Tuesday, May 7, 2019

A.B. 5 (Gonzalez) before the Uber Strike

That which is finished
A.B. 71 (Melendez and Kiley) is dead. That's just as well - this is what a legislation analyst has said about it:
The first reason is that AB71 is Republican backed (not that Republicans are bad, but they tend to back business before workers) and the language favors businesses at it gives them more leeway to determine classification. Instead of the ABC test as laid out in AB5, it is like the whole alphabet. Many ways that businesses could get out of classifying workers as employees, which saves them big money! I was speaking with a reporter yesterday about AB5, and I then asked her about AB71, she said she has been touch with legislators in the State and AB71 is dead in the water.

A.B. 5 is Scheduled for A Committee Hearing

A.B. 5 (Gonzalez) is scheduled for hearing in the Committee on Appropriations on May 16th - check for the agenda after May 9th.  Rideshare drivers need to make sure that it has lots of momentum to go through this committee hearing and the full Assembly. 

How to Contact your Assembly Members

  1. Look up your home address on this page.
  2. Find the contact information of your Assembly Member (not Senator).
  3. Call them and tell them:
    1. Your Name and Address
    2. You're a rideshare driver or independent contractor with a ride company (use the term that you believe works best for you)
    3. Your earnings were good, you could pay the bills, but the contracting company has reduced compensation while costs have risen.
    4. You need protection from the whims of companies like Lyft and Uber.
    5. The Assembly Member's support of A.B. 5 (Gonzalez) will protect your investment in driving as a way to earn money.

Monday, May 6, 2019

From The Sea, To The Mountains, To The Valleys, To The Deserts and Down To Baja

I'll see you at sunrise
I'm Ken Brucker. I ask for your consideration when you select the Local Chapter Coordinator of Southern California for the California National Party. As defined by the party's bylaws, I want to grow the places in California south of  35° 47′ 28″ / 35.791111° North latitude. That is a straight line that is the northern boundaries of San Bernardino, Kern and San Luis Obisbo counties.

Looking Forward

Some of the ways that I propose that we grow party membership and activism is doing plain, old retail organizing: loading up my minivan with my canopy, table, folding chairs, the party's handouts and banners, driving to meet people like you to talk to Californians about what we can do as an independent nation better and how we can reach that goal. We can also leverage technology to help us grow the movement in your community.

The party has a robust constituent management system with which we manage mailing lists, coordinate volunteers to staff events and manage donations. I'm working with the party's IT Director to develop that application to manage media contacts so that we can disseminate our own messaging about California independence instead of rogue actors in the movement driving the narrative about the movement. I also see that this can easily be converted to make a list of educators that we can reach out to so we can give presentations about the party and the movement.

Intersectionalism

If California nationalism is to succeed, it has to be many things. We need to be multicultural and take many interests into account. Tenemos que hablar en varios idiomas lo mejor que podemos a nuestros vecinos. If I could say that in Hmong, Tagalog, Farsi, Mandarin...and on down the list...I would. Not all women need the same things to be well and successful. There aren't just a few silver bullets what will solve California's problems, so we have to look at all of the issues. I want to work with you on creating solutions to those problems.

Experience with The Party

I'm not a plankowner in the party. I joined the party and started organizing San Diego County in January 2017. Since then, I have...

Again, lots of people helped out with those events - you can see them in those pictures and I'm grateful to every one of them.

About Me

I'm a twice-married father of one son who is about to graduate from high school. I'm a graduate of U.C. Santa Barbara where I earned a B.A. in Communication Studies. I was awarded a certificate in Computer Information Sciences from the now-defunct Coleman College. I've lived in San Diego most of my life, but that was interrupted with stints in Isla Vista, Los Angeles (The Palms District) and Hayward. I currently work part-time as an independent contractor with ridesharing services (your first two guesses as to which business would probably be correct). I speak Spanish better than I can understand it.

Endorsements

Shankar Singnam
  • Vice President, California Freedom Coalition
  • Board Member, Independent California

Questions?

Ask in the comments below or e-mail me.