January meeting progam
At our January meeting, three local activists will lead a discussion of homelessness: Karlo Silbiger, chair of Culver City’s committee on homelessness; Mark Lipman, a member of that committee; and Mel Tillekeratne, Founder and Executive Director of The Shower of Hope. The program on homelessness will begin one hour into the meeting, at 8 p.m.
Also on the agenda
During our regular business meeting, beginning at 7 p.m., members will vote on whether the Club should endorse Culver City Measure Y on the March 3 primary election ballot. This measure would extend a half-cent sales tax that is set to expire soon. Passage of the measure will avoid cuts in essential departments.
At the December meeting the Club endorsed only five of the open Central Committee positions in the 54th Assembly District. There are seven openings and nine candidates that fell short of the sixty percent requirement for endorsement by the Club. Our bylaws require a second ballot when no candidate gets an endorsement on the first ballot.
At the January meeting we will hold a second ballot on the two open positions on the County Committee. The nine candidates who did not get sixty percent on the first ballot will be on that second ballot.
[Article XI, Section 6 of our bylaws reads: “If a first ballot does not result in an endorsement for all open seats, a second ballot shall be conducted.” ]
Election of Club officers
The other essential business on the meeting agenda in January will be the election of the officers of the Culver City Democratic Club for a one year term. The nominating committee has recommended that the Club re-elect the current slate of officers and their names will be put in nomination. In addition, our bylaws provide for nominations from the floor at the January meeting, as long as the nominee’s written or spoken consent is given.
Adoption of 2020 budget
The budget for 2020 was presented to the members at the December meeting. At our January meeting we will vote on whether to adopt it.
Installation of officers and . . . awards!
Our first fundraising event of 2020 now has an exact date: Sunday, February 16, 2020, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Club’s annual installation and awards luncheon will be emceed by Culver City Councilman Daniel Lee.
The new Club officers will be sworn in at the February 16 luncheon. That part may not be very interesting if it turns out the new officers are just the old officers who were re-elected.
Maybe we can keep that part short. The awards will be more interesting. The Trudy and Hal Cherness Democrat of the Year Award will go to long-time Club member Rick Tuttle. Rick is a former Los Angeles City Controller and a lifelong activist for democracy and justice.
There will be a brand new, and possibly once in a lifetime award. The Executive Board is happy to announce that the first recipient of the Culver City Democratic Club’s Rising Star Award will be Sarah Hager, one of the leaders of Vote16 Culver City.
Sarah is now a member of our Club, but when she first came to one of our general meetings she was one of three high school students asking the Club to endorse an idea they were trying to turn into law: giving 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in Culver City elections.
The Club members at that meeting endorsed the idea unanimously. Such a change would be a desperately needed shot in the arm to voter turnout, and would expand democracy in a constructive way.