San Diego County Democratic Party Votes to Endorse County Term Limits

This evening it is reported that the San Diego County Democratic Party voted to support placing term limits on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. It should send a shock wave about the determination the San Diego County Democratic Party has on challenging the status quo. You remember there are now more Democratic registered voters in the county, then Republicans.

Everyone at the meeting could agree one important thing, the Board of Supervisors are completely out of touch with the people they should be helping and do not represent the majority of the people of San Diego County.

Members talked about the supervisors $10 million a year slush fund (hmm, where did the previous community project fund lists go on the county website?) to reward their contributors, the large campaign war chests, the failed North County mental health outsourcing, need for campaign finance reforms, real redistricting reforms removing the Supervisors from directing the drawing of their personal fiefdoms and most importantly educating the voters about the real responsibility of the County Board of Supervisors - fire, social safety net and the topic missed, but still needed, was the badly needed revision of the outdated general plan for land use.

This evening the endorsement is already making the rounds on Facebook pages and status updates in the era of social networking. Interesting was the question about the Republican Party endorsing the term limits .

QUESTION:Does anyone know a term limit measure the San Diego County Republican Party or even the California Republican Party didn't support and were not asking about measures that would alter existing term limit lengths?

The Future of the Democratic Party in San Diego.

The primary challenge facing Democrats in San Diego is to present a credible alternative to conservative leadership.

San Diego is a newly Democratic community. For decades, conservatives have dominated local politics, and Democrats were left to fight over a limited number of districts to play only the loyal opposition. Now Democrats are the plurality of voters in the County, and are increasing their plurality of registered voters in the City. Despite these gains, Democrats have been unable to capture even one seat on the County Board of Supervisors, and it has been over 20 years since voters elected a Democratic mayor.

Numerical superiority alone has not been sufficient to overcome entrenched conservative dominance. Democrats need to present themselves as capable of leading San Diego, in order to leverage our advantages into real electoral wins.

For many years, most elected Democrats in San Diego followed one of two basic models. The first type of Democrat was a feisty contrarian, whose message is primarily a criticism of those in power. The alternative to that contrarian model are Democrats elected as vanilla, uncontroversial compromisers, who pledged to work with the conservative interests that already dominate San Diego.

Neither model presents a uniquely progressive or Democratic vision. The contrarian is a naysayer that critiques the status quo without presenting feasible alternatives. The compromiser more or less accepts the status quo, and pledges to work within its existing framework.

While the contrarian may object to conservative policies, they fail to articulate a persuasive Democratic alternative. The compromiser may support realistic policies, but their views are not meaningfully different from the policies advanced by conservative officeholders.

The future of the Democratic Party in San Diego requires candidates and office-holders to present uniquely Democratic ideas that are credible alternatives to the conservative status quo. We can’t just complain about conservative policies, or promise to compromise with the conservative office-holders. Neither strategy informs voters what a Democratic local government would actually do for them. We have to present a vision of what Democratic local governance would look like. And we have to ask voters to elect Democrats to carry out that vision.

In short, we have to lead.

If Democrats are unhappy about a Mayor’s charter review process, we can’t limit our response to complaining about it. Instead we have to present an alternative review system, and either use the legislative powers of the City Council, or a referendum to enact it. If proposed budgets call for cuts that are antithetical to progressive values, Democrats must show how those cuts can realistically be avoided. If the Democrats only complain about the initiatives of others, then we are not leading, but only reacting.

Democrats in San Diego need not moderate themselves in order to demonstrate a capacity for local leadership. While pragmatism is important, successful Democrats can and should fiercely advocate for the cause of workers, for project labor agreements and environmental concerns. Voters support Democrats on these issues.

In the current City Council, the person who best follows this modern Democratic approach is Todd Gloria. Gloria doesn’t just sit on the sidelines. He puts forward realistic policies that are useful alternatives to the conservative status quo. For example, Gloria has advocated for ending the subsidy renters are forced to pay when the city doesn’t charge homeowners for trash pickup. He placed more Community Relations Officers in his district, to efficiently leverage city resources and stop crimes before they start.

San Diego is fortunate to have someone like Gloria on the Council. But he’s only one person, and we need our other Democrats to follow his example. The Labor Council is taking some important steps by allowing candidates to take a “Labor 101” course on the practical and moral underpinnings policy that supports working people. San Diegans are setting up a local chapter of the New Leaders Council (www.newleaderscouncil.org), to build skills and relationships for young progressive political entrepreneurs.

Democrats need to articulate how their policy preferences will actually operate when applied. If we are going to ask voters to give us the reigns of government, we have to present and fight for a positive view of progressive local government.

Colin Parent is an attorney and the Political Director for the San Diego County Young Democrats.

[Cross-posted on NBC San Diego.]

SDCDP Chair Jess Durfee Elected to DNC

Congratulations to Jess Durfee, the chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party, who was elected this morning to the Democratic National Committee. The election was part of the California Democratic Party's Executive Board meeting that took place in San Francisco this weekend. Jess, who has been the chair of the SDCDP since 2004, becomes one of 19 California members to the Democratic National Committee beginning in 2009. He also becomes the first DNC member to be elected from San Diego County.

UPDATE:

Over at the California Progress Report, Bill Cavala has a piece about Jess Durfee's election to the DNC this morning. [Link]

PSA: Campaigns

Because we are a week away from the Primary and campaigns are preparing their who’s or what will get blamed or take credit for their victory or defeat, let’s review some basics to see through the spin:

Labor does not run candidate campaigns
They can run IE campaign on behalf of candidates and issues but they are not the “campaigns.” Those belong to the candidate, their consultants, and staff. Regardless of what the other side would have you believe, Labor does not dictate to candidates how to run their campaigns.

The Democratic Party does not run candidate campaigns
Here, the other side gives the Dems too much credit. The purpose of the local party is to assist, though volunteers and the media, their endorsed candidates and causes. They do not operate candidate campaigns nor to they, like Labor, order campaigns to bow to their wishes.

Consultants run candidate campaigns
Ever notice how the local press goes to the consultant first, then the campaign manager? These hired guns are called in to give the campaign the oversight, direction, and keep said campaigns on course. They can tell campaigns what to do and can clue them into resources that these campaigns would otherwise not have.

Candidates run campaigns
The final nail of accountability goes to the name at the top of the letterhead. It is seen as a reflection of their abilities in being able to hire (and fire) the right people and to get elected. Some campaigns operate more independently of their consultant than others, but it is up to the candidate and their manager, chosen to be the right hand, to decide what is the best course of action. At the end of the day, it is the candidate who accepts responsibility for what has happened no matter who was at fault.

Unless there was some boneheaded move by a staffer, consultant or volunteer that gets press time, these are the tiers of responsibility.

So when consultants start blaming the “party” or “labor”, just remember that neither of these two can run the shop for the campaign. That’s why there is a campaign manager and consultant in the first place.

GOP only have two real choices for San Diego Attorney

Recently, I have talked to members of the local Democratic Party, Lincoln Club, local Republican Party and a union activist over the San Diego City Attorney race. I walked away from all those conversations with the Oh My Gosh moment. GOP has only have two choices come November, Scott Peters or Mike Aguirre.

We all know Mike will make the general election, the polls, the talk from the San Diego downtown establishment and the party insiders all know it. So, the second name on the ballot will make the difference on who will beat or lose to Mike.

Scenario 1 – Scott Peters wins the second spot. The unions support Scott, along with the downtown interests, developers and the Democratic Party. The GOP and Lincoln Club stays neutral. Mike won't get his party's endorsement again, is blocked from large contributions and can't mount a major campaign. Mike doesn't get many major endorsements to boost his case, except for maybe the likes of Donna Frye. Mike has no volunteer base, no money and no chance to beat Scott.

Scenario 2 – Jan takes second place and unions are forced to support Mike over Jan. Mike now gets his party's endorsement, which comes with major money and major endorsements. Mike can now mail, gets on the air and gets a lot of volunteers. Mike calls press conferences weekly about every scandal, or so called possible scandal of the GOP, linking it all to Jan. Lincoln Club and GOP are forced to spend major money on the race or look foolish. There are GOP and Libertians that like Mike, eroding Jan's base and the Dems vote and do it as a vote against Jan. Mike will win it.

Scenario 3 – Brian takes second place, the unions might do what they just did in the mayor's race and endorse in name only at the last minute. However, the Democratic Party now is forced to endorse Mike. Mike can now mail, gets on the air and gets a lot of volunteers. Mike calls press conferences weekly about every scandal, or so called possible scandal of the GOP, linking it all to Brian, including the pension underfunding. Lincoln Club and GOP are forced to spend major money on Brian who they really don't like in the race or look foolish. There are GOP that like Mike and hate Brian, eroding Brian's possible base, many Libertians vote for Mike over Brian and the Dems vote and do it as a vote against Brian. Mike will win it.

GOP make your choice Mike or Scott.


Off the topic, but can't help but say, if Mike McSweeney had won the San Diego Unified School District seat two years ago, then he would never had taken a job for the mayor, been the scapegoat for Tom Shepard as so many others have done before and now have his public political career ruined.

Followup on the 78th Race

I have received several e-mails today regarding the race in the 78th. Regarding endorsements, I'm told that the San Diego County Central Committee does not endorse in partisan races. Hence there will not be another opportunity for Marty Block to come up short on the required votes for a Democratic Party endorsement.

Speaking of endorsements, I have been told be several people that Speaker Karen Bass didn't endorse Auday Arabo. He does have the endorsement from former Speaker Fabian Nunez just not Bass' endorsement. There is a rumor going around that if Speaker Bass does choose to endorse in the race, she will endorse Arlie Ricasa. Stay tune for more....

Marty Block Fails to Get Dem Endorsement

Once again Marty Block came up a few votes short on getting the Democratic Party endorsement for the 78th Assembly district primary race. By coming up short for a second time, the big winners tonight were Arlie Ricasa and Auday Arabo. Speaking of Arabo, tonight the assembled delegates he announced that he had gained the personal endorsements of Speaker Fabian Nunez and Speaker-to-be Karen Bass. The timing of the announcement obviously helped to deny Block the party endorsement, but was nowhere enough to get Arabo the party endorsement himself.

One final note: Since the CDP has officially taken no position on the 78th race, it now falls to the San Diego County Democratic Party if they want to take a position on the race.

Democrats Have Their Say Last Night

Last night's Democratic Party Central Committee turned out to be the contentious meeting that many were expecting. The big item on the agenda of course was the endorsement for city attorney. As reported elsewhere, incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre failed to receive the endorsement from the party last night. Besides Mike Aguirre, both Scott Peters and Amy Lepine were in attendance to seek the party's endorsement too. The process quickly boiled down to the Aguirre v. Peters match that everyone had expected it to be.

During the candidate discussion period Aguirre continued to play the role of martyr. That he was the victim of backroom deals being orchestrated between corrupt politicians, labor bosses and the downtown establishment. For many of the central committee members, Aguirre's manichean view of city politics played to their sympathies. Agurrie also took several jabs at Peters, arguing that he was responsible for the financial mess in the city.

Scott Peters, on the other hand touted his Democratic bona fides that fell on a deaf ear for many of members in the audience. Peters additionally argued that unlike Aguirre, he has demonstrated an ability to work with others council in his role as president of the city council. It was painfully obvious that the central committee was divided Aguirre and Peters with Aguirre having more supporters there that Peters. After two votes Aguirre fell 1% short of the 60% required for the party endorsement.

Aguirre has now twice failed in the last 6 months to capture the party endorsement. It appears that he wasn't able to enlarge his majority on the central committee enough for him to break the 60% threshold. If he ends up making the runoff for the November election, he can once again go before the central committee in July to try to get the "hat trick" in no endorsement from the party.

Correction: In a post the other day I made mention that the Democratic Party in 2004 had endorsed Kathryn Burton over Scott Peters in 2004. The information I received was wrong from a central committee member was incorrect. Scott Peters and Kathryn Burton were co-endorsed by the party.

Preview: Aguirre vs. Peters

Tuesday evening the Democratic Central Committee will be meeting to discuss endorsements for the upcoming races in June. The big item on the agenda will be the endorsement in the San Diego City Attorney's race. Last November incumbent City Attorney Mike Aguirre came up two votes short of the 60% threshold in order to receive the early incumbent endorsement. Since then council president Scott Peters has joined the race for city attorney and will also be seeking the party endorsement. It should also be noted that when Scott Peters ran for re-election back in 2004, he didn't win the early incumbent then, instead is went to Kathryn Burton. If the November central committee meeting was any indication, Tuesday night's meeting stands to be quite contentious.

Steve Francis Shows up at Democratic Party Election Nite Event

I hear that mayoral candidate Steve Francis made a late appearance at the official San Diego County Democratic Party Election Nite Event. It was held at the Eagles Lodge in Hillcrest. From what I have been told about half the crowd had already gone home by the time Mr. Francis showed up, but that didn't prevent him from going around and working the room for votes. At one point he got into quite the discussion over virtues of outsourcing with a member of the Democratic Central Committee who happens to work for SEIU.

Memo to Steve Francis: The Annual County Democratic Party dinner is scheduled for Saturday night April 12th. I'm sure they wouldn't mind having you purchase a table or two for the dinner. I hear there is going to be a good speaker this year.

More Aguirre Follies

Last night before the San Diego County Democratic Party Central Committee meeting, city firefighters and other city employees held a thank you demonstration for the members of the central committee who back in November voted to deny City Attorney Mike Aguirre an early incumbent endorsement. The demonstrators held signs along city streets and in front of the State building where the committee meets.[Link]

According to my source who sent me the above photo, during the central committee meeting both Lee Burdick and Dan Coffey, who are declared candidates for city attorney, took strong anti-Aguirre positions when speaking to central committee members. I'm told the response from the members was respective, but not overwhelming.

In other news from last night's meeting, both Marti Emerald and Sherri Lightner received early party endorsements for district-7 and district-1 city council races.

Smoking Crack over at Red County

I saw this post from a Mr. Murphy over at Red County regarding the local Democratic Party and City Attorney Mike Aguirre. In his post Mr Murphy asserts:

Over the past couple of weeks there has been some discussion inside the Democrat Party about the endorsement - or lack thereof - of Democrat City Attorney Mike Aguirre. If it happens, it isn't going to be soon. There was some thought among Democrat leaders to put the issue back up for discussion in January or February.[Link]

Now I don't know where Mr. Murphy gets his information from, but I can tell you from people I know who serve on the Executive Board of the county Democratic Party Central Committee what they have told me. Since Mike Aguirre failed to get the early incumbent endorsement the subject of another vote for him has not been on either the December or January meeting agendas. I'm told that Aguirre's next opportunity for the Democratic Party endorsement will be in March, when the other Democrats in the race for City Attorney will also get to go before the central committee for the endorsement.

South Bay Summit

December 28, 2007

Dear Democrat:

We have a tremendous opportunity in 2008 to organize, win elections, and build a new generation of Democratic leadership in South San Diego County – if we are all united and working together to advance the values we share.

The four of us are writing to invite you to a South Bay Summit on Saturday, January 12, sponsored by the San Diego County Democratic Party.

At this event we plan to identify the significant work that needs to be done by Democrats in the South Bay, from voter registration and turnout to coalition-building and candidate development.

Most importantly, we hope to take full advantage of the energy coming out of this Presidential election year. With your help, we can unite and mobilize Democrats to make the South Bay a center of Democratic strength for San Diego County and all of California.

Invitations to the Summit are going out to elected officials, Party representatives, and other community leaders in the region. It will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon at the Downtown Chula Vista Library (365 F Street, 91910[Map]). Light refreshments will be provided.

Please R.S.V.P. and direct any questions you might have to Julian Quinonez in the Party office at (858) 277-3367 or julian@sddemocrats.org. Thank you for joining us in this unprecedented effort.

Sincerely Yours,

Jess Durfee, Chair San Diego County Democratic Party

Hon. Bob Filner, Member of Congress 51st District-CA

Hon. Denise Moreno Ducheny, California State Senator District 40th

Hon. Mary Salas, California Assembly Member District 79th

The Aguirre Dilemma

When City Attorney Mike Aguirre failed to get the San Diego County Democratic Party early incumbent endorsement last month, many of local Democratic activists were surprised by the result. Among grassroots activists, Aguirre is viewed as something of a mythic figure, akin to the status enjoyed by councilmember Donna Fyre circa 2004 & 2005. Aguirre’s appeal among these Democratic activist is understandable, he is their Jesus, turning over the tables of “downtown establishment” moneychangers outside the temple of city hall.

Mike Aguirre plays the martyr role quite well to his audience of supporters. These supporters attraction to Aguirre comes out of sense of frustration. Since Pete Wilson was elected mayor in 1971, the voters of San Diego have elected only one Democrat as mayor in the intervening 35+ years and she left office in 1992. Unless something dramatically changes between now and the close on the filing period next March, the drought at holding the mayor office will continue at least until 2012.

Notwithstanding, Mike Aguirre creates a bit of a dilemma for the county Democratic Party. He is after all the only Democratic office holder elected citywide. He has, however, alienated certain sectors of the Democratic coalition, in particular labor. But that is not his only the problem. His disconcerting forays as City Attorney into areas not traditional part of the office’s purview, such as his investigation of KPBS, have added to the loose-cannon caricature portrayed in the pages of the local establishment paper. Many people in this town who consider themselves staunch Democrats, but are not activist types, they find Aguirre’s tenure as City Attorney embarrassing.

Last week, when Democratic Party Chair, Jess Durfee was guest posting at Voice of San Diego it was interesting to read the comments to his posts. Most of the comments, once you got past the token Republicans, didn’t want to discuss what Jess Durfee was posting about. Instead many of the comments were from Democrats wanting to comment on Mike Aguirre and if the party should endorse him. The vast majority of these comments, expressed the opinion that Aguirre doesn’t deserve the local party’s endorsement. Of course, there is no way to tell how representative, these commenters are to the public at large. That being the case, since the vote last month, I have heard from a friend who is Central Committee member that Mike Aguirre and some of his staff have been meeting with members of the Central Committee to make their case for endorsement. My friend also tells me that he thinks, the early endorsement will be put back on the agenda for the January Central Committee meeting.

There is no doubt that the downtown Republican establishment is gunning after Mike Aguirre. All you need to do, is just pickup a copy of the UT to see their slanted coverage. Does that warrant the local party to throw its prestige and weight behind Aguirre’s reelection? To the grassroots activists the answer is “yes.” He is, however, not the only announced Democrat who is seeking the office of City Attorney. Since the party has once already denied him the early incumbent endorsement, maybe they should hold off the endorsement until all announced Democrats for City Attorney can present themselves before the Central Committee to be considered for endorsement. -TQ

Over at Cafe San Diego

San Diego County Democratic Party Chair Jess Durfee, is hosting Cafe San Diego over at VOSD. His first post titled Turning Blue discusses how the county in slowly but surely trending blue. A couple of points he hits on are:

The city of San Diego has had a Democratic plurality of registered voters for many years. Countywide, the registration difference between the major parties is down to about 5 percent. That's vanishingly small when you consider the 22 percent of voters who don't affiliate with any party.

Last year, four of eight victorious Democratic candidates for statewide office carried San Diego County. That had never happened before. As those candidates were well aware, there are more Democratic votes here than in any other California county save Los Angeles.[Link]

In addition, he discusses some of the recent improvements the local party has undertaken:

Since the last presidential election, the county party has hired three full-time staff members (it previously had none), launched a year-round Precinct Leader program, successfully raised funds from high-dollar and grassroots donors alike, and adopted a strategic plan that emphasizes long-term candidate development.[Link]

As next year's presidential election grows closer, it will be interesting to see how these improvements to the local party combined with the changing demographics of the county translate into electoral outcomes.

What happen last night....

Following is a synopsis of what transpired based on an e-mail I received this afternoon from a friend who attended the meeting last night:

It turned out that last night's Democratic Central Committee meeting was quite the eventful evening. The highlight of the evening was the early endorsement of Mike Aguirre for City Attorney.

In attendance there were representatives from the City Attorney's office including Karen Heuman and Kathryn Burton as well as representatives from the Municipal Employees Association who were distributing photocopies of anti-Mike Aguirre articles to Central Committee members outside the room. Also there was Dan Coffey, who is a Democrat and announced candidate for City Attorney.

Mike Aguirre spoke to the members on the Central Committee and detailed the accomplishments of his office since he took over three years ago. He also spoke very passionately about the Democratic values he believes in.

The discussion was limited strictly to Central Committee members, 10 of them spoke. During the discussion among the members that were both Aguirre supporters and Aguirre non-supporters they argued their positions enthusiastically. One of the individuals who spoke on Aguirre's behalf was 76 AD Assemblywoman Lori Saldana.

The person who probably had the most impact in swaying some undecided members to vote against the endorsement for Aguirre, was a member who had once worked in Aguirre's office.

I think the vote surprised the Aguirre supporters in the room, with the vote being 23 for and 19 against. Aguirre falling short of the 60% requirement by two votes.

Following the Aguirre endorsement vote, the early incumbent endorsement for San Diego School Boardmember Sheila Jackson was brief opened up for discussion. The reason was her intention to vote for Republican Luis Acle as president of the School Board next month. By this point most of the committee just wanted to get out and her endorsement sailed through with no opposition.

One final note from last night's meeting. I am also told that the party amended its bylaws to allow for early endorsements in open races. Setting the stage to endorse in City Council seats 1 and 7 at the January meeting.

No Endorsement!

I just received a test message from my friend who attended the Democratic Central Committee meeting tonight. In what turned out to be a close vote, San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre failed to get the required 60% of the vote for an early incumbent endorsement. I'll have more on what transpired at the meeting in a later post. Stay Tune....

Endorsement for Aguirre?

I received and e-mail last night from a friend who is a member of the County Democratic Party Central Committee, the e-mail lists over a dozen incumbents to be considered for early endorsements on tonight's agenda. On the list is Mike Aguirre. My friend also tells me Aguirre should win the endorsement fairly easily even though another Democrat Dan Coffey is an announced candidate for City Attorney.

The question I would ask: Has Mike Aguirre been good for the County Democratic Party, and is he worth the early endorsement?

Kickoff to Victory

You're Invited to Our "Kickoff to Victory"

San Diego Democrats are gathering on November 4 to give thanks for everything we have, to support our neighbors in need, and to launch our campaign to win in 2008.

Meet fellow Democrats and some of our local candidates at this event -- one year to the day from the General Election. You'll hear from Chair Jess Durfee and special guests about the Party's efforts over the next year to turn San Diego County blue.

In addition, we'll be collecting nonperishable food items and toiletries for those affected by this week's wildfires and others in need during the holidays. Please join us:

Sunday, November 4 ~ 4:00 to 5:30 p.m.
At Chuey's Restaurant & Cantina, 1901 Main St., San Diego (92113)
Requested Contribution: $15 ~ Mexican Buffet Provided

This moment, like the year ahead of us, holds challenges as well as opportunities. We hope to see you soon as we all look forward to 2008. You can RSVP to (858) 277-3367 or rsvp@sddemocrats.org.