Former South Bay Labor Council head Amy Dean has sent out a national appeal to labor supporters, asking for financial support for supervisor candidate Cindy Chavez, according to an email forwarded to San Jose Inside. Dean, who formed Working Partnerships USA and mentored Chavez before moving to Chicago, writes that “The people of Santa Clara County need Cindy to have their back,” and asks recipients to “like” Chavez’s Facebook page if they can’t donate money.
According to her April 20 campaign report, the Cindy Chavez for Supervisor 2013 campaign has brought in more than 20 percent of the money it raised in contributions from outside Santa Clara County. District 2 candidate Teresa Alvarado, who outraised Chavez in the initial period, showed little evidence of out-of-county contributors, drawing most of her support from local businesses and business owners, according to Alvarado’s April campaign filing.
Among the major contributions to the Chavez for Supervisor campaign:
Out-of-State Contributions
Aaron Kovan, Minneapolis, MN 55419 $500
Justin Schall, Campaign Manager, Washington, D.C., $500
John Schall, Restaurant Owner, Cambridge, MA, $500
Amy Dean, Principal, ABD Ventures, LLC, Chicago, IL, $500
Tim Pape, attorney, Fort Wayne, IN, $500Out-of-County Contributions
Kristy White, hairstylist, Burlingame, CA, , $1000
Ryzak & Associates, Foster City, CA, $1000
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO, Green for All, Fairfield, CA, $500
Gina Backovich, produce buyer, Sacramento, CA, $500
Bryan Blum, political director, California Labor Federation, Oakland, CA $500
Bay Area Union Labor Party, Daly City, CA 94015 $500
Alberto Torrico, attorney, Sacramento, CA $500
Christian Frisina, student, Fairfield, CA $500
Rebecca Miller, political director, SEIU, San Francisco, CA $500
Angela Firpo, homemaker, San Juan Bautista, CA $500
Edward McGovern, political consultant, San Francisco, CA $500
Victor Griego, Public Affairs, Diverse Stategies for Organizing Inc., South Pasadena, CA $500
Julian Cortella, teacher, Menlo Park, CA, $500
Karen Grove, volunteer/advocate, Menlo Park, CA, $500
Gail Lamkins, retired, Suisun City, CA $500
Paul Quinn, carpenter, Columbia, CA, $500
Josie Camacho, treasurer, Alameda Labor Council, Oakland, CA $500
The full text of the appeal follows:
From: Amy B. Dean
Date: May 16, 2013, 4:24:28 PM PDT
Subject: One of our own needs our help
One of our own needs our help
Friends,
Cindy Chavez is running for Supervisor District 2 in Santa Clara County, California. This special election primary will be held on June 4th, just weeks away. District 2 covers some of the San Jose area. It is one of the most ethnically diverse—and poorest—parts of Silicon Valley.
Cindy Chavez is a labor leader, and considers helping working families to be among her core values. But Cindy is not just a part of the labor movement, she’s an effective and skilled politician too. Cindy served two terms on the San Jose City Council and as Vice Mayor.
Sometimes we have to decide between the lesser of two evils: someone who can get elected but just gives lip service to working families’ values, or someone who shares our values but doesn’t have the experience and relationships to be effective. But once in a blue moon, a candidate emerges who “gets it”, and gets it done. I believe Cindy Chavez will be that candidate.
But she needs your help.
The election is just weeks away, and her next fundraising deadline is Saturday at midnight. She needs your money to fight back against the whisper campaign the Chamber of Commerce is running against her.Please donate $10 or whatever you can, today.
When we think long term about building power for working people, this is the kind of race that matters. The people of Santa Clara County need Cindy to have their back. The Chamber of Commerce has targeted her for her ties to organized labor, suggesting that her advocacy for workers’ rights could interfere with her ability to govern. We need to have her back. Read more about Cindy from my interview with her today on Calitics.
Can you donate to her campaign today, ahead of Saturday night’s deadline?
Some final words from Cindy to inspire you: “For me this is about equality and transparency and honesty. But it also means being as strong as you can be for the community that you represent, and this seat would represent some of the poorest people in our community.”
“My comfort is the saying that polite women don’t make history. More importantly, polite women or polite leaders don’t get health insurance for kids, or don’t raise the minimum wage, they don’t make it safe for people to work in their workplaces. And for all of that I am unapologetic. We need to be bold, all of us, in saying what we think needs to happen in this community.”
Thank you for all that you do.
Best wishes,
Amy
P.S. Not able to give today? One free way you can assist Cindy is by Liking her Facebook page to help spread the word about her campaign.
Amy B Dean is fellow of the Century Foundation and principal of ABD Ventures LLC, an organizational development consulting firm that works to develop new and innovative organizing strategies for social change organizations. Dean has worked for nearly two decades at the cross section of labor and community based organizations linking policy and research with action and advocacy. You can follow Amy on twitter @amybdean, or she can be reached via http://www.abdventures.com
So is this happening because the position is pivotal to Labor, or because Cindy Chavez’s career is perceived as pivotal to Labor? The quote in the letter gives you the feeling that it’s more the latter.
“My comfort is the saying that polite women don’t make history. More importantly, polite women or polite leaders don’t get health insurance for kids, or don’t raise the minimum wage, they don’t make it safe for people to work in their workplaces. And for all of that I am unapologetic. We need to be bold, all of us, in saying what we think needs to happen in this community.”
If Labor really believes that keeping Chavez’s career on track is pivotal, then you have to believe that if Labor’s opponents don’t feel that way now, this is going to convince them it is too.
> And for all of that I am unapologetic.
Since you brought it up, Cindy, you still haven’t apologized for supporting George Shirakawa and sparing no effort or energy to get his sorry butt and kleptomanic fingers into the Supervisor’s job.
We’re all still waiting for you (and Rich Robinson) to show some accountability and remorse for the whole sordid, shabby Shirakawa episode.
This is the same Amy Dean that used to give fiery, passionate speeches against outsourcing in Santa Clara Valley. Then she built a mansion in Chicago and operated the “Newport Avenue Group” with her husband Randy, outsourcing American jobs to India. She’s a (top 1%) wealthy Chicago hypocrite.
If Chavez loses the D2 race, maybe she can join Dean and outsource more American jobs overseas. They’re two peas in a pod, for sure.
“Boldly” speaking, Santa Clara Valley needs to finally rid itself of these phony hypocrites in leadership positions.
If true, that’s pretty outrageous. You gotta hate hypocricy. Do labor leaders know about this?
In her 2006 mayoral campaign, Chavez received a $$$ contribution from Dean, who listed herself as a consultant for “Newport Avenue Group” in Chicago. Dean’s prior home in Willow Glen was on Newport Avenue, and the NAG website promoted their “service” of outsourcing jobs to Puna, India. Dean’s husband Randy is the CEO. The Merc ran a small paragraph of the story in their “Internal Affairs” column.
Not a penny to any political org. Liked Cindy, but just look at our good ole president flying in every few months on our dime to the tune of millions to raise more millions for his causes.
And he cannot pay back a couple of bucks for local police overtime. I suggest all local police agencies refuse to provide security / motor cades and let the federal govt. provide all. Especially in non election years.
The bully in a pantsuit must be really, really, really worried about Teresa Alvarado. Maybe all those felons, criminals, fired staff and constantly under investigation politicos aren’t giving her the boost she expects.
> an organizational development consulting firm that works to develop new and innovative organizing strategies for social change organizations.
What baloney!
All of these Saul Alinsky type “community organizers” have only one “organizing strategy”:
institutionalized passive-agressive narcissism.
“We victims. You oppressor.”
Same old, same old.
Nothing “new” or “innovative”.
It never changes.