On Sunday, the Malibu Democratic Club held its Annual Membership Meeting, followed by a reception and forum with 11 guest speakers. The program started out with two students from Malibu High School (MHS) wowing the crowd. Daisy Johnston, a freshman at MHS, and student member of the Malibu Democratic Club Board, spoke about how the students will not stop in their push for an end to gun violence. She was followed by William Hammond, a junior at MHS, whose powerful performance of the poem “The Wrong Side of History: Gun Violence. . . It’s Time To Talk About It,” by In-Q, received a spontaneous, standing ovation.
Ted Vaill, the outgoing president of the club, talked about the millions of dollars the NRA spends each year on campaign contributions and lobbying, including substantial contributions to 14 California GOP Congressmen. He also discussed the very real, serious and increasing threat that Trump presents to U.S. national security. Vaill then turned the meeting over to the newly elected Club President, Jane Albrecht.
Albrecht laid out the new vision of the club, which will focus on being of service to the community, supporting and empowering local Democrats. It will bring the Democratic Party closer to Malibu, as it did with Sunday’s event, and the citizens and views of Malibu closer to the Democratic Party. The club will be a tent under which all Democrats can meet, where all Democrats are welcome and respected. The primary mission of the club for the remainder of 2018 will be to help flip districts in the U.S. House of Representatives in November.
A large panel of elected and Democratic Party officials addressed the well-attended event, including State Senator Ben Allen, Assemblymember Richard Bloom, Jeremy Wolf (of State Senator Henry Stern’s office), and Mark Gonzalez, the new (as of 2017) Democratic Chair, as well as three of our City Council members—Jefferson Wagner, Laura Rosenthal and Lou La Monte. The forum also introduced Cheryl Turner, a candidate for the Board of Equalization, and Jason Berlin, the LA Field Organizer for the California State Democratic Party.