November President s Message

Transcription

1 League of Women Voters of Torrance Serving Carson, Gardena, Harbor City, Lomita and Torrance The Voter Diversity Policy The League of Women Voters of Torrance, in both its values and practices, affirms its belief and commitment to diversity and pluralism. This means that there shall be no barriers to participation in any activity on the basis of gender, race, creed, age, sexual orientation, national origin or disability. Inside this Issue: Voter Service News 2 Tri-League Events 3 Voter Registration Ends 3 LWV/LAC News 5 LWVCalifornia News 6 LWVUS News 7 (Immigration Study) Calendar 8 Contacts 8 All LWVT members are encouraged to provide relevant articles and calendar events for publication in The Voter oter. Articles must be nonpartisan and are subject to editing. Submissions are ed to barbarabk@sbcglobal.net before the first weekend of each month. The editor is not responsible for verifying the accuracy of the information reported. Editor: Barbara Barker Ten issues of the LWVT VOTER are published each year by the: League of Women Voters of Torrance Post Office Box 964, Torrance, CA November 2006 President s Message Wow! We are surviving another election and, as usual, it was very interesting. Hope you have watched the candidate s forum and the judicial tapes on cable. The League is starting the LWVUS Immigration Study and we are asking for Committee members. This is a three-year study. Please look at the very interesting Immigration article in this issue (page 7). Also on January 27, 2007, a coalition of Leagues is sponsoring a forum on Judicial Independence. We have acceptances from very well known outstanding speakers. Please look for the flyer in the January Voter. The Board thanked Pat Kromka, Voter Service Director, for doing an astonishing job on the candidate s forum and Smart Voter. As mentioned earlier, Pat was also the recipient of the Lomita Older American Award for A big around of applause for Pat. Hope to see you at the Holiday Pot Luck in December.V Linda Brown Co-President Time for a Check Up Please check your entry in the League Roster. It is being updated, and we need the current information now! Please contact Linda Brown for changes. Holiday Potluck Thursday, December 7, pm (Board Mtg. 5:30) Eunice Hargrove s Home 458 Calle Miramar Redondo Beach, CA Citizens Step Forward for Commissioner Training Sue Herbers, Torrance City Clerk and LWVT member, informed the Board that more than 120 citizens attended the City s Commissioner Training Sessions. The City has made it mandatory that volunteers attend a training to be eligible for appointment to a Commission. It is great to see so many residents interested in participating in the City s future. Thanks! The League would like to thank the following for their generous contributions: Anita Fielding

2 November 2006 Page 2 League of Women Voters of Torrance News Voter Service presents Successful Candidates Forum A Candidates Forum sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Torrance and of Beach Cities was held with the candidates for State Assembly District 53, State Senator District 28 and US Congressional District 36 participating at the George Nakano Theatre, Torrance, on Sunday, October 22, Pat Kromka of LWVT and Linda Mack of Beach Cities, organized the endeavor. We want to commend Pat Kromka on her untiring efforts to reach all the candidates for their commitment to the forum and also to assist them in using Smart Voter. All but one candidate attended the Forum where LWV Beach Cities Jan Nathanson (pictured below) served as moderator. The seats of the Nakano Theatre were nearly filled and the questions were plentiful and interesting. Torrance Community Cable filmed the entire event and is running the Forum nightly at 7 pm on Channel 28. Board of Directors Co-Presidents: Barbara Barker Linda Brown 1 st Vice President: Eunice Hargrove 2 nd Vice President: Sue Herbers Secretary: Kay White Treasurer: Sandra Strong Directors Action: Lola Ungar Communications: Sydne Morrison Ed./Juvenile Justice: Vacant Government/Elections: Sue Herbers Land Use: Lola Ungar Membership: Eunice Hargrove Observers: Vacant Public Relations: Lola Ungar Social Policy: Barbara Barker Voter Editor: Barbara Barker Voter Service: Pat Kromka Off-Board Portfolios Telephone Tree: Sydne Morrison Nominating Committee: Adriene Henry, (chair), Dee Hardison Ann Smisek, Barbara Barker, and Eunice Hargrove While Pat Kromka was definitely the energizing force behind this event, many others also gave their time and expertise. Members from both Leagues helped to set up the venue, welcome guests, time the responses, and assist the candidates with their election material. Torrance city staff, especially Daniel Krockel, Facilities Operation Chief, General Services, who supervised the room set up. Renard Ricks, Production Supervisor, and Mark Doddy), TCTV Coordinator (pictured with Pat Kromka), of the Cable Division of the City Manager s office and their staff worked with Pat Kromka to plan the taping and broadcast of the Forum, a service that provides election information to all cable users in Torrance. These City representatives have worked with the League in providing services to the public for many years and LWVT truly appreciates their professionalism and dedication. Our hats are off to everyone who participated in this Forum. Committees Fundraising: Janice Steffen Tri-League Liaison: Linda Brown Mission The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

3 November 2006 Page 3 League of Women Voters of Torrance News MEETING THE NEEDS OF AN AGING POPULATION Wednesday, November 29th 7:00 to 8:45 pm Redondo Beach Main Library, 303 N Pacific Coast Highway For seniors, caregivers, and those with aging parents. Listen. Learn. Ask the experts. Save the Date! TRI-LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS BEACH CITIES PALOS VERDES TORRANCE Invites You to a Go See Guided Tour AES POWER PLANT Nate Riddick Los Angeles County Commission on Aging Bill Larson South Bay Senior Services Marilyn Rafkin Beach Cities Health District Mary Tabata Healthcare and Elder Law Programs (park in lower garage, take elevator to 2nd floor) Sponsored by: League of Women Voters of the Beach Cities Redondo Beach Main Library Beach Cities Health District South Coast Interfaith Council (310) info@beachvoter.org THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, :30 A.M. 12:00 NOON 1021 NORTH HARBOR DRIVE REDONDO BEACH Requirement: no open toed shoes; hard hats will be provided Voter Registration ended October 23 rd Sandra and Ed Strong set up our LWVT table at the Torrance Farmer s Market on Saturday, October 21 to assist citizens who had not registered to vote. They reported that several people stopped by the table and three were assisted with their registration. Two other groups were at the Market. Approximately a dozen people were registered.

4 November 2006 Page 4 League of Women Voters Torrance News About the League The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League has two separate and distinct roles. The League of Women Voters of California Education Fund, which conducts our voters service and citizen education activities, is a 501(c)(3) corporation, a nonprofit educational organization. The League of Women Voters of Torrance, a membership organization, conducts action and advocacy and is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) corporation. The League never supports or opposes any political party or candidate. We advocate only on issues that members have studied and on which they have come to consensus. In an era of proliferating and powerful special interests, the League s advocacy in the public interest is increasingly recognized as an essential voice of democracy. With membership comes the opportunity to work with well-informed, grassroots activists on a broad range of public policy concerns. The League provides members with opportunities to learn valuable, transferable skills, including how to organize and run productive meetings, write more effectively, speak in public, organize and run effective campaigns, conduct research studies, and coordinate general civic leadership training. Judicial Independence Why You Should Care! Saturday, January 27, 2007 Loyola Law School 919 Albany Street Los Angeles 10:a.m. 3:00 p.m. Is Justice for Sale? Is Big Money corrupting the judicial system? Are special interest groups/attack ads pressuring judges to conform? Are politicians influencing the appointment of judges? Are Judges leaving en masse for better pay and working conditions? What is happening to our judicial system? Nationwide? In California? Although criticisms of the courts have been a persistent part of the American landscape since the beginning of the republic, has it become more vicious, more political, more influenced by political or special interest groups than ever? Although California has nonpartisan judicial races, more and more political parties and other organizations are putting money and endorsements into judicial races. Organized efforts to overturn controversial decisions have increased. Some judges have been forced out of office by the concentrated efforts of special interests. The court system in California has been threatened with reduced funding because of rulings which affected the state legislature A recent US Supreme Court ruling has said that candidates for the judiciary should be able to speak on issues important to the public. What Can We Do? The upcoming community forum, Judicial Independence Why You Should Care!, will address that question. Superior and Appellate Court Judges, professors, other experts will be engaged in lively, yet scholarly discussions. A well known judicial expert will be the keynote speaker at lunch. A televised documentary will be made of the forum. Of all the branches of government, the judiciary is the least understood. We are constantly reminded by the public that they don t have enough information on the judicial candidates and the judicial system to know how to vote. So join us and learn about your judicial system and the threats to the long-standing separation of powers. REGISTRATION FORM Judicial Independence January 27, 2007 Reservation Deadline January 20, Name(s): Phone ( ) Address City No. Reservations (lunch $30.00 Total $ Make check payable to LWVLA and send with form to LWVLA, 3250 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1005, Los Angeles CA If you have any questions, please call our office at

5 November 2006 Page 5 League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County News Reasons to vote on Election Day This letter to the Editor ran in the Daily Breeze on Tuesday, October 31 st. Adell Shay's Oct. 21 column, "Hard to believe one vote counts at midterm elections," forlornly ended with, "It is a strange time to be American. It is a strange time to vote and be counted or to stay home and be still." I'll tell you why you shouldn't stay home and why everyone should vote. The most important reason is because it is your fundamental right as an American and the most basic means by which you have a voice in how your government works. By voting, you participate in a process that determines who will represent you, your family and your neighbors in your community, your state and your country. Your representatives in the state Legislature and the Congress determine the direction the United States plays in the world. Your judges make judgments that determine the fate of you and those around you. And there are also 13 statewide propositions on the ballot, too. Some of these propositions will determine California's destiny in transportation, housing, education, the environment and public funding for fair elections. An average of only one vote per precinct passed women's suffrage in California (1911). One vote made Tennessee the 36th state to ratify the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote (1920). One vote elected Lyndon B. Johnson, our 36th president, to be a U.S. senator (1948).One additional vote per precinct in Illinois, Missouri, New Jersey and Texas would have denied John F. Kennedy the presidency and put Richard M. Nixon in office eight years earlier (1960). In recent years, the outcomes of many state and congressional races have been reversed as recounts have shifted a handful of votes from one candidate to another. Each vote is the voice of a U.S. citizen. One voice speaking out can change the course of history. -- LOLA UNGAR President, League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County, Torrance During this election season, more and more organizations are calling upon local Leagues of Women Voters (there are 13 leagues in Los Angeles County) to provide pros and cons or advocacy talks. And we are getting acquainted with the candidates through leaguesponsored forums and county league-produced interviews with the eight candidates running for four bench seats that are being shown on local cable stations throughout the county. For more information, you can also access Just enter your zip code. Why don't more Americans register and vote? The most likely reason: They don't think their one vote will make a difference. But what if just one person on every street or in every voting precinct thought that way? We might find that the course of history would change. One vote elected Thomas Jefferson president (1800). One vote decided that California, Idaho, Oregon, Texas and Washington would become states. One vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment (1868).

6 November 2006 Page 6 League of Women Voters of California News Two LWVC Positions revised The LWVC positions on education or energy have been revised. "Action Policies and Positions " does NOT include the updated positions. Because both positions were substantively revised, it is important that Leagues use the updated positions. A revised edition of "Action Policies and Positions" will be published in November. EDUCATION POSITION IN BRIEF: Support a comprehensive prekindergarten through twelfth grade public education system which meets the needs of each individual student; challenges all students to reach their highest potential; develops patterns of lifelong learning and responsible citizenship. Support improvements in public education, based on access with both equitable and sufficient opportunities to learn for all students. Support a system of public education funding which is adequate, flexible, equitable, reliable and sustainable; derived from a combination of revenue sources; distributed fairly to support access and equitable opportunities for all students. Support formulating broad general guidelines at the state level, with flexibility at the local level for developing and implementing program. Adopted 1973; Updated 1985, The full text of the updated education position is found at Something New on the Program Planning Scene Kate Quick LWVC Communications Director communications@lwvc.org This year, we are going to try something new. Right after the November election, the LWVC will host a list-serve and/or a blog site for the development of program planning ideas. As usual, local Leagues will receive their program planning materials, but they can share their ideas as part of the process of developing their responses. Out of those conversations, local Leagues began to coalesce around issues of interest and developed great written materials, shared articles, and created interesting caucuses at the LWVUS convention. The purpose of this effort is to give local Leagues a place to enrich their thoughts about state Makes voting as easy as 1-2-3! X Your complete personalized ballot anytime you want it X Your polling place X Profiles of candidates in your community X Ballot measures X Election results ENERGY POSITION IN BRIEF: The League supports development of a state energy policy that will ensure reliability of energy resources and protection of the environment and public health and safety, at reasonable customer rates, giving primary consideration to conservation and energy efficiency. State government should provide an efficient, coordinated energy administrative structure with open transparent procedures. Adopted 1978; Updated The full text of the updated energy position is found at WHAT IS A VERTICAL POSITION? A vertical position is a position arrived at through a national, state or ILO study which has been approved for use at lower levels of League without prior permission. If a local League wants to use a position locally which is not vertical, the local League should first contact a member of the LWVC board of directors. Vertical positions are indicated by "Begin Vertical- End Vertical" notation. program by hearing what others have to say on their topics of interest. We feel that this will make program planning more interesting, dynamic and result-oriented than it has been in the past. Early in 2007, the purpose of the list will be changed to pre-convention planning. Caucus planning, information about logistics, room-sharing and ride-sharing opportunities, and where to dine and sightsee in the Bakersfield area will be among the topics we will be sharing in pre-convention planning.

7 November 2006 Page 7 League of Women Voters of the United States News ADVOCACY Take Action Now Against Warrantless Wiretapping! The Senate is considering a bill that would legalize the National Security Administration s (NSA) warrantless wiretapping program. The National Security Surveillance Act of 2006, S. 2453, would seriously jeopardize the civil liberties of ordinary Americans and threaten the checks and balances of our government by expanding the domestic surveillance powers of the President. Take action now! Your Help is Needed on D.C. Voting Rights! We continue to need your help in ensuring that all citizens of the District of Columbia are granted their full voting rights in the House of Representatives! Take action today by urging your Representative to support the D.C. Voting Rights Act. LWVUS Immigration Study News The LWVUS Immigration Study Committee has posted a resource list and brief bios of the Immigration Study Committee on the LWVUS web site. The resource list, Immigration 101: the Basics, lists background information on immigration. Subsequent resource lists will include materials on specific immigration issues. Contact Immigration Study Committee Chair, Carolie Mullan with any questions. Immigration 101: The Basics The following resource list contains introductory and overview information on US immigration. Books and Reports William Dudley, Ed. Illegal Immigration. Opposing Viewpoints Series. Greenhaven Press Includes expert opinions in a pro/con format. Available new and used from amazon.com Oscar Handlin. The Uprooted: The Epic Story of the Great Migrations That Made the American People. Little, Brown and Co University of Pennsylvania Press As the title indicates, this book is about the history of immigration in this country. Both printings are available new and used from amazon.com. Aristide Zolberg. A Nation by Design: Immigration Policy: the Fashioning of America. ( Russell Sage Foundation. 2006) Covers the history of US immigration policy from the Declaration of Independence to date. Articles The State of American Public Opinion on Immigration in Spring 2006: A Review of Major Surveys. Pew Hispanic Center Factsheet. Videos / DVDS Finding Community Sixty-minute excerpt from PBS series, New Americans. Includes guide book. More information at Websites Migration Policy Institute s Migration Information Source provides a gateway to solid demographic information in the US with a link to state-specific information Pew Hispanic Center (see articles) United States Citizenship and Immigration Service website includes not only the nuts and bolts of the various processes of the service, but also immigration statistics. New American Opportunity Campaign (NAOC). Pro-immigrant organization working for comprehensive immigration law reform. Immigration Basics includes helpful information. National Immigration Forum website includes information about current events reports, legislative action, news releases, etc. JOIN THE LEAGUE Yes! I want to make a difference! I want to make a difference in the decisions that affect my life. I know every new member makes the League more effective in influencing public policy on issues I care about. Name(s): Address: Immigration and America s Future: A New Chapter. Report of the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America s Future. Spencer Abraham and Lee H. Hamilton, Co-Chairs. Migration Policy Institute Just released on September 20, 2006, this publication may be ordered on the Migration Policy Institute at for $ Includes policy recommendations. Because of its timeliness and its conciseness (93 pages of text), this may be the one book on immigration issues that you want Tamar Jacoby, Ed. Reinventing the Melting Pot: The New Immigrants and What it Means t be American. NY: Free Press This is a compilation of writings from various authors, expressing a variety of opinions about immigration. Available new and used from amazon.com Ann Chih Lin. Immigration CQs Vital Issues Series. CQ Press Even handed analysis of immigration, covering all sides of issue. Available new and used from amazon.com Ruben Martinez. Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail.. (Henry Holt and Co.). First person, anecdotal account of a migrant family. New and used, paperback and hard copy available at amazon.com City: Zip Telephone: (Day) (Evening) Individual $60 Household $90 Student $30 Please make checks payable to: League of Women Voters of Torrance Mail to: League of Women Voters of Torrance Post Office Box 964, Torrance, CA Membership in the League of Women Voters I open to all men and women of voting age who are U.S. citizens. Others are welcome to join the League as associate members.

8 November 2006 Page 8 Keep up to date with important League of Women Voters communications. Check out national, state and county issues on-line at: National: State: County: Torrance: Smart Voter: Easy Voter: For protection of privacy, when sending s that include anyone outside this membership, please address the names on the Blind CC (BCC) line so that the addresses do not show. Board Meetings are open to all members and held on the first Thursday of each Month except May at the Torrance Historical Society Building located at Post and Cravens in downtown Torrance. November Calendar Election Day: U.S. Congress, Senate, Assembly, State Senate, State Offices, and Propositions November 14 Middle School Leadership Conference 11-1 PM Toyota Meeting Hall November 29 Meeting the Needs of an Aging Popula- 7-8:45 pm lation, Redondo Beach Main Library December 7 Holiday Potluck (Board meeting. 5:30) 6 9 PM Eunice Hargrove s home Local and state program planning January 4 Board meeting: 7 9 PM Torrance Historical Soc. January 27 County Winter League Day, Judicial Independence, Loyola Law School, L.A. Feb. 8 Tri-League Go See AES Power Plant 10:30-Noon Redondo Beach March 31 LWV/LAC Convention, Exec. Director of Port of L.A., Geraldine Knatz, South Coast 9:30-3pm Botanic Garden League of Women Voters of Torrance Serving Carson, Gardena, Harbor City, Lomita and Torrance Post Office Box 964 Torrance, CA Address Service Requested Time Dated