TMDC General Meeting
Apr 4, 2025
Brock Neeley, Candidate for California Democratic Party Regional Director District 10
Growing up in a “Union” household in the 60’s I didn’t stand a chance of not being Politically Active, let alone an Activist. The activities of my parents shaped me into the activist I am today. My first memory of activity was carrying a picket sign with my father’s union siblings when I was about 6 years old. I helped set up and prepare the “Polling Place” in our living room several election cycles growing up, back in the days of the Newsprint Paper Ballots that you marked with an “X” rubber stamp. Throughout my elementary school years my mother was extremely active in PTA, serving multiple terms on the State Board, including as President. During my high school days, I wrote several “Letters to the Editor” in the “Tulare Advance Register”. The first of those was discussing the new development of a shopping center on the northside of Tulare and how allowing it to be built on the north side would draw the shoppers out of the “K Street” shopping corridor, and that the shopping center should have been built on the south side of town. Ultimately, the center was built on the north side of town and it destroyed the “K street” shopping area as I predicted. Another letter was about the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) that stated replacing a dirt road up to Mineral King would have no adverse impact on the environment. That EIR was in support of Disney’s proposed Ski Resort in Mineral King. My senior year in High school in my Senior Civics class for my final presentation I was able to get then CA Congressman John Krebs to come and present on “Why we teach History in Public Schools.” John and I were participants in the 1st LGBTQ protest in the San Joaquin Valley protesting the Gov Schwarzenegger’s veto of the legislation to include LGBTQ persons in the history books used in California Schools. Then 2008 hit with the Porterville City Council passing a resolution in support of Prop 8 which amended the California Constitution to state Marriage is Between 1 Man and 1 Woman. We participated in numerous Protests/Rallies in opposition of Prop 8 which ultimately passed on Nov 4, 2008. That night was “bittersweet, watching our first Black President winning his election and the LGBTQ Community of California losing a very important Civil Right. In 2009, one of our City Council Members wanted a Letter of Opposition of SB 54 Leno, which would authorize the recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriages during the June 2008 to November 2008 period in which same sex marriage was legal in California with the same Respect. WE, with the help of then-mayor Pete McCracken, were able to garner a 3-vote majority and stopped the letter. In May 2009, John and I participated in “Meet in the Middle for Marriage Equality”. The largest gathering of marriage equality activists in the state at the time. Meet in the Middle was organized by Robin McGehee in which all the major national activists stated it would be a failure, but they all showed up for their time in the spotlight as it was an overwhelming success with an estimated 5,000 + participants. I was honored by CA 23 Candidate Kim Mangone to be appointed to represent the 23rd District as a member of the Electoral College to carry the votes of the district for Joseph R. Biden Jr and Kamala D. Harris for President and Vice President. Then, in 2013, there was the LGBT Pride Month Proclamation Fight with the city council in which our lives were threatened by “good Christians.” There have been many other things that have occurred between these and the fight over the Anti Trans Bathroom, Locker Room and Sports ordinance last Tuesday evening. I will continue to fight for FULL Equality for ALL as long as I am able. Here is the link to the OpEd I wrote that was published the day the Marriage Equality Court Decision was released in 2015.