BDC 2020 General Election | You Voted - We're Endorsing!
Mayor, City of Berkeley: Jesse Arreguín
Berkeley City Council, District 2: Alex Sharenko & Terry Taplin (dual endorsement) We urge you to vote for these two candidates as your first and second choice, in your preferred order.
Berkeley City Council, District 3: Deborah Matthews
Berkeley City Council, District 5: Todd Andrew
Berkeley City Council, District 6: Susan Wengraf
Berkeley School Board: Laura Babbitt & Ana Vasudeo
Mark your calendars for the BDC’s 2020 primary endorsement meeting!
Thursday, Jan. 16th
Ed Roberts Campus
3075 Adeline St, Berkeley, CA 94703
7:00 – 8:30pm
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (AD-15) and Supervisor Keith Carson will address the club.
We will be voting on BDC endorsements for:
2020 Presidential nominee (with speaker representatives from the Yang, Warren, Sanders, and Buttigieg campaigns)
Alameda County Democratic Central Committee: ACDCC is the representative body of the Alameda County Democratic Party. Representatives from each Assembly district in the county are elected to vote on planks of the local party platform and, critically, conferring the party’s endorsements for candidates and ballot measures in the county. Just this week, the Central Committee voted on endorsements for Supervisorial races, Superior Court judges, and Board of Education candidates. Their endorsements (or lack thereof) can have a major impact on a candidate’s viability and access to fundraising resources. The BDC will be endorsing candidates for Central Committee that best aligns with our values as a club.
Ballot Measures: there will be three (3) Berkeley Unified School District bond measures on Berkeley‘s March 2020 ballot—Measures E, G, and H—as well as Measure C in Alameda County, a sales tax to fund early childhood education programs. We will hear from speakers in support and in opposition to the measures before voting on the club‘s endorsement.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge: 3 candidates are running to fill a judicial seat on the county’s Superior Court. We will hear from all three candidates before voting on an endorsement for the race.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have renewed your membership within the last two years, you may renew at the endorsement meeting and be eligible to vote. Otherwise, you must have joined or renewed your BDC membership by November 16th to be eligible to vote on club endorsements for the March 2020 primary. Membership dues must be paid in order to vote.
BerkeleyDems Membership Survey:
For an even better 2020, we want to hear from you! Please fill out our membership survey so we can grow as a club and ensure great programming. Tell us what you loved and what you didn’t—this is your club!
Upcoming events:
Schools and Communities First Walking Tour + Training with CalDems
February 9th, 11am-1pm (lunch included)
Location: TBD
Let’s raise $12 billion per year for public schools! Derek Sagehorn of the Schools and Communities First Campaign will lead a walking tour of inequitable commercial property tax assessments in Berkeley, followed by a signature gathering training session for the ballot measure campaign.
March 19th Membership Meeting
An Evening with Berkeley City Auditor Jenny Wong
7 – 8:30pm
Sports Basement Berkeley
2727 Milvia St, Berkeley, CA 94703
Free and open to the public
In warm appreciation of our association during the past year, The Berkeley Democratic Board of Directors; Julie, Beth, David, Elizabeth, Laurie, Fred, Ryan, Katie, Judy, Diego, Ben, and Deborah extend to you and your family, our very best wishes for a Happy Holiday Season.
Dec. Chats at Spats
Sat, Dec. 7, 4:30-5:30pm
Join Stanford radio host Mark Mollineaux as we discuss how Henry George can help us understand California’s housing crisis as it unfolds today. 150 years ago, the progressive economist Henry George asked a simple yet powerful question: why do the poor get poorer as society gets wealthier?
1974 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
Nov. Chats at Spats
Sat, Nov. 2, 4:30-5:30pm
Chats at Spats with Barnali Ghosh and Anirvan Chatterjee, Berkeley South Asian Radical History Tour, and Tina Jones Williams, South Berkeley Neighborhood Walking Tour: Discover over 100 years of South Asian American activist history on the streets of Berkeley, California!
1974 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
EastBayLeadershipForum with Sen. Nancy Skinner & Asm. Buffy Wicks. We need leadership on housing, climate, and street safety now. How will our elected leaders step up to the challenge?
Host: South Berkeley Now! North Berkeley Now!
Co-Sponsors; Berkeley Democratic Club & Berkeley Neighbors for Housing and Climate Action
A Conversation with California State Treasurer Fiona Ma
This is a great event for you to share your priorities and to learn firsthand how our Ca. State Treasurer, Fiona Ma works for our state, our county, and our city! California faces financial challenges that can only be solved through innovation, experience, and commitment. Many parts of our great state still lag behind in economic recovery, the gap between the wealthiest and poorest Californians continues to grow, and the growth in our cities must be effectively managed to ensure shared prosperity. Our California State Treasurer Fiona Ma plays a key role: investing California’s money in a socially responsible manner and ensuring our state is on sound financial footing. Join Us!
A Conversation with Berkeley City Manager, Dee Williams-Ridley
On an ordinary day, you probably don’t think about Berkeley City Hall—but rest assured, City Hall is thinking of you. What does it take to make sure municipal services run smoothly? Come meet with Berkeley City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley for a fascinating walk-through of the day-to-day affairs that keep our city humming. From paving streets to rescuing kittens stuck in trees, to bond credit ratings and seismic safety protocols, our City Manager oversees it all.
Strength in Diversity, Power in Unity” That’s the theme for Rock the Congress: East Bay, a conference taking place on Saturday, September 7th, at Berkeley City College. The conference will bring together hundreds of local progressives — new and seasoned, all backgrounds, all ages — for thoughtful, challenging presentations and dialogue about next year’s crucial elections; what victory looks like for progressives; what we must do to win in 2020.
Berkeley Neighbors for Housing Climate Action, the Berkeley Democratic Club and South Berkeley Now! are excited to host an evening discussion on recent houising policy successes in Oregon. In 2019, Oregon passed a groundbreaking bill that effectively legalized multifamily apartment homes statewide as well as a statewide rent cap and just cause eviction law. Madeline Kovacs of the Sightline Institute (a Berkeley native!) will join local housing advocate Randy Shaw to discuss the grassroots organizing that made these progressive housing reforms possible and their impact on social equity and environmental justice. Please join us to understand what Berkeley and California can learn from Oregon’s recent successes.
Come visit our BDC booth! Since 1974 Solano Avenue and the twin-cities of Albany and Berkeley CA, have hosted the Solano Avenue Stroll, the East Bay’s largest street festival! Enjoy over five hundred vendors including 50 entertainers, 50 food booths, 150 government and non-profit agencies, 150 juried hand-crafters, a 75 entry parade, state of the art mechanical rides and much more! (Parade begins at 10am.)
Saturday, June 16th, Berkeley celebrates Juneteenth from 11 am to 7 pm in south Berkeley’s five-block Alcatraz-Adeline corridor. Come visit us at the Berkeley Democratic Club booth! Stay tuned for more info!
