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Berkeley activists will take to the streets Saturday to mobilize support to defeat the recall of Governor Gray Davis following a 10 a.m. rally at Washington School, 2300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way (across from Berkeley High School). 

After the rally, volunteers will divide up and hit the pavement, walking the city’s precincts to recruit voters to their cause. 

Among those scheduled to speak are Mayor Tom Bates, 14th District Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson and Steve Phillips No on 54 Coalition.  

The organizations behind the rally were brought together by Andy Katz, 14th Assembly District Democratic Party chair, even before the election date had been set. Katz said he brought the groups together because he foresaw problems and knew the community had to start organizing.  

Katz, who is also working with Alameda County Against the Recall (ACAR), a county-wide coalition helping with the logistics for the rally, said that one of his principal concerns is that the election is going to cost California counties $70 million—funds better spent on much needed services such as health care and education.  

“We had a democratically elected governor that won fair and square,” said Katz. “This is the Republican party trying to reverse an election they couldn’t win on their own.”  

Another participant, Matthew Hallinan from the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, a progressive Democratic club in Berkeley, says that many people support the recall until they learn more about it. 

“There’s a shift,” explains Hallinan. “They’re finding out that this is a Republican trick.” 

Many of the groups involved aren’t enamored with Davis, but still think that the recall is undemocratic. 

“Davis at least stole the election fair and square,” explains Mal Burnstein, another member of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club. 

There are differences of opinion among those organizing to support the Democrats. The Wellstone Club, for example was originally formed by a group of progressives who decided to work within the Democratic Party because they felt it was the only viable option. While strongly committed to shifting the Democrat’s agenda to the left of Davis’ positions, the club remains devoted to defeating the recall. 

Several groups in the coalition were organizing around the 2004 Presidential election when they suddenly found themselves working on the recall. 

Rally organizers also have another target: Proposition 54, initiated by University of California Regent Ward Connerly, which aims to bar state agencies from gathering racial data on Californians. 

Organizers say the measure will have devastating effects on a number of issues relating to race, and will exacerbate racial conflicts in the state. 

Other groups participating in the rally include labor unions and the East Bay Lesbian and Gay Democratic Club, whose members fear that a recall and election of a Republican Governor could derail landmark civil union legislation Davis has pledged to sign. 

Sharon Cornu from the Alameda Central Labor Council says labor is opposed to the recall because under Davis California has made strong gains, such as initiating the first paid family medical leave policy in the country. 

“We fought hard for these wins and we’re not going to go back to the stone age,” said Cornu. 

For more information on the rally, call Andy Katz at 540-5921.