Meetup
March VGFD Meeting & Endorsements
Mar 11 2006 - 10:00am
Mar 11 2006 - 3:00pm
description:
VGFD's March 11 meeting will feature many local and statewide candidates as we vote on endorsements for the June Primary election. The meeting will be held at the State Building auditorium and start at 10 am as usual, but because of the number of candidates who will be coming to speak to us, the meeting will run into the afternoon, probably around 3:00. Box lunches at a nominal price will be available. Members who have belonged to the club for 90 days or more by March 11 are eligible to vote, but all members should attend to see and hear the candidates in action. Please mark your calendars for this very important meeting.
You may be wondering, why is this meeting such a big deal? Here's how the endorsement process works:
VGFD holds its endorsement meeting on March 11 and the members decide who the club will endorse. We will then officially promote those candidates and they will be able to use our name in their advertising. In the 2005 Mayoral race, Antonio Villaraigosa listed our name alongside other endorsing groups like the Sierra Club.
On April 1, the California Democratic Party's pre-endorsement conference will take place and VGFD will have 6 voting members at the conference who will be voting along the lines of VGFD's endorsements. (There will be other VGFD members voting who will be there because they are members of the State Central Committee. While they won't be bound by the club's endorsement, it will be an influence on how they vote.)
In late April, the CDP will finalize the official endorsements, based on the recommendations of the pre-endorsement conferences. Those endorsed candidates become the official candidates of the California Democratic Party and that's a great advantage in getting the nomination. In many races in the Valley the Democratic nominee has the upper hand in being elected in November
So to make a long story short...your vote at the meeting on March 11 WILL influence who will be representing us in Sacramento!
We already have some big names confirmed so you won't want to miss it.
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Conny McCormack at December VGFD Meeting
Dec 7 2005 - 7:00pm
Dec 7 2005 - 9:00pm
Conny McCormack, Los Angeles County's Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, will be our special guest at our Wednesday, Dec. 7 meeting. Ms. McCormack is the top election official in the county, responsible for conducting elections for the largest electoral jurisdiction in the U.S., with over 4 million registered voters and 5,000 voting precincts.
Ms. McCormack's focus will be on the security of electronic voting systems--can they be hacked? can they be mis-programmed by mistake or intentionally? do they have a paper trail so they can be audited? Our fears, based on what we hear from Ohio and other states, is that electronic voting may undermine the fairness and accuracy of the vote. Tales of voters touching the screen to vote Kerry but finding that Bush came up as the selection make up our worst nightmare.
Ms. McCormack will make about a 20-minute presentation, to be followed by a 30-minute Q&A. We will ask our members to submit questions ahead of time so we can eliminate redundant questions and do the Q&A in the most logical order.
Because of limited space, please RSVP right away to reserve space for this event. Once the room fills up then we will have to cut off RSVPs. (If you have already RSVP'd please don't do it again!)
While there's no admission charge, we ask all who attend to bring one or two canned goods and/or cash which will be donated to the food bank at the AIDS Service Center of Pasadena.
Please RSVP by sending an email to rsvp@valleygrassrootsfordemocracy.com. You may also email your questions to the same address.
Van Nuys State Building Auditorium, 6150 Van Nuys Blvd. at Calvert St.
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VGFD Holiday Party
Dec 16 2007 - 2:00pm
description:
Save the date for our holiday party!
Details TBA
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November Meeting
Nov 15 2007 - 7:00pm
Nov 15 2007 - 9:00pm
description:
The November meeting will take place on Thursday, November 15, at 7:00 pm (not Saturday!).
This will be our last regular meeting in 2007. We will be breaking out into small groups to discuss our priorities and where we want to concentrate our efforts for 2008. We'll also finalize our plans for our holiday party and community service efforts.
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August Meeting: Impeachment 101
Aug 16 2007 - 7:00pm
Aug 16 2007 - 9:00pm
description:
At our August meeting we are presenting a special discussion:
Impeachment 101
We hear a lot about impeachment these days, but what exactly is impeachment? VFGD presents "Impeachment 101," a teach-in about impeachment followed by a lively discussion.
We will start with an unbiased presentation about impeachment covering these topics:
The history of impeachment
What does the constitution say?
What was the intention of impeachment?
What is a High Crime and Misdemeanor and grounds for impeachment?
How does impeachment work?
Is impeachment practical and does it work?
What are the options and alternatives?
What are the next steps?
Following the presentation we will open the floor to a respectful discussion. Because of the limited time, each speaker will be limited to 1 1/2 minutes each and speakers will have to wait until everyone else has had a chance to speak before they can speak a second time. VGFD members will be recognized before non-members.
We expect this to be a very informative and interesting meeting so be sure to join us!
Here are some items to read or view regarding impeachment:
Bill Moyers Journal from July 2007:
Video: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07132007/watch.html
Audio only: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/rss/media/BMJ-1114.mp3
Transcript: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07132007/profile.html
PBS Newshour segment from 1998:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec98/starr_historical_9-10.html
Bill Moyers Journal from 1998:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07132007/transcript2.html
Wikipedia entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_in_the_United_States
American Bar Association FAQ:
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/impeach2.html
VGFD Members please RSVP by emailing augustrsvp@vgfd.net so we can have enough seats set aside for our members
Also at our August meeting we will be closing nominations for our club election on September 15. Please go to http://www.vgfd.net/nominations for more information.
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May Meeting
May 19 2007 - 10:00am
May 19 2007 - 12:00pm
description:
Join us for our May meeting on May 19 at 10:00 at the State Building Auditorium. We will learn more about each of the Presidential candidates through short presentations given by our members. We will also elect a new member to our Executive Board to fill a vacancy (see below) and choose our Volunteer of the Year for the DP/SFV Truman Awards event.
Open Seat on the VGFD E-Board
Because of a vacancy on the VGFD Executive Board we will be conducting an election to fill the open seat at our May meeting. The person elected will fill the seat for the remainder of the term, which expires in September, 2007.
To be eligible to run you must be a member in good standing (i.e. you've paid your dues) for at least 90 days and volunteered for VGFD for at least 30 hours in the last 12 months. Nominations will be taken from the floor; however if you wish to nominate yourself send an email to election@valleygrassrootsfordemocracy.com by May 15. All nominees will be given an opportunity to speak to the group before the election and members who are nominated before May 15 will be able to send a short written statement to the membership. (You don't need to send that statement with your nomination; you will be asked to send it later.)
In order to vote members must have been members for at least 90 days and have paid dues for the current year. If you haven't paid your $10 annual dues yet please do so soon by mailing your check to VGFD, PO Box 573383, Tarzana, CA 91357. You can also pay online with a credit card at http://www.actblue.com/page/vgfddues. (Our treasurer says it's easier for him if you pay online.)
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September Meeting
Sep 15 2007 - 10:00am
Sep 15 2007 - 12:00pm
description:
Join us for our September meeting
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June Meeting: Small Group Discussions
Jun 21 2007 - 7:00pm
Jun 21 2007 - 9:00pm
description:
Join Valley Grassroots for Democracy for our June meeting. We'll be breaking up into small group discussions on your "hot-button" topics. Come share your ideas, frustrations, solutions and club actions.
We need your input; this is your club!
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