| February 2023
Editor Jennifer Bales
communications@lwvbc.org
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for February 2023
By Elizabeth Crowe | | |
Hello League friends!
February is here and with it, an opportunity to celebrate the League’s birthday and spread some Valentine cheer. On February 11, please join for an in-person Member Coffee at the Lafayette Public Library, at which we’ll review and discuss the League’s Equity Assessment and how this tool can help our organization more consistently manifest this important value. There will be coffee, sweets and an opportunity to sign and send League valentines to people in our community who, like us, love democracy! Register here so we know how many people to expect. And while this is a “member coffee”, feel free to grab a friend you think would be interested in hearing about and contributing to our work.
Speaking of equity, many thanks to Michal Duffy, with Out Boulder County, who shared an informative presentation with LWVBC on January 25th, “Beyond Binary.” Our goal for this session was to better understand concepts and etiquette with our Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) community members. Those who attended in-person and virtually, appreciated the thorough presentation and Q&A, which included a few examples of state legislative initiatives impacting the LGBTQ community that League may be able to track and take action upon. In case you missed the presentation, the recording is available on LWVBC’s YouTube channel. Please watch, and help League leaders incorporate inclusivity into all that we do. Also check out our video Beyond Binary.
February is also Black History Month, a time for all of us to learn about, reflect and act upon the need for racial justice in our community and country. As I write this article, our nation again mourns the loss of life of another unarmed Black man, Tyre Nichols, at the hands of police. A joint statement by LWVUS and LWV Memphis-Shelby County notes, “At the League, we seek a democracy that values and cherishes every person. When our systems continue to enact violence on Black bodies, our democracy is not whole.”
I encourage all League members to join around this vision, all year round. And, for some great opportunities to celebrate Black History Month here in Boulder County, check out these offerings from the Boulder County NAACP and partners.
| Calling All Members!
Positions for Action Meetings | Please join us for one of this year's Positions for Actions Meetings. Coffee, tea & snacks will be provided at the Frasier Meadows meeting. | | This is the only full membership event where members can:
- Identify Positions for Action and/or studies to pursue on the local level
- Recommend additions to, revisions to, or deletions of existing League positions on
the local, state and national levels
This is a grassroots effort and we want to hear from all of you about what we should be working on, and what YOU are willing to help with. This is where it all starts: with you, the members, providing direction for the League's agenda.
Please register here for this important activity. Find the Position documents for LWVBC, LWVCO, and LWVUS linked on the registration page.
The chart below gives useful descriptions of terms used by League in these activities.
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• Voting Methods Team News
• Petition Efforts to Revert to a Former Type of Election
• Follow-Up to Some Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) Elections
• Growing Interest in Minor Political Parties
• Boulder County-Related House District (HD) Vacancy Committee Selections
| Easy, No or Low Cost Ways to Give to LWVBC
By Mary Ann Wilner | As a 501(c)3 charitable organization, LWVBC can accept gifts of many kinds and any size to address program priorities or activities as they arise, or to fund ongoing operations. Here is a “how to” for supporting the League when you shop or to donate your old car.
• Support League when you Shop. When you shop with King Soopers your purchases can support the League. No more refillable cards!! Learn more and get started supporting League while you shop. (Safeway is currently redesigning their methods for donations from shoppers and Amazon is stopping its Amazon Smiles in February.)
• Donate your old car. Donating your old car or truck to LWVBC is another convenient, easy way to make a big difference. Filling out one simple form is all you need to do; we’ll take care of the rest. Donate your old car or truck today.
• Gift an LWVBC Membership. Choose between a gift of $20 toward membership or the full membership dues. Encourage your friends, family and associates to join by gifting them a membership. Give a gift membership today.
| From the Climate Action Team
By Jeannette Hillery | | Although it is winter it is time to start thinking about lawn and garden projects for spring and summer. If you live in Boulder there are Waterwise seminars for lawn replacement and learning more about xeriscape and sustainable landscape practices. Contact www.ResourceCenter.org for more information. | 2022-2023 LWVBC Handbook Available | | Thanks to Mary Anne Davitt for updating the League of Women Voters of Boulder County handbook. The Handbook may be downloaded here. The handbook covers our principles and mission, history, leadership, positions, and more. | In Colorado's 12 Congressional District, elected representative Tracey Bernett has resigned and Kyle Brown was selected to replace her by a Boulder County Democratic Party vacancy committee. This means the Colorado General Assembly is now made up of 50 women and 50 men.
Louisville has two Ward III members on the city council. Louisville already had one vacancy in Ward III because Dennis Maloney was appointed mayor (when the former mayor Ashley Stolzmann resigned to serve as county commissioner) and is in the process of filling that vacancy. Rep Brown is resigning from his Ward III council seat (and also from his state job with the Division of Insurance) to serve as state rep so both Ward III seats will need to be filled prior to the regular 2023 November elections.
Women have unprecedented budgeting power during this congressional session. According to an an electoral-vote.com article Shalanda Young leads the Office of Management and Budget, Susan Collins (R-ME) is the ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Patty Murray (D-WA) is chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Kay Granger (R-TX) is chair of the House Appropriations Committee, and Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) is ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. This New York Times article has more. | Welcome to these new members who recently joined: Aneka Finley and Kerri Surbaugh; Mariah Williams has joined as a new student member.
If your membership is up for renewal, please do so promptly. Everyone who is due for renewal receives an email with information to renew. If you are a student member, please go to the website and renew. Even though there is no cost for student memberships, renewal is required to keep your membership current.
LWVBC Merit Awards Nominations:
It’s time to send in your nominations for LWVBC Merit Awards which will be announced at the Annual Meeting in May. We want to honor those members and community partners who have made a difference in our work since July 1, 2022. Think of actions and events that were important. Who made them happen? We want to hear from you!
Send your nominations by email to Susan Curtis at membershipdirector@lwvbc.org with the subject line 2023 LWVBC Award Nominations. The deadline for nominations is March 10, 2023. When submitting names, please include a few sentences describing why the nominee should receive the award. Be specific of the award for which you are nominating each person. Please note that we usually do not give a member the same award two years in a row. The Membership Team will review the nominations and make recommendations of award recipients to the Board for approval. Awards are presented at the May annual meeting.
Merit awards given at the May 2022 Annual Meeting were:
Community Partner — Ana Fernandez Frank, Public Policy and Community Outreach Coordinator, Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA)
Team Member of the Year—Operations and/or Issue
Issue — Mary Anne Davitt
Operations — Jo Porter, Holly Monkman and Carol Brown (Voter Services Team)
Issue Team Leader of the Year — Tara Menza, (Gun Safety)
Operations Team Leader of the Year — Debby Vink (Nominating Committee)
LWVBC Board Member of the Year — Ruth Stemler
LWVBC Members of the Year — Gaythia Weis and Neal McBurnett
Award categories in addition to those above are:
Elected Official
Emerging LWVBC Leader
Emerging Youth Leader
LWVBC Student Member Scholarship:
The deadline to apply for the 2023 LWVBC Student Member $500 Tuition Scholarship is April 1, 2023. Please contact Susan Curtis at membershipdirector@lwvbc.org to receive an application form. Qualifications for the scholarship are:
- The student member will have been a member of the League of Women Voters of Boulder County for one year as of May 1, 2023 and fulfilled the 20 volunteer hours requested of student members in exchange for free membership.
- The student member demonstrates an understanding of the mission and function of the League of Women Voters.
- The student member has made a demonstrable contribution to the mission and activities of the League.
- The student member will be recommended by three members of LWVBC, one of whom is a member of the LWVBC Board.
- The student can provide evidence of enrollment in a degree or certificate program of an accredited Colorado institution of post-secondary learning.
The scholarship winner will be announced at the annual meeting in May. Hannah Rain Crowe received the scholarship last year.
League Events in February:
February 11 — Membership Coffee, Lafayette Public Library, 775 Baseline Road, Lafayette, lover level conference room. 10:15 - 11:45 a.m. Celebration of LWV founding and equity assessment conversation.
February 18 — Positions for Action, Frasier Meadows, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
February 22 — Positions for Action, via Zoom, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
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