Greetings and Salutations, League Leaders and Members!

We’ve had a busy month since our last newsletter. We had our Program Planning/General Membership meeting on February 11th, which generated priority recommendations for the state League, as well as local ideas for our own League.

• Universal Healthcare
  • Educating League members and community members about the current
  • healthcare system and how universal comprehensive healthcare could
  • address inequities and disparities in California
• Gun Safety
  • Focus on getting guns off the street and out of our communities
  • Support and advocate for more sensible gun safety legislation
• Housing and Homelessness
  • Focus on establishing stable funding sources for affordable housing
  • Close loopholes and adjust regulations to make it easier to develop affordable housing

We developed possible local League priorities, which include continuing to emphasize our Making Democracy Work initiatives, Mis/Disinformation activities, and Local Redistricting. Other ideas generated were educating and advocating for equitable safety net programs to meet basic human needs, affordable housing for all parts of society, and community safety, e.g. gun safety and bullying. We will vote on these ideas from our members at our Annual Meeting --.please plan to attend this all-member meeting in June.

We continued our local advocacy with the Pleasant Hill City Council, this time regarding going from at-large to district elections. (See letter here.)

We were recognized by the 32nd District PTA for our work during the November election season and the leader of that team effort, Martha Goralka, was selected as Antioch’s 2023 Citizen of the Year (more information). Congratulations to all!

Our most important assets are our volunteers, who make everything we do happen. We are pleased to welcome Kathy Gallagher as our new Observer Corps chair. Thank you for stepping forward!

In addition to all of our education, advocacy, and communications efforts made possible by our volunteers, and the dedication of our board and committees, upcoming events include a Braver Angels Event in April (see Events for more information) and our monthly social on March 8th. Many thanks to you all!

An opportunity outside of the League but aligned with our civic mindedness is to apply to be on the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury. Not a courtroom jury, this group of citizens spends a year actively investigating and reporting on the work of local government with the goal of improving governmental accountability and transparency. The application period for the upcoming term ends on March 24th. Visit the county website for more information.

Lastly, March is Women’s History Month. The National Women’s History Alliance has announced the theme for 2023: “Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories.”  This recognizes women, past and present, who have been active in all forms of media and storytelling.

As always, thank you for your support!

Sue Brandy and Janet Hoy, Co-Vice Presidents