Tuesday, March 10, 2015

A Tale of Two Headlines

Congratdolences to LCR

A couple of headlines about the Republican Party stuck out for me recently:

California Republican Party votes to finally recognize gay Log Cabin Republicans group

and

Republican Senators tell Iran not to trust America on nuclear deal

I know my friends at LCR have been working very hard for a very long time and are proud of the recognition afforded to them by the California Republican Party. San Diego Democrats for Equality is celebrating the 40^th anniversary of our charter with the Democratic Party so I know how prideful an event like this can be. I would like to be proud with them but more and more I find myself asking, aren't they better than this?

In the last 35 years or so, the Republican Party has gone from a proud organization promoting their belief in conservative economic policy, to a dysfunctional coalition of nut-job factions who can't agree on anything (other than hating Obama) internally - let alone try to serve the American people. Sure, their loony tunes economic policy has never worked and can never work, but when you have the Klu Klux Klan taking out ads supporting the [Republican] Alabama Supreme Court's order for State officials to ignore Federal Court orders, then, we've reached a whole new level of crazy.

The GOP has gone from the Party of Lincoln to the Party of racist voter suppression and deport them all. They've gone from a Party promoting personal liberty to a Party asking for a cop in every bedroom and doctor's exam room. Teddy Roosevelt's Trust-Buster/environmentalist Party is now the Party of Too Big to Fail ...MORE...

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New Officer Installation/Reception Planned for March 26th

Following last month's elections, San Diego Democrats for Equality will host a reception and Swearing-In Ceremony on March 26th. The event will feature a reception beginning at 6:30 PM with a guest speaker and the recitation of the oath of office for new, and continuing officers. Officers for 2015 are:

David Warmoth, President

William Rodriguez-Kennedy, Vice President for Resource Development

Georgette Gomez, Vice President for Political Action (newly re-elected)

Lyn Gwizdak, Secretary

Craig Roberts, Treasurer (newly elected)

Lilian Arreguin, At-Large Member of the Board

Cindy Roberts, At-Large Member of the Board (newly elected)

The reception will be held at Joyce Beers Uptown Community Center; 3900 Vermont Street in Hillcrest. (Please use the underground parking structure behind Trader Joe's to avoid being ticketed.)

Georgette Gomez

Craig Roberts

Cindy Green

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The Club joins Club members Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, Councilmember Todd Gloria, State Senator Chris Kehoe, SDUSD Boardmember Kevin Beiser, DNC member Jess Durfee, Phil Diamond, Craig Roberts, Maureen Steiner and Kevin Tilden hosting a fundraiser reception for Tim at the home of Port Commissioner Bob Nelson on Sunday, March 15th from 1 - 3 PM. Click on the invitation above to donate to this great event and RSVP to 408-982-7134 or by clicking HERE.

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Club Committees

Part of our recent By-laws review focused on the plan to move more of the planning and work of the Club from the Board to committees where we could benefit both from more minds thinking about our future and more hands to get us to that future. Please make a commitment to moving the Club forward by participating in one, or more of the Club's committees.

Program/40 Committee - This committee is tasked with developing meetings and events for the Club's 40th Anniversary year. The committee will meet on March 12th prior to the Club's Board meeting at 6:30PM at Bamboo Lounge.

If you have ideas about how to better show-off the Club and it's accomplishments, or just would like to let us know how we can make our events more meaningful for you, please plan on attending. Click HERE to let us know you are coming (or if you can't attend but have ideas you want considered).

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Busy...Busy...Busy

San Diego Democrats for Equality is deeply involved with our community and our Party - and the next few months provide many opportunities to join us as we participate with many of the people and groups working to make things better.

Saturday, April 11th, 2015
Hilton San Diego Bayfront
One Park Boulevard, San Diego 92101
6:00 p.m. Reception & Silent Auction
7:00 Dinner and Awards Program

Join us at the San Diego Democrats for Equality table (and qualify for special ticket pricing until April 1st) by selecting "Club/GO Team Seating" under Ticket and Guest Information and SD Dems for Equality under Table Affiliation (Meal Choice and Organizational Affiliation) at THIS LINK.

For six years we've participated in the Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast. It's a great opportunity to start your day with your fill of inspiration and purpose without that overly-full feeling that makes you want to go home and go back to bed.

Join us for the Seventh Annual Harvey Milk Diversity Breakfast on Thursday, May 21, 2015, 7:30-9 am at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel, 1 Park Blvd. Attended by more than 1,000 people, businesses, groups and organizations annually, this San Diego event is the largest Harvey Milk celebration in the state of California!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

7:30 AM - 9:00 AM

Hilton San Diego Bayfront

1 Park Blvd

San Diego, CA 92101

Get your ticket for the Dems for Equality sponsored table HERE.

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Is it Time to Re-Up?

The Club depends on membership dues to keep the lights on and promote our candidates and issues to the community. A large number of community members depend on our Voters Guide to help them make an intelligent choice when marking their ballots so your membership renewal is critical to ensure those Guides get into those hands. If your membership has lapsed or if you know you're membership is soon to expire, please re-up now. You might also consider upgrading your membership to a higher level.

We are beginning a notification process to let you know when your membership is about to expire. It will consist of an email message approximately one month prior to expiration followed by a letter to those who do not respond to the email. Email is cheaper than US mail so, please log on and renew when you get the notice.

Even so, there is a cost associated with our email communications too. If your membership has expired more than a year ago, you can expect a notice from us that we will be dropping you from our email list for this newsletter and other Club communications. Please don't let that happen. Your membership is important to us and we would like to count you amongst our fellow Club members committed to progressive government and LGBT equality. Please log on through the link below and renew you membership now.

Dems for Equality would like to welcome Bonnie Bekken as a new member of the Club. We'd also like to thank Speaker Toni Atkins and Jennifer LeSar for renewing their membership at the Patron level - and Joanne Climie for upgrading her membership to Sponsor level. We'd also like to thank and welcome back for another year, Mark Conlan, Georgette Gomez, Barbara Morton, Mary Severine and David Warmoth

You can find out more about the Club's membership levels and benefits online HERE. You can also renew with a credit card there. If you would prefer to use a check, send the check, made out to Democrats for Equality to:

San Diego Democrats for Equality

PO Box 33050

San Diego CA 92163