the Chair, during the Democratic State Convention scheduled for April 26 – Sunday, May 2, 2021.