Convention closes out strong

by Brian Leubitz

After the parties and events closed up on Saturday night, some bleary eyed delegates strolled in on Sunday morning to see the completion of the efforts that the various committees and groups worked on over the week.

But first, I want to congratulate all of the new regional directors, especially Hene Kelly who is replacing me as Regional Director of San Francisco and San Mateo. And a hearty congratulations go out to Daraka Larimore-Hall for his election to the position of Secretary of the Party.

After a few more speeches from elected officials, labor and community leaders, and the regional director volunteer of the year awards, the party approved the slate of resolutions without much protest. Perhaps they got little fanfare at the convention, but these were some very impressive resolutions. See the full slate of this year’s resolutions here (PDF).

The resolutions included a call for Prop 13 reform, resolutions supporting the heart of CEQA, a moratorium on fracking, and many more. Here’s the crucial clause of the fracking resolution.

THEREFORE,*BE*IT*RESOLVED*that the California Democratic Party supports: 1) an immediate moratorium on fracking, with such a moratorium to remain in effect until legislation and regulations  are put in place that repeal the exception in the Safe Drinking Water Act, guarantee public health and safety, mitigate the effects on climate change, protect the environment and allow government access and testing of the chemicals used; 2) full disclosure and testing of all sites; and 3) substitution of conservation and renewable sources of energy where practical;

Of course, the resolution calling for the Supreme Court to overturn prop 8 was close to my heart, and one calling for major reform of the UC and CSU boards and governance structure could have a big impact on an area that is gaining traction.

All in all, while it may not have had the excitement of some of the conventions of the past few years, this year’s convention was a big success for the party.