East Bay Young Democrats » Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:08:33 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 Message from your Webmaster http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/12/message-from-your-webmaster/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/12/message-from-your-webmaster/#comments Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:18:18 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1671 Ever wonder who was responsible for all this?  Who dares to post on things like the Oakland Mayoral Race or Bus Rapid Transit in Berkeley?  What about this Twitter thing?  Did you think it was cool that EBYD created a new website and had a more active twitter?  Did you want to complain about the content?  Well, here’s your chance to meet the man behind the curtain:

Greetings! I am your outgoing 2010 Xcomm at-large member and webmaster, Reuben Duarte.

How self-serving, right?  I’m writing my own “goodbye” post to the EBYD website.  Well, I have reasons.  First, I moved away from the East Bay to attend grad school in Los Angeles back in August so I was unable to see many of you.  Second, I wanted to say I truly enjoyed being your club’s webmaster and can say I will miss being able to improve the clubs online infrastructure and communicating with all of you.

For those who have been with us for a while may remember our old website.  It served its purpose and was unapologetically without style.  Rare blog posts that were usually just event advertisements and links to Act-Blue for membership renewals.  And that was fine.  But when I was asked to serve as the club’s webmaster, I wanted to completely revamp everything, practically starting from scratch.  And I did and here it is.  The www.ebyd.org you see before you is the realization that, as a young Dems club, our online infrastructure should reflect our profeciency in the modern internet age.  You can even get the mobile site on your iPhone. Maybe you didn’t agree with all that was posted.  But at least it was posted.  It brought you to the site to learn and to engage.  And that is and always shall be a goal of EBYD.  I am confident in our newly elected Director of Communications to continue this effort.

Let me close by asking everyone to demand more of your club’s website, facebook and Twitter!  We are young Democrats. We are a generation of computer proficient gurus who spend hours on our computers engaged in a plethora of social networking activities.  We read the news on our iPhones and iPads.  We crack up at youtube videos while at work and we stay up to date in almost real time with our friends and the world with Twitter.  We are more connected with one another than any generation before and this makes us incredibly powerful.  This is our platform and we have created a world that yields to our knowledge and preference of this modern medium.  So why is it that, in the past, Young Democrats have ignored this vital resource?

Young Democrats are intelligent and insightful. We have opinions and ideas that impact the present and future of politics and our communities.  The future’s uncertainty is its most exciting attribute; for if our future is unwritten then we each may have the opportunity to author.  So tell the world!  Ask to post a guest-post on the EBYD blog.  Demand more club meetings and attend Xcomm meetings! Go out in your communities and lead to a better future.  Play the politics, push forward and never fade.  Let everyone know who we are and what we want.  If we are to be future leaders, let us begin today.

Democratically yours,

Reuben Duarte
Outgoing 2010 Xcomm Member
Facebook – Twitter - Website

]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/12/message-from-your-webmaster/feed/ 1 EBYD Elects 2011 Executive Committee! http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/12/ebyd-elects-2011-executive-committee/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/12/ebyd-elects-2011-executive-committee/#comments Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:23:24 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1633

On Thursday, December 2nd, the East Bay Young Democrats elected a brand new Executive Committee for the 2011 year!   This new board reflects the recently adopted changes to the clubs’ by-laws.  The new board will consist of nine (10) members instead of the previous thirteen (13).

We are very proud of our new governing body and look forward to working together to help bring young people into the democratic process and improve our communities here in the East Bay.  Please join in welcoming the new body of your East Bay Young Democrats!

2011 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

PRESIDENT Email: president@ebyd.org
REBECCA SALTZMAN

 Rebecca Saltzman is the Associate Campaign Director of The Next Generation, a full-service campaign consulting and management, and issue advocacy firm, specializing in environmental and progressive issues in the Bay Area and across California. Prior to this, Rebecca worked for four years as Chief of Staff of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the largest national member-based organization promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.

Outside of work, Rebecca is a public transit and smart growth advocate. In 2008, Rebecca chaired the No on KK campaign committee in Berkeley, helping to defeat this anti-transit ballot initiative with 77% of the vote. She writes a blog, Living in the O, which focuses on Oakland community, politics, and planning, and she can often be found covering meetings at Oakland City Hall, the AC Transit boardroom, and other regional agencies. Rebecca serves as an associate member for the 16th Assembly District on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee and the California State Democratic Central Committee.

Rebecca graduated with a BA in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, where she co-founded the school’s chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the student-run, harm reduction based Drug Resource Center. She worked with Grassroots Campaigns after graduating, leading an office that raised more than one million dollars for the Democratic National Committee.
VICE PRESIDENT OF MEMBERSHIP Email: membership@ebyd.org
JASON OVERMAN

 Jason Overman continues his service to the East Bay Young Dems this year as Vice President.  He also serves as the Bay Area Deputy Regional Director for California Young Democrats, and is a former elected delegate to the California Democratic Party.

A lifelong progressive committed to social and economic justice, Jason got an early start in politics.  Originally from Washington, DC, Jason began his political career on Capitol Hill working for the late Senator Ted Kennedy in 2002.  He moved to California in 2003 for college and made history when he was elected to the City of Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board in 2004 at the age of 19, becoming the youngest person elected in the city’s history.  Representing approximately 100,000 constituents, he worked to advance the cause of affordable housing for low income and working families.

Professionally, Jason currently works as the Communications Director for Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan.

Jason has also worked as a community organizer for a children’s literacy non-profit, was a founding member of Citizen Hope, and has been active in the national Young Elected Officials Network through People for the American Way.

Jason earned his B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.
VICE PRESIDENT OF FINANCE Email: finance@ebyd.org
IGOR TREGUB

 Igor Tregub is pleased to serve as your Vice President of Finance. He was previously EBYD’s Parliamentarian, and currently holds an Associate Membership in the Alameda County Central Democratic Committee.

Elected in November 2008, Igor Tregub serves as a Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner. He chairs the Committee on Budget and Personnel and sits on three other committees, through which he ensures that tenants in Berkeley receive fair rents, strong eviction and habitability protections are enforced, and renters and landlords can receive recourse through dispute adjudication. Mr. Tregub is also the former chair of and current commissioner on the Berkeley Commission on Labor, through which he led the passage of the City of Berkeley’s Sweatfree Procurement Ordinance.

Professionally, Mr. Tregub is an engineer with the Department of Energy. He conducts oversight of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and has completed assignments with the agency’s nonproliferation and intergovernmental affairs divisions in Washington, DC. He serves on the advisory board of the New Leaders Council’s San Francisco Chapter and Bay Area Regional Council of the Progressive Jewish Alliance, and chairs the Resolution Committee of the California Young Democrats. Mr. Tregub graduated from UC Berkeley in 2008 with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Political Science and is currently pursuing a Masters in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
SECRETARY Email: secretary@ebyd.org
IPSHEETA FURTADO

 [Bio coming soon!]
POLITICAL DIRECTOR Email: political@ebyd.org
ANDREW KELLEY

 Andy has worked on a variety of legislative races and initiative campaigns including Tuition Relief Now, Hancock for State Senate, and Buchanan For Assembly. A community organizer and grassroots activist, Andy first started organizing as a student at UC Berkeley serving on the Board of Directors for the University of California Students Association. Andy is a California native, born and raised in Arroyo Grande, and recently completed his senior year at UC Berkeley.

Currently Andy works for the Courage Campaign political issues committee. In addition to his position in EBYD Andy serves as the Communications Director of the California Young Democrats LGBT Caucus.
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS Email: communications@ebyd.org
JONATHAN BAIR

Jonathan Bair

 Jonathan Bair is a lifelong Democrat and native of Oakland. He is Chair of the City of Oakland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and a longtime transit advocate active on many issues important to mobility and equity in the East Bay. A marketing consultant based out of downtown Oakland, Jonathan works with green and local businesses to improve their communications with the media and prospective customers. Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Reed College.
AT-LARGE MEMBER
RICHARD FUENTES

 Richard Fuentes manages the legislative process for Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente and is a constituent liaison to District 5. Prior to joining the Council Office, he served as the Senior Development Officer at the Mission Economic Development Agency. Before joining the non-profit sector, Richard worked for the City of Santa Ana in the Economic Development Division as an Economic Development Representative and for the City of Huntington Park in the Community Development Agency as a Planning and Residential Rehabilitation Consultant. Richard is a West Oakland resident and serves on the District 3 Community Development Block Grant Committee. Richard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California State University, Los Angeles.
AT-LARGE MEMBER
JENNIFER PAE

 Jennifer Pae is the Northern California Chair of the CDP Asian Pacific Islander Caucus and Commissioner of the Oakland Community Policing Advisory Board. She currently serves on the board of the APA Democratic Caucus of Alameda County, National Women’s Political Caucus – Alameda North, and was recognized by her colleagues, the East Bay Young Democrats, with the first “Kick-Ass Youth Advocate Award.”

Jennifer is a strong advocate on behalf of her community because of her experiences in a working class family, raised by a single immigrant mother. She worked her way through college at U.C. San Diego where she led campaigns to expand access to higher education and improving campus safety policies by organizing events to prevent violence against women.

After college she was elected to serve as the President of the United States Student Association, the country’s oldest and largest national student organization. At USSA, she managed over a million-dollar budget and represented more than 2.5 million college students across the country. As the chief spokesperson, Jennifer fought for access to higher education, testified before the United States Senate, and served on the Commission on the Future of Higher Education.

In 2008, Jennifer volunteered for Senator Obama’s Presidential campaign. Her efforts won her a seat as a California’s only Korean-American DNC delegate, as well as the youngest Korean-American delegate at the DNC Convention.
AT-LARGE MEMBER
NATHAN STALNAKER

Nathan Stalnaker
Nathan is excited to join the EBYD Executive Committee and looks forward to immersing himself in electoral politics during these exciting, if not trying, times. He is beginning his term in The Organizing and Leadership Academy run out of Larry Tramutola’s firm in Oakland. Before this, he was part of a team that audited the City of Oakland’s Redevelopment Agency.
Nathan moved to the East Bay after finishing his Master’s in Public Policy in Virginia. Nowhere else in the lower forty-eight can beat the East Bay in terms of food, weather, people, and pushing the political establishment forward.
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
FRIEDA EDGETTE

 Frieda is currently a Senior Project Manager at Barbary Coast Consulting, a public affairs firm specializing in strategic communications, community outreach, and government affairs.   At Barbary Coast, she works with nonprofits, businesses, schools, and government agencies on issues ranging from solar advocacy campaigns and education to land use.Prior to joining Barbary Coast, Frieda was a Project Manager with Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) and the ANR Foundation — recognized in the 2006 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report as the first and leading national organization to focus on the need for local smokefree indoor air policies.   There, she provided technical assistance to more than twenty states and provinces, assisting them in strategic planning, grassroots mobilization, GOTV, and media outreach – and her campaigns won.  Frieda was also a technical assistance liaison for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s prestigious Tobacco Policy Change Project.

Frieda is an elected delegate to the California State Democratic Central Committee and state Senator Loni Hancock’s representative on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee.  She has been an active board member of the National Women’s Political Caucus – Alameda North Chapter for three years, chairing its Communications Committee for two, and is involved in a myriad of host committees, including the Young Professionals Finance Committee for San Francisco DA Kamala Harris’s run for Attorney General.  In the summer of 2009, Supervisor Keith Carson appointed Frieda to be District 5’s (Oakland, Piedmont, Berkeley) Commissioner on the Alameda County Human Relations Commission.

Frieda graduated cum laude from the University of California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Political Science and double minors in History, and Women, Culture and Development.  She interned for the National Coalition of History in Washington, DC and studied in South Africa.
]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/12/ebyd-elects-2011-executive-committee/feed/ 0 November Election Slate Card! http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/10/november-election-slate-card/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/10/november-election-slate-card/#comments Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:44:26 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1614 EBYD’s is mailing our slate card for the November 2nd election to over 31,000 East Bay households!!

That’s right!  Since the June primary, we have increased our outreach more than 10-fold!!

Stay informed with your official young voter guide from East Bay Young Democrats!  Download the pdf slate card!

Don’t forget to vote on Tuesday, November 2, 2010!!

Help us capitalize on our increasing success and donate today to help us send out these important voter guide.


]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/10/november-election-slate-card/feed/ 0 Get Covered California!! http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/get-covered-california/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/get-covered-california/#comments Sat, 18 Sep 2010 18:15:31 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1606 Thanks to President Obama and Congressional Democrats, starting September 23, 2010, for the first time those between 18-25 years old will be able to get health insurance through their parents health plans, regardless of whether they are in school or not. This is huge! As the video states, this is the first time in American history that an entire generation of Americans will have health insurance coverage!!

As a club for young people in this age group, we are excited to share and encourage all Americans between 18-25 to join Get Covered California and take the pledge to get covered!!

]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/get-covered-california/feed/ 0 Too Much Tea? http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/too-much-tea/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/too-much-tea/#comments Thu, 16 Sep 2010 01:36:33 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1601 Are the victories of far right-wing candidates a good thing for Democrats? Or are Democrats asking for more than they can handle? Chris Matthews, Chuck Todd and Pat Buchanan discuss this issue on today’s Hardball on MSNBC:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/too-much-tea/feed/ 0 Speed Candidating http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/speed-candidating/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/speed-candidating/#comments Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:47:59 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1539 Join EBYD, Cal Berkeley Democrats, East Bay Stonewall Democrats and Mix it Up: East Bay for THE candidate forum of the year!

This will be THE candidate forum to go to in the East Bay for to meet the candidates for the most competitive races in Oakland, Berkeley, and beyond.

More details about invitees will follow soon, but save the date. You can bet that candidates for Oakland Mayor and City Council, and Berkeley City Council will be there, just for starters.

Read the candidate’s questionnaires here!!

RSVP on Facebook!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

7pm-10pm

UC Berkeley Campus

Genetics & Plants Biology Building, Room 100

(Near Oxford St. & Berkeley Way)

Take transit!

Take BART and get off at the Downtown Berkeley station.  Walk Up Center St. towards the campus.  Enter the campus via the “Main Entrance”.  The GPB Building is adjacent to the new building currently under construction.


View Speed Candidating in a larger map

]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/09/speed-candidating/feed/ 0 Prop 8 Ruled Unconstitutional!! [video collection] http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/08/prop-8-ruled-unconstitutional-video-collection/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/08/prop-8-ruled-unconstitutional-video-collection/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:36:26 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1520 It was a great day to be a young gay man and legal enthusiast in California yesterday. A Federal judge ruled that California’s same-sex marriage band – Prop 8 – is unconstitutional and is overturned. I have little else to say on the subject other than I am very excited by this ruling. This is a great victory for equality and the LGBT movement in California and across the country. It’s cases like these that really make me rethink going to law school.

Here is a collection of videos from MSNBC’s news coverage on the ruling:

Hardball with Chris Matthews

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Countdown with Keith Olberman

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Kieth Olberman’s special comment on Prop 8 Ruling

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The Rachael Maddow Show

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Interviewing the dream team: Ted Olson and David Boies

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Taking it apart…

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/08/prop-8-ruled-unconstitutional-video-collection/feed/ 0 Obama-Clinton in 2012? http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/08/obama-clinton-in-2012/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/08/obama-clinton-in-2012/#comments Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:23:21 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1515 An Obama-Clinton ticket for 2012? Need I really say more? Well, former Virgina Governor, L. Douglas Wilder does. He wrote an opinion piece for Politico about why he think the Barack Obama should dump Joe Biden for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Since Obama has expressed admiration for the portrait of Abraham Lincoln that Doris Kearns Goodwin paints in “Team of Rivals,” he could do the 16th president one better: He should name Hillary Clinton as his running mate in 2012. That would be both needed change and audacious.

Clinton has been nothing but a team player who has earned good marks since being asked to serve as secretary of state. She has skillfully navigated the globe and been tough and commanding when the moment called for it (with Iran) and graceful and diplomatic when situations required (navigating complex relations with Russia, Pakistan and China).

Has her time as secretary of state been perfect?  No. Has she ended these 18 months with the stature of someone ready and able to be president were the moment to call for it? The answer, unequivocally, is “yes.”

Read more at Politico.com

Chris Matthews interviewed the former Virginia Governor about this very opinion piece he wrote:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Talk about coming full circle…

]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/08/obama-clinton-in-2012/feed/ 2 Judge Strikes Down Parts of AZ Law http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/07/judge-strikes-down-parts-of-az-law/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/07/judge-strikes-down-parts-of-az-law/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:38:07 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1510 Yesterday, a Federal judge in Arizona struck down the most controversial parts of Arizona’s SB1070 law, including part of the law that required law enforcement officers to ask for immigration documentation, during the course of a legal interaction, if the officer suspected that person was in the United States illegally. This specific part of the law brought many Latino groups and Democrats to rally against the harsh law, arguing it encouraged racial profiling, dubbing it the “Show Me Your Papers Law”, making reference to WWII Nazi Germany.

But despite the uproar, poll numbers show a different story. An MSNBC/Wall Street Journal Poll asked “Are you for or against this law?” and 61% of Americans say they support the measure. In the first video, Chris Matthews on Hardball interviews Democrats and Republicans from Arizona to discuss the recent ruling. In the second video, Chris discusses how this will become a hot-button issue this November and it’s affect on the Democratic Party. Check it out!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Political Fallout

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]]> http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/07/judge-strikes-down-parts-of-az-law/feed/ 0 Good Deeds http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/07/good-deeds/ http://www.ebyd.org/site/2010/07/good-deeds/#comments Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:59:41 +0000 Roobs http://www.ebyd.org/site/?p=1483 As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.  The recent passage of financial reform by Congress marks Obama’s fourth major legislative victory in only two years: Stimulus, Education Reform, Health Care, Financial Reform.  President Obama, from a historical perspective, has presided over one of the most productive legislative periods in history.  So why isn’t he getting any credit for them?

The Republican’s have called for a repeal of almost every piece of legislation passed by Democrats, which is, of course, no surprise.  But what about the Democrats own Progressive base?  As Chuck Todd says, why does each major legislative victory for Obama seem to push his poll numbers down and not create any political capital?  Progressive leaders continue to speak out against many legislations, arguing that they usually don’t go far enough.  Are Progressives expecting too much from Obama?  Is Obama letting Progressives down?  Is there a fight between the Democratic Party’s more moderate establishment wing against it’s left leaning base?

Chuck Todd fills in for Chris Matthews on today’s edition of Hardball and talks politics with Jonathon Alter from Politico and Katrina Vanden Heuvel from The Nation Magazine:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

As Chuck Todd says its never too early to talk about the 2012 presidential election and who will be the GOP nominee to run against Obama. Chuck Todd talks with Jonathon Martin of Politico and the always animated Chris Cillizza from The Washington Post on this topic next:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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