District Caucus

Last Sunday the eleventh I participated in an interesting exercise in grassroots democracy. The California Democratic Party selects delegates to its state convention in a number of ways. Elected officials automatically get seats. County Central Committees get to name delegates too. Our county of Tulare got to name ten, for instance. And another bloc is chosen at caucuses meeting in each of the 80 State Assembly Districts. All these will meet in Sacramento April 24-26.

Our district, the thirty-fourth, was allotted 12 delegates to be selected at the Assembly District caucus. All you had to do to be a candidate was to register on the State Party website by December 31st. While doing so the candidates were allowed to include a statement. Then the party would check to make sure each potential candidate resided in the district and was a registered Democrat by October 20, the cutoff date to register in time to vote in the last general election.

Our caucus was held at the Holiday Inn in Tehachapi, a town in the mountains southeast of Bakersfield. The population and the elevation both stand at about 4,000. There were patches of snow visible almost down to the elevation of the town. Though Sunday was temperate and mild with a high about 60, Tehachapi is customarily one of the windiest places in the state. As you descend into town on State Route 58 you can see phalanxes of wind turbines on the ridges south and east of town.

Tehachapi was chosen because it sits in approximately the geographic center of the district. The thirty-fourth is the most gerrymandered district in California, which is saying something. In the Central Valley it extends north of Visalia. From there it proceeds south into Kern County, bypassing Bakersfield and proceeding out into the Mohave Desert to encompass the towns of Barstow and Ridgecrest. From there it bends north into the Owens Valley on the Eastern Slope of the Sierra to take in Lone Pine and Bishop. It's shaped like a giant fish hook to ensure a safe Republican District in a majority Democratic state.

We commuted over a hundred miles and nearly two hours to get there. This all meant the key for people getting elected was a question of showing up at the caucus, and maybe bringing a few friends along for numerical support. As members of the Central Committee, Barbara, Ricardo, Chris Walker (President of the College of the Sequoias Young Democrats) and I checked the people in as they arrived. We're all already among the ten delegates chosen from among the twenty-five members of the Central Committee itself. The other folks who came in gave their names and we looked them up on the state party data base to make sure they were registered Democrats residing in the District.

The doors closed at 1:00. There were 22 registered candidates and 16 of them had showed up. Twenty-three people in all were in attendance at the caucus. They would choose the twelve delegates, six men and six women as called for by Party rules. Each candidate got to speak for one minute. Ricardo chaired the proceedings and kept the time. We had three candidate from our community college club running for seats. The club's vice president, Nathan Benton, spoke for himself. Two others were not in attendance, one because she is in the National Guard and had orders that weekend and the other because of family responsibilities. I spoke for one and Chris for the other.

Remarkably, Nathan and our National Guard college student, Isabel Garcia, were elected. That means three delegates from Tulare County, Chris, Nathan and Isabel, will be very young people. One from among the 12 was then elected to serve as the county's representative on the State Executive Committee. That was Carol Clarke, an active member of the district's largest teacher's union.

It is noteworthy to think that just a few people by getting involved could actually get right into state political matters and have an important voice. Our Young Democrats Club at COS will be more excited than ever at the prospect of attending the State Convention. There were already twelve committed to go, and with three of their own members plus their faculty adviser to serve as delegates that will enhance expectations even more. We drove back from Tehachapi secure in the feeling that our sojourn that day was time well spent.