I would love to edit down to five or six minutes the video of last night’s Council meeting. In that edited version we would hear some of the powerful public testimony and then your incredible motion leading up to that moment of deafening silence when none of the other four Council members would utter a second or even speak to why they would not permit such a public debate in our city.
Is it possible for us to get a copy or record a future broadcast of last night’s meeting?
A group of us organizing around impeachment in Culver City are meeting at Margaret Lindgren’s on Sunday evening from 5 to 7. It would be great if you could at least share your thoughts on what happened Monday night.
My hope is that your fellow Council members have done us a service by refusing to allow this discussion.
Thanks so much.
P.S. Check out the link below on the Aug. 20 passing of an impeachment resolution in the fair city of San Fernando.
http://impeachforpeace.org/impeach_bush_blog/
Message to an Ex-Member: We Are Playing by the Rules
Written by Greg Valtierra
Re: Letter from Ms. Martha Gunther
Martha Gunther recently submitted a letter (She Scolds Dem Club for Showing Their Partisanship, Sept. 5) complaining about the Culver City Democratic Clubs decision to invite only registered Democrats to our School Board Candidate Endorsement meeting on Sept. 5.
Since Ms. Gunther is not currently a member of our club, and hasnt been for several years, she may not be aware that the decision to invite only Democrats was something the members of the club voted for.
Despite Ms. Gunthers feelings about (past president) Darryl Cherness, it was not up to him to decide what the club would do.
The decision to follow the mandates of our charter, and to fulfill the mission of our club, was an item decided in an open meeting, under normal club business, and discussed among the members.
The motion passed nearly unanimously, with only one or two votes against. This was a completely open and democratic decision. I dont think this subverts the whole idea of a democratic society. In fact, our decision and the process used to arrive at it, support the rights of the members of that society to vigorously promote their views regarding how that society should be run.
Although Ms. Gunther may not care what our charter and club constitution say, the members of our club do. As stated in our club constitution, we exist to promote the interests of the Democratic Party toward the end of electing Democratic candidates to all public offices. Further, we are chartered by the L.A. County Democratic Party. As such, we are restricted to endorsing only candidates who are registered Democrats.
While Ms. Gunther re-iterates that the School Board Election is non-partisan, quoting dictionaries to make her point, she overlooks the fact that our club is partisan, and thus we are Democratic with a capital D. The dictionary defines Democratic as of or pertaining to one of the two major political parties in the U.S.
So though we work democratically, we are aligned with the Democratic Party. Further, all candidates are free to present their platforms at any venues available to them. The Democratic Club encourages them to do so. We also reserve the right to make our platform available only to Democrats if we wish to do so.
I invite Democrats who arent members of our club to join and become involved in the decision-making process of the club. I think that would be much more effective than complaining about our internal decisions to local papers.
Greg Valtierra is President of the Culver City Democratic Club. He can be reached at president@ccdemclub.org.
I Beg Your Pardon, Says a Former Member
Written by Martha Gunther
[Editors Note: After the above letter by the President of the Democratic Club appeared this morning, the newspaper received this response from the woman who was the subject of the letter.]
I was a member of the Democratic Club through 2006, which is not “several years ago.”
And by the way, I still get the newsletter, even though I have not renewed my membership.
Ironically, I was not allowed to vote at the 2004 Candidate Endorsement meeting when I was a member.
This was due to the group’s poor record-keeping, as is the “several years ago” statement.
Perhaps the Democratic Club should do a little housecleaning, both literally and figuratively. It might bring back some of the former members.