June Mono County Democrats Updates
- monocountydemocrat
- Jun 16
- 10 min read
Updated: Jul 11
In this newsletter:
Fellow Mono County community members,
Well, so much for a summer lull here in the Eastern Sierra. We have a busy summer ahead of us, filled with hope that you will be joining us for all or most of these events.
Our Mono Dems meetings take place on the second Monday of the month at 5:00 on Zoom. Our next meeting will be July 14th. We have been pleased that so many people have wanted to attend our meetings to learn more about what we are doing, and we are always happy to welcome guests.
Please get in touch with me (jpkaufman70@gmail.com) or any of our officers listed below if you would like to join, and we will get you the Zoom link.
We have some very exciting updates about things happening in our district. We hope that these will offer momentum for actionable items our leaders - and each of us - can enact to be part of the change we need across the nation.
-Joyce Kaufman
Mono County Democratic Central Committee Chair
Chair: Joyce P. Kaufman (June Lake) jpkaufman70@gmail.com
Vice chair: Urs Willimann (Bridgeport) willimann.urs@gmail.com
Comptroller: OJ Zeleny (Mammoth Lakes) ojz@mac.com
Recording Secretary, Rosemarie Willimann (Bridgeport) rawillimann@yahoo.com
Mono County Events
July 4th Parade in Mammoth Lakes
We are so excited about this year's parade, as it feels more important than ever for Americans to stand up for the freedom and independence that our ancestors fought for.
As we have done for many years, the Mono Dems will be marching in the July 4th parade in Mammoth. This year, we will not have a car, truck, or a float of any kind, but will be marching behind a banner that says “We the People...”
"We the People" are the first few words of the “Preamble” to the Constitution of the United States. We chose the theme of “We the People” for the parade as a message of unity and democracy. We will be making signs representing the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution.
According to the National Archives, the Bill of Rights “spells out Americans’ rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual—like freedom of speech, press, and religion. It sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people or the States. And it specifies that ‘the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.’”
At a time when so many of our rights are coming under attack, the Mono Dems thought that this would be the appropriate time and place, on the anniversary of the founding of our country, to go back to the principles upon which this country started.
Our signs will all be shorthand for the various amendments. For example, Amendment One: Freedom of Speech; Amendment Two: The Right to Bear Arms; etc. In addition to carrying signs, as always, we will be handing out red, white, and blue beads to the crowd, and also small paper versions of the Bill of Rights. We hope that these send a message as to what is important to us - ALL of us.
If you are interested in marching with us, please send an email to jpkaufman70@gmail.com no later than Friday, June 20.
We hope to meet for a sign painting party prior to the event, and this will give us time to plan that. If you don’t want to join us for sign painting and would like to march, that is not a problem. Show up, anyway! We would love a large turnout.
Let’s show Mammoth, Mono County, and everyone who is there what we stand for!
Continued protests in Mono County
Mammoth Lakes and Bishop community members showed up strong for the latest peaceful protests, participating in the nationwide "No Kings" movement. It was an overwhelming and amazing turnout – our biggest yet – showing that We the People have had enough.
By now, many of you have likely heard about the 3.5% rule, where studies have shown that peaceful protests that reach a threshold of 3.5% of the population can effectively enact change.
Counts are still coming in, but it's expected that we met and likely surpassed that threshold. Now, we must continue to contribute to that momentum. Many of you may have participated in your first protest, and it was amazing to have so many new faces show up.
It's up to each of us to now take that energy and propel it forward.
The No Kings movement will be holding a "What's Next" debrief on June 16th from 5-6pm PT to discuss what each of us can do to push this movement forward. You can register here.
We the People are not helpless. There is strength and power in numbers, and I think each of us felt it on Saturday.
Political Updates Across California District 3
I said that it would be a busy summer, and I was not kidding. We have a number of candidates for various offices coming to visit. Show up and let your voices be heard by those who want to represent each of us.
SAVE THE DATES!
Candidates who will be visiting Mono County - it's time for our voices to be heard
Jaron is an elected supervisor from Tuolumne County, and he is running for
Senate District 4, the seat currently held by Democrat-turned-Republican Marie Alvarado-Gil. Jaron is young (33) and very energetic, and he has started his campaign the right way, reaching out to voters, and especially young voters, early.
June 25: Jaron will be arriving in Mammoth to join the community for a “bike night”.
June 25: He will visit the Whitebark Institute in the morning and will be heading to Bishop that evening.
June 27: He will be in Lone Pine and then in Bishop, speaking with community members
June 28: He will be back in Mammoth, will probably do a Mono Lake tour, then something in June Lake, ending at Chris’s house from 4:00 to 6:00 for a meet-and-greet and fundraiser. Invitation and reminders will follow.
Heidi is running for Kevin Kiley’s Congressional seat in CD3. Heidi is an elected County Supervisor in Nevada County and has already started to hit the ground running with her
campaign.
It is important to note that at the convention, Democratic State Party Chair Rusty Hicks specifically identified CD3 as one of the four CA districts we are working to flip. That is a good sign – it means we have their attention.
June 25: Heidi will arrive in Bishop to meet with members of the community
June 26: She will be heading to Mammoth to do the same
On June 26th, Heidi, too, will probably do something at Mono Lake in the morning, followed by June Lake, and then an afternoon reception from 4:00 to 6:00. The location for that event has not yet been set – we are working on it – and will update you when we confirm the location. This is a fundraiser for Heidi, as well as a chance for her to meet us and hear our concerns.
One thing to remember as you think about Heidi and the upcoming elections in 2026 is that we really need to focus on a candidate who will represent US! The needs of California District 3 are varied, but we need someone who cares to at least listen to all of us and make decisions that benefit the majority of their constituents.
We were hoping we had that in Jessica Morse, but alas, the trends went the other way. Heidi is reaching out to us early in her candidacy, which is a good sign. As we all know, Kevin Kiley has never done a town hall in this area, in spite of several requests to do so, and does not seem to know or care what we think. Heidi is already making an effort to get to know all of CD3, including those of us in the more sparsely populated areas.
Please spread the word and let your friends and neighbors know that Heidi’s visit will be a chance to let her hear our concerns, and for all of us to learn more about her priorities. In other words, while Kevin runs away from us, Heidi is reaching out to us. Who do you want to represent you?
Betty Yee is one of the candidates for Governor of California. She has been serving as Comptroller for the State of California and has a very good understanding of the budget and finances. She is one of many candidates for the office, and because of her personal ties to Chris, she reached out to us so she can come to Inyo and Mono to learn more about what our concerns are.
This is NOT a fundraiser, but is a “listening tour.” She will be at Chris’s house for a discussion and dialogue on the afternoon of September 13.
And by the way, we would welcome any other candidate who reaches out to us as well.
Talking about these candidates who are reaching out to us and making the effort to come to Inyo and Mono Counties raises the very obvious question: Where is our local representative, Kevin Kiley?
Here are some snippets about Kiley and where he stands at a time when California is in crisis:
Congressman Kevin Kiley, in an interview on Fox News, stated that “If Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom would rather ICE not conduct targeted immigration operations, there's a simple solution: stop being a Sanctuary City and Sanctuary State. Cooperate with federal authorities rather than obstructing them.” This was on Friday, June 7, BEFORE Trump authorized sending the National Guard, but after ICE conducted raids in the LA garment district that were followed by raids in Paramount and Compton on Saturday
Kiley claimed ICE is doing its job most responsibly and does not acknowledge that the round-up of laborers is not confined to those who are here illegally.
Kiley supports the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”, which would further cut funding to California if Trump’s threat to withhold federal funds from the areas designated as “sanctuary counties.”
Parts of CD 3 are declared sanctuary counties, including Mono, and depend heavily on migrant labor to support their local economies.
Bottom line: Using unconstitutional tactics, the president is escalating violence and fear in Los Angeles’ immigrant communities. CD3 Congressman Kevin Kiley supports the president’s threats of removing funding to communities with sanctuary cities. CD3 has many sanctuary counties, including Mono, and many communities in the district rely heavily on migrant labor for their local economy. We all know that Mammoth and June depend on immigrant labor to support restaurants, hotels, the Mountain, and many local businesses. He seems to be unaware of, or not to care about, what these immigrant round-ups will do to our area economically, let alone how disruptive it would be to our friends and neighbors.
Isn’t it time we had an elected representative who was aware of our issues and could work with us to help address them, rather than pander to an autocratic president – or try to run for governor????
Ways to reach Kevin:
E-mail his office at https://kiley.house.gov/. Don’t expect a response, but it is important to let him know what you think about his positions.
Call his local office or his DC office.
Phone numbers for his Rocklin office are: 916-724-2575 and toll-free 888-406-3855.
Phone number for his DC office is 202-225-2523.
Write a Letter to the Editor in The Sheet, The Mammoth Times, and/or the Inyo Register.
I just had a letter published in the Sheet about Kevin Kiley’s comments about how Californians need a choice in what car they drive. The point I made in my LTE was that Kiley believes in choice in cars, but not when it comes to reproductive rights. That stuff just writes itself!
The State Party Convention
Lou and Doug Stewart, Chris Bubser, and I were your official delegates at the Democratic State Party Convention held in Anaheim a few weeks ago. There were about 4,000 people there, all eager to hear what the plan is going forward.
Rusty Hicks, the State Party Chair, acknowledged many of the problems from the last election, but also some strategies to move forward. Some of that is happening here in our own Congressional District, where we have been doing a lot of organizing behind the scenes so that we are better equipped to counter the lies put forward, especially by Kevin Kiley.
Rusty also talked about the need for more integrated efforts across the state and for a Latino strategy that will be customized for each area.
Perhaps the highlights of the Convention were talks by Cory Booker and Tim Walz, both of which can be found on YouTube. While the style of each of them is quite different, the message was the same: we lost big in 2024, but now we have to move forward acknowledging the mistakes of the past.
Walz especially talked about the need to fight in every Congressional district, and he reminded us that “winning elections is a means to an end -- and the end is improving people’s lives.”
That resonates especially now as we watch the Trump administration continue to erode our rights and make our lives more difficult, especially if aspects of the “Big Beautiful Bill” are passed. More people will lose their health care, their SNAP benefits, and other things we have learned to take for granted.
We need to keep fighting!
CD3 ROC - What you can do to help
Most of our organizing here in CD 3 comes from the ROC, the Regional Organizing Council, headed by Sue Hilderbrand from the State Party. If you want to learn more about what you can do to help now, I urge you to check out the ROC Orientation, which is on Tuesdays from 5:00 to 6:00pm.
You can register here.
Not only will this give you more information about the ROC and what we are doing, but
it also offers several ways you can get involved depending on your time and interests. If nothing else, it offers great insight into what is going on behind the scenes.
There will be more to do as we get closer to the election, so stay tuned! And get in touch with me if you are interested in helping with any of our efforts. As I said, it’s going to be busy this summer, but I think if we continue to work together, we can flip the district, find leaders who want to better represent the wants and needs of all of CD3, and help restore some sanity to at least our little part of the world.
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