Visit the club booth every Tuesday at CH6
DEMOCRATIC CLUB
by Mary Larson
LW contributor
Plans are still underway to resume the Democratic Club membership meetings on Aug 18. The club’s leadership continues to discuss the decision to hold this meeting face-to-face or continue to hold meetings via Zoom. The club leadership hopes the decision will be resolved in the coming weeks.
The club’s leadership is mainly concerned about the conflicting advice from various government agencies and political leaders. Even though California’s overall guidance will align with that of the federal CDC, the “overriding or primary guidance” for workplaces in California will continue to be whatever standards the Cal-Occupational Safety and Health Standards (Cal-OSHA) board finalizes.
As of the date of this report, Cal-OSHA regulations will continue to require that unvaccinated people must wear masks in indoor public settings and businesses. The Democratic Club membership meetings are neither public settings nor businesses. Nevertheless, given the number of members who normally attend the club’s meetings, such gatherings could easily fall under a category very similar to that of a public setting.
Democratic Club leaders want to ensure that everyone who attends membership meetings feels safe and welcome in doing so. They do not want an individual’s choice as to whether or not to “mask up” to become the latest controversy in this politically charged and emotionally draining pandemic.
Club members are invited to share their thoughts about the criteria for deciding whether or not, as well as when, to begin, in- person meetings by calling (562) 296-8521 or emailing democraticclubsblw@gmail.com.
The club’s leadership is also closely monitoring what is happening in Sacramento. The deadline for legislation to make it out of the house where it originated was June 4. This meant bills by state senators had to get approved by the Senate while bills by Assembly members had to get the green light from the Assembly. These bills now all face committee hearings and floor votes in the other chamber. This has to be done before the Oct. 10 deadline for Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign approved legislation into law.
The 12 state lawmakers who represent portions of Orange County wrote 81 bills that advanced through this critical deadline. Twelve of these bills came from the 34th District senator, Democrat Tom Umberg, and one came from the 72nd Assembly District representative, Republican Janet Ngyuen. Umberg already had a bill signed into law that requires that ballots be mailed to all voters for any elections that take place through the end of this year.
More information about these bills will be included in future Democratic Club articles in the LW Weekly.
Club members are reminded that the club’s voter service center booth outside Clubhouse 6 is open every Tuesday from 10:30 a.m.12:30 p.m. Voter registration forms, membership applications, club newsletters, brochures and other resource material are available at the booth.
Club members who had not yet renewed their membership for 2021 recently received a letter from the Membership Committee requesting that they do so. To check renewal status, call (562) 431-7275.
