Dave Barron, who publishes the “West Valley Journal” and is the retired Monterey Park City Clerk, will discuss “Astro Turf Organizing” at the Annual Conference of the Sierra Mar District of Business and Professional Women on Saturday, April 29, 2017 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 2009 S. Garfield Avenue, Monterey Park. Registration is at 8:45 a.m. with the meeting starting at 9:15 a.m. with a memorial service for members who passed away this past year. The conference will start at 9:30 a.m. The conference with luncheon is open to all interested people. There is no registration cost for guests, but the cost of the luncheon is $10. Call or E-mail Marie Clifton (626) 287-5306 or mclifton40@msm.com to make a reservation or for questions.
About the topic of his talk Barron says, “Year’s ago people would form phony organizations that some called ‘Astro Turf organizations,’ meaning they weren’t real as compared to ‘Grass Roots organizations.’ Today, it’s much easier to form an ‘Astro Turf organization’ with the growth of social media. Try it, you may even like it if it achieves your purpose.” Barron, who is the morning speaker, worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers over a 15 year period. After almost 25 years, he retired from Southern California Edison as public relations consultant. He managed a team of professional communicators for the utility’s power plants. Later, he served as a contractor involved in monitoring media during a critical period. From April 1988-March 2013 he served as the elected City Clerk of Monterey Park. He received the Certified Municipal Clerk title. He brought electronic voting to the City of Monterey Park, started the City of Monterey Park’s webpage and started the passport program through the City Clerk’s Office. He currently publishes the West Valley Journal (since September 1998), a local newspaper and website. In June 2012 he received the Small Business Award from the California Legislature. He has a deep interest in computers, social media, elections and local politics. He served for many years on the Board of the local “Rebuilding Together” – formerly called “Christmas in April.” In May 2011 he was the Grand Marshall of Monterey Park’s Play Day Parade. Since July 2014 he has served on the Monterey Park Library Board and has also served on the Monterey Park Library Foundation. He is married and has four adult children and ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The afternoon speaker will be Carol Wong Quan, Supervising Special Assistant, Office of the Assessor. The topic of her talk will be “Valuing People and Property.” Quan has worked for more than thirty-one years at the Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor. She began her career in 1986 as a real property appraiser trainee and has risen through the ranks in assignments ranging from property valuations to special investigations. She is a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers
and was president of that organization’s Los Angeles Chapter in 1994. She now works in Public Affairs under the administration of Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang. She was raised in Los Angeles and graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles, with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Certificate in Business and Administration. She lives in Montebello with her husband Mel and has two  daughters – Patricia and Madeline.

The mission of Sierra Mar District of the California Federation of Business and Professional Women is “to promote and support equity for working women in all phases of their lives and to promote personal empowerment and professional development.” Our objectives are “to advocate on state and national legislative issues of importance to women, to promote personal and professional development for women and to foster connections among women to promote BPW and its members.” Membership is open to both men and women who support this mission and these objectives. Those who are members also belong to EPW-USA and BPW International. For more information about membership contact Linda Wilson (626) 307-5650 or lindalwilson@juno.com.