Party On

PARTY ON… Squid keeps time in the sea based on the ebb and flow of the tide, a tried-and-true method. The Monterey County Democratic Central Committee, seeking to restore order after some chaos last year and even an attempted coup to oust the party chair, Karen Araujo, has implemented a new time-keeping method for meetings: shouting out the time so members know to hurry it up. So it was on Jan. 23 that members took up the night’s business – endorsements in the March 5 primary election – promptly at 6:50pm.

But first, there was a debate about the process. Only Democrats may seek the party’s endorsement, even in nonpartisan races, like that of county supervisor. That meant smooth sailing for some – Luis Alejo is running unopposed and Wendy Root Askew is the only Democrat in her district. In District 5, there are two Democrats – Alan Haffa and Kate Daniels. Standard procedure means a vote on the contenders; 60 percent is required to earn an endorsement. If no candidate gets 60 percent, there’s a subsequent discussion about a dual endorsement, meaning both candidates can get some love.

First came a proposal to do things differently – give members the choice to vote on Haffa, Daniels or an open endorsement from the start. Cue the opposition.

“There seems to be a good amount of dysfunction in this organization,” said Cristina Medina Dirksen. “I would really like to restore faith in this organization by following our own rules.” “This is a tailor-made motion to favor Alan Haffa,” said Kilder Fuentes. “I urge everyone to vote no.”

Esther Malkin gave a spiel asking everyone to stop with the spiels: “Let’s keep the disruptions to a minimum please, and stop grandstanding.”

Finally, they voted to keep the regular procedure.

Then came another disruption, when Araujo instructed Amit Pandya to stop recording the recorded Zoom meeting with his phone. “This isn’t a public meeting,” she said. (Squid checked the California Democratic Party rules, which state: “All meetings of the Democratic Party, at all levels, should be considered public meetings, with very few exceptions.”)

Cephalopods may not register to vote, much less join a political party, yet Squid joined the Zoom just fine under the impression it was a public meeting. Squid isn’t sure what they might have been concerned about, anyway. Maybe the moment when Malkin interrupted the meeting to see if Steve McDougall was sleeping – turns out he was just leaning back in his chair, frustrated with the party’s antics.

Eventually they voted on the prized endorsement, 19-10 for Daniels. It’s a blow to Haffa, long active in the party and a former chair.

They went on to talk about a few other items before it was time for updates from the issues committee, of which Haffa is chair. But he’d already left the Zoom.