The new Ramona Democrats club has 35 members, monthly meetings and a plan of action.
At their third meeting in the Ramona Terrace Estates clubhouse on June 17, a slate of officers was elected: President Jim Heldberg, Vice President Connie Phillips, Secretary Nina Barris and Treasurer Cindy Costillo.
Monthly meetings are planned to continue at 6 p.m. the third Monday of each month, either at the mobile home park’s clubhouse or at a larger location yet to be determined, said Heldberg, founder of the group.
The club is not being organized as just a campaign vehicle for the November 2024 election, he said. It’s envisioned as a long-term organization that will have speakers at its meetings and candidate debates for seats on the Ramona Unified school board, county Board of Supervisors or other elected body.
Ramona Democrats hope to also provide information about local and national issues, he added.
“America needs a two-party system,” said Heldberg, 83. “It’s not true that only one party has good ideas. Good ideas may come from either side and we need both parties to compete.”
During the upcoming election, Heldberg said he expects that Ramona Democrats members will hand out election brochures and fliers, facilitate voter registrations, and hold meetings in support of incumbent presidential candidate Joe Biden and other Democratic politicians and leaders.
Ramona Democrats is the 53rd Democratic club in San Diego County, he said. Similar clubs in Poway, Escondido and San Marcos have expressed their support of a club in Ramona, he said.
According to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, countywide voters are divided half and half between Republicans and Democrats, but in Ramona the ratio is approximately two Republicans for every one Democrat, he said.
“Ramona is predominantly Republican and we’re taking that on as a challenge,” Heldberg said.
(Jona Barnes)
The recently organized Ramona Democrats club has attracted 35 members.
Dan Summers, who chairs the conservative group American Liberty Forum of Ramona (ALFOR), said the Ramona Democrats has every right to form a club in Ramona, but he does not anticipate ALFOR coordinating candidate debates with the club.
“They are exercising their freedom of speech and I commend them for doing so,” said Summers, who is also a member of the Ramona Community Planning Group and a Ramona Unified School District school board trustee.
Ramona Democrats Vice President Connie Phillips said one of her expectations for the new club is to organize a voter registration drive to get people to vote, and another is to educate the public.
“Part of what we’ll do is to get the word out that there are Democrats in Ramona,” said Phillips, describing the current political polarization as “very sad.” “Democracy is the most important form of government and if we don’t take care of it, it will be gone.”
Heldberg said he initiated the club but doesn’t intend to run it for long, just for a one-year term. A former resident of the city of Pacifica near San Francisco, he was a member of the Pacifica Democratic Club for 30 years and served as its president for two years.
He said he moved to Ramona five months ago after his wife died and he wanted to live close to his children. The U.S. Navy veteran said he became a Democrat because of his admiration for former President John F. Kennedy.
“I wanted to be like Kennedy, he was my ideal,” Heldberg said. “He had been a Navy officer and I was a Navy officer. I worked for him for two hours. When I got my Navy officer commission, two hours later he was killed. My leader was killed.”
The Ramona Democrats’ goals are friendship, education and elections, he said.
“Our first goal is to get Democrats together so we know each other exist and to support each other,” he said.
For more information, email Heldberg at [email protected].