Monthly Meeting Minutes

UNAPPROVED

CORONADO DEMOCRATIC CLUB GENERAL MEETING

AUGUST 28, 2021, 11:00 a.m.

In Person at the Winn Room, Coronado Public Library

  1. Call to Order – by President Susan Marrinan at 11:00 am

Mantra: Don’t agonize, organize

  1. Pledge of Allegiance – led by President Susan Marrinan
  1. Introduction of elected officials and candidates – by President Susan Marrinan
    • Doug Case, from the office of Senator pro tem Toni Atkins – discussed sea level rise. Sea level rise is one of the most significant climate change disasters that we face with regard to CA environment/economy. SB1, Sen Atkins bill, is the Sea Level Rise mitigation and adaptation act. It passed out of the Senate and Assembly committees. Tangentially connected to wildfire, other issues. SB 83 would create a sea level rise loan fund. Low level funds to eligible jurisdictions to purchase vulnerable property and then rent it at market value before it has to be destroyed.
    • Whitney Antrim, CUSD School Board trustee – stated that public education is under attack. Please make your voices heard, stand up, protect our educators, life them up in a positive way. Please contact her if you have any questions.
    • Alexia Palacios-Peters, Candidate for CUSD School Board – running in the November 2022 general election. We need civility amongst our elected officials.
  1. Approval of Agenda, approved as distributed.
  1. Minutes of June 26, 2021, approved as distributed.
  1. Treasurer’s report – presented by President Susan Marrinan. As of August 20, 2021, we have a balance of $9,069.48 after expenses related to the Fourth of July parade, web management, contribution to Antidote charity, and a few other items.
  1. Program: presented by Brian Trotier. He noted that Diane Benscotter’s interview on 60 minutes is tomorrow. The program is about Climate Change.

Amy Steward from Emerald Keepers and Congressman Scott Peters presented regarding climate change. Amy Steward shared what is being done locally and Congressman Peters gave us an overview of how the military is responding on a national level. The speakers’ presentations are recorded and will be made available to anyone interested.  

Amy Steward: Emerald Keepers are working to make Coronado Emerald Green, Ocean Blue. We want to be a model city of sustainability. Boris is cleaning the ocean. There are Emerald Keepers clubs at CHS and CMS. They are partnered with National Geographic with an app that tracks trash pickup. September 7, 2021 is the date for the draft of the City Action Climate Plan. The Can the Trash event will be from September 7 to September 21. Take a picture and send to Emerald Keepers to be entered into a drawing. Take their GPS walking tour. It starts at Stan’s Beach. Come to their upcoming events including a Book Club for Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore.

Scott Peters: He was an environmental lawyer prior to Congress. He is trying to work on national opportunities to help with climate change. There is interest in short lived climate pollutants (ex: methane) that have a bad side because they are 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide; the good thing about them is that they don’t last long. If we can get these out of the mix, then we can really slow climate change.

  1. Committee Reports

Membership – President Susan Marrinan announced the new annual award for outstanding volunteer of the year known as the Mercy Mandelbaum award and awarded it to Mercy Mandelbaum.  We currently have 222 members. Tom Bernitt will be the new membership chair.

Hospitality – presented by Jenna McIntosh. She needs people for the hospitality committee. Upcoming events include Coffee in the Cays on October 23, 2021 at the Jamaica Room. There will be a December Happy Hour, date to be determined.

GO Team: presented by Frank King. He reported that today is a day of action for our club. At 1:00 pm, meet at Spreckles Park where a table is set up for canvassing. Download the MiniVan app to use for canvassing.

Also, Signs for “No on the Recall” are being stolen. Two incidents were reported. Call the police department if your sign is being stolen.

Communications/Outreach: presented by Laura Wilkinson. They are playing with a new format for the newsletter and trying to simplifying it. Please send feedback. In terms of outreach, there is an October 15, 2021 gathering at the Lambs Theater. Book online or call for a discount.

Strategic Planning Committee: presented by Gail Bardin. Next month instead of the General meeting there will be a special workshop to put the survey results into action. This is set on September 25, 2021 from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 pm. Lunch is included. The event will be run by Akshay.

Scholarship: presented by Patty Flores-Charter. She is looking for volunteers for the scholarship committee. It entails 3 meetings. At the Fall meeting, the committee reviews the application and submits it to the Board for final approval. The committee is considering changing the name of the scholarship. The application then goes to Southwestern College. The committee wants to reach out to Coronado High School and enlist the participation of the Coronado Young Dems club. The committee also wants to reach out to Sweetwater College. The January meeting is a quick training on the system used to read the scholarships. The scholarships are then read and rated. The committee meets one final time to choose the winner(s).

  1. Old Business: no old business
  1. New Business: no new business
  1. Announcements
    • President Susan Marrinan presented Jean Seager’s report on the Little Library project. They have collected hundreds of books. If anyone wants to still donate, please coordinate with Jean Seager. Contact President Susan Marrinan for Jean Seager’s phone number.
  1. Next General Meeting: October 30, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. Location TBD 
  1. Adjourned at 12:22 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Alexia Palacios-Peters, Secretary

%d bloggers like this: