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MEMBERS MATTER NEWSLETTER
February 2024
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Happy Birthday League of Women Voters!
As we commemorate our 104th anniversary on February 14th, we extend our gratitude to all our members, spanning from the local to the national level, for their invaluable contributions. In this celebration, we also pay tribute to the late Dr. Deborah Ann Turner, President of the League of Women Voters, whose wisdom resonated during her nearly four-year leadership. May her words continue to inspire us as we uphold Dr. Turner's legacy, dedicated to Empowering Voters and Defending Democracy.
“Our work is more important than ever, and we must stand in our power. Our network is vast because it is rooted in our communities. Our passion runs deep, and our voices together form a resounding chorus. We are one League, and we fight on behalf of every voter in every corner of this country….At the League, we protect the vote. For everyone."
February marks Black History Month, a time to reflect on and celebrate the contributions of Black advocates and their experiences.
Anya Dillard, a 19-year-old human rights and social justice activist, social entrepreneur, model, content creator, and aspiring filmmaker, embodies this spirit. She is the founder of The Next Gen Come Up, a grassroots organization that inspires youth to pursue social change through art and content creation.
Anya shares, "Growing up Black inspired me to become a revolutionary because, to me, it meant waking up every single morning and realizing that I am my ancestors’ wildest dream."
Young women stand at the forefront of the fight for democracy and our futures. Let us join and honor their courage as we support their activism. I encourage you to read about Anya in the LWVUS Blog.
Leaguers, we face a busy February ahead. The legislative session presents challenges and opportunities in our ongoing efforts to protect voting rights and defending democracy. Unfortunately, we continue to witness harmful legislation that undermines citizens' rights, restricts access to the ballot, and introduces opportunities for election sabotage, all under the guise of preventing fraud.
So, what can we do? Show up and leave no opportunity behind!
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Join us in meeting the League goal of collecting at least 10,000 signatures to get the Arizona for Abortion Access Act on the ballot and meet the campaign goal of 750,000 signatures. We can do this. We need all hands on deck. Find out where to sign a petition or get more petitions: Volunteer Opportunities, Events, and Petitions Near Me · Mobilize.
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Read the Advocacy and Action newsletters published weekly during the legislative session. Respond to the calls to action therein. Read previous issues here.
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Watch for texts urging Request to Speak (RTS) actions and attend the numerous events planned for Legislative Week.
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Stay connected: Download the League in Action app on your phone and follow the state and Metro Phoenix Leagues on social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter). Also, whitelist the following emails: INFOLWVMP@gmail.com, LWVazadvoccy@gmail.com, and LWVArizona@gmail.com.
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Above all, make your presence felt at the All Member Meeting to demonstrate your League Spirit. Register now!
2024 State Council and 2024 National Convention
Apply to attend the 2024 LWV Arizona Council and LWVUS Convention as a delegate. As a grassroots organization, the League ensures its members have a voice in decision-making at all levels. Members participate in electing board members and officers, shaping policy positions, approving budgets and bylaws, and providing direction for future plans.
Delegates play a crucial role in representing LWVMP at state and national conventions and councils. Each local league is allocated delegate slots based on its membership count as of January 31st each year. Delegates wield voting power on budgets, officer elections, bylaw amendments, and policy directions of LWVAZ and LWVUS.
Click here to read more about League Conventions and Councils and complete the application to attend as a delegate. The application submission deadline is March 1, 2024.
I am looking forward to seeing you all at the All Member Meeting.
Pinny Sheoran, President
LWV Metro Phoenix
480.540.4934
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Monday-Thursday, Feb. 19-23, 12-1 pm: LWV Arizona Legislative Week. Lunch and Learn virtual sessions. The public is invited to attend. Registration link.
Friday, Feb. 23, 9 am - 2 pm: Legislative Day at the Capitol. This event is for all LWV members in Arizona. Registration link.
Sunday, Feb. 25, 10 am - 1 pm: LWVMP All Member Meeting “League Passport to Election Engagement.” All LWVMP members are invited free of charge. Registration link
Saturday, March 2, 10 am – 4 pm: Buffalo Soldiers Music Festival. This annual festival at Reposo Park includes music, classic cars, food and games. Proceeds support the Buffalo Soldiers Charity Fund. BuffaloSoldierVolunteerLink
Saturday, March 2: Count Every Vote - A virtual Ballot Tabulation Tour of Yavapai County. Join the LWVAZ and All Voting is Local for this virtual seminar. Learn from the experts about the presidential preference elections [PPE] and gain insight into how Arizona counties count votes. Registration Link
Sat-Sun, March 23-24, 10am - 6pm: Rainbow Festival & Street Fair. A celebration of diversity of the LBGTQ+ community. Located in historic Heritage Square Park. RainbowFestivalVolunteerLink
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Growing our Membership and League Power!
Please join us in welcoming our 17 New League Members who joined in January: Cindy Block, Marcia Brooks, Linda Cateriano, Alberta Farrell, Jill Gargano, Sharon Harriger, Beth McCarthy, Steve McCarthy, Kathy Morrow, Luke Holton, Carla Freeman, Tyler Lee, Elaine Musatto, Lance Ruhter, Debra Ruick, Katie Witman, and Kate Woodruff.
And thank you to all our 30 Renewing Members: Linda Bunting-Blake, Jean Conway, Marcia D'Alessandro, Maureen Delaney, Jocelyn Dustan, Shannon & Mike Gagnon, Jackie & Mark Giles, Nicky Hedayatzadeh, Gail & Luke Holton, Anna Jenkins, Patricia Johnson, Clare Marie Kronemeyer, Shereen Lerner, Linda Maley, Radha Nieburgs-Pappas, Karen Pye, Lorie Schenck, Carly Smith Caniglia, Rebecca Smith Gross, Andrea Smolsey, Peg Straus, Anne Treadwell, Betsy Tatlock, Cassandra Tomei, Ric Watkins, and Felice & Wayne Zensius.
Engagement Highlights
Looking for ways to get involved? The in-person All Member event on 2/25/24 is an excellent way to meet fellow members and find ways to get involved that matter to you. Join us for a great time of community and valuable information about the League as we gear up for the all-important 2024 election! |  | |
Thank you to the recent volunteers at the Martin Luther King Festival, We collected quite a few petition signatures and enjoyed lots of interactions with the public. League members also provided voter registration assistance for the January 19th Naturalization Ceremony. This is always a great reminder of what our democracy means to those who have worked so hard to become citizens.
The Youth Voter Team has been busy updating the Energizing Young Voter materials, going out and presenting to community partners, and actively working with high schools and colleges in the community. In light of Arizona’s status as a battleground state for youth voters, LWV MP was selected to participate in the LWV US Ed Fund Youth Voter Project. The Youth Voter Team is actively looking for student members and all interested members to join. Now is the time to encourage the Youth in our country to vote! If you are interested in joining, please contact Kara, the team lead, at kara_pelletier@yahoo.com or text/call at 480-578-4092
We have some great tabling events in the next couple of months, and we really need volunteers to support these events. Tabling is a great way to reach out to our community and tell them what the League does.
Voter Outreach at Willo Home Tour (300 W. Monte Vista Rd, Phoenix): Sunday, Feb 18, 10 am-5 pm. This event is full. Thank you to all who volunteered.
Voter Outreach at Buffalo Soldier Music Festival (212 E. Alta Vista Rd. Phoenix): Saturday, Mar 2, 10 am - 4 pm. Great event to learn how to be a Captain, volunteering alongside a seasoned Member. Sign up today! We need one more co-captain plus volunteers for all shifts. BuffaloSoldierVolunteerLink
Voter Outreach at Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market (3806 N. Brown Ave, Scottsdale): Saturday, Mar 2, 8 am - 1 pm. ScottsdaleFarmersVolunteerLink
Voter Outreach at Phoenix Rainbow Festival (Heritage Square Park Phoenix): Saturday/Sunday, Mar 23/24, 10 am - 6 pm. We need a captain/co-captain and many of volunteers for this two-day event. RainbowFestivalVolunteerLink
Join the Voter Services meeting on Tuesday, Mar 26, 4:30 - 5:30 pm. We will have some representatives from the League criminal justice team to provide information and answer questions on the felony restoration process. There will be a review on voter registration basics. All are welcome; click link to register: Voter Services Mar 26 MTG registration link |  | |
Volunteers needed to Observe School Board Meetings
School boards across the country are dealing with hot-button issues:
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Banning books
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Removing curriculum that includes anti-racism lessons
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Removing social emotional learning from classrooms
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Restricting use of restrooms for transgendered students/faculty/staff
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Audience members disrupting meetings
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Restrictions on classroom discussion about issues of gender and race
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Curtailing sex education curriculum
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Police presence on campus
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Selecting curriculum that distorts or minimizes the reality of US slaves, or the genocide of Native Americans
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Banning rainbows alongside other “advocacy” symbols
Please help us stay informed about the issues facing our local school boards by volunteering to observe your local school board or join the Education Issues Team. Questions or want to sign? Please email Leslie Hanson at advocacylwvmp@gmail.com. | |
Leadership Opportunities for League Members
Call for Nominations for the Offices of
LWVMP President-Elect, Treasurer, and two Board of Director Positions
President-Elect
Nominations are currently being accepted for the office of LWVMP President-Elect. This position provides the opportunity to work with the President in 2024-25 with the support of an experienced Board of Directors for one year before becoming President in 2025-26. The President-Elect position ensures continuity in the event of a vacancy in the presidency and to allow for a smooth transition and continuation of essential actions and policies approved by the current board. To learn more about this vital leadership role, please read a detailed description of the roles and responsibilities here.
Treasurer
The two-year term for the Office of Treasurer expires this year, so nominations are being accepted for the position of LWVMP Treasurer, serving from 2024 to 2026. General responsibilities include: Presenting monthly financial statements to the Board, preparing the annual budget, preparing and presenting fiscal reports to members, ensuring that dues and other income are received, deposited and recorded, preparing and filing operating fund legal and tax documents with the proper government entities, etc. To learn more about this position, please read the detailed description here.
Board Director
Two elected positions are open for the 2024 - 2026 term. General responsibilities include understanding and maintaining the Leagues’ nonpartisan policy, attending all Board meetings, assisting in overall planning and decision-making, explaining and promoting League activities, and carrying out specific assignments, which may include chairing a Committee.
Notes on the Application Process
Applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences are encouraged to apply. Successful candidates must be League members in good standing. Please submit a personal biography including any relevant experiences and skills to Jean Conway, Nominating Chair, calif.conway@gmail.com, no later than Friday, March 1, 2024. Each candidate will be interviewed by the Nominating Committee via Zoom. | |
Housing Study Committee Education Event
On January 17th, the housing committee hosted the “Home is where it all Starts” forum. This forum is part of a series designed to provide members with background for the consensus questions that will lead to a local public policy position on housing in 2025. If you were unable to attend the forum, we encourage you to watch the recording.
In this forum Amy St Peter of the Maricopa Association of Governments provides an overview of the Home Is Where It All Starts campaign. The campaign's goal is to increase community support for affordable rents and mortgages by changing how we talk about housing. To address the housing shortage in Maricopa County, we must address the NIMBYISM in our communities that not only drags out the housing development process, creating escalating building costs but quite often derails entire projects. Alison Cook-Davis of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University shares recent research about community pushback and additional challenges housing developers face and what we can do to address those challenges.
We also encourage you to fill out the Housing Survey, which will guide our Housing Study Committee as we continue our research: LWVMP Housing Study - Questionnaire. This short survey will give the committee a snapshot of the opinions and priorities of our membership as we begin to develop a position from which we can advocate.
Please email us at InfoLWVMP@gmail.com if you would like to join the LWVMP Housing Study Team. | LWV METRO PHOENIX BOARD OF DIRECTORS | LWV Metro Phoenix Board of Directors
Officers
President and LWVAZ State Board President Elect: Pinny Sheoran
President Elect: Marcia Barry
Secretary: Beth Ballmann
Treasurer, Finance and Development Committee Chair: Barbara Cricket Mitchell
Board of Directors
Advocacy Committee Chair: Leslie Hanson
Budget Committee Chair: Marcia Barry
Bylaws Committee Co-chairs: Jean Conway and Gitelle Seer
Communications Committee Chair: Connie Cornelius
Forums Committee Chair: Cindy Walsh
League Representative to State Board: Gitelle Seer
Membership Committee Chair: Alexis Lane
Nominations Committee Chair: Jean Conway
Voter Services Chair: Gretchen Bolerjack
Contact us at InfoLWVMP@gmail.com | I hope you have enjoyed reading this issue of Members Matter! As always, please feel free to reach out to me personally to share your feedback and League experiences. You can email me at infolwvmp@gmail.com or call 480.540.4934.
In League Service,
Pinny Sheoran, LWVMP President | | | |
LWV Metro Phoenix, 3219 E Camelback Road, #187, Phoenix, AZ 86018 | 858.220.0655
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