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League of Women Voters of Butte County Board Meeting Minutes September 8, 2020 5:30 pm, via Zoom
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Members Present: Mahalley Allen, Debra Barger, Roxanne Ferry, Sandra Flake, Lori Fuentes, Claire Greene, Maureen Kirk, Toni Reid, and Satsie Veith
- 1. Call to Order
Meeting called to order at 5:31 pm.
2. Approve August Meeting Minutes
The August 11th meeting minutes were approved.
3. Census Phone Banking Project Update
Maureen updated board members about the efforts to call people to be counted for the U.S. census. About 15 LWVBC volunteers have been making phone calls. Volunteers made 246 calls in the first week of work, 932 calls in the second week, and 508 calls in the third week. Volunteers will be making second attempts to call numbers where there was not an answer or a message was previously left. The response rate for Butte County is now a little over 53%, which is still below the average response rate nationally and for California.
On September 17th, the US District Court for the Northern District of California will hold a hearing to consider the end date for census voting.
4. North Valley Community Foundation Agreement Review
Sandra updated board members about the proposed North Valley Community Foundation Agreement. The proposed agreement does not change the mission of the LWVBC or the processes for donations. The agreement changes the name of the LWVBC Endowment Fund to LWVBC Education Fund. The agreement also updates the termination process so that if LWVBC were to end as an organization, the LWVBC Education Fund will be transferred to the LWV California Education Fund.
Motion:
Sandra moved and Claire seconded a motion to recommend signature of the new agreement by the president and treasurer. Motion passed unanimously.
5. Board Appointments
LWVC has three board vacancies for Director for Social Policy, Director for Natural Resources, and Director for Assistant Voter Service. Please send potential candidate names to Debra.
6. Voter Outreach Update
On Patty’s behalf, Debra updated board members about outreach to organizations that might have newsletters or email distribution lists. The goal is to distribute information about voter registration information. Please let Patty know if you have contacts within organizations that can distribute voter registration information.
LWVBC will host a voter registration table on the public sidewalk near the Chico Saturday Farmers Market for the next month. For National Voter Registration Day, LWVBC will host a drive-through voter registration event at the Chico branch of the Butte County Library. If there are enough volunteers, more library branches may be added to the event.
The Butte County Registrar of Voters asked LWVBC to work as host monitors on November 2nd and 3rd at the eight different voter assistance centers to help with traffic flow, direct voters where to drop off their ballots, and hand out masks. Debra and Satsie will reach out to the local chapters of AAUW about coordinating and participating as host monitors with LWVBC.
The Butte County Registrar of Voters also requested three LWVBC observer volunteers to go to their office in Oroville on Monday, October 5th at 9 am to observe and test the voting equipment and process. Debra hopes volunteers for this event will report back to the membership about their experiences.
7. Candidate Forum Update
Claire updated board members about candidate forum plans. The proposed dates of forum events are:
Chico City Council Forum: Interview dates on September 17 and 18
Gridley Forum: September 22
Biggs Forum: September 23
Oroville City Council Forum: September 29
California State Assembly District 3 Forum: October 2
Chico Unified School District, Durham Unified School District, and Oroville Elementary School District Forums: Week of October 5th
CARD Forum: September 25th or 30th
Claire is currently sending forum invitations to candidates. For the Chico City Council forum, candidates will be interviewed instead of the traditional forum format due to the large number of candidates.
LWVBC will not be hosting a Paradise Town Council forum because the Paradise Ridge Chamber of Commerce will be conducting candidate interviews and has demonstrated a willingness to be non-partisan with the interviews. LWVBC submitted questions for the Paradise candidate interviews.
LWVBC is unlikely to host a US Congressional District 1 forum because one of the candidates has not responded to an invitation to participate. It is still possible that LWVBC will host a forum for the Paradise Irrigation District race if time and resources allow.
Debra interviewed and accepted an intern from Chico State who will be assisting with research for the forums.
8. Fall Membership Virtual Coffee, September 12 Update
The fall membership virtual coffee is this Saturday. The Butte County Registrar of Voters will not be able to produce a video about their operations before this event. Board members brainstormed ideas for the fall coffee program. Possible topics discussed were: timelines for voting, when ballots are being mailed to voters, what does it mean to have a ballot postmarked by election day, where’s my ballot process, voter assistance centers, candidate forum report, and a discussion of voting processes for this year. Board members agreed on the following topics for the fall coffee: Zoom tips for meetings vs. webinars, candidate forum report, voting processes, membership update, and dialogue and questions.
9. Board Volunteers for Nomination + Budget Committees
Debra is asking for board volunteers to serve on the nomination and budget committees. As Treasurer, Sandra will be a member of the budget committee. Elaina McReynolds will chair the Nomination Committee. Per the LWVBC bylaws, we need two board members to serve on the nomination committee.
Motion:
Claire moved and Sandra seconded a motion to appoint Toni and Patty as members of the Budget Committee and Satsie and Roxanne as members of the Nominating Committee. Motion passed unanimously.
10. Fundraising Planning
Because of COVID-19, there are no options for face-to-face fundraising events this year. Board members discussed other options. Ideas include reaching out to members and friends of LWVBC for donations, participating in Giving Day shortly after Thanksgiving, holding an online auction, asking members to request birthday and holiday gifts be donated to LWVBC, asking members to donate a cash gift at the holidays in recognition of a community member or someone in their lives, and selling LWV lawn signs. Debra will order a large batch of LWV lawn signs to sell.
11. Twitter Account
Board members discussed whether LWVBC should have a Twitter account. For successful Twitter accounts, they need frequent postings. In order to have a Twitter account, LWVBC needs a volunteer to be in charge of the account.
12. League Positions and Advocacy on Ballot Measures
Board members discussed that LWV can engage in advocacy as long as it is separated from education efforts. Board members discussed how to do more advocacy on ballot measures locally. Debra plans for weekly e-bulletins until the election and will share ballot measure recommendations in e-bulletins. Jane is promoting the LWV ballot measure recommendations on Facebook. Board members discussed purchasing an ad in the local newspaper if the budget supports the cost or letters to the editor.
13. Other Business/Adjourn
Meeting adjourned at 7:10 pm.