May 2017 Meeting

We had a legislative update from Doug Case, from State Senator Toni Atkins office, Dave Myers​, candidate for Sheriff of San Diego County, introduced himself to the club. Dave Myers​, candidate for Sheriff of San Diego County, introduced himself to the club. Primary speaker of the evening, Mayela Manasjan​ is the Vice Chair of the Sierra Club” North County Coastal Group. She is CEO of the Manasjan Consultancy, Senior Environmental Specialists with the City of Encinitas and an Environmental Professor at the UCSD Extension.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Doug Case​, the legislative spokesperson for State Senator Toni Atkins provided updates on five pieces of legislation that Senator Atkins is actively pursuing.

1. SB-2 is legislation addressing affordable housing and homelessness that would be funded by a $75 fee on real estate transactions.
2. SB-562 is a wide-reaching single-payer health bill for all residents of California. It has made it way through the Health Committee, and next week will begin in the Appropriations Committee. The bill covers all aspects of healthcare (medical, dental, vision, hearing, mental) and includes all citizens. This program would work similarly to Medicare, in that there would be no paperwork to be filled out, and the costs of services would be paid from a single fund. All Federal healthcare money (e.g., Medicare) would be diverted into the fund. There have been two similar bills that have been approved by the legislature that were vetoed by the then governor, most recently, Mr Schwarzenegger. There is optimism that Governor Brown will sign the bill. Needless to say, the insurance companies will be vigorously attacking this bill, as it bypasses them entirely in CA healthcare. If this bill does not make it through the legislature, or if Governor Brown vetoes it, both of the leading contenders for Brown’s replacement as governor support the single-payer concept.
3. SB-54 is the California Values Act, coauthored with Senate Pro Tem, Kevin De Leon. This bill would preclude California law enforcement officers from participating in immigration law enforcement. It specifically precludes cooperation in courts, schools and hospitals.
4. SB-179 is the Gender Recognition Bill which would make it much easier for people to get their gender marker changed on official documents like birth certificates ID cards, and driver licenses. It eliminates the need for gender change surgery and for having a physician certify that the gender change marker should be changed. It also makes it possible to change birth certificates on persons under 18 years of age, which cannot be done today. It also has a provision for individuals who are gender non-conforming, i.e., those who do not identify as either male or female. This bill has made it through the policy committee and is headed for the Appropriations Committee.
5. There are three bills that focus on sex trafficking. One of these that makes it easier for
prosecutors to try traffickers by permitting the prosecution to bring up past history. This bill has been approved by the legislature and is on its way to finalization. The second one requires hotels to train their employees to be better able to recognize trafficking behavior and alert law enforcement. The third bill provides services for victims of trafficking.

Dave Myers​, candidate for Sheriff of San Diego County, introduced himself to the club.
Myers has been with the sheriff’s department for 32 years. He started being involved at age 16 working with the sheriff’s department in a Explorer program. He currently is a Commander in the department. He said that there has not been a democrat sheriff in San Diego County for the past 60 years, likely longer. He said that the jails have been privatized and that current sheriff Gore is proud of the fact the jails are the largest mental health hospital in the County. Meyers thinks that mental health needs a long-term program of which law enforcement has a role, but not the primary one it has today. Wrap-around services for people with mental health issues is not a law enforcement problem, and we must stop criminalizing the mentally ill. There have been 46 suicides in the jail, under Gore, who is now privatizing mental healthcare, while the person is in jail. This is not a long-term solution. Myers believes that some of the money currently assigned to the jails could to to support wrap-around services. The Sheriff is the senior law enforcement official in the County, and currently Gore is silent on xenophobia, homophobia, and immigration issues. As a result we have seen an eightfold increase in hate crimes in the county. Myers believes that a stronger border wall will increase crime in the County. Opioid abuse has had a three-fold increase and the current sheriff is focused on outdated cannabis laws, at the expense of addressing the opioid problem. Myers is supported of “restorative justice” for juveniles in order to keep them out of jails and help them from the downward spiral of incarceration. Similarly, he is a strong believer restoring community trust in law enforcement, especially among the minority communities. He believes that diversity is a strength of San Diego, and all communities should be treated the same way.

Primary speaker of the evening, Mayela Manasjan​ is the Vice Chair of the Sierra Club” North County Coastal Group. She is CEO of the Manasjan Consultancy, Senior Environmental Specialists with the City of Encinitas and an Environmental Professor at the UCSD Extension.

The North County Group focuses on environmental issues. The Club has a rigorous process before they will endorse candidates and programs. People seeking endorsement fill out a five-page questionnaire and then are interviewed before being voted upon. Manasjan talked about Climate Action Plans and Community Choice Energy(CCE). CCE is an alternative energy supplier to the current monopolies that exist in communities around the state. CCE enables city government to purchase energy and sell it to the community. By purchasing a higher mix of energy provided from renewable sources, CCE is a faster way to reduce energy footprint and reduce greenhouse gasses. CCE’s also normally provide the energy at lower costs than the existing suppliers. Solana Beach has a CCE in the works.

Helpful climate related resources:
Climate Action Campaign
We need more choices than SDG&E
Community Choice Energy North Coastal

Lastly, Manasjan talked about the lobbying activity that the Sierra Club is doing to abate the President’s agenda to privatize parts of many national parks and monuments.

CLUB BUSINESS
Phil Currier​ presented an update on the chartering of the Torrey Pines Democratic Club with the Democratic Party of the county. Our club bylaws have been written an iterated with the County office. We expect to be chartered within two weeks. A preliminary budget has been developed and we are going to begin charging a membership fee in the very near future. We will communicate via email about the membership levels, fee structure, etc. very soon.