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Mon., April 4, 6:30 pm. Board Meeting, League Conference Room, 1011 W 31st., Austin. Members.
Sat., April 9, 2:00 pm. Young Voters Project Committee Meeting. League Conference Room, 1011 W 31st., Austin. Members.
Sun., April 10, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm. Forum about Austin's Proposition 1. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, 4700 Grover Ave., Austin
Sat., April 17, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. Local Issues Group Meeting League Office, 1011 W 31st, Austin.
Sun., April 24, 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm. General Meeting on Constitutional Amendments, Trinity United Methodist Church, 4001 Speedway, Austin.
Mon., May 2, 6:30 pm. Board Meeting, League Conference Room, 1011 W 31st., Austin, Members.
Tues., May 17 6:00 pm. Annual Meeting, Trinity United Methodist Church, 4001 Speedway, Austin.
Back issues of the LWVAA Voter can be found at this link.
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Voter Turnout - Travis County
145,195 Democratic Party Voters and 85,212 Republican Party Voters participated in the March Primary elections for a combined registered voter turnout of 34%. Wow!
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Voters Guide Downloads
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Total
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English
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32,654
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Spanish
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266
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0.8%
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32,920
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In addition to the electronic downloads of the Voters Guide from our website, we partnered with the Austin American-Statesman to distribute 117,000 paper copies and distributed over 3,000 print copies to libraries and organizations around Austin.
Annual Meeting - Tuesday, May 17, 2016, 6:00 pm Trinity United Methodist Church, 4001 Speedway, Austin [map]
Make plans to attend the Annual Membership meeting. Members will adopt a local program for the ensuing year, elect officers and directors, elect a nominating committee chair, adopt a budget and transact such other business as may properly come before the membership. You must be a current member in good standing to vote. We have positions open for Community Relations VP and Fund Development Director. Both positions serve on the Board of Directors. If you are interested in serving in one of these positions, contact Margit Orange for more information - 512-345-5349. Below are brief position descriptions.
Community Relations VP-- The responsibility is to visualize the potential public relations value of everything the League does, as well as, make other board members aware of the ways to build the League's image in the community. A primary role of the 2nd VP is coordinate the committees under her/him, which according to our Board of Director's organization chart include: Publicity, Special Events, Development, Advocacy and Speakers Bureau.
Fund Development position. The Board defines what the Development position is supposed to accomplish. The purpose of the job is to create and oversee a plan for increasing revenues to support the work of the LWVAA.
LWV Texas State Convention - Austin sent seven delegates to the LWV Texas Convention in Houston, Carol Olewin, Cinde Weatherby, Frances McIntyre, Lea Masiello, Carol Peters, and David and Mary Overton. In addition to adopting a budget and electing officers, a new program, "Get Out the Vote" was adopted. Carol Olewin was elected as a Director on LWV Texas Board of Directors, serving a two year term beginning June 2016. Carol will focus on Voter Services, especially the ThinkVoting mobile phone application for Voters Guides information.
Frances McIntyre proposed a non-recommended program to review and update the LWV-TX Leagues position on redistricting to evaluate the feasibility of using independent citizens redistricting commissions. The proposal was adopted. LWV-TX and local leagues around the state are considering streaming of the League's legal structure. Gwen Santiago, LWVAA Treasurer, is pursuing consolidation of the LWV Austin into an all 501(c)3 organization.
LWV US Convention - June 16-18 in Washington D.C. Austin League will be sending two delegates to LWVUS Convention, Frances McIntyre and Cinde Weatherby.
Honorary/Memorials Donations
We received a memorial contribution from Iris Diamond in the name of Marion Kelley to benefit the Voters Guide. "Ms. Kelley passed away a couple of years ago. She was very passionate about the LWV and active in her chapter in Tucson, AZ many decades ago (perhaps even president of the local chapter for a while, but that was way before I met her). I always think of her when I hear of LWV. She left no near kin behind. I am sure she looks kindly upon us from above." Thank you, Iris.
In addition the League received an honorary donation from Maxine Barkan in honor of Jaci Collins for all her work to help the office personnel and the Voters Guide.
~Carol Olwin, President
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Forum on City of Austin Proposition 1
(So called Uber/Lyft ordinance)
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2:00 - 4:00 pm, Sunday April 10
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin
4700 Grover Avenue, Austin, TX [ map]
Panelists will be:
Council Member Ellen Troxclair, District 8
Council Member Delia Garza, District 2
Laura Morrison, Former Council Member
We invite the public to become informed voters about an important Austin issue.
PROPOSITION. 1, CITY OF AUSTIN "Shall the City Code be amended to repeal City Ordinance No. 20151217-075 relating to Transportation Network Companies; and replace with an ordinance that would repeal and prohibit required fingerprinting, repeal the requirement to identify the vehicle with a distinctive emblem, repeal the prohibition against loading and unloading passengers in a travel lane, and require other regulations for Transportation Network Companies?"
For information contact Frances McIntyre. (see below)
Advocacy and Voter's Guide Editor
or 512-451-1551
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General Meeting
Constitutional Admendments
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The League of Women Voters of the Austin Area announces a meeting on the US Constitution amendment process. It is free and open to the public. At this general membership meeting learn about the US Constitution, the LWVUS's position statement on amendments, and other issues relevant to understanding the process of upholding and adding amendments to our Constitution.
Dr. Lawrence Sager, a constitutional law expert at the UT School of Law, will be our featured speaker. He will help us understand the broader context of constitutional amendments, along with implications from the LWVUS's new position statement. Tim Mahoney, a LWV Austin member and attorney, will moderate a discussion following Dr. Sager's comments. During the discussion, we may want to consider how the League's position can help us become more informed when we hear politicians mentioning the Constitution.
General Membership Meeting:
Constitutional Amendments
1:30 -3:30 pm, April 24, 2016
Trinity United Methodist Church
4001 Speedway, Austin [Map]
Are you Familiar with the Current LWVUS Position on our Constitution?
The LWVUS approved the following new position in January 2016:
"Considerations for Evaluating Constitutional Amendment Proposals"
The League will only support a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution if it advances and conforms to an LWVUS position.
In addition, the League believes the following should be considered in identifying an appropriate and well-crafted constitutional amendment:
a) Whether the public policy objective addresses matters of such acute and abiding importance that the fundamental charter of our nation must be changed. Amendments are changes to a document that provides stability to our system and should be undertaken to address extreme problems or long-term needs.
b) Whether the amendment as written would be effective in achieving its policy objective. Amendments that may be unenforceable, miss the objective, or have unintended consequences may not achieve the policy objective.
c) Whether the amendment would either make our political system more democratic or protect individual rights. Most adopted amendments have sought to make our system more representative or to protect the rights of minorities.
d) Whether the public policy objective can be achieved by a legislative or political approach that is less difficult than a constitutional amendment. In order to expend resources wisely, it is important to consider whether legislation or political action is more likely to succeed than an amendment.
e) Whether the public policy objective is more suited to a constitutional amendment and general approach than to a statutory and detailed approach. It is important to consider whether the goal can best be achieved by an overall value statement, which will be interpreted by the courts, or with specific statutory detail to resolve important issues and reduce ambiguity."
For more information about the LWVUS's position on Constitutional Amendments, see this link:
Please feel free to share this announcement with others whom you feel would be interested. Like all general meetings, this one is free and open to the public.
~Lea Masiello,
1st VP of Programs
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Springing Forward with Voter Engagement
League of Women Voters traditions established in the years since 1919 continue to serve our citizens and communities well. Our Austin League can point to pride to the regularly prepared Voters Guides that we offer voters. The extended distribution of the Guide through social media is very impressive and continues to grow. During March, we continued to grow our partnerships with others to spread our reach as well.
The evening of March 22, 2016, the Austin League welcomed a wonderful musical event. We benefitted from the fabulous performance by the trio of stars Patty Griffin, Sara Watkins, and Anais Mitchell. This 39-city concert tour is the result of the three singers joining forces with the U.S. League of Women Voters to call attention to the need to register and vote. The "Use Your Voice Tour" allowed us to reach more than 1,600 concertgoers at the University of Texas Bass Concert Hall. We were able to call attention to our First Vote program and other LWV Austin activities when introducing the evening's concert. We also registered voters, provided lots of information about voting, and gave all attendees a bookmark with all of the remaining 2016 election dates and all related deadlines, as well as a comprehensive listing of voting resources. Thanks go to VP - Voters Service Jacklyn Williams and VP- Programs Lea Masiello for being on the project team and staffing the League's information table. It was my pleasure to coordinate the event and introduce the evening. Better yet, LWVUS provided us with a grant of
 $500 for our efforts. Those funds will help support the First Vote program and production of our November Voters Guide.
Voters Guide Funding Appeal
Speaking of funding the Voters Guide, expenses far exceed a few hundred dollars. We have initiated a general funding appeal to raise $10,000 for production of the Guide for November. These funds will specifically cover the Spanish translation of the text and increased printing costs. We've sent one email blast to LWV Austin members and friends requesting your generosity, and others will be coming until we reach our goal. They will stop as soon as that goal is reached! Please help us with as much or as little as you can spare. You can donate on the League's website at http://lwvaustin.org/donate/ or by sending a check to the LWV Office marked Voters Guide, to 1011 W. 31st Street, Austin, TX 78705.
Student Video Contest - It's Finally Happening!
We've talked about it for years, and it is now a reality. LWV Austin is partnering with the Travis County Tax Office Voter Registration Division and County Clerk Office Elections Division, the Alamo Drafthouse, Univision, KVUE, and the Austin Film Society to sponsor the YouthCam Video Public Service Announcement Contest for Travis County high school students.
The contest theme is "Registered. Be Counted. Vote," and each entry must feature the County's "Registered. Be Counted. Vote" logo. The contest website is https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/psa The link for them to post the "People's Choice" award entries will not go live until May 1. The deadline for entries is August 21, 2016. Please help us promote it to all of the public and private high schools in the county.
~Cinde Weatherby, 2nd VP Community Relations
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LVW Austin at LWV Texas State Convention
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The LWV Austin Area was well represented at the LWV Texas Convention March 11-13 in Houston. Carol Olewin, Cinde Weatherby, Frances McIntyre, Grace Chimene, Lea Masiello, David and Mary Overton and new member Carol Peters were Convention delegates. The days were packed with workshops, meetings, and informal gatherings to meet up with old friends and make new ones, exchange ideas and encourage one another to explore new strategies for our LWV work. The Honorable Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston, welcomed and addressed us, along with LWV-TX President Elaine Wiant, and The Honorable Mike Sullivan, Tax Assessor-Collector, Harris County. Having representatives from Houston governmental leadership set one of the themes for the convention, that of collaboration and networking. Also speaking was LWVUS President Elizabeth McNamara, who encouraged us by noting that the current voting rights crisis is an opportunity for us to make a more perfect democracy, a goal of LWV since its inception. She reminded us that LWV founder Carrie Chapman Catt said that  |
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the vote is the symbol of our equality, and today, everyone equally deserves the right to vote.
The Convention brings together local leagues to discuss current issues about voting, to share successes and worries. We heard repeatedly about how weak voter participation is in Texas. Delegates approved the LWV-TX Get Out the Vote program for the coming year in order to galvanize us all to shake up these miserable statistics about voter participation in Texas. LWV Austin President Carol Olewin found the information about effective ways to integrate all aspects of VOTE411.org into Voters Guides, very important for the work in front of us. Expect to see programs on VOTE411.org, Get out the Vote!, and hopefully, new phone apps for accessing the Voters Guide, something that is in development locally. Cinde Weatherby especially enjoyed the presentation on Houston's "Rising Star" program that engages young professionals working in the civic space of the city, including information about their "projects that they and the Houston League have undertaken, such as a regular local public television program, having candidate forums on a local network television program during prime time (Friday night), and doing one-on-one candidate interviews." One of the main jobs of the state convention is to approve programs for the coming year. This year, the Austin league asked the delegates to consider adopting an update to the Redistricting position. As Frances McIntyre put it, " It was not a slam dunk." But with diligent lobbying, we convinced the body that an independent citizens redistricting commission was a worthy study program. We hope that this study will result in an important resource for other municipalities. Cinde also found that being at the convention helped her get a better sense of the "pulse" of League members on issues, and she came back to Austin with a renewed belief in the value of involving non-members in our projects and in engaging people in activities, rather that just "recruiting" them, so that we all see the benefits of our actions. It wasn't all work, though! The state convention is an opportunity to enjoy the company of other league members from around the state, to learn, to explore, and to have a little fun! We were all delighted by the Victorian "fashion show" at the Saturday luncheon, with an emphasis on what suffragettes would have worn, and we were all so relieved to know that we are not required to wear corsets and bustles any more! We all learned a lot from hearing from other Texas leagues about their successes, which helps us all get fresh perspectives on our local work. We cannot understate the value of networking and exchanging ideas at the convention. Grace Chimene found that the enthusiasm of the members she met really inspired her, and she was glad, as a board member, to meet people with whom she has been communicating via email. Keep in mind that any league member can attend the state convention; you do not have to be on the board, nor do you have to serve as a voting delegate. Carol Olewin noted that the convention is "a chance to meet like minded people, share ideas, and develop networks to pursue your interest in the League."
~Lea Masiello,
1st VP of Programs
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Successful State of the County Fundraiser
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What an event we had March 9, 2016 at our annual fundraising dinner, this year's State of the County! We had a full house of over 100 attendees, and a varied, interesting, and enticing array of silent auction items. Silent auction items sold well and will help fund our ongoing efforts to encourage voter participation.
We must give a special thank you to Heidi Gibbons, who managed the silent and "live" auctions, and contacted sponsors. This year's SOC committee met regularly to identify a new venue for the event and plan all the details. Mary Gordon Spence once again directed a hilarious "live" auction. We had jaunty music from Trillium (with Lea Masiello, David Melanson, and Cindy Schaufenbuel). Our League President, Carol Olewin, provided insightful introductions throughout the evening and inspiring biographies of our honored women Travis County Mayors (all very accomplished, dedicated, hard-working leaders).
The League's 2016 "Making Democracy Work Awards" were presented to the following recipients:
The Hon. Sarah Eckhardt, County Judge, Travis County Commissioners Court
The Hon. Caroline Murphy, Mayor, City of Bee Cave The Hon. Deane Armstrong, Mayor, City of Jonestown The Hon. Rita Jonse, Mayor, City of Manor The Hon. Rose Cardona, Mayor, City of Sunset Valley The Hon. Cristin Cecala, Mayor, Village of Point Venture
Finally, we heard a very heartfelt, passionate, informed speech from the Honorable Judge Sarah Eckhardt, who told us about the strengths of Travis County and the things we need to work on.
Judge Eckhardt inspired pride and loyalty in her audience and left us with many important ideas. She told us that it is crucial to protect and preserve greenspace. She reminded us that water is not unlimited, and we have to conserve it and ensure that we will continue to have water for our communities. We must strive to make this Travis County affordable for those who want to live and work here...and "yeah, Let's talk about the traffic" ...and let's get to work to make all this happen.
If you were not able to attend the event, you can watch a video of Judge Eckhardt's speech here:
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| | Carol Olwin, Judge Sarah Eckhardt, Deane Armstrong, Caroline Murphy, Rita Jonse, Cristin Cecala, and Eliza May |
Thanks to everyone who made this event a real gem of a night. And special hats-off to our SOC committee chair, Eliza May, who knows how to make it all come together.
~Eliza May SOC Planning Committee Chair
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Membership Report and
Interest Survey |
Member Interest Survey:
If you are either a new member or a member who may have a bit of time to volunteer for the League (either regularly or occasionally), please complete this Member Interest Survey. This will help us identify your skills and interests. A few new members have filled this out already, but most of our members have not. We especially need to hear from all members who have a little time to help us. Thank you for doing this now.
New Members:
Anjanette Gautier Castro, Alicia and Marshall Jones, Penelope Koo, Lynn (Susanne) League, Joan Owens, Mariel Stotts and Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty joined our ranks this past month. As a member of the Austin League, each of you is also a member of the national (LWVUS) and state (LWV-TX) Leagues. See these links for an abundance of educational information.
Thank You, Sustaining Members:
Special thanks to this month's sustaining members: Gerald Dougherty, Sara Groff - household, Bill Hamilton, and Anita Privett. We are grateful for your additional financial support for our local League.
Thank You, Renewing Members:
Many thanks to the following members who also renewed this month: Sarah Groff, Clark Joby, Eliza May, Tim Mahoney and Melanie Walters -household, Joseph and Catherine Nall - household, and Jo Reichler.
We depend on your support and appreciate your renewals.
New Membership, Renewal Dues Payment, Address Changes: Please mail your name, address, phone number, email address, household member (if applicable), along with your dues payment and/or any changes to the LWVAA office, 1011 W. 31st, Austin, TX 78705. Checks may be made out to the LWV of the Austin Area. Choose an amount below. Or you may instead click here for renewals (or click here for new memberships) to pay your annual dues online by credit card via PayPal while providing all the above information.
Here is the schedule of dues:
Individual Household Student
Sustaining Dues $ 100.00 $ 150.00
Regular Dues $ 60.00 $ 90.00 $ 20.00
Contact me anytime with your League questions.
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Board Contact List
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Local Issues
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The Local Issues group meets on the third Saturday of the month, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at the League Office.
There is always much to talk about. There is no real agenda. Information is shared about activities at City Council, Commissioners Court and AISD. We learn a lot in these conversations.
Anyone who is interested is welcome to attend the next meeting April 17 at the League office, 1011 West 31st St., Austin. [ map} Join us when you can. ~Frances McIntyre Advocacy and Voter's Guide Editor
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VDRs Needed
to Register Voters
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WECON Conference:
Lea Masiello has answered a call for the LWV to staff a table at the WECON, the Women''s Empowerment Conference on April 2nd at the Austin Community College Eastview Campus, 3401 Webberville Rd.[map] from 11:00-4:00. This is a great opportunity to promote the LWV and our mission and there is always an opportunity to register newcomers or update registrations. Give an hour or two for your LWV. Contact Lea at leamasiello@g.mail.com or me at jconway12@austin.rr.com
FIRST VOTE! TheYoung Voters Project has launched as the First Vote project. Our next committee meeting is Saturday, April 9th, 2:00 pm in the LWV office, 1011 W. 31st St. [map] Educators, retired educators, folks wanting to get high school students on board the Voter Train we need your help to keep this engine running. Come to the meeting and learn how you can contribute.
Joanne Richards is requesting VDRs to staff a rally at the Capitol on Sunday, April 17. More info in a Blast coming.
EXPLORE UT:
On March 5, slews of buses discharged thousands of Texas students onto the UT campus. They came right through the door of the LBJ School of Public Affairs where LWV Austin, was partnering with Special Events Coordinator Eileen Dunn, to stage a Voter Advocacy event. There were mock registration forms for students to complete (to get the hang of it) and voter information to take away. Then the students went on to a station where each could write a statement of why he/she would be a good candidate for office. There were some great responses there. They could later take their Voter Registration applications to a "Polling Place" and participate in a mock election. We also did "real" registrations of some high school students who had reached voting age.
Thanks to Elaine Dunn of the LBJ school of Public Affairs for the banners and signs (and lunch) and for making us feel right at home. And a special thanks to the volunteers who made it happen: Jaci Collins, June Conway, Cindy HIntikka, Julie Moore, Jacklyn Williams, Cinde Weatherby, Frances McIntyre, Donna Pauler, Cindy Schaufenbuel, and Cheryl Reese. We anticipate that EXPLORE UT will be an annual event where we can grab up those youngsters and raise 'em right!.
~ June Conway,
Voter Registration Director
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Volunteer Deputy Registrar Training
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Volunteers needed to become Volunteer Deputy Registrars.
VDRs help register eligible citizens to vote by distributing, reviewing, and accepting completed voter registration applications. This training must be repeated every two years. If you haven't been trained since January 1, 2015, for the term January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2016, new training is required.
You may become a VDR or renew eligibility by attending a one-hour training session held the first Tuesday of each month at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm and 6:30 pm. Training is at the Travis County Voter Registrar's office located at 5501 Airport Blvd, [map] Austin, TX 78751. Upcoming dates are Tuesdays, April 5 and May 2.
Bruce Elfant, our Travis County Voter Registrar, is offering extra VDR training the second Saturday of each month from 10:00 - 11:30 am. (usually ends at 11:15 am). The next sessions will be April 9 and May 14 at the First Unitarian Universalist Church, 4700 Grover, [map] Austin. Space is limited. Sign up at this link.
If you are interested in being a VDR in Williamson Co., they accept the training offered in Travis Co.
~ June Conway,
Voter Registration Director
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 Web Master
Report
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For the March 1 primary election we had incredible numbers of Voters Guide downloads.
As a reminder, in November we had just under 13,000 downloads. For the March primary we had almost 33,000!
On Election Day alone, we had 6,830 unique visitors to our website. To put that into perspective, for the entire month of January there were only 3,781 unique visitors.
Two months ago I excitedly announced that we had surpassed 500 followers on Facebook. With the activity generated by the election and the State of the County Dinner we have grown rapidly to more than 660 followers.
On February 27 we held the second Social Media Workshop. About a dozen people attended and we discussed mostly Twitter. A session on Instagram and/or Pinterest is tentatively planned for late April or early May. Let me know if you would like to contribute to this topic.
We encourage you to "like" or "share" our Facebook posts to help expand the reach of these announcements to all of your friends. See procedure below.
~ Hal Jennings, Webmaster, hal@jenningsweb.us
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"Like" Our League
on Facebook
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 It's so easy to follow our League on Facebook. Thanks to Brigid Hall for these instructions:
1. Go to facebook.com and login to your existing account or create a new one.
2. Enter "League of Women Voters of the Austin Area" in the search box at the top of the page. 3. Facebook will show you possible matches to your search terms as you type. Simply click on the box with our logo and title. 4. Once you get to our page, there will be a button that says "Like" and has an image of a "thumbs up." 5. Click on that button. Now you are subscribed to our page and will see our news stories on your Facebook homepage. | |
Follow Our League on Twitter | |
 It's so easy to follow our League on Twitter. Thanks to Brigid Hall for these instructions:
1. Go to twitter.com and login to your existing account or create a new one.
2. Search for @lwvatx in the search box at the top of the page.
3. On the left hand side of the page, under "People" click on our logo.
4. Click on the "follow" button and then you will be subscribed to the LWVAA page and get updates on any of our posts.
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Honors and
Memorials
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Honorary/Memorials Donations
Received memorial contribution from Iris Diamond in the name of Marion Kelley to benefit the Voters Guide.
Received an honorary from Maxine Barkin honoring Jaci Collins.
Received a donation for the Voters Guide from Vikki Goodwin.
Donations are continuing to be accepted in honor of or in memory of a League member. Click here to download the form. Then mail with your donation to the LWVAA Office, 1011 W. 31st St., Austin, TX 78705.
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Shop at Randalls and
Support the League
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Randall's Good Neighbor Program gives the Austin League a percentage of sales from members who link the League to their Remarkable Cards. Our account number is 465.
Click on this link for a document to complete and return to any Randall's store to join the Good Neighbor Program and help our League.
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Leave a Legacy to
Your League |
Making a legacy donation to the League of Women Voters of the Austin Area Education Fund in your will is among the easiest ways to offer support of the LWVAAEF's work for years to come.
We suggest the following language to include the Austin League Education Fund as a beneficiary of a will or trust:
" I give, devise, and bequeath to the League of Women Voters of the Austin Area Education Fund, a charitable organization formed in the State of Texas, with offices at 1011 W. 31st St, Austin, Texas 78705, {the sum of $___ } {___ percentage of my residuary estate}." If you already have a will, you can have your attorney add a codicil to include the LWVAAEF.
After you've added the League, please email the Austin League office, lwvaustin@lwvaustin.org, so we can list you as a member of our League's Legacy Society.
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Photos of League Events
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Photos are available from the State of the City and occasionally from other League events. If you are interested in receiving photos please contact Donna Pauler at dpauler@sbcglobal.net.
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