Seven-hundred dedicated, enthusiastic Democrats enjoyed the 34th Annual Roosevelt Dinner at the San Diego Bayfront Hilton last Saturday. This year’s theme, “Rendezvous in Blue,” was evident not only in the lovely decorations but in the gorgeous blue of the harbor and sky as we began the evening with cocktails and a silent auction on the indoor/outdoor balcony.
Our Lake San Marcos Democratic Club was well represented with two tables of members and guests including Executive Board Members Mary Borevitz and her husband Richard, Betty Ball, Board Chairs Gary Bland and his wife Pam, Peg Mitchell, Barbara Valenti and her husband Jim, and Doris Payne.
The evening began with a cocktail hour during which time guests placed bids on many beautiful items ranging from elegant paintings and jewelry to gift baskets and gift certificates to various resorts. Doris Payne was a lucky winner of the bid for a beautiful Chinese print. One lucky participant successfully bid on the gorgeous basket created and donated by our club secretary Peggi Chute.
During our elegant dinner (check out the picture of our beautiful dessert), Francine Busby, Chair of the San Diego County Democratic Party, served as MC and introduced the many honored guests which included Members of Congress Susan Davis and Juan Vargas, County Supervisor Dave Roberts, City Council members Marti Emerald, Sherri Lightner and Todd Gloria, and electeds from many of the cities in San Diego County. Congressional candidates included Dave Peiser, James Kimber, and Fotios “Frank” Tsimboukakis.
State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones was the keynote speaker. He gave an informative update on the status of sign-ups for the Affordable Care Act in California. The numbers look great with over 1.2 million enrolled, which includes over 28% of the 26-34 “young invincibles” age bracket, enough to ensure insurance premiums aren’t unduly affected by a skewing of enrollees towards older or less healthy people. His current effort is focused on a ballot initiative to appear on the November ballot, giving him the authority to monitor and reject health insurance premium rate hikes that are deemed unreasonable.
The awards followed. This year’s Club of the Year Award went to the Point Loma Democratic Club, and we extend congratulations to them. The “Legislator of the Year” award went to the well–deserving San Diego City Council member Todd Gloria for his outstanding work serving as Interim Mayor of San Diego. David Alvarez also was awarded the “Champion of Progress” award, while Kami Olsson won the “Volunteer of the Year” award for all her full–time efforts handling GO Team activities and technical aspects of the organization.