Notes from October Meeting – Anne Hoiberg and Howard Wayne Help us Measure the Measures

Susan thanked everyone for coming and all who brought snacks, then recognized new members Suzanne Lawrence, Luis Osuna, and Bobbie Kohrt.

Program – Anne Hoiberg and Howard Wayne Help us Measure the Measures
Information sheets about the measures were distributed to everyone. The San Diego Free Press’s listed all the State, San Diego County and City measures, gave short descriptions, and indicated where Labor, the Democratic Party, and the GOP stood on them; the League of Women Voters of California’s described the San Diego County and City measures in more detail.

Club members Anne Hoiberg, of the LWV and the Women’s Museum of California, and former California Assemblyman Howard Wayne presented a lively program in which they took turns arguing for or against various measures. They first tackled the County’s Measure B (“Ballot Box Zoning – Lilac Hills”) and the City’s Measure C (“Buy the Billionaire a Stadium”). Howard mentioned that Measure K (“All Candidate Races Finalized in November”) and Measure L (“Ballot Measure To Be Moved to November Ballot”) were very important but too complicated to debate and shouldn’t have to be decided by the voters. He also noted that City Measure A (“SANTAG Sales Tax”) had been already discussed at the last meeting.

Next, they battled over State Propositions: Prop 51 (“$9 billion in bonds for education and schools”, which Anne pointed out would be strictly used for construction; Prop 53 (“Voters must approve revenue bonds more than $2 billion”); Prop 55 (“Personal income tax increases on incomes over $250,000”); Prop 56 (“Increase the cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack”); Prop 57 (“Sentencing Reform”) Prop 60 (“Require the use of condoms in pornographic films”); Prop 61 (“Prescription drug price regulation”); and Prop 63 (“Background checks for ammunition purchases”). Throughout the debate, Anne pointed out which were proposed constitutional amendments and why it needed to be taken into account.

They concluded the program by answering questions raised by members.

Reports

• In Mike Johnson’s absence, Susan reminded everyone about the Club’s participation in the December 3 Holiday Parade and about the Club’s Holiday Party at Ruth’s house to be held on December 4, the following day.
• Susan Peinado reminded everyone that the Club’s website contained links to voting guides, such as those of the San Diego Free Press and the state and county Democratic Party sites, and said that more would be added.
• She spoke about President Obama being in town, but noted that all of the $250 and $1,000 tickets for his fundraiser tomorrow were already gone.
• She said that Patrick Schulthesis, the Club’s Public Relations/Marketing Committee Chairman, and his wife have announced the birth of their son Felix and invited everyone to sign a card for them in the back of the room.
• She stressed that local Democratic candidates Doug Applegate, Maura Elliott, and Georgette Gomez were in need of support, and urged everyone to give of their time and money. She also noted that Gomez was being attacked by a GOP-funded Democratic opponent and that the accusations were false.
• She also stressed that there was a serious need for members to get more involved with the Club. She said that help was needed in many areas, such as programming, communications and the planning of programs, parties, and parades and urged everyone to speak with any officer about helping.

Announcements

• Susan highly recommended that members see the play “Disgraced” at the San Diego Repertory Theater, and watch Greg Palast’s movie (“The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”) at a local theatre.
• Susan mentioned that the Western Service Workers was in serious need of money to help with their building project, and then read a note from the organization thanking the Club for its recent donation.
• Anne Hoiberg invited everyone to two upcoming events at the Woman’s Museum in Liberty Station: Rob Quigley’s talk about his vision for East Village South (a better alternative to Measure C) vision, and the showing of the movie “Making a Killing: Guns, Greed and the NRA”.

Susan thanked everyone for coming and invited all to meet afterwards at their original meeting place, the Point Break Café at 2743 Shelter Island Drive.