Bernie Sanders launches his California team fueled by small-donor cash

[Donkees]

By EVAN HALPER
MAY 31, 2019 | 3:00 AM

Excerpt:

Early Friday morning, the campaign revealed its first big hires in the state, a team of eight operatives who will be charged with creating regional campaign infrastructure in California and allowed to function with a large degree of autonomy.

“We are building a talented and diverse team in the Golden State that understands people power is the key to our success here,” said Faiz Shakir, the campaign manager.

There are some notable names on the staff roster. The Sanders operation in the Bay Area will be run by Jane Kim, the civil rights and economic justice activist who served two terms on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and mounted an unsuccessful mayoral bid. Kim, the daughter of South Korean immigrants, was also president of the school board.

The California political director will be Susie Shannon, an anti-poverty activist who was a driving force behind sweeping changes to the way California confronts homelessness. A 2016 law she championed behind the scenes pushes the state to move homeless Californians struggling with drug addiction into permanent housing as part of their path to recovery. Shannon was the first Sanders delegate from California on the Democratic National Committee, where she has shaken things up with her push to move the DNC in a more progressive direction.

Shelli Jackson, a campaign operative on several legislative races and an advisor to the Legislature, will be the lead statewide staffer. Regional efforts will be headed by other veteran campaign hands, including Daniel Andalon in the Los Angeles region and Robert Dempsey in the San Diego area. The Inland Empire and Orange County operation will be led by Samuel Sukaton. Melissa Byrne, who was Sanders’ digital director in New Hampshire in 2016, will be the volunteer coordinator in California. The campaign has also hired Sand Brim, who was a speechwriter for the state and national nurses union, to be its California policy advisor.

https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-bernie-sanders-california-hires-20190531-story.html

[corbettkroehler]

1. Dying To See The Same In Florida

The regional approach is exactly what we need in the Sunshine State due to large chunks of open space between cities.