Month: January 2022

February meeting: Shirley Weber — Nathan Fletcher — racial justice panel discussion

Join us for our general meeting Wednesday, Feb. 2, in the evening, when we’ll hear from Dr. Shirley Weber, California Secretary of State and former State Assembly representative for La Mesa, as well as Nathan Fletcher, chair of the San Diego Board of Supervisors and representative for the county Fourth District, which includes La Mesa.

We’ll also have a panel discussion on racial justice, featuring Kenya Taylor, a Democratic Party leader and licensed marriage and family therapist; Jim Miller, a journalist, writer and professor at San Diego City College; Rev. Shane Harris, president and founder of the People’s Association of Justice Advocates; and Katie Lais, of the University of San Diego.

Some topics for the panel: Is racial justice increasing or decreasing over recent years? Are we becoming more just as a society, or less, in our local community, San Diego, the state, and nation? What is San Diego doing to increase racial justice? What should we be doing? And more!

Join us at the usual time and place—7 pm Wednesday, Feb. 2 (and the first Wednesday of every month) on Zoom. Here’s the Zoom URL. And feel free to drop by a half-hour early, at 6:30 pm, for unstructured conversation.

Watch the video of our January meeting on redistricting and infrastructure

Watch the video of our January, 2022 meeting to find out more about what redistricting means for Democrats on the local level, in La Mesa, surrounding communities, and San Diego. Also, learn what the $1.2 trillian Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will mean locally.

Our speakers:

  • Richard Merritt, campaign manager for US Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-San Diego).
  • Walter Bishop, Strategic Advisor for Federal Affairs for San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria.
  • Colin Parent, La Mesa City Council member and executive director and general counsel for the mobility and land use organization Circulate San Diego
  • Raul Campillo, San Diego City Council member representing District 7
  • Phil Trom, Principal Regionall Planner for the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)
  • Victoria Stackwick, director of government relations, SANDAG.

We started the meeting with board elections and swearing in of board members, followed by a club budget report, and call to action to stop the Cottonwood Sand Mine. Then we turned to redistricting, and what the new lines on the map need to local Democrats. On infrastructure, we heard an overview from our SANDAG representatives, asked each speaker what the new federal and county plans mean to their constituents, and learned about highlights and what’s missing, in transportation, clean water, wastewater, and more.

We concluded the meeting by hearing from local leaders on matters of importance to our community.

Join us infor our next general meeting, Feb. 2, when the topics will be appropriate to Black History Month. The meeting will be 7 pm PT on Zoom. And you can join us early for casual conversation starting at 6:30 pm.