Recent News from Wellstone
Berkeley Tenant Protections and Right to Organize is a ballot measure that will update Berkeley’s Tenant protection ordinance to:
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Reduce the scope and abuse of exemptions to Berkeley’s Tenant protection ordinance
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Expand the ability of the city to enforce its rental registry program
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Ensure tenants are aware of their rights during eviction proceedings
Protect the rights of tenants to form tenant associations and discuss issues with their landlords in good faith.
You can learn more and join the campaign at www.RIght2Organize.org
The Jacobin has explored the issue in detail in this article quoting Rent Board Chair and Wellstone CC Member Leah Simon-Weisberg and mentioning our Club! Tenants Are Forcing Bay Area Landlords to the Bargaining Table
Resolution calling for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine Adopted at the Wellstone Club meeting on 10/26/23
WHEREAS We are heartbroken by the recent violence in Israel and Gaza and as a progressive Democratic Club, including Jews, Muslims and people of all faiths, we deeply mourn the loss of all lives and pray for those who have lost loved ones due to this latest escalation;
And WHEREAS we unequivocally condemn Hamas’ murderous attacks and inhumane treatment of civilians and call for the immediate release of all hostages, and we also unequivocally condemn the indiscriminate and violent Israeli response that has already claimed thousands of civilian lives;
And WHEREAS the United States has and continues to supply Israel with more weapons and continuing such military aid will not bring peace
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT
Our elected leaders must: Read more
Send your own letter through the Friend’s Committee on National Legislation here.
Download our resolution here: Palestine Resolution Wellstone
We Need a New Registrar of Voters!
Dear Alameda County Supervisors & Administrator,
As Alameda County voters, civic leaders, and Democratic Clubs who believe in transparency, accountability and the importance of the right to vote in our democratic country, we write this open letter to express our public expression of lost confidence in the current Alameda County Registrar in upholding the values of our county, accountability to the voters, and the right to vote. We call on you to restore faith in our Alameda County Registrar’s office by removing Tim Dupuis from his secondary position as Registrar and immediately moving to hire a qualified and dedicated full-time Registrar who will respect and enact the will of the voters of Alameda County. Read more
Help the Carolina Federation Turn North Carolina Blue
The Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club’s National Political Committee is engaged in supporting the Carolina Federation’s campaign to Help Turn North Carolina Blue. The Carolina Federation team tells you in their own words, what they want to achieve and how they will achieve that goal in this video.
“One thing that we learned in addition to organizing is that actually having really strong candidates and in particular strong candidates who come from the multi-racial working class of this state and who can speak to the base of folks who haven’t been given a reason to vote. That actually having really strong candidates can be a deciding factor and so we’ve been doing that hard work to recruit working-class folks, folks from our membership, folks from union membership around the state to run for office.” — Gabe Gold Hodgkin, Movement Politics Director
More information about the Federation is available here.
Help us help the Carolina Federation by joining our organizing campaign.
The pandemic proves we need single payer, Medicare for All
It is often said that events like the COVID19 pandemic open minds to bold ideas previously not accepted. We can see this every day — with both immediate and longer term solutions coming into clearer and clearer focus. We are also learning more about the crisis before the crisis — in the hospitals, nursing homes, working class communities, and especially among oppressed people.
Pandemic: A Nation and a World Tested
This from The New York Times: Many Americans have demonstrated heroic strength during the coronavirus pandemic, but the society itself has revealed profound weaknesses. Widening gaps in income, wealth and opportunity in the years before the virus hit left everyone more vulnerable to the disease. It undermined the nation’s defenses and weakened its response. Yet the devastation of the pandemic has also created an opportunity to begin to put things right, to ensure that the America that ultimately emerges is more just, more free and less fragile. Through this initiative, Times Opinion is exploring, and seeking to answer, basic questions about what the government owes its citizens, what corporations owe their employees and what we all owe each other. America was ailing long before the coronavirus reached its shores. Now we have the chance to make it better.
NY Times articles on diverse dimensions of the current crisis are listed here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/opinion/america-inequality-coronavirus.html
Looking for more ways to get involved?
Are you looking for ways to get more involved in local voter engagement groups? Look no further! We have three great options for you: Becca Freed, Indivisible Berkeley – They’re working on texting to flip Virginia and canvassing for CD-10. Andrea MacRae, East Bay Activist Alliance – They work to help elect Democrats all over the US, especially at the state level, particularly in areas that can flip red to blue. The East Bay Activist Alliance is an affiliate of the Sister District Project. Debbie Raucher: Swing Left – They organize activities for volunteers from the San Francisco East Bay area including Oakland, Berkeley, San Leandro and other nearby cities.
Contact Gov. Newsom: Sign SB1!
Governor Newsom has indicated that he may veto SB1, the legislation that can protect California against Trump’s undermining of environmental protection laws. SB1 passed the Assembly and the Seante. Today’s San Francisco Chronicle has an EDITORIAL urging him to sign. This is a BIG ONE. Please DO IT. You can contact Governor Newsom via https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov40mail/ and urge him to sign the bill. The link also gives the Governor’s phone number. You can both call and write.