Dear LWVOR Members,
Welcome to fall, with cooler weather and harvests. There is plenty for League members to do this September despite being between major election cycles. You can virtually attend and testify in redistricting hearings next week! Join the Pesticides study discussions. National Voter Registration Day 2021 is September 28. A virtual October Fall Workshop is in the works. Please read on for details and more news:
Oregon’s redistricting is our current Top Priority Issue
Studies updates, and Pesticide consensus links
Voter Education, Ranked Choice Voting, and National Voter Registration Day
Reserve your evenings October 13-15 and part of Saturday the 16th for the Fall Workshop
Please welcome our new VOTER editor--Connie Bozarth--from Corvallis!
Action is wrapping up the post-session Sine Die report
Recommended reading: Six Grandfathers Mountain, (aka Mt Rushmore).
Please keep in touch, be well, stay safe. Let’s dig in and get back to work!
Becky Gladstone, LWVOR President
Redistricting
Important redistricting events are happening right now that may alter the power of our votes for the next decade. If that sounds like overreaching, please watch the LWVOR Redistricting webinar and see our Redistricting page for details, including the timeline.
Act now! Midnight, September 2, tomorrow, is the deadline. Apply here. If the legislative redistricting process fails, the SoS may convene a Secretary of State’s Redistricting People’s Commission. This is not the Independent Redistricting Commission we tried to get on the ballot.
Legislative (virtual) redistricting hearings are next week! Attend your congressional district’s hearing and testify; register on the Oregon State Redistricting Page. The Brennan Center offers 6 Tips for Making Effective Comments at a Redistricting Hearing.
Catch up by reading the August LWVOR Redistricting news.
Studies Update
The Election Systems study update is ready to begin expert interviews. The committee has sent a proposed scope to the board for adoption. Email our staff to join the committee for the 1985 Child Care position study update. Please read the LWVOR Pesticides and Biocides study. It’s posted with consensus questions and the study timeline. The goal is to complete consensus by the end of October. Local leagues have paper copies to borrow to read or copy, and our office has a few extra print copies which you can request from lwvor@lwvor.org.
Please check with your local League for your consensus meetings or join Portland’s consensus meetings, summarized from Judy Froemke, LWVPDX Discussion Units Coordinator:
LWVPDX will hold a Pesticides panel discussion on Sept 14th (attendance limited). They will post the video by Sept. 17th at LWVPDX.org. Any Oregon League members are welcome to participate in one of the Portland League’s six (ZOOM) Discussion Units for the LWVOR Pesticides and Other Biocides study. Review the consensus questions before discussions. Contact these Leaders to participate in a consensus meeting:
Thursday, September 16th, 1-3 pm - Lynn Baker, DU 4 Leader
Dr. Amelia Nestler, study chair, will attend
Monday, September 20th, 1-3 pm - Tia Wulff, DU 7 Leader
Dr. Amelia Nestler will attend
Wednesday, September 22, 7-9 pm - Jean Trygstad, DU 1 Leader
as of 8-16-21, awaiting speaker confirmation
Monday, September 27th, 10-noon - Barbara Bryd, DU 2 Leader
Paula Grisafi, study co-chair will attend
Monday, September 27th, 7-9 pm - Olivia Smith, DU 3 Leader
as of 8-16-21, awaiting speaker confirmation
This DU will continue to meet on Zoom (not in someone's home post-pandemic). Some regular participants live outside the Portland area.
Tuesday, September 28th, 9:30-11:30 am - Carolyn Buppert, DU 6 Leader
Paula Grisafi, study co-chair will attend
Voter Education/Service News
LWVOR seeks a Voter Education Chair.
The Voter Education Chair leads strong teams: local League Voter Ed Reps, Vote411.org, Voters’ Guide and Video Voters’ Guide production, social media campaigns, and Ballot Measure Researchers and Editors. If you have organizational skills, please contact me, b.gladstone@lwvor.org.
Initiative campaigns are evaluating timing for the critical 2022 elections. We need to be organized now.
Check out the great social media Voter Service news coverage, links at the bottom of this newsletter. Register NOW to help and get free materials for this year’s September 28th National Voter Registration Day.
Washington Monthly reports on America's Best Colleges for Student Voting. I urge members to contact local colleges to learn what our schools are doing and to push for improved voter registration and GOTV.
Hats off to the Washington County Unit for its work on Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). Read about it in the Fall VOTER!
Fall Workshop
Please reserve time for the Fall Workshop, October 13-16. We are thrilled to announce that our Keynote speaker will be Professor Garrett Epps, LL.M, J.D., returning after headlining our 2015 LWVOR Convention. The LWV of Oakland, CA will present a workshop on volunteering, and Will Miller will speak about Oregon’s native communities. We are discussing arrangements for how to deal with civil discourse and intervening and redirecting polarized conversations.
Our usual one-day workshop is being reconfigured to reduce Zoom fatigue. The virtual sessions are spread over several evenings and culminating with Saturday’s workshop and keynote address. Look for more information and registration in the next few weeks.
LWVOR Communications
Welcome our new VOTER Editor, Connie Bozarth, from the Corvallis League. We hope you will enjoy it!
We will take a serious look this year at the effectiveness of our communications for members and other audiences. I have learned that some members feel very disconnected, which is of deep concern because we are also a social organization. My sense is that with all of today’s stresses, members miss the personal connection we all need and value.
We gather online communications analytics and are exploring new ways to improve communications and information access. Expect short surveys to assess member needs; we hope you will participate. We look forward to hearing from you.
Action News
Our Action team is completing the 2021 Oregon legislative session Sine Die report, held until after the Governor’s final actions. Our advocates will be attending this month’s special session. We continue ongoing campaign coalition work for campaign finance reform and redistricting, and participate in numerous state Task Forces, Work Groups, and Commissions. Please see our website for news from our more than 25 advocates.
Recommended Reading
This month we’re looking at several articles and a video to prepare for the Fall Workshop.
Take Another Look!
In case you missed it and can use a refresher, this is Professor Epps, our Fall Workshop Keynote speaker. He has a dry sense of humor. I almost missed his aside about US Constitution authors referring to “Congreff.” 😊
Finally, some thought-provoking reading offers perspective on the less well known history of Mt. Rushmore (from three online friends). It reminded me that we must be open to questioning our veneration or tolerance of memorials as we learn of their complicated contexts.
From National Geographic: “The heartbreaking, controversial history of Mount Rushmore. Tourists flock to South Dakota’s massive presidential portraits. How they got there is a complex tale of land grabs, egos, and foiled movie scenes.”
From Washington Post: The creator of Mount Rushmore’s forgotten ties to white supremacy. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum was deeply involved with the Ku Klux Klan while designing a Stone Mountain, Ga. Confederate memorial.
From Native Hope, The Six Grandfathers Before It Was Known as Mount Rushmore. “Part II in a series of articles that attempt to give more perspective into the truths our history books are avoiding.”
It has been fun recommending reading from members and local League book groups, along with mine. Please send your recommendations!
In closing, I saw a social media comment about President Biden’s Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, praising her “Intellect, confidence, empathy, preparation, patience, wit, a straight razor woman.” With this in mind, let’s commit to renewing our energy, with hope that our challenges will ease as we address them intelligently, especially during COVID and the current fire season. Thank you for reading this newsletter. Please be safe and keep in touch.
Becky Gladstone
President, LWVOR