If you're a registered Democrat in San Luis Obispo County or the north-western part of Santa Barbara County (Vandenburg Village, Lompoc, Casmalia, Guadalupe, Orcutt, Santa Maria) we need you to come to our party caucus at 117 Poole St. in Arroyo Grande tomorrow, Sunday the 11th. You need to be there before 2p.m. Registration starts at 12 noon. You can find more information at http://electstorm.com. Pre-registration is closed. I have no idea why 15 years into the age of the Internet that has to be the case. Oh well. You can still register on site if you arrive before 2 p.m.
I have diaried my mini-campaign for district delegate each day since it got into full swing. Here's Day 1, where I explain why I'm a "crashing the gate" candidate, and here's Day 2, documenting my leafleting effort at the San Luis Obispo farmer's market.
Today, Day 3, I am going to talk about turf battles and resentments between neighbors in this district that I would like to heal... on the flip.
As I mentioned above, our district, like most, incorporates a lot of territory. From San Miguel in the north to Lompoc in the south, from Cambria in the west to California Valley in the east. It looks ungerrymandered on a map, especially compared with, say, the 23rd Congressional district.
But there are some intra-regional rivalries. Yesterday, I met with the leaders of the Democratic Club of Santa Maria Valley, where I work. I joined their club on the spot. What a great group.
They told me that, to their knowledge, no one out of the 23 candidates for State Party Delegate was from Santa Barbara County. Admittedly, I'm not, but I spent about half my day there, and I care deeply about the community. It reminds me of where I grew up. Santa Maria is also looked down on by most of San Luis Obispo County. Unfairly, to say the least. It's nice to live in a place so generally untroubled by the outside world as San Luis Obispo County.
So, I can't pretend to be the only Santa Maria local on the ballot, but I am, to my knowledge, the one the most equipped to represent the Santa Barbara County portion of the 33rd. I haven't joined any of the SLO-based Democratic clubs. In my recent efforts in a food bank drive, I made sure not only that we included Santa Maria in the effort, but that Santa Maria donations stayed in the community.
So, if you're reading this in Santa Maria or elsewhere in the SB portion of the 33rd, please take that out of whack proportion into consideration when voting tomorrow. It's too late to register new folks who actually live there, but I pledge to be your proxy.
Here's my final flyer, which will be handed out tomorrow to attendees. Please take a look. Thanks for your support. Check back tomorrow for my report from the event, hopefully some pics, and (knock on wood, cross fingers, etc.) a victory post!