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December 2020
Membership in LWVUS Roster Portal
Program Planning & Legislative Interview Update
Redistricting
Proposition 15 -- Schools & Communities First
Local League Coaches Offer Town Halls about Online Voter Service Events
Voter Service
Suggested Language for Local League Bylaws
LWVC/EF Post Board Summary
President's Letter
Hello League Leaders,
Please take a moment to pat yourselves on the back. In the last nine months League members demonstrated resilience, creativity, and vast dedication to the work of the League of Women Voters. So we can’t conduct voter education in the time honored way? Leagues said “All right then, we’ll just take our work online.” And you did with online candidate forums, Pros and Cons presentations, and general issue forums. You educated voters about how to handle vote by mail ballots that some voters received for the first time. You found creative ways to distribute Easy Voter Guides. You found ways to offer voter registration during protests. You honored the 100th Anniversary of the League and the 19th Amendment by not giving up, by being creative, and by continuing the work of the League. I salute and thank you.
This election season offered an exceptional opportunity for advocacy with a diversity, equity, and inclusion focus to try to create a more equitable property tax system. Pat yourselves on the back for the work League members put into Schools and Communities First (Proposition 15). Dedicated League members were part of a record breaking signature gathering effort to place it on the ballot and in the campaign itself. Because of League work 48% of the voters illustrated an appetite to change the property tax system, recognizing that it led to an inequitable disinvestment in our communities. Thank you all for your work and dedication.
December is a time for reflection and review. There is a lot to review! As soon as it became apparent that the pandemic necessitated change to the election system, the LWVC collaborated with other good government and voting rights groups, the Secretary of State’s and the Governor’s offices to develop plans to ensure that voters could express their voices in a safe, accessible, and equitable way. Our recommendations were accepted and the election took on the shape that we experienced. LWVC and local Leagues then went on to educate voters about the system.
Read about the League’s voter service work that included some new things such as working with ElectJusticeCA and developing a digital youth get out the vote campaign using TikTok and Snapchat to ensure that voters understand the power of their vote in driving social change. Read also about town hall meetings scheduled to share information and experiences with online voter service.
Also read about the fantastic advocacy work done on Proposition 17’s restoration of voting rights to people on parole, the Racial Justice Act, and 80 bills in the Legislature. This isn’t just state League work; League members and others interested in League priorities sent over 8,000 messages to the Legislature in response to LWVC Action Alerts.
December is also a time of looking forward, planning for the coming year. For League that means it’s time for Program Planning and Legislative Interviews. Program Planning is an important step in determining potential priorities and focus of the League work prior to the Leagues coming together for the 2021 Convention. Legislative Interviews are a crucial link to communication between local Leagues and their state legislators about priorities, interests, and the League’s advocacy. Please see linked information for toolkits and information about webinars.
Redistricting at all levels of government in California is on the immediate horizon. This offers all Leagues the opportunity to educate residents about the process in their local communities. and potentially to advocate for fair and equitable districts in our counties, cities, and special districts. This is an opportunity for Leagues to collaborate with other organizations to help communities learn and speak out about district line drawing. LWVC offers an excellent toolkit for Leagues and speakers training webinars are scheduled so local Leagues can get started on fair representation for the next ten years.
This year's LWVC Convention 2021 will be a virtual, online one. It is now scheduled to include the dates of June 11-13, 2021. We are still working out the details but will strive to offer caucuses and workshops prior to the business meeting dates in a way that is similar to the way LWVUS's Convention were. There are so many details to work out. LWVC will keep you informed as they are worked out.
And finally, it’s time to update our membership rosters. Please do so before January 31.
Thank you all for your dedication and hardwork. It is an honor to be associated with you.
Stay safe and well. May 2021 be a productive and healthy year.
Carol
Membership in LWVUS Roster Portal
Please make sure your Membership Director has your League's membership updated in the LWVUS Membership Roster Portal by January 31. If you need assistance to access the Roster Portal, please email rostersupport [at] lwv.org.
Your League’s National and State PMP obligation for the next fiscal year (FY2021-2022) is based on the January 2021 membership count of active members as reported to the LWVUS on January 31, 2021 by means of the verified summary sheets in the member database. For more information about National PMP, visit https://www.lwv.org/league-management/policies-guidelines/member-payment-information. For more information about State League PMP, visit https://my.lwv.org/california/local-league-management/per-member-payment.
Your League's State Convention delegate count is also based on the January 2021 membership count.
Program Planning & Legislative Interview Update
Local Leagues are being asked to hold member meetings in the next two months to determine what our priorities will be in the coming biennium. Program Planning kits were distributed and Leagues are asked to submit their issues to the state by March 1. The kit is available here: https://my.lwv.org/sites/default/files/leagues/wysiwyg/%5Bcurrent-user:og-user-node:1:title%5D/program_planning_kit_2021-2023.pdf
Another key program is our annual call for Legislative Interviews with state Assembly and Senate representatives between the end of December and mid-February, with a February 22 deadline for responses. The Legislative Interview kits were distributed and are also available https://my.lwv.org/sites/default/files/leagues/wysiwyg/%5Bcurrent-user:og-user-node:1:title%5D/lwvc_legislative_interview_kit_2020-2021.pdf. Three online town halls are planned for early January. The town halls are designed to increase participation overall, and to broaden it to include younger members, as well as considering inviting members from the community who may help leagues identify critical issues the League should consider.
There is still time to register for one of the Town Halls using the links below. We encourage you to select the one for your geographic area so you can connect with other leaders near you, but you are welcome to join any session.
If you have any questions about the Town Halls or Legislative Interviews in general, please don’t hesitate to reach out to LWVC Vice President for Advocacy and Program, Gloria Chun Hoo at %20ghoo [at] lwvc.org (). You can also find all related resources on our Members Only page.
Redistricting
Redistricting will be happening all over the state in 2021. The Citizens Redistricting Commission is responsible for drawing new Congressional, state legislative, and Franchise Tax Board districts. The LWVC is monitoring all the Commission hearings and is working with a coalition of other organizations including PICO, Common Cause, NALEO, MALDEF, California Calls, Mi Familia Vota and others.
In addition, new lines will be drawn for county boards of supervisors, city councils, school boards, community college district boards, and special districts all over the state. This presents the opportunity for Leagues to be involved in educating their communities.
The League is committed to ensuring that redistricting at all of the levels is transparent, includes robust public input, and results in fair maps. To learn about the resources available, including training and speakers for your local League, check out the LWVC members only website.
There are two training sessions planned for January:
Tues., Jan. 5 - noon to 1 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdemtpjMjGN2ncg4x4HzBpFjstHH3DNXG
Wed., Jan 6 - 7-8 pm
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0oce6orjouHNJtBXkWlCbPjUWfo0SsecSg
Please join one of them to learn about redistricting and how to help your communities set themselves up for representation over the next 10 years.
To learn more about redistricting in your community, or to find out how you can participate in League work on redistricting, contact redistricting [at] lwvc.org.
Proposition 15 -- Schools and Communities First
The loss of Proposition 15 is painful. That said, there is a lot to celebrate in the effort:
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The campaign was rooted in the grassroots activist communities in California, particularly groups representing traditionally underrepresented and underserved communities.
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For the first time in over 40 years, the sanctity of Prop 13 was pierced; it is no longer considered untouchable.
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The campaign established a broad coalition of organizations. These relationships will continue, keeping a diverse group of organizations connected, and working together on a variety of social reforms including redistricting at the state and local level.
League members enthusiastically participated in the campaign, offering personal stories as to why they personally supported the campaign, joining the campaign’s speakers bureau, sharing social media, writing letters to the editor or op ed pieces, and participating in phone and text banking. League staff spent hours handling the petitions, pushing out social media, and complying with Fair Political Practice Commission filings.
The coalition supporting Prop 15 is staying together, committed to continue the fight for Prop 13 reform, as well as increased funding for the critical services provided by local governments – schools, health care, human services, infrastructure repair, and more. The League will continue to be a part of this ongoing work.
Local League Coaches Offer Town Halls about Online Voter Service Events
The Local League Coach team will be hosting two roundtable discussions featuring different local Leagues. The first webinar will be discussing virtual candidate forums and the other will be discussing local Pros/Cons. Local Leagues will share what steps they took to be successful in these endeavors.
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Virtual Candidate Forums Roundtable Discussion – Thursday, January 14, 5:15-6:15PM – Local Leagues schedule included: Oakland, Pasadena, Santa Barbara, and San Diego. Register here.
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Local Pros/Con Publications/Videos – TBA – in early February 2021 – Local Leagues schedule include: North County San Diego, San Bernardino, San Francisco, and South San Mateo
Voter Service
In this unusual election year the LWVC produced the traditional and expected publications and resources. The Easy Voter Guide in five languages, the Pros and Cons of Ballot Propositions, and the online voter guide, Voter’s Edge. The LWVC also produced different, and perhaps unexpected resources.
New Resources and Publications
The LWVC offered a variety of new resources in response to the circumstances and needs of voters this year. Because of misinformation about vote-by-mail floating through the media and social media, LWVC offered Voting Safe From Home: Vote-by-Mail Facts to give accurate, California specific information and to dispel the concerns about the US Post Office and handling of ballots. The Voter’s Choice Act Toolkit was updated to explain the use of vote by mail ballots by counties across the state. The Voting in California Jails Toolkit is a new resource created by LWVC, the ACLU of California and other partners. COVID 19 made it difficult to reach the voters in jail, but the product is there for future use and helped establish relationships with diverse organizations.
In addition, the LWVC produced or participated in two grant funded programs: ElectJusticeCA.org and a digital Youth Get Out The Vote effort using Snapchat and TikTok. ElectJustice.org, a coalition of justice focused organizations leveraged Voter’s Edge to provide a ballot tool and education specifically focused on city and county offices and candidates that impact justice in local communities. The goal was to help voters understand that their voice is as powerful at the ballot box as it is in the streets, and help channel the energy from the streets to the ballot. The LWVC staff wrote nearly all of the content for the ElectJusticeCA website and information was included in the Easy Voter Guide on the page called Spotlight on Justice. LWVC promoted the ElectJustice site through our partnerships and social media.
The Youth GOTV effort used TikTok and Snapchat to reach 18-24 year olds. The campaign was designed to ensure that young voters understand the power of their vote in driving social change. This effort allowed us to seek out and work with influencers on TikTok and deliver targeted geographic areas with messaging via Snapchat. The influencers, young people who have large followings of other young people, delivered LWVC crafted messaging to their audiences, in their own voices and styles. Through this effort, we reached over 4 million low propensity youth voters in ways that were relevant and meaningful to them. Analysis and research to discover this program’s impact on youth turnout is underway.
Traditional Resources and Publications
While full use statistics are not yet available for reporting, some early numbers show that from September 1 - November 3, 2020, Voter’s Edge had over 1.6 million users. During the full election cycle, there were over two million users. In addition to Local League volunteers for candidate outreach, the LWVC staff also used external volunteer support for candidate outreach and spent staff time in the equivalent of a full time staff person for nearly 8 weeks on candidate outreach.
We distributed 175,000 Easy Voter Guides via Local Leagues, libraries and individuals. This is about 30,000 less than we distributed in 2016. Given the pandemic, this was expected. Local Leagues and individuals distributed Easy Voter Guides in new and novel ways. In San Francisco, a League member partnered with local restaurants and a food bank to have the Easy Voter Guide distributed to their clients. Santa Barbara County also distributed via food banks. It was exciting to see the new ways Leaguers worked to drive education to diverse people in their communities using the tools provided by the LWVC.
Local Leagues exhibited tremendous resilience in retooling their candidate forums into online candidate forums. The recent Voter Service survey has not been fully analyzed but it is apparent that most all of the 53 Leagues that responded offered from one to almost 30 candidate forums online. Most of the forums featured city and special district contests. Most respondents said they would consider doing online forums in the future even if there were no pandemic to contend with.
Leagues experimented with video beyond putting on the traditional voter service events. Some Leagues created video for use in civics classes, videos to explain how to handle a vote by mail ballot and how to find a polling place. Leagues like Diablo Valley and Redding area worked with local schools and universities to produce election related video in ways that included student input and work.
Traditional voter registration drives were not practical given the pandemic. Yet Leagues found ways to spread the word, such as creating yard signs with QR codes for the online registration website and passing out postcards with the QR codes during protests in the early summer.
Pros and Cons are a purely volunteer produced publication. This year Tom Carson, Kathy Souza, and Kate Chenok edited and reviewed. The writers were: Tom Carson, Robbie Davis, David Meadow, Elizabeth Ralston, Sarah Schectman, Bob Stern, Mary Thompson, and Trisha Uhrhammer. Mary Thompson revised the writer guide to bring it up to date. These individuals generously volunteered their time and skill to LWVC.
Suggested Language for Local League Bylaws
If your League has not yet made the suggested changes to conform with LWVUS bylaws as amended in 2020, please view the PDF for the suggested language. The LWVUS requires that Articles I, II, and III of bylaws at all levels of the League be consistent with those of the LWVUS.
December 2020 Post Board Summary
LWVC/LWVCEF Boards of Directors Meetings
December 5, 2020 – Electronic Meetings
IMPORTANT DATES TO CALENDAR:
- Happy Holidays! LWVC Office closed December 25 to January 1
- January 31, 2021 – Member Counts due to LWVUS
- February 22, 2021 – Legislative Interview Report Forms due to LWVC
- March 1, 2021 – Program Planning Report Form due to LWVC
- June 10-13, 2021 – LWVC Convention 2021 – Virtual
LWVC MEETING SUMMARY
The LWVC Board of Directors acted as follows:
GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
Ratification of Special Meeting Actions
- August 25, 2020 – Executive Committee Meeting – Potential Litigation
- August 30, 2020 – Executive Committee Meeting - Potential Litigation
- August 31, 2020 – Executive Committee Meeting (Email) – Potential Litigation
- September 14, 2020 – Executive Committee Meeting – Potential Litigation
Resignations
Finance Committee
- Mary Beth Armstrong (LWV San Luis Obispo).
Appointments
LWVC Board of Directors
- Frances Carrillo (LWV San Diego) as LWVC Treasurer.
Finance Committee
- Natalya Zernitskaya (LWV Santa Monica).
Charter School Position Committee
- Madeline Kronenberg (LWV West Contra Costa County)
- Cindy Plank (LWV Mendocino County)
- Eleanor Yick (LWV Southwest Santa Clara Valley).
Legislation Committee
- Brenda Rodriguez (LWV San Jose/Santa Clara)
- Mia Villasenor (LWV Los Angeles).
LWVC CONVENTION 2021
- Determined Convention 2021 would be conducted online due to the current pandemic
- Authorized LWVC Staff to commit the deposit already made to the hotel site for 2021 for the 2023 LWVC Convention.
BUDGET AND FINANCE
- Received and filed the September 2020 Financial Summaries and Reports
- Added Frances Carrillo, Treasurer, as a signatory to all LWVC business accounts
- Waived student PMP to LWVC through June 30, 2021.
LWVCEF MEETING SUMMARY
The LWVCEF Board of Directors acted as follows:
GOVERNANCE AND ADMINISTRATION
Resignations
Finance Committee
- Mary Beth Armstrong (LWV San Luis Obispo).
Appointments
LWVCEF Board of Directors
- Frances Carrillo (LWV San Diego) as LWVCEF Treasurer
Finance Committee
- Natalya Zernitskaya (LWV Santa Monica)
BUDGET AND FINANCE
- Received and filed the LWVCEF September 2020 Financial Summaries and Reports
- Added Frances Carrillo, Treasurer, as a signatory to all LWVCEF business accounts
- Approved revision of the LWVCEF Budget as shown on the September 2020 Financial Summary Report to recognize $53,000 in grant funds based on the assumption that the Payroll Protection Loan will be forgiven.
Caroline de Llamas
LWVC/EF Secretary
cdellamas [at] lwvc.org
