Announcements

Happy July 1!

Dear Fellow Rural Caucus Members, Happy July!

Please mark your calendars: Debra Broner is holding the Region 1 West meeting here at Iron Horse July 26 5:30 to 7p. All Rural Caucus members are invited. I know it is a trek for most of you, but there will be wine tasting.

Also, the tentative agenda and hotel information for the Executive Board Meeting in San Jose August 23-25 are now posted on www.cadem.org .

The Rural Caucus will be meeting that weekend. Day and time TBD. Our primary goals for this meeting include:

  • Submitting updates to the Rural Plank in the CDP Platform. Note: The Party Platform will be finalized at the Long Beach Convention in November 2019. Please let me know if you are interested in working on this. So far, Resa Barillas, Lise Talbott, Kevin Hendrick and Christina Caro have expressed interest.
  • Securing the outcome of the Resolutions we passed at Convention. Note that timely Resolutions to the CDP are DUE July 24, 2019 AT 5 pm
  • Ratifying changes to the Nominations and Elections procedures in our bylaws. Please get your recommendations to Susan Rowe, Chair of the ByLaws Committee.
  • Discussion on actions needed to address the fire insurance crisis.

Important deadline: Today is the last day to apply to be on a Standing Committee.

Wishing you a great Fourth of July!

With all my very best, Joy

 

Very proud that Susan Rowe has been re-elected Vice Chair of the Rural Caucus. Congratulations and thank you Susan!

On Thursday, June 6, 2019 2:27 PM Chair Joy Sterling notified all Rural Caucus Officers via the Officer google group that an Officer Zoom Meeting would be Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 6:00 pm.

Dear Fellow Rural Caucus Officers, Here is the Zoom invitation to our first executive team meeting June 22 at 6pm. The first order of business is for the Regional Chairs to elect our Caucus Vice Chair. Mike Smith will provide us with his post mortem from the elections. And, this will give us the opportunity to start to get to know one another.

Joy Sterling is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Joy Sterling’s Personal Meeting Room

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/xxxxxxxxxx

One tap mobile
+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx US (San Jose)
+xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx US (New York)

Dial by your location
+x-xxx-xxx-xxxx US (San Jose)
+x-xxx-xxx-xxxx US (New York)
Meeting ID: xxx xxx xxx
Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/xxxxxxx

Until then, Joy

Vice Chair vote on 6-22-2019

Officer Zoom Meeting on 6-22-2019: A quorum (7) of Regional Chairs were present. Chair Joy Sterling called for Vice Chair nominations from the Regional Chairs present. Motion to nominate Regional Chair Susan Rowe for Vice Chair was made by Regional Chairs Glenn Glazer and 2nd by Michael Duran. Regional Chair Susan Rowe accepted the nomination.  Regional Chair Susan Rowe was unanimously elected Vice Chair by the Regional Chairs who were present.

Regional Officers (10)

1 – Northern Coastal Regional Chair – Logan Harvey (absent)
2 – Northern Regional Chair – Elizabeth Betancourt (present)
3 – Northern Central Regional Chair – Dean Rewerts (present)
4 – Bay Area Regional Chair – Renee Zeimer (present)
5 – Gold Country Regional Chair – Amy Champ (absent)
6 – Central Regional Chair – Juan Vazquez (present)
7 – Central Coast Regional Chair – Glenn Glazer (present)
8 – South Central Regional Chair – Susan Rowe (present)
9 – Southern Coastal Regional Chair – Michael Duran (present)
10 – Inland Empire/Desert Regional Chair – Resa Barillas (present)
#####
Standing Committee Applications:
The deadline for Standing Committee Applications has been extended to July 1; applications can be found at: https://www.cadem.org/our-party/standing-committees.
#####
CDP Press Release
Special Acknowledgement to Chair Rusty Hicks, Lead Co-Chair Ada Briceno, Co-Chair Kimberly Ellis, Co-Chair Michael Evans and our Rural Caucus Members: Debra Broner, Heidi Hall, Hene Kelly, & Tiffany Woods! Congratulations to all appointed to this committee!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2019
Ada Briceño, Kimberly Ellis, Michael Evans to Serve as Co-Chairs
LOS ANGELES—California Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks today announced the formation of a Delegate committee aimed at reviewing the purpose and reforming the composition of the Party’s nine standing committees—a key commitment of his First 100 Days plan.
The committee will be led by Lead Co-Chair Ada Briceño of Orange County and Co-Chairs Kimberly Ellis of Contra Costa County and Michael Evans of Fresno County. The 24-delegate committee represents the geographic, ethnic and gender diversity of California’s nine million Democrats; members were intentionally supported without regard to their positions during the 2019 campaign for party chair. The current nine standing committees are: Affirmative Action, Credentials, Finance, Legislation, Organizational Development, Platform, Resolutions, Rules and Voter Services. Fifty-eight percent the committee’s members are women, 66.6% are people of color, and 37.5% supported candidates other than Hicks for Chair.
“As CDP Chair, my top priority is working with our party’s leaders and activists to create a stronger, more inclusive, more transparent party to advance progressive priorities here in California and to take back the White House in 2020,” said Hicks. “I’m thrilled to have Ada, Kimberly and Michael work with me to write this new chapter in our party’s history.”
“I am proud to work with Rusty to move our party forward,” said Briceño. “The diverse composition of our committee reflects a strong new direction for the party: one where emerging leaders and longtime activists have equal voices, no matter what part of the state they call home, what language they speak, or whom they love. This is the start of a new day for California Democratic Party.”
“As Democrats, we’re our best when everyone has a seat at the table and when we all understand and trust how decisions are made,” said Ellis. “I look forward to working with Rusty to ensure that no voice is left unheard and to move our Party forward together as we take our country back in 2020.”
“California’s nine million Democrats come from all corners of the state—from Del Norte County to Imperial County,” said Evans. “I am proud to anchor the committee’s work here in the Central Valley, to ensure that rural Californians’ voices are heard just as loudly as those in the Bay Area or Los Angeles. With a stronger party, I am confident those voices will be heard all the way to Washington, D.C., in the coming months.”
The full list of committee members is:
Lead Co-Chair Ada Briceno
Co-Chair Kimberly Ellis
Co-Chair Michael Evans
Lester Aponte
Sascha Bittner
Debra Broner
Frank Garcia
Mark Gonzalez
Felipe Grimaldo Jimenez
Heidi Hall
Drexel Heard II
Hene Kelly
Henry Lo
Denise Penn
Vangie Porras
Steven Ruth
Kevin Sabellico
Nilza Serrano
Julie Soo
Michael Soto
Akilah Weber
Tiffany Woods
Jimmie Woods-Gray
Astrid Zuniga
The party’s standing committees are the channels by which decisions are made regarding policy priorities, finances, convention operations and other topics. The committee announced today will conduct its work throughout Summer 2019. The deadline for Standing Committee Applications has been extended to July 1; applications can be found at: https://www.cadem.org/our-party/standing-committees.
#####
June 3, 2019

Dear Fellow Rural Caucus Members,

I am very excited about the new executive team we elected on Friday. Looking back, I wish we had taken a class photo. Next time, in August, in San Jose!

  • Chair, Joy Sterling
  • Secretary/Parliamentarian, Victor Acevedo Costa
  • Treasurer, Elizabeth “Lise” Talbott
  • Communications Officer, Hilary Hodge (with Patty Hughes as Deputy Communications Officer)
  • Northern Coastal Regional Chair, Logan Harvey
  • Northern Regional Chair, Elizabeth Betancourt
  • Northern Central Regional Chair, Dean Rewerts
  • Bay Area Regional Chair, Renee Zeimer
  • Gold Country Regional Chair, Amy Champ
  • Central Regional Chair, Juan Vazquez
  • Central Coast Regional Chair, Glenn Glazer
  • South Central Regional Chair, Susan Rowe
  • Southern Coastal Regional Chair, Michael Duran
  • Inland Empire/Desert Regional Chair, Resa Barillas

#####

We will have a vote among the Regional Chairs to choose our Caucus Vice Chair within 30 days.

Special thanks to Mike Smith for running our elections … and the entire registration and elections team for volunteering. We had a packed house. I was amazed and gratified to see the lines to get in. As Democrats, standing in line is an act of love!

Our membership has increased 60% since November; our voice within the party and in Sacramento is rising; the Rural Caucus is at the forefront for Clean Reliable Drinking Water, Broadband Equity, Fire Resiliency and turning our red and purple counties true California blue.

The Glyphosate Moratorium Resolution was approved. The PG&E Resolution has been referred to the Legislation Committee for consideration in August. The Emergency Escape Route Resolution is in suspense. Deputy Communications Officer Patty Hughes has volunteered to keep a rural resolutions and legislation tracker on our website.

I am very pleased and proud to add my voice to the chorus of congratulations to Rusty Hicks, our new Party Chair. Heartfelt thanks to Acting Chair Alex Rooker for keeping the CDP together to get us to today.

And, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the honor of serving as your Caucus Chair. We have so much to accomplish. Now we get to work!

With all my very best, Joy

#####

May 31, 2019 SAN FRANCISCO

The Rural Caucus will be holding elections for all officer positions at the next meeting to take place during the Party Convention in San Francisco on Friday May 31 at 4:45 pm.  Now is the time to join or renew your yearly membership. The deadline to file nominations is 20 days prior (Sunday, May 12, 2019 at midnight) to the meeting. Caucus Secretary Spencer Dayton has sent out the nomination form to the entire membership via email (and by USPS to those who have requested). We will also vote on revisions to our Bylaws. Bylaws revisions for consideration are here: RC Bylaws (To Be Amended) 4-25-19

#####