League Leaders and Members:
As we leave May and Memorial Day behind us, we wanted to take a minute to reflect on the horrible events that took place in the past few weeks and that continue to take place related to gun violence. The League urges people to tell your Senators to pass the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and take a stand against the epidemic of gun violence. Now is the time for Congress to step up and pass common-sense gun violence prevention reforms, such as universal background checks, closing the gun show loophole, and banning assault weapons.
As we close out another year, we want to thank all of you who have found ways to volunteer for the League as we’re still struggling to truly find our way out of this pandemic. We are all making history, every day of our lives. We have one turn at life. We can contribute to the betterment of our country and our community every day – or not.
The members of the Diablo Valley League of Women Voters have a special place in history. We help voters through VotersEdge.org to learn about candidates and their positions on issues, we register new voters and insist our friends and family members register by the deadline for easy voting, we host important candidate forums and Pros & Cons presentations on ballot measures. We get out the vote with signs in our yards, staff in-person-voting at the polls and drive the ballots back to Martinez after the polls close. Volunteers throughout our area make sure registration forms are available throughout our coverage area of Contra Costa. Clearly, our efforts for voters ensure that voters can vote their conscience. And we don’t tell voters how to vote - even though we do support or oppose ballot issues if we have studied these specific issues and have reached a consensus for a position.
Save the date and watch for your invitation to join our full membership Annual (Zoom) Meeting, Saturday, June 18th, at 9:30am.
Join us to review our past year’s accomplishments, learn about local and national program priorities, vote on local priorities, vote on a proposed budget, and elect next year’s board of directors, among other actions. The board of directors recommends one more update to our Articles of Incorporation, and a fully revised set of bylaws based on input from the state League. We will continue to build trust, together grow grassroots consensus, and advocate for policy change.
Don’t miss this chance to continue to make history with the League. Your attendance is important! We do need a quorum of 31 members to get our business accomplished.
We will honor 14 members for their 50 years of participation with us. Unfortunately, we lost 2 lifetime members this past year: Mildred Starkie and Elizabeth Karplus -- you used your turn at life well!
- Action/Advocacy
- Civil Discourse
- Communications
- Community Conversations
- Observer Corp
- Voter Services - Community Outreach and Student Interns
- Voter Registration Distribution
- Membership
- Nominating
- and the entire Leadership Team of Board and off-Board leaders.
Our League continues empowering voters and protecting democracy, always prioritizing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. And towards the end of June, we’re sending four delegates and seven observers to the National Convention, as well as four delegates to the Bay Area League Convention.
Don’t forget to vote! The California Primary is on June 7th.
Use your turn at life well -- join us in creating history!
Martha Goralka and Paul Derksen (June Co-Presidents of the Month)
