September 2, 2014

The Lake County Democratic Central Committee will meet Thursday September 4, 2014 at the Lower Lake Methodist Church Community Meeting Room at 16255 2nd Street in Lower Lake at 6 p.m.

September 4 2014 Agenda for the Lake County Central Committee

Our guest speakers are:

• Victoria Brandon speaking on behalf of “Yes on Measure S”, http://savethelake.info/
• Daniel Maclean speaking on behalf of “Yes on Measure O”, http://www.medicalmarijuanacontrolact.org/
• A speaker for “yes on proposition 46”, https://www.yeson46.org/

Join us for the Annual Legislator’s BBQ and Fundraiser on October 5.

Visit our website www.lakecountydemocrats.org   and visit our Facebook page  www.facebook.com/LakeCountyDemocrats for more information.

The agenda for the Sept, 4, 2014  meeting also includes reports from representatives for Congressmen Mike Thompson and John Garamendi, Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada and State Senator Noreen Evans, as well as reports from the Stonewall Democratic Club Chair Essie Coons and representative from the Lake County Democratic Club Paula Mune.

Meetings are open to the public and committee membership is open to all registered Democrats.

The Lake County Democratic Central Committee is the official governing body of the Democratic Party in Lake County.

For more information about the Democratic party in Lake County our Facebook page www.facebook.com/LakeCountyDemocrats

Contact the Democratic Party of Lake County at 707-533-4885 or by email democratsoflakecounty@gmail.com.

August 23, 2014

Lake County Democratic Campaign Headquarters Grand Opening

With the November 2014 election only 2 ½ months away, the Lake County Democrat Central Committee has announced the opening of the Lake County Democrat Campaign Headquarters in Lakeport.  The office, located at 390 North Main Street, will be open Monday through Saturday every week beginning on September 3, 2014 until the General Election on November 4, 2014.  Office hours will be 12 noon to 6 pm.

Lake County voters can pick up literature, signs, and other resources regarding Democrat candidates at the office.  In addition, residents will be able to register to vote, including new registrations, address changes, name changes, etc.

To kick off the “Election Season”, the public is invited to an open house at the new office on September 3, 2014, from 6pm to 8pm.

We are pleased to announce that Congressman Mike Thompson, one of our generous sponsors, will be joining us.

There will be refreshments and beverages.

In addition, volunteers are being recruited to help in the new office.  Even a few hours would be appreciated.  If you would like to spend some time helping in the office either for a few hour or on a regular schedule, please call  (707) 533-4885 or email at democratsoflakecounty@gmail.com.

August 13, 2014

SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today signed legislation to put a comprehensive water bond before voters this November.

“Water is the lifeblood of any civilization and for California it’s the precondition of healthy rivers, valleys, farms and a strong economy,” said Governor Brown. “With this water bond, legislators from both parties have affirmed their faith in California’s future.”

The legislation signed by Governor Brown, AB 1471 by Assemblymember Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), replaces the current $11.1 billion water bond on the November ballot. The bipartisan legislation passed the Senate 37-0 and the Assembly 77-2. The new bond includes $7.12 billion in new debt, plus the repurposing of existing unspent bond funds of $425 million for a total of $7.545 billion. None of the repurposed bond funds will be taken from existing projects. The measure will be Proposition 1 on the November ballot.

The bond provides for water use efficiency and recycling, groundwater cleanup and management and $2.7 billion for additional water storage. It invests in safe drinking water, particularly in disadvantaged communities, and provides for watershed restoration and increased flows in some of California’s most important rivers and streams. An outline of the final bond can be found here.

Governor Brown also announced that he vetoed identical legislation, SB 866 by Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis). A veto message can be found here.

For full text of the bills, visit: http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov

August 12, 2014

Mike McGuire announced today that his campaign has begun a grassroots initiative committed to increasing voter registration and participation throughout his district. McGuire is the leading candidate for the senate seat now held by retiring Senator Noreen Evans.

“After the historically low voter turnout in the primary election this June, we wanted to take up the challenge of getting more people registered, engaged and to the polls this fall,” said McGuire. “That is what Next Gen Votes is all about.”

The initiative’s first week of organization saw 124 new voters.

Next Gen Votes is working to make our democracy stronger and ensure our communities thrive.  You will see our motivated, trained and bilingual volunteers bringing positive change to our community at local events, festivals, storefronts, school campuses and neighborhood gatherings – because we know that organizing from the grassroots makes our neighborhoods stronger.

“Decisions are being made every day in Sacramento, Washington, DC and here at the local level of government that have huge impacts on our lives and the lives of our families. Yet, too many eligible voters have no voice in these decisions – because they’re not registered to vote and don’t go to the polls,” said McGuire.  “We have to turn this around and register the next generation of engaged voters.”

McGuire handily won his primary election in June, gathering over 57% of the vote against three other candidates. Prior to his current service on the Board of Supervisors, McGuire was a small business manager in the television and radio industries and served as the City of Healdsburg’s youngest Mayor and as a School Board President.

For more information, please see http://www.mikemcguireforsenate.com/announcing-next-gen-votes/.

August 9, 2014

Senator Noreen Evans

200 South School Street
Ukiah, CA 95482

Re: AB 2145 (Bradford) *              OPPOSE

Dear Senator Evans,

 I am writing on behalf of the Democratic Party of Lake County in strong opposition to the amended AB 2145. AB 2145 remains nothing more than a corporate monopoly power grab to destroy competition from Community Choice clean energy programs and further entrench the monopoly utilities. It should be thrown out in its entirety.

AB 2145 contains:

1) Anti-competitive Geographic Barriers

2) 5 Year Rate Setting Community Choice Poison Pill

3) Unprecedented Complaint Process Bureaucracy

1) Anti-competitive Geographic Barriers: With its three-county restriction, AB 2145 would prevent cities and counties from grouping together to serve larger numbers of customers in order to buy and generate energy at lower bulk rates and compete on electricity prices with the monopoly utilities. Many small, rural, and lower income communities would find it impossible to launch Community Choice programs, because they would be forced to do so with a prohibitively small customer base. To limit the size and buying power of Community Choice programs undermines their competitiveness, especially when the utilities have no such restrictions.

Building a larger customer base for group buying power is crucial. When Marin’s program expanded to bring in additional customers in the working class city of Richmond, rates for customers went down. Marin’s inclusion of Napa County is projected to lower rates by 3%, while still delivering a greener energy mix than PG&E. If AB 2145 becomes law, communities all over California will be blocked from repeating Marin’s successes.

2) 5 Year Rate Setting Community Choice Poison Pill: AB 2145’s requirement that Community Choice programs set rates for customers five years in advance (while the monopoly utilities have no such requirement) is an unacceptable double standard. It is yet another attempt to place regulations on Community Choice that the utilities themselves don’t have to follow. It would be impossible for any energy provider to set rates five years in advance. This provision would expose Community Choice to endless lawsuits over even the smallest unexpected rate changes, and could potentially shut down every Community Choice program in the state.

3) Unprecedented Complaint Process Bureaucracy: AB 2145 takes customer relations oversight away from local accountable elected officials, and places it in the vast state-level bureaucracy of the CPUC. No other local public water or power systems are placed under such a heavy handed, distant, state agency governing process. This section would tie local Community Choice customer relations in knots, would create a financial burden both locally and at the CPUC, and would delay timely resolution of customer communications and concerns.

Conclusion:

California’s two operating Community Choice programs in Marin and Sonoma counties are already exceeding the state’s renewable portfolio standard, and are doing so at lower prices to customers than the existing monopoly utility. Over a dozen other California cities and counties are preparing similar programs to provide a wide array of strong community benefits including greatly expanded local renewable energy and energy efficiency, stimulation of local economies by localizing energy spending, improved local health outcomes (through shutting down fossil fuel power plants), resilience against power outages and shortages, and increased clean energy sector union jobs.

All of this is providing powerful new competition with the monopoly utilities.

AB 2145 is an insidious attempt to undermine Community Choice competition with the utilities and further entrench their antiquated business model. Enactment of AB 2145 would not only be bad for consumers and workers. It would also interfere with California’s ability to meet its climate action goals, which are crucial to the California economy and the sustainability of the planetary environment.

We urge you to strongly oppose AB 2145.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Curry

Chair, Lake County Democratic Party

*Currently AB 2145 is in the State Senate Committee for Appropriations. The Bill has been placed in the suspense file. The suspense file is for a bill or set of bills, with a fiscal impact, set aside in Appropriations Committee by a majority of Members present and voting. These bills may be heard at a later hearing.