Local Democratic organizers are seeing a shuffle in leadership as Santa Clarita enters the new year, with the entire executive board of one Democratic club resigning as a new, similar organization forms.

On Monday, officials announced the creation of a new Democratic organization called Santa Clarita Valley Democrats (SCVD).

“I am excited to be part of launching this organization to support the growing Democratic community in Santa Clarita,” said Jackie Thomas, vice chair for the organization, in a statement Monday. “This will be the effort to watch and join as we prepare to do the work for the next election cycle.” 

Officials say that the new organization aims to “streamline candidate training and planning, provide an opportunity for local Democrats to build social connections through community service, organize for Democratic electoral and legislative priorities, and fight to ensure a just future for the Santa Clarita community.” 

“A new year brings new opportunities and I’m excited to see so many amazing community leaders come together to form this new organization,” said former Assemblywoman and congressional candidate Christy Smith in a statement Monday. “True to Democratic Party principles, this group will be inclusive and focused on bringing together the residents of Santa Clarita for both community and political activism. I look forward to working with the Santa Clarita Valley Democrats to build and grow our grassroots here in Santa Clarita and in partnership with our neighboring valleys.”

The organization was formed less than a week after Santa Clarita’s previous Democratic organization, the Democatic Alliance for Action of Santa Clarita Valley (DAA), announced the  resignation of their entire Executive Board in a letter sent to supporters.

“What we’ve ultimately learned in 2020 is that politics needs to be community and issue-focused with the support of our grassroots activists,” the letter reads. “In light of that, we no longer feel that we can adequately lead this organization in the face of what we fear will be a political circus, brought by a few bad-faith actors, that will damage the party and our progressive community in the few remaining months of our term.”

In early December, the Executive Board for the DAA reportedly faced an “unexpected situation for which there was no precedent,” which the board tried and ultimately failed to resolve.

“Unfortunately, we lacked the tools and resources to do so and in order to see this process through to the end, it would have required the club to retain legal counsel, which would have decimated our organization’s remaining funds,” the resignation letter read. “So, upon demands from one of the involved party’s legal counsel, we, the Executive Board of the Democratic Alliance for Action, see no other option other than declining to pursue the matter any further.”

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The DAA was the longest-operating Democratic club in the Santa Clarita Valley. According to the website, the DAA was established to “encourage active participation in governance, to foster Democratic ideals, and to promote justice and equality in our community, state and nation.”

“We believe that this is the best and only way to resolve this process, protect our members, and keep the door open for future activists,” the resignation letter reads.

While the exact nature of the “unexpected situation” was not immediately clear, it appears to stem from an instance in which a DAA member’s membership was “in jeopardy,” according to an image posted by SCVD Board Member Brett Haddock 

“The bias against my client is obvious and shameless,” the text of the image reads. “Clearly, this Board is not capable of adjudicating any complaints against my client in accordance with democratic values or the DAA bylaws. I again demand that the Board admit its failures in addressing this matter, immediately drop the termination of our client and send me a letter confirming that our client’s membership is no longer in jeopardy no later than December 29, 2020.”

The text goes on to state that if no such notice was received, the unnamed client would be urged to submit the matter to the courts.

“In the alternative, Mr. (REDACTED) will accept the resignations of the entire board so that a new, fair, and unbiased Board can be elected to then proceed with any complaints against him in accordance to, and respectful of, the DAA bylaws and the democratic process,” the text reads.

In a video posted Monday, former DAA Vice President and current SCVD Chair Andrew Taban wished everyone a happy New Year, as well as a “brighter and bluer year for all of us.”

“The board and I are thrilled to continue doing the hard work for fighting for the values that we all hold dear,” he said. “We know that there’s more that unites us than divides us, so let’s move forward together.”

The SCVD is set to begin operations after being officially chartered with the Los Angeles County Democratic Party later in January.

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