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Date: 12/6/2021
Subject: LWVBC Voter Dec 21/Jan 22
From: Jennifer L Bales

Dec 21 / Jan 22

Editor Jennifer Bales

communications@lwvbc.org

A PDF Version of this newsletter is available here. Please allow a day or two from this mailing for the PDF to be uploaded.

President's Letter for

December, 2021 - January, 2022

By Elizabeth Crowe

Hello League members and friends!

It's hard to believe we have reached the end of 2021. Where does the time go? In just a couple of weeks the days will start getting longer again and we'll all ring in a new year. This means legislative sessions and opportunities for LWV to take action on the local, state and federal levels. LWVBC leaders want to enable as many of our members -- and other community members -- as possible to use your voice for positive change. And this month, there are some great opportunities to help League members prepare.

First, LWVBC is hosting an Advocacy Training on Saturday, December 11 at 10AM. Whether you have been organizing and advocating for policy change for years, or if you are interested in beginning this journey, the training help get you ready to mobilize for League local and state legislative advocacy in 2022. Our own Sylvia Bernstein has a great event planned and I hope to see you there! And if you are not currently a League member, we'd love to have you. Feel free to bring a friend!

Second, LWVUS is hosting a Program Planning Webinar on December 15 at 1PM Mountain Time (3PM Eastern). In LWV vernacular, "program planning" is our process to review our policy positions on a wide range of issues, and determine whether or not we support or might want to modify those positions. These positions determine what issues on which we can take advocacy and action. League processes can seem complicated, and this webinar will help.

But don't think that you need to wait till January to take action on policy issues. At the national level, LWV leaders continue to stand up for voting rights through the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, and by calling on the Biden-Harris Administration to prioritize voting rights reform. For these and other alerts, visit the LWVUS Take Action webpage and add your name to help make sure our democratic processes work for all people.

I also hope to see you for some playtime, to celebrate the winter holiday season together at the LWVBC virtual Holiday Party on December 12. While it would be so wonderful to see each other in person, public health is still #1 priority and so we shall gather online. We have an informal and fun event planned that will be all the better if you're there!

Thanks for being part of the League family, and best wishes for a safe and healthy holiday season.

Holiday Party ONLINE December 12 at 4:00

Please Register Here

Interested in Campaign Finance?

Are you interested in campaign finance reforms and practices? Since the 1990s LWVBC members have worked to plan, campaign for and support local campaign finance policies that include public matching funds. Some of our members are interested in assessing Boulder's candidates' compliance with existing policies, and assessing potential interest in campaign finance policies for other cities as well.

If you're either intrigued or all-in, please contact League's Rionda Osman-Jouchoux at 303.939.9164 or rionda.osman@gmail.com. Thanks!

From Membership

By Jean McGuire, membership director

jean.mcguire7777@gmail.com

Membership count: 233

Welcome to our New Members:

Since our last newsletter, we have had one member join the League: Karen Hodgekinson-Price from Lafayette. Welcome Karen!

Member Coffee

Thanks to all who participated in the November Member Coffee. We had 25 people join us for a presentation by Caleb Thornton from the Secretary of State’s office on the recall process. This educational recording will be posted soon in case you missed it.

Because of the Holiday party planned for December 12th (Please join us), there will not be a member coffee in December. The next Virtual Member Coffee, which is for all members, both existing and new, prospective members and the public, is scheduled for January 15th at 10:00 AM. While we are still finalizing the agenda, our main speakers for this coffee will be Josh Stallings, North Regional Organizer and Raquel Lane-Areliano, Political Manager for the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition (CIRC). CIRC is a state-wide, member-led coalition of dozens of groups and organizations working on immigrant rights, including bills in the Colorado Legislature. LWVBC is a 5-year member of the North Region, which also includes such groups as Motus Theater, Philanthropiece Foundation, Intercambio, Immigrant Legal Center of Boulder County, and others.

Please check our event calendar for member coffee for details and to register.
If you have feedback on the Virtual Member Coffees or have an idea on what we should cover, please reach out to me at jean.mcguire7777@gmail.com.

MembershipTip

Find Contact Information for Other Members

There are two ways to find a member on the website, https://lwvbc.org. Go to the dropdown menu under “Member Info” and select “Member Contact List.” This is a printable list as of October 2021. The Member Directory, also under the dropdown menu under “Member Info” is another way to find contact information for other members. You can search by first or last names, or even a few letters of a name. Click on the picture of the member (or where a picture could be) to get the profile of the member. You can also search by interest to see members who may have like interests as yourself.

Advocacy Reminder - Survey and Training

by Sylvia Bernstein

You can help the LWVBC prepare for a busy and productive upcoming legislative session in the following ways:

1) Please fill out this survey to let us know what you think we should advocate for, and what you would like to be involved in.

2) Please plan to attend the LWVBC Advocacy Training on Saturday, December 11 from 10:00 - 11:30. You will learn the difference between advocacy and lobbying, how all levels of the League (national, state and local) approach advocacy, and how you can advocate for positive change. Register here.

3) Please let Sylvia Bernstein (SylviaLBernstein@gmail.com) know if you would like to participate in the new Advocacy Team. We will be meeting regularly during the legislative session to follow the activities of the LWVCO Legislative Action Committee and to take action to optimize our impact as a local League.

Shiquita Yarbrough elected to Longmont City Council

We have exciting League Member news to share!

Current LWVBC Member and former Board Member Shiquita Yarbrough has been elected to the City of Longmont City Council. We are thankful for your service through League at the local and state level and look forward to seeing all you will do for the City of Longmont.

Congratulations Shiquita!

Another Look at Council Elections in Boulder County

By Mark Parsons of the Voting Methods Team

In the February 2021 VOTER newsletter, our LWVBC Voting Methods Team presented a better way to display multi-winner Boulder and Lafayette council elections, using the 2019 Boulder council election results. By clicking on the link below, you can view the improved reporting of results for three 2021 Boulder County elections – this time including the Longmont 2-winner at-large council member election.

In other voting method news, we were happy to see that Broomfield passed an initiative to have future mayors and council members elected through Instant-Runoff Voting, the same form of Ranked-Choice Voting that the city of Boulder will use to directly elect its mayor beginning in 2023.

Read the article on Boulder County elections here

Who Would You Like to Honor with a Special Holiday Gift?

By Anne Bryan

At this time of year, we find ourselves thinking of friends and colleagues whom we’ve worked with, joined for League activities, learned from and – often – missed seeing during the past months.

Sometimes it’s hard to think of just the right gift to express our feelings of friendship and gratitude, but LWVBC offers a wonderful opportunity to recognize and thank friends, family and colleagues during the holidays: give a gift in honor of or in memory of someone you care for and admire.

You can make the gift on the LWVBC website after signing in as a member. Under “Join and Support Us” select “Donate” and you will see options for giving. Once you select the fund to donate to, you’ll be able to complete your gift, including amount, payment method and options for notifying the recipient.

Donation page here.

When your gift is received, the League will notify the honoree of the gift (without showing the amount). If the gift is in memory of someone, any family or contacts will be notified of the memorial. These gifts will also be published in the Voter to further share recognition of honorees.

I’ve just made gifts in honor of two League members who’ve been my friends and colleagues over the past four years – and it feels wonderful! I hope you will take this opportunity for holiday happiness too!

Boulder County Elections Results 2021

All Boulder County election results are found at this BoCo elections site.

Of interest, Boulder County had a turnout of 47% in this odd-year election. This compares to the Colorado turnout of 40%.

The last presidential election (2020) had a Boulder County turnout of 90% while the last off-year election (2018) had 82% turnout.

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