George Zander, President of the Desert Stonewall Democrats, ran a great meeting today. The montly DSD meeting took place at the Desert Pride Center and had between 45 and 50 progressive Democratic political activists in attendance.
Those in attendance included Bob Thomas, Co-Chair of the Palm Springs Democratic Club, Steve Pougnet, newly-elected mayor of Palm Springs, Ginny Foat, Palm Springs City Councilwoman, elected last week as Palm Springs Mayor Pro-Tem, and Palm Springs power-broker, Rick Hutcheson newly-elected Palm Springs City Councilman, Craig Ewing, Palm Springs Planning Director and newly-elected boardmember of the Desert Water Agency, and April Hildner from No on C. John Williams, an appointed Palm Springs Historic Site Preservation boardmember and defeated candidate for Palm Springs City Council, Greg Pettis, Mayor Pro-Tem of Cathedral City and candidate for the CA 80th Assembly District to replace the termed out Bonnie Garcia, Richard Oberhaus, Pettis’ Campaign Manager, Paul Marchand, Cathedral City Councilmember, Greg Rodriguez from Yes on Measure E and the Hillary Clinton for President campaign, Robert Simmons, Palm Springs Airport Commissioner and supporter of the Barack Obama for President campaign, and Paul Clay and David Hunsicker, candidates for the CA 45th Congressional District to replace Mary Bono also attended.
More below the flip…
Thomas, co-chair of the Palm Springs Democratic Club, provided a thoughtful powerpoint presentation on the figures from the November election. Democrats turned out in greater numbers than did the disillusioned Republican voters. In addition, DSD voters turned out at an amazing 70%! DSD clearly represents an important voting block for all progressive Democratic candidates. Thomas attributed Williams’ loss by only 76 votes to the division of the vote between Hutchesion, Bob Mahlowitz, and Williams. On the other hand, voter turn out may have been greater due to the interest in the hotly contested races.
Pougnet, recently elected as Mayor of Palm Springs, with his twins in tow, spoke elequently regarding his vision for the future of Palm Springs. He thanked his supporters who lived in Palm Springs as well as his supporters, yours truly included, who did not. Pougnet noted that downtown Palm Springs is important not only to residents of Palm Springs, but also to the entire Coachella Valley.
Hutcheson, recently elected to his first term as Palm Springs City Councilman, gave brief comments and thanked his supporters and the DSD and PSD Democratic Clubs for their support. Hutcheson also noted that with the changing demographics of the Palm Springs area, it is important to continue to build the local Democratic Party from the grassroots level on up. Hutcheson made a special effort to thank Williams for running such an outstanding campaign.
Foat, elected last week as Mayor Pro-Tem of Palm Springs, discussed the need for ongoing activism and a better approach to handling the negative campaigning of the Repugnant Party (my phrase, not hers) in the Coachella Valley. Foat indicated that given the Repugnant behavior Nationwide, we should have expected that they would go negative here as well. But the viciousness of the attacks against Williams and Hutcheson and the collusion of The Desert Sun was never anticipated. I say, “Fool me once…”
Ewing, Palm Springs City Planning Director and recently elected to the Desert Water Agency, delivered a short statement and focused on what his own election means for the future of the Palm Springs and Coachella Valley Democratic Party. Ewing noted that his was a breakthrough election and succeeded in part due to the complacency of the opposition. He duly noted that in the next election, three of the Desert Water Agency seats will be up for election. He expects that Democrats will continue to make gains on the DWA.
April Hildner of No on C discussed the resounding win. No on C succeeded with 60% of the vote. Hildner hoped that this will bring to an end the efforts of developers in the community to ravage the Chino Cone with unrestricted and unnecessary development.
Greg Pettis, Mayor Pro-Tem of Cathedral City and candidate for the CA 80th Assembly District, discussed his recent efforts to reach out to the Asian-Pacific Islander caucus in the California State Assembly. With the most recent endorsements, Pettis is poised to receive endorsements from the entire caucus! Pettis has also been actively seeking the support of labor and discussed his recent endorsement by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 440. Other union endorsements are apparently coming down the pike. And, next weekend, Pettis celebrates his 50th Birthday Party. We expect that Pettis will fete us at Johnny Pasta’s in Cathedral City in a fashion to which we became accustomed with Hillary Clinton’s 50th birthday soiree. Lol.
Greg Rodriguez discussed the importance of Measure E. The Measure will assist in upgrading and renovating existing existing schools, making health and safety upgrades, constructing new schools, and constructing permanent classrooms at the elementary schools to replace portable classrooms. Pougnet discussed his involvement with the Palm Springs Unified School District and his support for Measure E. Pougnet also noted that much of the construction mandated by Measure E would take place in Desert Hot Springs and not in Palm Springs. After a notably civil debate and discussion, DSD members voted to endorse Yes on Measure E by a vote of 20 yea, 6 nay, and an uncounted number of abstentions.
Clay and Hunsicker each individually discussed his candidacy for the CA 45th Congressional District. Either way, it will be great to have a Representative who comes to the 45th CD for more than just fundraising and photo-ops (Bono is notorious for missing important votes on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.) Clay and Hunsicker were well received, especially with their positive stands re Marriage Equality, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), Sentate Bill 777, and the Hate Crimes Bill.
Turner discussed the activism of Vets for Peace and their petition to deter the warmongering Bush Administration from any military action against Iran. (Yes, even though the war effort in Afghanistan is suffering from lack of soldiers and lack of equipment, and though the occupation effort in Iraq is faltering with more and more civilian and military casualties, this Administration is obviously considering military action against a Nation so much larger than Afghanistan and Iraq combined. In area and in population.
All-in-all, a great meeting. Please join us at the next meeting on January 12, 2008. In the meantime, Zander requested additional assistance for the DSD Voter Registration and Candidate Information tables at Palm Springs Village Fest. Village Fests in December are scheduled for Thursday, December 13, 20, and 27, 2007.
And, now the race for the CA 80th Assembly District and for the CA 45th Congressional District are in full swing. Keep turning the Coachella Valley Blue!!!