Last week, John Burton (the new Chair of the California Democratic Party) sent an update to members of the CDP’s Executive Board about what the organization has been doing since he took the helm in late April.

Please see the message below in its entirety (edited slightly to make it easier to read).  

Congratulations on your election to the California Democratic Party Executive Board!  Our first meeting will take place in Burlingame on the weekend of July 17th through the 19th.  I am looking forward to seeing you there.

And I also wanted to thank you for making the April 09 CDP Convention such a positive and high-energy event.  Our team has hit the ground running. (See the update below)

During this transition time, we are looking for the best ways to address the needs activists expressed to us during the campaign, and putting the programs in place to answer the call.  

During my campaign, I promised I would focus on the basics: getting Democrats elected – from local races all the way up the ticket:  Push to move red areas to blue, in all 58 counties;  Increase Democratic voter registration; give activists the tools and assistance they need to be successful; support our young Democrats; and re-energize the state party.

(Letter continued over the flip)

We are already laying the groundwork so that, together, we can meet these goals.  Plans are in the works for very extensive training program, including:  field strategy, community and online organizing, voter registration, data management, messaging and press tips, and more.  And we are excited to announce our program will also include Controller Hilary Crosby’s Finance Boot Camp.  We will work together to give instructions on PAC reporting, building finance plans and effective small donor fundraising.  

And this is just for starters.  After our trainings, we will launch voter registration drives around the state, focusing on building a base for new farm teams in red areas.  

We have also met with Alissa Ko, President of the California Young Democrats, to review plans to work together to keep young voters involved for 2010.  

In order to communicate more effectively with party leaders, we have distributed a questionnaire to Caucus Chairs and Regional Directors so we can get their ideas on ways to improve our effectiveness in the field.  We also plan to talk with the Regional Directors once a month so we can hear what’s going on in their areas, identify best practices, share information and coordinate messaging around the state.

In our first steps to overhaul the messaging of the party, enhance our communications technology and place a priority on new media, we have hired the CDP’s first Communications Coordinator.  

In order to elect a Democratic Governor, protect Senator Boxer and our legislative and congressional Democrats, as well as elect more local Democrats – we came away from the convention with a pretty ambitious agenda.  We are already hard at work developing the necessary programs.   These programs will give us the foundation to pass a Majority Vote Budget, defeat the Top Two Louisiana Primary and fight for real marriage equality.

There is a lot to do, and we want to do all of it well.  So at the Executive Board Meeting in July, you will see a complete roll out of our plan to elect more Democrats around our state, give the grassroots the tools they have been asking for, and build the foundation for big gains for next year and the years after that.

This is exciting, and I really think it’s going to be a lot of fun.  Onward to 2010!

Chairman’s Update:

1. Eboard Save the Date!:  The Executive Board will take place July 17th through 19th in Burlingame at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.  Please save the date!

2. Tell us your ideas!   Please tell us about your convention experience, and let us know your suggestions on how to improve by filling out this survey.

3. Staff Communication: In order to enhance communication with our staff, please find a new staff roster online.  The CDP staff stands ready to respond quickly to inquiries from local party leaders and volunteers.

4. Training Programs: We are currently developing a comprehensive training program to begin in Summer 2009 and continue through mid 2010.  In the interim, we compiled a list of current trainings sponsored by other Democratic organizations to help activists obtain access to new tools now.

5. Meet the new staff: There are a few new faces at the CDP.  You can find out who joined our team by clicking here.

6. Special Election Activity: Continuing our fight for Democratic values, the CDP recently sent a mailer in support of the party’s position on Proposition 1C.  If passed, 1C would mean an immediate $5 billion dollars to protect social services.  In addition, at the request of the LA County Committee, the CDP got involved in support of Democrat Jack Weiss for LA City Attorney.    His opponent, Carmen Trutanich, has defended polluters and is supported by The California Rifle and Pistol Association, a right-wing affiliate of the NRA..

Lost in all the coverage over the budget battle in California is that we’ll be voting in Los Angeles for City Attorney to replace Rocky Delgadillo.  Two of the leading candidates are Carmen Trutanich and Jack Weiss.  Now, I’m no expert on this race, but from what I’ve seen, Trutanich would be a very dangerous choice.

Trutanich calls himself an “environmental attorney”.  And yes, he indeed has been a tireless defender… of Big Business, fighting AGAINST environmental standards.  Just look at this paper he wrote called “Defending Environmental Crimes” (.pdf), a how-to guide for lawyers defending corporate polluters and the like.  He also defended John Woodrum, the guy who shot and killed sea lions.  How nice.  And you got to love his campaign’s spin on that: taking the case and having “plead guilty and take responsibility” for killing those sea lions.  Uh-huh.  Because that’s what good defense lawyers do, right?  Tell their clients to plead guilty and “take responsibility”?

Oh, and Trutanich’s firm represents the NRA, and has threatened to sue Los Angeles for our tighter gun control laws.

His latest ad depicts Latinos as gang members, which should surely endear him to the Hispanic population here.

But above and beyond all this, us Bruin fans have known about Trutanich for a while now as basically the USC Trojan football team’s in-house lawyer.  Every time a USC football player gets arrested for rape/robbery/etc., he’s suddenly there to represent the player, who could not possibly afford Trutanich, and yet he’s representing them anyway.  (Hmmmm……)

Odds are Long Beach attorney Carmen Trutanich will make the potential misdemeanor assault charges against linebacker Rey Maualuga go away without lifting a finger.Trutanich, a defense lawyer known around Delgadillo’s office as “Nooch,” rotated in and out of his staff job on the 8th floor of City Hall so fast recently, it’s hard to tell if he was coming or going.

….

Trutanich, a former prosecutor with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, represented former USC cornerback Eric Wright after Wright was arrested on suspicion of rape while in possession of 136 hits of Ecstasy in March. In April, after Trutanich put together a defense team consisting of himself, a Torrance-based attorney and an investigative firm, the D.A.’s Office found insufficient evidence to file sexual-abuse or drug charges, according to news reports.Last year, Trutanich represented running back Hershel Dennis, who emerged from a four-month investigation for alleged sexual assault with no arrest and no charges. NCAA and Pac 10 officials inquired about pay arrangements in both cases. Trutanich said the families paid.

Oh, and to show how petty he is, in 2006, it was announced that Trutanich would no longer defend USC players because… his daughter didn’t get into USC.  Looks like school loyalty only went so far with Trutanich.

Meanwhile, L.A. City Councilman Jack Weiss is a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who worked on prosecuting gang members and white collar criminals.  He helped write those gun control laws Trutanich threatened to sue the city over.  He vows to prosecute those who pollute our environment.  People like LAPD chief Bill Bratton, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Rep. Diane Watson, and L.A. City Councilman Herb Wesson have all endorsed Weiss.  So has the L.A. County Democratic Party, along with groups like Planned Parenthood (L.A. chapter).

And to compound the UCLA-USC rivalry, Weiss got his law degree at UCLA, and was also the editor-in-chief of the UCLA Law Review.

So… on one hand we have a tough-on-crime prosecutor who fights polluters.  On the other, we have someone who defends polluters and wants to weaken our gun laws, and whose election would be Pete Carroll’s dream come true, knowing that his players could get away with murder at USC, and the city attorney wouldn’t lift a finger to do anything about it.

Oh, and there’s some others (Michael Amerian, David Berger) also running that I’ve never heard of.

(To further my own personal conflict on this, in the last election he was in, I voted for Weiss’s primary opponent.  Quite a few UCLA students felt he had neglected us, while his opponent reached out to us.  And yes, there’s talk that Weiss is hated by the other councilmembers.  Still, between him and Trutanich, the choice could not be clearer if you’re a Democrat/environmentalist/Bruin.

And to make it really personal for me, I’ve been friends with Trutanich’s daughter for over a decade.)

City Councilmember Jack Weiss has decided to take on Supergraphics

Please click on the following link to view City Councilmember Jack Weiss talk about the Supergraphics that have come up all accross our the City of Los Angeles. The Supergraphics are not only a fire hazard, but they are an eye soar for the citizens of Los Angeles. KCET has done a good investigation on the issue and it is worth watching.

http://kcet.org/socal/2009/01/…

For more information on City Councilmember Jack Weiss and his campaign for Los Angeles City Attorney, please visit http://jackweiss.com/index.html .