Message From Kirsten Gillibrand

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From: Kirsten Gillibrand
Subject: five women
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Here are some sad statistics:

• I am one of just 17 women in the Senate.
• Just 17% of all members of Congress are women.
• There are currently only six women governors in the US today.
• Fewer than 25% of state legislature seats are filled by women.

These are trends we absolutely must reverse. That is why I created Off The Sidelines, to mobilize women and make their voices heard. The best way to make sure our values are represented is if we run and win.

That's what I did in ’06 and what Kathy Hochul did this year. And that's what five strong Democratic women are doing in the Wisconsin recall elections against Scott Walker's allies next Tuesday – just four days away.

Five amazing women need your immediate support in the final hours to win on Tuesday. It’s time to get off the sidelines.

Click here to rush a contribution to these five extraordinary women on ActBlue. They’re fighting back in Wisconsin, and it’s time for us to get off the sidelines and win.

I couldn’t be more pleased that out of the six recall elections against Republicans in Wisconsin next week, five of the Democratic candidates are women. If they all win, the percentage of the Wisconsin state senate that are women will rise from around 25% to a third. That is the very essence of getting off the sidelines.

If you're not familiar with these women, please take a moment to get to know them below:

Nancy Nusbaum, former President of Wisconsin NARAL and former Mayor of DePere, WI, is running against Rob Cowles in WI-SD-02.

Sandy Pasch, a member of the Wisconsin state Assembly since 2008, is running against Alberta Darling in WI-SD-08.

Shelly Moore, a former high school teacher who was elected to the National Education Association (NEA) Board of Directors in 2005, is running against Sheila Harsdorf in WI-SD-10.

Jessica King, Deputy Mayor of Oshkosh, WI, is running against Randy Hopper in WI-SD-18.

Jennifer Shilling, a Wisconsin State Assemblywoman since 2000, is running against Dan Kapanke in WI-SD-32.

With under a week until the recall elections, now is the time to contribute whatever you can to these five excellent candidates. Not only will your support help ensure that Democrats retake the Wisconsin State Senate and block Governor Walker's extreme agenda, but it will increase the representation of women in Wisconsin government.

I truly hope that in 2012, we will see a resurgence in women's participation at all levels of public life. Let's kickstart that resurgence this year by helping to elect these five women to the state Senate in Wisconsin.

Kirsten

P.S. And if you’d like to support my effort to mobilize women, please sign up with my campaign at http://OffTheSidelines.org and "Like" the Facebook page at http://facebook.com/offthesidelineskg.

What makes a great leader?

By Betsy Johnson
VP of Communications & former Co-President, NWPC LA Westside

I recently completed a 10-month leadership program with the Southern California Leadership Network and in one of our forums (this one happened to be during a joint lobbying effort with the LA Chamber of Commerce in Sacramento), one of our guest speakers summed it up like this.  Two characteristics of a great leader are 1.)  fierce determination and 2.) tremendous humility.  Wow, I thought, it’s really that simple?   Ok, I have the determination, even the passion but I think we can all agree that as we climb that political, corporate, social or whatever kind of ladder you might be climbing these days, that humility can be challenging.  Whether you hold a title as a CEO or Chief Bottle Washer, titles can mean egos and frankly egos and humility don’t go hand in hand.

So I started thinking about the leaders I know, have interacted with or generally come across my radar as being “great”.  And you know what?  Those that truly are in the upper echelon of greatness do have tremendous humility, or at least that’s what it appears on the surface.   Regardless, either they have really great PR folks or they truly check their egos at the door.  It’s not enough to have passion, determination and want to make the world a better place.  The true test is doing it for the right reasons regardless of what title or office it brings.  I look at some up-and-coming leaders around me and I already see those that can put the ego aside and join us all in the trenches and get the job done, and I see those that can’t.  Whether male or female, it makes no difference (although we like to think it’s always the men that have this problem).

In a world of political and corporate scandals that seem to break regularly, sometimes that power can bring about a sense of entitlement (ok, don’t get me started on this one) and “I’m above it all” mentality.  But, really, where did some of these folks go wrong?  Did they start out as “great” and lose it somewhere along the way?  Did they get caught up in the hype of the job, position, celebrity or otherwise?  We’re not doing to taint everyone with the same brush but you get what I’m saying.

I’m actually going to add a third point to being a great leader, and I know you’ve heard this one before.  3.)  Don’t take yourself too seriously.  At the end of the day, we’re all human, we all screw up and being able to laugh about it (and at yourself) is really important.  I think a great leader needs to recognize that.

So I challenge you as leaders (all in your old rite) to keep these three important points in mind as you journey on your path to greatness.  Let’s help each other, encourage each other & don’t be afraid to have that conversation with someone you care about if you see them slipping behind or taking a side street.  No one’s perfect but everyone needs a guide, mentor or friend who can help along the way.  And let’s not forget to smile, laugh and have fun.   After all, isn’t it all about the journey anyway?

If you want to know more about the Southern California Leadership Network (honestly, this really wasn’t a plug but what the heck), visit www.leadershipnetwork.org. Programs include Leadership L.A., Leadership Southern CA (I just graduated with the Class of 2011) and now California Connections, a statewide leadership program.   It truly is a fantastic organization with amazing leadership programs.  Tell them Betsy sent you.

Wendy Greuel leads fundraising

By David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times

Original Article

 

Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel pulled ahead of her early opponents in fundraising for the 2013 mayoral race, outperforming Councilwoman Jan Perry, former mayoral aide Austin Beutner and radio host Kevin James, according to reports filed Monday.

Greuel collected more than $518,000, according to contribution statements covering the first six months of the year. She said her sizable haul showed that people want someone who can bring "needed reforms" to City Hall.

"There has been such a tremendous outpouring of support all across the city, and that response has led to this strong fundraising showing," she said.

Other potential candidates to succeed Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, including county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, City Council President Eric Garcetti and developer Rick Caruso, have yet to form fundraising committees.

Councilwoman Jan Perry reported collecting more than $456,000. Perry consultant Eric Hacopian said the sum demonstrates the councilwoman's ability to run an aggressive campaign.

Beutner consultant Sean Clegg said his candidate performed more strongly than Greuel and Perry because his money — $405,000— was raised over a shorter period of time.

"Austin Beutner is clearly setting the pace," he said.

When Beutner submitted his reports last week, he showed money from a number of people aligned with Villaraigosa, including former Mayor Richard Riordan. Beutner spent 15 months as Villaraigosa's "jobs czar," overseeing such agencies as the Department of Water and Power and the Department of Building and Safety.

Greuel has shown her own considerable mayoral ties. She received $1,000 from Ari Swiller, who has been a close friend, campaign fundraiser and advisor to Villaraigosa. Swiller's wife, Martha, who has been a Villaraigosa appointee, also gave $1,000. Charles Stringer, Swiller's colleague at Renewable Resources Group, gave $100.

Richard Katz, a top transit advisor to Villaraigosa, gave Greuel $1,000. So did Jonathan Parfrey, one of Villaraigosa's appointees on the DWP board.

Greuel's take included $2,300 from employees of Loeb & Loeb, a law firm that lobbies City Hall on behalf of such clients as Casden Properties. She received $2,000 from Peter Lowy, an executive at the shopping mall company Westfield, and his wife. That company has had business before the city in the San Fernando Valley and Century City.

Meanwhile, a major portion of Perry's donations came from real estate interests in and around her district, which stretches from downtown to South Los Angeles. She received at least $4,000 from executives with Thomas Properties Group, co-developer of the planned Wilshire Grand Hotel, a project approved earlier this year with heavy support from Perry.

Perry and her colleagues voted in March to provide the project up to $249 million in subsidies. She also received at least $2,000 from employees of AC Martin, an architectural firm on the Wilshire Grand team.

Another $4,000 came from employees of Gensler, the firm designing the $1.2-billion NFL stadium planned in Perry's district.

Perry received $2,000 from billionaire Eli Broad and his wife. Perry endorsed the redevelopment agency's decision earlier this year to spend up to $52 million on parking and other public facilities around the planned downtown Broad museum. The Broads also gave $2,000 to Beutner, who was overseeing the redevelopment agency at the time of the critical vote.

Gabrielle Giffords — showing up and showing us up on the debt ceiling

By Alexandra Petri, The Washington Post
Original Article

Photo By Tom Williams

The most impressive feature of last night was not the vote itself, acrimonious as usual. It was the slender woman with short dark hair and glasses making her tentative way across the floor of the House. Gabrielle Giffords later said in a statement: “I have closely followed the debate over our debt ceiling and have been deeply disappointed at what’s going on in Washington. I had to be here for this vote. I could not take the chance that my absence could crash our economy.”

So she made her careful way across the floor and voted. For once, the catcalls gave way to applause. This story has already been told again and again, in increasingly rapturous language. Her vote was “an existential declaration,” said a Post piece. The Times spoke of the visitation as though the only more impressive thing would have been if she’d swept in on the wings of actual eagles. But that might have provoked more hobbit comparisons.

Coverage is often rapturous and a little fulsome, but this is a case where it should have been. In the Lifetime Original Movie that the world is just itching to make about Giffords's struggle, this may be among the climaxes — Giffords, on the arm of her astronaut husband Mark Kelly, swooping in to place a vote that stole all the acrimonious thunder away from the debate.

Giffords’s vote is a reminder that sometimes the system does work. Cooler heads prevail. Sausage — whatever you think of the sausage — is made. Congress has done its job.

But her presence reminds us of the price simply doing one’s job can exact. This is all harder than it looks.

It’s enough to make one feel a bit like a heel. Here we are, supposedly hale and sound of limb, squabbling and name-calling about Satan sandwiches and moons of yogurt and brides at altars. And there is Gabrielle Giffords, who has been fighting a far more personal fight — first for her life, then for the ability to walk, eat, speak, perform the myriad simple tasks that we dispatch without a moment's thought. And she is the one who manages to show up and vote.

Democracy, like walking, is something we tend to take for granted. We assume that the complex and garbled apparatus will — until the moment it nearly doesn’t. This was a time when it did. Amid worries that perhaps the process will break down this time, a slender woman walks carefully across the floor and presses “Yes.”

National Women's Political Caucus Elects New Leadership

The new National Board elected during the 40th Anniversary Convention brings impressive leadership and diversity to NWPC.

At the close of a dynamic 40th Anniversary Convention, NWPC elected a Super Slate National Board to govern through 2013. The new board members are from all over our nation, including Teray Stephens, NWPC CA President who is the new 1st Vice President and VP of Board Operations, and Donna DeBerry, another NWPC CA member, in the new VP of Diversity.

Linda Young, newly elected President from Texas, proudly proclaimed "Life Begins (again) at 40" as she provided an exciting vision for the future. All of the new Board members are listed below.

President:
Linda Young - Democrat, TX

First Vice President and VP of Board Operations:
Teray Stephens - Democrat, CA & President of NWPC CA

Vice Presidents:
VP Development: Judy Chavis - Democrat, TX
VP Communications: Pat Lynch - Independent, NV
VP Political Planning: Donna Lent - Independence Party, NY
VP Education & Training: Lisa Kaado - Democrat, NJ
VP Membership: Teresa Ruiz - Democrat, MO
VP Diversity and Outreach - Donna DeBerry - Republican, CA

Treasurer:
Linda Knight- Democrat, CA

Secretary:
Veronica Rivera - Democrat, MD

Political Planning & Appointments Committee:
Sharon Ball - Democrat, CA
Marguerite Cooper - Democrat, CA
Lulu Flores - Democrat, TX
Karen Hosto - Democrat, FL
Marion Sullivan - Democrat, NC
Tammi McIntyre - Democrat, CA
Carmen Schaye - Democrat, CA
Joyce Ferriabough Bolling - Democrat, MA

See Press Release