| April 2022
Editor Jennifer Bales
communications@lwvbc.org | | | See materials for the 2022 Annual Meeting
at the end of this newsletter
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President's Letter
for April 2022
By Elizabeth Crowe | | | |
Extra! Extra! Read All About It | What an information-packed newsletter we have this month! Time to settle in and read up on some of the latest initiatives and advocacy from our advocacy teams, new Board members and our new Operations Coordinator staff, and prepare for our Annual Meeting coming up on May 14th. Adding to those items, I wanted to share the results from some recent Voter Service activities.
First, LWVBC held a virtual candidate forum for the Town of Erie Board of Trustees election, held on April 5. It looks like at least 500 community members participated in some way in viewing the forum, either live on Zoom or by viewing the candidate forum recording on YouTube! Many thanks to Pat Vero with the Erie Chamber of Commerce; our Candidate Forum Team members Jo Porter (coordinator) and Martine Elianor (moderator); Zoom administration volunteers Jackson Moody and Sylvia Bernstein; and the candidates themselves. Member Stacie Johnson also wrote and submitted a Letter to the Editor encouraging Erie residents to be informed about the candidates. A great effort all around, and a good kick-off to the 2022 election season.
Next, the City of Louisville special election on April 19 features a ballot issue on development of the Redtail Ridge property. League was asked by several parties to help get information out about this important issue in the form of a virtual issue forum (which unfortunately was not able to occur). Thanks to Ballot Issue Team members Deborah Hayes and Peggy Leech, with support from Rionda Osman-Jouchoux, LWVBC was able to research, write and virtually publish a “pro/con” informational piece on the Redtail Ridge ballot issue. Appreciate everyone’s work to provide clear, nonpartisan information on this high-profile and somewhat confusing issue; it’s what League is all about.
With many more election activities on the horizon, please consider how you might want to join a Voter Service team and help Boulder County community members vote smart.
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Welcome New League Staff and Leaders | Please join in welcoming four great new leaders to LWVBC! First, we are excited to introduce our new Operations Coordinator, Eli Grimm (pronouns: they/them). Eli is starting this part-time staff role on April 19; taking the reins from our past Operations Director Mandy Nuku.
Eli is a student at CU-Boulder who worked as Operations Coordinator for New Era Colorado (a nonprofit with a similar mission to LWV, to inform and engage youth voters) and we’re glad they are able to share their experiences and skills with LWVBC.
| | Here are a few words from Eli: “"First and foremost, I must express gratitude. I'm honored to step into an organization with such a rich, impactful history. I come from a long line of League members, proud women whose work spans generations and state lines. I began my career with New Era Colorado, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering the next generation of active voters. Now, I have the opportunity to work for an organization with a century of wins already under its belt. For the generations who paved the way and the generations to come, I'm eager to dive in and help the League accomplish our mission! | | | | Next up, welcome to Lisa Moreno (pronouns: she/her) who was appointed by the LWVBC Board as an At-Large Board Member. Lisa is a resident of Longmont who has diverse experiences in the political and advocacy arenas. | | From serving as a Legislative Assistant to US Senator Pat Schroeder, to working with nonprofit environmental organizations, to her recent role as VP of Programs at the Community Foundation of Boulder County, to her current role at Boulder County Community Services, Lisa has many skills to share with us. Lisa has already been helping plan our May Annual Meeting and is also interested in researching ballot issues. Whatever her chosen tasks, we’re fortunate to have her. | | | | Emma Piller (pronouns: she/her) has also been approved to the LWVBC Board as our new Voter Services Director. | | This is a new role for Emma, however she has been a League member and several years ago, helped spur our local League study and position on non-citizen rights. Like Lisa, Emma has experience working for elected officials – in her case, for Senator Sonya Jaquez Lewis – and recently worked for Emerge Colorado, an organization that recruits and trains women to run for office. Already, Emma has shown a passion for expanding and deepening outreach and engagement with community members through voter services. Great things are in store! | | | | A sincere thank you to Susan Curtis, who is filling the Membership Director position for the remainder of this year and will be on the ballot for the upcoming election of officers at the Annual Meeting on May 14. | | Susan joined the LWVBC in 2020, lives in Lafayette and calls Colorado her home of 40 years. She earned a B.S. and M.S. from Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Florida. Her career experience included community college teaching, community college curriculum design and, primarily, organization and leadership development in corporations and her own consulting practice. Her past community service includes nine years on the Board of Goodwill Industries of Denver, including Chair. In addition to the League of Women Voters, Susan currently serves on the advisory board of the Lafayette Public Library and is active in her community of Indian Peaks. Susan enjoys skiing in the winter and golf, biking and hiking the rest of the year. | | | The National LWV Convention is in Denver this Summer with LWVCO and LWVBC Hosting Caucuses
| LWVUS is holding their national convention in Denver, June 23-June 26 2022. Our local League is allowed four delegates to represent LWVBC and other members may also attend. LWVBC will engage in a process very soon to determine which interested members should be delegates. To read about the purpose of LWVUS Convention and more information about the event, visit the LWVUS convention page.
As you probably know, LWVBC members Gaythia Weis and Neal McBurnett were instrumental in the LWVCO Election Security position which is being considered for concurrence at the LWVUS convention.
In addition LWVBC will be co-sponsoring two caucuses on voting methods.
- Can Your League Improve Democracy by Working for Approval or STAR Voting?
- Advocating for Ranked Choice Voting in Municipal Election
| | Learn about Colorado's Extreme Risk Protection Order laws. Colorado Ceasefire will present an hour-long webinar that explains how ERPOs work, addresses myths and misunderstandings, and includes time for Q&A on Wednesday, May 11 from 6:30 PM until 8:00 PM. Please register for the ERPO videoconference here. | | | Help CIRC to support “Cover All Coloradans” bill in Legislature
by Peggy Leech
Our friends from CIRC (Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition) are asking for our help with HB22-1289 “Health Benefits for Colorado Children and Pregnant Persons” (also known as “Cover All Coloradans”). LWVCO’s Legislative Action Committee (LAC) voted to support the bill, and I testified in committee on March 25 on behalf of the League. The committee referred the bill to the Appropriations Committee with a vote of 8-4.
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Welcome to Our Newest Member!
The LWV of Boulder County would like to welcome back Emma Piller from Westminster who is rejoining the League.
Member Coffee
Don’t miss our next virtual Member Coffee on Saturday, April 16, 10:00 -11:30 AM. Our topic for April will be “Expanding Young Voters in Boulder County”. Elizabeth Holden from the County Clerk’s office will join us to discuss the office's community outreach updates & opportunities around engaging youth in voting. We hope you can join us. Invite a friend! Please register for the coffee here.
Welcome to Susan Curtis, Membership Director
From outgoing membership director Jean McGuire. Please see the President's letter above for a picture and short bio.
| Election Timing – a “Perfect” but “Difficult” League Study
by Celeste Landry
Our new LWVBC study on Timing of Local Elections has been called both a “perfect” topic for a League study by a former LWVBC president and a “difficult” question by elections law expert Rick Hasen.
If you are interested in helping with this perfect-difficult League study, email study@lwvbc.org or call Celeste Landry at 303 440 4395.
Read the complete election timing article here. | |
Legislative Action Committee Report | This is the third installment of reports on the activities of the LWVCO Legislative Action Committee (LAC). For those of you who are new to the League, the LAC is a group of League members from all over the state who meet virtually on Friday mornings from 9 - 11 to discuss how the LWVCO should respond to upcoming bills. Members of the LAC adopt a topic area that they feel particularly passionate about, and follow the bills that correspond to that topic area. Often there are multiple LAC members for a topic.
Legislative areas include Health Care, Voting and Elections, Education, Environment, Fiscal, Gun Safety, Housing, Climate, Justice, Income Assistance, Higher Education, and other. Please see the entire LAC report for a rundown of the status of the bills and the positions LAC has taken on them.
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2022 Annual Meeting Materials
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Meeting announcement
- Budget Preamble
- Proposed Budget 2022-2023
- Financial Review
- Nominations
- Positions for Action
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Annual Meeting Announcement
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Budget Preamble
Proposed LWVBC 2022-23 Budget
| The Budget Committee is pleased to share the proposed 2022-23 budget, which was approved by the LWVBC Board. Budget Committee members are Jennie Arbogash, Elizabeth Crowe, Pat Long, Jean McGuire, David Stemler, Ruth Stemler. The Budget Committee feels it is important to provide some context and explanation about our proposed budget, for the LWVBC members' consideration.
The committee feels this proposed budget enables the LWVBC to ensure effective organizational operations and carry out our essential voter services and advocacy activities for positive community impact. Our proposed budget does not increase dues. To meet our proposed expenditures, we will have to sustain or increase memberships and continue diversifying our funding sources including in the areas of voter service sponsorships, individual donor cultivation, grant writing and event income.
The proposed budget shows a deficit of $9,958, which is due almost entirely to a one-year transition in the practice of billing for the Per Member Payment (PMP) by the State and National offices. This has a significant impact on our budget for 2022-2023. We will, in effect, have twice the PMP expense during this next fiscal year.
LWVUS and LWVCO will send out PMP invoices for the 2021 calendar year’s portion of our accumulated dues in the late summer of 2022, based on the number and kind of memberships on our league roster as of January 31, 2022. This has been the normal practice for collecting PMP from local leagues. The new system will automatically deduct the PMP amounts from local leagues’ accounts on a monthly basis as memberships are renewed or activated through Club Express. The LWVBC is participating in the testing phase and experienced the first “automatic” deduction of PMP in March of 2022.
After careful consideration of each line item, the Committee determined that the amounts are realistic, necessary, and that if we need to use a small amount of reserve funds, it will be worth the investment. LWVBC is still transitioning to an organization with staff capacity and a larger number of volunteers to meet the demand for voter service and advocacy. We believe that the investment in staffing, volunteer management, fund development and other operational activities is necessary in order for LWVBC to thrive.
A budget is a guideline, and unexpected revenue and expenses will undoubtedly occur. Meanwhile, LWVBC has good reserves to be able to handle investment in our future. The Board has carefully considered the value of our expenditures in living up to our core mission and objectives.
|  | FINANCIAL REVIEW for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-2022
League of Women Voters of Boulder County (LWVBC)
I have reviewed the record keeping of LWVBC which includes monthly revenue and expenditures reports, beginning and ending cash balances and the FY end bank statement/reconciliation.
I find that the books are an accurate reflection of the financial condition of the LWVBC for the FY 2021-2022 and of its operations and cash flows for that fiscal year. I commend the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer for their commitment to accuracy, clarity, transparency and compliance with recommended best League and general accounting practices.
Respectfully submitted,
Carol Brown
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2022-2023 Positions for Action | The LWVBC 2022 Positions For Action Review meeting was held virtually on Saturday, February 19, 2022 and the results were reported in the March 2022 Voter. LWVBC's position recommendations below, were approved by member vote at the meeting in February. Members have the opportunity to affirm this vote at our May 14, 2022 Annual Meeting:
- Retain all local positions.
- Retain all state positions.
- Initiate a LWVBC study regarding timing of municipal elections and special district elections in Boulder County.
- Support the new LWVCO position on election security, and support the request for concurrence at the national LWV Convention.
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