Ces Butner, President of Rotary Club of Oakland
Call to Order – Ces Butner
President Ces Butner called our Civic Thursday Zoom meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. noting this is the 5,332nd meeting in our 111-year-old Club.
Tristen Connor
Thought for the Day – Tristen Connor
Tristen Connor gave us the thought of the day on the one-year anniversary of sheltering in place. While there have been devastating incalculable losses, there have been some positive aspects – vital issues to be addressed. Among them are the important conversation about healthcare and need to have stable science-based health organizations such as the CDC and WHO. In addition a bright light has been cast on socio-economic injustices including systemic racism, food insecurity, housing insecurity and voter suppression.
Visiting Rotarians and Guests
Past President Ed Jellen welcomed Julie Wedge, guest of Keith Uriarte, Jack McAboy’s guests, his business partner Bill Cramer and friend Harlan Hirschfield. Also attending was Javarre Wilson with Alameda County Behavioral Care Services.
President-Elect Dudley Thompson
President’s Announcements
President Ces announced that under President-Elect Dudley Thompson’s leadership, plans are being made tentatively to broadcast the Civic Thursday meeting from the California Ballroom on June 3rd.
He also announced that Celeste Gordon and Greg Knight have been appointed co-chairs of the newly created Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. The committee will advise members, leaders, staff and community about Rotary’s commitment to this work.
Trisha Connors and Rebecca Kaplan
New Member Inductions – Trisha Connors and Rebecca Kaplan
Kerry Hamill sponsored and introduced Trisha Connors. Trisha is a lawyer, educator, legislative genius and a mom. She loves music. The first concert she attended was Barry Manilow and her last concert, pre-Covid, was Radio Head. In 20 years of marriage, she has moved seven times to different states, but always kept her membership at Sequoyah Country Club because she believed she would end up again in Oakland. She also attended the 1989 World Series Game which was interrupted by the Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Keith Uriarte sponsored and introduced Rebecca Kaplan. Born in Ontario, Canada, she attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an undergrad and received her law degree from Stanford. She is the first openly LGBT elected official, serving on the Oakland City Council since 2008. Previously she was Oakland City Council President in 2019 and this year she is Vice Mayor. In the past she served on the AC Transit Board for over seven years.
Welcome Trisha and Rebecca!
Alex Kaffka
Speech Contest Update – Alex Kaffka
Alex Kaffka, co-chair of the Speech Contest Committee, announced that Oakland Rotary will be sending its Interact students to the North Regional Speech Contest. Alex also noted that the real success this year was the dramatic improvement of speeches thanks to mentoring from Oakland Rotarians over a six-week period. This coming year the Committee anticipates tripling the cohort and will need 12 mentors. Members interesting in being a mentor should contact either Barbara Beery at barbarambeery@gmail.com or Alex Kaffka at arkaffka@gmail.com to sign up.
Recognition of Club Losses during Pandemic – Jack McAboy
Past President Jack McAboy noted that since the final meeting in the California Ballroom on March 5, 2020 six members have passed away during this past year. He asked for a moment of silence for these individuals:
Eric Alexander, Bert Clausen who was a 64-year member of the Club and just turned 101; Tom Guarino, Rich Hallock; Jon “Siggie” Sigurdson, and Gene Zahas, Past President and Club Treasurer, who was a 49-year member of the Club.
Numerous bellringers took place and are listed elsewhere.
Gene Zahas
Gene Zahas’ Legacy to the Club
Pres. Ces introduced Chris Zahas, who on behalf of his sister, brother and Gene’s life partner Wendy Howard, announced a bequest from his father’s estate in the amount of $200,000. Chris told of his father’s love for Rotary and how he found it fun, while serving the community. Gene was especially delighted with the coffee mugs distributed on the day of his demotion as Club President. He was grateful for the many friendships he made and experiences he had through Rotary. This bequest will go to Oakland Rotary Endowment, where it will focus on Gene’s passion for Oakland, for education and for youth.
Pres. Ces thanked Chris on behalf of the Rotary Club. He also encouraged members to talk to personal estate planners and consider making a gift to the Oakland Rotary Endowment through our estate plans. Ces is including Oakland Rotary in his estate plan and challenges everyone else to do likewise.
Eric Foner
Speaker for the Day – Eric Foner
Robert Kidd introduced today’s speaker, Eric Foner. A Professor of History at Columbia University and noted author of 25 books, his book, The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2011. His latest book is The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution.
His remarks focused on the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution.
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery and was the first document to use the term “slavery” in the Constitution. It was supposed to be simple, but contained a loophole in that involuntary servitude continue for people convicted of a crime. This led to many men not being set free.
The 14th Amendment has three sections of interest. The first says any person born in the United States is a citizen and is entitled to equal protection of the law. The second section says if a state denies the right to vote to any citizen, it will lose some of its members of Congress. The third section was designed to keep leading Confederates out of public office if they take the oath to defend the Constitution and then provide aid and comfort to enemies of the Constitution. This has been highlighted most recently in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, and the role possibly played by the President of the United States in inciting and encouraging that assault.
The 15th Amendment guarantees the right to vote of African American Men (women were unable to vote at that time), but it does not guarantee it to those we cannot meet a literacy test, grandfather clause, poll tax, or have drivers license/ID.
These are seen as a laudable effort to create for the first time an interracial democracy. Dr. Foner warned that many of these issues are as important today as they were after the Civil War. He stressed that what we think about history really matters. Rights can be gained, but also taken away.
He also recommended viewing the 6-hour long TV series, AMEND.
See Eric's segment here: https://youtu.be/mlz8bItpeq0
Bellringers
Executive Administrator Jesse Bowdle announced the following bellringers:
Keith Uriarte rang the bell for Rebecca Kaplan.
Debo Sarkar and Amani Soliman rang the bell for Gene Zahas.
Marie Saverimuthu rang the bell for Eric Foner.
Ringing the bell for our “Fallen Rotarians” were Ces Butner, Joe Goralka, Isaac Kos-Read, Ed Jellen, David Kittner, Stephanie Casenza, David Stein, Mike Mowery, Fred Morse, Pat Williams, Dudley Thompson, John Claassen, Harold Lowe, Jason Wizelman, Ralph Sklar, Suzie Yokomizo, Debo Sarkar, Georgia Richardson, Karen Friedman, Peter Sherris, Mona Hall, Kim Cohn, Steve Blair, Wise Allen and Sandeepa Nayak.
Adjournment
President Ces closed the meeting at 1:30 p.m. by ringing the bell with his closing adage “and that’s the way it went” plus the reminder that Rotary Opens Opportunity for Service Above Self.
Birthday Greetings
Happy Birthday! Celebrating between March 23 and 31 are:
24 – Corey Nott
25 – Debra Barnes
– Amani Soliman
27 – Greg Knight
– Steve Lowe
28 – David Naveh
29 – Dan Altemus
– George Arth
– Robert Kidd
Membership Anniversaries in March
Thank you for your years of service to the Rotary Club of Oakland and the community!
- Tom Love – 49 years
- Jeff Allen – 36 years
- Mike Bruck – 30 years
- Randy Reed – 30 years
- Barbara Beery – 27 years
- Elida Scola – 15 years
- Jill Loh Kearns – 14 years
- Ana-Marie Jones – 13 years
- Matt Ching – 9 years
- Ken Kawaichi – 9 years
- Betsy Biern – 7 years
- Mark Epstein – 4 years
- Kim Johnson – 4 years
- Siddhi Saraiya – 4 years
- Jason Dreisbach – 3 years
- Kevin Kelley – 3 years
- Sonja Malaga – 3 years
- Reenie Raschke – 3 years
- Amani Soliman – 3 years
- Julayne Virgil – 3 years
- Marilyn Galiothe – 2 years
- Georgia Richardson – 2 years
- Kathleen Sims – 2 years
Abby Ginzburg
Next Meeting, March 25 – Abby Ginzburg -- What’s Up For Tipped Workers After the Pandemic?
Maude Pervere announced our next speaker will be Abby Ginzburg. Ms. Ginzberg will speak about Waging Change, her inspiring film about the One Fair Wage movement, which aims at raising the federal minimum wage for tipped workers from a shocking $2.13 an hour. Waging Change shows how this tipped minimum wage results not only in poverty, but also in discrimination, harassment and even assault – overwhelmingly against women – and how the worker-led movement One Fair Wage has been driving change
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