LWV Pasadena Area was represented at the virtual LWV California biennial convention of June 7–13 by Martha Zavala, Pat Coulter, Dorothy Keane, Gayle Oswald, Kay Adams, Cynthia Cannady, and Anita Mackey. Many of our members attended workshops held on the days before the convention started. In fact, so many members were able to participate in workshops that having virtual workshops will probably be part of future conventions. If you weren’t able to attend, the workshops were recorded and are available from the LWVC post-convention web page.
The Convention began with an address by Dr. Shirley N. Weber, California’s new secretary of state. She delighted us with a story about her own introduction to politics and went on to charge us with helping to maintain the protections for voting rights and the model that California provides the nation. It’s nice to know that the secretary of state agrees with the League’s positions on voting rights! She is also keen to change the recall process to make it require some identification of wrongdoing and increase the number of signatures required to qualify for a recall election.
Over the course of the three-day convention, we reviewed the proposed program, were introduced to the nominees for the Board of Directors, perused the budget, and muddled through changes to the bylaws. Eventually all were passed. Perhaps the most important budget implication came from a bylaw change that eliminates per member payments (PMPs) for student members.
We also were introduced to the relatively new League executive director, Stephanie Doute. She is an impassioned leader who has been seizing new opportunities for League involvement in state issues. She also provided some inciteful information on how to reach young people and draw them into the political process. She found a grant to use TikTok influencers (those with large followings on TikTok) to get out the League’s voting messages in their own voices. She played four of the messages (more than thirty participated). The goal of reaching 250,000 followers was greatly surpassed: 6 million views were recorded!
Program Adoption
The most important part of any League convention is program adoption. This sets the stage for work at the state (and in this case also the local) level for the next two years. While state legislation will be crucial to making many of these programs happen, it will be how they are carried out at the local level, in many cases, that will determine if the programs are successful. Here is what is on our agenda:
Making democracy work in California: This is a broad area that aligns with national priorities and includes core issues for the League at all levels. It includes League priorities such as election reform, voting rights, expanding the electorate, money in politics, and redistricting. For this biennium, we are adding work on civics education.
Climate change and sustainability, including a focus on water resources: Climate change affects nearly everything—threatening agriculture, infrastructure, public health, forests, and indeed our democracy. Connect by emailing climatechange [at] lwvc.org. A focus on water resources was included because it is an area that was singled out in the program planning responses and where we have a dedicated forum for California League members to discuss regional and interregional water issues. Connect by joining the lwvc-water Google group. The strong LWV-PA Natural Resources committee has active members on both the climate change and water resources task forces.
Housing and homelessness: The need for housing—of different types and to meet different needs—continues to be highly rated by many local Leagues, including ours. In 2020, the LWVC Board voted to adopt a new Homelessness Action Policy, which helps local Leagues understand how our existing positions can be used to address homelessness. The League will also work on affordable housing and the governmental actions needed to build housing for people who earn less than the median income. The full policy and an action toolkit are available on the Housing and Homelessness page. The LWV-PA Social Justice Housing Subcommittee will be working on all of these housing issues this year, including trying to change our language from homeless to unhoused!
Criminal justice reform: For almost 100 years, the League has remained vital and relevant by striving for an equitable society, studying its profound injustices, and advocating for effective remedies. One of the most compelling issues of our time is criminal justice reform. Policing, sentencing, and incarceration are too often failing to serve justice or improve public safety. We currently spend billions of dollars at the state, county, and local levels on a system that sustains significant inequalities by victimizing, over-policing, and disproportionately incarcerating the poor and Black, Latino, Indigenous, and other people of color. Our League will continue to use the criminal justice position to engage in education and advocacy in our communities on issues related to policing, pretrial diversion, sentencing, incarceration, and reentry to make our criminal justice system more equitable. A statewide Criminal Justice Committee, which includes LWV-PA members, brings together League members to work on this important issue. For more information, explore the resources and toolkit on the LWVC Criminal Justice page.
Closing Comments
In the closing hours of the convention, we heard first from National League President Dr. Deborah Turner, M.D., J.D., who outlined the important role the League has played in the For the People Act (H.R. 1/S 1) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act (H.R. 4). She also noted that California provides an important model for voter’s rights and fair maps in the national debate.
We then heard from our LWVC president, Carol Moon Goldberg, who urged vigilance to protect the rights of California voters from efforts to overthrow some of our signature processes. She also noted that California’s criminal justice position is being adopted by consensus in many other states. She stated that a charter school position based on the Fresno position and other local Leagues’ work will be adopted by the State Board later this summer. There is also an effort under way to have a more robust state healthcare committee.
There is a lot of work to do. Please find a committee that is working on a topic of interest to you and let the chair know that you want to be a part of their work!
—Anita Mackey
