The San Joaquin Valley Democratic Club is a local Democratic club serving Fresno County and surrounding areas. We are a club that is dedicated to social justice and basic human rights for all.  We belive that grassroots organizing, neighbor talking to neighbor, is essential to spreading the message of the Democratic party and the San Joaquin Valley Democratic club.  Our members are encouraged to be active in the community with voter registration, precinct walking, tabling and phone banking. 

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March 9-




Peace Fresno, the group featured in Michael Moore’s movie, Fahrenheit 911, will host the Peace & Justice Festival, and invites the public (free admission and parking). 

The day marks seven years of U.S. war on Iraq.  Participants will join people all over the U.S. in calling for an end to war and petitioning to bring the troops home.  The festival will also celebrate the richness of the local peace and justice community.   It will be an afternoon of live music, entertainment, food, information, and political action.  

Musical entertainers are Blake Jones and the Trike Shop; the flamenco group, Ibicé; the Guitar Ensemble from Sanger Academy Charter School; singer, songwriter, guitar player Thomas Ian Nicholas; and the Raging Grannies. 

There will be a “kids’ zone,” the creation of a mural during the festival, and a magician.  Local artisans will sell their hand-made goods.  

The keynote speaker will be Kathy Kelly, three-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee and co-founder of Voices for Creative Nonviolence. She gives an impassioned call for action to end U.S. military and economic warfare. Kathy truly “walks the walk,” putting her life on the line on many occasions, including staying with the people of Baghdad during the U.S. invasion in 2003.

Also speaking will be Rick Reyes, a former U.S. Marine who was in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and is currently a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Rick, from East L.A., addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, calling on them to rethink the occupation of Afghanistan.

Actor Thomas Ian Nicholas will be in character as Abbie Hoffman as he reprises his role from the upcoming movie, “The Chicago 8.”  

The Peace & Justice Festival brings together a variety of Central Valley groups that are working toward a just, peaceful, and sustainable community and planet. Participants will have an opportunity to browse the informational tables of these groups and talk with their representatives. 

Over 80 groups and vendors are expected.   Co-sponsoring groups and individuals include: Fresno Center for Nonviolence, Central Valley Progressive PAC, Larry and Rena Mullen, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Fresno Free College Foundation/KFCF, Fresno County Democratic Central Committee, Philip and Sharon Erro, Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno Social Justice Committee, South Valley peace Center, Central Valley Alliance of Atheists and Skeptics, In memory of Berry Nishkian, Fresno Metro Ministry, Jesuit House, SunMt, Community Alliance Newspaper, www.ciafront.com, Sarah Whittington and Joseph Warkentin, Sierra Club Tehipite Chapter, Intermountain Nursery, Fresno Filmworks, California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus.   

Peace Fresno is a local volunteer organization whose motto is “Action for social justice and alternatives to war.”  Peace Fresno meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at the Fresno Center for Nonviolence, 1584 N. Van Ness Ave. (across from Fresno City College). 

For more information about Peace Fresno, the peace movement, and the Peace and Justice Festival go to www.peacefresno.org.   Contact Camille Russell, president@peacefresno.org, 276-2592.

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March 6-

 

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Feb 21-

Louise Bauer Davoli Campaign Press Conference

scheduled for Wednesday, February 24 at 2:30 pm.

She will officially announce her candidacy for City Council during the press conference.

We're arriving at 2:15 pm., the press conference is at 2:30 pm. We'll be finished by by 3:00 pm.

We'll be right across the street from city hall on P Street betweeen Fresno and Tulare. We'll be on the Mariposa Mall with a great view of city hall right behind us.

There are parking meter spaces right there on P Street and in the city hall parking lot.  Come join us as another great Democratic candidate announces her run for office.

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Feb 2-

June 2010 Statewide Ballot Measures

Proposition 13
Constitutional Amendment
SCA 4. (Resolution Chapter 115, 2008), Ashburn. Property tax: new construction exclusion: seismic retrofitting.

Proposition 14
Constitutional Amendment
SCA 4. (Resolution Chapter 2, 2009). Maldonado. Elections: open primaries.

Proposition 15
Statute
AB 583. (Chapter 735, 2008). Hancock. Political Reform Act of 1974: California Fair Elections Act of 2008.

Proposition 16
Initiative Constitutional Amendment
1369. (09-0015) - Random Sample - Updated as of January 12, 2010 New Two-Thirds Requirement for Local Public Electricity Providers. Qualified: 01/12/10 Proponent: Robert Lee Pence c/o Steve Lucas (415) 389-6800 Requires local governments to obtain the approval of two-thirds of the voters before providing electricity to new customers or expanding such service to new territories if any public funds or bonds are involved. Requires same two-thirds vote to provide electricity through a community choice program if any public funds or bonds are involved. Requires the vote to be in the jurisdiction of the local government and any new territory to be served. Provides exceptions to the jurisdiction of the voting requirements for a limited number of identified projects. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: Unknown impact on state and local government costs and revenues, depending on future voter decisions, due to the measure's potential effects on electricity rates and publicly owned utility operations. (09-0015.) (Full Text)

Proposition 17
Initiative Statute
1381. (09-0028) - Random Sample - Updated as of January 20, 2010 Allows Auto Insurance Companies to Base Their Prices in Part on a Driver's History of Insurance Coverage. Qualified: 01/20/10 Proponent: Christina L. Wilson c/o Chip Nielsen (415) 389-6800 Changes current law to permit insurance companies to offer a discount to drivers who have continuously maintained their auto insurance coverage, even if they change their insurance company, and notwithstanding the ban on using the absence of prior insurance for purposes of pricing. Establishes that lapses in coverage due to nonpayment of premiums may prevent a driver from qualifying for the discount. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: This measure would probably have no significant fiscal effect on state and local governments. (09-0028.) (Full Text)

November 2010 Statewide Ballot Measure

Bond Measure
SBx7 2. (Chapter 3, 2009), Cogdill. Safe, Clean, and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2010
Suggested Initiative Deadlines to qualify initiatives for the 2010 election cycle. The following suggested deadlines are not substitutes for California election laws, regulations, or policy. Other factors, such as amending the initiative measure before circulation or the length of time for circulation, will affect the time it takes to complete the process. As new initiatives enter circulation, fail, or qualify for an election ballot, the Secretary of State's office will issue initiative status updates.

The updates can be found on our Initiative and Referendum Qualification Status page.

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Jan 21-

Several months ago, Devin Nunes introduced a bill into the House, HR 3105, that would suspend Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections in operating the Central Valley Project.   A coalition of environmental groups recently signed a letter opposing signing a discharge petition that would allow the bill to come to the floor.  At this point, there seems little danger of this happening.   The only Democratic lawmaker who had signed on to the discharge petition was Jim Costa.   
 

The bill is one of the reasons for the Republican Congressional forum planned in Fresno on January 25.   Hopefully the torrential rains will help dilute their message.  

 Another coalition of environmental groups has worked to slow down Feinstein’s water transfer legislation, S 1759,  HR 3750 in the House..   Many observers have serious concerns about the bill because it would deregulate water transfers authorized in the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) in 1992.    Feinstein has been pushing it as a way to avoid gutting the Endangered Species Act while re-electing Boxer, Cardoza, and Costa.   Fortunately, the rains seem to be resolving some of these issues.   The challenge is to avoid passing “quick fix” legislation like S 1759 that may cause serious problems down the road.  


The purpose of the CVPIA introduction of water marketing was to provide incentives for farmers to conserve water, which they could then resell it at a profit.  The transfers were restricted to water that has actually been delivered and consumptively used on a farm, and were subject to individual environmental review.    Feinstein’s bill would remove these restrictions, and substitute programmatic Environmental Assessments.  S 1759 would also allow for transfers to the Kern Water Bank, which many fear could be a pipeline for various kinds of unsustainable use.  


Water markets and the growth of exports to Kern Water Bank, Kern County Water agency, and MWD have played a much bigger role in the collapse of the Delta than many people realize.  


 As part of the Monterey agreement,  MWD and Kern County Water Agency (KCWA) gave up the urban preference in exchange for “Article 21” or surplus water, and KCWA got the Kern Water Bank and turned around and gave it to Stewart Resnick.   The state then reclassified much of the spring flows as surplus water, and pumped it down to MWD, KCWA, and the Kern Water Bank.In some recent years, the taking of Article 21 water was unmetered and the pumps pumped at maximum capacity during the entire season.     


Unfortunately this maximum spring pumping was at the same time the Delta smelt were spawning, and so it played a significant role in the collapse of the fisheries.  There was a huge economic incentive for the Kern County Water Bank and the urban users to take as much Article 21 water as possible because of the price differential between cost of the Article 21 water ($28 an acre foot) and its value on the market.   See Mike Taugher’s article, Harvest of cash: Kern County agency buys public water low, sells high  " rel="external">http://www.cacoastkeeper.org/news/harvest-of-cash-kern-county-agency-buys-public-water-low-sells-high">http://www.cacoastkeeper.org/news/harvest-of-cash-kern-county-agency-buys-public-water-low-sells-high      


The Article 21 water has been shut down because of Judge Wanger’s decision, but it also means that there has been a big collapse in the “surplus” supplies for these users.   Many agricultural interests that relied on Kern Water Bank water are under severe distress.  See “Another Kings County Water Transfer Weighed,”  John Lindt, Valley Voice”   This is the real driving force behind the “Turn the Pumps on Now” demands.   Since the Article 21 exports appear to have been taken in excess of the USFWS permit and were completely unsustainable, there is likely no way to restore them without destroying the Delta.    There are some concerns that the easing of federal restrictions on water transfers could be used to get around Wanger’s rulings.   


There are also many potential adverse impacts from large scale water transfers, including groundwater depletion from groundwater substitution transfers, job loss from Ag to urban transfers, and contamination from transfers to impaired lands.   Under the Bush administration, some large (130,000 acre feet annually) groundwater substitution transfers from the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors were approved, to wildlife refuges and to Westlands Water District. This exacerbated the severe drawdown of groundwater documented by the USGS, and is increasing the load of salt, selenium, and boron discharged into the San Joaquin River .  Here is a link to water quality comments from the EPA,, which appear to have been largely disregarded in approving the transfer.  


There are huge issues with groundwater contamination in the Valley, and transfers should be reserved for irrigation of lands that are not contributing substantially to soil and groundwater contamination in the Valley. 


 Another big issue is the recent Grasslands Bypass decision, in which the Bureau of Reclamantion granted a waiver for 10 years for standards for discharge of selenium and other contaminants into the San Joaquin River .      

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Jan 12-


It is time to redraw the political district lines.  But they will be drawn by we the people this time.

Are you in need of a job?

Would you like to earn $300 per day of work?

If you answered yes to either of those questions then have we got something for you.

On January 23 at 11am the state auditors office will be in town giving a presentation on the citizens redistricting commission.

It will be held at the East Engineering building of CSU Fresno in room 191

This is your chance to make an impact on the state of California for a decade, until the 2020 census is taken.

Join us on January 23 at 11am. CSU Fresno campus, East Engineering room 191.

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Dec 24-

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Felices fiestas navidenas y prospero ano nuevo.

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Dec 15-

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Nov 27-

Sign up here to join the Fresno training. Just click here to sign up




These training fill up fast so RSVP now to get a seat for the June 19-20 2010 training here in Fresno. 

If you can not make that date, check out the California Democratic Party website for other trainings and dates.

Click here for other training dates and locations


These training are possible because of the donations being made by the grassroots to the Democratic party with the DEM2010 program.  Click here to donate to the Democratic party.

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Nov 26-

Code Pink will be stopping in Fresno Saturday at the Air National Guard and
Lemoore Navel Air Station. The website says 2-3PM in Lemoore & 4-5PM in Fresno
to protest the use of drones. You can get on their bus and go all the way to
Creech, NV on the 30th. Details at www.nodrones.com or www.bayareacodepink.org.

Come and join us in this protest, the Califoria Democratic Party did vote at their e-board meeting to support a resolution of withdrawl from Afghanastan.

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