San Francisco for Democracy Member Debra Brackett's letter to the Chronicle about Bush's plans to destroy Social security was published this past Tuesday...check it out here (third letter down). Way to go Debra!

• Saturday March 12th - DeanCorps at the SF Food Bank; SF Democratic Party Symposium
• Monday March 14th - DeanCorps at KQED
• Thursday March 17th - Communications Committee Meeting
• Tuesday March 22nd - Political Affairs Committee Meeting
• Wednesday March 30th - SF For Democracy General Membership Meeting

Many more progressive political and community events are listed on our online calendar - check it out and get involved! To quote the new Chairman of the DNC - "YOU have the power...just show up!"

It was great to see everyone! Many thanks to Trent Lange of the California Clean Money Campaign, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez for his time on the conference call, and DFA for taking the lead on Social Security. Also, check out SF 4 Democracy member Leon's story about Social Security that was featured on the BlogForAmerica.com home page today....

"Every citizen of this country should be guaranteed that their vote matters, that their vote is counted, and that in the voting booth, their vote has a much weight as that of any CEO, any member of Congress, or any President. Our democracy is the centerpiece of who we are as a nation, and we must take action to ensure that the American people have full confidence in our electoral system." Read more here...

If you missed our special screening on Wednesday...head on over to Buzzflash.com, where they have a special interview with Danny Schecter of mediachannel.org and are offering Weapons of Mass Deception on DVD as a thank-you gift for your donation.

Hotel workers in fourteen hotels in San Francisco are involved in a protracted contract fight. Workers are fighting to maintain decent healthcare coverage and address workload and immigration and hiring issues. These workers have called for a boycott of these hotels. To support the Hotel Workers, go to this web site:

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/sfboycott2/step1.tcl

Leon Parker at the January San Francisco for Democracy Party

Hard-working, talented and modest, Leon has made a big contribution to the membership committee, both as a letter writer for the membership renewal drive and as a host for our volunteer appreciation party. His talents include cooking, gardening (he helped with Dean Corp's first native planting event) and writing endorsement letters for Dean. Leon actually got responses back from some of those DNC members he wrote to last month! Because of his willingness jump in wherever there is a need, Leon has earned the honor of Volunteer of the Month.

"I must share the credit with my very patient wife, Gloria Wu, who makes my participation possible by singlehandedly taking care of our energetic two-year old son Dylan while I'm otherwise preoccupied and by helping me to solve the mysteries of MS Word "mail merge" and other technological challenges. She also pitched in to help shop and prepare salads for the Membership party. She and I met eight years ago while volunteering at the SF Food Bank, so it's been particularly special to be able to get back there again with Dean Corps!"

About 150 Dean supporters and progressive Democrats from all over the Bay Area and as far away as Sacramento gathered yesterday at Brennan's restaurant to celebrate Dr. Dean's election as DNC chair. Many, many thanks to Eden James and the gang from East Bay for Democracy for pulling the event together on such short notice. A good time was had by all!

Feel like sending a message that this was the right choice? Send the DNC a donation - or, support Democracy for America to continue electing fiscally responsible, socially progressive candidates.

Some excerpts from Dr. Dean's acceptance speech:

"The first thing we have to do is stand up for what we believe in.

This week, the Republicans introduced a $2.5 trillion budget that deliberately conceals the cost of their fiscal recklessness.

Their budget doesn't account for the cost of the war in Iraq, or privatizing Social Security. It cuts education, children's health, veterans benefits, and community policing.

As far as I'm concerned, this budget does only two things:

It brings Enron-style accounting to our nation's capital.

And it demonstrates what Americans are beginning to see: Republicans cannot be trusted with your money.

[...]

We believe that a good job is the foundation of a strong family, a strong community, and a strong country. We're going towork to create good high-paying jobs here in America, and we're going to keep good high paying jobs here in America.

And there is no reason for us to apologize for being willing to stand up for our belief that Americans who get up and go to work everyday have the right to join a union.

We believe every American should have access to affordable health care. It is wrong that we remain the only industrialized nation in the world that does not assure health care for all of its citizens, particularly our children.

We believe the path to a better future goes directly through our public schools..."

Read the full speech here...

On February 5, the Dean Corps spent a beautiful Saturday morning setting native plants and enjoying the vistas lindas of San Francisco’s highest peak, Mt. Davidson. Despite logging over 3,400 volunteer hours in the past six months, the Recreation and Park Department really has its hands full trying to provide indigenous plants a shot at survival against aggressive invaders from offshore. They are fighting a valiant battle for the urban environment despite the discouraging pressure of seemingly unending budget cuts. For more information, go to http://www.parks.sfgov.org/ or http://www.sfneighborhoodparks.org/.

Come on out and join the Dean Corps for our next activity, working with the S.F. Food Bank on March 12th. It’s a great way to have fun, keep the name in the community, and experience the other side of Saturday afternoon.

"Whether you call them ideals or moral values, there are a number of basic principles that I believe the Democratic Party should stand up and fight for. Here are a few: a livable wage is a moral value. Affordable health care is a moral value. A decent education is a moral value. A common sense foreign policy is a moral value. A healthy environment is a moral value. The feeling of community that comes from full participation in our democracy is a moral value. It is a moral value to make sure that we do not saddle our children and grandchildren with our debt."

• Weds. Feb. 16th - Framing the Debate; George Lakoff at the Roxie Theater
• Weds. Feb. 23rd - Grassroots Theater Network, "Weapons of Mass Deception"
• Sat. Feb. 26th - San Francisco for Democracy Strategic Planning meeting

Many more events are listed on our calendar...hope to see you there!

Californians for Electoral Reform (www.cfer.org) NEEDS YOUR HELP on two important legislative bills on electoral reform.

We need to identify sponsors to introduce these bills by February 18 in order to have a chance for them this legislative session. We need people to contact the Chairs of the Assembly and Senate Committees on Elections, Redistricting, and Constitutional Amendments ASAP and ask for their support. Details are here. The bills are:

1) Home Rule Bill on Electoral Systems Choice - would allow general law cities and counties to use alternative voting systems like Instant Runoff Voting or proportional voting systems like Choice Voting, Cumulative Voting, or Limited Voting. Despite considerable interest in doing so, general law cities are now prohibited by state law from using the best system for their citizens. San Francisco, being a charter city/county, was able to avoid these restrictions.

2) Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Systems - would create and facilitate an independent and non-partisan body composed of ordinary Californians convened to study how the state should best translate votes into seats and what voting methods would best serve California’s citizenry. Given the Governor will be pushing his agenda for independent redistricting, which we feel is the wrong solution, a bill such as this would be a better alternative.

Please give this your best Dean and DFA grassroots response, and write some letters, send some faxes, and basically turn up the volume. For more details: http://www.smc4er.org/urgentaction.

If you volunteered in a swing state last election and you're still not sure whether to laugh or cry, then you need to see "Florida 2004: The Big Bummer."

In FLORIDA 2004: THE BIG BUMMER, Dan Hoyle chronicles the 10 days he spent as a volunteer in Tampa, Florida working sixteen-hour days on the Kerry campaign. With his trademark brand of “journalistic theater,” Dan transforms into the drawl-tongued truck drivers, vitriolic Vietnam Vets, and earnest but spacey West Coast volunteers he met along the way. A riveting showdown between Michael Moore and a phalanx of protesters, an inspired dance piece about the emotional ups and downs a door-to-door canvasser experiences, and a giddy Election Night pre-victory party that quickly turned sour are all recreated in a hugely comic, fresh and heart-breaking show.

WHEN: February 3 through February 26

SHOWTIMES: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays: 8pm

WHERE: The Marsh
1062 Valencia Street (between 21st and 22nd Streets)
San Francisco CA 94110

TICKETS: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays $10-15 (sliding scale).
For tickets, call 415/826-5750 or visit http://www.ticketweb.com.
For more information visit The Marsh website at http://www.themarsh.org.

Brett Wheeler joins San Francisco for Democracy as Political Affairs Director after a decade teaching political theory and art at Georgetown University, the University of California, Irvine, and the University of California, Berkeley, where he got his PhD in 1998. Born in San Francisco, Brett returned full time to the Bay Area in 2003 to be more directly involved in civic affairs and politics in a city where political theory can make practical differences. He was campaign coordinator for Matt Gonzalez's mayoral campaign in 2003. And in 2004, he was a candidate to succeed Gonzalez for Supervisor in District Five, focusing on opportunities for youth, government reform, sustainable neighborhoods, and innovative approaches to urban planning. He serves on the board of San Francisco's Court Appointed Special Advocates Program that trains volunteers appointed by the courts to advocate for children in foster care in San Francisco. He lives with his partner in Cole Valley.

Gov. Dean speaks in Sacramento as Ralph Miller looks on.

Saturday, January 22nd was quite a busy day for San Francisco for Democracy - here are some highlights. Early that morning, one group of us headed up to Sacramento for the Democratic National Committee Western Region Caucus as well as a breakfast for DNC members to hear from the public. There were hundreds of people there to support Gov. Howard Dean's candidacy for the job of DNC chair. All the candidates talked about "the grassroots," but Gov. Dean actually brought us. Never before has there been so much excitement and energy around the campaign for DNC chair.

NEW! Watch the video, courtesy of the CA Democratic Party...(Read more here...)

Another group of SF for Democracy members participated in the March to Defend Women's Health and Rights marking the 32nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. We were co-sponsors of this event and were pleased to see that so many of our local elected officials stood up for choice with us. (read more here...)

And a third team of SF for Democracy members planned, cooked for, and hosted a fantastic Hope, Action, Change Party where we renewed our memberships and commitment to our mission. President of the Board of Supervisors, Aaron Peskin joined us and talked local politics. Tom Brown, our membership director and California for Democracy steering committee member, received the President's Award from Will Easton for his outstanding work. Gov. Dean also joined us via phone as he was rushing to the airport to fly back east. He thanked the group for their hard work and encouraged us to stay active.

If you're a member and have not yet renewed your membership for this year, please do. And if you haven't been a member, please consider joining...or come out to meet us at any of our upcoming events...hope to see you!

A good time was had by all...many, many thanks to Alec and Sharry Bash for hosting us!