Rob Bonta

Want a Clean Democratic Party? Vote for Independent Party Members

 Want a Clean Democratic Party? Vote for Independent Party Members  Politics  2 Responses »
Jan 072015
 

Democrat DonkeyOnce again, it’s time for the election for delegates to represent AD 18 (San Leandro, Alameda and most of Oakland) to the California Democratic Party’s State Central Committee.   State delegates get to vote on the party’s endorsement of Democratic candidates for state and national office, on the state party’s platform and on regional and state party officers.  If we want to have a state party that is  open to regular Democrats and that puts civil rights and social justice before the interests of the party machine, we need to elect delegates that represent those values.

Voting for state delegates is hard. It can only be done in person on the day and place determined by the County Committee Chair.  This year, the AD 18 election will be on Jan 10th at 11 AM at the Teamsters Local 70, 400 Roland Way by Edgewater Dr. in Oakland.  It

There is a slate ran by Assemblymember Rob Bonta whose only purpose is to make Bonta have more influence in the party, which he can then wield to further his political career.  He is not in the least shy about this. All candidates in his slate must commit to “consult” with Bonta before voting, and Bonta is spending thousands of dollars of campaign funds to get them elected.  Bonta is hoping to use his delegates’ votes to decide who will get the Democratic endorsement in the race to replace state senator Loni Hancock in 2016.  Bonta has not yet announced whom he’ll be backing.  In 2014, Bonta similarly used his votes to back then Assembly speaker John Perez for Controller, against the far more liberal and qualified Betty Yee (who was ultimately elected). Bonta also backed senator Alex Padilla for Secretary of State, despite Padilla’s support for the use of drones and his problems with the FPPC, against the far better qualified and clean Dereck Cressman.

But voting for non-Bonta candidates matters in other ways.  Bonta has been very reluctant to take a stand against mass surveillance of California citizens and has refused to carry legislation that would put limits.  He has a very cozy relationship with the police unions, who’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to get him elected.  As any fight for civil rights and social justice in California goes directly through Sacramento, it’s dangerous to give Bonta so much say over which senate candidate will get the Democratic endorsement.  For this reason, I am asking all Democratic voters to attend the January 10th meeting and vote for the Independent non-slate

VOTE FOR INDEPENDENT CANDIDATES

  • Mike Katz-Lacabe
  • Guillermo Elenes
  • Matt Hummel
  • Sean Donahoe
  • Sokhom Mao
  • Gilbert Dong
  • Sandra Johnson
  • Leslie Robertson
  • Donna Murphy
  • Sabrina Ramirez
  • Marlene Hurd

Convener:

Gray Harris

Phone:
510-552-6521

Email:
Graymooregray@gmail.com

 

Time & Location:

Teamsters Local 70

400 Roland Way
Oakland, CA 94621
Cross street: Edgewater Dr.
Location Phone: 510-552-6521

Saturday, Jan. 10
11 AM – 1 PM ONLY

Who “owns” Rob Bonta?

 Who “owns” Rob Bonta?  Politics  No Responses »
Oct 102014
 
Rob Bonta with an APD officer and Councilmember Lena Tam

Rob Bonta with an APD officer and Councilmember Lena Tam

San Leandro’s Assemblymember takes money from insurance companies and police, while supporting Benny Lee and Deborah Cox

Campaign finance disclosures were due earlier in the week and it’s always a good idea to find out who “owns” our elected officials.

I took a look at Assemblymember Rob Bonta’s backers and while unions are by far his biggest contributors, he has also taken a fair amount of money from insurance companies.

After spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get Bonta elected in 2012, police unions continue to support him. It’s not a surprise. Bonta has a been an advocate for the militarization of the police, while in the Alameda City Council he voted in favor of acquiring an armored personnel carrier and while in the Assembly he has refused to carry any legislation that would put any type of limits to police power.

Other contributors include gambling interests, lawyers, AT&T and, of course, California Waste Solutions.

In all, Rob Bonta took in almost $200K in the last 3 months and over $550K this year alone, even though he is running for re-election against San Leandro’s own Republican David Erlich who has raised less than $5K.

So what has Bonta done with this money? He’s given the Democratic party about $85K, as it’s expected and, he’s supported other candidates. In San Leandro, his largess went to two candidates: Benny Lee and Deborah Cox. They both got $1K. Not surprisingly, they are both heavily backed by the police department and are expected to rubber stamp whatever the police puts before them (Lee has so far).

One person Bonta has not endorsed is Councilmember Pauline Cutter, who is running for Mayor of San Leandro . Now, everyone in the Alameda County Democratic Party and the Alameda Labor council, in addition to the political establishment in San Leandro, has rallied behind Pauline. While she is not the most progressive candidate, she is a solid Democrat, a hard worker and the most independent member of the City Council. She is not a rubber stamp for the City Manager/Police Chief, which is why the Police Union endorsed Diana Souza. If Bonta wasn’t in the pocket of the police union, he would have likely endorsed Cutter by now.  Endorsing Souza would be a losing proposition, after supporting the raising of the Chinese flag, voting in favor of red light cameras and taking money from California Waste Solutions (CWS), Souza is likely to come out third on the race, behind Dan Dillman.   Bonta’s support of pro-police/pro-Chinese flag/pro-CWS candidates extends to his home city of Alameda, where he is now backing Stewart Chen.

Ultimately, politicians cater to their backers because they help them not just be elected, but become more powerful within the political structure.  As long as voters automatically elect incumbents, this will remain the case.  But the open primary system may make it easier for Democratic candidates to lounge successful challenges against Democratic incumbents – in particular when these tacitly support unpopular positions such as raising the blood soaked Chinese flag over our cities.

Alameda Democrats Endorse Barbara Lee and Mike Honda, but not Eric Swalwell

 Alameda Democrats Endorse Barbara Lee and Mike Honda, but not Eric Swalwell  ACDCC, Politics  No Responses »
Feb 072014
 

Democrat Donkey

Battle for AD 15 and CD 15 Democratic endorsement moves to the State Convention

Feb 8 Update

Congress: In CD 13, Barbara Leee was recommended for endorsement, with 100% of the vote.  I was wrong about CD 15, and Eric Swalwell got the majority of the vote, though not enough to get a recommendation.  The fight for the endorsement goes up to the Convention, where it will probably come to the floor, giving Ellen Corbett an advantage. Stay tuned.  As predicted, in CD 17 Mike Honda easily got the endorsement.  Indeed, Ro Khanna did not even bother to show up to the meeting, probably thinking that his time was better spent campaigning.

Senate: Mary Hayashi did show up and made some vague accusations against Bob Wieckowski, but couldn’t get even one vote.  Wieckowski easily got the recommendation for the endorsement for SD 10, with a handful of votes going to Roman Reed.

Assembly:  I was surprised to see that a clear majority of the votes in AD 15 went to Elizabeth Echols, though not enough to break the 70% and give her the recommendation.  The endorsement thus goes to the Convention.  As predicted, Andy Katz got a few votes, but none went to either Sam Kang nor Pamela Price-Crawley.  Both civil rights lawyers were pretty impressive, however, and I’m interested in hearing more from both of them.  Tony Thurmond‘s vote count may not have impressed, but he’s a dynamic and inspiring speaker and made an impression even with my very politically jaded 12-year-old.   While Echols is likely to win at the endorsement caucus at the convention, if Thurmond can pull her name out of consent – which he may very well be able to – and send this to the floor of the convention, he has a very good chance of winning. Echols may be solid, but she’s not an exciting candidate.

Also as predicted, Rob Bonta and Bill Quirk easily got the endorsements for AD 18 and AD 20 respectively.  No endorsement recommendation was made for AD 25, and nobody got enough votes for this to go up to the convention.  Craig Steckler got the most votes, but Kansen Chu wasn’t far behind, with Teresa Cox trailing both.  Armando Gomez didn’t get any votes.  While Steckler called himself a progressive Democrat, almost all his campaign loot comes from police chiefs and law enforcement, which suggests he isn’t going to Sacramento to fight for civil liberties and against the prison-industrial complex.  Mik

—–

The California Democratic Party will be conducting pre-endorsement conferences throughout the state this weekend.  Members of the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) and other eligible Democrats will meet to listen to the different candidates that are competing for the Party’s endorsement in their respective districts and will vote on whom should get it.  In races where a Democrat is endorsed by the party, other Democrats are encouraged to drop out.

Most of Alameda County, including San Leandro, falls within the Party’s region 5, and the caucus for our region will take place on Saturday, Feb. 8, starting at 2 PM at the Laborers Local 34 hall, located at 29475 Mission Blvd in Hayward. Any Democrat is welcome to attend.

While the vote count happens after the candidates have an opportunity to speak, in reality most candidates have been going around picking up vote-by-mail ballots from their supporters.  Candidates who get 70% of the vote at the pre-endorsement conference are placed in the consent calendar for Party’s endorsement at the State Party Convention which will take place in early March – though their endorsement can be challenged with signatures of either 20% of DSCC members in their district or statewide.  If no candidate gets 70% of the vote, but at least one gets 50%, there will be an endorsement caucus at the Convention, where they will need to garner 50% or 60% of the vote (depending on incumbency status), to get on consent. The same will happen if an endorsement is challenged.

In order to qualify for the Democratic endorsement, a candidate must be a registered Democrat and pay a fee ranging from $250 to $500.

Here are the candidates who are vying for the Democratic endorsement in Region 5

Congressional District 13 

The only candidate running for the endorsement is incumbent Barbara Lee, who will easily get it.

Congressional District 15

Incumbent congressman Eric Swalwell battles State Senator Ellen Corbett for the endorsement.   My bet is that if any candidate gets the endorsement tomorrow, it’ll be Corbett.  I also bet that if one of them gets it, the other will have the endorsement challenged and it will go the Convention.

Congressional District 17

Here, congressman Mike Honda holds a significant advantage over challenger Ro Khanna.  Khanna ran a successful slate at last year’s delegate elections and he may have a few other votes, but they will likely not be enough to prevent Honda from getting the endorsement.  They may be enough for a challenge, but Honda is sure to get the endorsement at the Convention.  Linguist Philip Bralich is also running for the endorsement, but I don’t believe he’ll get even one vote.

Assembly District 15

There are no incumbents in this race, but there are five candidate vying for the endorsement.  Preliminary endorsements suggest that the two actual contenders are Alameda County Democratic Central Committee member Elizabeth Echols and former Richmond City Councilmember Tony Thurmond.  EBMUD Director  Andy Katz may get a few votes, but it seems unlikely that either civil rights attorneys Sam Kang or Pamela Price-Crawley will get any.  The latter doesn’t even have a campaign website.  My guess is that at least one of the candidates will get 50% of the vote, and the endorsement for this race will go to the Convention.

Assembly Districts 18 and 20

The only candidate running for AD 18 is incumbent Rob Bonta and for AD 20 is incumbent Bill Quirk, so both have it in the bag.

Assembly District 25

Four Democrats are vying for the open seat being left by Bob Wieckowski.  San Jose Councilmember Kansen Chu battles Ohlone Community College Board Trustee Teresa Cox, Milpitas Councilmember Armando Gomez and former Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler. I know nothing about the voters in that race, but given the crowded field it seems unlikely that anyone will get the endorsement tomorrow or even send this to the Convention.

Senate District 10

This is the race that actually makes me want to go to the conference (I already sent out my ballot).   Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski is running against former Assemblymember and convicted thief Mary Hayashi. Also in the race is stem-cell-research-activist Roman Reed.  Hayashi hasn’t even bothered to set up a campaign site, and she hasn’t done any fundraising lately (though she does have a lot of money from previous races she can use), but she did apply for the Democratic endorsement, so she’s presumably running.  It’s unlikely she’ll get any endorsements votes, however.  Reed may get a few, but Wieckowski should easily get the endorsement and keep it on consent.

I’ll post results tomorrow.

CA Legislature Wants to Make it Easier for Government & Identity Thieves to Track You

 CA Legislature Wants to Make it Easier for Government & Identity Thieves to Track You  Civil Liberties  No Responses »
Aug 152013
 

policestateOur state officials seem to be working as hard as they can to help the NSA track the movement of US citizens as much as possible.  Their latest stunt? Enhanced drivers’ licenses.

These are drivers licenses or ID cards that have a radio chip that transmit information about you. The purported reason for this is to make it easier to cross borders.  Getting a passport, however, is no more hassle than getting one of these and provides you with much more privacy: as you don’t usually carry them around.

Once you have these types of ID, anyone who has the right equipment (which is cheap and easy to find) can read it.  With the right antenna, you can read enhanced license plates from as far as a mile.  Readers can be automatically placed throughout towns and roads, and the information about the movement of citizens can be automatically stored to help track them.

While the IDs start by being “voluntary”, they soon won’t be.  You can’t get a passport without one any more, for example.  They definitely make the work of police easier.  You won’t need a drone to take pictures of a protest, if you can just scan the driver licenses people keep in their wallets.  Why bother sending a mole into a political meeting, when you can stay outside and scan them instead?

And what a great way to give people tickets! Just keep your scanners open and you’ll be able to find out who has unpaid parking tickets or who is late with their child support and pick them up.  Much easier than investigating actual crime.

It’s thus not surprising that my own Assembly member Rob Bonta, who took a ton of money form police unions for his campaign (and has taken a ton more since), already voted in favor of this bill in Committee.  Shamefully, so did Loni Hancock and Ellen Corbett on the Senate, despite opposition from the ACLU, the Consumer Federation of California and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

Consumer groups are concerned about these chips, because they provide an open invitation to criminals.  As I mentioned, the equipment to read these chips is cheap and easy to put together. While the chips are only supposed to have a number in them, not the owner’s name and address, it’s a number that is unique to its owner.  Criminals can easily match numbers with their owners by either breaking into government databases or by simply scanning the licenses of people they have already identified.

The bill still has to pass the Assembly and be signed by the governor. Bonta and Bob Wieckowski, who also voted for it in Committee, still have a chance to redeem themselves and vote against it. I hope that Bill Quirk and Nancy Skinner will as well.

Here is some more info on these tags:http://cafe.1933key.com/How-RFID-Tags-Could-Be-Used-to-Track-Unsuspecting-People

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