Spring Newsletter

March 2023 | www.commoncause.org/california | Issue #2

A Note from our Executive Director

Happy 2023, California Common Cause members! Thank you so much for your continued support. If you donated even $10 or took action on just one of our petitions last year, you made a difference. We would not be able to fight for California’s democracy without you. I am thrilled for what is in store in 2023 and the entire team is determined to make the most out of the year.

I want to take a second to share a thought about the heartbreaking passing of the President of Common Cause, Karen Hobert Flynn. Karen dedicated her life to building a better, more inclusive democracy. She was relentless, fearless, and driven, but she was also positive, caring, and kind. She was a model of what leadership should be, and her passing is a loss for not just for our organization and for the fight to save our democracy, but for the nation as a whole. You can read more about Karen here.

Karen had ambitious plans for us as an organization, and those plans continue on. As I think about the next year, I am excited about all that is to come. Our California team is spearheading an impressive 2023 legislative package that will bring positive change to our communities (more below), initiating an ambitious research project on how to best fight mis- and disinformation in our democracy, and expanding our student programming to better tap into the galvanized youth across our state. Finally, I am excited to announce that we will be hosting in-person events this year where folks like you can meet our leadership, so please keep an eye on our emails to see if any will be held in your area.

Let us continue our fight for a strong and inclusive democracy for all, as before. It is what Karen would have wanted. May her memory give us strength.

With gratitude,

Jonathan Mehta Stein

Legislative Updates

CCC is looking forward to an ambitious legislative year in 2023 to make our democracy work better for everyone!  CCC will be sponsoring bills that:

  • Improve the standards for local redistricting to make redistricting in our cities, counties, and school boards as fair, inclusive, and participatory as possible. That will include prohibiting incumbency-protection gerrymandering.
  • Require large local jurisdictions to use independent redistricting commissions to prevent the partisan and incumbent-driven gerrymandering that occurs when self-interested politicians draw district lines themselves, and to ensure our communities can be fairly represented.
  • Expand access to translated election materials and other necessary voting support for limited-English proficient voters to achieve a more inclusive democracy.
  • Reform the state’s recall process to move the question of who should replace a recalled governor to the next regularly scheduled election, to ensure recalls in California are democratic, fair, and not subject to political manipulation.

 

Welcome to our Spring Interns & Democracy Fellows

CA Common Cause is thrilled to welcome our Spring Interns and continue to support students across our state who are passionate about protecting Democracy!

Laily Milani
Policy Intern

Laily has graduated from UC Berkeley and is originally from San Jose! Laily has been assisting our program managers on a variety of projects and is spearheading an episode for Democracy Is!

Alexander Edgar
Legislative Intern

Alexander is currently a 2nd Year at UC Berkeley and is originally from Simi Valley! Alex has been closely working with our Legislative Director, Laurel Brodzinsky, helping prep our legislative work and prepare policy memos as well as on projects under the tutelage of our Executive Director, Jonathan Mehta Stein.

Aaron Kleinschmidt
Communications Intern

Aaron is a 3rd Year at Belmont University and originally from San Diego! Aaron coordinates the Student Organizing Series from outreach to cohosting the program. He also works closely with the West Coast Communication Staffer, Ariana Marmolejo, on our social media and other communications needs like press releases & media advisories.

We are also thrilled to introduce our Spring 2023 Helen Grieco Democracy Fellows! These fellows are mentored by CA Common Cause leadership and have the opportunity to run chapters on their campuses.

Josie Miller
UCLA Democracy Fellow

Josie is a third-year at UCLA currently building a CA Common Cause chapter to activate students who are passionate about protecting our democracy.

Diego Andrades
USC Democracy Fellow

Diego is a fourth-year at USC where his CA Common Cause chapter are leading several actions to mobilize students around local issues.

CA Common Cause TRIVIA!

What year was Common Cause founded?

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