ATTENDANCE: Zephyr Tate-Mann, chair; approximately 28 present

PROGRAM: A Tribute to Werner Warmbrunn

Werner Warmbrunn, Professor Emeritus of History at Pitzer College and senior author of The Claremont Manifesto, passed away on July 19, at age 89. A DVD of a wonderful interview of Professor Warmbrunn by Merrill Ring for the Claremont Democratic Forum (our Club’s TV program) was replayed for our program. Later several of our members offered fond memories of Werner, and his wife, Loretta Champ Fretter came forward to accept our condolences and flowers.

Zephyr also acknowledged the passing of Ted Kennedy and expressed all of our gratitude for his contributions.

Merrill announced that the speaker for our Oct 9 luncheon is philosopher and Claremont resident, Mitch Avila.
On October 26 we will hear from Gerald Kominski from UCLA Health Policy department as well as a short discussion by Mary Caenepeel, Claremont School Board candidate.

BUSINESS MEETING:

Minutes of the General Meetings now posted on the club website (April, May, June, July) were approved.

MSA The Resolution to Replace the Death Penalty, having been read to the membership, voted on by the ExecComm, and posted on our website was voted on in accordance with our Bylaws, by secret ballot. The Resolution passed with YES – 28 and NO – 0

MSA that one of the items at the Village Venture booth shall be a petition to get an Initiative to replace California’s 2/3 majority with a simple majority requirement. This was created by George Lakoff who hopes to have 1,000,000 signatures on his petition by November 15, 2009.

Larry Schroeder, City councilman, announced that there will be a special meeting of the Police Commission on October 8, 2009, at 7:00 p.m, upstairs from the council meeting room. This meeting is the result of complaints about the poor police response to disruptions at our Health Care Town Hall meeting on August 27, 2009. David Levering also reported that the Chief of Police had called him to say that his department had already developed a new written procedure for monitoring and responding to crowds at politically charged meetings.

Zephyr informed us that even before our October meeting at which she will speak, Mary Caenepeel will need volunteers and phone bankers prior to the election. Contact Teddy Warner at 909-621-2580 or tkwarner©verizon.net if you can volunteer.

Katie Gerecke who also serves on the Board of Sustainable Claremont reported on organization’s activities and upcoming events. She urged anyone to join who wanted to help on one of the many committees.

Meg Mathies from Claremont Progressives (MoveOn) reported on the good turnout Health Care demonstration at the Anthem office in Pomona. She stated that there will be a meeting to plan the next action at her home on September 30.

Russ Warner announced that it was nearly the end of the FEC quarter for fundraising and disclosures and he encouraged donations to his campaign for the 26th Congressional District.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carol Whitson
Recording Secretary

Handouts:

Resolution to Replace Death Penalty (prepared by our Issues Committee)
VOTE NO ON AN OPEN PRIMARY- background info from CA Dem Party
Invitation to Mrs. Unruh’s Fundraiser for Tom Torlakson (for State Superintendent)
Invitation to Mrs. Unruh’s Fundraiser for hector De La Torre (for Calif Insurance Commissioner)

Upcoming Events/Reminders:

Exec Committee Meeting October 3, 2009
Luncheon Meeting October 9, 2009 at El Ranchero Restaurant
Village Venture on October 25, 2009
General Meeting October 26, 2009 at Pilgrim Place