Friday, June 6, 2025 at North Beach Restaurant: Jennifer Yan (First Vice Chair) and Jay Donde (Vice Chair of Political Affairs), San Francisco County Republican Central Committee

Friday, June 6:  Now that the Briones Society has control of the San Francisco County Republican Central Committee, Jennifer Yan (First Vice Chair) and Jay Donde (Vice Chair of Political Affairs) will be our speakers on June 6 at 12:15 p.m.

As the Briones Society says of itself, “We believe there is a large, unheard, and underserved constituency of voters in San Francisco who are tired of virtue signaling from the left and conspiracy theories from the right. Voters are waiting for a real alternative — a new politics that’s not just watered-down progressivism. They are common sense, fiscally prudent, constitutional Republicans. Co-vice chair Jean MacCurdy will preside in Chair Ryken’s absence.  They will be introduced by Seminarian Mike Fitzgerald.

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In Memoriam: The late Shellie Garrett’s San Francisco Chronicle obituary:  http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=LS000209145878

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UPCOMING SEMINARS:

RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. NEW WEDNESDAY DEADLINE. To assist the North Beach Restaurant’s kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime meetings please email DENNIS WHEATLEY at dennis@triticum.com NO LATER THAN MID-DAY ON the WEDNESDAY BEFORE EVERY SEMINAR if you plan to attend and indicate if you’ll be bringing a guest. Dennis DOES NOT need to know you are not attending.

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The newest member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, Stephen Sherrill will be Sac Sem’s guest on Friday, June 13 (Friday the 13th). He represents District 2 encompassing   The Marina, Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, and Presidio Heights.  He previously served as the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Innovation under Mayor London Breed, where he led efforts to address the City’s homeless crisis. Prior to living in San Francisco, Supervisor Sherrill served as a senior policy advisor to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Chair Ryken will introduce Supervisor Sherrill. 

On Friday, June 20, Sac Sem’s guest is State Senator Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco/San Mateo). Senator Weiner, a native Philadelphian, serves as the Chair of the California State Senate Budget Committee.  He is also the Assistant Majority Whip and serves as the Chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus. Sen. Weiner is considered a likely candidate to succeed Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi when the day comes that she chooses not to run for a new term. Sen. Weiner will be introduced by Seminar co-vice chair Linda Muir.

Bridget Maley of Neighborhoods United will be our speaker on Friday, June 27. She’ll discuss Mayor Daniel Lurie's new up-zoning plan. Ms. Maley is a colleague of Lori Palmer who addressed us last year. Bridget Maley manages a San Francisco-based architectural history and historic preservation consultancy, architecture + history, LLC. She has contributed to a wide range of award-winning historic preservation projects, including significant sites in western national, state, and local parks, as well as many in historic campus settings. Her work ranges from documenting monumental, classically inspired, masonry buildings to small-scale, wood-frame, rustic comfort stations in parks. She has served on the San Francisco Landmarks Preservation Advisory Board, is a former board member of the Society of Architectural Historians and currently serves as a Trustee of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. Bridget completed her Master of Arts degree in Architectural History at the University of Virginia, where she remains active. She will be introduced by Seminarian Jim Fuller.

The Seminar will take the day off for Independence Day, Friday, the 4th of July.

On Friday, July 11 Sac Sem’s guest will be Silicon Valley investor Chris Larsen who has bankrolled several high-profile San Francisco political campaigns. He will be introduced by the Seminar’s chair Greg Ryken. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Larsen

Sac Sem’s terrific lineup of speakers continues on Friday, July 18 when our guest is Donne Brownsey, past chair of California’s Coastal Commission. Ms Brownsey was a senior Vice President of Sacramento Advocates Inc., a lobbying firm, and then ran her own firm, Government Solutions Inc., where she represented corporate and nonprofit interests, business associations, and labor unions. Earlier, Ms. Brownsey was chief legislative consultant for state Sen.  David Roberti and was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to the Coastal Commission serving from 2017 to 20s4.    She will be introduced by Seminarian Dion Arner.

On Friday, August 15, Christine Pelosi will be the Seminar’s guest thanks to Seminarian Alex Clemens https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/30/christine-pelosi-scott-wiener-shadow-campaign/ Check out Ms. Pelosi’s Wikipedia bio. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Pelosi She’s’ a likely candidate to succeed her mother, Nancy Pelosi, if the later chooses not to run for reelection in 2026 in San Francisco’s 11th Congressional District.

Rev. Malcolm Clemens Young, Dean of Grace Cathedral, will be our featured speaker on Friday, August 22. He is the author of The Invisible Hand in the Wilderness: Economics, Ecology and God and The Spiritual Journal of Henry David Thoreau. Rev. Young earned a Master of Divinity degree and a Doctor of Theology in 2004 from Harvard University.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Clemens_Young He’ll be introduced by seminarian Dan Riley.

Due to the Labor Day Weekend, there will be no seminar on Friday, August 29.

We start our fall speaker series on Friday, September 12 with Janet Reilly, https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/members-and-advisors/bios/janet-reilly.html Ms Reilly is chair of the Board of Regents of the University of California.

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OTHER THOUGHTS: “Not voting is a choice. Almost by definition, it’s a choice that voters are more likely to make when they’re indifferent between the major-party options or don’t see either of them as offering a sufficiently persuasive alternative.” Nate Silver