Category Archives: Progressive Democrats of Benicia

Meeting notices, Progressive Democrats of Benicia

Our Next Meeting – January 12, 2021 – Moving Into the New Year


Tuesday, Jan. 12, 7pm
Election of Officers &
Thinking about PDB 2021 Goals

Moving into the New Year – What’s Next…

Mark your calendar for our next general membership meeting on January 12, 7:00 – 8:30 pm via Zoom. Members will be voting to elect officers for 2021-2023, and then we’ll set up breakout rooms to talk in small groups about our PDB club, Benicia, and suggestions for PDB actions in the New Year.  (Zoom link to be sent later, and available on request via Contact Us.)

JANUARY 12th MEETING
  • PDB Officers elections. Current officers Ralph Dennis (Chair), Maggie Kolk (Secretary), Kathy Kerridge (Treasurer) are offering to continue their roles. Craig Snider, current Vice Chair, has declined to run. Nominations for any of these offices will be accepted up to an including from the floor on Jan. 12th. Please submit your nominations through the Contact button on our web site at progressivedemocratsofbenicia.org/contact/ .
  • Discussion with members on plans for 2021. This part of the program will include breakout rooms so members can talk in small groups. Then, we’ll reconvene together for a review of the groups’ discussions.
    • We (the steering committee) really want to hear the thoughts of members – what you’re thinking about these days, what looks important to you in ’21, and maybe some thoughts on what and how the club should focus its attention. So, bring your thinking caps and gumption and share with us!!!
GEORGIA SENATE SEATS

Yes I know, you thought we were done with elections. But both Senate seats in Georgia are in runoff elections on January 5, 2021.  And there’s a lot of opportunity to help in getting Democratic candidates elected – Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock – which would give the Democrats a majority in the Senate (counting the VP’s vote in ties). Here are two links where you can provide some help:

  • CA Democratic Party (CADEM) – phone banks: https://www.mobilize.us/cadems/event/363063/ .
  • Vote Forward – The VF letter writing is complete, but you can still sign up for phoning, texting, and even volunteering to be a poll watcher!  From the VF website>> “With our 2020 letter writing campaigns now completed, here are some actions we recommend for the weeks ahead to help strengthen democracy in Georgia: Phone and/or Text Bank: Join initiatives led by organizations on the ground such as Fair Fight Action and the New Georgia Project and help reach out to Georgians ahead of the January 5th elections.  Become a Poll Worker: Power the Polls makes it easy to sign up to become a poll worker and ensure there are enough people to staff voting locations across the country. This opportunity is for those who live in Georgia.”  Source: https://votefwd.org/posts/Georgia-Runoff-campaigns GEORGIA CAMPAIGNS COMPLETE!
ASSEMBLY DISTRICT ELECTION MEETINGS (ADEM)

This is important stuff! An opportunity to elect progressives as Democratic party delegates who represent Benicia and Vallejo to the California Democratic Party (CADEM)

  • Democratic-registered voters in our Assembly District 14 will elect 14 delegates to the CA Democratic Party (seven women and seven non-female identified).  Among other activities, these delegates elect the CADEM party chair (upcoming April 2021), and vote on the party’s platform and positions on issues taken by CADEM.
  • This year, the vote for candidates is mail-in ballot only, and you must request your ballot by Jan. 11th.
  • AND, before requesting your ballot, first you must register to vote for the ADEM election. You do that here: https://ademelections.com/?isCandidate=False. If you have any questions, just let us know.  So remember: Jan. 11th is the deadline, and you’ve got to register first. We’ll send out via email to members the slate of candidates we’ll be voting for as soon as the slate is available.
Ralph Dennis, PDB Chair

I sure hope to see you on Zoom on Jan. 12th!  PDB’s membership just grew to 101 heading into 2021! During the course of this COVID-dominated year, we’ve been having 40 or so members join our zoom meetings. For Jan. 12th, let’s see if we can’t double that number – to vote for your officers and to talk about your club and our future in Benicia!  (Zoom link to be sent later, and available on request at Contact Us.)

PDB Election Eligibility

Eligible members may nominate and vote in the election of officers. (An “eligible” member is one who is either new and a member for at least 60 days, or a past member who has renewed dues to become current. Dues are due on January 1 and payable by January 31 of each calendar year.  Dues are only $20/year, payable on our website.)  Nominations can be submitted through the Contact button on the PDB website.  You can also let us know if you have questions about the status of your membership.

Meeting reflections, Progressive Democrats of Benicia

Meeting of November 2020 – our post-election gathering

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7pm
Election Results,
and thinking about PDB 2021 Goals

Post-Election Sharing – and What’s Next

We planned ahead for a post election gathering, not knowing the results.  Whatever the outcome, we wanted to come be with our friends!!! 

So… at our meeting on Nov. 10 we briefly shared the results of the Nov. 3 elections, local and national.  We celebrated and held our breath over Joe Biden’s slim lead, and worried over the composition of the House and Senate…  AND we celebrated our new Mayor Steve Young!  Terry Scott’s race for the second Council seat was too close to call at the time (and he later lost by the narrowest of margins).

At the outset of our meeting, we surprised our friend and PDB member, outgoing Mayor Elizabeth Patterson with a time of recognition and honors.  We read a Proclamation “Recognizing Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson and Honoring her Decades of Rich and Enduring Service.”  This was followed by a delightful video collage by Constance Beutel celebrating Elizabeth’s many years of service and accomplishments.  Finally, Elizabeth responded and many of our members zoomed in their thanks and well wishes.

We had planned to include Zoom “breakout rooms” for smaller groups of people to 1) talk freely about the election results and what it means for us and for Benicia and 2) to think about possible goals and focus for PDB in 2021.  But we ran out of time, so we plan to do this at our January, 12 2021 meeting.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Election of PDB officers in Jan. ’21. Terms of our current officers expire soon.  During the Jan. 2021 General Membership meeting members will elect a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. Each officer serves a two-year term. We are seeking nominations for these positions which will be accepted beginning now and through the discussion prior to the vote at our Jan. ’21 meeting.

  • Our current officers are: Ralph Dennis, Chair; Craig Snider, Vice-Chair; Maggie Kolk, Secretary; and, Kathy Kerridge, Treasurer.
  • Eligible members may nominate and vote in the election of officers. (An “eligible” member is one who is either new and a member for at least 60 days, or a past member who has renewed dues to become current. Dues are due on January 1 and payable by January 31 of each calendar year.  Dues are only $20/year, payable on our website.)  Nominations can be submitted through the Contact button on the PDB website.  You can also let us know if you have questions about the status of your membership.
2020 election, Meeting reflections, Progressive Democrats of Benicia

Meeting of October 13 – Election MONTH, focus on Mayor and Council

Meeting of Tuesday, Oct. 13, 7pm, on ZOOM…

No more “Election Day” – this is Election Month!
Ballots have arrived – help is needed NOW!

OUR GUESTS on Oct 13:
Mayoral Candidate Steve Young
and City Council Candidate Terry Scott

PDB’s meeting on Oct. 13 focused on Benicia’s Mayoral and Council races. Our endorsed candidates, Steve Young for Mayor and Terry Scott for Council, discussed their campaigns and provided suggestions on how we could further support their election to office.

During the meeting we also discussed how we should prepare for possible “election problems” on Nov. 3 and afterwards. Here’s the link to an article that raises such concerns and what we can do to prepare: 10 things you need to know to stop a coup (by Daniel Hunter of 350.org, on WAGING NONVIOLENCE.org).  Mary Susan Gast presented Hunter’s 10 points and encouraged all of us to sign the pledge to Choose Democracy, and sign up for a training. Here are links:

As one of our members wrote, “It’s always best to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. We are in a situation where if Trump tries to stop the counting of votes, then we need to be prepared to act in the face of a coup.  And we need to call it what it is.”

In the meantime, here is information on tonight’s Benicia Candidate Forum and on mail-in ballots, and also what you can do to counteract actions already being taken by Trump supporters to suppress voter turnout.

Everything you need to know to VOTE EARLY

ELECTION DEFENDERS

  • Trump supporters disrupted early voting in Virginia. On the second day of early voting in Virginia, a group of right-wing Trump supporters gathered outside a polling location – waving flags and chanting in a clear attempt to intimidate voters.
    • That’s why Women’s March is partnering with Working Families Party, Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project, and dozens of other organizations around the country to organize Election Defenders at local polling places on November 3rd.
    • Sign up now to become an Election Defender and join a training to make sure everyone can vote safely no matter what. Join a training session here – a virtual 3-minute training session (choose one, scheduled for 4:30pm on Tuesday, Oct 6, 13 and 20).