Minutes of the February 29, 2016

General Membership Meeting Minutes of the February 29, 2016

Democratic Club of Claremont General Membership Meeting 7:00 PM Monday, February 29, 2016 Napier Center, Pilgrim Place

Attendance: John Forney chaired the meeting with approximately 20 people in attendance.

ACTION ITEM: Sign-up for our Earth Day booth, Saturday, April 23.

Agenda: added:

LawsuitPetitions

Program: Gar Byrum addressed Ted Cruz's eligibility to be President of the United States. Article 2 of the Constitution lists the qualification that, to be eligible, one must be a "natural born citizen". Cruz's father was a citizen of Cuba and his mother was American. At the time of the writing of the Constitution, only the father's citizenship was recognized, not the mother's. Thus, according to Gar and many lawyers, Cruz is not eligible. The citizenship of other candidates (past and current) was discussed.

Business Meeting:

President's Report: John urged all to volunteer to phone to other states to encourage turnout in the coming election. Concern about Donald Trump and his supporters was discussed. John also encouraged attendance at the opening of Anthony Portantino's campaign headquarters at 232 N. Lake Avenue, Pasadena on Sunday, March 13, from 1 until 4 PM.

FINANCE/Treasurer's Report: Carol Whitson reported a balance of approximately $3600. Followup with those members who have not yet renewed for 2016 is planned.

PROGRAM & ISSUES: Merrill Ring said that the GOP continues with its attempts to decimate the National Park System. Current bills in Idaho and Alaska aim to take control of parks within their states. Congresswoman Judy Chu will discuss the issue at the March luncheon, Friday, March 11. Past and proposed speakers and topics were also given.

COMMUNICATIONS (Vacant) The club's Facebook page is kept up-to-date by Mel Boynton.

MEMBERSHIP: Sandy Hester is on medical leave - Gar will phone lapsed members asking them to renew. The attendees unanimously wished Sandy a speedy recovery.

POLITICAL STRATEGY (UDHq-E) LACDP/CDP: Debi talked about her participation in Nevada's Democratic caucuses. Plans for the headquarters are proceeding. A political action committee is forming with Joe Salas as president and Debi as Treasurer. Efforts in planning a fundraiser for a headquarters include finalizing the headquarters name, the venue (Imagine That, 1318 W. 9th Street, Upland) and date (Sunday, May 8) and honored guests (many state-wide and local electeds). T-shirts designed by Eve Mefferd, President of the Young Democrats Club at Claremont High School, will be sold. At the CDP state convention, attended by Debi, Anthony Portantino received the CDP endorsement. "Pulling" of the delegate status of Sandy Hester (by Carol Liu) and of Karen Suarez (by Chris Holden) was shared.

Lawsuit: Debi read aloud a text message from Daren Hengesbach, the attorney who successfully represented our Club in a lawsuit against the Inland Valley PAC. Daren will be invited to a future meeting to explain the suit and its outcome. (See below for text of Attorney Hengesbach's text.)

Minutes: MSA (Carolee Monroe) The Minutes of the General Membership meetings of November 30, 2015 and January 25, 2016 were unanimously approved.

Petition: Hugh Wire asked for signatures on a petition to be submitted by California People of Faith regarding the death penalty.

Hugh also gave an update on the Wilderness Park controversies and attempts to resolve them. Topics included vision toward expansion, maintenance costs, parking, restrictions, park users and purchasing of the property.

New Business:

Endorsement of Eric Bauman: MSA (Debi Evans) Unanimously approved that Eric Bauman be endorsed to replace John Burton as California Democratic Party Chair. Debi will send Eric an email announcement.John announced that Jim Stripling has been nominated by our club as the AD 41 Veteran of the Year.John announced our club's booth at Claremont's celebration of Earth Day on Saturday, April 23, from 10 AM until 3 PM.Debi Evans and Kathy Patterson asked for signatures supporting their candidacy as AD41 delegates.

Club Events

March 11 Luncheon: Congresswoman Judy Chu "The National Park Service and GOP Efforts to Defund It" DARVISHMarch 28 Membership meeting NAPIER CENTERApril 8 Luncheon DARVISHApril 25 Membership meeting NAPIER CENTERMay 13 Luncheon: Assemblyman Chris Holden DARVISHMay 30 Membership meeting NAPIER CENTERJune 10 Luncheon: Marjorie Cohn "Drone Warfare" DARVISHJune 27 Membership meeting NAPIER CENTER

Other Organizations Events

Agenda for a Prophetic Faith series: Susan Emmerich "Creating a Future for America's Left-Behind Young Adults" at Claremont United Methodist Church, Sunday, March 6 7:00 PM

Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 8:40 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolee Monroe, Recording Secretary

Daren Hengesbach's message:

"On February 29, 2016, the judge granted the DCC's motion for terminating sanctions. The court set April 19, 2016 for the default paperwork to be filed. The judge will enter a judgment against the Inland PAC and each of the individual defendants for an amount at least of $16,300. The full amount of judgement can be collected against any of the defendants and will continue to accrue 10% interest until paid. If the defendants fail to pay or hide assets, the judge will order them to provide me all of their financial information in court."