Head Table Speaker Dan Walters and President Wes

Rotary Club of Sacramento At the Radisson

Head Table The newest members of the club

President Wes aka Emperor Yee Post Birthday Celebration

You can view a complete album of pictures from the meeting here: Click to Open Web Page

Meeting Recap - Feb 4, 2008 by Stephen Heath Last Week ...

Playing on a familiar theme, Sacramento Bee political columnist Dan Walters told Rotary Club of Sacramento on the Monday before "Super Tuesday" that the system is broken, the state is essentially ungovernable and we probably won't know who won the California Democratic Primary for a day or two after the election.

Introduced by Rick Eytcheson and speaking to a packed house at the Radisson, Walters said the decision by Secretary of State Deborah Bowen to decertify thousands of electronic polling devices, combined with the high levels of absentee ballots, means that election officials are going to be awash in a sea of paper ballots.

"McCain appears to be ahead by a little bit," said Walters. "Hillary and Obama are essentially tied and it may be a couple of days before we know the final result. Bill Clinton is about a mile from here right now; some say he's trying to boost his wife's campaign, some say he's trying to torpedo it because living in the White House again would cramp his 'style.'"

Walters pointed to the ballot initiatives, particularly those related to the Indian gaming casinos, as indicative of the broken system. It was a theme he used when addressing Rotary Club of Sacramento nearly two years ago.

"Our system of checks and balances was designed for another time and another kind of society," said Walters. "In today's far more diverse society, where we have factions within factions, the system makes it almost impossible to get anything done. You have to have unanimous support to get anything passed, but all it takes is one or two factions to oppose and proposals are dead.

"Some of you may think that's a good thing, but it results in our inability to solve huge, important issues like traffic congestion and water use. That's why I say the system is broken and the state is ungovernable. I mean, if a guy like Arnold Schwarzenegger, with all his star power and political muscle, can't get things done, who could?"

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The meeting began with a brief celebration of "Emperor" Wes Yee's birthday, led by Past-President Walter Dahl. On a more serious note, Emperor Yee noted the passing of two former Club members: Rusty Hammer and Hal Schlutter.

Three new Club members were introduced. Marilyn Peterson, a marriage and family therapist, Chuck Hack, an architect, and Rebecca Thompson, who is in the Development Department at Sac State.

John Kelly was honored for his third Eddie Mulligan. Richard Slepian was honored for his second Paul Harris and Dick Wertz and David McKie for their first. Becki Roberts was Featured Rotarian and Rob Scherer shared congratulations from Rotary International for the Club's hosting of the Large Club Conference two weeks ago. -SRH Featured Rotarian - Feb 4, 2008 by RCS Staff

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Continuing the tradition ...

Almost time for the Spring Brown Bag! This tradition is reminiscent of the meetings started by our founder Paul Harris and provides an opportunity for members to meet in a small group at a fellow Rotarian's office and get to know each other better.