Meet with Assemblymember Rich Gordon?

[rkiddy]

Just FYI, I have set up a meeting with Assemblymember Rich Gordon (D-24) at his Los Altos office on the 10th of December. I live in his district.

I mentioned this effort and said that my involvement in it brought me to calling him. I do not think I represented myself as being "from OpenCalifornia" or representing the organization, since I am not representing the organization and I suspect we would want to talk before anyone said they were representing the organization. There can always be misunderstandings, but I usually do avoid this particular minefield.

That being said, if anyone else wants to come with me, I would be delighted for anyone to come along. I said I might be able to bring others, but did not promise.

I think RG's heart is in the right place on this stuff, as far as anyone can ever tell. He had an elections bill last term that was reasonable enough. It is AB 800 and it was signed into law. So there is that.

And it is the start of a new session and hope springs eternal.

[roughani]

Nice! I wouldn't worry about the organizational affiliation at this point. The fact that there are a number of local brigades in California who share common interests and are collaborating together as a federated network should suffice.

[rkiddy]

Yes, that is my view of it too. And we are just at the beginning of the long two-year session. My main goal is to introduce the vocabulary of the various OpenXYZ things and see what he thinks are things that can be done to increase systemic transparency.

[EngineerEmily]

What time will the meeting be? I would love to join in.

[rkiddy]

That would be great. The more the merrier. The meeting is at 10:00 on Dec 10.

I looked up the Los Altos office and it is listed at:

5050 El Camino Real, Suite 117
Los Altos, CA 94022

This is just north of where Rengstorff Ave intersects with El Camino.

We should get together at 9:30 and chat/strategize. I looked for a proper coffee shop nearby and am not seeing one. There is a Carl's Jr and a place called "Green Burrito" a half-block away. I would rather be at the burrito place, but Carl Jr's can be the fall-back if it is closed or something.

Let me know if you have transportation issues or would prefer to me meet at some public transport site and car pool in. FYI, I live very near the Sunnyvale CalTrain station. But I can meet you at another venue convenient to you. Let me know and we will figure out the time.

[EngineerEmily]

How long will the meeting be? I plan on driving, so I'll just meet you at the burrito place. What is there to strategize about? What do we want out of this meeting with Assembly-member Gordon?

[rkiddy]

I just wanted to give us a chance to chat so that it would seem we are acquainted with each other. Our purpose for the meeting should just be to find out what his view of "open" means and what kinds of legislation he considers to be helpful for this. We should try to describe this meta-Open group and suggest that it could be a resource for him, a source of ideas. I have a few things to suggest that may be helpful, but it is the beginning of the session. There will be no reason to go into very much detail or take too strong a position.