EDUCATIONAL ENDORSEMENTS State Center Community College District Trustee Area 2: Nasreen Johnson State Center Community College District Trustee Area 3: Danielle Parra Fresno County Board of Education Area 3: Itzi Robles Fresno Unified School Board Area 2: Elizabeth Jonasson-Rosas Fresno Unified School Board Area 5: No Endorsement Mendota School Board: Kevin Arias-Romero
BALLOT MEASURES Vote YES on Prop 3 – Constitutional Right to Marriage. Legislative Constitutional Amendment. Vote YES on Prop 33 – Expands Local Governments’ Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property. Initiative Statute. Vote NO on Prop 34 – Restricts Spending of Prescription Drug Revenues by Certain Health Care Providers. Initiative Stature
At our most recent meeting on October 8th we heard from London Taylor via Zoom on Prop 33 and Prop 34. Back in August we heard from three candidates asking for endorsement by our club and two of them came back this month to speak again about their campaigns. All three candidates have completed and submitted our Questionnaire. Members in good standing voted by secret ballot and endorsed the following candidates for the November election:
Kevin Arias-Romero for Mendota School Board
Esmeralda Hurtado for Sanger City Council
Reyna Medrano for Sanger Mayor
Members also voted to take the following positions on these ballot measures:
Prop 3: Yes
Prop 33: Yes
Prop 34: No
Endorsement selections are decided by club members in good standing in accordance with our club bylaws.
At this meeting we also heard from Brian Poth of The Source LGBTQ Resource Center in Visalia, who filled us in on services and events hosted by the Center, including the monthly Rainbow Mixer and Saturday’s Pride Celebration in Visalia.
The Executive Board has decided to CANCEL this month’s meeting in favor of the Presidential Debate which is scheduled for the same night as our regular monthly meeting. Please consider attending the watch party at Fresno Democratic Party Headquarters (details below).
The September Meeting Agenda has been moved to October 8th. This includes our guest speaker as well as the three candidates and one proposition being considered for endorsement/position.
Our scheduled guest speaker was to be Brian Poth of The Source LGBTQ Resource Center in Visalia. Brian has graciously agreen to reschedule and will be our speaker at our October 8th Monthly Meeting.
Our agenda was also to include endorsement considerations for:
Kevin Arias-Romero for Mendota School Board
Esmeralda Hurtado for Sanger City Council
Reyna Medrano for Sanger Mayor
Yes on Prop 3
We will conduct endorsement voting by members in good standing at our October 8 meeting. Unfortunately it will be very close to the election. Ballots are being mailed out on October 7 so we will try to announce endorsement decisions and post to our website and social media the same night.
Please see our Endorsements Page for a list of all club endorsements:
Join us on October 8th when we’ll have Brian Poth from The Source. You may participate in our Endorsement Process if you are eligible to vote on club business: any member who is current on their dues and has been a member for at least 28 days (if you’re not currently a member you must join by the end of today, September 10, 2024, to participate in voting at the October 8th meeting).
We are excited to have Yes on Proposition 3 Campaign Coalition Manager Erica Liepmann to share how Prop 3 will safeguard the freedom to marry for all Californians, regardless of gender and race/ethnicity. This may be the most important Proposition we’ve seen on a ballot in quite a while. Please attend our meeting to learn more.
We also expect to have two candidates at this meeting to speak about their campaigns:
Esmeralda Hurtado on her re-election campaign for Sanger City Council, and
Kevin Arias-Romero on his campaign for Mendota Unified School Board.
Esmeralda will be submitting answers to our club questionnaire by the time of Tuesday’s meeting and Kevin has already sent his in and it’s available for your review on our Google Drive at https://bit.ly/fsd-mtgdocs.
Also, we have updated information on postcarding for swing states and phone banking is already in full swing for Harris/Walz. Please attend our meeting to get more details and grab a pack of postcards to get started at home!
Meeting starts at Los Amigos at 5:30 pm. Dinner orders start going in about 5:45 so we can call to order at 6:00 pm and proceed with our agenda for the evening.
We are excited to have Dr. Katherine Fobear back at our meeting tonight! She’ll be talking about being counted and Senate Bill 957.
Also, we’ll have information about postcarding and how you can help save Democracy. Not everyone is cut out for phone banking and door knocking but postcarding is easy, you can do it at home, and there are numbers to show that it can be effective.
Please join us tonight at Los Amigos at 5:30 pm. Dinner orders start going in about 5:45 so we can call to order at 6:00 pm and proceed with our agenda for the evening.
We hope to see you there!
Terry Stasio (he/him) President
As the saying goes, if you’re not counted, you don’t count.
LGBTQ+ people are more likely to rely on social welfare programs, income assistance, shelter and housing assistance, public health insurance and programs like Medicaid and Medicare, and student assistance and relief.
However, it was only until January 2023, under President Biden’s Executive Order 14075, that federal agencies like Housing & Urban Development, Health and Human Services, and Education collected data on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Before last year, millions of LGBTQ+ Americans were left out of federal health, housing, and education statistics, ensuring that their needs were not addressed in federal policies.
The California State Auditor recently released a report revealing a lack of progress by the California Department of Public Health to collect SOGI, despite several state laws requiring them to do so.
Without accurate data on LGBTQ+ Californians, it makes it impossible to understand fully how the LGBTQ+ community is impacted by public health disparities and to create comprehensive programs.
Dr. Kat Fobear, an Associate Professor at Fresno State’s Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the founding coordinator of the LGBTQ2+ Studies program, will discuss the need for better collection of federal and state SOGI data. She will also discuss Senate Bill 957, proposed by Senator Scott Wiener, making it mandatory for the California Department of Public Health to collect SOGI data.
Meeting documents (agenda, minutes, reports, etc) can be viewed / downloaded at: https://bit.ly/fsd-mtgdocs
If you have additions to the agenda, future speaker suggestions, or announcements to be included on our meeting handout please send them to info@fresnostonewalldemocrats. org.
Writing postcards to Democrats in swing states boosts voter turnout. It engages voters, but also gives us a proven way to do our part in those key swing state elections. In addition, writing postcards helps us relieve the anxiety about the election that so many of us feel this year. Losing this election is not an option – we need to do everything in our power to win.
With our help, Postcards to Swing States hopes to send over 26 million postcards to Democratic voters in the key swing states. Postcards are estimated to boost turnout by 1.3%, so this campaign can boost turnout by over 300,000 Democratic voters, and that can make the difference in close swing state elections.
Democratic Clubs like ours can make the difference in this election, and many are already writing postcards. Our members are proven advocates for our side and they can play a key role in the 2024 election by handwriting postcards to Democrats in swing states.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024, members of Fresno Stonewall Democrats met to hear from local candidates and then voted by secret ballot to decide endorsements. Most of the candidates completed the club Questionnaire which seeks to inform members of the candidate’s positions on LGBTQ+ issues and includes a special section just for school board seats. Endorsements are won by a 60% vote of members present — Zoom attendees are allowed to vote using the anonymous polling feature.
Congratulations to these candidates who received the club’s endorsement:
Please refer to our Endorsements page for a full list that includes candidates previously endorsed for the March Primary. Candidate names are linked to their campaign websites if known.
Also refer to our Candidate-Information page for a list of all candidates who submitted the FSD Club Questionnaire. These forms provide insight into a campaign which you might not find on their website.
Candidates in attendance to discuss their campaigns
Endorsement Voting by members in good standing
Guest Speaker: Hugo Morrison on Voter Engagement
Please come out Tuesday night for our June meeting as we will have several candidates in attendance to announce or discuss their campaigns. They will each have 3 minutes and allowed up to 2 minutes for Q&A.
As announced at our May meeting and in email sent out that night, we will be voting on additional endorsements for the upcoming November Election. Candidates were invited to complete our club questionnaire which is always available to download from our website. We very much appreciate the time taken by candidates to answer our questions.
Please read through each questionnaire to familiarize yourself with the candidates seeking our endorsement:
Questionnaires help to inform our members of candidate’s positions on important LGBTQ+ issues. The questionnaire is not required for endorsement but it is obviously helpful in understanding the candidates. Please take the time to read the questionnaires that have been submited before considering your vote for endorsement on Tuesday.
Guest Speaker: Hugo Morrison – Many of you know Hugo through Fresno’s Democratic Central Committee and other community projects. Hugo will speak to us about voter education and engagement. His insight and efforts in this area are important in understanding today’s voters and what November might be like.
Meeting documents (agenda, minutes, reports, etc) can be viewed / downloaded at: https://bit.ly/fsd-mtgdocs
If you have additions to the agenda, future speaker suggestions, or announcements to be included on our meeting handout please send them to info@fresnostonewalldemocrats.org.
All Democrats are welcome to attend meetings regardless of membership status but we hope you’ll decide to join and participate in club business, the endorsement process, and election of officers in January. New members must wait 28 days before they are eligible to vote on ANY club business.
Please join us for dinner, drinks, and our monthly meeting Tuesday, April 9th. All Democrats are welcome to attend meetings. Annual memberships cost $20 for the whole year and help us accomplish our mission and objectives.
As announced previously, this May 14 meeting will be an endorsement meeting. Members in good standing will vote to decide on endorsements of Luis Chavez for Fresno County Supervisor and possbily others.
Michael Evans will also be speaking at this meeting (via Zoom) about a statewide ballot measure that some are calling the “Taxpayer Deception Act.” Members will vote on a position after hearing Michael’s presentation. More information here: https://www.taxpayerdeceptionact.com
HELP CREATE A DEMOCRATIC PRESENCE AT Fresno Rainbow Pride Parade & Festival June 1st!
Fresno Stonewall Democrats is a sponsor of Pride again this year along with Fresno County Democratic Women’s Club and Democratic Women In Action. ALL Democrats in Fresno County and surrounding areas are encouraged to show unity and support of the LGBTQ+ Community by RIDING on our float in the Pride Parade! We’ll need help decorating also and volunteers to run the Party Table & Booth at the Pride Festival afterward.
Please sign up to help decorate the float, ride the “Rainbow Wave” with us, and/or work a 2 hour shift at the Dem Party table at the festival: https://mobilize.us/event/622647/
Parade STARTS at 10:00 AM so we need you to be at the staging area by 8 am to decorate or 9am to assemble. Signs with your club name or logo would be fun to wave while riding down Olive Ave, or bring your favorite flags. The Festival OPENS at 11:00 AM and it would be nice to have people there as attendees start arriving.
JUNE 1, 2024 Help Decorate: 8 AM Ride on our Float: 9 AM Volunteer at our Festival Booth: 11 AM
