Your Board has an exciting array of initiatives, planned for the
upcoming year. We are kicking off the year with Natwar Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer for
the District. He will review the city's financial condition, address the issue of the
perennial shortfall between expenditures and revenues and discuss options for expanding
the city's tax base.
Other major initiatives this fall include a Global Trade seminar (see
insert), a workshop for DC public school teachers culminating in a mock election on
November 2, and an examination of the District Charter Schools.
Program is the League's reason for being. Program is the reason we
recruit members, sponsor workshops and forums and raise funds. And in January we'll be
selecting new areas of emphasis and for study in the coming two years. What's your
passion? Where should the League put its energies?
We look forward to a stimulating year and to your involvement.
Elizabeth M. Martin, President
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Our fall fundraising efforts are off to a strong start led by Carol
Ragsdale and Barbara Luchs. 1,300 letters to potential contributors were mailed in August.
This is the largest direct mail effort the League has made in recent memory. It is an
enormous effort to stuff, seal, affix the address labels and then carry them to the post
office and we thank our volunteers. And producing the letters was no mean task. Sheila
Willet and Tirza Chavez spent countless hours entering names and printing the letters as
well as finding a way to attach the president's signature. Signing 1,300 letters was not
in the cards for this president! The generation of the list was Ralph Watkin's idea and
his generous gift made this mailing possible.
Also, many thanks to Audrey Hatry for her generous gift of Home Depot
stock. It is being used to increase our Voters Service efforts. And, from out of the blue,
we received a letter from First Trust in Chicago informing us that Mrs. Dorothy Heinsimer
of Lincolnwood has donated Walgreen stock to the DC League. Mrs. Heinsimer's gift will go
toward Voters Service as well as our teachertraining project on September 26.
You will be receiving our once-a-year fundraising letter to members
shortly. We are targeting those funds for voter education also. With a new school board to
be elected November 4, we are planning an expanded school board education effort and gel
out-the-vote campaign for November 4. Liz Martin, President
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Our six Units, after a three-month summer break, are planning a full
program year. At our first Unit Meetings in October (see October DC VOTER for schedule)
members will have an opportunity to meet the candidates for the newly restructured School
Board, the subject of Unit Meetings last May.
Many thanks to members who filled out and returned the survey "The
Neighborhood Units Retain, Restructure or Replace" that was enclosed with your
July/August newsletter. Look for a preliminary report next month. If you have not yet sent
in your responses, please check those stacks of mail received during the summer, fill out
the survey and send it to me ASAP (you can also call me at 9661692 for a copy).
Sheila Keeny, Unit Director
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Because of decisions reached at Convention 2000, the LWVDC now faces an
opportunity long sought by the IR Committee -- that of updating LWVUS positions adopted in
the 1970s on the United Nations as well as Trade. Thanks to the farsightedness of our
President, LWVDC is ready to go, with a six session seminar on Trade, led by IR committee
member Janet Burmester, already in the works. The seminar, in turn, will lead to Unit
meetings on Trade in February. At the same time, the Committee will follow developments at
the UN in anticipation of a similar program of study on the UN next year. Anyone
interested in working with the Committee is urged to sign up for the seminar, get the book
and start reading. The Committee will hold a brief organizing meeting immediately
following the first Seminar session on September 13. Sheila Keeny and Susan Rao, Co
Chairs.
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First Seminar Session: Globaphobia: The Virtues of Free
Trade
Wednesday, September 13th
See flyer
The deadline to reserve your place at the Fall Luncheon is September 15
Reserve with this form
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The League's major effort for the primary election will be the mailing
of approximately 15,000 Voters Guides to half the residents of Ward 8. We decided to focus
our efforts in Ward 8 because of low voter turnout in the past. It will be informative to
see if the precincts that got the mailing had a higher turnout than the precincts that did
not receive the information. Additionally, we mailed 1,000 Guides to our members,
contributors and new citizens who we have been registering to vote each month. An
additional 4,000 guides were distributed across the city. Kudos extended to Voters Service
Co-chair Guy Coriden for handling the distribution to so many!!!
Our first effort with DNet, the League's electronic Voters Guide, has
been relatively problem free although responses from candidates has been slow. WRC (NBC
Channel 4) will feature DNet in their election coverage on air and in their web site after
Labor Day.
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Summertime has been a quiet time for NCA...at least relatively
speaking. A remarkable opportunity, however, was the visit of four heads of Ukrainian NGOs
{nongovernmental organizations) who sought to speak with American groups like ours about
interacting with government in a democracy. Eight of us spent a morning with them at the
LWVUS office, discussing League organization and functioning. After lunch, we all took the
subway to the home of DC Leaguer, Sheila Keeny, where we had an elegant tea and informal,
spirited conversation with our young visitors. We learned as much as they did, I'm sure. I
hope they had as satisfying an experience as we did.
Our D.C. Finances Committee wrote to the Washington Post, providing
clarification on the substance of the Post editorial of July 16 called "Confronting
the Commuter Tax." Signed by Committee members Nancy Bliss (LWVMC) and Roland Bowers
(formerly LWVFC), we were grateful that our letter was published (almost unedited) on July
24. Naomi Glass, President
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Many thanks to the members who sent in additional contributions to support the League:
Jean Flemming, Morella Hansen, Audrey Hatry, and Eleanor H. Trowbridge.
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DC VOTE Amy Slemmer has been hired as the executive director. She began
full time the first of August after working part time the last half of July. She has a
deep commitment to social justice issues- especially, full voting representation n
Congress for DC citizens. She is an attorney, organizer, and lobbyist with deep ties
across the District. She has attended both the Republican and Democratic conventions. At
both she was interviewed by radio commentators about full voting representation in
Congress for DC citizens. Before the Democratic convention she ran a workshop for those
from the DC area who would be attending to coordinate their support efforts. The Coalition
has relocated to a storefront and offices at the comer to 15th and U Streets, NW. Those
interested in volunteering for a few hours each week are asked to call 872-8683.
Kathy Schmidt, 202-232-6460
LWVUS President Carolyn Jefferson-Jerkins wrote to the Members of the
U.S. Congress on Voting Representation for the Citizens of the District of Columbia. Thank
you to Barbara Yeomans for providing the following text to DC Voter of Ms.
Jefferson-Jerkins June 19 letter:
"Dear Members of the U. S. Congress:
The League of Women Voters urges you to support full congressional voting
representation for the citizens of the District of Columbia.
The citizens of the District have always fulfilled the obligations of
American citizenship by paying federal taxes, serving in the military, and contributing
leaders in nearly every field of human endeavor. Yet District citizens are denied voting
representation in the U.S. Congress, the very body that has ultimate authority over every
aspect of the city's judicial, executive, and legislative functions.
Over the last 200 years, the principle that all citizens are
entitled to a voice and a vote in their national government has emerged as a cornerstone
of American democracy and a fundamental tenet of our Constitution. Although relative few
Americans were entitled to vote when the Constitution was adopted in 1788, virtually all
restrictions on the franchise have been eliminated, including those based on race, sex,
wealth, property ownership, education, marital status and place of residence.
Disenfranchisement of District citizens is he last great exception of the constitutional
principle of one person, one vote. "
The United States is the only nation on earth that completely
disenfranchises residents of its capital city in national legislative elections. Imagine
France denying voting rights to citizens of Paris or Chile disenfranchising Santiago. It
is hard to conceive of such a thing.
There is an ongoing misunderstanding of the Framer's decision to
grant to Congress "exclusive legislation" over the federal district. The purpose
of the so-called "District Clause" was to guarantee Congress military security
and police powers over the site of its own operations - not to disenfranchise anyone.
A basic principle of democracy is at stake. Americans living in the
nation's capital deserve to have full voting representation in the body that makes their
laws, taxes them and can call them to war. Only Congress can ensure that the democracy
Americans have espoused and fought for across the globe becomes a reality in the nation's
capital. The time has come for full representation."
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Voter Services needs part-time volunteer help to input data (utilizing Microsoft Word)
at the League office for the "Voters Guide to November's Primary Election."
We will be concentrating on the School Board candidates. The time frame is during the
last two weeks in September and first week in October. Call the League office at
202-347-3020 for more information.
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"Registered voters in the Democratic, Republican, D.C.
Statehood-Green, and Umoja parties may cast an absentee ballot either in person or by
mail. if they cannot vote because of physical limitations or out-of-town travel."
announced Election Board Director Alice P. Miller. The procedures are:
Absentee Voting by Mail - Under DC law, voters wishing
to have a ballot mailed to them must send a written request to the Board of Elections.
This request must reach the Board by Sept. 5th and must include the voter's name and
address, mailing address if different, reason for voting absentee, and signature. An
absentee ballot request form can be downloaded from www.dcboee.org.
Absentee Voting in Person - Voters may cast an absentee ballot
in person in the Voter Services Office in Room 250 at 441 Fourth St., NW, directly above
Judiciary Square Metro stop. The period for in-person absentee voting begins Mon., Aug
28th and runs through Mon., Sep 11th. Office hours are from 8:30 am to 4:45 prn Monday
through Saturday.
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Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
4 |
5 |
6 10 a.m., LWVDC Board Meeting, 1730 M Street, NW,
10th Floor |
7 |
8 |
11 |
12 October DC Voter Deadline
DC Primary Election
Vote! |
13 10 a.m., Education Committee, LWVDC Office, 733
15th Street, NW, #432
12 noon, Globaphobia: The Virtues of Open Trade, 1730 M Street, NW, 10th Floor |
14 |
15 |
18 |
19 |
20 |
21 11:30 a.m., Fall Luncheon, Peoples Congregational
Church, 4704 13th Street, NW |
22 October DC Voter mailed |
25 |
26 Making Our Votes Count workshop for DC
teachers |
27 |
28 |
29 |
|