Present: Barry Hirsch, President; Alix Shore, Vice-President; Rick Massell, Treasurer; John Broughton, Secretary; Bill Robertson; Sandy Reynolds, President, Santa Rosa Democratic Club
Opening: Barry called the meeting to order shortly after 12 noon, and handed out an agenda.
Reminding members of meetings: The current notification system (4 or 5 people calling those on the WDC roster; email blast on Sunday or Monday before the Thursday meeting) was discussed. Changes were agreed to:
- We’ll try to reach everyone by email or postcard on the Friday that is six days before the meeting
- We’ll ask people to RSVP so that we can figure out how much pizza to order for the meeting
Speakers at the January through March meetings
- The speaker at our January 28th meeting will be California Assemblymember Jim Wood, of the 2nd District, who represents Windsor, most of Santa Rosa, and north to the Oregon border.
- The tentative speakers for the February meeting are (hopefully) two members of the Windsor Planning Commission
- Supervisor James Gore is tentatively set for the March meeting, but might be asked to speak in February if there are issues with getting Planning Commission members in February.
Club role in endorsements, 2016
The process for endorsements of Democrats, by the Sonoma County Democratic Party Central Committee, has changed:
- There will be a two-step process this year: the committee that does interviews will make recommendations directly to the Central Committee, rather than to the Candidate Search and Development Committee
- If the boundaries for an office encompass the area of a specific club, then that club will have a representative as part of the interview process. That doesn’t prevent members of the Central Committee or those who volunteer for interviewing, and are also members of a club, from also participating
- Clubs can also formally endorse those who have been endorsed by the Central Committee
Speakers, April through October
- At some point later this year, we’ll set a meeting for State Senator Mike McGuire to speak.
- 2016 is an election year, and there may be ballot issues as well. There will be elections for two county supervisors, though not the district covering Windsor; two Windsor town councilmembers; and several Windsor Unified School District board members.
- One known topic of great interest is vineyards and water.
- Another known topic of great interest is the potential use of Windsor’s water and sewer systems by the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians.
- Feedback from the Sonoma County Fair: transportation, housing, water, and education are the areas of highest concern
- The Affordable Care Act is another possibility; the Organizing for America group is involved in publicity to try to get more people signed up for coverage through Covered California.
Survey of possible topics:
In early January, we want to send out a survey to members, asking for their thoughts about topics
Name change
- The group agreed that the club would move forward with a proposed name change, to “Windsor/North County Democratic Club” or “Windsor and North County Democratic Club”. The membership area would be explicitly expanded to cover Healdsburg, with claims to the rest of the county directly north of Windsor (Geyserville and Cloverdale).
- This will be included in the general survey (see next major item)
- If the membership seems agreeable, the name change will require a Bylaws amendment.
General survey of members
- Members will be surveyed, in early to mid December, about general club matters, separate from the early January survey about possible programs
- One topic will be the possible name change for the club
- Another topic will be volunteering: Calling people to remind them of meetings, mailing postcards, and staffing the Sonoma Democratic Party table at the Sonoma County Fair.
- Sandy commented that the annual survey of the SRDC has been very useful; that includes asking members for recommendations for speakers at their meetings.
March Crab Feed
- This annual fundraiser of Sonoma County Democratic Party’s Central Committee is coming up in early March. Last year, the WDC sponsored a table, and spent $250 in subsidies for that table.
- Those present agreed that we want to do something similar this year, even if not at quite as high a sponsorship level.
Closing
The meeting ended at approximately 2 p.m.
