Mark Buell is Sac Sem’s guest speaker on Friday, October 4. Mark is a Democratic Party mega-donor, real estate developer, and philanthropist from San Francisco. He is married to Susie Thompson Buell, also a Democratic Party donor and close confidant of Hillary Clinton who co-founded sportswear companies The North Face and Esprit with her first husband, Douglas Tompkins. Mark and Suzie Buell are well known in Bay Area social and political circles and are founding members of the Democracy Alliance, a left-leaning funders’ collaborative.
RSVP TO ATTEND any upcoming seminar. To assist Perry’s kitchen staff with planning for our Friday lunchtime meetings please email Dennis Wheatley at dennis@triticum.com if you plan to attend and indicate if you’ll be bringing a guest. Dennis DOES NOT need to know you are not attending. If members have RSVP’ed a “yes” and need to cancel, please tell Dennis before the cutoff of Thursday noon prior to each seminar.
POTENTIAL SAC SEM FACT FINDING TRIP:
We are seeking to gauge the level of interest in a proposed Sacramento Seminar ‘Civil War Battlefield’ tour next year. Timing: April 2025 for one week. Estimated cost: $3,000 per person including accommodation, professional guide, transportation, breakfasts but excluding lunch and dinner. You will need to make your own arrangements to get to and from the start/finish point in Washington DC. Battlefields will be likely be in Northern Virginia and Maryland. We’ll also set up meetings in our Nation’s Capital with local elected officials and representatives of the new administration. Good eats, topflight beverages and fun times are guaranteed.
Without committing yourself it would be appreciated if you could send an email to Dennis Wheatley dennis@triticum.com to indicate interest, if we get enough people showing interest, we’ll start to firm up the arrangements.
SAVE BERKELEY’S ART DECO GEM
Seminarain Madeline Roberts alerts us to the potential demolition of Berkeley’s United Artists Theater. Located on Shattuck Avenue, the theater built in 1932 is worth saving. Check out https://www.savetheuaberkeley.org/ to learn is fascinating history and to see what you can do to help save this masterpiece. As architectural consultant Mark Wilson said, “The United Artist Theater is an outstanding example of the Art Deco movie palace which is fast vanishing from the urban landscape and so prized by moviegoers across the country.”
UPCOMING SEMINARS
Rob Thompson, the chief cultural officer of the Presidio Trust, is our speaker on Friday, October 11. The mission of the Presidio Trust, a federal agency, “is to steward and share the history, beauty, and wonder of the Presidio for everyone to enjoy forever.” https://presidio.gov/about/presidio-trust Rob is trained as an archeologist and historic preservation lanner. A graduate of the University of Virginia with a degree in archeology. He holds a master’s degree from Columbia University in Historic Preservation. Mr. Thompson will be introduced by Seminarian Dan Riley.
On Friday, October 18, Sac Sem will have a roundtable, the topic being the fast-approaching election.
California’s top political pollster, Mark DiCamillo, himself a Seminarian, returns to update the Seminar on pre-presidential election poling trends on Friday, October 25. Mark is with the University of California (Berkeley) Institute of Governmental Studies. https://igs.berkeley.edu/people/mark-dicamillo where he conducts the IGS poll focusing on California issues and campaigns.
Friday, November 1, just four days before the end of balloting, will be a Zoom meeting., We will NOT be at Perry’s. Your Zoom link will be sent the week of the seminar. We’ll be with the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley to review their final analysis. Yes, that means we’ll be with seminarian Mark DiCamillo two weeks in a row. What an ideal time for California’s top political pollster to brief the Seminar. That’ll enable those so inclined to place insider bets on the outcome of election for president, Congress and mayor of San Francisco.
Friday, November 8 will be the “big roundtable” to analyze the results of November 5th presidential, congressional and city elections. This is your big chance to show your chops as a pundit, whether amateur or professional. If seminarians miss this roundtable, they shall forever after, remain silent on the events of that big day.
Janelle Kellman, a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of California will be Sac Sem’s guest on Friday, December 6. A member of Sausalito’s City Council, Janelle, previously Sausalito’s mayor, holds an undergraduate degree in History from Yale, a master’s in environmental management from Oxford, and graduated from Stanford Law. She has also launched her own technology startup and served as a trusted advisor to technology entrepreneurs. She will be introduced by Seminarian and current Sausalito mayor Ian Sobieski.
Mark your calendar
Sac Sem’s annual Holiday/Christmas/Hanukkah Lunch is be on Friday, December 20.
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OTHER THOUGHTS
“Winning isn’t everything – it’s the only thing.” Vince Lombardi
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