INFORMATION ABOUT THE CANDIDATES FOR DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE

San Mateo County Democrats
San Mateo County Democrats

On the June 7th ballot Democratic voters will vote to elect delegates to the San Mateo County Democratic Party Central Committee. According to the California Democratic Party website, County Committees “drive the front-line efforts of the California Democratic Party: registering and educating voters, protecting the right to vote, and working to elect candidates who will fight for our values. From local elections to Congressional races, our 58 County Committees are working hard to help Democrats win and engage more voters.”

Because many local voters and club members are not aware of the importance of the Committee and may not know who is running, the club asked each of the candidates to respond to the following two questions:

  • How would your membership on the Democratic Central Committee be of value to Democrats on the Coastside?

  • In what ways could you work with the DCC to help Democratic Clubs increase their membership and be more effective at mobilizing Democrats to play an active role in local politics?

 

INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES

Three candidates provided individual responses:

SABRINA BRENNAN

How would your membership on the Democratic Central Committee be of value to Democrats on the Coastside?

I am a committed lifelong Democrat and I live in Moss Beach. I’m passionate about our environment, equality, and social justice.Sabrina

I bring strong leadership and a Coastside perspective to the San Mateo County Democratic Party. Through outreach, education and research, I support good waterfront planning, restoration and public access.

In what ways could you work with the DCC to help Democratic Clubs increase their membership and be more effective at mobilizing Democrats to play an active role in local politics?

I regularly volunteer at Coastside voter registration events, attend the Coastside Dem board meetings, and promote Democratic events on social media. I attend California Democratic Conventions and state Executive Board meetings. I campaign for Coastside candidates. This includes designing campaign websites, writing campaign literature, designing mailers, writing op-eds, writing letter to the editor, precinct walking, phone banking and educating local volunteers about civic tech tools.

I was endorsed by the Coastside Dems in 2010 and 2012.

 

JON LEVINSON

How would your membership on the Democratic Central Committee be of value to Democrats on the Coastside? 

I have been involved with Central committee for several years and have always been supportive of any and all measures concerning the coastside.  I have always endeavored to make sure all members of the Centrl Committee are involved and supportive of each other and their constituents.

In what ways could you work with the DCC to help Democratic Clubs increase their membership and be more effective at mobilizing Democrats to play an active role in local politics?   

I have always been  big supporter and worker for folks running for local offices from City Councils, school boards and Supervisors  because I believe those are training jobs for running for bigger and more crucial positions.  I belong to many organizations in the community and at every opportunity I promote political activism and the suggestion to be involved, not only at election time but in the intervening time when the building of the Party takes place

KATHRYN SLATER-CARTERKathryn Slater-Carter

How would your membership on the Democratic Central Committee be of value to Democrats on the Coastside?

As a member of the SMC DCC, I would strive to make the Central Committee more aware of the issues and concerns of Coastsiders and to base endorsements on local knowledge and experience. It is important for the representatives of each of their districts to represent the majority of their districts, and we should all work together. As an elected member and past officer of the Montara Water and Sanitary District for many years and a past two term member of the MidCoast Community Council, I have a record of understanding and resolving local problems. MWSD encourages citizen involvement and discussions with regional leaders.  We have always followed both the letter and the spirit of the Brown Act for open and transparent governance. As a member of the SMC DCC, I pledge to advocate for this same kind of outreach and process.

In what ways could you work with the DCC to help Democratic Clubs increase their membership and be more effective at mobilizing Democrats to play an active role in local politics?

The Central Committee should make services available to the Clubs to promote increased membership in those Clubs, encourage formation of new clubs, as well as making services available to local clubs to recruit Democrats to run for local offices. For instance, services like translation of local flyers and ads into various languages for outreach the communities are needed. Also the DCC needs to assist each Club by sponsoring events in the various local areas and promoting social events for local clubs by helping recruit Democrats running for statewide offices to their events. I would encourage the Democratic clubs to work together to share other ideas on building memberships. As a member of the SMC DCC, I would work with all the Clubs to promote issues of both local, state and national importance among the communities to help drive membership into those local clubs.

The Central Committee should be driven by the clubs and their membership, in the Democrat Party tradition. The Central Committee meetings should be held in various places around the County to motivate clubs to encourage local members to get to know Central Committee members. The Central Committee should work to make its committees follow an open and transparent process that is well understood by all the membership. The Central Committee should work to ensure that each club can meet the changing requirements for the State. The DCC bylaws must be clarified for better understanding by the general membership and to ensure that local clubs through their boards have a say on endorsements that affect the local club’s area.

 

CAROLE DORSHKIND, GREGORY LOEW, CECILY HARRIS, BRIGID O’FARRELL, JON LEVINSON, & PAM SALVATIERRA

These candidates are running as a slate. They did not respond to the questions, but submitted the following statement:

The Strong Dems Slate for District 3 San Mateo County Democratic Central CommitteeSlate2

Carole Dorshkind, Redwood City                 Gregory Loew, Atherton

Cecily Harris, San Carlos                                Brigid O’Farrell, Moss Beach

Jon Levinson, San Carlos                               Pam Salvatierra, Menlo Park

The “Strong Dems Slate” represents all Democratic voters in District 3 of the San Mateo County Democratic Central Committee (SMCDCC). Our slate ensures continued local representation for the coastside as well as for the entire District 3 population, approximately 80% of which is located “over the hill” from the coast.

The mission of the SMCDCC is to develop and maintain ongoing support for Democratic candidates and issues by working with elected officials, clubs, coalition partners, and advocates. Each slate member is actively involved with endorsements, resolutions, phone banking, voter registration, precinct walking, fundraising, and California State Democratic Party business.

We know that coastside Democrats are concerned with a wide range of issues including health care, education, housing, jobs, traffic, parks, and the environment. These issues, and others, have consistently been raised to the SMCDCC by the incumbent coastside member, Brigid O’Farrell, through club reports, topical speakers, the endorsement process, conversations at SMCDCC events, and coastside events. Individually, and as a group, we welcome meetings with club members to talk about recruitment, club membership expansion and ways to build more SMCDCC involvement on our issues. We recognize that there can be disparate views on the coast and will work with you to build consensus and strengthen support for Democratic values.

We work collaboratively with elected officials and our slate has been endorsed by Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, State Senator Jerry Hill, Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, and Supervisor Don Horsley. Summary information on each of our backgrounds is included as a separate attachment. Please feel free to contact us with questions or for more information: cdorshkind@comcast.net, cecily999@sbcglobal.net, pacmgr@comcast.net, gregory.loew@gmail.com, mbrigidofarrell@gmail.com, pamsalvatierra@me.com.