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!

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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.

San Francisco is now trying do what AC Transit has been trying for years… build a Bus Rapid Transit system along one of their busiest traffic corridors: Van Ness Avenue.

Zennie Abrams’ San Francisco Blog takes a brief look at both BRT on Van Ness and in Berkeley.  His point is one that was by many others, including myself.  BRT has yet to provide opponents with any tangible evidence that BRT will hurt businesses.

Again, I see no example where businesses would be harmed in any way. Indeed, considering Bus traffic congestion along Telegraph Avenue and Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley, BRT’s the perfect solution to improve public transit performance.

Here is a video animation of what the Van Ness BRT will look like:

Lets Move Berkeley Forward!

As far as Berkeley is concerned, Zennie is correct in saying that more education is needed and the Berkeley City Council vote of 4-2-2 is hardly conclusive and there is still a chance to educate the City Council on BRT.  In the blog, Living in the O, Joel Ramos calls on supporters in North Oakland to push for better transit so that Berkeley’s decision will not harm those in North Oakland, who would be left out if AC Transit choses to build BRT and leave out Berkeley.

BRT supporters who live in North Oakland should see this as a “call to arms” for BRT in the Temescal, which may now be left out of the scope of the project if AC Transit decides not to build anything in Berkeley, and instead opt to turn BRT around at either Macarthur BART or at the Uptown Transit center.

To help in that fight, join a group of North Oakland BRT supporters by contacting Joel Ramos of TransForm at joel@TransFormCa.org or contact Councilmember Brunner yourself (jbrunner@oaklandnet.com) and let her know of your continued support for BRT with bike lanes and dedicated lanes in the Temescal.

Those living in Berkeley should contact our own City Councilmembers and urge them to support BRT and improve conditions on Telegraph.  If you need some talking points, read my previous post on BRT in Berkeley.  BRT runs directly through Kriss Worthington’s district and you can contact him at kworthington@cityofberkeley.info.  Another Councilmember to contact is Jesse Arreguin, who abstained in the Council’s vote.  You can reach Jesse at jarreguin@cityofberkeley.info.

“Once again, Nummi, like a cat, proves it has nine lives,” said Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson.

Keith Carson received EBYD’s Elected Official of the Year award in 2009.

Read the full story at SF Gate

Only one day after the announcement from Tesla and Toyota, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced President Obama will travel to Fremont on Wednesday, May 26th to tour the Solyndra facility and speak on jobs and the economy.  Solyndra make solar panels.

This is great exposure for Fremont and the East Bay.  Solyndra sits just south of the NUMMI plant and shows just how committed we in the East Bay and Bay Area are to green technologies and green jobs.  Not to mention, Solyndra is expanding is operations in large part because of grants is secure from the Recovery Act.

Read more about NUMMI and Obama’s visit at KTVU News

Live in Fremont and want to get more involved with Young Dems?  Check out our sister organization: South County Young Democrats!

Only in 2008 did Kaplan ride a wave of enthusiasm to win her current seat as Oaklands only At-Large (city-wide) Council-member.  Last month, Kaplan announced the creation of her exploratory committee, a must first step to run for any politcal office.  Though her run is not official just yet, it is all but certain to most observers that shes in the game.

Our friends at Oakland North were able to have a one-on-one chat with Rebecca Kaplan on her vision of the future for Oakland.  Here is a brief excerpt but be sure to read the full interview here.

Q: You talk about making changes at City Hall.  What is working and what is not working to attract businesses to Oakland?

In Oakland right now, you cannot apply for a business permit online. So the businesspeople come down to downtown and stand in the lines and lose time. We are wasting money, and we are paying people to sit entering the data, when instead, the businessperson could go onto the Internet and put in information to pay their fees and do their business licenses.  Meanwhile, we get complaints all the time when people try to call — they have questions about parking tickets and business licenses, and they say nobody is answering phones.  We are wasting all these staff [hours] typing data from a piece of paper that a businessperson can put in themselves online.

So when we look at how we are structuring the jobs inside City Hall, there are a lot of things where we are still not fully entered into the modern era in terms of technology and our systems. And if we change some of those, we could free up some staff time to do the things that people do need.

Read the full interview here.

The deadline to vote in the June 8th election is this Monday, May 24th

The deadline to vote in the November 2nd election is October 18th

If you haven’t registered, please check out the options below.  Remember, our future is worth the fight and our future is worth your vote!

• Register to Vote ONLINE!
• Print and Mail-In Registration Form
• Check Your Registration Status! (Alameda County Residents Only)

Don’t forget to visit our Election 2010 page and consider voting for our endorsed candidates this June!