PRESIDENT'S
NOTE:
At our next general meeting on March 18,
we are excited to have Ben Field, executive director of the South Bay
Labor Council and Ruth Silver-Taube, Supervising Attorney at Workers'
Rights Clinic and Adjunct Professor at Santa Clara University School
of Law. Mr. Field will address wage theft and stagnation, affordable
housing and healthcare for all. We are also delighted to have
Professor Silver-Taube speak about changes in sexual harassment and
retaliation law and its effects on immigration issues. Both presentations
should prove to be engaging; you won’t want to miss either of them!
At our last general meeting, we had a
unique opportunity to learn about local issues which were impacted by
national politics, namely the unnecessary and wretched 35-day partial
Federal government shutdown. Rebecca Armendariz brought along
colleagues to explain how they were directly affected by the
shutdown. Contract workers were most seriously harmed since they will
never be reimbursed for their wage losses. Once again, the Trump
administration acted in a childish tantrum that has impacted our
communities across Silicon Valley: Whether it is immigration, taxes,
or recent shutdowns, we are constantly reminded of the callousness of
our current Administration.
We also had an informative talk by K
Patrice Williams regarding the importance of getting involved in
commissions in local government. Whether it’s the Planning or Arts
Commission, civic engagement is critical to the success of our local
communities. Rebecca brought to our attention the sometimes-fierce
competition to be appointed to some of these commissions. In her
case, there were 14 candidates for one seat! She described how she
built relationships with the various commissioners and learned about
issues that were important them so that she could win their support.
The fact that there is strong competition for these roles might be
taken as a good sign for the heightened level of public engagement we
are now experiencing. Despite the competition, Ms. Williams
challenged all of us to become and remain engaged.
March is turning out to be a busy month
and it’s no surprise since the California primaries are just 12
months away! We have a lot of work ahead of us. We need to vote in a
new California Democratic Chair and ADEMs and Exec board members will
be meeting soon to vote on numerous issues related to the California
Democratic Party. California is the biggest prize in the presidential
primaries and you can bet it’s going to be a busy season starting
this summer when the first Democratic primary debates will air on
national TV. With likely over 20 contenders, the decision won’t be
easy, and the race has already off to a fast start! In June and July
SVDC plans to host debate watch parties. These will not be standard
meetings—but get-togethers—to watch the debates live with fellow
democrats and members. These fun and engaging events will be
announced as plans develop. Watch for it! (Pardon the pun).
Save a special date on March 16th and
watch for news about it. SVDC plans to co-host a talk and Q&A
with presidential candidate, Andrew Yang. He’s not so well known, but
his progressive ideas might interest you.
Lastly, I couldn’t be complete without
making a mention of the Michael Cohen hearings! His riveting
testimony ripped into Trump both politically and morally. Michael
Cohen’s revelations continue to shake up the country and are making
it hard for Republicans to defend their president. From the time I
write this, to moment your read this message, even more new
implicating details will be revealed about how corrupt and damaging
Trump has been to our Federal institutions. Just like 2018, the 2020
election will be an election requiring an all-hands-on-deck effort to
get out the vote and to finally put an end to this presidential
nightmare.
Last month’s quote from Albert Einstein I
wrote, “What is right is not always popular, and what is popular is
not always right”. This month’s inspirational quote “Everything that
is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can
labor in freedom.” Let’s not take the freedom we enjoy every day for
granted. As Democrats let’s strive together to confront these
autocratic behaviors head-on.
I look forward to see you soon at our next
General Meeting!
-Art Cohen, President
www.SiliconValleyDemClub.org
