About JoinCalifornia
The One Voter Project began with ElectionVolunteer.com, created by Alex Vassar in 2003 while observing the campaigns leading up to California's Recall of Governor Gray Davis. The site initially featured a list of local (Santa Clara County) recall candidates and the major candidates whose campaigns had local offices. Later, during the 2004 Primary Election cycle, ElectionVolunteer.com organized early lists of candidates to help connect the budding campaigns with local volunteers.
Since the 2004 elections, the website has expanded into several online resources in the One Voter Project. JoinCalifornia.com, started in 2005, provides more than one hundred years worth of political history for California candidates, districts, and parties. The JoinCalifornia database currently contains almost thirteen thousand candidates in every federal and state election back to 1898.
Together, the purpose of the One Voter Project websites is to educate the public (and those who are involved in state politics or policy-making) about the political landscape around them, and to assure them that there is a long history that has led to the occasionally turbulent world of California politics. Looking to the past gives us a reference point from which to view current events and reminds us that there is a precedent for almost everything.
It also reminds us that future generations will someday look back to us for similar perspective. As one State Senator wrote shortly before he died in 1878;
"We die not all, for our deeds remain,
To crown with honor or mar with stain.
Through endless sequence of years to come,
Our lives shall speak, though our lips are dumb."
Alex Vassar
Alex Vassar first became involved in local politics while studying History and Political Science at Cal Poly and San Jose State University. His activities have included work on several legislative and local campaigns throughout the state. Alex is an avid fan of the political process and institutions that make our state and nation work smoothly.
Following the 2004 election, Alex did manual transcription of election results from decades-old sources into a spreadsheet that became the foundation for the JoinCalifornia website. He then spent months researching the biographies of generations of political leaders, becoming familiar with the publications including the California Blue Books and the Journals and Histories of each of the two houses.
Alex was a member of the 2007-08 Class of the prestigious California Senate Fellowship, during which he served as a Legislative Aide in the office of Senator Bob Dutton. Alex continues to work for the Senate and enjoys discussing current events and political history with his friends from both sides of the aisle.
To contact Alex Vassar, email: alex@onevoter.org
Shane Meyers
Shane Meyers is a native Californian who provides the encoding and programming backbone to the Election Volunteer site. An Electrical Engineering graduate of Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, Meyers joined the Election Volunteer / JoinCalifornia team in early 2005 and helped facilitate the transition from a local website to a statewide resource.
Shane has been honored for his work on the ElectionVolunteer and JoinCalifornia websites with a Congressional Commendation from several Bay Area members of the California Delegation;
"Mr. Meyers deserves recognition today for the great interest he has shown in improving the lines of communication between the public and their representatives at both the state and federal levels. His efforts toward improving community political awareness are to be commended." - Congressman Sam Farr
To contact Shane Meyers, email: shane@onevoter.org