LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ST. LOUIS PARK FEBRUARY

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1 February Programs Diversity and Democracy Thursday, February 15 th, 7:00 8:30pm St. Louis Park City Hall Roundtable Discussion Led by LWV SLP member, Shelley Colvin CMAL - 2 Programs on Metropolitan Council History of Met Council Thursday, February 8, 7:00 8:30 pm Current Issues of Met Council Saturday, February 24 9:30 11:30 am A Message from the LWV SLP Leadership Team The year 2018 is an important election year. The first big election event is the Precinct Caucuses on Tuesday, Feb. 6 th. Registration begins at 6:15pm. Democrats will meet at SLP High School. Republicans will meet at Aquila Elementary School. Join League of Women Voters St. Louis Park! The form can be found on the last page of this newsletter. We look forward to meeting you. This April Minnesota local LWVs will get together in St. Cloud for Council. St. Cloud has an active LWV that is eager to host. See the article on p. 5 for more details. See p.3 for details March Program Women Running for Office Thursday March 15th 7:00 8:30pm St. Louis Park City Hall 5005 Minnetonka Blvd Presented by LWVSLP members Barb Person and Sylvia O Brien The LWV SLP Board met on December 7: Planned Jan. Legislative Interviews December Gift Wrapping Fundraiser took in $268 which will go to our Scholarship Fund. Will continue to look for other fundraising options. Voted to Support Ranked Choice Voting Speaker confirmed - Astein Osei, Superintendent St. Louis Park Schools - for the Annual Meeting in April

2 February Program: (The following content on Caucuses is from the Secretary of State s website) Caucuses WHAT IS A PRECINCT CAUCUS? Precinct caucuses are meetings run by Minnesota s political parties. They are the first in a series of meetings where parties may endorse candidates, select delegates, and set goals and values (called party platforms). In 2018, one part of precinct caucuses will be a preference ballot for the candidates you want your political party to support for Governor. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN A CAUCUS? To participate, you must be eligible to vote in the November 2018 general election and live in the precinct. You also must generally agree with the principles of the political party hosting the caucus. WHAT HAPPENS AT THE CAUCUS? Each political party runs their caucus meetings a little differently. Check with your political party if you have specific questions. Generally, there are four main activities at a caucus: 1. Choose volunteers who will organize political activities in the precinct. This could include maintaining contact lists, holding political meetings, and helping with campaign efforts. 2. Vote for the person you want the party to support for Governor. This is called the preference ballot. The results help gauge support for candidates. 3. Discuss issues and ideas for the party to support. You can present an issue or idea for the party to support, called a resolution. If you convince other attendees to support your resolution, it will be taken to the next political convention. Eventually, your resolution could become part of the official party platform. 4. Choose delegates who will endorse candidates at future conventions. At future conventions, party delegates will endorse state and federal candidates, including for Governor. Political parties have different ways of choosing delegates at the precinct level caucus contact your party for more information February Unit Program: Diversity and Democracy Thursday February 15, :00 8:30pm St. Louis Park Town Hall 5005 Minnetonka Blvd

3 This will be a round table discussion with several questions posed with some education and then discussion. The discussion should be lively as the topics are ones that are on the news and part of the local and national discussion Presenter: Shelley Colvin, member of LWV SLP CMAL (Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues) The first meeting will focus on the history of the Metropolitan Council Thursday, February 8, 7:00 pm Golden Valley Historical Society Building 6731 Golden Valley Road This joint meeting with the Historical Society will focus on how and why the Metropolitan Council was established in 1967 and how it has evolved over time. The second meeting will focus on current issues. The Metropolitan Council: What is all the Fuss About? Saturday, February 24, 9:30 11:30 am 316 Brookview Pkwy S, Golden Valley, MN A panel will provide differing perspectives. Joint meeting with CMAL and LWV Crystal,New Hope, East Plymouth March Programs: Women Running for Office Thursday March 15 7:00 8:30pm St. Louis Park City Hall 5005 Minnetonka Blvd Presented by Sylvia O Brien and Barb Person On Sunday Lori Sturdevant s column was on this topic, A Wave of Women on the Ballot; One Side, Mostly An interesting article on the topic. +mostly%2c+lori+sturdevant+sat+and+tribune&oq=sta+wave+of+women+on+the+b allot%3a+one+side+mostly%2c+lori+sturdevant+sat+and+tribune&aqs=chrome..69i 57j69i j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 or copy into the search box

4 League of Women Voters Minnesota Day at the Capitol LWV Minnesota is hosting a Day at the Capitol on March 5 th, 10 am 4 pm for all members. Join us and learn more about our advocacy work, meet with your legislators, and become more familiar with the Capitol. Registration, if you wish to meet with your legislators, will close January Otherwise registration will continue up until the event. April Program Annual Meeting Saturday, April 21 st 10:00am 2:00pm The meeting will include a business meeting, a Speaker (St. Louis Park Schools Superintendent, Astein Osei) and luncheon Aquila Commons 8200 W 33 rd St. Louis Park Watch for more details

5 Calendar 2018 Thursday, Feb 1, th Anniversary of LWV Thursday, February 1 Black History Month in February Thursday, February pm Board Shelley Colvin s home Thursday, Feb 6, :15 registration 10pm Precinct Caucuses Democrats High School; Republicans Aquila Elementary School Thursday, Feb 8, pm Metropolitan Council, A History 6731 Golden Valley Road Thursday 15, :30 pm Diversity Issues and How They Affect Democracy and Voting St. Louis Park City Hall Saturday Feb 24, :30 11:30 am Metropolitan Council Current Issues 316 Brookview Pkwy S Golden Valley Mar 1, 2018 Women's History Month in March Thursday, March pm Board Judy Cook s home

6 Monday, Mar 5, am 4 pm LWV MN - A Day at the Capitol International Women's Day Thursday Mar 15, :30 pm Women Running for Office Saturday Apr 1, 2018 Thursday LWVSLP 62 nd Birthday Saturday Apr 5, pm Board Debbie Blake s home Saturday Apr 21, am 2 pm LWV SLP Annual Meeting Saturday, April th LWV MN Council St. Cloud, MN May 1, 2018 Celebrate SLP Kids in May Thu May 3, pm Board Meeting - Sylvia O Brien City Hall Saturday May 19, am 12 pm Field Trip TBD Friday Jun 1, 2018 Fair Labor Standards Act Equal Pay for Women 1963 Friday Jun 22, 2018 Title IX Equality in Education and Sports 1972 Tue Jun 26, 2018

7 26th Amendment Voting Age to Vote from 21 to 18 August 2 Thursday August Program Planning Sep 1, 2018 Time TBA New Member Meeting Feb 1, th Anniversary of LWVMN Friday, February 1, 2019 Friday 1, 2018 Black History Month in February 1 Naturalization Ceremonies for New Citizens LWV register new citizens to vote Citizenship Ceremonies: Register New Citizens to Vote! LWV members have been registering new citizens to vote at Naturalization Ceremonies for 20 years. Many of the volunteers are brand new members... At 80 ceremonies from Jan. thru Dec., 2017, the forms from nearly 7,000 new citizens were collected. Since 2007, we have carried in over 80,000 voter registration forms to the Secretary of State's office. The percentage of new citizens registering to vote at the ceremonies has increased...and is 90 to 95 Tuesday, Feb. 13 th, St. Paul, 10 AM St. Paul River Center, 175 W. Kellogg Blvd Tuesday, Feb. 20 th, Richfield 10 AM Richfield City Hall, 6700 Portland Ave. S. Wednesday, Feb. 28 th, St. Paul 10 AM & 2 PM Fitzgerald Theater, 10 E. Exchange St. Tuesday, Mar. 27th Minneapolis, 10 AM St. Thomas School of Law, 1101 Harmon Place Thursday, April 26th Maplewood, 1:30 PM Ramsey County Library Maplewood, 3025 Southlawn Dr. Monday, April 30 th, St. Paul 10 AM St. Paul River Centre, 175 W. Kellogg Blvd If you wish to become involved, please contact Judy jastuthman@aol.com.

8 Legislative Interviews, January 13 th Senator Ron Latz Representative Cheryl Youakim Q: What are your Priorities for 2018 Session? Senator Latz - Judiciary Committee, Commerce and Consumer Protection. He will introduce forfeiture libertarian property does not belong to the government if / when forfeited. Help SW LRT Watch for legislation that I object to and play defense: Abortion related items Gun related items NRA was angry last year they didn t get anything passed Stand Your Ground like Florida Get rid of the permit to carry Budget Taxes Representative Youakim will be working on: Property Tax SW LRT Silver Alert Bill Bonding Bill for Perspectives expansion asking for $1.4M in a bipartisan bill Bill to expand Free Speech rights to High School and College. Playing defense Provisional ballot could be a bigger problem than voter ID Auto Voter Registration Motor Voter 33 bills were introduced last year to take away local control using a different definition for local control. Q: Regarding a Bonding Bill - What is your level of optimism for achieving a bonding bill this session? Senator Latz: It is supported, but there is a dispute for how big it should be. It died last year due to SWLRT. I take credit. Since 2007 and 2008 Best time to borrow is when the labor market is slow. Now the labor market and costs have increased. Rep. Youakim: Infrastructure is nonpartisan. We have to request maintenance or it will cost more later. Most companies plan for 10% of their budget to support infrastructure. The state of Minnesota has 2% of their budget go toward infrastructure. MNLARS Computer system is from the 70 s. Staffing is a big issue. Things that can be automatically done process quickly through the system, but titles and licensing from auto dealerships require a human touch. There are simply no resources. Q: Campaign Finance do you see any changes?

9 LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS ST. LOUIS PARK FEBRUARY 2018 Sen. Latz: Probably won t be any change. The $50 contribution program is back Citizen s United changes probably won t go anywhere Rep. Youakim: There is an intent to take away the power of the Administrative Law Judge. This would mean we would need the legislature to be full time. Generally the legislature creates the bills and we need the Administrative Law Judge to do the interpretation. Census is under-funded. Affordable Housing Latz & Youakim: Vouchers will come back Health and Human Services Long Term Care Complaints. Thanks to the Star Tribune series they found there are only 2 people to respond to all the complaints. Expect funding to help them out. Q: What do you want energized citizens to do? Pay attention use multiple sources Participate in Town Halls Local participation creates better buy in. Rep. Cheryl Youakim, 46B; Senator Ron Latz, 46; Carlotta Medus, LWV SLP member and Interviewer Members listening to the legislators

10 OFFICERS: Directors at Large: Liz Schwartz C0-Presidents: Debbie Blake & Deb Brinkman Sylvia O Brien Vice President: Open Communications & Voter: Shelley Colvin Secretary: Open Voter Service: Eilseen Knisley Treasurer: Judy Cook Public Relations: Judy Cook Board of Directors: West Metro Liaison: Barb Person Observer Reports: Betty Shaw CMAL Liaison: Shelley Colvin Membership: Barb Person Voter Editor: Shelley Colvin YES! I WOULD LIKE TO JOIN THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF ST. LOUIS PARK Name (Family Member #1): Name (Family Member #2): Address: City: State: Zip Phone: Membership Dues (a portion of dues are now tax deductible) Single active Attending Member $55.00 Supporting/Member-at-Large $60.00 Family Membership $70.00 (2 or more in single household) Make checks payable to LWV SLP Send check & this form to: Barb Person, Membership Chair 2049 Utah Avenue South St. Louis Park, MN / barbperson2049@gmail.com Leadership Team lwvslp@gmail.com Shelley Colvin, Editor Address Change Requested