Supporting a New Voice at CalPERS: Margaret Brown

Dear CalPERS members and others:

I am calling on you to cast your vote for Margaret Brown in the runoff election at CalPERS. I am hoping the many thousands of members who recently supported my candidacy will join with an even larger number of CalPERS members to elect a voice for political change.

There are at least four compelling reasons for you to vote for Margaret.

First is the diversity she will add to the CalPERS board. In these times, adding a woman to any board, but especially one involving the world of finance is vital. The exclusive gathering of males as the dominant voices at the table is as archaic as the internal combustion engine.

Second, Margaret Brown offers a willingness to listen to dissenting voices. The allegations of procedural wrong-doing at CalPERS have grown in recent years to include efforts to block meaningful public participation while muzzling dissent. Worse still, CalPERS executives have advanced measures to essentially privatize decision-making over public investments.

Third, Margaret Brown has demonstrated ability to act on behalf of CalPERS members. Too many board members, especially in the world of finance, are seduced into getting along with those occupying the executive suites. Margaret Brown possesses a willingness to take on those in power. In the context of a financial world run amuck, Margaret Brownʻs voice is a welcomed change.

Fourth - and perhaps most important to all Californians - Margaret Brown has expressed a willingness to step up and act on what may be the largest threat of the 21st century: a world of fossil-fueled crises. At a time when too many of CalPERS board members reside in a world of denial, a narrow notion of advancing financial returns alone will provide cold comfort to a public increasingly threatened by fires, drought, rising tides, and super storms. 

CalPERS executives, as captives of private sector interests, represent an especially formidable opponent to the rule of law and the publicʻs interest; which makes it all the more important for each of us to elect leaders willing to challenge the status quo. For more background on CalPERS see my earlier posts at Calpolitico or read my recent book on California politics: The War on California: Defeating Oil, Oligarchs and the New Tyranny (Amazon.com).

I hope you will join me in supporting Margaret Brown.


Bruce H. Jennings, Ph.D.