The Corpus Christi Area Voter League of Women Voters PO Box 8276 Corpus Christi, TX 78468-8276 http://www.lwv-cc.org 361-445-4436 LWV-CC Officers, 2013-2014 President - Sandra Heatherley 814-9120; sheatherle@cs.com Secretary - Matilda Saenz 214-240-5655 rsaenz87@sbcglobal.net Treasurer - Maria Jimenez 888-7560 nick.maria.jimenez@sbcglobal.net Vice President, Program (vacant) Vice President, Community Relations Bryan Bode, 877-3791 slowbode@usa.com Vice President, Member Services Ruth Falck, 548-2615 falckruth@yahoo.com Directors: Pam Maupin, 949-8708 pammaupin@sbcglobal.net Sally Farris, (210) 313-7028 s.farris@att.net Coretta Graham, 815-8346 lawyergraham@msn.com OFF-BOARD CHAIRS Nominating Committee Nick Jimenez, 888-7560 Website Editor - Lois Huff 774-1500; huffs@the-i.net The VOTER Editors Ricky Walraven; 992-8031; wilraven26@yahoo.com Chris Davis Garcia; 991-2784; cdg1714@att.net Immediate Past President Judy Telge, 813-6397 Annual Meeting is Champagne Brunch The 69th Annual Meeting of the Corpus Christi Area League of Women Voters is scheduled for Saturday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to noon at Sugarbakers Bakery at 2766 Santa Fe. In the past this has been an evening event and fund-raiser for the League. This year we are trying a different time, location, and program. Members will enjoy a champagne brunch while voting on the new slate of nominees for officers and approving the budget proposed for next year. There may be a surprise speaker but at this writing the plan is for us to discuss the League s direction and business with the membership. The cost is $ 15 to cover the cost of the champagne and brunch. Please RSVP your intention to attend by calling and leaving a message at 361-445-4436 to ensure the proper amount of the delicious breakfast/lunch menu is prepared. This is a great opportunity for members to assist in shaping our future actions for the community and the 2014 elections. Please plan to attend!! Former C.C. president elected state secretary Chris Davis Garcia, a former president of LWV-CC, was elected to the statewide office of LWV-Texas secretary at the State Convenion in Austin April 25 27. She has served as a member of the state board since 2010 and is also coeditor of the VOTER. LWV-CC s other delegates were President Sandra Heatherley and Vice President for Member Services Ruth Faulk. The C.C. League received two awards at the convention, one for growth in membership and one for Effective Use of Community Resources. The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan, political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. 1 THE VOTER
The League of Women Voters biennial state convention occurred in Austin from April 25-27. Chris Garcia, Ruth Falck, and I represented Corpus Christi as delegates to the session. Sandra Heatherley Ruth attended the Membership/Leadership Development (MLD) workshop on Friday, April 25, and had a chance to meet Ruthanne Geer, who has been assigned as the coach for the Corpus Christi League in the MLD endeavor, which is aimed at increasing membership and developing leadership among current members. More about the workshop appears in this newsletter. Elizabeth MacNamara, president of LWVUS, gave the keynote address on opening day of the convention. Among the highlights of her presentation was her reference to the common currency of democracy the vote. She explained that before the League gets more involved with the Move to Amend Coalition, LWVUS will enter into a study to analyze the structure of the process for amending the Constitution, the impact of state resolutions asking for a constitutional convention, and the rules that would apply to such a convention. She assured the audience that while the study is going on the LWV will remain active in disclosing contributions for candidates. Ms. MacNamara also recommended the recent book by retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution. Her talk was certainly encouraging for all the work that local Leagues accomplish and she emphasized our need for patient persistence with several President s Message By Sandra Heatherley THE VOTER 2 examples of the League s successes, which are often measured in years or decades. The luncheon speaker on April 26 was Ann McGeehan, who was the election expert at the Texas Secretary of State s office for many years and most recently served on the Presidential Commission on Election Administration, which was charged with studying the problems which were reported from the 2010 presidential election and recommending possible solutions. One of the findings of the Commission is that the Motor Voter process of registering to vote when getting a driver s license is not working in most states. This is a fact we have recognized when doing voter registration at TAMU-CC. The Commission strongly encouraged that Motor Voter be re-energized and that all states work toward online voter registration and upgrading to more current electronic polling. The entire list of Commission recommendations can be found at www.supportthevoter.gov. There were 90 voting delegates at the convention representing 19 local leagues and 12 observers in the House of Delegates. Elaine Wiant of the Dallas League was elected president and our own Chris Davis Garcia was elected secretary for LWVTX. Two resolutions were passed by the House: That the LWV-TX recommend to the Texas State Board of Education a requirement for coverage of voting responsibilities and the practical aspects of voting be included in Government curriculum; and that at a minimum, 5 percent of questions on mandatory End-Of-Course government class test questions address voting and elections. That the LWV-TX recommend to the 85th Legislature a repeal of surcharges on fines relating to driving without a current inspections sticker and/or with expired insurance or no insurance.
Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2014-2015 (To be voted on at May 17 Annual Meeting) Income Individual Members (60 at $60) 3600 Household Members (10 at $90) 900 Student Members (4 at $30) 120 Monthly Lunch Meetings 1200 Fund-raising 2000 VOTER Advertisements 1000 Community Donations 500 Total Income $9320 Expenses PO Box 88 Supplies 500 Voter Services 1500 Printing 500 Monthly Lunch Meetings 900 Student Engagement 100 PMP TX 1550 PMP US 2250 Web Site 300 Fund-raising 500 Advertising 200 National Convention 350 Carry Over 582 Health Care Hero Dr. Lorraine Stehn honored Dr. Lorraine Stehn, Long-time League member, was honored with the Physician s Excellence in Health Care Award, in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in its recent announcement of Health Care Heroes. Dr. Stehn practices at Care Regional Hospital in Aransas Pass. Our congratulations to her. No increase in dues recommended for upcoming membership year June 1, 2014, begins the new fiscal year for LWV-CC. The Budget Committee is not recommending any increase in member dues for the coming year. An individual membership will remain $60, 2 persons at the same address (Household) membership remains $90, and students are $30. If the new membership categories are approved by the membership at the Annual Meeting, those will also be available to renewing members: Friend of the League at $30 and Sustaining Member at $100. Renewals will be accepted at the Annual Meeting or can be mailed to our Post Office Box 8276, Corpus Christi, TX 78468-8276 Total Expenses $9320 *PMP=Per Member Payment to the Texas and US League of Women Voters Submitted April 6, 2014, by Budget committee VOTER REGISTRATION--Several League members (including new member Linda Snider, shown above) helped man a table to register voters at the annual Earth Day/Bay Day Celebration in early April at Heritage Park. 3 THE VOTER
Detach and return this form A.S.A.P to Mildred Pope, 3217 E. Ledbetter Dr., Dallas, TX 75216 (or to her e-mail above) THE VOTER 4
(Below) LWV-CC President Sandra Heatherley (third from left) joins other award recipients to show off their certificates at the State Convention in Austin. (Far left) Former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby (l) participated in a guided dialogue during the convention banquet. His mother, the late Oveta Culp Hobby, served as a state League president in 1931-32. LWV-CC delegates Chris Garcia, Sandra Heatherley, and Ruth Falck were among almost 100 at the state convention held April 25-27 in Austin. Chris was elected to a two-year term as secretary for LWV-TX. LWV-CC receives two awards at state convention The Corpus Christi League of Women Voters received two awards during the state convention held the last week of April! in Austin. The first award recognized our local league as being among 100 Leagues in the United States to grow its membership by 10 percent or more in 2013. The LWV-CC grew by 15.79 percent. The second award was for leveraging resources and building relationships. President Heatherley was happy to receive the Effective Use of Community Resources award recognizing our partnering and collaboration with the YWCA, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Leadership Corpus Christi, the Hispanic Women s Network, TAMU- CC, and the Move to Amend Coalition during the past two years. New Membership Program The League of Women Voters reports a gradual decline in membership until 2012 when membership leveled off. The League has now implemented a new program called Membership Leadership Development (MLD) to address the general decline in numbers. Through this program the national League will support the state organization, which will, in turn, support the local Leagues. Each League will have an experience coach to help with best practices in local League operations. Our coach is Ruth Ann Geer from Tarrant County, a past state president. We will have a monthly conference call to review what we have accomplished and to discuss any additional ideas. Along this line, ideas discussed at the state convention included working with the media, working with other organizations, welcoming new members, and cultivating future leadership. 5 THE VOTER
Revision of Friend of the League status proposal Revised based on April 21 Board Discussion Friend of the League is a limited membership Pilot Program for one year. Implementation is effective May 17, 2014 upon membership approval at the Annual Meeting. Reevaluation by the Board of Directors in April 2015. Purpose: The purpose of Friend of the League is to offer a membership category for nonactive members, fixed income members, members with specific needs and nonmembers who are interested in League functions on a more limited basis. In addition, Friend of the League, which will be determined by the VP/Membership Services, offers an opportunity for membership growth Eligibility: 1) Changing life situations and/or 2) Acceptance of non-voting status Benefits: 1) $30 Annual membership fee 2) Receipt of all League newsletters 3) Membership price on special events 4) Attendance at all League- sponsored luncheons, programs and events 5) Networking, camaraderie, discussion input and meeting participation Limitations : 1) Non-voting status 2) Ineligible for Board membership and Off-Board Chairs Donations: 1) Current League members have the opportunity of sponsoring a new Friend of the League through donation with the reduced rate of $30 Annual membership fee. Two motions needed: 1) To accept the Friend of the League policy and pilot period. 2) Motion to approve a new membership category of Sustaining Member This category will be available at $100 annually and will be a voluntary selection on the part of the member. Sustaining Members will have all the privileges of full membership. This is beneficial to the league in that the per member payment to the state and the national office remains the same and we are allowed to retain more of the sustaining member s dues for local purposes. New member, Welcome Hannah Chipman Renewal, Welcome Chad Magill THE VOTER 6
Support sought for Move to-amend campaign By Jim Klein, PHd. The Corpus Christi chapter of the League of equals speech and thus cannot be regulated. Women Voters, the Del Mar College History Cobb urged those attending to join the effort Program, and Move to Amend welcomed Move to amend the Constitution to reduce the influence to Amend spokesman David Cobb to Del Mar of money in elections. Currently, 100 members of College on April 24. Congress, 500 city councils, and 16 state legislatures support the reversal of Citizens United. Speaking before an audience of 70 at the White Library, Cobb explained that, while the Cobb urged his audience to push for a resolution American democratic system is based on the idea against Citizens United by the Corpus Christi City that the people rule themselves through elected Council to demonstrate local dissatisfaction with representatives, that system is threatened by the the current pay to play system. corrupting influence of money, particularly corporate money, to swing an election for one candidate or another. Cobb detailed the evolution of the corporation through history and the history of campaign finance legislation. While noting the growing threat corporations political influence poses to the American experiment in democratic government, Cobb stressed that we have an opportunity to reverse this trend. He recommended that the United States Constitution be amended to assert that corporations are not people and do not have the constitutional rights of people and money is not speech (and thus can be regulated by campaign finance laws). The Move to Amend campaign began following the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission ruling that confirmed corporate personhood, though its proposed amendment would also reverse earlier rulings that money At the end of Cobb s presentation, audience members, in conjunction with the local group Move-to-Amend Corpus Christi, agreed to meet Thursday, May 8 at 5 p. m. at 413 Waco Street to discuss plans to persuade the Corpus Christi City Council to resolve against Citizens United. League members and supporters are encouraged to attend this meeting. Move-to-Amend Corpus Christi also will join the statewide effort to convince the Texas legislature to support a resolution against the corrupting influence of money in politics and welcomes League participation in this effort as well. More information on the national and state Move to Amend campaigns can be found at movetoamend.org and texansunitedtoamend.org. For information on local efforts, contact Move-to- Amend Corpus Christi through Jim Klein at 361-334-3908 or jeklein642@yahoo. com. Screening Colonoscopy 7 THE VOTER
THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS PO Box 8276 Corpus Christi, TX 78468 Space is available for advertising in the VOTER. $100 for 10 issues. Call the League at 445-4436 for details. LWV Corpus Christi Renewal / New Membership Application Join now and help in the effort to promote political responsibility through informed, active participation in government. Type of membership: New Renewal Individual $60 Student $30 Household $90 Name Household Member s Name Address Work Address (optional) I prefer to receive my mail at: home or work. (Please circle your preference above.) Home phone Work or Cell phone Fax number E-mail Address Please return this form to: League of Women Voters P. 0. Box 8276, Corpus Christi, Texas 78468. Membership is from June 1 through May 31. THE VOTER 8 4044 Greenwood Dr. Corpus Christi, Texas Phone: 361-857-5896 Fax: 361-857-5898 E-mail: gleason@ccliteracy. org www.ccliteracy.org Volunteer to Teach an Adult to Read! Corpus Christi Literacy Council Mary V. Gleason Executive Director