Torrey Pines Democratic Club

Newsletter September 2020

Hello Torrey Pines Dems and Friends,

Reminder we have our monthly zoom meeting, Thursday, September 24th, 6pm. 

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvde-vqzIvGdyJ-xM97-QCYjHXbrXaAHYz
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Agenda:
6 p.m. –  Meeting starts/Welcome
6:05 p.m. – Candidate Introductions & Special Announcements
6:30 p.m. – Overview of the propositions on the November Ballot – facilitated by Wayne Dernetz.

  • Our club will be asked to vote to endorse Prop 17. Prop 17 will amend the California Constitution to allow Californians who have completed their prison term to vote. You can learn more about prop 17 and endorse it individually via this website:  https://yeson17.vote/endorsements-3/

7:30 p.m. – Club Business & Club Member Announcements
8:00 p.m. – Meeting Adjourns

PHONE BANKING FOR CONGRESSMAN MIKE LEVIN  – Saturday, September 26th, noon.

 

Our club is hosting a phone banking event for Congressman Mike Levin this Saturday at 12:00 p.m. Let’s show our support for him and get his message out to voters. Training will be provided. It would be great to “see” our Torrey Pines Dem members on the zoom call making phone calls!! Let’s do this!
RSVP

Re-elect Erica Halpern and Gee Wah Mok for Del Mar Schools Board of Trustees, Del Mar Union School District 

Exceptional Education * Fiscal Discipline * Keep Schools Open Safely 

Leadership matters, and it matters more than ever during a pandemic. Living up to our promise of providing the best possible education for our children calls for relentless focus, and our Board of Trustees rises to the challenge. DMUSD was the first K-6 elementary district in San Diego to open for in-person instruction – and the only one to open full time – while offering a new, high-caliber remote learning program with our own outstanding teachers. This is possible because of unwavering fiscal discipline over the years that has preserved our budget reserve for just this rainy day.

Good results do not happen by accident. As the current President and Clerk of the Board of Trustees, we bring our years of professional experience, commitment to our community and perspective as parents of children in the district to board oversight. We take our responsibilities seriously, and we ask for your vote so we can continue to deliver the results that we all expect for our children and community.

Preserving Educational Excellence

  • Our eight elementary schools in Del Mar and Carmel Valley deliver the best in public education. The district ranks in the top 1% in the state and has the highest test scores in San Diego County.
  • We maintain low class sizes and prioritize highly trained teachers.
  • Students learn the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that prepare them for success.
  • We are committed to neighborhood schools that build community and relationships.

Protecting our Tax Dollars and Property Values

  • Our district is almost entirely funded by local property taxes, and we make sure our community gets the full value of that investment.
  • We have delivered a balanced budget every year.

Re-elect Halpern & Mok for Del Mar Schools www.HalpernMok2020.com

  • We maintain relentless focus on building a healthy budget reserve so we can protect our educational program at a time like this.
  • We are vigilant stewards of public funds provided by Measure MM, which enables the upgrade of outdated school facilities and the construction of two schools.
  • Our property values are enhanced by the consistent and exceptional performance of our schools.

Getting Kids Back to School Safely

  • We were the first elementary district to reopen for in-person instruction and the only one opened for full-day classes, five days a week instead of a half-time hybrid model.
  • Parents have a choice to enroll their kids in high-caliber remote learning through the newly designed Launch program taught by our own Del Mar teachers.
  • We were able to fund extensive safety measures, hire additional teachers and train all teachers in remote instruction because of the rainy day fund we diligently built over the years.

Promoting Public Engagement and Transparency

  • We believe that idea sharing and community engagement lead to better decision making, so we strongly advocate for robust public involvement.
  • Community outreach is designed with the goal of receiving meaningful and authentic input.

Offering Second-Language Instruction for the First Time

  • Language instruction prepares our children for a global economy.
  • We launched a Spanish immersion program this fall with three Kindergarten classes after years of careful planning. Every student in the district also has the opportunity for Spanish instruction during the school day.
  • Popular new programs like this are developed by listening to parent input and made possible by our years of fiscal discipline.

Demonstrating Effective Governance

  • Our Board of Trustees does not always agree, but we are committed to working collaboratively to reach the best outcomes for our kids and the community.
  • We are trained in effective governance through the California School Board Association’s Masters in Governance program

Erica Halpern 

Erica is serving in her second year as President of the Board of Trustees. She was selected for the Board in 2015 after serving as PTA president and advocating for our schools. Her three children attended DMUSD since Kindergarten, and two have graduated. She has volunteered in the classroom for the past nine years.

Her professional background is in business and finance at Goldman Sachs in New York advising major corporations on strategic transactions. She began her career in an under-served middle school in San Francisco and now works in nonprofit management at San Diego Social Venture Partners. Her career includes positions in education reform and public affairs.

Erica holds an MBA in Real Estate Finance from

Columbia Business School and a BA in

Journalism from The University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has a Masters in Governance from the California School Board

Gee Wah Mok 

Gee Wah is currently serving as the Clerk of the Board of Trustees. He was selected for the Board in 2019 after helping co-chair the successful campaign for Measure MM, which generated funds for the district to repair and upgrade school facilities. He has one son in 1st grade at Ashley Falls and a very active 1 year old. He enjoys helping in his son’s classroom, and while it cannot be verified, he is rumored to be the eagle mascot for his son’s school.

He is an attorney with a background in business litigation. He has litigated numerous cases in the areas of complex commercial matters, professional malpractice and insurance coverage.

Gee Wah received his BA from UC Berkeley and his JD from Cornell Law School.

REGISTER HERE

Our club is hosting a virtual phone banking event for Jane Lea Smith, endorsed candidate for SDUHSD Trustee Area 4. Tuesday, September 15th at 5:00 p.m.

Training will be provided.
When: Tuesday, September 15th
Time: 5 – 7 pm

  • Pre-register for the event.
  • There will be a prepared script.
  • Have a device where you can access VoteBuilder for the phone banking.
  • Sign up for an Action ID through the Del party.
  • Use your own phone number or set up a google voice number.

Questions? Contact Jim Smith.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYudu-rqjkiHNY3Mw_UNkR79KeXxLN4cPiq

Let’s Flip SD County Board of Supervisors D3 Together!  

The polls say Terra is in the lead but we need all hands on deck to get Terra’s message out to voters in D3.

Saturday September 12 Drive-Thru Door Hanger Drops Join us as we walk neighborhoods, dropping off literature (while wearing masks).

Sunday September 13 Phonebank (from home) with Team Terra! 5:00-7:00pm Join our Zoom and receive a training on how to use our dialer system to connect with voters about this critical race for County Supervisor! RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/team-terra-phonebank-sunday-14
Monday September 14 Phonebank (from home) with Team Terra! 5:00-7:00pm Join our Zoom and receive a training on how to use our dialer system to connect with voters about this critical race for County Supervisor! RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/team-terra-phonebank-mondays-14

Tuesday September 15 Drive-Thru Door Hanger Drops 4pm in Encinitas Join us as we walk neighborhoods, dropping off literature (while wearing masks). We are supporting the re-election of Mayor Catherine Blakespear and running for her first full term, Councilmember Kellie Hinze. Read more about how the program works and RSVP here: https://actionnetwork.org/events/door-hanger-drop-for-terra-lawson-remer-catherine-blakespear-and-kellie-hinze-3

Wednesday September 16 Phonebank (from home) with Team Terra! 5:00-7:00pm Join our Zoom and receive a training on how to use our dialer system to connect with voters about this critical race for County Supervisor! RSVP: https://actionnetwork.org/events/team-terra-phonebank-20

RSVP

RSVP

 

Affordable Housing Advocates Fundraiser for Joe LaCava – Saturday, September 12th, 2- 3pm.

Please join us for a discussion about Affordable Housing in San Diego and a Fundraising Event to support Joe LaCava for City Council District 1

HOSTED BY: THE HONORABLE SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE TONI ATKINS

WITH CO-HOSTS:

FORMER STATE SENATOR CHRIS KEHOE
HOUSING SPECIALIST JENNIFER LESAR
AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPER GINGER HITZKE WITH DISCUSSION MODERATED BY STEPHEN RUSSELL

Contribution Levels:

  • $50 Supporter
  • 100 Affordable Housing Advocate
  • $300 Affordable Housing Champion
  • $600 Maximum Donation

RSVP

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Wednesday, Sept. 16 

 

  • William Moore and Joe LaCava for Councilperson from District 1 from 7:30 pm will be moderated by the League of Women Voters
    • Click here to register and to submit questions for the candidates.
Tuesday, Sept. 29 

 

Join CDP Chair Rusty Hicks and some very special guests on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1:00 p.m. for a statewide rally, teach-in and call to action as we move into the “Get Out the Vote” phase of the most important election of our lifetime.

With so much at stake in this upcoming election, we need to make sure we protect our vote and promote access to the ballot — especially for communities of color, low-income communities, and other politically marginalized communities in California.

RSVP today to our Promote the Vote Day of Action virtual event on Sunday, September 20. Together, we will learn everything there is to know about voting by mail, how to talk to our friends and family about voting, and having all the right information on the upcoming election.

Then we’ll break into groups to connect to the Party’s new Outreach Circle app and train on some new voter outreach techniques. From now until Election Day, we’ll be using the app Outreach Circle in cutting-edge actions that will help Promote the Vote and supplement the phone-banking effort to Get Out the Vote.

Join us in the crucial last phase of our campaign to elect Democrats up and down the ballot and get a windfall of “educated votes” on important propositions! Sign up to join us today!

In the meantime, I wanted to make sure you got the new phone bank schedule for September. We need all the help we can getbefore the election in order to defeat Trump and his cronies, and flipping local seats is the best way to do that. Here are the seats we need flipped the most:

Wednesday: Keep the Blue Wave Going! Phone bank to Elect Kate Schwartz to Assembly and Ammar Campa-Najjar to Congress!

Saturday: Elect Terra Lawson-Remer to County Supervisor – The seat for County Board of Supervisors for San Diego in District 3 is up, and we need all the help we can get to flip it. Terra’s opponent is a Trump-endorsed, Trump-assisting Republican and we need them replaced!

Swing State Sundays – Excited about being within striking distance of flipping the Senate? Over the moon about the possibility of a Blue trifecta of House-Senate-Presidency? This is a great way to get that done! Call into Swing State Senate races to make it happen!

Weekdays are from 4:30pm to 7:30pm and Weekends are 1pm-4pm.

Next Zoom Meeting
When: Thursday September 24, 2020 06:00 PM Pacific Time
Propositions on the November ballot
Link will be sent in the next email.

Club Business:
Our club will be asked to vote to endorse Prop 17. Prop 17 will amend the California Constitution to allow Californians who have completed their prison term to vote. You can learn more about prop 17 and endorse it individually via this website:
https://yeson17.vote/endorsements-3/

Workforce development is more important than ever as California faces a hollowing out of middle class jobs, the rise of robots and automation in more professions, an evolving gig-economy, a growing discussion about social justice and racial discrimination in the workplace, and a deep recession.

Join us for a virtual conversation about the California economy’s workforce needs, and how educators and training programs are meeting them.

Date: Friday, September 18
Time: 1-2 p.m.

We’ll explore what is being done by state and local authorities, universities and private employers — and how workforce training they’ve used for years must be reformed right now to meet the evolving needs of a rapidly changing world. You can register here.

Speakers

  • Soraya Coley, president, CSU Pomona / Member, CA Future of Work
  • Jessica Ku Kim, senior director of Workforce Development, LA County Economic Development Corp
  • Greg Nosal, senior director of talent acquisition, Northrop Grumman Corporation

The discussion will be moderated by CalMatters higher education reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn and structured around our participants. We’d love to hear from you before we meet. What questions and comments do you have? You can submit them on the following form.

This virtual chat is part of the “Future of Work” series of discussions, co-hosted by CalMatters and the Milken Institute, about California’s response, recovery and resilience strategies in a post-COVID landscape, and what the “Future of Work” means now to educators, employers, college students and cities statewide.

TPDC Endorsed Candidates

Scott Peters – Congress District 52

Mike Levin – Congress District 49

Toni Atkins for State Senate

Chris Ward for State Assembly

Barbara Bry – San Diego Mayor

Joe La Cava – San Diego City Council 

Terra Lawson-Remer – San Diego County Board of Supervisors D3 

Tim Nader for Judge Seat 30

Solana Beach Mayor – Lesa Heebner

Solana Beach City Council D1 – Dave Zito

Solana Beach City Council D3 – Jewel Edson

San Dieguito Union High School Trust Area 4 – Jane Lea Smith

Del Mar City Council – Dave Druker

Del Mar City Council – Bob Gans

Del Mar City Council – Glenn Warren

TPDC Acceptable Candidates

Del Mar City Council – Phil Blair