Meetup

Our August meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 2 at 7:00 pm at the State Building Auditorium, 6150 Van Nuys Blvd.

Los Angeles City Councilmember (and our next state senator) Alex Padilla will be our speaker. Congressional candidate David Roth, who will be facing Mary Bono in November to represent the Palm Springs area, will also speak about how we can help his candidacy.

Endorsements for the General Election
Candidates endorsed at our March meeting for the primary election become our endorsed candidates for the general election. A list of those endorsements is at http://valleygrassrootsfordemocracy.com/endorsements. In some cases we either didn't make an endorsement or our endorsed candidate did not win the primary. For those races we will have a consent calendar to endorse the Democratic nominees. Individual candidates can be pulled from the consent calendar by10% of those eligible to vote. Those endorsements will then be considered separately. A 2/3 vote is required for endorsement.

At our last meeting a motion was made to rescind the endorsement of Congressman Howard Berman in the 28th CD. That issue will be considered after the endorsements. According to Robert's Rules, it requires a majority vote to rescind the endorsement. Congressman Berman has been invited to the meeting but we have not received an official confirmation that he will attend.

To be an eligible voter you must be a club member in good standing for at least 90 days. Close of credentials will take place at 7:30 pm. If you are not signed in by 7:30 pm you will not be able to vote.

Dues are Due!
Annual $10 dues are due in August and you can pay at the August meeting. You can pay at the meeting with cash (exact change please!) or check made out to VGFD, or mail 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.

If all that wasn't enough, the Political Action Committee and Speakers Bureau will be meeting before and after the regular VGFD meeting. Below are the details:

Political Action Committee
The Political Action Committee will have our meeting on August 2. We will meet from 6-7 PM before the VGFD monthly meeting, and for about ½ hour following the meeting. At the meeting we will review items discussed at the initial meeting and specific actions we will take to advance the goals and missions of VGFD. Agenda items include: Legislative Network and Rapid Response. The Political Action Committee (PAC) monitors the actions and issue positions of elected officials, from local to national, recommends lobbying actions on behalf of the club with respect to those elected officials, presents resolutions for consideration by the club, recommends endorsements for consideration by the club and recommends political action for consideration by the club. If you are a member in good standing of VGFD please join us in making a difference. Contact Ilene Haber at ihaber@adelphia.net 818 981-3987.

Speakers Bureau
The Speakers Bureau will have our first training session on August 2. We will have a session from 6-7 PM before the meeting, and another from 9-10 PM following the meeting. Prior to these trainings, you will be e-mailed talking points on the presentation, so please prepare beforehand, and you will be asked to present this material at the training. We will prepare visual aids and Powerpoint prompts for you to use. You will need to go to at least two trainings before speaking to a live group.
We will continue to have ongoing training sessions as needed. We will tentatively schedule another training for Saturday, August 5 and Wednesday, August 9. Details to follow. If you are interested in participating in the Speakers Bureau, please contact Burt Stillar at burtstillar@aol.com or (818) 203-5739.

Join us for our June meeting.

We will be talking about the previous day's primary election and where to go from there to achieve victory in November. We'll also be planning our garage sale fundraiser on June 17.

If you haven't been to one of our meetings or haven't stopped by in a long time please come and see what we are all about!

Join us for our May meeting with special guest Russ Warner, candidate for the 26th Congressional District. He'll talk about his race with David Dreier and how we can help. We'll also talk about Democrat vs. Democrat races and what it will really take to regain control of Congress.

Democrat vs. Democrat.... we've already started discussing this among ourselves and will continue this important debate at the May meeting. It's been a hot topic among Democrats all year, particularly on the Democratic-leaning blogs. For example, last week AMERICAblog and MyDD.com initiated threads specifically on this subject. Check out the posts here, here and here.

Note: MyDD.com's founder Jerome Armstrong co-authored our May Book Club selection "Crashing the Gate".)

Join us for our April meeting.

Our next Health Care for All-SFV meeting will be Thursday March 9 at 7:30 PM at the State Office Building Auditorium,
6150 Van Nuys Blvd., entrance on Calvert. We will be hearing about the OneCare Now! campaign that HCA is going to create to support Universal Healthcare. It will be the largest grassroots movement that Sacramento has ever seen! Come and learn how you can be a part of it. We will also be making final plans for the fantastic April Faux Premiere fundraiser starring Lily Tomlin! Come and join in the fun!

Due to all the events surrounding the State of The Union on Tuesday January 31st WE'RE MAKING A CHANGE. The meeting will be MONDAY JANUARY 30TH (not Tuesday)

JOIN KITCHEN TABLE DEMOCRACY FOR AN ANALYSIS OF VOTING MACHINES. and who is CONNY McCORMACK? Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters and why you should care about her!!!!!!!!

How we vote and making sure every vote counts is an issue that will affect the future of our democracy.

Proprietary programs. Paperless voting. Wireless and internet connections to servers. Verifying counts. Hackable systems. And much more. Join us to help you understand how to make your vote count. Really.

Kitchen Table Democracy - Monday, January 30th, 2006 at Adrienne house in Studio City at 7:30 p.m.
(Adrienne's house is right around the corner from Herb's)

We look forward to a lively discussion, good company and new friends. Please let us know if you are coming. Bring a snack or drink to share. RSVP by email: adrienneburk@yahoo.com

BRING FRIENDS!!! There is ALWAYS room and EVERYONE is welcome at the Table. Monthly Meetings of HERB’S TABLE (Kitchen Table Democracy) held on the last Tuesday of each month. http://www.kitchentabledemocracy.org/

Join us for our February meeting.

We have invited a major statewide candidate to speak to us about election integrity and voter-verified paper trails. This is a follow-up to our December Q&A with Conny McCormack.

"Out of Iraq" Forum
Wednesday, January 18, 7:30 pm

Activists from Democracy for America, SoCal Grassroots and Progressive Democrats of America are organizing an event for those who want to be part of a more organized effort to pressure Congress to end the occupation of Iraq and bring the troops home. The event will be held on January 18 at 7:30 pm at Hollywood United Methodist Church, 6817 Franklin Avenue, Hollywood CA 90028

Topics include:

* What "out of Iraq" legislation is emerging in Congress and how can grassroots lobbyists push it further?
* What is the status with Peace Talks between the Iraqi Government and the Iraqi Resistance?
* Organize or Join an existing "out of Iraq" lobbying group in your congressional district
* Bringing Vets and Military Families into your lobbying group
* New Legislation on Censure and Impeachment

Confirmed speakers include:

* Congresswoman Maxine Waters
* Tom Hayden
* Jeff Key (Iraq Veterans Against the War)
* Erin Sikorsky-Stewart (State Political Director, California Peace Action)
* More speakers TBA

$10 suggested donation accepted at the door to cover costs of venue. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. All proceeds from event will benefit Iraq Veterans Against the War.

For more info, call (323) 939-5475 or e-mail susieshannon@comcast.net