Join us for our monthly meeting on May 17.

Our guest will be Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes who will be speaking about his first year in the Assembly. We will also have a presentation on Propositions 98 and 99, and how you can become a poll worker.

We will be collecting items for the AIDS Project Los Angeles food bank. Please bring toothpaste, toothbrushes, razors, shaving cream, deodorant, and small cans of tuna. We will deliver them to the food bank at our next volunteer night on the 21st.

After the scheduled end of the meeting, around noon, we'll be showing the movie "Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections." We'll order pizza and drinks so bring a few bucks to cover the cost.

The members of Valley Grassroots for Democracy have voted to make these endorsements in the June 3 Primary Election:

37th Assembly District: Ferial Masry
38th Assembly District: Carole Lutness
39th Assembly District: Felipe Fuentes
41st Assembly District: Julia Brownley
42nd Assembly District: Mike Feuer
43rd Assembly District: Paul Krekorian

21st Senate District: Carol Liu

26th Congressional District: Russ Warner
27th Congressional District: Brad Sherman
28th Congressional District: Howard Berman
29th Congressional District: Adam Schiff
30th Congressional District: Henry Waxman

The following are not VGFD endorsements but are provided for your information.

County Central Committee
VGFD did not endorse in the County Committee races. The following candidates are current members of VGFD:
38th AD: Jim Hilfenhaus, Issac Lieberman, Lyn Shaw, A. Lysa Simon
39th AD: Gerardo Guzman
40th AD: Jeff Daar, Erin M. Prangley, Miguel Santiago
41st AD: Agi Kessler, B. "Kess" Kessler
42nd AD: Andrew B. Lachman, Ken Silk, Laurence S. Zakson
43rd AD: Thomas Patrick O'Shaugnessy, Roz Teller

Judicial Races
VGFD did not endorse in the judicial races, however, these are the endorsements from both the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley:
Office 4: Ralph W. Dau
Office 69: Harvey A. Silberman
Office 72: Hilleri Grossman Merritt
Office 82: Cynthia Loo
Office 84: Lori-Ann C. Jones
Office 94: C. Edward Mack
Office 95: Patricia D. Nieto
Office 119: Jared D. Moses
Office 123: Kathleen Blanchard
Office 125: James N. Bianco
Office 154: Rocky L. Crabb

State Propositions
VGFD did not take a formal vote on the two state propositions, however Democratic organizations up and down the state are recommending:
Proposition 98 NO
Proposition 99 YES

AIDS Project Los Angeles' Necessities of Life Food Bank
Founded in 1986, APLA’s Necessities of Life Program is the nation’s largest food pantry for people with HIV/AIDS. Groceries and other items are bagged at the main distribution center in North Hollywood for distribution to clients throughout Los Angeles County.

VGFD has committed volunteers for the 3rd Wednesday of each month from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm to help bag groceries in North Hollywood. Our next scheduled date is January 17. We need 10 people per month on an ongoing basis. More information about the food bank is at http://apla.org/programs/nolp.html

Blood Drive
We are gauging the interest of a blood drive in conjunction with Providence Health System.

If you are interested in helping with the food bank or blood drive, please contact Tauby at rosstauby@yahoo.com

Valley Grassroots strongly encourages you, our members and friends, to actively support the candidate of your choice, with the expectation that we'll all come together to help elect a Democratic president, just as we work together now to achieve our common goals.

This ongoing column will keep you up-to-date on local and national organizations, volunteer opportunities and events. No explicit VGFD endorsement of any candidate or event is implied.


• Hillary Clinton
Local supporters: hrclinton.meetup.com/43
National: www.hillaryclinton.com

Make out-of-state phone calls from home: More info


• Barack Obama
Local supporters: www.valleyforobama.com
National: www.barackobama.com/

Make out-of-state phone calls from home: More info
Other local Obama events and volunteering: More info