Only active EBYD members may vote at our endorsement meetings. To be notified of future meetings, please join our mailing list or our social networks, using the links to the left.

November 2011 EBYD Endorsements:

Emeryville City Council

• Hon. Ruth Atkin
• Hon. Nora Davis
• Jacqueline Asher

Emeryville Ballot Measures

• Measure C: Yes
• Measure D: Yes
• Measure F: No

Oakland Ballot Measures

• Measure H: No
• Measure I: No Position
• Measure J: Yes

Elected Official of the Year: Abel Guillen

Since I’ve gotten to know him, I’ve developed a deep respect for Peralta Community Colleges Trustee Abel Guillen.

The son of a baker and a cook, Abel was the first in his family to graduate from college. He grew up in a working-class Bay Area neighborhood where few people even considered attending college. Abel learned the value of hard work from his parents, and was fortunate to receive a great public education at UC Berkeley, where he earned his bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in public policy.

Abel ran in 2006 against an incumbent. People told him it was going to be impossible to defeat an incumbent in a down ballot race, but he went for it and became the first Latino elected to the Board and the youngest ever to serve as Board President.

Fitting with our theme and goals of making the gala as environmentally friendly as possible, Abel has led several green initiatives at Peralta. He helped to secure over $20 million for career education and green jobs, and created the Easy Pass partnership with AC Transit that saves each student over $1,000 a year (and gets more students on the bus).

I could probably write pages about why Abel deserves this award, but I’ll save that for the event.

Kick-Ass Youth Advocate: Sean Dugar

Sean Dugar was a clear choice for the youth advocate award this year. Sean helped build EBYD to what it is today, and through his tireless activism has helped found and grown multiple other organizations in the East Bay and statewide.

In his nearly 8 year tenure with the NAACP Sean worked on a range of issues including Death Penalty, Police Brutality, and Higher Education Access issues but continued his passion of electoral organizing, coordinating campaigns that registered over 15,000 new young voters in the Bay Area between 2003 and 2008. Working his way up through the NAACP, Sean aged out of the most recent office of President of the California NAACP Youth & College Division in 2009.

Today, Sean continues to advocate for young people and people of color. Having co-founded and been elected Chair of the California Young Democrats Black Caucus in April of 2010, he has pushed a strong “Game Changing” agenda throughout the organization. Now at over 600 members the CYDBC is the largest and most active caucus in CYD.

In the fall election, due to Sean’s leadership, the CYD Black Caucus contacted 5000 young black voters across the state of California through phone banking, precinct walking, and social networking as part of its GOTV efforts in 9 targeted races across the state. Sean is also a founding member of the East Bay Young Democrats, South Alameda County Young Dems, and New Leaders Council (NLC). In 2011, Sean was elected by his peers to serve as a Delegate for the California Democratic Party in Assembly District 16.

Please join EBYD this Thursday to honor Abel and Sean and to celebrate the work we’ve done to engage young people in the political process and to elect people who represent our values.

Join us for celebration, food, and drinks at Numi Tea Garden, a beautiful oasis in the industrial Central Estuary neighborhood.

When: 6:30 – 9:30pm, June 30, 2011
Where: Numi Tea Garden, 2230 Livingston Street, Oakland
Tickets: $30 for EBYD members/$40 for non-members

To make the gala more environmentally friendly, we are providing a free shuttle from Fruitvale BART, picking up at the taxi stop. Look for the sign – “EBYD Gala 2011 Shuttle”. The shuttle will start pick ups at BART at 6:15pm and will start bringing people back to BART at 8pm. Bicycles are allowed on the shuttle. Please consider leaving your car at home and take BART and our free shuttle!

You can find more details and can RSVP on the Facebook event.

Thanks to our generous host committee for helping making this event possible:

Leaders: Hon. Jesse Arreguin, Hon. Susan Bonilla, Hon. Joan Buchanan, Hon. Abel Guillen, UFCW Local 5, Hon. Bob Wieckowski

Mover n’ Shakers: APA Democratic Caucus of Alameda County, Berkeley Patients Group, Cal Dems, Harborside Health Center, Mario Juarez, Milo Group of California, Oaksterdam University, Barbara Parker, Hon. Bill Quirk, Hon. Nancy Skinner, South County Young Democrats, Hon. Igor Tregub, Hon. Betty Yee

Advocates: Luis Alcazar, Jonathan Bair, Olga Bolotina, Hon. Rob Bonta, Ronnie Caplane, Hon. Keith Carson, Hon. Josh Daniels, Amy DeReyes, Sean Donahoe, East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, Frieda K. Edgette, Dria Fearn, Rocky Fernandez, Annie Flores, Hon. Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, Hon. Loni Hancock, Hon. Ann-Marie Hogan, Hon. Rebecca Kaplan, Hon. Andy Katz, Andy Kelley, Royce Kelley, Hon. Beatriz Levya-Cutler, Kate Maeder, Peggy Moore & Hope Wood, Kathy Neal, Dave & Mary Nicely, Wayne Nishioka, Lily Nguyen, Jennifer Ong, Hon. Elsa Ortiz, Dorian Peters, Ces Rosales, Rena Rickles, Hon. Courtney Ruby, John Russo, Rebecca Saltzman, Hon. Tim Sbranti, Hon. Libby Schaaf, Sean Sullivan, Hon. Sandre Swanson, Hon. Lena Tam, Esperanza Tervalon-Daumont, Matthew Tisdale, Hon. Tony Thurmond, Vien Truong, Hon. Kriss Worthington

At its annual All-City Luncheon on April 27th, the Oakland League of Women Voters honored East Bay Young Democrats and supporters with the prestigious Making Democracy Work award for their blogs illuminating the inner workings of local government and encouraging public participation.

East Bay Young Democrats President Rebecca Saltzman writes Living in the O, EBYD Communications Director Jonathan Bair was honored for his blogs The DTO and FutureOakland, and EBYD member Echa Schneider publishes A Better Oakland. Aimee Allison, a friend of EBYD who did a wonderful job MC’ing our memorial for the victims of the Arizona shootings in January, received the award for her community news hub, OaklandSeen.

In addition to Jonathan Bair of The DTO, Rebecca Saltzman of Living In The O, Echa Schneider of A Better Oakland, and Aimee Allison of OaklandSeen.com, the League of Women Voters also awarded Zennie Abraham of OaklandFocus and Debby Richman of Today in Montclair.

Photo courtesy Lee Aurich.

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

EBYD Second Annual Awards Gala!

East Bay Young Dems is elated to honor Assemblymember Nancy Skinner as the recipient of EBYD’s “Elected Official of the Year” Award and Nwamaka “Amaka” Agbo with our Kick-Ass Youth Advocate Award at our annual gala. Join us for celebration, food, and drinks at Soja Studio, a beautiful, remodeled yoga studio in the Jack London Square neighborhood.

The EBYD Gala will be held on Wednesday, July 28th at 7:00pm at Soja Studio, 550 2nd Street in Oakland. Please join us in honoring Assemblywoman Skinner and Nwamaka “Amaka” Agbo by purchasing a ticket or sponsorship. Proceeds will help us continue to engage young people into the political scene. We need your help to do this! If you are not a current dues paying member of EBYD or need to renew your membership, please take advantage of our discount for purchase of a ticket and membership; a savings of $10!

Individual Tickets
Member – $30.00
Non-Member – $35.00
Ticket & Membership – $50.00

Sponsorships
Advocate (includes 2 tickets) – $100.00
Mover ‘n Shaker (includes 3 tickets) – $250.00
Leader (includes 4 tickets) – $500.00
Champion (includes 7 tickets) – $1,000.00
Show your support today by purchasing a ticket online!

To purchase a ticket, click here

Special thanks to our event co-hosts!

Leaders:

Hon. Don Perata, Hon. Jesse Arreguin, UFCW Local 5

Mover n’ Shakers:

APA Democratic Caucus of Alameda County, Hon. Joan Buchanan, Hon. Abel J. Guillen, Cal Dems, Hon. Rebecca Kaplan, Andy Kelley, National Women’s Political Caucus-Alameda North, Oaksterdam University, Jennifer Ong, Hon. Courtney Ruby, Libby Schaaf, Melanie Shelby, Hon. Betty Yee

Advocates:

Hon. Sandre Swanson, George Beier, Rob Bonta, Hon. Keith Carson, ClearChannel Outdoor, Josh Daniels, Amy DeReyes, Sean Dugar, Hon. Elizabeth Echols, Frieda K. Edgette, Richard Fuentes, Ipsheeta Furtado, Hon. Loni Hancock, Hon. Ann-Marie Hogan, Hon. Edie Irons, Kiran Jain, Hon. Andy Katz, Hon. Royce Kelley, Vicky Kolakowski, Hon. Marlon McWilson, Elsa Ortiz, Shilen Patel, Rena Rickles, Hon. Joaquin Rivera, Hon. Ces Rosales, Rebecca Saltzman, Hon. Tim Sbranti, Esperanza Tervalon-Daumont, Hon. Tony Thurmond, Hon. Igor Tregub, Hon. Kriss Worthington, Hon. Joel Young

East Bay Young Dems’ trajectory has been as explosive on East Bay politics as that of our generation on the national scene. As the premier organization dedicated to engaging young working people in Alameda County into Democratic politics, we meet young people where they are and speak to them in a language that’s authentic. In the coming year, we seek to further refine and professionalize our club, focus our political capacity toward real budget reform, and diversify our membership base. We are strengthening our foundation and relationships for a more sustainable and inclusive tomorrow.

For more up to date information, please visit or Annual Gala page!

Download PDF

In the past, the East Bay Young Democrats have put in substantial work for our endorsed candidates. We’ve spent countless hours phoning and walking, educating voters, and getting out the vote.

This year, for the first time in our club’s history, EBYD will be educating voters in another way – we are mailing our voter guide to more than 3,000 young Democrats in the East Bay.

Please donate today to help us send out this important voter guide.

The EBYD voter guide is particularly important for the June 8th election, as many voters know little about the candidates and issues that are on the ballot. With instant runoff voting being implemented in November, some people don’t even know there is an election in June!

Local races could be decided by just a few hundred or a few thousand votes so this mailer could push our endorsed candidates to victory.

We plan to expand our mailing universe for the November election, but we need your financial support to do so. Please donate to help us educate young Democrats!

Please share our voter guide with your East Bay friends, and remember to vote on June 8th!

This year, Oakland will host its First Annual Pride Festival since 2004.  Oakland has the third-highest concentration of LGBT people in the nation, only behind San Francisco and Seattle.  So why shouldn’t we have our own Pride?  There is a lot to be proud of in the East Bay, such as great weather with REAL seasons (i.e. Summer?).

Oakland Pride, Inc. (the business behind the festival) recieved a donation from the Port of Oakland in the form of 4,000 square foot office space in Jack London Square.  With only a few months to go, fundraising and last minute organizing has been in full swing to make this first festival one to remember and bring hope to continued festivals in the future.

Oakland Pride is also serving as the vanguard of a full-fledged fundraising effort to create the first All-Inclusive LGBT Community Center in Oakland in collaboration with City Councilmember, Rebecca Kaplan, the council’s only openly gay member.

The festival will be held on Sunday, September 5, 2010 at 21st Street & Franklin in Uptown Oakland.  Everyone is encouraged to attend to celebrate the diversity of our city and promote equality.  There will be a sliding scale donation to enter the festival, facilitated by the Sister’s of Perpetual Indulgence (The same sassy sisters who bring us “Pink Party” at SF Pride!)  I strongly encourage our members and supporters to attend and enjoy all that the festival promises to offer!

View Oakland Pride Festival in a larger map

Visit the festival’s official website at www.oaklandpride.org.

Become a fan of Oakland Pride on Facebook!

Follow Oakland Pride on Twitter!

Woot!  We are excited because President Obama is in town on a two-day trip to the Bay Area.  Yesterday, Obama lent a boost to Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is in a tight re-election campaign., speaking at a fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.  You can watch KTVU’s report from that event here.

At one point during his speech, Obama was interrupted by a heckler who demanded Obama move faster on repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.  Obama replied by saying that the man probably didn’t read the morning paper.

On Wednesday, Obama will promote green jobs at the solar panel manufacturing plant, Solyndra, Inc., in Fremont.  His visit also comes after the announcement that Tesla Motors, Inc. and Toyota teamed up and will re-open the NUMMI plant to build Tesla’s electric cars.  All very good news to the East Bay and we are happy to have POTUS highlighting the accomplishments.  We need to keep up our momentum as a hub for green technology and green jobs in cities like Oakland.  Watch his speech below:

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

Live in Fremont or other city in South Alameda County?  Interested in getting more involved with Young Democrats?  Please visit our sister organization, South County Young Democrats!

The Oakland mayoral race will probably be one of the more interesting races to watch in 2010.  As such, it is important that young voters get to know the facts about the candidates and learn the issues that important to each candidate.  Here at EBYD, we have not endorsed a candidate for this position (yet).  So here are the people running and places where you can learn more about what they want to do for Oakland.

***Oakland’s First Mayoral Forum***

There will be a mayoral forum in Oakland on Thursday, June 10th at the First Unitarian Church at 685 14th St. in Oakland.  You can RSVP at the Facebook page.

All three candidates should be there and it would be a great chance to learn about all three and hear them debate on the best way to bring Oakland forward.

In the Oakland Mayoral Race, there are three main contenders for the city’s top position:

	Don Perata – Former State Senate President – www.perata4mayor.com Don Perata is a candidate from the “Old Guard”.  And i mean that in a loving way.  He has a lot of support from the business community and will likely fight Kaplan for support from Labor.  Don Perata has been working the neighborhood scene with gusto.  Almost every other week, he holds a neighborhood meeting or “town hall” (he likes to call them “community conversations”) to discuss his vision for Oakland.  Don Perata will hold his next community meeting on Wednesday, May 26th at 7pm in the Glenview/Diamond Heights District at 4101 Park Blvd., Oakland.  Visit his website for more info.
	Jean Quan – Oakland City Councilmember, District 4 – www.jeanquanforoakland.org Jean Quan is leaving her City Council position to run for Mayor.  She spent many years as a well liked member of the Oakland School Board.  She has been trying to distinguish herself as the “Education Candidate” in this mayor race.  She currently has no events in the coming weeks to speak of.
	Rebecca Kaplan – Oakland City Councilmember, At-Large – www.kaplanformayor.org Rebecca Kaplan has a wave of enthusiasm behind her.  She is young and a political newbie compared to the other two candidates.  Only recently (2008) was she elected to her current position as Oakland’s only At-Large councilmember.  Before that she served on the AC Transit Board.   Rebecca will have a fundraiser on Thursday, June 3rd at the Bench & Bar in Downtown Oakland.  The cost is only $25.  You can RSVP at her Facebook event page.