CSEA Capistrano Chapter 224

Today, delegates concluded the business sessions for our 83rd annual conference.

The major order of business for the day was adopting the association budget for 2009-2010.

The budget was amended prior to voting, as is typical when resolutions with an associated fiscal impact are passed earlier in the week.

Resolution 8, which directs CSEA staff to develop an electronic voting system for Area Director and Alternate Area Director elections, was amended from the floor to include two additional test sites.  This raised the estimated cost to $7000, so the budget plan was amended.

The budget was adopted by an overwhelming majority.

Today, your delegates continued to debate and vote on resolutions.

Day 3 is traditionally "T-Shirt Day," with every delegate wearing their special conference T-Shirt. At lunch, nearly 2000 delegates, all wearing the same blue shirt and carrying picket signs, marched from the McEnry convention center, past several blocks of downtown San Jose to the local state office building. The "sea of blue" stopped traffic, buses and light rail service at times (legally and in coordination with local authorities) as the seemingly endless parade wended its way through town.

Members chanted slogans such as "Education, that's our right, we are here and ready to fight!" and "Governator, Governator, you're no good- treat our children like you should!" At the state building, members were joined by special guests such as State Supt. of Schools Jack O'Connell and the president of the local SEIU chapter 1000, representing state workers. Parents and students from all over joined in the rally to call for full funding of our schools and to call attention to the additional $8 billion in cuts beyond those approved by the Legislature that the governator foisted on public education by way of his line-item veto powers.  [Click here for video.]

The day concluded with awards given to members who've gone above and beyond the call of duty in support of their union, and recognition ceremonies to acknowledge those that have graduated from the job steward program.

Today we began the second business session of our annual conference. The day began with the introduction of some of the committees that work so hard throughout the year providing their expertise in areas like member training, retirement resources and evaluating proposed resolutions. We continued the association election campaign speeches and question and answer period for the candidates until our lunch break.

In the second half of today's session, we will be starting our work on evaluating and debating the resolutions that have been proposed. You can click here to visit the CSEA web site for the full text and analysis of the proposals (you will need a registered csea.com account in order to access this resource).

Afternoon and Evening Sessions: Today was an extraordinary day that tested the patience and determination of the delegates, as we remained in session until nearly midnight. Why so late? We have been almost a half-day behind schedule on the agenda since the opening ceremonies ran quite long, and because of the contentious nature of some of the resolutions. Contentious resolutions motivate representatives to get up and speak publicly for or against them, and only a vote of the delegate body can end debate on a particular one in order to take the vote. Here are the results of the resolutions addressed today:

It's day two of the 83rd Annual CSEA Conference.  The mood is mixed among the 1800+ delegates, as we are now well behind schedule.  It's morning, and we're still going through the nomination/seconding/acceptance speeches and the mandatory "open-mic" questions and answers for each candidate for Association office.

Donny, a delegate from Chapter 48 (Bakersfield), continued what has become a personal tradition, and asked each delegate the same question regarding CSEA's Policy 626 (Sexual Harassment).  This began yesterday evening and continued into this morning.

New Chapter 224 delegate Tony Bordeaux, observing how the parliamentary process worked, jumped on a microphone and "scooped" Donny before he had the chance to ask 2nd V.P. nominee Ivan Pastrano his question.  Under the standing rules, Donny could not then ask the same question of the nominee.  This lightened the mood of the entire session that morning, and Donny was a good sport about it.

Click here to see the video. 

Who are Conference Delegates?

Conference delegates are CSEA members who are locally elected to attend conference by members of the chapter they are representing. In addition, members of the Board of Directors, Regional Representatives, Chairpersons of Standing Committees, members of the Retiree Unit Executive Board, and Life Members are also authorized to attend as voting delegates.  As they do at every conference, delegates spend the week gathering information, debating resolutions and budgets, and casting votes on behalf of their chapters back home. In addition to the formally scheduled events, these dedicated members take advantage of the annual gathering to discuss their challenges and exchange ideas with one another

What is a resolution?

Resolutions for the annual conference can only be submitted by action by a Chapter at a regular Chapter meeting, action of the Board of Directors meeting in legal session, or action by the Retiree Unit Executive Board, and are submitted by February 1.  Many resolutions propose some kind of change to CSEA's policies or constitution and bylaws. Some resolutions propose that CSEA sponsor legislation that will improve conditions for CSEA members and California's public schools. Resolutions are debated by conference delegates and approved by vote.

How do elections work?

CSEA's constitutional officers (president, 1st vice president, 2nd vice president and secretary) are elected every two years by delegates at conference. They can serve a maxium of two consecutive two-year terms in each office. At conference, they address the delegates in the main hall and usually have booths set up, where they can meet and discuss issues with the delegates. On Friday morning, delegates cast secret ballots for the officers.

Area directors are elected in the spring by the chapters they represent. During the final business session, they are sworn into office along with the constitutional officers.

What is a business session?

What is the Benefit Provider Area

What are Ed Days?

Where will next year's conference be held?