Carol Heasley and Mary ONeal recently resigned from the E-Board as VP and Secretary respectively. The club thanks both of them for their work, and in their place has appointed Mike Johnson as VP and Gretchen Kinney Newsom as Secretary. Their appointments were unanimously confirmed at the August Monthly Meeting.
The E-Board also appointed Barbara Houlton as Chair of the Action Committee and Patrick Schultheis as Liaison to OFA (Organizing for Action), more details below.
Gail Mackler resigned as Assistant Treasurer but the E-Board is not appointing anyone to that position, Ruth Rollins remains as Treasurer. Robert DeVries was confirmed as the Central Committee Liaison.
List of Officers of the Club
List of Committee Chairs and Liaisons
Vice President – Mike Johnson
Mike’s father William Johnson served in the U.S. Navy during Word War 2, and Mike was born in San Diego in 1946. The family moved several times in the next 8 years before settling back to San Diego. Mike graduated from Lincoln High School in 1965 and two years later was drafted to tour Vietnam. He exited the U.S. Army at the age of 22, going on 32!
Mike married his high school sweetheart in 1970 and has three wonderful children the eldest of which is currently studying at UCLA.
Mike spent most of his life working construction in California, Nevada and Arizona depending on where the latest housing boom was taking place. He retired in 2009 and joined the Point Loma Democratic Club in 2012 after becoming a Precinct Leader for the GO Team, and working with OFA in Las Vegas. Mike also serves on the club’s Events Committee. He was, is, and will always be a lifelong Democrat.
Secretary – Gretchen Kinney Newsom
As Principal and Director of Communications and Legislative Affairs at LeSar Development Consultants (LDC), Gretchen Kinney Newsom supports clients with research and analysis of frontier policy initiatives, project management, public relations, positioning and branding, social media campaigns, and preparation of public materials. Ms. Kinney Newsom also tracks legislative and statewide policy decisions connected to community development, environmental policies, affordable housing, homelessness, federal and state budgets, and new funding opportunities.
Prior to joining LDC, Ms. Kinney Newsom served as Special Assistant and senior advisor to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, a bipartisan body charged with conducting the nation’s official inquiry into the causes of the financial and economic crisis and reporting its findings to the President, Congress, and the American people. She advised the Commission on organizational matters including goal setting, structural development, and external advocacy measures. In addition to being the FCIC’s senior financial and personnel officer, Ms. Kinney Newsom managed day-to-day operations and guided the Commission’s external and Congressional relations. The Commission presented its report in January 2011, and it became a New York Times best seller – it was hailed as “the most comprehensive indictment of the American financial failure that has yet been made” and “the definitive history of this period.”
Ms. Kinney Newsom has previously worked for two real estate investment firms, the California State Treasurer’s office, and a gubernatorial campaign (Angelides for Governor, 2006).
She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Humboldt State University with a degree in Government and Politics, and was also awarded with the “Woman of the Year” honor. She is also a graduate of the prestigious California State Executive Fellowship Program.
Ms.Kinney Newsom presently serves on the Executive Board of Directors of the Ocean Beach Town Council and chairs the annual OB Holiday Parade. She is a member of the OB Historical Society, Run Women Run, and the Urban Land Institute San Diego/Tijuana Chapter Young Leader’s Group.
Action Committee – Barbara Houlton
The Action Committee is currently working to help members post progressive online responses and comments to local news sources. Training is provided to members on how to register a separate email address or Facebook account, how to include a link to a relevant article, and how to compose messages that will be accepted by the online media sites.
Barbara was born a Democrat. Her father was a precinct chairman sometimes, a committee member sometimes. Her Uncle was the Mayor (and Indian Agent for the Chippewa Nation) of a small town in Minnesota. In the late 1820’s the party faction that supported many of the old Jeffersonian principles, led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, became the Democratic Party. Starting about 1840, many of her ancestors were named Martin Van Buren Davis, and her nephew was Martin Van Buren Davis IV. Her grandfather went to the National Convention in Chicago, where, if Barbara has the years right, William Jennings Bryan or Grover Cleveland was the party nominee. She was brought up to believe that Democrats were the party of the people – and that Of the People, by the People, and for the People was our motto.
Central Committee Liaison – Robert DeVries
The Central Committee is the governing body of the County Democratic Party as defined in the California Government Code and Elections Code. It is comprised of local Democrats elected by voters in each Assembly District, as well as partisan-level Democratic elected officials and nominees. (For more information, see the Bylaws and Policies & Procedures.) It conducts the County Party’s general business, approves its budget, coordinates Democratic campaign activity, and endorses candidates for local offices. Meeting times are listed here.
OFA Liaison – Patrick Schultheis
Organizing for Action is a nonprofit organization established to support President Obama in achieving enactment of the national agenda Americans voted for on Election Day 2012. OFA advocates for these policies throughout the country and mobilizes citizens of all parties and diverse points to speak out for speedy passage and effective implementation of this program, including gun violence prevention, sensible environmental policies to address climate change and immigration reform. In addition, OFA encourages the formation of chapters that will be dedicated at the grassroots level to this program, but also committed to identifying and working progressive change on a range of issues at the state and local level. In carrying its work, OFA operates as a “social welfare” organization within the meaning of section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Patrick was born in Basel, Switzerland and grew up in the Black Forest in southwestern Germany. He joined the German Army in 1993 and earned a master’s degree in education from the University of the Federal Armed Forces at Munich. During his studies he worked as a freelance journalist for various TV and print media.
2002 he was deployed to Afghanistan. Before his honorable discharge as a Captain in 2005 he served as a platoon leader and company commander in an Airborne Infantry unit and as a press officer at the Federal Ministry of Defense in Berlin.
Patrick continued his career in public service as a press officer for the German Chancellors Gerhard Schröder and Angela Merkel. Accompanying them to state visits and summits, Patrick organized more than 200 press events around the world.
After five years living out of a suitcase, Patrick left the Federal Press Office to join an international aid agency as their spokesperson. Soon after the birth of his son Paul, he and his wife Katherine, a biochemist, immigrated to the United States in July 2012.
Patrick joined OFA in August 2012, volunteered at the SD County Democratic Party Headquarters, helped organizing Phone Banks and registering voters. He’s an associate member of the Point Loma Democratic club since February 2013.
POINT LOMA & OB DEMS 