JANUARY UNITS: MORE ELECTION REFORM by Maureen Mamula

Transcription

1 Volume 23, No. 4 December 2016 January 2017 JANUARY UNITS: MORE ELECTION REFORM by Maureen Mamula In January we will con/nue our review of the Pennsylvania Elec/on Laws. This is a very /mely topic, with various ar/cles and blogs and opinion pieces appearing in all sorts of media since the elec/on, ques/oning how and why our system was created. Did you know that two states do not necessarily give all electoral college votes to the candidate with the largest vote in that state? How do 3 rd party candidates affect the elec/on? The sec/on we look at in January will deal with possible alterna/ves to how our elec/ons are decided. The study material deals with differences between single winner (e.g., president or governor) and legisla/ve or other mul/ple winner (e.g., school board) elec/ons. The study material is thought provoking and will require opening ourselves to the possibili/es of vo/ng methods other than what we are familiar with and have always used. We are used to our rou/ne, but should remember some things we take for granted were not always the case. In early America, some votes were made by way of a spoken declara/on, in front of those who had come to vote, which was then recorded in wri/ng by the clerk. We are also familiar with some of the prohibi/ons that PA has had about bars and liquor stores not being open on elec/on day again, not the case in colonial America. This is all leading up to please read the relevant sec.on of the study guide, now in a separate file, at hmp://lwvpgh.org/files/study_guide_for_january.pdf and review the consensus ques.ons at hmp://lwvpgh.org/files/january_consensus_ques/ons.pdf. Two diagrams illustra.ng alternate vo.ng systems are at hmp://lwvpgh.org/files/elec/on_systems_illustra/ons.pdf. Reflect on the material and come prepared to discuss and help each other with the material. We will have the powerpoint available, but will be relying on discussion to make our consensus decisions. We will be finishing the Elec/on Law Review in February. The final part of the study involves Primary Elec/ons. This is a shorter sec/on and reviews how Pennsylvania currently conducts primaries as well as several alterna/ves to our current system. The study material is at hmp://lwvpgh.org/files/study_guide_for_february.pdf, and the consensus ques/ons are at hmp://lwvpgh.org/files/february_consensus_ques/ons.pdf. Please join us to help wrap up this important study. The elec/on this year showed how various systems in the states affected the outcomes in the primaries as well as the general elec/on. Our units in March will be program planning more on that in next month s Voter! Please come to one of the mee/ngs in January to have your voice heard as we always tell those we are registering to vote!! MEET YOUR LEGISLATOR: LWVGP sends it members out every year for a one-on-one interview with state legislators. We have a list of ques/ons to ask sent to us by the State League along with reply forms that are due back in Harrisburg by March 1 all instruc/ons provided. January and very early in February are when we schedule appointments before they head back to Harrisburg. Please contact Judy Donohue (jrdono71@gmail.com; ) for an opportunity to meet and get to know your local legislator. In these uneasy /mes for our country, it is good to be in close touch with our elected officials. You may go alone, invite another member to go with you, or join someone already scheduled.

2 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 2 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE POST-ELECTION ANALYSIS LWVGP joined the Greater PiMsburgh Nonprofit Partnership (GPNP) this year and I recently amended their annual mee/ng. It was booked as a post-elec/on analysis. What did we learn? Some of the comments I noted include: There was surprise at how much racial division exists in the country. The advice was don t skirt the topic. Events (such as debates) don t have to be win/lose events. BeMer to have a discussion. In answer to a ques/on on how to engage in the Art of Democracy, the answer was to teach our kids how we govern. Have a conversa/on with them. We need to get bemer at having a conversa/on or dialogue. It is much easier to cri/cize that to come up with construc/ve sugges/ons. Some have confused winning with compromise. Disagreement does not mean disqualifica/on. Need to understand the other side. Need to talk with other legislators and not just the ones with whom we are comfortable. Listen before speaking. Leave our own back yard. Reach outside. Also in this post-elec/on /me period I have amended some an/-racism programs and to some degree the messages are similar; find others with whom you are not comfortable and get to know them. Volume 23, No 4 December 2016 January 2017 Published monthly September-June except January by League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh 436 Seventh Ave., Suite 350 Pittsburgh, PA The League is a nonpartisan organization whose purpose is to encourage the informed participation of citizens in government and to influence public policy through education and advocacy. VOTER Editor: Sue Broughton info@pgh.lwv.org To unsubscribe from the VOTER, send with subject Unsubscribe Hard copy subscriptions are available for $20 per year. These conversa/ons have fairly quickly turned to issues with the criminal jus/ce system in Allegheny County. You will remember our speaker at the September kick-off program was Fred Thieman, former U.S. amorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania and co-chair of the Criminal Jus/ce Task Force. The report from the PiMsburgh Ins/tute of Poli/cs has just been issued. En/tled Criminal Jus/ce in the 21 st Century: Improving Incarcera/on Policies in Allegheny County, the report proposes changes to make the criminal jus/ce system more just, transparent, and cost effec/ve, without compromising public safety. So here is my call. I believe we need members to look at this report and devise ways we can help implement the seven recommenda/ons. Will you be one? Let me know. AnneMe MARY LARSEN S RECENT LETTER TO THE P-G There is an issue that at least 95% of the American voters would agree on. It would also relieve our legislators from the burdensome task of raising money for their next campaigning give them more /me for legisla/ng. It is truly a win- win issue. What is it? It is ELECTION REFORM and even if changes were modest we would applaud changing the rules of the game. Here are some examples.. Limit the campaign season to 6 weeks or 3 months these prolonged periods of TV adver/sing, and poli/cal phone calls are unwanted. Most other democracies have shorter campaign periods. Pass some legisla/on that can reduce the awful amounts of money that are spent on all the blah-blah while poverty and hunger and homelessness con/nue throughout the world. Poli/cal TV spots should be free and limited. The air is universal and free. Amend the Cons/tu/on so that congressmen can run every four years, rather than every two years. Maybe a legislator could do a bemer job if he were not encumbered with so much campaigning. In a few months we will forget about how counterproduc/ve our system is. The /me is now.

3 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 3 LWVGP Officers / Executive Committee Local Area Meeting Chairs President Annette Shimer Pgh. Central Martha Raak V. Pres. Development Nancy Naragon North Hills Shirley McIlvried V. Pres. Program Maureen Mamula South Hills Maureen Mamula Secretary Leagha Courtney Treasurer Preston Shimer Interest & Service Area Specialists Directors Housing Adelaide Smith Campaign Finance Reform Kathie Breckenridge Death Penalty Hazel Cope Voter Service Louise Cannon Education Evelyn Murrin Voter Service, Membership Judy Clack Legislature Reduction Mary Larsen Government Relations, Outreach Jackie Dixon City / Cty & Judicial Reform Nina Helbling Membership, Special Events Judy Donohue Non-Fiction Book Club Judy Donohue Education Billie Girard Transportation Barbara Simpson Development, Redistricting Maureen Grosheider National / State Program Carol Walton Civic Salon Brianna Horan Immigration Caryl Beal Health Care / Water Study Shirley McIlvried VOTER Editor / Website Sue Broughton LWVPA Convention Chair Eileen Olmsted Communications Nyota Robinson Staff Election Law Review Michelle Zmijanac Community Information Center Manager: Barbara Simpson Marcellus Shale Grant Manager: Heather Harr League Phone Numbers, Websites, and Social Media Greater Pittsburgh lwvpgh.org Pennsylvania palwv.org National lwv.org Facebook Search: League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh

4 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 4 Standing Meetings Board Meetings Second Monday of the month. Lunch at 11:30 a.m., at Einstein Bagels in the Koppers Building. Meeting: 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the LWVGP CIC (office) conference room at 436 Seventh Ave., Suite 350 Local Area Unit Meetings Pittsburgh Central: 2nd Friday, 1:30 p.m. at the Squirrel Hill Public Library, 5801 Forbes Ave., Pgh. PA Contact Martha Raak at or marbiker1@gmail.com North Hills: 3rd Wednesday, 10:00 a.m. at St. John s Lutheran Church, 311 Cumberland Rd., Pgh. PA Contact Shirley McIlvried at or howardmciii@comcast.net South Hills: 1st Thursday, 12:30 p.m. at the Mt. Lebanon Public Library, 16 Castle Shannon Blvd., Pgh, PA (unless otherwise announced). Contact Maureen Mamula at or mamula159@hotmail.com Other Ongoing Meetings Education Committee 4th Wednesday. Contact Billie Girard at or billiegirard202@verizon.net Voter Service Committee Dates TBD. Contact Annette Shimer at or ashimer@gmail.com Gun Safety Committee Dates TBD. Contact Nancy Naragon at or nancynaragon@msn.com Non-fiction Book Club 3rd Friday. Contact Judy Donohue at or jrdono71@gmail.com DECEMBER 2016-JANUARY 2017 CALENDAR December - No unit mee.ngs in December 15 Fri Naturaliza/on & voter registra/on, Federal Courthouse, 10 a.m. 15 Fri Non-fic/on Book Club, Squirrel Hill Library, 10:15 a.m. 19 Mon Execu/ve CommiMee mee/ng, 9 a.m., Naragon home 19 Mon Gun Safety CommiMee mee/ng, 11:30 a.m., Naragon home 26 Mon Holiday office hours begin, Mon. and Thurs., 9am-3pm, end Jan 2 January 02 Mon Office reopens, normal hours 05 Thu South Hills Unit mee.ng: LWVPA Elec.on Laws Study 09 Mon Board mee/ng 13 Fri PiNsburgh Central Unit mee.ng: LWVPA Elec.on Laws Study 18 Wed North Hills Unit mee.ng: LWVPA Elec.on Laws Study 20 Fri Naturaliza/on & voter registra/on, Federal Courthouse, 10 a.m. 20 Fri Non-fic/on Book Club, Squirrel Hill Library, 10:15 a.m. 25 Wed Educa/on CommiMee mee/ng, Squirrel Hill Library, 1-3 p.m. COUNTING PROVISIONAL VOTES by Rosemary Prostko November 14, 2016 at 9:00 A.M. Mark Wolosik, Manager of the Allegheny County Division of Elec/ons swore in ten Elec/on Division employees. The employees began to count the Provisional Ballots cast in the November 8 general elec/on. Mr. Wolosik informed me that candidates can request to observe inside the office counter. All other watchers had to stay on the public side of the office. I ask Manager Wolosik if all Provisional Ballots would be counted as I had heard they would only be tallied if the elec/on was close. Mr Wolosik assured me every valid ballot would be counted. The workers would go the extra step of finding the correct poll loca/on if the voter had gone to the wrong poll and be sure it is counted. These results are added to the Final Elec/on Night Reports which include voter machine and district absentee votes. These numbers were uploaded on the County website between 10:00 P.M. November 8 and 3 A.M November 9, By November 28 all ballots must be tallied and the County Board of Elec/ons must cer/fy the results of the elec/ons and send them to the Secretary of the Commonwealth.

5 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 5 VOTER SERVICE REPORT by Judy Clack, Co-chair, Voter Service Our League volunteers were very busy this summer and fall educa/ng voters about the Nov. 8 elec/on. A League Voters Guide was published in the New Pi/sburgh Courier and distributed to libraries, electronic candidate informa/on was made available via Vote411, candidate forums were held (and more amempted), vo/ng machine prepara/on was observed, new ci/zens were registered to vote at naturaliza/on ceremonies, and presenta/ons were made in the community. Voter registra/on was a big push for our League. Volunteers from the LWVGP conducted 38 separate voter registra/on events at naturaliza/on ceremonies, food bank Produce-to-People distribu/ons, community days, schools and colleges, medical facili/es, libraries, and businesses. 453 individuals were registered to vote. 32 individuals assisted at one or more of these events. Our next two voter registra/on events will be at the Naturaliza/on ceremonies at the Federal Courthouse, 700 Grant Street on Fri., Jan. 20 and Fri., Feb. 16, 9 am 12 noon. We need volunteers every third Friday of the month at this event. There are no scheduled naturaliza/on ceremonies at the USCIS loca/on in Monroeville at Penn Center in Jan. or Feb. Let Judy Clack know if you are interested in assis/ng at these moving ceremonies. Training is completed in ten minutes on site prior to each event. Voter Service has big plans for 2017 and could use your help. Spring elec/ons will involve candidates in 130 municipali/es and 42 school districts in Allegheny County. We ll need help in selec/ng contests in which to sponsor candidate forums and assistance in gathering candidate informa/on for our Voters Guide. We ll need volunteers to con/nue voter registra/on at naturaliza/on ceremonies, food banks, community days, etc. as well as reaching out to new 18-year-olds in the schools. We must follow any proposed elec/on law changes in the Pennsylvania legislature and assist in the ongoing LWVPA Elec/on Law Study. If you are interested in assis/ng with any of these efforts, contact Judy Clack, jbclack@yahoo.com, COMMENTS TO CITY COUNCIL ON CEDAW by Martha Raak My name is Martha Raak. I reside in Squirrel Hill and am a member of the Greater PiMsburgh League of Women Voters and a former Dean of Adult and Con/nuing Educa/on at Seton Hill College (now university). Over a period of twenty years, I worked with adult students returning to higher educa/on later in life. Many of these women faced difficult challenges such as affordable, quality child care and funding for their educa/on. Poor prepara/on for re-entering school was another obstacle. Math and science were par/cular roadblocks. World Bank economists have noted that improving gender equality increases school enrollment, improves children's health and reduces infant mortality. Understanding the issue, I started summer science camps at Seton Hill for girls between 12 and 14. This program encouraged young girls to prepare to enter STEM careers badly needed by our region and which pay livable salaries and benefits. Our city needs to support the PiMsburgh Public Schools to ensure that Title IX is adhered to and that all girls regardless of economic status are encouraged to consider STEM fields. City facili/es i.e. Recrea/onal centers can be developed and managed in an interes/ng, crea/ve and equitable manner for enhanced programming awer school. I am proud that our city will be in the forefront na/onally by becoming a CEDAW city. This act will encourage progressive and crea/ve millennials of both genders to stay and to move here thereby energizing our city. Everyone wins in this scenario. Thank you for this opportunity.

6 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 6 League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh 2016 Naturalization Ceremonies Grant Report by Eileen Olmsted The League of Women Voters of Greater PiMsburgh s 2016 project to offer voter registra/on at naturaliza/on ceremonies in Allegheny County was extremely successful. Our applica/on to provide voter registra/on at the Administra/ve Naturaliza/on Ceremonies conducted by the U.S. Ci/zenship and Immigra/on Services opera/ng under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security was well received and, awer a lengthy vexng process, was approved. In addi/on to the Administra/ve Naturaliza/on Ceremonies that were held at a rather distant loca/on (some members drove 45 minutes each way mul/ple /mes), we con/nued to amend the monthly Judicial Naturaliza/on ceremonies at our local Federal courthouse in downtown PiMsburgh. The LWVGP has for more than 30 years par/cipated in the Judicial Naturaliza/on ceremonies. However, for some /me now, we have amended and spoken at these ceremonies but have not been registering the new ci/zens. We were only handing out registra/on forms. When we received the grant, we began registering new ci/zens at those ceremonies as well. We had a great number of League members and nonmembers who volunteered for the project so that we were able to staff thirteen (13) Administra/ve Naturaliza/on ceremonies and seven (7) Judicial Naturaliza/on ceremonies over a period of six months (June through November). Our par/cipa/on included having a part in the ceremony where we greeted the new ci/zens and invited them to begin their ac/vi/es as ci/zens by registering to vote. All of our volunteer par/cipants expressed great delight at witnessing the moving ceremonies where anywhere from 25 to 50 immigrants became ci/zens of the United States. We had 33 unique volunteers who spent a total of hours (including travel /me) at 20 ceremonies with 3 to 7 volunteers at each ceremony. 4-5 of our volunteers were NOT League members but several have since joined the League. Many of the new ci/zens came from other coun/es in Pennsylvania, and in some cases, other states, to be sworn in in PiMsburgh. We carefully noted those registra/ons and made sure that they were mailed to the appropriate county or state agency for recording. All new ci/zens who registered with us received a copy of the League s publica/on, Facts for Ci/zens, and a business-sized card showing both Vote.411 informa/on and our local webpage. We also asked them to fill out a postcard pledging to vote. Those new ci/zens who did not stop to register with us were given a form to use at a later date. Several of them men/oned that they were planning to register online. We completed 350 registra/ons out of a total of 513 new ci/zens sworn in. That is about a 68% success rate. We sent 75 s to those people who had filled out pledge to vote cards reminding them to vote and giving them addi/onal resources to use. Due to lack of Internet access, we were unable to use laptops or tablets to register voters through Pennsylvania s on-line registra/on system. The logis/cs and record keeping required for this project were extensive and one of our co-directors of Voter Services, Judy Clack, worked /relessly and for many hours keeping track of our volunteers, sending out reminders for each occasion and making sure that par/cipants had the training and support necessary for us to do an excellent job. In addi/on to our Naturaliza/on Ceremonies, our League staffed 21 other registra/on opportuni/es including at community centers, hospitals, food for the hungry distribu/on centers and other venues. Record keeping was done by Judy and by our part /me Office Manager, Barbara Simpson, who carefully reviewed all the registra/ons, made sure they were delivered or mailed to the Department of Elec/ons in whichever county people came from, and kept some of the records related to our efforts. Barbara logged 60 hours doing the administra/ve work required. In our contacts with local candidates running for the state legislature, reference was made to our registra/on efforts with new ci/zens and perhaps led to greater par/cipa/on in our Voters Guide. A por/on of the project budget was used to purchase addi/onal copies of the Voters Guide for distribu/on at our events. Con5nued next page

7 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 7 Grant report, con5nued from previous page Our amempts to reach out to the immigrant community by contac/ng local ethnic associa/ons or organiza/ons that teach ci/zenship classes were not as successful as we had hoped. LeMers were sent to 9 community agencies and/or groups but only one responded to our overtures. The agency that asked us to provide elec/on educa/on was the Goodwill Associa/on of Allegheny County, which wanted us to provide elec/on informa/on to four ESL/GES classes in different loca/ons in the County. These classes proved to be a challenge as most students were working towards GED s. They seemed un-mo/vated and in several instances were hos/le to the idea of vo/ng and very disillusioned and cynical about elec/ons. Several echoed the messages in the media regarding corrup/on in the system and expressed their dislike of the candidates. It was a sobering experience. One group that we had not reached out to contacted the League and we had a very gra/fying and successful collabora/on with it. The organiza/on was the Bhutanese Community Associa/on of PiMsburgh. Their Director, Mr. Upendra Dahal, wanted to create a PowerPoint Presenta/on on the US electoral system to use in educa/ng the members of his community who would be vo/ng for the first /me. Eileen Olmsted worked on the presenta/on with Mr. Dahal by providing general informa/on on various topics and he created the presenta/on. Eileen edited the presenta/on several /mes before Mr. Dahal presented it to a group of his compatriots on October 10 th. Eileen was present to answer any ques/ons that came up and to help demonstrate the vo/ng process on two vo/ng machines that this enterprising young man managed to get the Dept. of Elec/ons for Allegheny County to deliver to the venue on a Saturday morning! In summary, our assessment is that this project worked to increase voter registra/ons, increased League visibility, engaged our members posi/vely and achieved its objec/ves. NEW MEMBERS 15 new members have joined LWVGP in November and early December. We are pleased to welcome them! Margaret Bourg Gwen Brogan Amy and Chris Connors peggybourg@gmail.com gwenebrogan@gmail.com amyconnors@mac.com Katherine Hughes Emma Kajinic, Household Aidan Kes/gian theka/e@hotmail.com membership with Gwen Brogan akes/gian@cmu.edu Leah Lang Minna Lunney, Household Maria E. Magone leah.m.lang@gmail.com member with Jeremy Porter maria.magone@verizon.net minna.lunney@gmail.com Marjorie Riddell NH Regina McDonald Russian Laura Valen/ne, Household marjorie.riddell@gmail.com reginapm11@gmail.com member with Nathaniel Lanza bills@premodern.org NON-FICTION BOOK CLUB SELECTION The book for December is Being Mortal: Medicine and What Ma/ers in the End by Atull Gawande Book Club contact is Judy Donohue: or jrdono71@gmail.com. VOTERS SUPPORTED DEATH PENALTY (DP) by Hazel Cope Oklahoma: added sec/on to its cons/tu/on that protects the death penalty and declares that it can t be deemed cruel and unusual punishment by state courts. Nebraska: voted to reinstate DP awer protracted bamle between state legislators, who eliminated it last year, and Gov. Pete RickeMs, who bankrolled the ballot measure for reinstatement. California: voters rejected proposi/on which would have repealed DP, while approving one to speed up the state s dysfunc/onal deathrow-appeal process, which was deemed uncons/tu/onal by a federal judge in Very discouraging.

8 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 8 LOOKING AT PROPEL, ALEC* AND ESSA** by Evelyn Murrin, Educa/on Specialist In recent months, following the lead report last January of Jeanne Diana, one of our resident researchers, the Educa/on Advocacy CommiMee delved deeper into Charter Schools located in the City of PiMsburgh. We visited the most recent one, the Propel Hazelwood School. Eight members spent a September awernoon in informa/ve discussion with Propel Schools' Execu/ve Director, its new Superintendent, Development Director, Principals, and other administra/ve and resource leaders. We also observed a variety of elementary classrooms and teachers at a former elementary school building, re-opened two years ago by Propel Schools. Vacated by the PiMsburgh Public School District, it was one of three public school buildings closed in an area that saw the decline of the steel industry, the loss of its public and parochial schools, as well as typical community resources. The Burgwin building was acquired by the "Hazelwood Ini/a/ve," a public-private en/ty seeking to revitalize the neighborhood along the Monongahela River. Jeremy Resnick, Founder and now Execu/ve Director of the Propel Schools Founda/on, is a former high school teacher and director of the Charter Schools Project at Duquesne University. Propel Schools is a not-for-profit organiza/on that operates 11 charter schools in and around PiMsburgh. Two are located within the City: Propel Northside and Propel Hazelwood. All others are on the City's periphery serving disadvantaged communi/es such as Turtle Creek, Braddock, Montour, Homestead, Pitcairn, McKeesport. In October, we tackled ESSA, (Every Student Succeeds Act), the new federal educa/on act, which will be implemented in each state by ci/zen volunteers, professional educators, parents, and others commimed to public educa/on. Meryl Lazar and Cynthia Devine-Kepner researched and presented cri/cal informa/on that prepares us to follow the emerging Act. Members volunteered to follow four primary themes in Pennsylvania's planning for ESSA, which will evolve over the next year with opportuni/es for public par/cipa/on. Jeanne Diana led LWVGP's original foray into understanding Charter Schools back in January and con/nues to build on her extensive research. Her charter school findings directed us to a study of ALEC (the American Legal Exchange Council) thereby connec/ng the two subjects. ALEC produces draw legisla/on wrimen by conserva/ves who pass it on to state legislators to introduce in their legislatures. ALEC was described in the book Dark Money by Jane Mayer, who writes regularly in the New Yorker, as the vehicle devised by the Koch Bros. et al to influence state and local governments in the direc/ons they want to see the na/on move. Jeanne was joined by Barbara Gerhard Jones in the report. Both required considerable detec/ve work. Look for Jeanne's report on ALEC in the Winter issue of the LWVPA's PENNSYLVANIA VOTER *ALEC **ESSA Can you unmask them in the ar/cle above? Opportunity to Help with an A+ Schools Survey: Several seats on PiMsburgh's School Board will be open for elec/on in To prepare a Voter's Guide for ci/zens, A+ Schools invites City members of the LWVGP to do what the League does very well: inform the public on important issues and elec/ons. The LWVGP has worked with A+ Schools in the past to Get Out the Vote and support Voters' Service projects. A+ Schools designed a phone survey of Super Voters who vote regularly in those districts where candidates will run. They've invited local League members to join a phone bank at their offices at 1501 Center Ave. Dates are available in December. Lois and I are signed up for December 19th for a /me frame of about 2 to 4 hours. They will provide a short training session before phone calling. The survey asks about experience with the PiMsburgh Public Schools, knowledge of discipline prac/ces, axtudes about where the PPS are headed, and other topics. It is objec/ve and fair. The intent is to develop ques/ons for candidates. Candidate responses, in turn, will be printed and distributed, as the A+ Schools Voter's Guide. Please contact Graham Mulqueen who is leading this project, gmulqueen@aplusschools.org or phone , for more informa/on to volunteer.

9 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 9 Mt. Lebanon Unit Positions A Review by Mary Larsen CABLE TELEVISION (broadcast of public mee/ngs) (1997, merged unit posi/ons) For all units: The League recognizes the importance and influence of television in our lives and supports televising the proceedings and discussions of school board and municipal public mee/ngs. These should be adver/sed widely and broadcast on local public access channels. This access should be part of all franchise agreements between municipali/es and the cable companies. In addi/on, cable companies should provide adequate assistance and technical help and training to ci/zens involved in producing such programs and make studio space available when possible. RECENT INFORMATION Met with Mt. Lebanon Manager Keith McGill who says that there are no an/cipated changes in the broadcast of public mee/ngs in Mt. Lebaanon. He acknowledges that the quality of sound is generally poor but that correc/ng it is not a high priority item. Recommend that the South Hills unit keep posi.on as a good line of communica.on but should be bener technically. MT. LEBANON COMMUNITY RELATIONS BOARD (1979, updated 1986 CURRENT POSITION Support of Community Rela/ons Board in its responsibili/es to provide educa/on regarding the law on equal access to housing and in respect to the rights of ci/zens with special needs, to provide concilia/on wherever necessary, and to act as a catalyst and help to develop strategies to meet the needs of various groups including youth and senior ci/zens, RECENT INFORMATION Met with Mt. Lebanon Manager Keith McGill who says that the CRB is having doubts about their role. Since this is a League baby, (created in the mid 60s at the urging of the League) and the troublesome divisions in the country seem to be mul/plying, it would seem prudent to maintain our support. Recommend to keep on with ac.ve support. MT LEBANON HOME RULE CHARTER (1985) CURRENT POSITION Support of the Home Rule Charter for Mt. Lebanon as approved by the voters in 1974 except for its provisions for an elected Treasurer and Sec/on 1201 regarding ini/a/ve and referendum. Mt. Lebanon proposes modifica/ons in the provision of the Home Rule Charter for ini/a/ve and referendum for the purpose of allowing adequate ci/zen access to decision making without preven/ng the municipal government from func/oning effec/vely. RECENT INFORMATION In 2013, an Ad Hoc CommiMee of seven residents was appointed to review the Charter (adopted in 1974) and recommend appropriate changes. The review has been completed and a variety of changes have been proposed to the Commissioners of which two were passed on the November 2014 ballot. The first made the Charter verbiage gender neutral. The second permits the Commission to add methods of public no/ce required for certain types of no/ces, e.g.electronic no/fica/on. Addi/onal proposed changes will be placed on future ballots at the Commission s pleasure. The one having to do with the Treasurer may have been affected by a court ruling. The League should retain this posi.on in order to allow Mt. Lebanon members to advocate for adop.on of those changes with which they agree or work against those with which they disagree. Con5nued next page

10 LWVGP Voter December 2016 January 2017 Page 10 Mt. Lebanon posi5ons, con5nued from previous page MT. LEBANON MUNICIPAL BUDGET (1981) CURRENT POSITION Support of the popularized Municipal Budget as being clear, concise, detailed and informa/ve, but with certain suggested addi/ons: substan/al advance publicity of what is proposed and how this may affect the taxpayer; con/nued inclusion of the capital improvement program summary with the popularized budget; inclusions of job /tles with salary scales and the cost of contrac/ng services; con/nued graphic explana/ons. Support of careful scru/ny of expenditures even in top priority areas; assignment of top priority to those services which only the municipal government can provide; coopera/on with other municipali/es whenever Mt. Lebanon can affect a cost savings without sacrificing quality of services. Outreach Teen and Family Services is a high priority item, and we support the pursuit of all funding op/ons No ac.on has been taken on this posi.on for about 20 years. Sugges.on is to drop it. MT. LEBANON TREASURER S OFFICE (1985) CURRENT POSITION Support of the following changes in the financial system of Mt. Lebanon: combina/on of the func/ons of the financial office and the Treasurer s office to be carried out by an appointed official with a system of checks and balances. Support for sexng penalty rates on delinquencies and liens high enough to discourage deliberate non-payment of taxes. RECENT INFORMATION One of the recommended changes in the Home Rule Charter review is to make the Treasurer s office appointed rather than elected. A recent court ruling has put into ques/on whether or not an amendment [to make the Treasurer appointed] would be legal. There are two schools of thought. Sugges.on is to retain the posi.on.