April 2025 Club Newsletter
Upcoming Meeting
By Tim Dixon
Join us for our hybrid (In-person and Zoom), club meeting which will be held at the Peninsula Center Library, 701 Silver Spur Road, Rolling Hills Estates, California, 90274 on April 27, 2025 at 2:30 PM. Please note that the April meeting will be held one week later than usual due to the Easter Holiday.
Journalist Gil Duran
At our March meeting, we experienced technical difficulties and were unable to have American journalist Gil Duran speak to us via zoom. Mr. Duran graciously agreed to reschedule his remarks for our April meeting. Mr. Duran is an American journalist based in San Francisco. He began his journalism career at the San Jose Mercury News in 1998. In 2003, he transitioned into political communications, serving as a spokesperson and strategist for prominent figures such as Governor Jerry Brown, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Attorney General Kamala Harris. Duran returned to journalism in 2018 as the California opinion editor for The Sacramento Bee, writing columns and editorials on local, state, and national issues. In 2021, he became the editorial page editor of the San Francisco Examiner. He currently writes the FrameLab Newsletter and The Nerd Reich and regularly contributes to various publications, including The New Republic.
Mr. Duran will give his perspective on the relationship between Donald Trump. Elon Musk and other technology giants and how this is impacting America.
Al Sattler
Earth Day falls in the month of April and we are honored to have Al Sattler, the Vice Chair and Political Chair for the Palos-Verdes-South Bay Regional Group of the Sierra Club join us in person to speak about environmental issues. Al has been a Sierra Club activist since 1980, long enough to remember when President Reagan appointed James Watt to be Secretary of the Interior. He started his Sierra Club membership doing hiking and mountaineering, but became involved in environmental issues and politics as the need for it became apparent. He has worked on several environmental issues, including air pollution, global warming, and coastal protection, and volunteered on the campaigns of several pro-environment candidates for public office. In 2023, Al was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Los Angeles and Orange County Sierra Clubs. Al plans to speak about the important anti-pollution laws that were passed since the first Earth Day in 1970, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act, as well as the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. As a result of these laws, our air and water became much cleaner. Now, much of that environmental improvement is under threat from the Trump administration. Al Sattler will discuss local, regional, national, and global environmental issues.
Announcement of Palos Verdes Democrats Slate of Officers for May Election
By Connie Sullivan
Leadership for a Progressive Future
Our Nominating Committee completed its task to recruit engaged Democrats for our 2025-2026 Palos Verdes Democrats Board. They are:
| President: | Rob Wynne |
| 1st Vice President: | Stacey Stoler |
| 2nd Vice President: | Tim Dixon |
| Recording Secretary: | Casey Crowe |
| Corresponding Secretary: | Ann Stahl |
| Treasurer: | Paul Klose |
| Parliamentarian: | Connie Sullivan |
The election will be held at our general membership meeting on Sunday, May 18, and we encourage all members to participate in this important event. Your voice and vote are vital in shaping the future of our organization.
We want to thank our Nominating Committee (Mehran Moshfeghi, Fraser Perkins, and Connie Sullivan) for their work in recruiting this great slate.
President’s Report
By Robert Wynne
Tariffs. Stock Market. Signal-gate. Job losses. Insulting allies. Weakening NATO. Befriending Russia.
These are not normal times. Trump is not a normal president. He's failed our economy, our justice system, our allies and our democracy.
America is under attack. Our courts, our congress, our politicians, our media, none of them are strong enough to defend against a strong dictator.
Now, more than ever, we need Fighters, not Folders.
Appeasement doesn't work. Ask Neville Chamberlain, Al Gore, Joe Lieberman and Merrick Garland. They brought sponges and a rule book to a gunfight in a dark alley. They all lost, badly.
California Governor Greg Newsom, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator John Fetterman are leading the charge for the Folders. Whether they truly believe weakness and compliance are the best strategy for dealing with an autocrat, or they simply want a seat at the table when Trump declares himself president for a third term, is irrelevant. It's
the wrong strategy, morally and politically. ABC News found this out the hard way after paying a $15 million "donation" to Trump for something George Stephanopolous said (which was accurate) that insulted Trump. Their reward? The FTC is investigating ABC's license due to "excessive DEI" hiring policies.
Bullies don't back down after you comply. They get encouraged.
That's why Democrats must follow the Fighters. Ted Lieu, Jasmine Crockett, Bernie Sanders, AOC, Ruben Gallego, Adam Schiff, Jamie Raskin and others are the present, and the future, of the Democratic party. Fighting the good fight, while rescuing the economy, Medicare and Social Security, along with rebuilding relationships with our allies, is the smart path forward for America. It's the right thing to do and the only way to win back votes and the trust of the American people.
November, 2026 is far away. But each victory, like the Wisconsin Supreme Court vote, brings us closer and closer. We don't have the House, the Senate or the Presidency right now, but we must keep fighting. It's our only path.
March 2025 Club Meeting Report
By Tim Dixon
Congressman Ted Lieu
On Sunday, March 16, 2025, Congressman Ted Lieu addressed a standing room only crowd as the keynote speaker at the Palos Verdes Democrats meeting. The meeting drew over 150 attendees in person and via zoom and demonstrated the concerns that Americans have with the new Trump administration. The meeting provided an opportunity to hear from our congressman and efforts being taken by democrats to combat the harmful and dangerous agenda being advanced by Trump, Musk, and his administration. Congressman Lieu provided his perspective on the challenges that we face, and even though the democrats are in the minority, he spoke about the work that he and his colleagues are doing to try to hold the administration accountable and push back against the terrible agenda.
Following his remarks, Congressman Lieu took questions from the audience for over an hour on a wide range of issues. Congressman Lieu thanked the Palos Verdes Democrats for our activism and support and encouraged continued grassroots activism to combat the dangerous changes being advanced. “We were honored to have Congressman Lieu join us and share his expertise with such an enthusiastic crowd,” said Palos Verdes Democrats President Robert Wynne. “His willingness to connect with constituents and tackle tough topics head-on made this an unforgettable event.” To view a video of the meeting and the remarks by Congressman Lieu click the video link or visit the Palos Verdes Democrats YouTube channel.
From the Activism Chair
By Caryl Schwartz
Moment to rejoice, Susan Crawford won the Wisconsin State Supreme Court race and Dr. Jill Underly won Superintendent of Public Instruction. Both the MAGA candidates with considerably larger war chests were defeated.
I wish to thank all the volunteer phone bankers from PV Dems. Your work reaching out to voters and educating them made a difference. Never underestimate the power of millions of people doing small actions. In several months we’ll begin working on Abigail Spanberger’s Gubernatorial race as well as Virginia’s House of Delegates and State Senate races.
It was great seeing so many members of our Club at the Torrance “Hands Off” Rally. Crowd estimates were 10,000. I headed downtown afterwards, where tens of thousands, may have been 100,000 gathered at Pershing Square and marched to City Hall to listen to speakers. Click the button below to see some of our favorite images from those two rallies.
I admire Corey Booker for his heroic record-breaking speech and I certainly would like to see stronger Democratic leadership in the Senate. The GOP Senate plowed ahead with their plans for trillions of dollars in tax cut extensions and new tax breaks for richest Americans, in spite of the projected 4 trillion increase in the deficit over 10 years. If you have friends and family in purple and red states urge them to contact their representatives to vote NO, since it is back to the House of Representatives for a final vote. Our Social Security and Medicare is what the GOP will go after next as our 401K’s have plunged due to Trump’s reckless tariffs while Trump plays golf and hosts multiple million a plate dinners. Nothing like cashing in on the Presidency.
Another bill to urge Congress to vote NO is HR 22 The Save Act, which is essentially a voter suppression bill. Here’s how their “SAVE” Act puts your vote at risk:
Prove your citizenship – again: Even if you’re a lifelong voter, if you move across town, change your last name when getting married, or switch parties, you’d have to provide your passport or birth certificate with your current legal name – in person at your local elections office – just to stay registered.
Get stuck in long lines: Election officials would face impossible workloads, causing confusion and delays.
Lose your right to vote – without warning: If outdated records can’t verify your citizenship status, you could be purged from the voting rolls without even knowing it.
Think for a moment how that will disenfranchise voters. Not everyone has a certified birth or a passport that costs money, so disenfranchising the poor, minorities, those recently married or moving.
We must unite to stop the privatization of our government agencies and destruction of valued institutions. Together we can make a difference and we need to be loud.
Onward,
Caryl Schwartz
Palos Verdes Democrats Activism Chair
pvcaryl@verizon.net
310 897 0219
The DNC has launched the “People’s Cabinet,” a new project that will leverage a deep bench of qualified policy experts, national and local leaders, as well as community voices with the objective of cutting through the lies and speaking directly to the American people. Citizens, particularly those living in “the news deserts” need to hear reality of the Trump administration’s reckless and dangerous agenda. I hope “People’s Cabinet “will be loud and utilize short, simple messaging that Americans can understand.
Notes from the LACDP April Meeting
By Jon Munoz
The LACDP meeting was held on Tuesday April 8th. There were three special guests at the meeting. Mayor Karen Bass, running for re-election, gave a rousing speech urging members to not sign any petition pertaining to the recall effort against her. The reasoning was that there have been very misleading petitions circulating. It was noted that the recall, financed by a billionaire, would take place six months prior to next year’s election and therefore a waste of time and taxpayer money.
Sheriff Robert Luna, who is also running for re-election as LA County Sheriff, mentioned some positive crime statistics while he has been LA Sheriff and spoke out against the recall effort.
Lastly Chris Kluwe, former NFL player turned anti-MAGA activist from Huntington Beach, thanked the members for their support. The only official resolution put forth was a resolution opposing the recall effort against Karen Bass. There was an unofficial resolution which called for creating a Trump Fight Back Task Force. While most members agreed that the Democratic party needs to be more aggressive in countering Trump’s policies, the resolution was shot down as the task force would violate too many LACDP bylaws. It was announced that at the JFK Awards, the Profile in Courage recipient, would be given to actor/activist Sean Astin. The awards are being held Thursday May 22nd at the Greek Theatre.
The next LACDP meeting will be held on Tuesday May 13th.
National Democracy Summer School Applications Open
Deadline to Apply: April 18th
By Congressman Ted Lieu
I am proud to announce that my campaign will be participating as a partner in the 2025 National Democracy Summer School! This one-of-a-kind Democratic Fellowship—founded by Congressman Jamie Raskin and expanded across the country in an historic partnership with the DCCC—is dedicated to recruiting thousands of high school and college-age students and training them as the next generation of Democratic political activists and leaders.
As part of this educational and political initiative, I am looking for 1 dedicated high school or college student to join me here in CA-36 as a Ted Lieu for Congress Democracy Summer Fellows!
Color Me a Democrat
By Fraser Perkins