Issue 63; April 2016 Newsletter of the League of Women Voters, Utica/Rome Metro Area P.O. Box 24 Washington Mills, NY (315)

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1 Utica/Rome Voter Issue 63; April 2016 Newsletter of the League of Women Voters, Utica/Rome Metro Area P.O. Box 24 Washington Mills, NY (315) Officers Leadership Team: uticarome.org 1 st Vice-President 1 st _Vice- President@lwvuticarome.org Shirley Hilts-Adams nd Vice-President 2 nd _Vice- President@lwvuticarome.org Lorrie Wasielewski Treasurer Treasurer@lwvuticarome.org Nancy Agen L Secretary Secretary@lwvuticarome.org Barbara Gibbs Directors: Directors@lwvuticarome.org Joanne Byrnes Dianne DiMeo Carol Fitzgerald Donna Goodwin Lucretia Hunt Karen McBride Mary Monaco Donna Rubin Barbara Shuck Carole Torok-Huxtable league@uticarome.org ANNUAL MEETING Featuring Utica Common Councilwomen Samantha Colosimo-Testa and Maria McNiel DATE: Saturday, May 21, 2016 WHERE: Hart s Hill Inn 135 Clinton St., Whitesboro, NY SPEAKERS: Samantha Colosimo-Testa (R-6 th ) and Maria McNiel (D-1 st ) will speak on their experiences of being women serving their constituents in the City of Utica, including the process of running for office SCHEDULE: COST: 10:30 Registration 11:00 Brunch Buffet 11:30 Speakers Presentations 12:30 Annual Meeting $25/person (includes tax & gratuity) To make reservations, contact Trudy Kennedy at or Reservations@lwvuticarome.org by Tuesday 5/17 NOTE: If you have made a reservation and cannot attend, please cancel by Thursday 5/19, or full payment will be billed. *attendees not wanting meal, may attend free of charge Off-Board Specialists: Action Alert chair: Lillian (Trudy) Kennedy Historian/Archivist: Donna Loomis Rubin Newsletter: Dianne DiMeo Nominating Committee : Nominating_Committee@lwvuticarome.org Elaine Altamuro Nancy Horvath Mona Perotti Mary Monaco (Board Representative) Publicity: Barbara Shuck Lucretia Hunt (Board Representative) A n n u a l D u e

2 What do we mean by Non-Partisan? One of the key tenants of the League of Women Voters is the non-partisan approach to its activities around engaging, educating and advocating. In that vein, we do not support or oppose candidates for public office, but do encourage our members to participate in the political process as individuals. As a member of the LWV, please be conscientious of this distinction. When representing the LWV, it is important that we maintain the integrity of being non-partisan and refrain from promoting a specific candidate or political party. Each year our Non-Partisan Policy (which can be found on our website) is reviewed, updated and must be approved. LWV Utica-Rome Nonpartisan Policy Leadership Message As the first year of our shared Leadership model comes to an end, the members of the team shared their expertise and knowledge in planning and carrying out chapter responsibilities, smoothly and with graciousness. Lorrie Wasielewski, Nancy Agen, Barbara Gibbs, Karen McBride, and Shirley Hilts- Adams, aided by Carole Torok-Huxtable undertook the task of this new League model with interest and commitment. We ve had a busy, interesting year with several informative speakers on topics related to our community. In addition to monthly voter registration activities at federal and county Citizenship Ceremonies; Mayoral candidate forums in Rome and in Utica; the selection of two students from local schools to participate in Students inside Albany; and members Mary Chapin and Dawn Laguerre receiving community recognition awards, four general meetings were held on: women in the Mohawk Valley that had been omitted from history books, including the mother of General Nicholas Herkimer; the many facets of raising the age for the incarceration of juveniles in adult prisons from 16 to 18; a timely address on Money and Politics; and, information on local and state elections, as well as the State Constitution. Workshops by the LWV NYS were held in 4 locations across the state during March and April. Over 150 people attended the sessions, representing 39 local Leagues and the 3ILO s. The LWV of the Utica/ Rome Metro Area was represented at the training in Liverpool by Nancy Agen, Donna Goodwin, Shirley Hilts-Adams, Mary Monaco, Elizabeth Norman, Carole Torok-Huxtable, and Lorrie Wasielewski. Karen McBride attended the training in Round Lake in March. Handouts can be obtained or viewed at The annual Advocacy Training will be held in Albany on Tuesday, May 10. Carpools will be formed and more information will be forwarded via once it s received from the LWV State Office. Our annual meeting will take place on Saturday, May 21, at Hart s Hill Inn. Plan on joining us for a great brunch and camaraderie with fellow Leaguers. Our speakers will be Utica Common Council members Samantha Colosimo-Testa and Maria McNiel. Thank you for your support and interest this past year. We have in our local League a great many talented, knowledgeable members who have contributed much to their community through their activities and involvement. The coming months will undoubtedly provide us many challenges and opportunities as we experience two major parties conventions and the election of a president as well as representatives and senators.

3 Items up for Vote at Annual Meeting I. Slate of Officers 2 nd Vice President ( ) Lorri Wasielewski Treasurer ( ) Nancy Agen Directors ( ) Dianne DiMeo Mary Monaco Sally Swierczek Carol Fitzgerald Ressie Nesbitt Lucretia Hunt Donna Rubin There will be a call for nominations from the floor for any of the open positions during the Annual Meeting, including Nominating Committee Members who will continue in office (elected for terms) 1 st Vice President Shirley Hilts-Adams Secretary Barbara Gibbs Directors Karen McBride, Carole Torok-Huxtable, Barbara Shuck, Donna Goodwin II. Proposed Budget ( ) Income Dues current year & prepays 2550 Contributions/Gifts-including gifts to Educ. Fund 250 General Membership Meetings 2000 Utica/Rome Voter Ads 180 Election Reporting 450 Organ Donation Stipend 350 Interest from Savings & CD s 120 Items for Resale 300 Miscellaneous Income 250 Total Income 6450 Expenses Per-Member Payments for LWVUS 1360 Per-Member Payments to LWVNYS 850 General Membership Meeting Expense 2000 Voter Guides and Voter Services 325 Utica/Rome Voter Newsletter 250 Use of space NHPL & Forum Sites 150 Website 220 Conferences & Conventions 575 Gifts for Speakers/Promo Items 100 Membership Expense 120 Admin Expense 150 Publicity & Advertising 100 Vote 411 Expense 0 Youth Services 50 Program & Education 0 Items for Resale 200 Total Expenses 6450 Net Income(Loss) - III. Proposed Local Program ( ) Retain post-study monitoring of local planning, the Oneida County Sewer District permit compliance and abatement project and water quality measures to further smart growth development in Oneida County.

4 VOTER REGISTRATION SEASON HAS BEGUN! 2016 Dates to Remember Congressional Primary June 28 (register by 6/3) State & Local Primaries Sept 13 (register by 8/19) General Election November 8 [NOTE: For registered voters -- changing ones party or enrolling in a party on the voter registration application does not qualify one to vote in the primary of the newly chosen party until after the November 8 th General Election. LWV members Barbara Gibbs and Mary Monaco at the March voter registration drive held at MVCC Meet Your Board of Election Commissioners The March General Membership meeting welcomed the Oneida County Board of Election representatives: Democratic Commissioner Jordan Karp and Republican Deputy Commissioner Cathy Dumka. They gave an overview of their offices and responsibilities and graciously responded to a variety of questions. They also made a case for increased recruitment of poll inspectors. Information on how to become a poll worker can be found on the BOE website: NATURALIZATION CEREMONIES A total of 47 candidates became new United States citizens during the April14 th * Naturalization Ceremony held in a packed 3 rd Floor courtroom of the Alexander Pirnie Federal Office Building in Utica. The newly sworn-in citizens, who hailed from 20 different countries, were accompanied by family members and friends, along with a number of young children. In addition to new citizens registering to vote, some family members took registration forms with them to submit later to the Board of Elections. Our League was well represented with volunteers: Carol Fitzgerald, Shirley Hilts- Adams, Shirley Knop, and Jo McAllister. As always, our League was pleased to be part of this memorable and inspiring ceremony; and, we look forward to participating in the (8) additional ceremonies to be held this year (see below). Should you be asked to volunteer, consider it a privilege to do so. You will be glad you did! ( * ) Federal-sponsored ceremonies are almost always on Thursdays. -- Karen McBride, Voter Service Committee

5 NATURALIZATION CEREMONIES Oneida County Spon. LOCATION - ARRIVE by 9:30 a.m. (All Fridays) Ceremony Begins at: April 29, 2016 Oneida County Office Bldg., 10th Flr. 10:30 a.m. September 30, 2016 Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute 10:30 a.m. November 4, 2016 MVCC Info. Technology Bldg. Aud. 10:30 a.m. Federal Sponsored (All Thursdays) LOCATION - ARRIVE by 10:00 a.m. Ceremony Begins at: June 9, 2016 Pirnie Fed. Building, 3rd Flr. Courtroom 11:00 a.m. July 21, 2016 Pirnie Fed. Building, 3rd Flr. Courtroom 11:00 a.m. August 18, 2016 Pirnie Fed. Building, 3rd Flr. Courtroom 11:00 a.m. September 15, 2016 Ft. Stanwix, Rome, NY 11:00 a.m. December 8, 2016 Pirnie Fed. Building, 3rd Flr. Courtroom 11:00 a.m. Karen McBride, Voter Service Committee ***************************************************************************************** LWVNYS Regional Training Workshop Seven members of the Utica/Rome LWV attended the regional training workshop help by LWVNYS in Syracuse on April 2. This session consisted of information on the upcoming vote in November on the Constitutional Convention and also afforded the opportunity for our members to hear from other clubs on best practices around candidate forums, fundraising, membership, among other topics. Left to right: Mary Monaco, Lorrie Wasielewski, Nancy Agen, Elizabeth Norman, Shirley Hilts-Adams, Carole Torok- Huxtable, Donna Goodwin ******************************************************************************************************************* We have selected 2 excellent candidates from a field of 7 submitted applications for this year s Students Inside Albany conference sponsored by the LWVNYS Education Foundation. The conference will take place May and includes high school students from across New York State. The students that have been selected to represent LWV Utica/Rome this year are: Jordyn Keeck - Beach - a senior from New York Mills High School. Her activities include: Student Council Executive Historian, Yearbook Editor, Drama Club Treasurer, Rotary Youth Service Committee and playing the lead role in her school play (Hairspray) Daileny Guerrero - a Proctor High School senior and is a member of the Utica Youth Bureau. She is also a member of NJROTC, Young Scholars, Mohawk Valley Jr. Frontiers, Art Club, Speech & Debate team. We are excited about the talents that these 2 young adults will bring to Albany as they represent the Mohawk Valley. Utica/Rome League Presents to O-H-M BOCES

6 Our League was most honored and pleased to be invited once again to give a presentation on registering, voting, and the election process, to two classes of year-old students in the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES New Visions Program on Friday, April 8, Our League Committee consisted of eight volunteers. Our assignment was to explain the importance of registering and voting, while covering the history of voting in the United States since the inception of the Constitution all within an hour of class time. Using an edited version of a powerpoint entitled Voting (produced jointly by the Leagues of Women Voters of Wayne County and Rochester, NY), we also provided each student with a folder containing the First Vote booklet, and Voter Guide Part I (2016), a 3-page historical narrative prepared by member Dawn Laguerre, and a voter registration application, as well as a series of other resources for their reference. Lastly, we assisted a number of students in completing the voter registration applications, and collected a total of 25 completed applications. The students were attentive, inquisitive and receptive to our presentation. We wished only that we would have had enough time to ask and answer more questions and to address any specific topics they wished to introduce. All in all, however, we believe they benefitted from our presentation which proved to be a learning situation for us! Our thanks goes to Ms. Janet Jury and the BOCES New Visions Staff for their most welcome invitation! We look forward to a possible repeat presentation in the future. -- Karen McBride, for the Voter Service Committee: Joanne Byrnes, Donna Goodwin, Shirley Hilts-Adams, Meg Higgerson, Mary Monaco, Mona Perrotti and Donna Rubin. May 10:10 LWV Utica/Rome Board Meeting, New Hartford Public Library May 10 LWVNYS Advocacy Training/Lobby Day - Albany May 10:30 LWV Utica/Rome Annual Meeting, Hart s Hill, Whitesboro

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8 Interested in becoming a member of the Utica/Rome League of Women Voters? Name: Mailing Address: Phone Number: Send this form along with membership dues ($25 for a student membership, $60 for a single membership or $90 for a household membership) to: League of Women Voters Membership Chair PO Box 24 Washington Mills, NY Questions can be ed to: league@uticarome.org