Friday, September 5, 2025 at North Beach Restaurant: Sac Sem Roundtable

A Sac Sem roundtable is set for this Friday, September 5 starting at 12:15 p.m. New Seminarians may not know that for decades Sac Sem meetings were usually roundtables with speakers an occasional feature. Our roundtables are a great way to test out your ideas, debate big ticket issues and get to know your fellow seminarians.

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Annual dues: Your Board of Directors has agreed to keep Sac Sem annual dues for 2026 at $200.00. The first request for dues and details for payment will be included in a mid-October Weekly Update. Your board is also working on a members’ poll to get opinions and suggestions on the qualities of our weekly meetings, the quality and cost of food offered at the North Beach Restaurant, ideas on future speakers, and your ideas on how to improve our collective experiences at Seminars.

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 notify 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.

NEW RULE: VALET PARKING at the North Beach Restaurant: The NBR management has now determined that at least 10 people must request in advance to use their Noontime valet service. If there are less than (10) ten sign-ups, there will be no valet. To Register for Valet Parking for future seminars, contact Chair Greg Ryken at (415) 215-3775 or email him on the Wednesday before each seminar at Greg@rykenlaw.com

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We start our Fall Speaker Series on Friday, September 12 with Janet Reilly, Chair of the University of California Board of Regents. https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/about/members-and-advisors/bios/janet-reilly.html

Our guest UC Regent Reilly is extensively quoted in this San Francisco Examiner article, “Stanford, Cal's highest-ranking leaders talk state of higher learning.” https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/education/stanford-uc-berkeley-heads-talk-state-of-higher-education/article_908570d9-16cb-4280-9944-9ecf34d1bfd4.html

Sean Elsbernd is our speaker on Friday, September 19th. He’ll be introduced by Sac Sem chair emeritus Dick Spotswood. Sean is a past member of San Francisco Board of Supervisors, was Chief of Staff for Mayor London Breed and is now president and CEO of SPUR. https://www.spur.org/about/staff/sean-elsbernd

Past Congressmember and current member of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Jackie Speier is our guest on Friday, September 26. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Speier

Supervisor Speier will be introduced by our chair, Greg Ryken.

Philip Yun, the Co-President and CEO of Commonwealth World Affairs (CCWA), is our speaker on October 3rd. https://worldaffairs.org/team/philip-yun-2/   Philip will be introduced by Seminarian Ron Boring. CCWA is the product of a merger between the World Affairs Council of Northern California, founded in 1947, and The Commonwealth Club of California, established in 1903. A graduate of Brown University and Columbia’s School of Law, Mr. Yun was a presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of State (1994-2001), serving as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.

On Friday, October 10 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 speaker on Friday, October 17 will be Professor Jack Citrin. His UC colleague, Seminarian Alan Unger will make the introduction. Professor Citrin teaches in the field of political behavior including political trust, direct democracy, national identity, and ethnic politics, including immigration and language politics. Professor Citrin received his B.A. and M.A. from McGill University in Montreal and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley.

Among Professor Citrin’s books are American Identity & the Politics of Multiculturalism (2014), Public Opinion and Constitutional Controversy (2009), Tax Revolt, Something for Nothing in California (1982,1985), After the Tax Revolt: Proposition 13 Turns 30 (2009) and Nominating the President: Evolution and Revolution in 2008 and Beyond (2009). 

The new Consul General for Italy, Hon. Massimo Carnelos, will be our featured speaker on Friday, October 31. https://informaconnect.com/bioeurope-spring/speakers/massimo-carnelos/ He’ll be introduced by Seminarian Dan Reily.    

Da’Mayor, Willie Lewis Brown, Jr., will be Sac Sem’s guest on Friday, November 7. Chair Greg Ryken will have the honor of introducing “A man who needs no introduction.” Speakers Chair Mike Fitgerald arranged this program which will be very well attended. Don’t miss out. Please reserve your place now.  

NEW DATE: Representative Ro Khanna (D-Santa Clara County) will be Sac Sem’s guest on Friday, November 21 starting at Noon “On-the-dot” as he must depart by 1:30 p.m. https://khanna.house.gov/about/about-rep-khanna The Philadelphia born congressmember’s commitment to public service was inspired by his grandfather who was active in Gandhi's independence movement. Prior to serving in Congress, he taught economics at Stanford University and served as deputy assistant secretary of commerce in the Obama administration.

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OTHER THOUGHTS: “Everybody dies famous in a small town.” Miranda Lambart