UPDATED Nomination Slate For Redwood ACLU Board Of Directors

(NOTE: The Board of Directors, by unanimous vote on December 16, added three candidates to the original slate of full-term Director candidates approved by a unanimous vote of the Board on November 18. ACLU members may further petition the Board until January 12, 2009 to be included on a slate of one-year term Director candidates.)

Annual Election held on January 27, 2009 at 6:00 p.m. in Eureka

Current Redwood ACLU Boardmembers Minerva Williams, Greg Allen and Charles Douglas are midway through their two-year terms on the Board of Directors, and are thus not subject to this election.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AT LARGE SEATS
- two year terms -
CHOICE VOTE FOR 8

Peter Martin (incumbent)

Jack Munsee (incumbent)

Roger Herick (incumbent)

Bill Henneberry (incumbent)

Christina Allbright (incumbent)

Cathy Dryfuss

Stephen Davies (incumbent)

Steve Bridenbaugh

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - AT LARGE SEATS
- one year terms -
CHOICE VOTE FOR 4


_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

By submitting a letter to the Board (with 5 signatures of ACLU members) at least 15 days before the Annual Meeting, a Redwood Chapter member may petition the Board to be included as a candidate on the ballot. Members may make additional nominations from the floor at the time of the election to run as valid write-in candidates.

Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Dec 16th Noon

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, December 16th at 12:00 p.m. at the ACLU office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q (between J & K Streets) in Eureka.

The agenda will include an update on the status of the proposal to create a multi-jurisdictional SWAT Team for Arcata, Eureka, HSU, Fortuna and Trinidad; labeling and distribution of the next Chapter Newsletter; an update on the investigation into the election irregularities at HSU; review of election reform efforts including the upcoming election reform forum; finalizing our Patriot Award winner and plans for our Annual Meeting; reports from Chapter officers and committees; and consideration of other items which Boardmembers or at-large members may bring up.

Board meetings are open to all ACLU members in good standing. Please call 442-4419 or drop by our office for more information or to request the inclusion of a new item on the meeting agenda.

Letter Regarding Sectarian Prayer At Eureka City Council Meetings

Redwood ACLU
PO Box 292
Eureka, CA 95502

November 25, 2008

Mayor Virginia Bass
Eureka City Council
531 K Street
Eureka, CA 95501

Dear Madam Mayor:

It has come to our attention that at the August 19th meeting of the Eureka City Council Pastor Rick McRostie of the First Covenant Church delivered a Christian prayer which was definitely sectarian. Since then, it is our understanding that other City Council Meetings have included a prayer. In Marsh v Chambers the US Supreme court ruled that if a legislative body chooses to open its meetings with a prayer, such prayer must not be "exploited to proselytize or advance any one, or to disparage any other, faith or belief". The prayers before the legislature that were upheld in the Marsh case were non-sectarian, in other words, the prayers were not specific to any particular religion.

We would appreciate it if you would inform us as to what measures will be used to ensure that in future meetings prayers if used are non-sectarian. This issue was litigated against the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina after the Board refused to take the advice of their own attorney to ensure that future invocations were non-sectarian. The Board lost this case and was enjoined to ensure that all future invocations are to be non-sectarian.

We would be glad to consult with you as to how to uphold your oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States.

Sincerely,

Christina Allbright
Chair, Redwood ACLU

:cja
cc: Councilmember Larry Glass
Councilmember Mike Jones
Councilmember Jeff Leonard
Councilmember Linda Atkins
Councilmember Frank Jager
City Attorney Sheryl Schaffner

Outreach Committee Meets Tues Dec 9th Noon

All ACLU members in good standing are welcome to attend the next meeting of the Outreach Committee of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU.

We're meeting on Tuesday, December 9th at Noon at our office at 917 Third Street, Suite Q in Old Town Eureka.

The Outreach Committee, as the name suggests, is dedicated to enhancing the outreach of the local ACLU in diverse communities, especially the ongoing tabling program to sign up new members and get the word out on local issues and initiatives like police review, election reform, illegal surveillance and more. Outreach also concerns the chapter newsletter (which is mailed to all local ACLU members), coalition-building work with other like minded individuals and groups, and social networking events such as the Arts Alive! events held last year.

The Outreach Committee is also looking to work with a prospective new intern to phone bank our 800+ local ACLU members and get a weekly tabling campaign going at local stores and farmers' markets. We're looking for other good ideas too from members like you, so show up, speak up and get involved!

If you're unable to make the meeting, please leave your suggestions on our hotline at 442-4419 or e-mail redwoodaclu@hotmail.com .