Challenge: The selection of Santa Rosa, CA as the location for the 2019 Assembly District Election Meeting (ADEM) for Assembly District 02 (AD-02) violates the CADEM bylaws, specifically Article VI (Assembly Districts and Assembly District Election Meetings; including Procedures for 2019 ADEMs 7/14/18) and Article XIII (General Policies).

30 November 2018: the CADEM website is updated to include one ADEM election site for AD-02, located in Santa Rosa, CA. AD-02 extends from the Oregon border to Santa Rosa and east to Weaverville. Santa Rosa, CA is at the southernmost point of AD-02 approximately 320 miles from the northernmost point of the district. During the winter, travel times can be up to seven hours, one way, from Weaverville to Santa Rosa or from Crescent City to Santa Rosa.

3 December 2018: Emma Harper, CADEM staffer, notifies Lesley Ester, RN that           “The Chair Gallardo-Rooker and the Regional Director (RD) Debra Broner have already made the final decision about the AD 2 location. The AD 2 ADEM location will be held at the Odd Fellow Temple, 545 Pacific Ave, Santa Rosa CA 95404.”

Article VI Section 1(h): “The Rules Committee of This Committee shall promulgate procedures governing the conduct of the Election Meeting.” Those Procedures for 2019 Assembly District Election Meetings call for a location that is “Centrally located with respect to the Assembly District, especially for rural districts.” AD-02 is a rural district. Santa Rosa is not “centrally located to the district”. This location departs from the historical precedent of two locations for ADEMs within the district (2015 and 2017: held in Ukiah and Eureka – serving Sonoma, Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte counties).

In an email dated 8 October 2018, RD Broner stated “The “tentative" date and location for Assembly District 2 is Saturday January 12, 2019 in Santa Rosa. I looked at the voter registration of Democrats in the assembly district and where the meetings have been held in the past since 2013 and decided on Santa Rosa. Sonoma County has 50 % of registered democrats in AD 2 and has not had a location for the ADEM since the redistricting in 2011.”

There is no language in the CADEM bylaws or the 2019 ADEM Procedures that supports the idea of “centrally located” being based upon voter registration or lack of previous ADEM location. “Centrally located” is a very distinct reference to a central geographical location.

Article VI Section 1(a)(5) allows multiple sites in large rural districts: “The convener of the Election Meeting may request a variance…to allow for the holding of the Election Meeting simultaneously at more than one site in the Assembly District…showing good cause for such a variance. ‘Good cause’ may include the necessity of traveling very long distances, traveling in heavy traffic through dense population centers, or traveling in hazardous weather conditions...It is also the intent of the Executive Board that the provision for the simultaneous holding of more than one meeting is meant to apply primarily to the very large districts connected by often-closed mountain passes.” AD-02 qualifies as a large district, subject to hazardous weather conditions in the winter, with numerous often-closed mountain passes.  RD Broner ignored the option to request a variance for multiple sites, even after ADEM delegates Helene Rouvier, Allen McCloskey and myself entreated her to do so on October 12th, 2018.  

Article XIII, Section 1: “All public meetings at all levels of the Democratic Party shall be open to all members of the Democratic Party regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, religion, ethnic identity, sexual orientation, gender identity, persons with disabilities as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or economic status.” The Santa Rosa ADEM location discriminates against rural voters and potential ADEM candidates with limited means and those with disabilities that make long car journeys arduous, including disadvantaged Native American populations. The expense and time to undertake a journey of hundred of miles will effectively disenfranchise many Democratic voters.

Administrative Relief:  I request that the Compliance Review Committee allow relief from the onerous conditions of a single ADEM site, not centrally located, by allowing for multiple sites within the district. This could include the historical sites of Eureka and Ukiah, along with the site in Santa Rosa. I also request that this decision be made in a timely manner as to not adversely effect the 2019 AD-02 Assembly Delegate Election Meetings. Due to the nature and time sensitivity of the meetings, I ask that CRC please utilize an expedited process.

I have attached an email, previously sent to RD Broner, from a competent, active Democratic Party member in Humboldt who has procured a free site in Eureka and is willing to act as location Chair. I am confident that the Mendocino Central Committee or the Inland Mendocino Democratic Club would also be able to obtain a location and a site Chair.

Thank you for your consideration of this challenge,

Lesley Ester, RN

2017 ADEM Delegate D702006

2482 Russ St.

Eureka, CA

95501