2018 California Democratic Party Native American Caucus Meeting

Friday February 23, 2018
7;30 pm
San Diego Convention Center
Room 27 A

California has been home to human beings for at least 12,000 years, with the period of European-American settlement representing only a tiny fraction of this time. The first Europeans to arrive in California encountered hundreds of thousands of people organized into hundreds of distinct tribal groups. They flourished in the bountiful hills and valleys of what would someday become the Golden State.

The contact between these first Californians and successive waves of newcomers over the three succeeding centuries was marked by the utter devastation of Native American people, families and society. The colonial regimes of Spain and Mexico, through disease and slavery, reduced the indigenous population by more than half. Then the Gold Rush came, and with it a wave of new diseases and outright violence that halved the population again in just two years. The newborn State of California institutionalized violence against Native Americans, enacting policies of warfare, slavery and relocation that left few people alive and no tribe intact. In his 1851 address to the Legislature, our first Governor, Peter Hardeman Burnett, famously stated, “That a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the two races until the Indian race becomes extinct, must be expected.”

In spite of Burnett’s prediction, California today is home to the largest population of Native Americans in the fifty states, including both the rebounding numbers of our native Tribes and others drawn to the Golden State by its myriad attractions. The success of tribal businesses and the rise of tribal members in all walks of life today stand as testament to the resilience and enduring spirit of our native peoples. If Governor Burnett could not envision a future California including Native Americans, it is just as impossible for us today to envision one without them.

NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim September 28, 2012, as Native American Day.

Andrew Masiel, Sr., Native American Caucus Chairperson, seated with his wife, Gloria.

You can register for the E Board and book your hotel room with our special CDP discount, by visiting our one-stop-shop E Board page here.

Registration is $40 and you can also purchase an Observer pass for the same amount.

The special E Board rate at the Sheraton Park Hotel is $142 per night for a single / double.

Tip: You can avoid paying registration charges by signing up one new member to our Donate Every Month (DEM) 2012 program.

Once again, you can register, purchase E Board lunch tickets [speaker to be announced] or Observer passes, and book your hotel room using our one-stop-shop E Board page here.

Please note we will NOT be selling luncheon tickets onsite. If you are interested in attending the luncheon, you must purchase a ticket by 5pm on July 16, 2012.

We look forward to seeing you in Anaheim.

The CDP Team

** In order to vote, and have one’s vote counted, at this meeting, a member must have timely paid their dues to This Committee (or had them waived), registered for the meeting, obtained their credential prior to the close of credentialing, and completed and returned to the proper authority any ballot that may be issued.

Standard Registration (12 years and over)   $360 person
Child Registration (11 years and under) $185 child

REGISTRATION CUT OFF DATE: JULY 1, 2012
REGISTRATION WILL BE LIMITED

REGISTER NOW

Native Vote is a nonpartisan campaign initiated by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI). The campaign works with community organizers, non-profits, urban Indian centers, tribal governments, and regional organizations to create a strong and permanent infrastructure for election training that highlights voter registration, election protection policies, and voter education.

April 11 – DNC Delegate Selection: Filing  deadline for  District- Level Delegates & Alternates (Form A)

April 17- Tax Day!

April 29 – DNC Delegate Selection: District Level Caucuses to slate District-Level Delegates and Alternates

May 21 – Last day to register to vote: CA Primary Election

May 29 – Last day to request Vote by Mail ballot: CA Primary

June 5 – California Primary Election: (polls open 7am – 8pm)

June 13 – DNC Delegate Selection: Filing deadline for At Large Delegates & Alternates and PLEO Delegates

June 24 – Delegate Selection: Statewide Delegation meeting to select At-Large and PLEO Delegates and remainder of Delegation

July 27-29 – CDP Executive Board Meeting – Anaheim, CA

September 4-6 – Democratic National Convention, Charlotte, NC

October 22 – Last day to register to vote: General Election

October 30 – Last day to request Vote-by-Mail: General Election

November 6 – General Election (Polls open 7am-8pm)

November 16-18 – CDP Board Meeting, Millbrae, CA

To register as a delegate, please visit: cadem.org.

Issues that will be considered in 2012 are:

Sacred Sites

• AB 742 (Lowenthal & 38 co-authors) – would prohibit a lead agency from approving a reclamation plan for an aggregate mining operation if the proposed land is located within a specified distance of the external boundaries of an Indian reservation, a Native American sacred site, or the San Margarita River, unless the tribe whose reservation is nearest the operation consents to the operation. This is the bill the Luiseno Tribes sponsored and supported to save their place of origin.  The bill is pending in the Senate Rules Committee and county hearings continue.

Changes to the Marine Life Protection Act

• AB 787 (Chesbro) – would have made changes to the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) to include Fish and Game Commission approved Native American fishing and gathering.  The bill was held by the Assembly Appropriations Committee and Assm. Chesbro is working with the Department of Natural Resources for an administrative solution.

Governor’s proposed Budget

• Eliminates Indian Education Centers
  This program provides funding to support local educational resource centers for American Indian students and public schools in Indian communities.
• Dept. of Justice absorbs the CA Gaming Control Commission
  This would do away with the CA Gaming Control Commission (CGCC) and give all those duties to the Department of Justice under the Attorney General, which would include licensing, compliance and regulations for all forms of gaming in CA.
• Dept of Public Health absorbs the Office of Problem Gambling
  This move the Office of Problem Gambling’s responsibilities to DPH which would include all the programs for legalized gambling addiction.

Changes to CA Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)

• There are numerous CEQA bills pending and more are expected.  The CEQA process is usually associated with the environmentalists vs. the builders; however changes often have a direct effect on Native American sacred sites too.
  In addition to current and anticipated legislation there will be State Agency activity as well as decisions at the State Board of Equalization.

State Board of Equalization (BOE) Regulation 1616

• • The BOE proposed an amendment clarifying the application of sales and use tax to property acquired for self-governance purposes by landless or nearly landless tribes.  An initial draft of the regulatory language written by BOE staff included “state recognized” tribes language in the description in an attempt at inclusiveness.  Numerous tribes commented on the controversial provision during the regulatory review process during 2011.  This is important because only the Federal Government can decide who a federally recognized tribe is.  The five Board Members unanimously adopted an amendment with only the “federally recognized” language which is effective February 2012.

Gov. Brown appoints a Tribal Advisor

• During the last campaign for Governor, both candidates promised they would appoint a Tribal Advisor as part of their inner office, who would work with tribes and the state agencies.  When Gov. Brown was elected he asked Jacob Appelsmith to work with the tribes to find the right person.  At the September 9, 2011 All Tribes meeting in Sacramento, Gov. Brown signed an Executive Order (B-10-11) establishing the position of a Tribal Advisor who would also become the Executive Secretary of the Native American Heritage Commission.
• A copy of that Executive Order is on the new NAC website (www.nativeamericancaucus.org).
• On February 7, 2012 Gov. Brown appointed Cynthia Gomez of Sacramento to be Tribal Advisor and Executive Secretary of the Native American Heritage Commission.  She will take office March 1.Ms. Gomez has been the Chief Justice for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians Tribal Court since 2010.  She served at CA EPA and CA BT&H from 1989-1999.  She received a Juris Doctorate from the University of Northern CA, Lorenzo Patino School of Law.