VOTER - League of Women Voters San Jose/Santa Clara

It's been more than ten years since the events of 9/11/2001 changed the world for many Americans. It made us question civil liberties, defense, and religious freedom. Our November Lunch with League speaker will address one of the more neglected topics:

Being Muslim in America

Our speaker is Ismael Nass-Duce of Islamic Networks Group. Mr. Nass-Duce received a B.S. in Computer Science from King Fahd University in Saudi Arabia, and a M.S. in Software Engineering from San Jose State University. He is currently the president of EngineersWhoWrite, a consulting firm specializing in the development of technical documentation and publishing tools.

Islamic Networks Group (ING) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to counter prejudice and discrimination, promote intercultural understanding, and foster mutual respect through education and community engagement.

Thursday, November 17
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Bella Mia Restaurant
58 South First Street, San Jose, CA

Lunch choices include walnut and chicken salad, turkey croissant sandwich, margherita sandwich (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil and balsamic vinegar), eggplant parmesan, and linguini picatta with or without chicken. The cost is $16, payable at the door. Please RSVP, with menu choice, to Marie Arnold by Monday, November 14.

Note: Bella Mia can no longer validate parking. There are city lots at Safeway on 2nd/San Fernando and at the Pavillion parking lot, which is a bit further. Remember that light rail stops behind the restaurant.

President's Message

Thoughts in November turn to the election process even in this "off" year. These developments impact voting and are of grave concern to League members. Both bear watching.

1) a national trend in many states to curb election rights by creating barriers and obstacles making it difficult for some citizens to exercise their right to vote, and 2) here in our State, an attempt to thwart the work of the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission which redrew State and Congressional district lines.

VOTER RESTRICTIONS: It is estimated that as many as five million of the nation's registered voters could be turned away from the election booth due to strict new laws which have passed in 14 states in the past year requiring photo ID and/or documentation to be shown on election day in 2012. These new laws will disproportionally affect the elderly, young voters, racial and ethnic minorities, the poor, and the disabled. The League supports efforts to encourage voters to vote. Sadly, measures in other states for Voter ID will only suppress voter participation and engagement. We in California need to be alert to any similar efforts locally. Leagues in Arizona and Florida are actively challenging such laws.

DECLINE TO SIGN: We join with Leagues across the state who are urging members and the public to "decline to sign" petitions to challenge the newly-adopted state redistricting maps for the State Senate. This is the first time California has had an open, inclusive process to draw the electoral lines, with an independent citizens group. In the past, these districts were created by legislators themselves in closed meetings. This time, thanks to voter-approved Proposition 11 (passed in 2008) and Proposition 20 (passed in 2010), a 14 member commission held 34 public hearings across the State, conducted 70 meetings, and used Census data and followed legal requirements imposed by the two propositions. As LWV California President Jennifer Waggoner noted, this "citizen-driven process will be a model for the entire nation." Let's not allow some special interests to undo this important new process.

Stay up-to-date with both developments by checking out the LWVUS site and LWVC site.

Don't forget this month's Lunch with League, when Ismael Nass of ING will speak about the realities of being Muslim in America.

And finally, don't forget our Consensus Meetings on Monday, November 14 - learn and take positions on the Federal Role in Education, a hot and important topic. See details below for time and location of this important LWVSJ-SC meeting.

Gloria Chun Hoo

Education Consensus - Come to One or Come to Both

You are invited to our consensus meetings on:

"The Federal Role in Public Education"

COME TO ONE OR COME TO BOTH - YOU PICK!

Monday, November 14

10:30 am

Rosegarden Branch Library

1580 Naglee Ave.

San Jose, 95126

and/ or

7:00 pm

Cambrian Branch Library

1780 Hillsdale Ave.

San Jose, 95124

The coffee will be on ...

Questions? Contact Chair Rosaleen Zisch at rozisch@aol.com

Education Panel - One More Opportunity to Watch

If you missed the panel on the Federal Role in Education, you missed a wonderful opportunity to hear four distinguished and articulate education experts discuss the federal government's impact on education in Santa Clara county. Luckily, the County Office of Education has uploaded a film of the event to their website so now you can watch it in the comfort of your own home. Go to the COE website and you will find the video under their Highlights section.

Natural Resources

It took 4 years and 51 meetings to formulate the consensus, but this fall the City of San Jose finally and formally adopts the Envision 2040 General Plan. This new General Plan represents a pivotal step for implementation of the Regional Plan Bay Area sustainable community strategy, and it is a profound step forward for urbanization of the core area of San Jose along transit corridors. Some specifics:

Stages housing growth to meet projections of a population increase of over 400,000 new residents.
Identifies corridors for Transit-Oriented Development to accommodate the population increase.
Rules out sprawl at the edges of the City such as the Coyote Valley.

Trixie Johnson has led our participation in the formulation of the new Plan and testified on behalf of our League in support of its adoption,

Nancy Ianni

Privatization Study

The study of Privatization, a LWVUS study, is about to begin. Our first meeting will be held on Saturday, December 3rd, from 10:00 am to 12:00 at Martha Beattie's home. Come prepared to start the discussion by having read the recommended readings and having thought of some local examples we can explore. (For instance: Team San Jose; the airport's consideration of contracting out police services.) Contact Martha Beattie at mcbeattie@jps.net for further information or to sign up for the committee. The recommended reading can be found on the LWVUS site.

Martha Beattie

Initiative/Referendum Process - Does It Work

Thanks to Hiram Johnson, we citizens of California have had an initiative process for 100 years. In that time, 348 initiatives qualified for the ballot and Californians approved about 116 of them. To read an entertaining and short history of initiatives, read the article in Capitol Weekly.

LWVC has set up a Facebook page for members interested in the initiative process. To join, click here. If you are interested in participating on the study to examine and update the League's position on the State's Initiative and Referendum Process, please contact Cecilie Schulze, program director.

Financial Report

The 2010-2011 Financial Report is available for member review on our website. Many thanks to Treasurer Doug Beattie for preparing the report.

Bay Area League Day

Housing and the Bay Area's Future

Saturday, February 4, 2012, 9 - 2

MetroCenter, 101 Eighth Street, Oakland, 94607

(one block from Lake Merritt BART)

The keynote speaker will be David Rosen, a leading expert in the ﬁeld of affordable housing ﬁnance, policy, land use, lending and investment strategic planning. There will be panels of experts on:

1) meeting regional housing needs in light of the sustainable communities strategy,

2) difﬁculties of ﬁnancing affordable housing, and

3) how to serve the hardest to house.

There will be plenty of time for questions from the audience during each panel.

Cost: In advance: $30 ($15 without lunch); at the door $35 ($20 without lunch).

To register please write a check payable to "LWVBA" include your name and any guest names, and mail to LWVBA, 1611 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 300, Oakland, CA 94612. Registration is also available online through January 27 via PayPal at www.lwvbayarea.org. For more details, call (510) 839-1608 or send an email to editor@bayareamonitor.org.

To read more about LWVBA happenings. read their newsletter.

Save the Date - Holiday Party

Celebrate the holidays with League members and friends on Tuesday, December 6 at the home of Marie Arnold. Bring a favorite food to share. More details in the December Voter.

October Lunch with League

Dr. Manny Barbara of Silicon Valley Education Foundation was our October speaker and we appreciated his informative and direct presentation. He shared the student indicators for success which include reading at the 3rd grade, taking algebra in the 8th grade and doing the A to G requirements from UC (15 courses). His statistics regarding early childhood education emphasized its importance for effecting any improvements in public schools. The science and math programs that the Silicon Valley Education Foundation support provide the roadmap to college for hundreds of students who can't get this help from their homes or schools. This is work he enjoys because he knows it works.

Membership

New member Paula Radzinski and I staffed a LWV table at the 8th annual Community Connections Fair at San Jose State. During the day we passed out more than 100 Smart Voter bookmarks to the sea of students rushing past us, some of whom stopped to talk with us about League. Everybody loved the power that the Facts for Voters gave them. We heard the word "Wow" a lot, accompanied by wide smiles.

Three students registered to vote, and one took a form for a friend, "who needs to register". Paula has worked at the polls on election day and was able to answer questions for the first-time voters.

We shared information with the other folks staffing tables during the slow times (while the students were in class) and gave them a Smart Voter bookmark. Some of our neighbors included a young lawyer from ProBono and a young woman from Peace and Social Justice.

In the afternoon, we picked up our table and moved it out of the sun and under the shade of one of the beautiful old trees, next to the San Jose Women's Club, an organization founded in 1896.

The 9-2 day flew by as we were caught up in the youthful energy and positive feeling on campus.

Marie Arnold

Board Briefs

At the October Board meeting:

It was announced that Alice and Rod Thorn will review the 2010-2011 Financial Report.
The Board agreed to film the October 4 Education forum for CreaTV.
Nancy Ianni submitted her report to the LWVBA Interleague Network-South meeting held on September 8. There was great interest and kudos to our League on the San Jose General Plan Envision 2040 effort and on State Legislators Open Calendar. The group requested that Gloria Chun Hoo and Martha Beattie continue their leadership role for all the Bay Area Leagues on the Calendar issue.
Martha Beattie reported on the meeting with Nora Campos regarding the Open Calendar issue and other items of mutual interest. Martha felt the meeting was very positive.
Bylaws Review Committee member Sara Malaun was present at the meeting to discuss questions from the Committee to the Board.
2012 LWV Regional Meeting: The meeting will be hosted by LWV SJ/SC on February 25, 2012, at the Martin Luther King Library. Sally Pyle was thanked for securing the venue.
A committee was set up to look into how we can best use CreaTV.

The Changing Face of Local News

LWV Southwest Santa Clara Valley has invited our members to a discussion on "The Changing Face of Local News" on Wednesday, November 9 at 7:15 pm in the Orchard City Banquet Room at the Campbell Community Center, 1 W. Campbell Ave.

Three notable speakers will address the subject of just how newspapers are put together, what constitutes news, how it is acquired, and how news coverage is done in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. Speakers are:

Ann Grimes, Director of the Graduate Program in Journalism at Stanford University. She was formerly on the Wall Street Journal and their SF Deputy Bureau Chief and part of the editorial staff of the Washington Post.
R.B. Brenner, a visiting Lecturer at Stanford University and winner of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Journalism for his coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings.
Kathryn Roethel, the creator and editor of the new "Peninsula News" website which is powered by students in the Stanford Graduate Program in Journalism.

Bay Area Monitor

The latest issue of the Bay Area Monitor is now available online at the Bay Area Monitor website. Articles include "Will Green Jobs Ever Pay Off?", "Golden Gate Bridge Preparing for 75th Anniversayr Celetrations", and "Senior Mobility and the Silver Tsunami".

Calendar

Information on all of these events is available in this newsletter.

Nov. 9 The Changing Face of Local News
Nov. 14 Education Study Consensus Meetings, 10 am & 7 pm
Nov. 15 Board Meeting
Nov. 17 Lunch with League
Dec. 3 Privatization Study Meeting
Dec. 6 Holiday Party
Feb. 4 Bay Area League Day

Join Our League

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Democracy is not a spectator sport! Educate! Advocate!

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