Since forming in the late 1960s, the Century Club — as it was known then — has been a focal point of conversation and discussion around all the hot topics of the day. Our monthly luncheons are a place for activists and elected officials to get to know each other, hear opposing points of view, network, and form alliances. On top of that, we get to hear an interesting speaker each month on a wide variety of topics. We barely break even on the luncheons, but they're a great chance to make connections and build community.
Our founding vision, however, was much bigger than this. It was to provide a permanent home for the Santa Clara County Democratic Party. Originally, the plan was to buy a building. But as skyrocketing property values outpaced our ability to accumulate funds, we decided in recent years to fulfill our vision by partially subsidizing the rental of the present party headquarters on Moorpark Avenue in San José.
This decision has proven to be a huge success. The party headquarters provides a central location for progressive organizations and Democratic clubs to meet, mobilize, and collaborate. At a time when our very democracy is in peril and the midterm elections of 2018 loom large as an opportunity to resist, the party headquarters is more important than ever. And it's our membership dues that make it possible to keep the doors open.
However, the value of our annual dues has eroded over time, simply due to inflation. $100 in 1970 would be worth $610 in today’s dollars. At the same time, political campaigns have gotten exponentially more expensive. It's obvious we've fallen a bit behind. That’s why the Board of Directors has decided we need to make a long overdue adjustment to annual club dues in order to sustain our mission of supporting the party headquarters and other party building activities.
The good news is we're NOT raising dues to $610. And we're not raising them now. As most of you know, we operate on a calendar year basis. So, starting in January 2018 -- just in time for the midterm elections — we're raising our annual dues to $125.
In order to build in a hedge against future inflation, we've also instituted an annual dues increases of $5 beginning in 2019. That amounts to about a 3-4% increase each year, keeping pace with inflation.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please send them to [email protected].
Warmest regards,
D21stCC Board of Directors