July 20 – Monthly Meeting – Listening to Powerful Women

“If you’re not hopeful and optimistic, then you just give up. You have to take the long hard look and just believe that if you’re consistent, you will succeed.”Although we have lost John Lewis in body, we have not lost his wisdom.It’s important to keep that long hard look as we head into the November election, to stay hopeful and optimistic, that we will succeed in wresting our country and ourselves from destruction. It’s too important this time to sit back and watch politics. It’s not entertainment – not a sports team where you pick sides. We need all hands on deck. Pick something that you can do and be consistent.And while we are doing that, let’s continue to find ways, as John Lewis admonished us, to get in the way, “…to get in trouble… good trouble, necessary trouble.”

Meeting virtually by Zoom.

When: Monday, July 20: Meeting starts at 6:30 PM but please start checking in at 6:00 PM, to help us get the meeting started on time.

Where: Zoom registration is required – if you’re a clubmember or participant click here to register ahead of time. All of the details on how to join will be provided – including dial-in details from a landline.

Our meetings are available live on our YouTube channel. Someone will monitor the chat to text into the meeting relevant questions or comments that may be asked there.

Featured Speakers

Speaking to us Monday night will be Club Member Senator Toni G. Atkins, from Senate District 39, the 51st and current President pro Tempore of the California State Senate, updating us on important information about state level Covid-19 efforts.Toni G. Atkins was born and raised in southwestern Virginia, the daughter of a miner and a seamstress, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Emory & Henry College in Emory, VA. In 1985, she moved across the country to San Diego, California.Atkins served as an aide to San Diego City Councilmember and LGBT trailblazer Christine Kehoe, and, in 2000, was elected to replace Kehoe as the council’s District 3 representative.Elected by voters to the state Assembly in 2010, Atkins served there for six years. In 2014, her colleagues selected her to be the Speaker of the Assembly – she became the first San Diegan and the first lesbian to hold the position. In 2016, Atkins was elected to represent the 39th District in the state Senate. In January 2018, after just one year in the Senate, she was elected by her colleagues to be the next Senate President pro Tempore. In March 2018, she was sworn in, becoming the first woman and the first openly LGBTQ person to lead the Legislature’s upper house.Throughout her career, Atkins has been a champion for affordable housing, the natural environment, healthcare, veterans, women, and the LGBTQ community. She lives in the South Park community of San Diego with her spouse, Jennifer, and their dog, Joey.

• SB 902 – Allows local governments to voluntarily pass a zoning ordinance that is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for projects that allow up to 10 units, if they are located in a transit-rich area, jobs-rich area, or an urban infill site.

• SB 995 – Expands the application of streamlining the CEQA process to smaller housing projects that include at least 15 percent affordable housing. It also would broaden application and utilization of the Master Environmental Impact Report (MEIR) process, which allows cities to do upfront planning that streamlines housing approvals on an individual project level.

• SB 1085 – Enhances existing Density Bonus Law by increasing the number of incentives provided to developers in exchange for providing more affordable housing units.

• SB 1120 – Encourages small-scale neighborhood development by streamlining the process for a homeowner to create a duplex or subdivide an existing lot in all residential areas. Such applications would be required to meet a list of qualifications that ensure protection of local zoning and design standards, historic districts, environmental quality, and existing tenants vulnerable to displacement.

• SB 1385 – Unlocks existing land zoned for office and retail use and allows housing to become an eligible use on those sites. It also would extend the state’s streamlined ministerial housing approval process to office and retail sites that have been vacant or underutilized for at least three years.

Also speaking is Club Member California State Assemblymember Dr. Shirley N. Weber, elected from the 79th Assembly District, which includes the cities of Bonita, Chula Vista, La Mesa, Lemon Grove, National City and San Diego. She will discuss her Assembly Constitutional Amendment, ACA5, to let voters decide in November whether to reinstate affirmative action. Lawmakers approved a proposal Wednesday asking them to repeal the 25-year-old law that bans the consideration of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in university admissions, public employment and contracting.Born to sharecroppers of Hope, Arkansas, Shirley Weber has lived in California since the age of 3. She attended UCLA, where she received her BA, MA and PhD by the age of 26. Prior to receiving her doctorate, she became a professor at San Diego State University (SDSU) at the age of 23. Dr. Weber also taught at California State University at Los Angeles and Los Angeles City College before coming to San Diego State University.

Dr. Weber chairs the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety. She also serves as a member of the Assembly Standing Committees on Education, Higher Education, Elections, Budget, and Banking and Finance.

Prior to being elected to the Assembly, she served as the mayor’s appointee and Chair on the Citizens’ Equal Opportunity Commission. Dr. Weber has also served on the Board of the NAACP, YWCA, YMCA Scholarship Committee, Battered Women Services, United Way, San Diego Consortium and Private Industry Council, and many more.

Assembly Member Weber has lived in the 79th Assembly District for over 30 years. Her children attended public school in the district and she was elected to the school board. As a board member, and subsequent board president, she became known for her advocacy for closing the achievement gap and a higher standard of excellence for all children.

Here is the list of Dr. Weber’s successful legislation from 2019-2020:AB 392: Restricts the conditions under which law enforcement can use deadly force.

AB 498: Expands the veteran business license fee waiver to include veterans who provide services

AB 612: Addresses student hunger by increasing access to the CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program on community college campuses.

AB 701: Provides financial housing assistance to exonerated individuals upon release from prison.

AB 703: Waives tuition and certain fees for any exoneree who attends any California Community College, California State University and the University of California.

AB 942: Expands access to hot and prepared food choices for people who are homeless, disabled or elderly through a statewide expansion of the CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program.

AB 1240: Requires data from school districts to determine whether preparing a K-12 student for both college and career technical education gives them a better chance of success.

AB 1538: Clarifies that all consumers have the right to choose cash payment in lieu of repairing a damaged vehicle under an automobile insurance policy.

Club Vice President Dr. Rebecca Fielding Miller, UCSD Assistant Adjunct Professor, Medicine, School of Health Sciences, an epidemiologist, who has been featured on NBC San Diego and Voice of San Diego, will address member concerns and questions on Covid related issues. More information on Dr Miller may be found here.

Endorsement Update

Endorsement Committee Chair Yvonne Elkin will update us on our next Endorsement meeting Sunday, August 16, 11AM to 2PM. These meetings will be limited to members only. ONLY members who can vote will be mailed ballots and links to the meeting.We will attempt to endorse in the following races:Chula Vista Elementary School Board Area 4

• Kate Bishop

• Laurie Humphrey

Oceanside Mayor

• Rob Howard

• Ruben Major

• Esther Sanchez

Oceanside City Council District 3

• Bill Batchelor

• Amber Newman

• Shari Mackin

Oceanside City Council District 4

• Michelle Gomez

• Jane Marshall

National City City Council

• Marcus Bush

• Jerry Cano

• Gonzalo Quintero

• Jose Rodriguez

• Ditas Yamane

Vallecitos Water Board Division 5

• Tiffany Boyd-Hodgson

• Matt Corrales

As always, if any member has questions or concerns, please feel free to call. We look forward to ‘seeing you’ on Monday July 20.

Susan Peinado, President(619) 225-9236[email protected]