Proclamation of February 2022 as Black History Month

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DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the January 20, 2022 regular meeting.

WHEREAS, Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements of Black Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of Black people in U.S. history; and  

WHEREAS, Black History Month grew out of the establishment, in 1926, of Negro History Week by Carter G. Woodson as well as other prominent Black Americans in U.S. history; and 

WHEREAS, since 1976, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month; and 

WHEREAS, the lack of observance of Black History Month by certain people and/or entities calls our attention to the fact that it is long past time to confront deep racial inequities and systemic racism that continue to plague Contra Costa County and our nation; and  

WHEREAS, the tragic deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police and the continuing pandemic, that has further ripped a path of devastation through every community in Contra Costa County, but where we see its acute effect especially among people of color, including Black Americans who are dying, losing jobs, and closing businesses at disproportionate rates in the multi-crises of the pandemic and the economy; and 

WHEREAS, as we strive to fully live up to the founding principles of this County Democratic Party – that all people are created equal and have the right to be treated equally throughout their lives – we commit to the goal of having a Central Committee that looks like America – one that reflects the full talents and diversity of the American people; and

WHEREAS, Contra Costa County is home to 26 Black elected officials, including: Tony Thurmond, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Diana Becton, the first Black woman to serve as Contra Costa County District Attorney, and additional Black elected officials, 9 in District 1, 5 in District 3, 2 in District 4, and 8 in District 5; and

WHEREAS, today the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County has 10 Black American party leaders who are publicly elected members, club representatives, and/or California Democratic Party Executive Board members, directly paving the way for greater diversity and Black representation within the Democratic Party;    

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Leadership of the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County hereby proclaims February 2022 as Black History Month and encourages all constituents to join us in celebrating this special month; and 

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call on the Democrats of Contra Costa County to honor the history and achievements of Black Americans and to reflect on the centuries of struggle and progress that have brought us to this time of reckoning, redemption, and hope.

The Monthly Donor Program is taking off! Here’s a big Thank You to our current donors.

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Publicly Elected Members
District 1
Gabe Quinto
District 2
Susan H Hildreth
District 2
Katie Ricklefs
District 4
Sue Hamill
District 4
Charles Carpenter
District Directors
District 1
Michael Nye
Officers
1st Vice Chair
Susana Williams
Controller
Marshall Lewis
Club Voting Members
El Cerrito Dem Club
Champage Brown
Contra Costa Young Dems
Cody Keller
Lamorinda Dem Club
Valerie Sloven
Alternates
Jonathan Bash
Joy Pinsky
Tom Lawson
Cecilia Minalga
Associates
Joseph Ely
Kent Green
Kathleen VanWinckel
Sally Sweetser
John Hall

District 4 update

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From DPCCC’s District 4 Director Colleen Awad:

Deputy District Directors – Openings – As we move into next year with elections, I will need some assistance in staying connected and with elections and such. If you live in District 4 and are interested in getting more involved with the DPCCC, please let me know and email me at Colleenawad@gmail.com

Around the district
• Attended the Young Democrats meeting last night and touched based with some of our LAMBDA Dems as well
Contra Costa County
• Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will have their 5th redistricting hearing on Tuesday, November 23
• Everyone 5 and up is eligible for the COVID-19 Vaccines in our County

Concord
• The City of Concord has kicked off its redistricting process: http://www.cityofconcord.org/951/Redistricting
• The City Council recently passed an ordinance that adds a social worker to the CORE team
• They also added a position within their Housing Department to work on homeless issues

Walnut Creek
• The Walnut Creek City Council will be considering a protected buffer zone near Planned Parenthood. There have been repeated clashes at the planned parenthood in Walnut Creek
• Back in September the Walnut Creek Police Department swore in a new Police Chief Jaime Knox
• https://www.walnut-creek.org/Home/Components/News/News/2904/1851

Pleasant Hill
• Pleasant Hill turned 60 years old
• Pleasant Hill City Council has passed a resolution recognizing United Against Hate Week
• https://www.pleasanthillca.org/1484/United-Against-Hate-Week#liveEditTab_widgets
• It stands against hatred, racism, xenophobia, and homophobia, etc.

Proclamation Recognizing December 10, 2021, as Human Rights Day

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DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the November 18, 2021 regular meeting.

WHEREAS, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948, and is the first agreement among countries around the world identifying the rights and freedoms that belong to every one of us as human beings; and

WHEREAS,  December 10 of each year is celebrated around the world as “Human Rights Day”; and

WHEREAS, the Declaration stipulates universal values and a shared standard of achievement for everyone in every country; and 

WHEREAS, despite the efforts to protect human rights, the hostility toward human rights and those who defend them continues to rise; and 

WHEREAS, Human Rights Day advocates for everyone to stand up for their rights and those of others civil, economic, political and cultural rights; and

WHEREAS, Human Rights Day aims to enlighten us about how our rights are a foundation of sustainable development and peaceful societies and acknowledges the advocates and defenders of human rights around the world; and

WHEREAS, many residents of Contra Costa County are not aware of their universal rights as enshrined in the Declaration, do not know that the United States is a signatory to this Declaration, and do not know how to obtain redress if their rights are violated; 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County hereby recognizes December 10, 2021, as Human Rights Day and commits to bring forward resolutions in support of human rights issues and to uphold and defend freedom, democracy, and human rights in our own county, in our country, and around the world; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County shall communicate this resolution to Contra Costa County Democrats and Contra Costa Democratic Clubs to increase awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and encourage discussion of the rights and freedoms that belong to every one of us.

Submitted by Susan Hildreth, elected member, District 2

Resolution to end existing oil and gas drilling in Contra Costa County and phasing out existing oil and gas extraction infrastructure

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DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the November 18, 2021 regular meeting.

WHEREAS, In the summer of 2019, County planners approved exploratory oil drilling on Deer Valley Road just outside of Antioch, a half-mile from Dozier-Libbey Medical High School and Kaiser Antioch, and close to several residences, despite the well-documented dangers which this drilling poses to air quality and public health, and its contribution to a rapidly accelerating climate crisis. 

WHEREAS, a second permit application for oil drilling came their way in spring 2020, for a site just a few hundred feet from Brentwood homes.  The planners declared there were no negative environmental impacts.  It took a massive public outcry before they even agreed to perform an environmental review, now currently underway. 

WHEREAS, only a year after County planners rubber-stamped that first permit—which enabled the revival of oil drilling in Contra Costa County after a thirty-year hiatus—our Board of Supervisors passed a Climate Emergency Resolution invoking the serious threats of climate change and pledging to phase out fossil fuel dependence in the county.  But in the meantime, in unincorporated Antioch, those Deer Valley Road pump jacks continue to pump, despite being a mere several yards from an adjacent future senior housing development being planned by the City of Antioch.

WHEREAS, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international energy agency, recently warned that to maintain a livable planet, all fossil fuel production must end before the end of the decade.   

WHEREAS, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors recently voted unanimously, on September 15, 2021, to end new permitting of oil and gas drilling and to phase out existing drilling, despite oil and gas drilling being a much larger part of their economy and having a far longer fossil fuel extraction history in Los Angeles than in Contra Costa. Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the nation, has committed to phasing out 1,600 active and inactive wells.  Similarly, our neighbor to the south, Alameda County banned fracking in 2016, and in July of 2018 it revoked a conditional use permit for its operating wells, effectively banning oil drilling. And yet, Contra Costa County decision-makers and planners continue to waffle, instead talking “mitigation” instead of a clean break with the destructive extractive practices of our past.

WHEREAS, on October 26, 2021, the City of Antioch voted to ban oil drilling within their city limits. The Board of Directors of the Diablo Water District also voted, on October 27, 2021, to unanimously oppose all new (and refurbished) oil and gas well projects in East Contra Costa County; and have signed onto a currently circulating petition to ban new oil and gas drilling in Contra Costa County.

THEREFORE, Contra Costa County needs to protect the health and safety of its residents and join the ranks of those other governmental climate decision-makers to also help blaze a path into an equitable clean energy future; and include within its new revised County General Plan, (which spells out policy directives for all County rule-making, including those concerning oil and gas infrastructure), a ban on all new oil and gas drilling, and the phasing out of existing oil and gas extraction infrastructure.

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this Resolution shall be sent to all State Senators and Assembly members representing Contra Costa County, to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors and the director of the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development.

Submitted by:  Nadine Peyrucain, District 5

Resolution Saluting School Board Members for Supporting Inclusive and Historically Accurate Instruction for our Students Despite a Coordinated Misinformation Campaign

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DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the November 18, 2021 regular meeting.

WHEREAS, the California Democratic Party’s platform calls upon Democrats to “ensure that schoolchildren have current textbooks, including history books that are inclusive and historically accurate” and to “support and fully fund ethnic studies as a required public secondary school course with a curriculum that requires students to critically analyze the impact of all forms of discrimination against vulnerable communities, indigenous communities, and communities of color, while also analyzing social movements to challenge racism, sexism, antisemitism, islamophobia, and all other forms of oppression”; and 

WHEREAS, school board members in Contra Costa County, and around the country, have been targeted for harassment, bullying, and threats of violence by members of the public who have been misled by a coordinated, national effort to conflate Critical Race Theory with culturally relevant teaching or pedagogy, which the California School Boards Association explains aims to nurture students’ intellectual growth, moral development, ability to reason, appreciation of their culture of origin while developing fluency in at least one other culture, and the ability to identify, analyze and solve real-world problems, especially those that result in societal inequalities; and 

WHEREAS, members of the public have also been misled by a coordinated, national effort to conflate Critical Race Theory with ethnic studies, which the California School Boards Association explains, “is designed to highlight the often-overlooked history, experiences, and cultures of underrepresented groups, and to build respect and appreciation between students of different backgrounds,” and Governor Gavin Newsom on October 8, 2021, signed into law Assembly Bill 101 to require California students starting with the Class of 2030 to complete an ethnic studies requirement even while our school board members are facing what the Associated Press has called coordinated efforts by a “network of conservative groups with ties to major Republican donors and party-aligned think tanks” to engage in culture war fights designed to intimidate school board members so they can be replaced by radical conservatives;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County salutes school board members for their courage shown in striving to provide our children with a historically and culturally accurate and comprehensive history education; and 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the DPCCC will organize an action plan to urge Democrats to fight the spread of misinformation about ethnic studies requirements and to support our school board members by attending school board meetings, participating in public comment periods, sending e-mail comments, and/or posting on social media expressions of support of our school board members.

Submitted by:

Craig Cheslog, Associate Member, District 5

Resolution Calling Upon Public Agencies to Allow the Public to Participate in Meetings Remotely

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DPCCC membership approved the following resolution at the November 18, 2021 regular meeting.

WHEREAS, during the COVID-19 pandemic, working under Emergency Executive Orders signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, many city councils, school boards, special district boards, and commissions have successfully permitted members of the public to participate in meetings via a call-in option or an internet-based service option; 

WHEREAS, on September 16, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 361, which permits public agencies to continue to hold virtual or hybrid meetings after finding that they can meet technical requirements for public attendance and real-time comment, have a plan for how to handle technical disruptions, and determining that social distancing is either required or recommended to protect the health and safety of the public; and 

WHEREAS, allowing members of the public to participate in public agency meetings via a call-in option or an internet-based service option not only protects against the spread of COVID-19, but also allows members of the public to fully participate in the decisions made by their government agencies despite fearing retaliation from those making threats or despite facing accessibility, childcare, work schedule, and/or transportation challenges to attending in-person agency meetings;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party of Contra Costa County encourages all city councils, school boards, special district boards, and other commissions to continue to allow the public to participate in their meetings via a call-in option or an internet-based service option; 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the DPCCC encourages the Governor and State Legislature to ensure the public can continue to participate remotely even after the conclusion of the current pandemic state of emergency.

Submitted by:

Craig Cheslog, Associate Member, District 5