As your new Chair, I want to hear from you:  your ideas, your goals, your suggestions on how to make our club and local party as effective as possible.  This will be a tough year for us.  Nationally and statewide -- Democrats and working families are under attack.  Our public employees are under attack.  The working poor and our most vulnerable citizens are under attack.  That's why the work we do over the next few years will be so important.

On the State Level - we have the chance to achieve a 2/3rds Majority of Democrats in the Senate, and get pretty close to that in the Assembly!  That means we have to continue to support our hard working representatives as they work to grow their Democratic Caucus. 

On the local level - we are going to see some tough local races. Sometimes we'll see friends running against friends.  There will be some hard local races over the next few years, that may have the potential to divide us as a group...if we are not careful.  That's why we have to work hard to come together and work past those differences.  We have to come together - and stick together - for the good of the Party. 

I want to thank you again for your dedication and commitment to the Democratic Party.  With our recent successes here in the Tri-Cities and all across the state of California, our goal for this year is to continue building a strong foundation for the Democratic Party to make sure we achieve victory in the future. We must continue to work together to fight for the Democratic values—principles of diversity, equality, and social justice that we must strive for to ensure prosperity of our communities.

The Tri-City Democratic Forum meets every month and I welcome your presence and involvement in the organization. The members of this club are hardworking people who deeply care about our community, and it is truly an honor to represent the Tri -City Democratic Forum as your Chair.