Amherst League of Women Voters Bulletin September 2013 Vol. LXV No 1

Transcription

1 Amherst League of Women Voters Bulletin September 2013 Vol. LXV No 1 LWVA Co-Presidents Cynthia Brubaker Katherine Vorwerk Feldman st Vice President Bonnie MacCracken nd Vice President Peggy Roberts Secretary Rachel Mustin Co-Treasurers Joan Rabin Janice Ratner Membership Richard Kofler Voter Service Mary Jane Laus Bulletin Editor Katherine Campbell September 2013 Calendar Tuesday, September 10, 1 p.m. Health Care 75 Sunset Avenue. Contact Jackie Wolf Wednesday, September 11, 2:30 p.m. FT$ 1006 South East Street. Contact Joan Rabin Thursday, September 12, 6:45 p.m. LWVA Board 362 Middle Street. Contact Kathy Vorwek Feldman, Monday, September 16, 3 p.m. Book Discussion Group, Fifth Business by Robertson Amherst Room, Jones Library. Contact Phyllis Lehrer Thursday, September 19, 7 p.m. (refreshments 6:30 p.m.) Opening Woodbury Room, Jones Library. Speaker: Aron Goldman Executive Director of The Springfield Institute, on Voter Access: Making Democracy a Reality in the Pioneer Valley (See page 5) Dues are due! Save postage you can pay your dues at Opening Meeting. See p. 2. Our sympathy goes to the family and friends of long-time League member Alice Epstein who died peacefully June 1st. Alice was active on numerous League committees as well as in town government. We celebrate her life and mourn her passing. League Web Sites LWVA: LWVMA: LWVUS:

2 Message from the Co-Presidents Kathy Vorwerk Feldman and Cynthia Brubaker We will reach a significant milestone this spring: the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Amherst League of Women Voters. We have much to be proud of! At our legislative reception this May, Stephanie O Keeffe, Chair of the Amherst Select Board, officially thanked us for all that we do to benefit the Town of Amherst and the region. She then listed what she saw as our major contributions. Among the many things she mentioned were Candidates Nights, our pamphlet They Represent You, and our work with the Town Meeting Coordinating Committee on which several members of the LWVA serve. It filled us with pride and made us feel grateful to her for acknowledging in a direct, public way that we are helping to make democracy work; that we are fulfilling the League s mission; and that we are following in the footsteps of those courageous suffragists who bravely marched for the right to vote one hundred years ago. We are able to do the specific things she mentioned and so many other things in our local area because of the dedication of our many members and the money we raise through dues, donations and our yearly book sale (our major source of funds). But our significant contributions extend well beyond the local level. We also contribute meaningfully at the state and national levels. Our members participate in and hold leadership roles on state and national committees, and one of our members, Becky Shannon, sits on the Massachusetts LWV State Board. Also, because we are the largest league in Massachusetts, we contribute substantially to the finances of both the State and National Leagues. Soon you will be receiving our yearly membership renewal packet. When you renew, please consider including a donation to the Amherst League to help insure that we can continue to fulfill the Leagues mission in our 76th year and beyond in ever more meaningful and productive ways. Any amount is helpful and deeply appreciated. We value each member of our League, no matter what your level of involvement in our League. Your support means everything to us and to our organization. We hope to see you at our Opening Meeting on September 19 at the Jones Library. Kathy and Cynthia It s time to renew your membership in the Amherst League. Membership renewal packets will be sent in mid-september. Look for yours in the mail. Please return your completed renewal form and dues in the self-addressed envelope in your packet or come to the Opening Meeting at the Jones Library on Thursday, September 19, and leave them at the Dues Desk. There is a busy year ahead, with lots of opportunities for your participation. See p. 6! Even if you are unable to be an active participant, we look forward to your continued support. Dick Kofler, Membership Chair p. 2

3 GOALS! GOALS! GOALS! For Setting goals is one of the responsibilities of the League President. So during the summer your Presidents, Cynthia and Kathy, sat down and developed a set of comprehensive yet practical goals designed to help focus the League s attention and activities as we move forward in our efforts to make democracy work for everyone. At our August Board meeting, the Board reviewed, discussed, clarified, and adopted the following goals for the coming year. We are pleased to present them to you here Goals To maintain and strengthen our League by emphasizing the development of new leaders. To maintain and strengthen our League by increasing our visibility in the community. To focus our time and talents on the core elements of our mission.* To advocate for and educate the community about the positions we currently hold at the local, state, and national levels. * Our Mission: To encourage active citizen participation in government To increase understanding of today s toughest public policy issues To influence policy through education and advocacy New Edition of They Represent You Released The League of Women Voters of Amherst has released a new directory of all elected townwide officials and Town Meeting members, as well as both U.S. and state Senators and Representatives for the Amherst area. Copies of They Represent You (TRY) are available at the Amherst Town Hall, the Amherst public libraries, Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, Hastings, and elsewhere around Amherst. New this year, a PDF copy is available to download from the League s website You can download TRY to your favorite device, tablet, computer, smart phone, or print it. Just remember to switch to the wide "landscape" orientation under Page Setup. TRY is being distributed directly by the LWVA rather than through the Amherst Bulletin this year. We are trying this experiment, since we never knew how many copies were inadvertently thrown out with all the ads that also arrive with the Bulletin. Requests for copies may be directed to LWVA at or lwva@lwvamherst.org. This publication is a free public service of the Amherst League. p. 3

4 Your Board in Action At the August planning meeting of the LWVA Board of Directors, two important initiatives were enthusiastically approved. The first was to establish a new LWVA committee. This new committee will be called Combatting Racism Committee (CRC). The purpose of this committee will be threefold: 1) to bring to the attention of the LWVA activities and events that support anti-racism efforts in our community and join in hosting these events. 2) to look for opportunities for League members to work with other groups who are working toward combatting racism, such as the Amherst Area NAACP. 3) to think about ways the LWVA can actively participate in anti-racism activities and events including, but not limited to, providing financial support where appropriate, such as for a tabling fee to register voters. Please contact Jackie Wolf, lwvahealthcare@yahoo.com or ,if you would like to be involved. The second action that the Board took was to send a letter to the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts and the LWVUS to request that they move the 2014 LWVUS Convention from the State of Texas (Dallas) due to the recent action of the Texas Legislature and Governor of Texas, Rick Perry. The Texas Standing: Susan Millinger, Bonnie MacCracken, Dick Kofler, Mary Jane Laus, Martha Hanner, Rachel Mustin, Allice Swift [off-board], Joan Rabin Legislature passed and Governor Perry recently Seated: Peggy Roberts, Elaine Trehub, Kathy Vorwerk Feldman, Cynthia Brubaker, Kathy Campbell. Board members not in photo: Janice Ratner signed into law one of the and Deanna Pearlstein most restrictive pro-choice laws in our nation. There are no provisions for the mother's life, for rape or for incest. The LWVUS has a strong position in favor of pro-choice and we felt we should withdraw our national convention from this State and move it to a State that is more in line with our positions. This action was approved and a letter has been sent to LWVM and LWVUS. We hope that the LWVM will make a similar request to the LWVUS. Your Board welcomes any feedback or suggestions you have for making our League more effective. We are committed to being an active, responsive League and to making a real difference in our community, our state and our nation. p. 4

5 Aron Goldman to speak at Opening Meeting Aron Goldman is the Executive Director of The Springfield Institute. Goldman has fourteen years experience doing program and organizational development for grassroots, regional, national and international organizations including The World Bank, The United Nations, USAID, US Dept. of Health and Human Services, Princeton Social Investing, Johns Hopkins University, North End Outreach Network, the Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council, the Amherst Survival Center, and many others. He has taught public policy at UMass Amherst and Springfield College. Goldman holds a Masters degree from Princeton University s Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs. The Springfield Institute and Election 2012 The Springfield Institute describes itself as think tank with a twist: a central commitment to outreach, inclusion, and community organizing... The Institute will support and complement community organizations already doing great work, offering policy and research capacity, additional organizing infrastructure, strategic communications, and other kinds of technical assistance. But the ultimate goal is to provoke broad public discussion, help generate fresh perspectives, and contribute to real urban transformation. The Institute has documented voter participation disparities for more than half a decade, since the city of Springfield was sued in 2006 by the US Department of Justice for violations of the Voting Rights Act. The Institute believes that the city is out of compliance with many provisions of the settlement order from that suit. Extensive problems with the general election of November 2012 are documented at There was only so much that Springfield s remarkably dedicated poll workers could do to overcome obstacles and ensure all voters had equal access to polls. In the end, several substantial errors at City Hall meant that already underrepresented groups in particular could not exercise their right to vote. Most egregious, at least three polling places were shut down by mid-day when they ran out of ballots... Additional problems included: voters being bounced around from poll to poll, poll workers unable to reach City Hall to look up registration status, flawed ballots jamming ballot machines, and language access issues. Please join us at Opening Meeting to hear more about the work of the Springfield Institute as it seeks to encourage new perspectives, and challenge residents to expect more than incremental improvements, as well as about problems and solutions to increase voter participation, a traditional League concern. p. 5

6 Help Wanted - The LWVA Needs YOU! Would you like to help the LWVA but can t take on a position of major responsibility? We need people in various positions to do jobs that are very important but not terribly time consuming. One of these may be a perfect match for you! Help with our newsletter mailing once a month. It involves labeling the newsletter and taking it to Bulk Mailing at the Post Office. Call Kathy if you can help with this task. Help set up a Facebook page and maintain it, or oversee our website to be sure it is up-todate. Contact Susan if you have these skills and can give us some of your expertise and time. Join the Public Relations Committee to help get our PR Releases out to the media. Contact PR Chair Susan Help plan our 75th anniversary celebration in the spring. (Details below.) Contact Janice Help coordinate special public forums and activities for a series on Getting to Know Amherst. (Details next page.) Contact Bonnie Assist in registering voters when we have a voter registration event. We will train you and it is fun! Contact Alice or Mary Jane Join a Committee to help us review and study issues. Are you interested in Health Care? Contact Jackie Are you interested in Campaign Finance? Contact Joan Would you like to learn more about Genetically Modified Organisms and their impact? Contact Rebecca (More on following pages.) Collect petition signatures to get The Bottle Bill passed in Massachusetts. (See next page.) Contact Cynthia Don t be shy! We will train you and help you find your niche. You can do as much or as little as you have time for. The time you contribute to our efforts will be greatly appreciated and, we promise you, it will be rewarding! Details... Seventy-fifth anniversary The Amherst League will be celebrating its 75th anniversary in the spring. We are making plans to observe this milestone in several ways, including publishing a booklet with an updated local League history, similar to the booklet we printed for our 50th anniversary. If you would like to help with any part of this celebration, please call or Janice Ratner, or jdratner@comcast.net. Seventy-five years really is something to celebrate! p. 6

7 Getting to Know Amherst At its August planning meeting, the Board approved a Getting to Know Amherst series, with a mix of evening meetings and brown bag lunch meetings. In keeping with the mission of the League, to encourage active citizen participation, we would like to offer to our members and the community a series that will include information about our town, its governmental process, and how it functions. We expect one meeting to focus on town meeting, how it functions and how to participate. To provide an array of forums we would like to reach out and form partnerships with other community organization that could include the Chamber of Commerce, the Amherst Historical Society and other town boards and committees. Contact Bonnie MacCracken to assist with planning and implementing this series. She can be reached as or bmaccracken@comcast.net. Massachusetts Bottle Bill The campaign to update the Massachusetts' Bottle Bill is going to the ballot! On August 7, LWVMA, in conjunction with members of the Coalition to Update the Mass Bottle Bill, submitted an initiative petition to the Office of the Attorney General. The petition closely follows a bill filed earlier this year by Rep. Hecht and Sen. Creem and cosigned by over 90 legislators. It will expand the current deposit on single-serve beverage containers to non-carbonated beverages. Updating the Bottle Bill is supported by the Governor, over 300 cities and towns across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and over 70% of the electorate. In spite of the extensive support and the proven success of the original Bottle Bill, the legislature has failed to pass this bill for over ten years. Once this petition is certified and prepared by the office of the Secretary of State, expected early in September, LWVMA has pledged to collect 10,000 of the 100,000 signatures needed by midnovember to ensure it is placed on the November 2014 ballot. So we need as many League members as possible to step up and join the effort. If you would like to take an active role, contact Cynthia Brubaker ( ) or Kathy Vorwerk Feldman ( ). Follow the Money (FT$) Several members of the FT$ committee are working with the state Campaign Finance Study Committee to provide material for consensus meetings around the state early next year. The committee also continues to refine its Democracy in the Balance presentation and seek additional venues for this 20-minute presentation with discussion. Contact Joan or jrabin@external.umass.edu. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) LWVUS is updating its Agriculture Policy, adopted in The update will focus narrowly on: 1) current technology issues in agriculture including genetically modified organisms (GMOs), herbicides, pesticides, agriculture water pollution, aquifer depletion, antibiotics in livestock, and accurate food labeling; and 2) current agriculture finance issues including consolidation in agriculture industries, crop subsidies and the federal agricultural regulatory process. Rebecca Fricke ( ) is heading up LWVA participation in this national study. More information at p. 7

8 Health care reform. moving on If you noticed your health insurance premiums have gone up but your benefits have decreased in the past couple of years you are not alone. In Massachusetts, costs for health insurance premiums in large, employer based plans have gone up 10 percent from while the value of benefits in those plans decreased 5 percent. (August, 2013, report by the Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA a new Massachusetts agency charged with tracking health care statistics). The LWVA Health Care Committee (HCC) is talking about these statistics when we table at farmers markets and fairs. This past summer, we set up tables, several weeks, in Springfield at the Forest Park and Mason Square farmers markets. On July 23, LWVA members took our health care reform work to Chester, MA. We sold tickets to Mercy Killers, a one-act play written and perform by Michael Milligan. The play was followed by a talk-back which included Dr. Charles Whol, Physicians for National Health Care; Ture Turnbull, Executive Director of MassCare; Bynum Stevens, Director of Chester Theatre; Michael Milligan and Jackie Wolf. The audience discussion was rich and lively. As fall approaches, we are looking for more opportunities to present our program entitled: Massachusetts Health Care for the 21st Century. This talk is 20 minutes long. We encourage discussion with the audience. Please contact Jackie Wolf (lwvahealthcare@yahoo.com) if you would like to suggest a venue. The LWVA HCC is very interested in collecting health stories. We would like to hear from Tabling in Mason Square people about experiences they have recently had with health care providers. We have a form to collect these stories (see next page). We would appreciate if you would fill it out and mail it (or drop it off) Jackie Wolf, 75 Sunset Avenue, Amherst. If you would like an on-line form to fill it and return, please Jackie (lwvahealthcare@yahoo.com) Thanks so much. Found at the Book Sale: a hearing amplification device with ear buds with the brand name Listen Up. It is in a gray eyeglass-type case. If you know who the owner is, contact Jerry Brubaker at p. 8

9 THE FOLLOWING IS A SURVEY FOR USE IN RESEARCH BY MASSACHUSETTS CITIZENS WHO SEEK A STATE SOLUTION TO CONTROLLING HEALTHCARE COSTS My name (optional) You (please circle) may may not use my name in any reports You (please circle) may may not contact me for further information (My phone number/ address: ) How I cover my health care costs: I pay out of pocket I have a private insurance plan with comprehensive coverage I have a private insurance plan mainly for catastrophic coverage My care is paid by (circle one): MassHealth Medicare Military/Government Other I consider my health insurance premiums to be affordable large portion of my income too high for my budget I consider my health insurance deductible to be affordable large portion of my income too high for my budget A fortunate experience I had with my health care is... (use additional sheet of paper to continue comments) A regretful experience I had with my health care is... (use additional sheet of paper to continue comments) Please return by mail or drop off: Jackie Wolf, 75 Sunset Avenue, Amherst

10 Hearings on Gun Safety The League of Women Voters has made its voice heard at the hearings on gun control legislation held around the state by the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. The last of the five scheduled hearings will be in September, in the Gardner Auditorium at the State House, and the State League will testify. League representatives have testified at all four of the previous hearings. The Cape Cod Area and Worcester Leagues spoke at hearings in their areas. The State League, backed up by members from Northampton, Amherst and Sudbury, testified at the Springfield hearing, held just down the street from Smith & Wesson's headquarters and attended by about 300 S & W employees in identical t-shirts. Those attending from our Amherst LWV were Eva Cashdan, Barbara Ford, Cynthia Brubaker, Sarah McKee and Alice Swift. The joint committee will probably draft legislation with elements from the large number of gun-related bills that have been filed, and that new legislation is likely to be what is reported out of committee later this fall. Alice Swift, Eva Cashdan, Cynthia Brubaker, Barbara Ford and Sarah McKee at the Springfield hearing on gun safety LWVUS reacts to Supreme Court decision on Voting Rights Act In a strongly worded press release, LWVUS condemned the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Shelby County, Alabama v Holder, handed down in June. Calling the decision a huge mistake and naive, President Elizabeth MacNamara said This decision will only embolden those who seek to create barriers to voters rights. Without a strong VRA, our ability to fight off anti-voter legislation and keep our elections free, fair and accessible is significantly weakened. LWVUS had filed an amicus brief in the case. The press release quotes from Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsberg's dissent: In truth, the evolution of voting discrimination into more subtle second-generation barriers is powerful evidence that a remedy as effective as preclearance remains vital to protect minority voting rights and prevent backsliding. In a recent press release, LWVUS applauded the Department of Justice's decision to sue the state of Texas over its new voter photo ID law, noting that the Shelby decision has been followed by an all-out attack on voting rights across the country this summer. p. 10

11 LWVA FINANCE DRIVE REPORT Two solicitation letters on letterhead were prepared in October, one for former donors, thanking them for their previous support. This year the format of the letter was changed from paragraphs to headings and bullet points in order to make our mission, studies, programs, and advocacy easier to read at a glance. Listing of programs and studies were updated to reflect the current year s work. 110 of the past-donor letters and 225 of the standard letters were printed at Copy Cat Printers in Amherst. 335 return contribution forms were also printed at Copy Cat. The mailing consisted of the solicitation letter, return contribution form, #9 return envelope with the League s Amherst address, and #10 standard envelope with a printed return League address. It paid off to spend some time double checking current addresses and enlisting others to peruse the list for those who have passed away or moved out of the area. Since more names had been added to our mailing list each year than had been removed, the list had grown to well over 1000 addresses. After some discussion about cutting back on the mailing, the Board voted to send the fundraising letter only to donors who had contributed in the last five years, plus all 240 Town Meeting members. On Monday, November 12th, a folding, stamping, and stuffing session was held at Adele GladstoneGilbert s home. Elaine Mange, Louise Dubinsky, Jane Harrington, Janice Ratner, Cindy Asebrook, Jeanne Potash, and Katherine Campbell volunteered to help out with the assembly line. Their work was acknowledged in the League Bulletin in January. The mail was bundled by zip code and brought to the back of the Amherst Post Office on University Drive, where Sue, a postal worker, helped organize the mailing. A total of 332 pieces of mail were bulk mailed for a total of $53.12 in postage. Only a small handful were undeliverable this year. As donations came in, treasurer Janice Ratner recorded them and deposited the checks, passing the completed forms on to me so that a thank-you letter could be sent acknowledging the kind of payment, LWVA or Education Fund, and the amount given. An additional source for potential donations was found. An arrangement was set up in the Fall of 2012 for UMASS employees to give to the League of Women Voters Education Fund through the UMASS Amherst Community Campaign list of charities. At the time of this writing (late May 2013) it is unknown how much has been collected through the Community Campaign to be funneled to the League Education Fund. That information should be forthcoming. Donations to date total $1225.; $1000. to the LWVA and $225. to the LWV Ed. Fund. There were 28 donations, 8.4% of those solicited. Out of 11 businesses contacted, only one, R&P Package store, donated this year. There was one $75. matching fund donation from The McKesson Foundation. I would recommend that the Board revisit the issue of who and how many receive the fundraising letter. It appears that a wider net yields a greater return and potentially informs more in the community about our work. While the percent of contributors doubled as compared with last year, the net funds raised are reduced. Our decreased costs do not make up the difference. It also appears that letters sent to businesses need to be followed up with personal contact to yield more giving. The UMASS Community Campaign listing is easy to keep up so I think it should be publicized and continued as a potential source of some revenue. Respectfully submitted, Adele Gladstone-Gilbert, Finance Director p. 11

12 MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Opening Meeting September 19 Refreshments 6:30 p.m., Program 7:00 p.m. Jones Library, Woodbury Room