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CHANGE Moving On
Last Updated (Wednesday, 31 December 1969 11:00)Written by Lee GreenawaltTuesday, 18 November 2008 14:02
Office Location to Broad St.
Change is the theme of the recent election campaign. The campaign was successful and San Luis Obispo Democrats are moving to accomodate the changes. The office at 1110 Morro Street is accessible for visitors, but not effecient for staff work. Two factors caused concideration of a change in location. The new owners are raising the rent, and many new people are active in using the office.
The locations committee has found space that will accomodate meetings as well as simply clerical work at 1406 Broad Street, the corner of Broad and Pismo. Many will remember the building as Borah's Awards. We hope the new location will be the site of many awards and accomplishments as the Democratic Party of San Luis Obispo moves on into the new year.
Come by in December and see the change in location and activity at the Democratic Party office at 1406 Broad Street.
State Budget Cut Action Announcement
Last Updated (Sunday, 20 July 2008 17:29)Written by AdministratorSaturday, 19 July 2008 23:00
We need to let our state legislators know that we want a state budget that is family friendly. Lunch will be provided after precinct walking.
Right here in SLO County the proposed cuts will have a big impact on families and our quality of life - including schools, health care, public safety, and other vital resources.
- Education - $4.8 Billion in additional cuts will result in layoffs of teachers and critical staff. Class sizes will increase dramatically, schools will close, programs will be eliminated
- Healthcare - Over $1 Billion will be cut, restricting access for millions and endangering the facilities we all rely on, such as emergency rooms and trauma centers.
- Human Services - Deep cuts in programs to help the disabled, elderly, foster children, abused children.
- Quality of Life - State Parks will be closed, thousands of prisoners released without re-entry support.
- Etc.
Mark Buchman, Chair, San Luis Obispo County Democratic Party
Immigration Doesn't Boost Crime
Last Updated (Wednesday, 31 December 1969 11:00)Written by AdministratorThursday, 27 March 2008 15:59
News
Immigration doesn't boost crime, data show
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At a citizenship class inside El Concilio's California Street offices in Stockton last week, the agency's director, Jose Rodriguez, asked students to recall the types of things that could prevent their naturalization.
"We talked about some of the behavior the U.S. doesn't want to see in its citizens," Rodriguez prompted.
Alcoholism, someone answered. Prostitution. Illegal gambling.
Immigrants, Rodriguez said, must demonstrate good moral character.
According to research bolstered last week by a report from the Public Policy Institute of California, immigrants are less likely than native-born residents to commit crime.
The institute's findings, while supported by earlier research, are nonetheless at odds with at least one argument advanced in an increasingly contentious immigration debate: that illegal immigrants, especially those from Mexico, raise crime rates.
According to the Public Policy Institute, they don't.
"Taken together, our findings suggest that spending additional dollars to reduce illegal immigration or increase enforcement against the foreign-born will not have a high return in terms of public safety," the report says. "The foreign-born in California already have extremely low rates of criminal activity."
The institute used incarceration and institutionalization - in jails or halfway houses, for example - as measures of criminal involvement.
Based on demographics alone, immigrants might seem more prone to criminal activity: They tend to be poor, young men with little education, factors that can correlate with crime.
About 10 percent of San Joaquin County's residents have incomes below the poverty line. Among immigrants, the figure is nearly double that.
Immigrants to the county also have less schooling than U.S.-born residents. Overall, 23 percent of San Joaquin County adults 25 and older have less than a high school education. Among immigrants, it's almost 40 percent.
Still, according to the researchers, while immigrants account for 35 percent of California's adult population, they make up 17 percent of the state's adult prison population. They also are incarcerated for crimes against people and drug-related crimes in much smaller numbers than U.S.-born residents.
"That is consistent with everything that has gone before. There's no surprise," said John Phillips, a sociology professor at University of the Pacific. "Over the years, there's simply been no connection between immigrants and crime."
Robert Himelblau of the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office agreed.
"We have seen no correlation between immigration and crime," he said.
Both Phillips and Himelblau said crime can be more troublesome among the children and grandchildren of immigrants, who often struggle to straddle two cultures. But in those cases, Himelblau said, crime seems more related to poverty than to immigration.
The Public Policy Institute of California report does not examine crimes for which a person would have been sentenced to less than a year in prison.
Also, the researchers noted, immigrants might affect crime indirectly.
In Stockton, immigrants often have been crime victims.
About two years ago, the Stockton Police Department developed the Latino Education About Law Enforcement Services project, which seeks to encourage Latinos to report crimes against them.
Many illegal immigrants are reluctant to seek police help because they worry their undocumented status will be discovered, said Pete Smith, a Police Department spokesman and member of the Latino law enforcement services board.
"If you've been the victim of a crime, we're not going to question your immigration status," he said.
The project has sent officers to provide interviews and field questions on Spanish-language radio. It also has produced public service announcements on safe banking options that immigrants, including those who are undocumented, can pursue. They will air on community-access and Spanish-language television.
Since the project was launched, police have seen an increase in the number of Latinos reporting robberies against them - a success, Smith said.
Juana Hernandez was among the students at El Concilio's citizenship class last week. She wants to become a citizen, she said, because she wants to vote and to find a better job.
That's what most immigrants want, she figures.
"Of course, we're all different," she said. "But most of us came to make progress, to have a better life and a better education. We follow the laws."
Contact reporter Jennifer Torres at (209) 546-8252 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Democrats Take Lead in Ventura
Last Updated (Tuesday, 18 March 2008 18:55)Written by AdministratorTuesday, 18 March 2008 18:39
This is a portion of an article published by the
Ventura County Star on March 5, 2008
Authored by Timm Herdt
In the parlance of 21st century politics, Ventura County has turned blue.
As of Monday, registered Democrats became the majority voting group in the county, surpassing Republican registration for the first time since Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
The latest numbers: 150,066 Democrats and 149,627 Republicans.
"Everybody's on cloud nine," said Laura Winchester of Thousand Oaks, vice chairwoman of the county Democratic Central Committee. "From the standpoint of momentum, this is a huge blow to Republicans."
The emergence of a Democratic plurality represents a dramtic turnaround from just four years ago. At the close of registration for the 2004 presidential primary, county Republicans outnumbered Democrats by 16,151.
That gap has been closed by a Democratic gain of about 12,000 new voters and a Republican decline of about 4,000. The trend has played out in every city in the county, as Democrats have either widened leads or cut into Republican advantages.
It has been most pronounced in the city of Ventura, where Democrats registered a net gain of 3,878 voters over the past four years, and in Thousand Oaks, where the GOP has experienced a net loss of 2,675 voters.
Rebuttal to Chris Day
Last Updated (Tuesday, 18 March 2008 19:42)Written by AdministratorTuesday, 18 March 2008 19:19
My wife and I have lived in the north end of Atascadero for twenty years, enjoying the ambience of the semi-rural atmosphere and the relative freedom from traffic congestion. Those who compare us unfavorably with Paso Robles might think of that.
When we settled in, wondering about our new home, it occurred to us that whoever was responsible for putting the freeway next to the main street made it almost impossible for the community to ever have a downtown. I then heard that it was influential business people thinking that they might profit from its proximity. The strip that had been our town business area became permanent. Trying to meet an important need, the city has been in the process of trying to build a city center for some time. The stalled national economy means that progress will be slow.
The spacious Rottman property at Del Rio and Camino Real is a serious problem. The developers want a Wal-Mart there. We do need a quality supermarket in the north end of town and the city tried to entice Trader Joe's. It declined. Perhaps it is because we have been called A-tacky-dero over the years. Many of our citizens want a Wal-Mart but that might actually make things worse for us because of its probable harm to successful local small businesses and the increased traffic congestion, especially at the freeway interchange.
Until recently we have had city councils that approved almost every kind of development, any kind of business to bring in tax dollars. Now we have a council majority working hard for quality growth, although it may be very slow due to the downturn in the economy. For Chris Day to say that Atascadero is "at the brink of death," is nonsense.
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