As chair this year of the LWVDV Pros and Cons team, I want to extend a big thank you to those on the team, and supporting League members, who helped us educate community members about our complex ballot initiatives. Sixteen presentations were given to a variety of types and sizes of audiences, each with grace and a serious commitment to education. Basic scripts and PowerPoints for each proposition were researched and written by Kay James and myself. These were used, sometimes in edited form, by our presenters. They were also used by St. Mary’s students to produce interesting and informative video presentations, easily accessible on our YouTube channel. Many thanks to Paul Derksen for helping format the material and to St. Mary’s Associate Professor Jason Jakaitis for empowering students to both present and produce high quality videos that have been used throughout the State.  
 
This year was a practice in flexibility. Some groups wanted in-person presentations followed by Q&A, some wanted Zoom presentations with Q&A after each proposition, some wanted Q&A following the videos produced by the St. Mary’s students. In all cases, members of our LWVDV pros and cons team provided a great service in hosting, presenting and answering questions for hundreds of community members. I want to personally thank our wonderful group of presenters:  Janet Hoy, Sue Brandy, Carole Woods, Martha Goralka, Shawn Gilbert, Kay James, Gail Chesler, Susan Hildreth and Karen Dolder.  
 
And a huge thank you to Diane Bianchi for directing the October Community Conversation, highlighting the St. Mary’s videos followed by Q&A, with our partners at the Contra Costa Library and CCTV.  It was nice to co-host our presentation with Linda Whitmore, from LWV West Contra Costa County, a partnership we hope continues. The Community Conversation event was viewed by 457 community members, with about 300 more gaining access through the recording so far.
 
And another big thank you to Cathleen Kirk, who provided membership supplies and Voter’s Edge information on tables at most of the forums and in-person Pros and Cons presentations.

It is of utmost importance that voters know what the ballot initiatives really mean, who supports them and where voters can get updates (i.e. Voter’s Edge.)  As with the excellent candidate forums our LWVDV produced, the Pros and Cons presentations continue to be an important part of LWVDV voter education.    

Janet Thomas, Pros and Cons Chair