| August 2021
Editor Jennifer Bales
communications@lwvbc.org | | | |
President's Letter
for August, 2021
By Elizabeth Crowe | | | |
Welcome to a new League year! |
I hope you are all enjoying the summer. Many of our League members and leaders are catching up on visits with family and friends and enjoying the outside, and I know we’re all hoping for a positive turnaround to the uptick in COVID infections.
Our Voter newsletter, League Board meetings and several of our teams take a bit of a break in July before we ramp up again for activities in August for a new League year. Yet, so much is happening this summer! For example, LWVUS continues to push for the For The People Act, including action from our CEO Virginia Kase Solomon who, along with other civil rights and voting rights advocates, was arrested last week while bringing attention to the voting rights rollbacks sweeping the country. LWV Colorado has been promoting the state’s redistricting initiatives – an issue that impacts Boulder County and communities across the state. Our local League is speaking out on both of these fronts as well.
In July our LWVBC held an annual strategic planning retreat for Board members and team leaders. We worked on team outcomes for the year, for Voter Services (voter registration drives, candidate forums, ballot initiatives); Advocacy (including on gun safety, climate action, voting methods and more); and Operations (fundraising, finance, communications and membership), making sure these activities are in alignment with our mission and the community impact we want.
At the strategic planning retreat we paid specific attention to two important elements of all the work we do: 1) building relationships and partnerships with other organizations whose goals are aligned with and complement LWVBC; and 2) ensuring that equity and inclusion are the foundation of all of our activities and processes. For the latter, we are going to be increasingly utilizing a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion assessment to help interrupt cycles of exclusion and negative bias based in racism and other inequities. I encourage all members to become familiar with this assessment tool, and help hold me, LWVBC leaders and each other accountable for moving forward a truly anti-racist, anti-oppression agenda.
| I’m excited for our new League year and hope you are too! Please pay special attention to announcements in this newsletter for volunteer and leadership opportunities that can match whatever amount of time you might have available, for a wide range of talents and tasks.
Hope to see you soon – online or in person – at an upcoming League event. Till then, stay safe and healthy and enjoy the rest of the summer. | | | |
In July, LWV launched its new programmatic focus: Women Power Democracy. Like the “Making Democracy Work for All” focus, this new framework helps unite and focus our League activities for cohesive impact. It’s four programmatic components are:
- Democracy Truth Project - Countering mis- and disinformation in our government and advancing public understanding of the democratic process;
- Expanding the Franchise- Increasing voter participation, with a focus on underrepresented populations and low-propensity voters;
- Democracy Defense Fund - Protecting voting rights and advancing a more equitable democracy through advocacy and voter protection efforts; and
- People-powered Fair Maps - Leading with advocacy, public education, and organizing to create transparent, people-powered electoral maps and eliminate gerrymandering during 2021 redistricting.
LWVBC will continue to integrate these four elements into our strategic goals and activities. Visit the LWV website for more information on Women Power Democracy! |  | LWVBC offers our deep gratitude and thanks, and best wishes to Shiquita Yarbrough, who has stepped down from the Board in order to run for local office in Longmont. We have been inspired by Shiquita as a Board member and community leader for many years, and congratulate her for taking the bold step to run for office, whatever the election outcome.
And, we offer a hearty welcome to new Board members Jackson Moody and Hannah Rain Crowe who are stepping up as Youth Engagement co-leaders. Jackson and Hannah have both been involved in various League activities and their ears perked up at our Annual Meeting about this opportunity. We look forward to them getting more deeply engaged in LWVBC teams and encouraging other teens-and-twenties community members to do the same.
| New York City’s Mayoral Race Put IRV, a Ranking Voting Method, in the Headlines!
By Celeste Landry in consultation with Pat & Frank Venturo and Gaythia Weis
Was the city of New York’s Democratic primary for mayor a good test case for Boulder? In 2023, Boulderites will elect their mayor using instant-runoff voting (IRV), the most well-known form of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Click below to see the round-by-round results of the NYC election and our analysis.
| Welcome to our New Members:
New members who have joined in June and July are Heather Thorwald from Westminster, Hope Steffens-Nett and Tina Marquis from Boulder and Afton Redd and Abby Jones from Longmont. Welcome to all!
Come to our next Virtual Member Coffee August 21 at 10:00 AM
Please join us for a discussion of issues the league is following, including redistricting. Register here.
Dues are now $80 per year
At the Annual Meeting, members voted to raise dues $4 per year. Beginning July 1, 2021 dues are $80 per year. Secondary (household) members to a primary member pay half that amount or $40 per year. Your dues cover $32 to LWVUS, $20 to LWV of Colorado and $28 to LWV of Boulder County. Students registered in an academic program can sign up for free membership with 20 hours of volunteering/participation expected. The League does not want the cost of membership to prevent those interested from joining. Contact membership@lwvbc.org for possible options. Gifting a membership or portion of one is now possible via our website too.
We would love to see 100% of our members post their picture in our directory
There are still a lot of membership profiles missing pictures. Please add your picture to your lwvbc.org profile. Not sure how to do it? After logging into lwvbc.org, click on the spot where your picture would be in the top right corner of your computer screen. Follow the prompts to upload a picture from your computer.
| 2021 Election Year is Underway! LWVBC Voter Service Needs You!
by Mandy Nuku
Would you like to help fulfill our mission of educating and empowering voters? We are looking to fill two positions--Voter Registration Drive Coordinator and Ballot Issue Coordinator for the 2021 Election Season (and beyond if interested!). And we need moderators for candidate forums. Review the full descriptions of each position and contact LWVBC Operations Director, Mandy Nuku (mandynuku@lwvbc.org) with any questions or to express your interest in one of the roles.
Voter Registration Drive (VRD) Coordinator
This is an unpaid, volunteer position requiring a time commitment of 2 to 4 hrs. per week, depending on the time of year. Training for this position will be provided.
Ballot Issue Coordinator
Another volunteer position which entails research and writing on ballot positions, coordinating LWVBC members to speak, and maintaining calendars.
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Moderators needed!
2021 Candidate Forums have been scheduled for City Council Electionsand BVSD School Board. Would you like to help moderate these virtual forums? Training will be provided in September. If you are interested contact Mandy at mandynuku@lwvbc.org | | | | LWVBC Financial Facts
by Ruth Stemler
Would you like to know how we spend our money to Make Democracy Work for All? Our 2021 – 22 expense budget for LWVBC is approximately $73,000. At our current membership enrollment membership fees raise about $7,000 per year to cover ~10% of our budget. We need to raise the other 90%! See the linked article below for a brief rundown of how we raise money and how we spend it.
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