Please join us for our monthly meeting on Thursday, June 18th at Villa Gardens, Solarium, 842 E. Villa Street in Pasadena.

A spokeman from Pasadena Water & Power will discuss the Comprehensive Water Conservation Plan which mandates water conservation targets and implements measures to sustain the local water supply.

Coffee and snacks at 7:00PM. Meeting start at 7:30PM. Hope to see you there!

Our meeting room at Villa Gardens is downstairs in the Solarium.

Reminder: Because of our Fourth of July Picnic, there will be no July monthly meeting.

The old Pasadena Young Democrats are now the new San Gabriel Valley Young Democrats!
We meet on the second Wednesday of each month at 8pm at Amigo's restaurant at 1076 E Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.

View Map

For more information please contact:

Thomas B. W. Nicholson, Club President
Phone: 806-570-9706
Email: thomasbwnicholson@hotmail.com

~ Bill Hacket

Thom Uber and I were married on September 21, 2009. It was a happy time for both of us. We met December 15, 2001 and I knew immediately that there was something truly special about him. Our love has grown over the years and so when the California Supreme Court ruled that we could in fact get married we seized that opportunity immediately. And for two reasons. Namely, that we love each other, but also because we knew that Proposition 8 would be on the ballot and if it passed the opportunity for us to marry would be lost.

Read more ...

Please join us for our monthly meeting on Thursday, May 21st at Villa Gardens, Solarium, 842 E. Villa Street in Pasadena.

We have scheduled a speaker from the Foothill Workforce Investment Board to provide vital information for job seekers and workers desiring career advancement in the local community.

Coffee and snacks at 7:00PM. Meeting start at 7:30PM. Check our online calendar for details. Hope to see you there!

Our meeting room at Villa Gardens is downstairs in the Solarium.

~ Michael Lee, Club President

California Democrats held our annual convention the weekend of April 24-26.  These conventions are normally pretty tame affairs since the agenda is controlled by the Chair and the elected officials. However, this year's meeting had some surprises.

On Saturday, the delegates elected the 2009 State Officers.  The establishment candidates, (John Burton for Chair, Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker for Female Vice Chair, Eric Bauman for Male Vice Chair and Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer for Secretary), easily won their respective offices.  However, there was an upset.  Hilary Crosby ran an efficient internet and phone bank campaign and did best the incumbent with 54% of the vote.  She promises to create good two way communication between volunteers and party leadership and inspire new donors to invest in the Party.  Our own regional director, Karen Wingard, was re-elected unanimously.

On Sunday, delegates assembled to determine the C.D.P. positions on the May 19th Special Election Initiatives.  The day before, the Resolution Committee voted to recommend "Yes" on all six propositions.  This was expected since the Chair appoints all committee members.  As we delegates listed to speeches from Senator Boxer, Lt. Gov. Garamendi, Mayor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Jerry Brown, our state legislators were much in evidence on the floor and in our caucuses.  Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Angela Bass led legislators in advocating for these propositions.  Since the elected officials appoint one-third of all delegates, many of us assumed that the yes votes would meet the 60% requirement needed for endorsement.  That is not what happened.  The results: Prop. 1A (58% yes), Prop. 1B (yes on voice vote), Prop. 1C (yes, 67%), Prop. 1D (yes, 52%) and Prop. 1E (yes, 50.1%) and Prop. 1F (yes on voice vote).  This means the party positions is neutral on Props. 1A, 1D and 1E.  I can only surmise that given that the elected appointees were one-third of the vote, the other two thirds of the delegates (coming from the County Committees and assembly regional caucuses) supported the propositions at a rate of approximately one out of four votes, at most.  Many delegates felt that Democratic Legislators had been outmanuevered in the budget negotiations, and did not accept the view of the leadership that this is the best deal that could be worked out this year.

Our new Chair laid out our adenda for the upcoming elections.  Next year, we must elect a Democratic Governor and re-elect Senator Boxer.  We must also defeat the open primary initiative on the June 8, 2010 primary ballot and pass a majority vote proposition.

Democrats of Pasadena Foothills club endorsments for ballot measures to be voted on in the upcoming May 19^th, 2009 California Special Election:

Prop. 1A	Changes Budget Process; Rainy Day Budget	NEUTRAL
Prop. 1B	Education Funding Payment Plan	SUPPORT
Prop. 1C	Lottery Modernization Act	OPPOSE
Prop. 1D	Reducing California Children and Families Funding	OPPOSE
Prop. 1E	Reducing and Reallocating Mental Health Services Funding	OPPOSE
Prop. 1F	Prevents Elected Official's Pay Increases in Budget Deficit Years	SUPPORT

For more information on each of the propositions in question, please see the rest of this article.


Read more ...

~ Anne Zerrien-Lee, First-grade Teacher

Parents,teachers and students need our help NOW to block severe budget cuts that threaten to further reduce the quality of education for every California public school student.

We need to (1) compel Sacramento to pass all the federal stimulus money intended for education down to the public schools, (2) pressure local school boards to spend that money on teacher and staff retention as Congress and President Obama intended, and (3) support elimination of the 2/3 requirement for passing a state budget so we can get true progressive tax reform and end the shame of ranking 48 out of the 50 states in per-pupil education funding.

Please write or email your state legislators, school board members and the Governor now!

Together, we CAN make a difference!


Read more ...

~ Michael Lee, Club President

On Tuesday, May 19th, we will be asked to vote for seven propositions on the California Special Election Ballot.  These seven initiatives are part of the compromise budget deal that was enacted in February.  The deal was fashioned by Governor Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg after much delay.  According to Speaker Bass, if enacted, these measures would balance the rest of this year's budget and also the next year's.  However, weeks later, the Legislative Analyst's Office predicted that there would be a revenue shortfall of $8 billion due to falling revenues even if these measures are passed on May 19th.


Read more ...