Democratic Central Committee Election

by Jack McCurdy

Few Democrats probably pay much attention to those running for seats on the San Luis Obispo County Democratic Central Committee at regular elections—like the primary coming up on June 8. But the arm of the state party here plays a big role in how effective the Democratic Party performs locally, and some think the Committee has gotten off track.

As evidence, two long-time incumbents on the Committee, who are also at the center of a legal controversy within the organization, have been passed over for reelection endorsement by local groups, which apparently is very rare. At the same time, new candidates critical of the Committee's record of late are running and could replace the incumbents in question.

The two members who have been denied endorsements are John Barta, a longtime and high-profile community activist from Morro Bay, and Stew Jenkins, the Committee's current recording secretary. They both are involved in a lawsuit by a former Committee member who was ousted three years ago and who is running to regain her seat on June 8.

Neither San Luis Obispo Grassroots Democracy or Democratic Voters of the Central Coast list Barta among those endorsed for reelection to the Committee from the Second District of the county at the June 8 primary, although they do endorse four other incumbents. Jenkins was not endorsed by the San Luis Obispo Grassroots Democracy from the Third District. The Democratic Voters of the Central Coast apparently only made endorsements in the Second District, which mainly covers the coast from Cambria to Los Osos and part of San Luis Obispo. The Third District includes Avila, Pismo Beach, and part of San Luis Obispo.

The new candidates who would replace them are Bill Carlson, a retired school administrator and past member of the Tulare Coujty Democratic Central Committee, and Walter Heath, a local organizer in Barack Obama's presidential campaign two years ago and Healthcare for All organizer. He now is campaign manager for Democrat Hilda Zacarias' campaign for California Assembly in this area.

Both the San Luis Obispo Grassroots Democracy and the Democratic Voters of the Central Coast have endorsed the same six candidates for the six seats in the Second District. Besides Carlson and Heath, they are incumbents John Ashbaugh, Marcia Munson, Ron Sampson and Dennis Hughes, the current chair of the Democratic Central Committee.

Carlson and Heath work closely together on a number of community and political campaigns, but Heath said they are not running as a slate. He said the Central Committee "got sidetracked from its mission of increasing Democratic voter registration, raising money, and supporting Democratic candidates as a result of the Gail Wilson issue and has been sidetracked for too long. I feel that the Central Committee should be about three things: increasing voter registration to the Democratic Party, raising money, and supporting Democratic candidates. Those are my reasons for running. I feel that the Central Committee must regain its focus."

Wilson, a retired Cal Poly chemistry faculty member, had been a member of the Central Committee since 1999 and was recording secretary from December, 1999, through June, 2006.

Jenkins became recording secretary the next term, starting July 1, 2006. Wilson said bylaws were rammed through at the term's first meeting without discussion. She said she questioned having voting members beyond those for which the California Elections Code provided and asked that the members classification issue be placed on the agenda for discussion, but Jenkins refused. Wilson said that she had written a draft Code of Ethics for the Committee, which she believes is important for maintaining an ethical culture in an organization, but Jenkins had also refused to place it on the agenda.

Jenkins also has a political action committee (PAC), called the "Council of Elected Democrats," which supports nonpartisan candidates, such as himself in his campaigns for election to the Port San Luis Harbor District Harbor Commission, Wilson said. Former Central Committee chair Debra Broner placed Jenkins' PAC on the September, 2006, agenda for chartering, and the Committee hastily approved it with little discussion. Wilson said

Broner wanted Jenkins' PAC chartered because Jenkins had misled the campaign staff of a statewide candidate in 2006 into believing that his PAC was an official organization of the Democratic Party, which, she said, it wasn't.

Wilson said she requested a copy of the PAC's bylaws and membership list at both the September and October, 2006, meetings but never received either. She said she complained that the PAC did not benefit the Democratic Party but, instead, competes with the Central Committee for money and power. She also charged that Jenkins has a conflict-of-interest because he has a financial interest in his PAC, which supports nonpartisan candidates rather than Democratic Party candidates.

At the December, 2006, and January, 2007, Central Committee meetings, Wilson said she complained about Jenkins allowing ineligible candidates to run for the position of Committee delegate to the State Central committee, but Jenkins refused to limit the election to eligible candidates and refused to hold the proper election required by the Elections Code.

"Without my knowledge," Wilson said, "Jenkins and others circulated a petition in December, 2006, and January, 2007, calling for my removal. At the end of the January 10, 2007 meeting, as members were leaving, Jenkins handed me a copy of the petition."

On January 14, 2007, 33rd Assembly District delegates to the state Central Committee were elected, she said, and Jenkins packed the Central Committee with seven of those delegates, which in her opinion violated the state Elections Code.

Then in February, Wilson said Jenkins made a motion to remove her, charging she had failed to contribute to the substantial work of the Committee under attendance requirements of the bylaws, but, she said, the records show she had attended every meeting. Wilson maintains that Jenkins had manipulated the bylaws' definition of "work" into his own made-up definition. In fact, Wilson said, she had "worked." She had campaigned for Sharon Beery for election in the 22nd Congressional District and for other statewide candidates. She also was chair of the County Convention Committee in April, 2006.

When Jenkins made the motion to remove her, Wilson said, Buchman imposed time limits on a debate for the first time. It was done without notice and allowed her only five minutes at the very beginning to respond, she said, but then only one and a half minutes for the second round of debate on the motion. "Buchman didn't allow me to 'confront' my accusers, although it is required under the bylaws. Consequently, the seven Assembly District delegates present at the meeting only heard Jenkins' side and all voted to remove me, which resulted in his motion passing by only two votes."

Jenkins had told the Assembly District delegates, who were attending their first meeting of the Central Committee, that Wilson wanted to "exclude" them when she was only seeking compliance with the California Elections Code, which provides for election of members only at a primary election.

Wilson said she then sued the Central Committee and Jenkins, filing a petition for writ of mandate in Superior Court for reinstatement to the Central Committee, but it was unsuccessful as was an appeal to the Second Appellate District court. Jenkins had asked the Superior Court for $102,000 in attorney's fees for defending the Committee and himself, but it was denied by the Court. Without seeking authorization of the Central Committee until afterward, she says, Jenkins filed an appeal, which is pending.

Then in January, 2007, the Central Committee adopted what Wilson claims is an unconstitutional bylaw written by Barta in order to remove her in case she was elected in the future. The bylaw calls for "automatic" forfeiture of membership for legal action against the Committee, although, Wilson points out, members take the oath of office to uphold the United States and California Constitutions, which provide for the right to petition government for a redress of grievances, the right to vote, and the right to free association.

She did run in the June, 2008, primary and received the second most number of votes among 10 candidates for six positions in the Committee's Second District. Wilson took the oath of office on July 3, 2008, but Buchman and Jenkins, who were reelected, on July 9, as the chair and recording secretary, again removed her, under the bylaw written by Barta. The issue of her removal was not on the agenda, and the newly elected Committee was not told about the bylaw adopted by the previous Committee in 2007, she said.

Wilson said she then filed a second suit in Superior Court over her second ouster and is seeking reinstatement, and the trial is scheduled for June 21.

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