ALERT: Mike Levin Needs Our Help on Saturday! (& a Few Other Mentions)
Dear Torrey Pines Dems + Friends,
Join the Levin team this Saturday, August 1st at 11:00am for a Friends of the 49th Special Event hosted by twelve of our amazing local Elected Officials from across the 49th District to reelect Congressmember Mike Levin and discuss how YOU can help us win this November.
Please click here to register in advance and join us to kickoff the final 95 DAYS before the November 3rd Election and help us save our democracy! This election will be decided by each and every one of us who makes the decision to show up (virtually) and take action.
We are less than 100 days out from the most important election of our lives, and I can tell you right now that our opponent is NOT tired and they are NOT resting. They are making calls, knocking on doors, and hosting events everyday.
Team Terra also needs our help to turn the Board of Supervisors Blue.
Check out the volunteer opportunities. Your help is needed with phone banking, literature drops in Escondido starting mid August or sending out emails to get Terra’s message to voters in District 3. Sign up for an event.
The Big Blue Bids for Texas auction continues, and finishes this Sunday from 5 – 6:30 pm.
Join Sister District SF’s BIG BLUE BIDS FOR TEXAS Online Auction in support of our Texas candidates, Joanna Cattanach and Celina Montoya! Hosted by Sister District Co-Founder Lyzz Schwegler, Joanna and Celina will share updates on their campaigns.
You can bid from an impressive collection of items and services at our online auction – vacation home stays, fine wines, gift cards, original artwork, and much more!
Help the Biden campaign with letter/postcard writing. Join several organizations that have set up opportunities to do so.
Vote Forward is a program to write postcards now and then send them all Oct. 27th
https://votefwd.org/
Grassroots Democrats HQ has a number of options
https://grassrootsdems.org/volunteer/
Sierra Club is writing letters
https://www.sierraclubindependentaction.org/writing-climate-voters-letters
Next Meeting
Endorsements & Annoucements
When: Thursday Aug 27, 2020 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtd-6qrz8sG9corCEHgBr9vhTD5xcS41q6After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Our E-Board is working on an online process for our voting. More details forthcoming as well as the zoom link. Please watch for this information in our newsletter.
July 22nd Meeting Recap & Action Items to Support Criminal Justice Reform
Dear Torrey Pines Dems + Friends,
At our meeting this week, we had Ms. Geneviéve Jones-Wright, Executive Director of Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance (MoGo), as our guest speaker. She provided us with updates on what is happening locally from a criminal justice reform as well reviewed important propositions for us to support this November election. Our club presented a monetary donation to MoGo to support the efforts to bring for criminal justice reform. Refer to the Take Action summary below on what you can do to make a difference.
Announcement – Meeting Day Change (Wed–>Thurs)
We decided to change our meeting days from Wednesday back to Thursdays starting in August. This is to accommodate our Solana Beach City Council members. In addition, at our August meeting we will be voting on endorsements. We plan to endorse for the following: Del Mar City Council, Solana Beach City Council, Solana Beach Mayor, Oceanside Mayor, San Diego Unified School board, San Diego High School Board. Only members in good standing will be able to vote. We will send out the voting process prior to the meeting as the voting will happen online. Please contact Janette Shelton (jshelton690@gmail.com) if you have questions regarding your membership. You can also renew your membership online.
Here is a listing of the candidates.
https://sdcdp.ngpvanhost.com/democrats-running-2020-general-election
TAKE ACTION! What we can do to support Criminal Justice Reform – from our discussion with Ms. Geneviéve Jones-Wright.
San Diego County Sheriff – No For Profit Contractors in San Diego Jails – Protect Public Healthcare Services and Frontline Workers! Sign the petition
San Diego County Jails, under the management of Sheriff Gore, have the highest inmate death rate in the state. Over-incarceration and chronic understaffing of Medical and Behavioral Health services create inhumane conditions for inmates and healthcare professionals. Now the Sheriff is threatening hundreds of Nurses and Social Workers with layoffs and proposing to contract out their jobs. Targeting those on the front-lines caring for patients and fighting COVID-19 is not only disrespectful, it’s reckless.
Therefore we, the undersigned community members, make the following demands:
•Reassigning management of Medical and Behavioral Health to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Administration, rather than contracting out to for-profit corporations;
•Increase funding for Medical and Behavioral Health services and staffing to improve patient care, by reallocating funding for policing in the Sheriff’s Department budget;
•Develop a comprehensive plan to end inmate deaths by developing community-based prevention and care systems in place of mass incarceration.
We stand in solidarity with front-line healthcare professionals in opposing the privatization of services and supporting a just and rapid transition to a system that puts patient and community health first.
These are the November ballot propositions presented by Ms. Geneviéve Jones-Wright. The link used to gather this information is through the Times of San Diego. Please share this information with your family & friends.
Yes on Prop. 16: Ending the ban on affirmative action
Who put it there: The Legislature, via a bill by San Diego Democrat Assemblymember Shirley Weber
Type: Constitutional amendment
What it would do: Allow schools and public agencies to take race and other immutable characteristics into account when making admission, hiring or contracting decisions.
In 1996 California voters passed Proposition 209, a constitutional amendment banning affirmative action at state institutions. The result was an immediate drop in Black and Latino enrollment at the state’s elite public universities. Some civil rights organizations have been trying to repeal Prop. 209 ever since.
Each of those attempts has been stymied by a coalition of Republicans, moderate Democrats and some progressive legislators who represent districts with large Asian American voting populations. This year, as in previous years, some of the most vocal and persistent opponents of the effort to reintroduce affirmative action have been Chinese-American political activists. They argue that boosting enrollment of students from underrepresented racial groups would come at the expense of “overrepresented” Asian American students.
Yes on Prop 17 – Restoring the right to vote to people on parole
Who put it there: The Legislature, via a bill by Sacramento Democrat Assemblymember Kevin McCarty.
Type: Constitutional amendment
What it would do: Allow Californians who are currently on parole to vote.
In 1974, California voters passed a ballot measure giving people who have committed felonies the right to vote once they complete their sentences and are no longer on parole.
Thanks to that law, there are some 40,000 Californians who are not in prison but unable to legally cast a ballot. But as with any criminal justice debate, this is also one about race. According to an estimate from 2016, two thirds of people on parole in the state are Latino or Black.
Yes on Prop. 18: Letting (some) 17 year olds vote (some of the time)
Who put it there: The Legislature, with a bill introduced by San Mateo Democrat Assemblymember Kevin Mullin.
Type: Constitutional amendment
What it would do: Allow 17-year-old U.S. citizens to vote in a primary and special election as long as they will turn 18 by the subsequent general election.
California Democrats have been on a decade-long tear increasing voting access. Same-day voter registration, automatic registration at the DMV and pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds are among the recent pro-vote innovations to come out of the Capitol.
Letting people under 18 vote would be yet another extension. Already 23 states let 17- year-olds vote in certain circumstances.
Democratic legislators have tried to do this six times before; this is the first to make the ballot.
Yes on Prop. 25: Ditch or keep cash bail
Who put it there: Signatures, via a campaign largely funded by the bail bond industry.
Type: Referendum
What it would do: Ask voters to either approve or strike down a state law that banished money bail from the state criminal justice system.
In 2018, acting on the advice of state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, legislators passed a bill ending cash bail in California. Rather than letting people pay their way out of jail while they await trial, the law gives judges the right to determine whether someone who is arrested should be kept behind bars based on the risk they are deemed to pose to themselves or others.
Moving quickly, the bail bond industry mounted a campaign to put the question on the ballot as a referendum. Voters will vote either “Yes” to keep the state law and end cash bail for good, making California the first state to do so, or “No” to keep the bail system.
No on Prop. 20: Rolling back Brown-era “leniency”
Who put it there: Signatures, via a campaign largely funded by law enforcement agencies.
Type: Constitutional amendment
What it would do: Allow prosecutors to charge repeat or organized petty theft as a felony, require probation officers to seek tougher penalties for those who violate the term of their parole three times, and exclude those who have been convicted of domestic violence and certain nonviolent crimes from early parole consideration.
Gov. Jerry Brown was famously allergic to talk of his “legacy” while in office. But if the former governor has one, it might be the effort he spent in his final two terms as governor supporting efforts to reverse the “tough on crime” policies he helped introduce during his first two terms in the 1970s and ‘80s.
In 2011, California legislators reduced punishments for parole violators. In 2014, voters passed Proposition 47, recategorizing some non-violent crimes as misdemeanors. In 2016, voters passed Proposition 57, giving inmates convicted of certain non-violent offenses a shot at early release.
This ballot measure would partially undo each of those.
Tell elected leaders we need Police Accountability Now!
San Diegans deserve to live in communities that are safe, healthy and thriving.
For our communities to thrive, law enforcement agencies must be held accountable for abusing their power in ways that disproportionately impact Black, Latino, Asian/Pacific Islander and unhoused individuals as well as other communities. We need a significant reduction in the role, responsibilities and presence of law enforcement in the everyday lives of over-policed communities.
The killings of George Floyd and other Black people before him demand that we reckon with and act on the moment before us.
Join us in calling for local governments to pass the Police Accountability Now policy package. We need justice, accountability, divestment from policing and investment in healthy, sustainable communities. The Police Accountability Now policy package would address biased policing by:
- Limiting the use of discretionary stops and searches through the implementation of the PrOTECT model policy;
- Ending the enforcement of low-level offenses and investing in non-law enforcement alternatives by divesting money from police budgets;
- Establishing an independent community oversight board with investigatory and subpoena powers; and
- Adopting robust de-escalation and strong use of force policies to fully implement the vision of AB 392 – the California Act to Save Lives – and other best practices.
Call on elected officials to pass the Police Accountability Now policy package. Your message will be delivered to the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Gore. Additionally, according to your proximity to one of several cities in the county, your message will be sent to the mayor and councilmembers of that city.
Link to send a letter: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/police-accountability-now?source=cpat&fbclid=IwAR1_-xwM7fcG_g1aA0yfizT4HV90axHCsF3UO9e3yGEi4zWTEpmtE2L-YXs
Get involved here in SoCal – Join the Facebook page for more information. SoCal for Joe Biden. Register for upcoming SoCal for Joe Biden: Let’s Get Organized! online events –> RSVP.
Watch this –> A Socially Distanced Conversation: President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden
Join the campaign: http://www.joebiden.com
July 22nd, Zoom Mtg – Speaker: Geneviéve Jones-Wright,
Founding Executive Director of MoGo.
Dear Torrey Pines Dems + Friends,
We are looking forward to our zoom club meeting, Wednesday, July 22nd
Time: 6 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
All participants will need to register in advance for the Zoom meeting, and a link to register was included in the lastest TPDC e-newsletter. If you did not receive this email and would like to register for the Zoom meeting, please contact Diana. If you are new to Zoom, you can refer to this quick reference guide for our club: Zoom online meetings – quick guide
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
We have a special speaker for our club, Ms. Geneviéve Jones-Wright. Ms. Jones-Wright is a criminal justice reform activist and serves as the Executive Director of Community Advocates for Just and Moral Governance (MoGo). Ms. Jones-Wright is a native San Diegan and also served as a Public Defender. Ms. Jones-Wright will be sharing her work on criminal justice reform and provide use insights on how we can make a difference here in San Diego.
TAKE ACTION!
Sunday, July 19th Day of Action in support of Mike Levin. There are only 115 days left until Election Day on November 3rd, and California Democrats are coming together for a massive statewide Day of Action to ensure that the House of Representatives remains Our House.
Don’t miss this important opportunity to hear directly from the candidates and make a difference in San Diego County — RSVP here: https://www.mobilize.us/cadems/event/283560/
Here are the details:
WHAT: Whose House? OUR House! Day of Action in support of Mike Levin
WHEN: Sunday, July 19th 1 – 4 PM PST
WHERE: Your couch, living room, kitchen, or cell phone
RSVP → https://www.mobilize.us/cadems/event/283560/
Our country is facing some of its toughest challenges yet, and 2020 won’t go our way unless all of us come together to fight for the future we believe in.
July 18th – TERRA LAWSON-REMER – CANDIDATE FOR San Diego COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS – D3
Let’s flip the Board of Supervisors to BLUE! Terra is our chance to do that and she needs our help to win the November election.
July 18th – 8 -12 pm Drive-Thru Door Hanger Drops with Team Terra
Grove Park 745 North Ash Street Escondido
RSVP
Send postcards to voters in key battleground states
Register at flipthewest.com to get a list of voter names/addresses and script, then contact Nancy@adwicks.com to request free Be A Voter postcards to send. Postage not provided.
Next Meeting
August 27th, Thursday
Zoom meeting, 6 p.m.
Please note we will be holding an endorsement meeting for Del Mar City Council, Solana Beach City Council, Solana Beach Mayor and Oceanside Mayor at our August 26th meeting. Only members in good standing will be able to vote. Please contact Janette Shelton (jshelton690@gmail.com) if you have questions regarding your membership. You can also renew your membership online.