PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Celebrates 2008 Patriot Award, Elects New Board For 2009

PRESS RELEASE
Thursday, January 29, 2009

Redwood ACLU Celebrates 2008 Patriot Award, Elects New Board For 2009

The Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing over 870 members across the North Coast, elected its new Board of Directors at their annual meeting Tuesday night at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka.

The Board welcomes new Directors to its ranks, with Steve Bridenbaugh and Kelley Fleming to take their seats at the next Board meeting on Feb. 17. Incumbent boardmembers Peter Martin, Jack Munsee, Roger Herick, Bill Henneberry, Christina Allbright, and Stephen Davies were re-elected to new two-year terms. Along with three returning boardmembers, the group will hold elections for their officers when they next meet.

The celebration of the ongoing efforts to expand civil liberties in Humboldt, Del Norte, Western Trinity and Northern Mendocino also included the acceptance of the fifth annual Redwood ACLU Patriot Award by former Arcata councilmember Dave Meserve. He was credited for his work to oppose the unconstitutional Patriot Act, to advocate for independent civilian review of the Arcata Police Department, and to author Measures F and J, which provide for community protections against military recruiters targeting children in Arcata and Eureka. (The resolution in his honor is attached below.) Meserve's remarks focused on the need for community consensus on workable campaign finance reforms, as well as the latest news on Arcata and Eureka's defense of Measures F and J.

“I grew up in this, my mother was actually executive secretary of the Philadelphia ACLU…I’ve been associated for a long time, and probably learned a lot of this very early,” Meserve told the audience. “When you look at the Patriot Act and the ordinance that we wrote and that we passed in 2003, I think what you saw was an obvious assault on the Constitution. We had within the Patriot Act violations of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th amendments, so it was a pretty broad attack on the Bill of Rights, and I’m very proud of our role in bringing attention…”

Redwood ACLU members put theory into practice when this year’s board election was the first which used choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference, avoiding the “spoiler effect” and producing majority winners while preserving minority representation. Keynote speaker Steve Chessin, president of Californians for Electoral Reform, paid a special visit to Eureka to explain choice voting and other forms of proportional representation and how they might be implemented in local elections.

Chessin then joined local election reform leaders on a panel to further explore how local elections might be improved. The panelists included Humboldt County clerk-recorder Carolyn Crnich, Eureka Chamber of Commerce boardmember Chris Crawford, Eureka Civic Association founder Dave Ogden, Redwood ACLU vice chair Greg Allen and Larry Hourany, who stepped in for Pat Higgins on behalf of the California Clean Money campaign. The Redwood ACLU is producing a documentary of this forum for distribution on Access Humboldt Channel 12 and on YouTube and Google Video.

For more information, call the Redwood ACLU at (707) 442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.


2008 Patriot Award

Whereas, since the inception of the Redwood Patriot Award in 2004, Dave Meserve has been nominated every year as a deserving recipient for his past and current work; and

Whereas, after the passage of the Patriot Act, as a councilman for the City of Arcata, Dave Meserve was instrumental in the passage of a groundbreaking ordinance to prevent Arcata city officials from implementing the unconstitutional elements of the USA Patriot Act , which acted as an inspiration to all of us working to restore the Bill of Rights; and

Whereas, while on the Arcata City Council and since, Dave Meserve has supported police review and the concepts of accountability and transparency within our governmental agencies; and

Whereas, Dave Meserve has been a leading proponent and spokesperson for Measures F and J in Arcata and Eureka, adopted by 73% and 57% of voters last November, which limits the invasive tactics of military recruiters who target minors. Therefore be it

Resolved, The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union awards the Fifth Annual Patriot Award to Dave Meserve for his continued commitment and action to protect the constitutional rights and civil liberties of the people of Humboldt County in accordance with the Bill of Rights.

Dated: December 16, 2008


_____________________________
Christina Allbright
Chair, Redwood ACLU

Redwood ACLU 2007 Annual Meeting and Fourth Annual Patriot Award Gala

Just in time to give away the Fifth Annual Patriot Award this evening at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka, the Redwood ACLU shares highlights of the last Annual Meeting and Patriot Award Gala on October 27, 2007.

Accepting the Fourth Annual Patriot Award was Clerk-Recorder Carolyn Crnich and the Election Advisory Committee of Humboldt County. Crnich gave remarks on the innovative development of the Humboldt Transparency Project, flanked by EAC members Greg Allen, Kevin Collins, Tom Pinto, Jamie Orr and Mark Konkler. Allen and Konkler also gave brief remarks where they credited Crnich for her brave leadership on election reform issues.

Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright gave introductory remarks on the (then) recent accomplishments of local civil rights leaders, including progress on police review and expanding civil liberties to virtual environments such as Second Life.

Redwood ACLU Opinion: Local Election Reform On KMUD Talk

On the evening of Monday, January 26, 2009, the Politically Correct Week In Review hosted by Paul Encimer took a call from Redwood Chapter, ACLU secretary Charles Douglas on the topic of the upcoming Local Election Reform Forum. Paul, his co-host Bernie MacDonald and his guest also discussed police review and the status of local ballot measures prohibiting the targeting of minors by military recruiters.

This friendly, bridge-building dialogue seemed to upset Dana Silvernale, the "chair" of David Cobb's Humboldt Green Party, who called in not long after. Silvernale repeatedly attacked the local ACLU (by name) for their advocacy of election reform measures the Green Party platform supposedly supports, such as public campaign financing and choice voting. Silvernale also attacked Douglas directly over the ACLUs total agreement with the voters of Eureka and Arcata on Measure F and Measure J to restrict invasive military recruitment tactics -- even though these measures were authored by former Arcata Councilmember and Green Party member Dave Meserve (who is also receiving the Fifth Annual Patriot Award from the Redwood ACLU).

Douglas called in at the end of the show to refute Silvernale's counter-factual statements and question why she would engage in attacks against the ACLU when neither he nor anyone else on the local ACLU board had stated anything in their official capacity regarding her or her outfit. The ACLU secretary detailed the numerous drafting errors and unconstitutional precepts of Measure T and called upon all community members interested in local election reform to come together in a constructive dialogue.

PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Presents Keynote Speaker Steve Chessin At Local Election Reform Forum

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU Presents Keynote Speaker Steve Chessin
At Local Election Reform Forum

At the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union today, election reform activists looked forward to a special Local Election Reform Forum to be held one week from today, headlined by a special keynote speaker, Steve Chessin, flying in from out of town to address ACLU members and the public concerning efforts to reform elections across California.

“We’re very proud to be able to provide this forum featuring such a prominent statewide advocate of choice voting, which would greatly improve the functioning of our local and state elections.” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright. “It’s about time our community leaders sat down in the same room to discuss what positive steps can be taken to reform our election process in ways which conform with our constitutional values.”

Steve Chessin is the President of Californians for Electoral Reform, the leading statewide organization pushing for choice voting, which would allow voters to rank candidates by order of preference, ensuring winners would receive majority support. In the 2002 statewide election, the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, controller, treasurer, and insurance commissioner were put into office with the support of a minority of voters; on the local level, the Mayor of Eureka, the Second District Supervisor and other local officials won office with less than 50% support.

Chessin, a software engineer from Mountain View, is also a member of the Democratic Party state executive board. The forum’s panel, however, features local speakers from across the political spectrum, including:

Carolyn Crnich, the Clerk-Recorder of Humboldt County, will discuss the Humboldt Transparency Project and the recent decision to move away from the Diebold/Premiere vote-counting system for local elections.

Patrick Higgins, a Humboldt Harbor Commissioner and an advocate of the California Clean Money Campaign, will review efforts to establish public financing of election campaigns.

Chris Crawford, a Eureka Chamber of Commerce boardmember and the organizer of “No on Measure T,” will present his proposal for campaign contribution limits on private financing of local election campaigns.

Greg Allen, a founding member of the Humboldt County Election Advisory Committee and the Vice Chair of the Redwood ACLU, will provide an overview of the use, and misuse, of the local ballot initiative process and his idea to provide prior legal review of ballot measures before they are presented to voters.

Dave Ogden, the founder of the Eureka Civic Association and the Chair of the Eureka Finance Advisory Committee, will look at reform of Eureka’s Ward system to make it a “true” ward system where only residents of a particular ward would vote on that ward’s City Councilmember.

“The Redwood ACLU has an important role to play in improving this process, not only as a public service, but to make sure that election reform measures we do support are given a fair hearing, instead of being tainted by the immature and unprofessional conduct associated with recent campaigns,” Allen said. “We have a real duty, a professional responsibility to do it right.”

For more information, call the Redwood ACLU at 707-442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.

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PRESS RELEASE: Redwood ACLU Gives Fifth Annual Patriot Award To Former Arcata Councilmember Dave Meserve

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Redwood ACLU Gives Fifth Annual Patriot Award
To Former Arcata Councilmember Dave Meserve

At the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, American Civil Liberties Union last month, local civil rights awarded their highest honor, the Patriot Award, to Dave Meserve for his long-time work to defend the civil liberties of people across the North Coast. He will be presented with this honor at the Annual Meeting and Patriot Award Gala to be held on Tuesday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel in Eureka.


“Dave Meserve has the distinct honor of having been nominated every year since the inception of this award.” said Redwood ACLU chair Christina Allbright. “His groundbreaking ordinance to prevent Arcata city officials from implementing the unconstitutional elements of the USA Patriot Act acted as an inspiration to all of us working to restore the Bill of Rights.”


The irony was not lost on the local Redwood Chapter Board when they voted unanimously to give the Patriot Award to Meserve last month -- that same week, a federal appeals court ruled another provision of the Bush administration’s Patriot Act unconstitutional. Their repeated use of “national security letters” - to prevent those who received secret document demands from disclosing this unwarranted search of their papers and property -- wrongly placed the burden on NSL recipients to initiate judicial review of these gag orders.


Just over a year before, a federal judge ruled unconstitutional provisions within the Patriot Act which allowed the government to obtain search warrants without probable cause. The national ACLU continues on several fronts its challenges against the unconstitutional abrogation of constitutional values.


“Arcata was way out in front on this fight against the unwarranted expansion of federal snooping and surveillance,” said Redwood ACLU boardmember Jack Munsee. “Meserve’s support of police review for the Arcata Police Department throughout his term in office was also a source of inspiration to our efforts to establish law enforcement accountability measures across Humboldt County.”


Meserve will be honored at a reception at the Red Lion Hotel, along with appetizers and short speeches, to be followed by our Election Reform Forum at 6:30, where invited speakers from across the county, the state and the political spectrum will outline the challenges and opportunities to improve the functioning of local elections.


For more information, call the ACLU Hotline at 707-442-4419 or visit redwoodaclu.blogspot.com.


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Redwood ACLU Board Meeting Tuesday Jan 20th Noon

The Board of Directors of the Redwood Chapter, ACLU will meet Tuesday, January 20th 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 a review of preparations for the Annual Meeting on Jan. 27; a review of the recent Chapter Newsletter and consideration of items for the next issue; an update on the investigation into the election irregularities at HSU; a review of election reform efforts including the upcoming election reform forum; 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.

FINAL Ballot 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 further petitioned the Board on January 12, 2009 to add an additional candidate.)

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 Dreyfuss

Stephen Davies (incumbent)

Steve Bridenbaugh

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

Kelly Fleming

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

_________________________
(write-in name of Redwood ACLU member)

Members may make additional nominations from the floor at the time of the election to run as valid write-in candidates.