Greetings from your new Board of Directors.  We had our first board meeting shortly after the Annual Meeting to get acquainted and to get organized.  After a discussion of the roles and responsibilities under our new organizational scheme, we got down to business.

Our first priority was the task given us at the Annual Meeting: to nominate Officers. The Board selected the following slate:

President - Joan Karp

Vice President - Barbara Eriv

Treasurer - Anne Jiovanazzo

Secretary - Patty O'Connor

We also proposed a the following new Article for the Bylaws, suggested by Marcia Lamel, which will allow us to operate during this trial year without updating the existing bylaws.

The By-Laws shall be amended by the addition of a new Article XIII, The New League, which shall read as follows:

"Notwithstanding any other provision of these By-Laws, the Board shall have the authority to implement a revised Board governance structure to enable the League to better meet its short and long-term strategic goals; provided, however, that the League's mission, traditions and programs adopted at the Annual Meeting held on April 13, 2011 shall remain unchanged.  This new structure shall include a revision in the number and responsibilities of officers and directors of the Board.  Implementation of The New League shall take place for approximately one year, beginning June 1, 2011 and ending prior to the Annual Meeting to be held in April 2012.

At the conclusion of this period, the Board shall make a recommendation to the membership to retain, modify or discontinue this structure.  If the Board recommends its continuation, it shall include amendments to the By-Laws necessary to permanently implement it."
 

This information was mailed to all our members on April 18. We hope that you all received it.

Please attend our May 18^th Legislative Wrap Up with Formal Business Meeting to follow, where we will vote on these important items.  We need a quorum of 32 members.  Officers may be voted in with a simple majority of those members present, but Bylaw amendments need a 2/3 majority.

We also selected our initial liaison positions to the Leadership Team: Finance - Evelyn Dobson, Communications - Josette Kaufman, Membership - Elayne Goodman, Advocacy/Education - Ettie Feistmann.

The Board's next order of business is to populate the Leadership Teams.  Please return those interest sheets that you received with your Voter Digest mailing so that we can utilize your experience and interests.

Our next Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday May 11 at 5:30 at Compass.  Members are welcome to attend.

May 2011- August 2011 Palm Beach County LWV Calendar

 Click here to print calendar. 

MAY

JUNE

JULY  

                       Summer Vacation.   Enjoy!

AUGUST

Building Bridges May Meeting - Report on League Trips to Cuba

Karen Wilkerson 

Did you know that several LWVPBC members participated in the recent trip to Cuba?  That's right, Annie Betancourt, Vice President of the League of Miami-Dade County, got permission from the United States State Department to lead a group of League members to travel to Cuba and meet with women's groups on the island.

You can learn more about their trip (and two more trips that are being planned) when you register to attend the Saturday, May 7, 2011 meeting which will be held from 10:30 AM until 12:30 PM at the Florida Career College which is located at 6056 Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach.  This location is very easy to get to since it is opposite the Florida Turnpike exit on Okeechobee Boulevard.

Annie will be showing her slides and telling us about their experiences.  We also promise some fun during the program.  In addition, a Cuban caterer is preparing great coffee, pastries, and goodies for us to sample.  The cost is $5.00 per person to cover the cost of the refreshments (which you will not want to miss).

Please register by calling Karen Wilkerson.  You will enjoy the presentation and refreshments.  Consider bringing a friend and/or potential member.  We promise that this will be an interesting and enjoyable morning.

This program is part of our continuing series of meetings planned by the LWVPBC Building Bridges Committee: Nancy Gau and Karen Wilkerson Co-chairs.

"Health Care or Health Scare" - June Hot Topic

Peg Ekberg and Barb Eriv

On June 8^th at 10:30 AM, Delray Beach Library,Auditorium Room, 100 W. Atlantic Ave., just west of Swinton,  LWVPBC members and guests will be very fortunate to have Laura Feldman, Grassroots Manager from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare in Washington, D.C. as their Hot Topic keynote speaker.  Ms. Feldman is an authority on health care and health care reform and is a requested speaker for many organizations.  Her topic will be, "Health Care or Health Scare." 

 Ms. Feldman will provide us with an appreciation of Health Care Reform from the perspective of both sides of the isle.

This is a real opportunity to gain a better understanding of the issues and their impact.

Mark your calendar now, and be sure to tell a friend!  Also, be on the lookout for more information on this event in the near future.

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New LWVUS Study: Role of the National Government in Public Education

Rita Wachs 

The League of Women Voters of the United States, at its national convention in June, 2010, adopted a new study:  The Role of the Federal Government in Public Education.  A national committee was formed to develop study materials and consensus questions.  These materials are now on the way and we, LWVPBC, are ready to play our role in reaching a national consensus.  This study is limited to issues of equity, funding and standards/assessment in pre-K to grade 12 public education.  Completion of this study will enable LWVUS to evaluate and act on federal legislation and regulatory proposals.

The national committee is encouraging local leagues to participate in this study by scheduling meetings to educate our members (and communities) about these issues and come to consensus.

This consensus must be done by November, so we must start our committee work as soon as possible.  We will begin by looking at an overview of the history of the federal role and where it is today.  Then the focus will turn to the components of the Elementary and Secondary Education act which speak to the equity issues.  Lastly we will address the Common Core Standards and subsequent assessment issues.

If you feel strongly about the future of public education in the United States, I urge you to join this committee by contacting me, Rita Wachs.  

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The Palm Beach County Charter Study 

Susan Litchfield

Take a Good Look at...THE END!!!

The League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County Charter Committee continues to educate our members about the Palm Beach County Charter, January 2009 edition, as well as 2010 additions.  As in past VOTER issues, after you have read the VOTER articles, we invite you to submit to our committee, any "Thoughtful Questions," opinions and suggestions for change to the current Charter.

The Charter Committee has studied the Charter and we offer our last installment, in our own words, until after the summer.

This last installment covers the following:

•        Article IV - Constitutional Officers and County Departments
•        Article V - Special Provisions
•       Article VI - Home Rule Charter Effective Date, Transition and Review
•       Article VII - Voluntary Annexation
•       Article VIII - Ethics Regulation

To read committee members reports and their "Thoughtful Questions" click here

Note:  There will be a Charter Committee Meeting, Thursday, May 12^th at 10 AM, at the Delray Beach City Library.

Subject:  Work on Consensus Questions for Unit Meetings; attend any PBC Charter Review workshops advertised.  Contact Susan Litchfield, Chair.

National (LWVUS) News

• Equitable Taxation: The League supports tax legislation that does not jeopardize local service, addresses infrastructure deficits, and removes unfair tax exemptions that affect governments' ability to serve citizens.
• Redistricting Reform: The League supports single-member election districts that are equal in population, provide access for minorities, are compact and, when possible, take local characteristics such as political and geographical boundaries into consideration.
• Citizen Initiatives: For the past four sessions, the League has fought against passage of new restrictions on the citizens' initiative process. As bills addressing citizen initiatives arise; the League will oppose bills that increase the moneyed interests' strangle-hold on the initiative process and the legislative process and, where appropriate, advance the idea of a citizen statutory initiative
• Elections: The League supports legislation that promotes stricter election audits and would give the Supervisors of Elections more flexibility in selecting early voting sites.

The League supports legislation that provides for a free public school system with high standards for student achievement and with equality of educational opportunity for all that is financed adequately by the state through an equitable funding formula.

The League supports measures to implement Florida health care in a manner consistent with the LWVUS position on health care reform.

Voter Annual Report

Note:  The following annual report was inadvertently omitted from the packet of materials distributed at the LWVPBC Annual Meeting in April.

This was a transition year for the LWVPBC VOTER.  We went from delivering the VOTER by U.S.mail or as an e-mail attachment, to a VOTER delivered directly on-line to our members with e-mail addresses.   

The May-June, July-August and September issues were sent in the traditional manner.  In October, delivery to all members with e-mail addresses was accomplished through the Constant Contact program for direct online distribution.  Although member reviews were for the most part positive, there was some negative feedback.  For example, it is difficult to print single pages.  

Although we have no statistics as to the number of members who read the VOTER in the past, we do have approximate figures, supplied by Constant Contact, for those who opened the VOTER on-line since October.  The following table shows the number of VOTERS sent each month and the number and percent actually opened.

Note:  # opened and % opened differ due to variables in computation formulas.  

With less than 50% of our members opening the VOTER, there is certainly a need to consider changes to our method of reaching our members.   

On the positive side, many good things have happened this year.  Our content was complete and informative thanks to those who submitted intelligent copy.  My thanks goes out to those who managed to submit their articles by the deadline date.  I am also grateful to Patty O'Connor who handled the Constant Contact distribution and Helene Roach who volunteered to do the mailing for those not receiving our newsletter on-line.

My most special THANK YOU is reserved for Cecily Feldman.  Cecily, who had the task of learning Constant Contact as she developed format for our "new" VOTER, was responsible for inputting all of the articles after my editing.  She was a joy to work with:  ever patient with an editor's nit-picking demands, she produced a newsletter that I was proud to send to not only our members, but also leaders in our community.

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"It was a dark & stormy night..."  No, I'm just kidding.  It was early in the morning on March 23 when LWVPBC members took their seats on a Greyhound-type bus on our way to the LWVF Legislative Seminar and State Convention.  We chatted with our neighbors until we reached Orlando.  Wayne, our bus driver, let us off at a new Mall to have lunch.  Most of us sat outside in the fresh air and sun.   

We left there about 12:30 PM and about 1:00 PM, Kathe Thompson and I, who were toward the back, looked at each other and said, "What is that smell?"  We turned around and saw a fine mist, but luckily no flames.  Kathe ran to tell Wayne so that he could pull off the highway.  We exited slowly, going down the single aisle in an orderly fashion.  Wayne discovered that the bus had either a broken radiator hose or a leak in the radiator as there was a good amount of water on the pavement.  He called his home office in Royal Palm Beach and the result was we waited three hours for another bus.  It was a pleasant time as we stood outside in the shade of the bus and talked.  Windows had been opened inside to let the breezes blow through.  There was absolutely no panic, nor complaints.  We realized, however, we would miss the dinner and speaker that evening. 

 

After transferring our luggage to the new bus, we had a speedy ride to the Doubletree Hotel to unload our luggage, get back on the bus (with NO change of clothes) so we could eat our dinner at the Capitol where all the LWV Floridians who had gathered were leaving as we entered through security.  They greeted us with cries: "So you're the bus people!"  We had our dinner, programs and favors.  LWVPBC members Pam Goodman, Ellen Sanders and Elayne Goodman who arrived earlier, said they thought the evening had been successful and were sorry we missed it.  After walking three blocks to the hotel, we decided that we had had an interesting and unplanned long day.

Skip to March 26 about 2:00 PM after the Convention had been adjourned.  At 11:30 AM, we had placed our bags in the bus and were all set to leave.  As I exited the front door, there was Wayne with the back lid of the bus in the air again.  The front door was jammed into the concrete sidewalk because he had driven his tires into the rain swale and the bus was tilted down. WHAT TO DO??

The door was slightly ajar but even a little 5 year-old could not get through the opening.  As more members came to the bus, Peg Ekberg said, "Come on gals, let's put both hands on the bus and at my count of three, push on the bus to lift the door."  We did this three times adding three young men who came to help us. (Effort captured by Karen Wilkerson.)  We moved the door enough so that our slim, capable leader, Kathe, could get inside the bus, turn on the motor and flip a switch to raise the door!  We were laughing as we filed into the bus.  Two problems with our bus trips!  Wayne really put the "pedal to the metal" and after one stop, we made our first "landing" at the Lake Worth Turnpike exit around 8:00 PM.  It was an unforgettable and unexpected adventure.

Members whose dues expired on March 31, 2011 and have not yet renewed, will be dropped from the active membership database as of May 31, 2011.  We need all our members for strength in advocacy and educating voters.  We urge you to send your check in now. 

As of this year, the dues payment date moves to October 1.  With that in mind, members can pay for six months now ($27.50), with a new expiration date of October 1, 2011; or pay for 18 months ($81.50) with a new expiration date of October 1, 2012.  Checks made payable to LWVPBC should be mailed to P.O Box 6208, Delray Beach FL 33482-6208.

You also have the option of using a credit card through PayPal by going to www.lwvpbc.org , clicking on "JOIN US" and scrolling to the bottom of the form page.  Our PayPal option is for one year's dues only ($55).  If you choose that option, you will be billed again for a 6-month payment in March, 2012.

Questions?  Call Joan Karp or Elayne Goodman.

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MAY

When:            MONDAY, May 16, 2011, 2:00-4:00 PM

Where:            "505" Teen Center, 505 SE 5^th Avenue, Delray Beach

Topic:            BANKS, GOVERNMENTS, AND DEBT CRISES  

JUNE

When:            MONDAY, June 20, 2011, 2:00-4:00 PM

Where:            "505" Teen Center, 505 SE 5th Avenue, Delray Beach

Topic:            GERMANY'S ASCENDANCY

For more information regarding these and future meetings, click here.

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Donations

Dolores Samowitz

Yolanda Swanekamp

Peter Bond

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