East Bay Kerry

Contra Costa Kerry Blogs the Convention

Nancy Painter, Charlie Bliss, and Sandy Ruliffson report from Boston. A few quotes:

James Wasser spoke eloqently of Kerry as a leader and ended by saying if Kerry called and said he had one more Swift boat mission and he was taking it to Hell, he would have a full crew.

The security is extraordinary, which allows me to feel safe, but also very weird. Is this my country, w/all the troops on the roof tops, the helicopters always hovering above, the police on horseback in long rows, and the airport-like checks at every entrance to anything? We cannot continue to do this as a nation or we will soon go broke.

08/12 - Meet Jerry McNerney, Candidate for Congress (V)

In Congressional District 11 we have an opportunity to unseat a 6-term Republican, Richard Pombo. As the Chair of the Natural Resource Committee, Richard Pombo has been on a mission to undo the Endangered Species Act, promote logging in National Forests, and relax pollution standards. See http://www.votepomboout.com/.

Our Democratic candidate is Jerry McNerney, http://jerrymcnerney.com/.

Meet the Candidate, Jerry McNerney for Congress, District 11
Thursday, August 12th
7:00pm
Round Table Pizza
3203 Crow Canyon Pl
San Ramon

Jerry McNerney, a 53-year-old Ph.D., is a well-recognized expert in wind energy engineering and other forms of alternative energy production and has worked on national security programs.

We need your support to pull this off. Help us prove the power of grassroots political activism! Help us
win the battle against big money corporate control over our government!

To find out more email fturner_98@yahoo.com.

08/11 - Dance Party for John Kerry in Walnut Creek ($)

Dance Party for John Kerry

WHEN: August 11 @ 7:00 PM

WHERE: Greenery Restaurant, Marchbanks Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94598

HOST: Robert Goldstein

INFO: Help to Dance John Kerry to the White House!! Great DJ. Bring your friends and dancing shoes. Lets have a great time and support Kerry/Edwards. $20.00 Donation

RSVP: RSVP via JohnKerry.com

08/03 - House Party for Jerry McNerney in Orinda ($)

Not sponsored by East Bay Kerry, but a great local candidate... - Phil Wolff

What: House Party for Jerry McNerney

When: Tuesday, August 3, 2004, 6 pm to 8:30 pm

6:00 Meet Jerry and the artist
7:00 The Presentation - solo guitar with a backdrop of photos of Spain

Where: Orindawoods Club House, 501 Orindawoods Drive, Orinda

Notes: Special refreshments Española. You are invited to an evening with Jerry McNerney, Democratic candidate running against Richard Pombo in CD - 11 with a sparkling presentation by flamenco guitarist, Roberto Aguilar. Suggested Donation $35

07/22 - John Kerry Meetups (V)

When: 7pm
Where: near you
Contact: Alameda County, Contra Costa County meetups, or for elsewhere.

7:00 PM - 8:30 PM. Thursday. In Contra Costa and Alameda counties, and elsewhere.

First time to a Kerry event? Get started as a supporter or volunteer. Find a meetup near you and introduce yourself to other citizens making a difference Thursday night.

• Point Richmond - 25 West Restaurant, 25 West Ricmond Avenue
• El Cerrito - Raphael's Shutter Café, 10064 San Pablo Avenue
• Benicia - Benicia Coffee Roasting Co., 129 First Street
• North Berkeley - Sweet Basil Thai Restaurant info, 1736 Solano Ave. map
• Berkeley - The Beanery info, 2925 College Ave map
• Oakland - Pacific Coast Brewing Co. info, 906 Washington, map
• Walnut Creek - Cafe La Scala info, 1655 N. Main St, map
• San Ramon - Round Table Pizza info, 12149 Alcosta Blvd., map
• Livermore - Public Library, 1188 South Livermore Ave
• Alameda - Coffee for Thought, 1544 Webster St
• Union City - Round Table Pizza info, 1744 Decoto Rd, map

Prepare:

• Pick one thing you like about Kerry or Edwards. And share it.
• Bring a friend.

Discussion Topic: Mike's Pledge. How hard is it to do this? Who else do you know who might take the pledge?

1. I Will Register 10 People to Vote This Summer. (Join our Voter Registration committee, do a little outreach)
2. I Will Spend One Weekend In October In a Swing State (Our Swing State Initiative can help).
3. I Will Adopt 5 Nonvoters I Know and Take Them to the Polls (We'll be working on GOTV initiatives but you can always do more)
4. I Will Take-Off Work or School on Election Day and Volunteer to Get Out the Vote (remember to re-register for absentee voting).

07/11 - Contra Costa Kerry Committee Heads & Leadership Planning Meeting & Potluck

July 11th - 4pm
Contra Costa Kerry Committee Heads & Leadership Planning Meeting & Potluck

Nancy Painter
Contra Costa Coordinator
East Bay for Kerry
npainter@astound.net
925-935-6950

08/07 - Benefit Concert in Walnut Creek ($)

Very Special Event on August 7th…A Benefit Concert of classical guitar and soprano in the Walnut Creek home of David and Delores Olson…classical and jazz-inspired songs and solos by John Olson and soprano Gioia De Cari fresh from NYC! 7:30 pm start with a reception and refreshments to follow concert. Reservations please:

D. Olson axtell@astound.net or 925-932-5398. Donations to “Kerry Victory 2004” suggested donations $25-$100.

07/31 - Wine Tasting in Lafayette ($)

Wine Tasting Fundraiser

JULY 31st 4pm Zemelman Home in Lafayette

This private wine tasting will be conducted by Kent Rasmussen (Kent Rasmussen Winery, St. Helena). Kent produces some of the best wines in Napa Valley.

His small volume winery sells to top restaurants in California, London, New York and New Orleans. Oz Clarke, the U.K.’s most noted wine advisor, has referred to Kent as one of the best new winemakers in the world. The event will be conducted as a formal, sit-down wine tasting, with everyone expected to be here at 4pm. Wine tasting will be followed by dessert.

Donation checks should be made out to “Kerry Victory 2004”.

RSVPs no later than July 15 to kzemel@comcast.net

$250-$500 per person suggested donation

07/17 - Women for Kerry Action Day (V)

Women for Kerry Action Day Saturday July 17th

On Saturday, July 17, gather your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues for Women for Kerry Action Day. You will also have the chance to participate in a conference call with a campaign VIP, who will discuss the importance of the women’s vote and why John Kerry is the candidate for women and discuss ways to grow our volunteer network and get involved with the grassroots efforts. Sign up for the party.

Swing State Support Guild - Job Openings

The Swing State Support Guild is a Bay Area-wide effort working with local volunteer groups in several areas including: San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Santa Clara, Monterey, Santa Cruz. People from all around the Bay Area can fill these job openings, since most of the work is done via phone or email. If you see a roll you’d like to fill, please contact Carol Butler (carol4kerry@comcast.net) or 510-237-8947. Go Kerry!

1. Project Coordinator A
2. Project Coordinator B
3. Tech Aid
4. Web Content Captain
5. Welcome Team Member
6. Research Team Member
7. State Team Member
8. State Captain
9. Travel Coordinator
10. Local Group Chair

Project Coordinator A:

2 - 4 hours plus event

Project Coordinator B:

4 - 8 hours plus event

The project coordinators serve as contact person for different events taking place. They’re contact information is posted on lists of upcoming events published by the various Bay Area groups. They answer peoples questions about the event, organize volunteers at the event and make sure everything goes smoothly. In some instances they may help organize car pools to events (think trips to Reno).

This is perfect for people who would like to participate, but cannot commit to any ongoing responsibilities. The project coordinator does not necessarily participate in event planning, their primary responsibility is to serve as a point person for communication and organization.

Tech Aid:

2 - 3 hours per month

The tech aid helps potential volunteers with their technical questions and will increase our active volunteer base by ensuring that lack of technical experience doesn’t exclude anybody. Not everyone is comfortable with the internet and email, and some people who have been active in politics for years find themselves out of the loop for the first time because the internet has become such a useful and ubiquitous tool. Some people don’t join our yahoo group simply because they don’t understand what is meant by a yahoo id. Others get confused by multiple passwords or don’t realize the difference between a website and a yahoo group. Still others hesitate to join because they don’t want their names made public and don’t understand how to create a private yahoo id. Nothing is very complicated, and the number of people with these problems is not huge, but all of these problems have been seen in the last few months on more than one occasion. Without a dedicated tech aid these people will probably not join us.

In some cases the tech aid will get a name and phone number to call from one of the captains. The tech aid also reviews the members database regularly to find names that expressed interest but never signed up with the yahoo group and proactively contact those people to see if there has been some problem. This is a job for a people person, who believes those who don’t use email regularly (yet) can still be a part of grassroots politics.

Web Content Captain:

1 hour per week

The web content captain helps spread the word about the swing state support effort and activities around the Bay Area. This captain notifies the web masters for various websites about upcoming events, changes in contact information, and other vital information that needs to be posted accurately to the internet. Currently the swing state support effort is working with several local volunteer groups that each have websites including:

kerrynorcal.com, eastbaykerry.com, contracostakerry.com, johnkerrysf.tripod.com.

This is a limited time commitment, but it is also vital to our ability to get the word out and grow.

Welcome Team Member:

1 - 2 hours per week

Members of the welcome team contact new volunteers in order to answer their questions and help them determine the best way to participate. Many of the people who contact us have never been involved in a political campaign before and a personal conversation can have a significant impact on how active they become, and therefore on how much we will ultimately be able to accomplish. It is also fun and interesting to talk to other volunteers.

Welcome team members will receive a list of names from the Membership Captain and all the information we have about those individuals. They will contact those people and have a short conversation explaining what we’re doing and how volunteers can participate. Finally, they will introduce new volunteers to others (e.g., to the appropriate state captain if the volunteer wants to be on a state team) and communicate what they’ve learned to our Membership Captain so it will be added to the database.

Research Team Member:

pre-August: 1 - 4 hours per week
August-November: minimal hours

Research team members conduct research about the swing states, and identify key information bits such as voter registration deadlines, voting requirements and policies, voting history, state demographics, etc. This information is recorded in a central web location accessible to Kerry volunteer organizers across the country.

Research team members may also work with state teams and the Writers Bureau to develop training materials for individual swing states. These documents will be used to ensure our volunteers are well-informed and well-prepared to convince people living in other parts of the country to vote for John Kerry.

State Team Member:

1 - 4 hours per week

Each swing state has a state team responsible for staying up to date with activities and activists within that state. State team members establish and maintain contacts with other Kerry organizations within one or more swing states and conduct research in order to be knowledgeable about their state. They monitor local newspapers in swing states and work with the Writers Bureau to respond as appropriate. They plan Bay Area events to provide opportunities for local volunteers to support the swing states without travel.

State teams also plan and coordinate travel events to swing states (with the active participation of people in the swing state). They will help train their volunteers so that they are prepared to work in the swing state. This can be done by finding them volunteer opportunities in California to give them more experience prior to working in the swing state and by conducting state orientation meetings.

State Captain:

2 - 4 hours per week

The state captain is responsible for leading the state team. The captain organizes the state team and ensures it is successfully working with volunteers and accomplishing their goals. The captain is notified whenever a new volunteer expresses interest in their state and makes sure any important new information for these volunteers is added to the main database. The state captain is the main contact for that swing state and works closely with other Kerry groups within the swing state.

Travel Coordinator:

pre-August: 2 - 4 hours per month
August-November: 2 - 4 hours per week

The Travel Coordinator helps ensure all the volunteers who are interested in travel but have no particular state preference find useful ways to participate in the campaign.

Local Group Chair:

4+ hours per week

The local group chair organizes local meetings (planning or swing state support events), coordinates the welcome team members in their area, and serves as a leader in their local volunteer group. The local group chair will probably attend 2 or 3 meetings a month and will lead at least 1 of those meetings. The chair will work with the Meetup Committee in their area to provide swing state support representatives to meetups in order to recruit new volunteers. We currently need a local group chair for East of the Hills (Contra Costa County) and would like to find an additional local group chair for Alameda county.