Democratic Club

by Mary Larson

LW contributor

Despite the inclement weather, the Leisure World Democratic Club gathered on March 22 for its second installment in a series of monthly meetings leading up to the 2024 elections. The meeting began with a presentation by Los Alamitos Unified School District Board Trustee Scott Fayette.

Fayette represents the board’s Area 4, which covers a portion of Leisure World. During the meeting, he covered a wide range of issues facing the Los Al School District.

He began and ended his presentation with a review of the tremendous cost to the district of previous efforts to recall him and other board members from office. He addressed topics such as:

• The immense size of the district.

• How the board relates to parental input.

• The over 1,000 district employees.

• The relationship of the district to charter schools.

• How the district relates to the Orange County Board of Education, as well as the Orange County Department of Education.

• How the board deals with hecklers who attempt to disrupt their meetings.

He made it clear that—with a $120 million yearly budget and 9,000 students—the board operates much like a corporation,“The problems cannot be resolved by avoiding discussing them,” Fayette said.

Fayette spoke frankly about his concerns relating to harassment (including death threats) directed at school board members locally, as well as in other communities across the nation. He indicated that he had not yet decided whether to run for re-election in 2024.

The LW Democratic Club will continue to lay groundwork for the 2024 elections at its next meeting on April 26. Former Seal Beach City Council member Sandra Massa-Lavitt will be the featured speaker at the meeting. The club has asked Massa-Lavitt to help members separate facts from fiction. She will address a number of issues, including Seal Beach’s efforts to comply with the state’s mandate to deal with increasing the amount of affordable housing throughout California.

Members who are unable to attend the meeting in person can participate online or by phone. For login information, contact sblwdemocraticclub@gmail.com

or call 562-412-0898.

Club members who are able to attend the April meeting in person are invited to bring documents for the club’s newly reinstated Advocacy Information Table. All documents on this table represent the views of individual club members. They do not necessarily represent those of the club itself or the Democratic Party.

The LW Democratic Club is chartered by the Democratic Party of Orange County (DPOC). Both DPOC and the California Party have rules and regulations related to local clubs making candidate endorsements. Club members—speaking as individuals—are free to endorse candidates at any time.

For more in-depth reporting on issues and candidates, Democrats and supporters can subscribe to the club’s free electronic newsletter by emailing democraticclubsblw@gmail. com or calling 562-296-8521. People are asked to include all contact information, as well as party affiliation.