Home » Local League Chapters » Local League Activities - January 2008

During the summer of 2007, we supported the successful petition drive to require a citizen's vote on a City Council ordinance changing local elections from non-partisan with primaries to partisan. To educate citizens about the issue, we prepared and circulated a chart comparing the 2 election options.

Election activities:
Oct. 4: We co-sponsored an Asheville City Council pre-primary forum, organized by NAACP. 12 of the 13 candidates participated.
Oct. 17: We organized an Asheville City Council pre-election forum, co- sponsored by Kids Voting & the Center for Creative Retirement. This forum was shown many times on the UNCA TV channel and on the Asheville public access channel until election day.
Oct. 25: We co-sponsored a candidates' forum, organized by The Black Mountain News, for Black Mountain mayoral & alderman candidates. This was later broadcast on public access TV. We sponsored Project Vote Smart bus stop at UNCA on Oct. 27th.

In preparation for our consensus meeting on immigration we presented 2 public forums: American Immigration: How Did We Get Here? co-sponsored by Congregation Beth Ha Tephila on Sept. 25th; and a panel discussion of Economic Impact of Immigration on Nov. 15, featuring 6 panelists with a variety of viewpoints.

From Ruth A. Christie, President

I'm euphoric about our "Coffee With Our Legislators", which was held yesterday, January 19th, in spite of all the dire weather warnings. As some of you know, the LWV of Catawba Valley is organized around Partners who share our vision of what America should be. Currently, these partners include the United Hmong Association, the Women's Resource Center, the Catawba Valley Heritage Alliance, Exodus Homes and the Hickory Cultural Enhancement Committee. This is the sixth year that we have met with our North Carolina Legislators from Catawba County to share our hopes and concerns and to hear about the Legislators' priorities before the legislative session begins in Raleigh. Sarah Newell, a reporter for our local newspaper, The Hickory Daily Record (HDR), covered the event and wrote a great article that was published in the January 20 edition.

Tom Bayliss, Mayor of New Bern, will speak at the League coffee hour Monday February 11, 10 am at the home of Kathleen Gentile, 133 Pirates Road, New Bern. Come and join us for refreshments and some door prizes. RSVP by February 7 to (252) 637-4543. Hope to see you there.

From Gloria C. Kneen, President

The LWVDareNC.org website will be operational in January!! This endeavor was funded by a $2,000 grant from the Outer Banks Community Foundation. It will contain information about membership, calendar of events, newsletters, and the Citizens Guide.

The Dare League has been invited to be co-Grand Marshals for Kelly’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 16. We will share the limelight with the Board of Elections, and the theme of the parade will be Get Out the Vote!

From The Dare Voter

Serving Brunswick, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties

Lower Cape Fear LWV has a small but hard-working group. We continue to add great new members. As a local pilot for the Membership Initiative, we are working on it. Our minds have been engaged this fall not only in seven candidate forums (co-sponsored) but also with an update on the ERA and discussion of strategy, a review of school resegregation in New Hanover County, and vibrant discussions about immigration (our area is heavily impacted) before and during the consensus process. We plan Civics 101 on the Effectiveness of the Justice System here, and another on Openness in Government related to our participation last year in the audit of public agencies and their willingness to provide information. We like to march in the MLK Parade here and never have any trouble getting volunteers. The onlookers like us. “Vote, vote, vote!” they cheer.

From Audrey Albrecht, President

LWVMC has been actively involved with the Immigration Consensus Study with deep conversations about the various topics. It has been a rewarding experience for our members. Our MRI has been slow in starting due to the fact we have lost a few members, but we are "marching" on to find others to join our exciting group. Our meetings have covered various topics that pertain to our area, i.e., school bond referendums, water issues, health issues updates, and next month, review of the political considerations of enforcement.

We are examining a new plant that might be built in the area which uses chicken droppings to convert to electricity. A panel will be discussing the pros and cons of this plant in our area.

We are reaching out to the community to assist with voter registrations at various senior and assisted living facilities. We will be also conducting our Civics 101 classes beginning in March. So as you can see, LWVMC is working for the people.

From Jo Nicholas, President

Wake County League starts 2008 with a blitz. Here are a few of the activities that the Wake League has completed or is planning:

01/03 - Education Committee Meeting
01/15 - Testimony before the Wake County Board of Education (reassignment policy)
01/17 - Testimony before the Wake County Board of Elections (Instant Runoff Voting)
01/17 - Immigration Consensus Meeting
01/18 - Meeting with Blueprint NC (coalition to get out the vote)
01/24 - Environment Committee Meeting
01/25 - Lunch with the League with Stan Norwalk (Co-Chair of WakeUP Wake County)
02/07 - Education Committee Meeting
02/09 - Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HK on J) March
02/21 - Immigration Task Force Meeting
02/22 - Lunch with the League with Susan Parry (retired school board member)
02/26 - Program Planning Meeting
02/28 - Environment Committee Meeting

In additional there will be two special events in March:

03/28 - Spring Luncheon featuring Syd Miller (regional water planning)
03/29 - Women’s History Month Celebration showing film “One Woman, One Vote”

To see details of all these events, go to our Web site http://www.lwvwake.org/ and read our latest newsletter.

From Diana Haskell, President