Bill Gallegos

From KeyWiki

Bill Gallegos has roots in the Chicana/o struggle in Southern California going back to the late 1960s. Today he works around environmental justice and other issues critical to communities of color. Bill Gallegos is a member of the Los Angeles district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization^[1].

Gallegos first became active in the 1960’s with the Crusade for Justice, a Chicano civil rights organization. He has also been a labor, campus, and community organizer.^[2]

Committees of Correspondence

At the Committees of Correspondence conference, Berkeley California, July 17-19, 1992. Bill Gallegos was a candidate^[3]for the CoC National Coordinating Committee-Los Angeles, writer, educator, community activist.

CrossRoads

In the mid 1990s Gallegos was^[4]a contributing editor to Oakland based Institute for Social and Economic Studies- sponsor of CrossRoads magazine, which sought to promote dialogue and building new alliances among progressives and leftists... and to bring diverse Marxist and socialist traditions to bear while exploring new strategies and directions for the progressive political movements.

Socialists organize to "challenge for power" in Los Angeles

On March 11, 1998, Los Angeles Democratic Socialists of America leader Steve Tarzynski wrote an email to another Los Angeles DSA leader Harold Meyerson.

Tarzynski listed 25 people he thought should be on an "A-list" of "25 or so leaders/activists/intellectuals and/or "eminent persons" who would gather periodically to theorize/strategize about how to rebuild a progressive movement in our metropolitan area that could challenge for power."

Tarzynski listed himself, Harold Meyerson, Karen Bass, Sylvia Castillo, Gary Phillips, Joe Hicks, Richard Rothstein, Steve Cancian, Larry Frank, Torie Osborn, Rudy Acuna, Aris Anagnos, Abby Arnold, Carl Boggs, Blase Bonpane, Rick Brown, Stanley Sheinbaum, Alice Callahan, Jim Conn, Peter Dreier, Maria Elena Durazo, Miguel Contreras, Mike Davis, Bill Gallegos, Bob Gottlieb, Kent Wong, Russell Jacoby, Bong Hwan Kim, Paula Litt (and Barry Litt, with a question mark), Peter Olney, Derek Shearer, Clancy Sigal and Anthony Thigpenn.

Included in a suggested elected officials sub-group were Mark Ridley-Thomas, Gloria Romero, Jackie Goldberg, Gil Cedillo, Tom Hayden, Antonio Villaraigosa, Paul Rosenstein and Congressmen Xavier Becerra, Henry Waxman and Maxine Waters.

Tarzynski went on to write "I think we should limit the group to 25 max, otherwise group dynamics begins to break down....As i said, I would like this to take place in a nice place with good food and drink...it should properly be an all day event."

FRSO

In the late 2000s Bill Gallegos was Coordinator of the Oppressed Nationalities Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization^[5].

Sacramento Marxist School

On Dec 18 2003 Bill Gallegos lectured at the Sacramento Marxist School on How Chicano Liberation can Help Defeat U.S. Imperialism.^[6]

Open letter to Andy Stern

On May 1 2008, Bill Gallegos, of Communities for a Better Environment signed an open letter to SEIU president Andy Stern in protest at SEIU move to force its local United Healthcare Workers into trusteeship.

"We are writing to express our deep concern about SEIU's threatened trusteeship over its third largest local, United Healthcare Workers (UHW). We believe that there must always be room within organized labor for legitimate and principled dissent, if our movement is to survive and grow. Putting UHW under trusteeship would send a very troubling message and be viewed, by many, as a sign that internal democracy is not valued or tolerated within SEIU. In our view, this would have negative consequences for the workers directly affected, the SEIU itself, and the labor movement as a whole. We strongly urge you to avoid such a tragedy."

Endorsing Torie Osborn

In 2011, former New American Movement member Torie Osborn, was a candidate for California's new vacant 50th Assembly District.^[7]

Endorsements included;

• Eric Garcetti, LA City Council President
• Stanley K. Sheinbaum
• Painters and Allied Trades District Council 36
• California Nurses Association
• Bill Gallegos, Executive Director, Communities for a Better Environment
• Julia Brownley, CA State Assemblywoman
• Sheila James Kuehl, Former CA State Senator
• Karen Bass, Congresswoman
• Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Los Angeles Mayor
• Tim Allison, Statewide Chair, Environmental Caucus, CA Democratic Party
• Bruce C. Corwin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Theatres Corporation
• Donna Bojarsky^[8]

Communities for a Better Environment

Bill Gallegos is Executive Director of Communities for a Better Environment. one of the leading environmental justice organizations in the country. Since becoming executive director at CBE, the organization has achieved landmark regulation of oil refinery flaring (the highly toxic practice of burning off excess gases into the air), and in leading local campaigns that could have a significant impact in reducing greenhouse gases and co-pollutants, improving public health, and advancing the transformation to clean alternative energy.

Bill Gallegos is currently a member of the California Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, which is advising the state on how to achieve the ambitious goals of the state’s historic greenhouse gas legislation in a way that safeguards and improves the health and environment of low income and communities of color.^[9]

References