Clackson Newsletter
September 2011
In this Issue:
FALL KICK-OFF BRUNCH
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
The fall kick-off brunch is scheduled for Saturday, September 24th at 10:00 A.M. at the Clackamas Meeting and Banquet Facility at 15815 SE 82nd Dr.
Kathy Ludwig, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum & Instruction at West Linn-Wilsonville School District will be the guest speaker. She will address the League's study " The Role of the Federal Government in Public Education". The Clackamas League units will be taking consensus on the study at the October and November unit meetings.
For reservations contact Ann Younger (503-610-1491 or by email ann.younger@comcast.net). Cost of the brunch is $13.00 which includes gratuity. (No shows will be charged for the brunch). Reservations must be made by Wednesday, September 21st.
Heather Drake will be available to take membership dues. Lorie James will have tea, cards available.
Directions: From 1-205, take exit 12, head east, take an immediate left turn onto 82nd Drive. Turn left into Denny's parking lot. The banquet room is on the right/north side.
ARE YOU AWARE that we have an election this fall?
November 8, 2011 is the date for the special election. So far, there are two ballot measures:
Measure 3-377: by the City of West Linn, a General Obligation Bond Authorization not to exceed $8,500,000 for a new police station and,
Measure 3-378: Clackamas County, renewal of the current County Sheriff Public Safety Levy approved by voters in 2006.
The deadline for further ballot measures is September 8. The deadline for voter registration is October 18. Don’t forget to have your address changed at the Elections Office if you have moved or changed your address. AND, don’t forget to vote: it is such an easy process in Oregon, no excuses!
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A MESSAGE FROM YOUR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
Heather Drake for the Executive Committee
At our June retreat, board members brainstormed many ideas for encouraging membership growth and celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Oregon during 2012. Two of the ideas with which we’re moving forward this fall are a new Monday night “Happy Hour” unit meeting and a Friends Join Free program.
“Happy Hour” Unit Meeting
As part of a larger reorganization of our unit meetings, the Tuesday morning unit will shift to a Monday night “Happy Hour” meeting. Starting in October, this unit will gather in the early evening at the home of Muriel Woolley for a light supper of soup and bread followed by the unit meeting proper. Members interested in attending this unit will be asked to RSVP in advance and make a small contribution to cover the cost of the meal (and perhaps wine?). Look for more details in the October Clackson.
In the future, if enough members find this format appealing, we hope to move the meeting location to a deli or restaurant for a proper “happy hour.” The public meeting space would provide greater opportunities for community visibility and networking. We also hope that the time and format will be more convenient for those of you who have not been able to attend a unit meeting because of daytime work schedules.
Friends Join Free
Another of the new ideas we considered at the June board retreat was a novel and somewhat daring way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Oregon while also encouraging new members to join our League. After a summer of contemplation, the board approved a one-year Friends Join Free program for our League.
If you have a friend or family member who would like to become an active participant in the League, that person can join at no cost. You read that correctly: New members who join the League between now and October 2012 will pay no dues! If you know someone who would be a great addition to our League, please talk to her about the League, tell her about this special opportunity, and invite her to join us for the September Kickoff meeting. You can be sure that we will have plenty of membership forms available!
Membership growth is one, if not the greatest, of our League’s current needs. Although we will still be responsible for paying the Per Member Payments (PMP) to LWVOR and LWVUS for these new members, the board feels that this program will be a good investment in our future if it helps us recruit more active members. We hope to become “victims of our own success” by drawing in many new faces this year. We want to keep our League strong for the next 100 years of women participating fully in our shared civic life.
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2011-2012 PROGRAM
Karen Sherman, Program Chair
The 2011-2012 League year is shaping up to be an exciting and busy one for program. There are many opportunities for members to become involved in a variety of studies and presentations.
The “Federal Role in Education” study committee has been meeting since July. This is a National study which will be presented in two parts: the core curriculum section will be presented at October units with consensus questions, and the funding section will be presented at November units with consensus questions. There is still time to join this study. If you are interested, please contact study chair, Katie Lu, at 503-968-9120.
January will bring National and Local Program Planning. If you would like to be a presenter for this annual event, please contact program chair, Karen Sherman, at 503-636-8223.
In February the National study on “Privatization of Government Services, Assets, and Functions” will be presented at units. A chair is still needed for this study. Since this is a National study, the research will have already been done by a National committee, making the position of chair of this study much easier. Please contact program chair, Karen Sherman, at 503-636-8223 if you would like to volunteer to chair or be on this study.
Our State update on “Coastal Management” will be presented at March units. Please contact Karan Kuntz, local study chair, at 503-636-2673 if you would like to be on this study.
April will bring Ballot Measure Presentations. Contact Karen Sherman at 503-636-8223 if you would like to volunteer to present ballot measures.
In addition, our local two-year study chaired by Mike Taylor, 503-344-4165, on “Funding Processes for City Services Using Lake Oswego and West Linn as Examples” is seeking volunteers. This study is scheduled to present in 2012-2013. Contact Mike with any questions and to volunteer to join this interesting local study.
Also, LWVOR members at the 2011 biennial Convention voted to adopt a Restudy of the 1995 Children at Risk Position for 2011-2013. The Mental Health Services for Children and Youth Position from 1975 is also to be included in this restudy. League members who are interested in joining the State study committee should contact Betsy Pratt (b.pratt@lwvor.org) or Karen Nibler (niblerk@comcast.net).
Sign-up sheets will be available for all of the above opportunities at the Fall Kick-Off on Saturday, September 24.
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Judi Umaki, Membership Chair
Like you, many of your friends and neighbors are probably tired of the highly partisan state of our government. League is the perfect answer! Our Fall Kickoff (9/24/11) is a great time to INVITE several of your “disenchanted with the whole thing” friends to join us for the opportunity to be involved in meaningful, non-partisan thought and action. Education is a topic that is important to most Leaguers and our speaker is a lively, new assistant superintendent for curriculum in the West Linn/Wilsonville schools. So do someone a favor and invite her/him to join us for an interesting program. It’s a good opportunity to increase our membership, something on which we all need to focus.
Another way to be involved is to volunteer to MENTOR a new member. A simple thing like offering to share a ride to a meeting is a good way to engage new members and help them become involved and continuing members. Please give me a call if you’d like to assist in jump-starting a new member’s introduction to League (503-636-5773/email: gordonjudiu@msn.com).
DON'T FORGET: It's time to pay your dues! Please do this prior to October 15 in order to have your name and correct email address in the new directory.
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REVISED LIBRARY POSITION
Joan Batten, Study Chair
At the board retreat in June a revised library position was adopted as a result of our unit meetings in May. The earlier position was adopted in 2000. Our position now reads: “Supports quality library facilities and services with maximum public involvement in decision-making in the areas of maintaining and expanding library services and facilities, including the allocation of funds. Supports adequate funding from the library services district for maintaining at least a threshold (basic) level of library service as defined by the current version of the Oregon Library Standards. Encourages additional support by cities in order to achieve a higher level of library services. Supports bond issues for needed capital improvement. Encourages the maintenance and development of other supplemental revenue sources. Supports new avenues of funding sources such as a library Capital Improvement District."
With our new position we were able to testify to the Lake Oswego City Council on funding issues on June 21, 2011. Nancy Murray presented the testimony for the League. We noted that the proposed budget was $250,000 less than the support from the City and County in 2008/2009. We commended the library staff and volunteers for achieving ranking as the #1 library in the State of Oregon. Funding should be even more than the 2008/2009 budget amount, rather than less. Council members questioned whether we had our facts straight. Bill Baars, Library Director, responded that we were correct. Too bad we weren't able to make the point earlier in the process. Next year we will be able to testify when budget hearings begin.
Additional copies of the study with a cover were made and distributed to the libraries as requested. Copies were also made for Lorie James to distribute to our Corporate Affiliates.
This fall, our League plans to compile an Election Guidebook for Clackamas County. Would you like to help?
The Election Guidebook will have two components:
(1) Elected Officials. We will generate a list of all the elected offices relevant to voters in Clackamas County from US President down to the most local of special districts. For each of these offices, we will gather information including: qualifications to run for the office, partisan or nonpartisan, term of office, years the office will be on the ballot, brief job description, salary, what happens if a sitting office holder dies or resigns, etc.
(2) Ballot Measures. We will prepare information that explains the different types of ballot measures (policy, bonds, capital levies, etc.) and the various paths they may take to arrive on the ballot (initiative petition, referral by government body, etc.).
It will also list the government bodies that might refer measures and explain the paperwork and deadlines involved.
The completed Election Guidebook will be a great resource for our future Voters Service activities as well as for prospective candidates, political parties, and members of the community.
Volunteers who would like to assist with this project will mainly perform research work, on their own schedules, from the comfort of their own homes. Meetings will be kept to a minimum; we do plan to have one organizational meeting in September. We hope to complete the research by early November 2011 and have the finished document ready for release in early 2012.
If you would like to help with this project, please contact Election Guidebook Coordinator Heather Drake (503-245-1239 or htdrake@comcast.net) by Friday, September 16. At that point, we will schedule our organizational meeting and get to work.
Cheryl Smith honors new 50-year members, Beryl Dahl and Ardis Stevenson at Patio Party
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GRAPEFRUIT |
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LEAGUE of WOMEN VOTERS |
Grapefruit Committee: |
Liz Leahy [503-699-2260] |
The LWVCC Grapefruit Committee is gearing up for its 4th Annual Grapefruit Sale and is looking to the LWVCC members to (1) once again provide us with your most valuable advice on how best to increase our sales and (2) continue to purchase the delicious grapefruit for yourselves and/or friends and family members.
There is still time for you to join this fun committee. It is a short-term project beginning in September and ending in December. To join call Sonja Kollias (503-636-2187).
LWVCC PLANNING CALENDAR 2011-201
SEPTEMBER: KICK-OFF (EDUCATION - CURRICULUM)
24 Fall Kick-off Event
27 Board meeting, 9:30 am
OCTOBER: FEDERAL ROLE EDUCATION CONSENSUS
17-21 Unit meetings
17 LWVOR Fall Workshop registration due
22 LWVOR Fall Workshop (Eugene)
25 Board meeting, 9:30 am
NOVEMBER: FEDERAL ROLE EDUCATION CONSENSUS
8 Election Day (local only)
14-18 Unit meetings
22 Board meeting, 9:30 am
DECEMBER: WINTER HOLIDAY PARTY
3 Grapefruit delivery
10 Winter Holiday Party
JANUARY: PROGRAM PLANNING (LWVUS & LWVCC)
16-20 Unit meetings
24 Board meeting, 9:30 am
27 Lunch & Learn
FEBRUARY: PRIVATIZATION CONSENSUS
7 LWVOR Day at the Legislature (tentative)
14 LWV 92nd Birthday
20-24 Unit meetings
28 Board meeting, 9:30 am
MARCH: COASTAL CONSENSUS
2 Lunch & Learn
19-23 Unit meetings
27 Board meeting, 9:30 am
30 Lunch & Learn
APRIL: BALLOT MEASURES
16-20 Unit meetings
24 Board meeting, 9:30 am
27 Lunch & Learn
27 Ballots mailed to voters
MAY:
5 Annual meeting
15 Election Day (primary)
21-25 Unit meetings
22 Joint board meeting, 9:30 am
JUNE
2 Patio Party
Thank You Corporate Affiliates!
Lake Oswego
Accessories from the heart | 1171 McVey Ave.
Backyard Bird Shop, Inc. | 16949 S.W. 65th Ave. &
8960 SE Sunnyside Road, Clackamas
Mary’s Woods at Marylhurst | 17400 Holy Names Dr.
Otak, Inc. | 17355 SW Boones Ferry Rd.
Portland
Generations Town Center Village |
8709 SE Causey Avenue
Sandy
Strand Tea Company | PO Box 580
Synergy Consulting Inc. | 729 NE Oregon St., Suite 125, Portland
Welches
Wy’east Book Shoppe and Art Gallery | 67195 E US Highway 26
West Linn |
Words Count – Editing & Writing | 2555 Dillow Drive