Welcome to our New Year 2021!

Dear League Members:

Welcome to the New Year, as we renew our strong commitment to re-build our communities through learning about effective democratic processes.  The more membership participation we have, the more we can accomplish as we build trust and support for each other!

This membership meeting will include two important pieces. Your attendance is essential.

• Program Priorities:
  • We will discuss and vote to approve the Program Priorities for our LWVDV for 2021-2022.  Program Priorities set a strong focus for public information, public programs, and advocacy of policy at our local levels of government: county, city, school district, special district, special commissions. 
  • We will also vote on our recommendation to the LWV California Board for statewide Program Priorities for 2021-2023 – the final decision will be made at the LWVC Convention in June.

• Modification to Articles of Incorporation – Quorum required:
• • In order to ensure that the League, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt, non-profit organization, can stop paying property taxes on our Lafayette office and recoup taxes paid for the past four years, we need to modify our Articles of Incorporation. Although we updated the same article last year, the language was not specific enough to get approved.
  • This version of Article SEVENTH has been preliminarily approved by the State Board of Equalization, and we need our members to formally approve the new language in order to proceed.

Attend the meeting and learn about Program Priorities and participate in choosing our policy focus. Learn how you can become informed and active and provide support in any role you choose for your level of experience.  Beginners are welcome—most will be beginners, because we are helping build trust in governance through methods supportive of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Join a team and/or attend meetings of interest:

Want to become informed about ways to be part of building an equitable social safety net and seeking accountability for social justice reform?  Are you interested in healthcare, affordable housing/homelessness, climate change, racism as a public health emergency, or safety net issues from your own work experience?

Or are you wanting information to help us advocate for independent citizen commissions to create new voting districts, based on census data, that foster leadership and reflect the diversity of our communities, our interests, and our ethnicities?  Perhaps learning the methods of civil discourse to apply to public meetings for more effective dialogue is important to you, as it is for our LWVDV.

Please join us at Action-Advocacy committee, Observer Corps, Civil Discourse team, LWVDV Board meetings, or Communication Team meetings, where you will find mentoring support while learning to  participate comfortably.

The use of Zoom, video recordings including YouTube, and our active website have helped in our ability to reach more members of our communities and provide visibility and accountability for elected leadership decisions.  All public Contra Costa Board of Supervisor meetings, special commission meetings, city council meetings, school district meetings, and special district meetings can be viewed in their online recorded video at a time more convenient for our review.

Fill out a membership survey, email us at lwvdv [at] lwvdv.org (subject: Let%20me%20know%20how%20to%20participate%20in%20meetings) , and/or call into our office voicemail and we can notify you of meeting dates and times and Zoom information. 

Now is the time to join us in making a difference by seizing the opportunity that this motivating election year has provided us! Remember, your Zoom participation is essential on January 30th!  “See” you there!

Suzan