Town and Country Democratic Club

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Thinking about running for office??

The DPSC (Central Committee of Sac. County) is gearing up for the November elections, and kicking off with a "Farm Team" recruitment program. We'd like to see Democrats running for every seat available in this county. We as a club strongly support this effort and stand poised to support anyone who wants to run for office.

Mike Whiteside, Chair of the Campaign Services Committee, is in the process of identifying boards and districts, and would love information from YOU regarding both boards that need people, and people who are eligible and qualified to run for those seats. We are asking you if you know of any individuals who are:
- Dedicated and competent
- A leader willing to work with others
- Civic minded - willing to learn
- Good Democrats with interest in their community
- Hard working and have integrity

Most of the seats (fire, water, & park boards) do not require a tremendous amount of work or expertise.

If you have such members, please let us know. We will identify which positions they are eligible for, and we're planning a full program of support to help them run a campaign and win.

If you have questions, please contact Mike Whiteside at (C): 916-802-3072 or Email: mikensac@comcast.net .

july 2008 meeting: Media issues. Ron Cooper of Access Sacramento (www.accesssacramento.org) talked about media issues stemming from devastating changes to the FCC over the years, and what we as citizens can do to help. Democracy depends on the free flow of information!

Ron's presentation: PowerPoint PDF

Town & Country members make a video!

This video was made by Lyn's son, Sean Stueve, and it stars venerable actors Arnie Godmintz and John Bernier!

We made the finals, though we didn't win the grand prize. But as John Bernier told me, "We already won!" We had a ball, we made it to the finals, and we got incredible support from all of you!

www.summerofchange08.com

Please check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfLBqdzBwRU. You can rate our video on this page too, which might send more business to Sean's video company, Monketyfacevideo (http://www.youtube.com/user/monkeyfacevideo).
You can have our autographs if you contribute to the NE Headquarters!

Thanks to Sean, who made this happen.

Report on Meeting, April 9, 2008

See our talk radio page

As you probably know by now, our only progressive radio station, KSAC 1240 AM, morphed into a gospel music station this week. On April 9, our meeting was devoted to a discussion of what happened, and immediate and long-term possible solutions.

Steve Reed and Arnie Godmintz shared their insider information about what happened this week. Both agreed that it was not ideology, but economics, that caused KSAC to drop progressive talk. We knew they needed more sponsors, and Steve talked about his efforts in that direction. They really needed some large corporate sponsors, but that never happened for a combination of reasons. David Quinlan, who is new to our group,, brought in the Arbitron ratings, which showed that KSAC was trending up and was by no means in a bad position. Steve noted that Progressive talk shows need to have marketing staff familiar with the Progressive community.

Margie noted that she is educating herself about media issues and technology by taking classes at Access Sacramento. (They're free and you can have your own online show after you complete training: http://www.accesssacramento.org/).

We came to the conclusion that our best bet in the long run is to talk to other local stations and get them interested in running "our" shows. We will all see what we can do individually and stay in contact. (Contact Margie at margiemetz@hotmail.com to get on the list.)

In the meantime, Steve talked about his SIRIUS receiver and how to use it, Lyn Stueve described using an IPOD to download podcasts, and we all noted that you can still hear some stations online:

• Green 960 AM live: http://www.green960.com/main.html
• Randi Rhodes has left Air America and is now on Nova M (along with Mike Malloy): listen live at http://www.novamradio.com/live/, You can also download Podcasts from this site.
• You can listen to Thom Hartmann at this site: http://www.thomhartmann.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=661&Itemid=133. ARchives: http://www.thomhartmann.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=280&Itemid=105
• Peter B. Collins: http://www.peterbcollins.com/ (listen live or podcast)
• Listen live to KRXA (Monterey): http://www.krxa540.com/listen
• Ed Schultz http://www.bigeddieradio.com/
• Bill Press and Stephanie Miller: http://www.am1090seattle.com/

To comment on state issues, contact:

• Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Sacramento office (916) 445-2841; San Francisco office (415) 703-2218; e-mail from the governor's Web site at gov.ca.gov.
• Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles: Sacramento office (916) 319-2046; e-mail speaker.bass@assembly.ca.gov.
• Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Steinberg: Sacramento office
  (916) 651-4006; e-mail senator.steinberg@sen.ca.gov.

Notes on our Newsletter

The Newsletter is now in the capable hands of Margie Metzler and John Bernier, and I am optimistic that we will have contributions from many more of you in the future. If you want to receive the newsletter electronically only, please contact Margie at margiemetz@hotmail.com. Otherwise, you will get the print newsletter as always, and of course all newsletters are available here.

We would love to have participation from all of you! If you have items to contribute, or suggestions for articles you would like to see, please contact us!