February 2026 General Meeting Minutes

February 16, 2026 @ Makers Nexus, 1330 Orleans Dr, Sunnyvale, CA 94089, 7:00 pm

1. Call to Order
2. Introductions 
3. Approval of January 2026 Minutes
4. Officer Reports
   1. President Elise Lester
      • Shares recent work by Membership, Endorsement, and Finance Committees during the Month of January as well as collaboration with Executive Board members to support Endorsement Process, 2026 Gala, and membership attendance to the CADEM Confererence.
   2. Vice President Ashley Guerrero
      • Shares recent work meeting with Executive Board members to identify points of collaboration and effective team dynamics following recent election.
   3. Membership Director Dominic Treseler
      • Shares recent work verifying membership roster for confirmation to the Statewide Party and meeting with new members.
   4. Finance Director Carlos Amaya
      • Shares recent work with the Fundraising Committee on the 2026 Gala to be held at FUZE SJ and on financial assistance for members who will be attending the CADEM Convention.
   5. Political Director Kadence Walker
      • Shares recent work with the Endorsement Committee to the develop the SVYD Policy Platform and on updating the SVYD Endorsement Questionnaire.
   6. Communications Director Kobe Lopez
      • Shares recent work support fellow Executive Board members with outreach, graphics, and other material for committee work and on website cleanup.
5. New Business
   1. Community Agreements activity led by Vice President Ashley Guerrero
      • Vice President Guerrero provides brief introduction to community guidelines and their value in space like SVYD
      • Groups of 3-4 are formed and begin drafting community agreements ideas
      • Groups shared out their top Community Agreement Ideas
   2. Presentation from Harry Neil about 2026 Regional Funding Measure for Transit (SB 63) and vote to endorse.
      • Harry provides introduction to transit in the South Bay
      • Introduce the “Visionary Network” proposal that would increase service by 83%
      • Harry introduces the severe cuts projected to MUNI, Caltrain, BART, and ACTransit
        1. 940,000 riders a day could be affected
        2. Expects that this could potentially lead to the closure of BART in 3-5, would lead to an average increase of 12 hours of traffic per week per rider
      • Transit Measure
        1. 0.5 cent sales tax in all counties except SF (1 cent in SF)
        2. Not only does the measure provide support for eliminating the budget cuts, but would also increase the funding for operations in Santa Clara County and allow for partial implementation of the Visionary Network
      • Harry is leading signature collection process in Santa Clara County
      • Motion to Endorse Regional Funding Measure for Transit made by Kadence W., and Second by Ralph B.
        • Motion Passes Unanimously
   3. Introduction to the City of San José Budget Process, “Budget 101”, from Councilmember Pamela Campos.
      • Councilmember Campos introduces the unique nature of City budget processes, and that her presentation is specifically about the San Jose City Budget
      • Introduction of important terms
        1. General Fund
           1. The city’s “checking account”
        2. Revenue
           1. The city’s “income”
        3. Surplus
           1. The balance when the city has more money than expenditures
        4. Deficit
           1. The balance when the city has less revenue/money than expenditures
        5. San José is looking at an approximately $60 million deficit
      • Councilmember Campos emphasizes that the Budget reflect values and asks “What are the values you want to see reflected?“
      • Shares current San José City Council priorities
        1. Reducing Unsheltered Homelessness
        2. Cleaning Up Our Neighborhoods
        3. Increasing Community Safety
        4. Growing Our Economy
        5. Building More Housing
      • Budget Timeline
        1. February is midyear budget review
        2. March 17th is the Mayor’s Budget Message
        3. May Community Budget Meetings and Council Study Session
        4. June 1st is Mayor’s June Budget Messahe
        5. June 8th is Final Adoption
      • Encourages attendance to district budget meetings/listening sessions with Councilmembers to advocate for their priorities
   4. Introduction and Approval of the Silicon Valley Young Democrats Policy Platform.
      • Political Director Walker introduces the purpose of the platform as a document of intentions that is a living document that will change
      • Starts with Mission Statement vs Preamble
      • Categories
        1. Human Rights
        2. Accessible & Accountable Government
        3. Affordability & Economic Mobility
        4. Serving Young People
      • The policy platform will help to guide conversation and advise candidates
      • Amendments to the Platform will be carried out in the same process as amendments to the Bylaws but convened through the endorsements committee
      • Bylaw committee will be convening in June, Endorsement will convene at the same time
      • Motion to Approve and the Adopt the SVYD Policy Platform made by Harry N., Second by Anthony M.
        1. Motion Passes Unanimously
      • Political Director Walker introduces the endorsement process timeline
        • Encourages members to participate in the Endorsement Committee
6. Old Business
7. Announcements
   • Endorsement Committee Meeting, February 18 @ Zoom, 7:00pm
   • CADEM Convention, February 20-22 @ San Francisco Moscone West Convention Center
   • Fundraising Committee Meeting, February 24 @ Zoom, 7:00pm
8. Adjournment