February State Council Meeting Report

On February 1st, we held our first State Council meeting of the year with sixty California DSA delegates in attendance. 

After greetings from co-chair Paul Zappia, we heard chapter reports from Los Angeles and East Bay.  Shelby, co-chair of the DSA-LA Climate Justice Committee, spoke about how the state’s largest chapter is responding to the city’s devastating wildfires—coordinating rapid response work and organizing beyond immediate needs to push for solutions such as eviction moratoriums and rent freezes. 

Juan C., co-chair of East Bay DSA, talked about how the chapter started a Boycott Chevron campaign to pressure Alameda County to divest from companies involved in and supporting genocide. Juan also highlighted November wins in local elections, the losses in state elections, and how the chapter is fighting the rightward shift in the Bay Area.

For the rest of the meeting, we had regional breakout groups to discuss what we want to build toward. With all the attacks from our fascist federal government, it’s easy to get bogged down in despair and be on the defensive.  But we must not forget what we are fighting for. Our co-chair Paul said it best in his opening remarks: “Being anti-Trump is not a political program.” 

Some highlights from the discussions included the ongoing need to strike down Prop 13, taxing corporations, social housing, universal healthcare, and building a united front with unions and other natural organizational partners. California DSA leadership will be collecting and assessing these priorities to build a "Vision for California," a program through which we can plan and execute strategic statewide campaigns.

Our next State Council meeting will be on Saturday, April 5th. While only delegates may vote, all DSA members in good standing are welcome to join.