Let me start by wishing you all a Happy New Year, and by thanking Rick Gardner for his stellar leadership of the Democratic Club of Camarillo over the last two years. I am honored to follow Rick, and very glad that he is remaining on the E-Board. He has also kindly agreed to continue to be our master blogger and webmaster – thank goodness! Those skills (and enthusiasm) are hard to replicate. We are fortunate indeed have so many widely-experienced members, Ventura County Democratic Central Committee members such as (Past President) Thom Tibor, Cathy Osgood, and Sharon Hillbrant who are active members of our Club and on hand to give invaluable advice.
Ventura County Democratic Party Chair Shawn Terris graciously presided over our new Board Installation Luncheon on December 3rd, so we are off and running in carrying on with the work of our Club. The composition of the Board is very similar to the previous Board, with the addition of Mary Lingua, and the departure of Jim Paulson who fortunately is going to continue run our Farmers Market activities. Sebastian Navarro remains our Vice President, and I think we all recognize how lucky we are to have the relationship and energy that our special relationship with the CI Democrats brings to our Club. It also assures us that the future is in good hands. Marianne Slaughter is continuing as our Treasurer, Cathy Osgood and Barbara Weinberg have switched responsibilities, but are both continuing on the Board, and Sharon Hillbrant continues to make her encyclopedic knowledge of Party procedure available to us as our Parliamentarian. We still need volunteers for committee work and are working on assigning some Board member responsibilities, so please feel welcome to step forward.
After $6.8 billion in electoral spending and a tumultuous year, our Party did not exactly end up where we hoped it would be, though in California we are in good shape. We are soul searching about how we ended up being bicoastally successful but could not manage to make our case in the industrial heartland and the farm belt. We are beginning to adapt to our role as the loyal opposition. Finding the right authentic language to explain our policies and values will no doubt be on the agenda. I believe we can only do that through open dialogue and conversation within the Party and with our neighbors and friends, and that is where strong clubs like ours come in. We have a vital role to play.
I want to remind everyone that, two days after our January 5th meeting, the ADEM delegate race for AD 44 will be held in the UFCW Building on January 7th from 10:00AM -1230PM. Three of our club members, including Rick Gardner, Cathy Osgood, and myself, are on the ballot. I hope that all of you who can will vote in the election, whoever you vote for. These elections are the opportunity to select the candidates who will support what you believe in at the California Democratic Party Convention.
I look forward to serving as your President over the new year, working with all of you, and listening to your ideas to help us focus on the issues that matter to our membership. We want to be a well-educated citizenry in preparation for 2018!
Ventura County Democratic Party Chair Shawn Terris graciously presided over our new Board Installation Luncheon on December 3rd, so we are off and running in carrying on with the work of our Club. The composition of the Board is very similar to the previous Board, with the addition of Mary Lingua, and the departure of Jim Paulson who fortunately is going to continue run our Farmers Market activities. Sebastian Navarro remains our Vice President, and I think we all recognize how lucky we are to have the relationship and energy that our special relationship with the CI Democrats brings to our Club. It also assures us that the future is in good hands. Marianne Slaughter is continuing as our Treasurer, Cathy Osgood and Barbara Weinberg have switched responsibilities, but are both continuing on the Board, and Sharon Hillbrant continues to make her encyclopedic knowledge of Party procedure available to us as our Parliamentarian. We still need volunteers for committee work and are working on assigning some Board member responsibilities, so please feel welcome to step forward.
After $6.8 billion in electoral spending and a tumultuous year, our Party did not exactly end up where we hoped it would be, though in California we are in good shape. We are soul searching about how we ended up being bicoastally successful but could not manage to make our case in the industrial heartland and the farm belt. We are beginning to adapt to our role as the loyal opposition. Finding the right authentic language to explain our policies and values will no doubt be on the agenda. I believe we can only do that through open dialogue and conversation within the Party and with our neighbors and friends, and that is where strong clubs like ours come in. We have a vital role to play.
I want to remind everyone that, two days after our January 5th meeting, the ADEM delegate race for AD 44 will be held in the UFCW Building on January 7th from 10:00AM -1230PM. Three of our club members, including Rick Gardner, Cathy Osgood, and myself, are on the ballot. I hope that all of you who can will vote in the election, whoever you vote for. These elections are the opportunity to select the candidates who will support what you believe in at the California Democratic Party Convention.
I look forward to serving as your President over the new year, working with all of you, and listening to your ideas to help us focus on the issues that matter to our membership. We want to be a well-educated citizenry in preparation for 2018!
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