Award Winners!

Award

Local Leagues and League leaders were recognized with the following awards!

Action

• LWV Alameda, for local action to support redistricting reform
• LWV Marin County, for education and action on campaign finance, particularly greater transparency of independent expenditure committees
• LWV Oakland, for buffer ordinance to protect persons entering reproductive health clinics
• LWV Pasadena Area, for local action on health care reform

Communications

• LWV Escondido and LWV Alameda for their Web sites
• LWV Berkeley/Albany/Emeryville and LWV Torrance for their newsletters

Community Education

• The four Leagues of the Orange County ILO (Capistrano Bay, Central Orange County Area, North Orange County, and Orange Coast) for educating the community on the role of the judicial system in our system of government and the importance of an independent judiciary

Development

• LWV North Orange County, for success in raising $19,000 with a variety of activities that increased funds and visibility

Membership (Member Retention)

• LWV North Orange County

Kelly McFarland Stratman, LWVUS Senior Manager for State and Local League Relations, presented certificates to the following 14 local Leagues that successfully completed Year 2 of the Membership Recruitment Initiative/Membership Growth is Key (MGIK) program: Beach Cities, East San Gabriel Valley, Glendale/Burbank, Kern County, Long Beach Area, Merced County, North and Central San Mateo County, North Orange County, Oakland, Pasadena Area, Redding Area, Sacramento County, San Francisco, and Torrance. Also recognized were the four state coordinators/coaches: Lois Chaney, Caroline deLlamas, Nikki Harris, and Bonnie Hamlin.

Mock Election

• Dennis Mar, LWV Monterey Peninsula

Smart Voter

• Joyce Joseph, LWV San Diego

Voter Service

• LWV of Fremont/Newark/Union City, for creative funding of Fremont local election guide
• LWV of Marin County for its PSA, “Don’t be Duped by Negative Ads”
• LWV of Los Angeles County Inter-League Organization (ILO), for its innovative use of technology
• LWV of Placer County, for its successful first year of voter service activities

Secretary of State Debra Bowen presents the award to President Janis R. Hirohama

The League of Women Voters of California Education Fund was also honored with the Medallion Award from the National Association of Secretaries of State.  The award recognizes outstanding efforts in nonpartisan voter education and outreach
for the 2008 election year.

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen presented the award on May 16 during the state League’s biennial convention in Long Beach, California.  “The League’s longstanding leadership in strengthening democracy makes it deserving of this NASS Medallion honor,” said Bowen, California’s chief elections officer.  “Thanks to the dedicated work of organizations like the LWVC, California saw record turnout in last year’s presidential election!”

LWVC President Janis R. Hirohama said, “We are honored to receive this award.  It is a tribute to our high quality, user-friendly voter education services, including SmartVoter.org and the Easy Voter Guide, and to the many League volunteers who make our work possible.”

Share Your Photos!

We hope you’ll post the links to your Convention photos here! Simply comment on this post, and feel free to email your favorites to Communications Manager Elizabeth Leslie (email ELeslie at lwvc.org). You can see LWVC photos on our flickr site, here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwvc/

LWVC Convention 2009

Resolutions

The full text of each resolution is now on the LWVC.org Web site:

R-1-2009 Single Payer Health Care Plan
R-2-2009 Pros and Cons of Ballot Measures
R-3-2009 Transparency in Election Procedures

Videos From Convention

LWV Marin County shared this Public Service Announcement (PSA) at Convention and encourages other Leagues to share it. It educates voters, telling them “Don’t Be Duped By Negative Campaign Ads”.

Our speaker at dinner on Saturday night, Mr. Robert Hertzberg (Co-Chair of California Forward), shared this musical video. It encourages Californians to strive for a better future for our state.

Current Motions

All existing positions have been adopted for 2009-2011.

Motion 109, to adopt Redistricting Implementation as an issue for education and advocacy during 2009-11 has passed.

Motion 110, to adopt Government Reform as an issue for education and advocacy during 2009-11 has passed.

Motion 307, to adopt the not-recommended item of Health Care as an issue for education and advocacy, failed.

The motion to conduct a not-recommended state study of the prison system failed.

The motion to adopt the budget passed with no discussion!

Plenary Session Underway

After the call to order, colors were presented by Camp Fire, Shu Ca Wi Ta Cin, of Long Beach. The Honorable Bob Foster, Mayor of Long Beach, greeted us and Phyllis O’Connor, President of LWV Long Beach Area welcomed us to her city. We are pleased to see a number of former LWVC Presidents in attendance. In fact, the room is so full that more tables and chairs had to be brought in! Participation in our state convention is fun, educational, and an important part of our grassroots organization.

We’ll be posting more information throughout the day and will post President Janis Hirohama’s speech as soon as we can.

Pre-Convention Events Begin!

Logan's Presentation on the Terrace

Welcome to convention!

Registration opened today and pre-convention workshops are going on right now. Caucus flyers and posters are starting to appear in hallways and on tables. It is wonderful seeing old friends say hello. The weather is just lovely; perfect for sitting outside, on the patio, to discuss the pending special election.

We encourage convention attendees to post their comments to this blog. We hope that those of you who cannot attend will get a feel for this exciting event through these stories and comments. We’re unable to promise that we can respond to questions during the convention, but we’ll try our best.

Tonight’s SmartVoter.org dinner starts in a short while, so hurry if you want to try and purchase one of the last minute seats! Please go to the registration table to find out if they are taking any more requests.

Second Video: Democracy, Voting and Civic Engagement

Make sure to watch the second video in our vision series! This one is an interview with LWVC President Janis R. Hirohama about the board’s perspective on democracy, voting and civic engagement.

NEW CAUCUS!

There will be a Natural Resources Caucus on  Saturday, May 16 in the morning from  7:00 to 8:30 am in the Post room.  This meeting will provide updates on water and energy issues of  statewide significance and will provide a forum to discuss opportunities for education and advocacy.  Jane Wagner-Tyack, President-elect, LWV San Joaquin County is the caucus coordinator.  Contact her directly at janetyack@mac.com for more information.

Early Bird Registration Ends on April 23!

Time is running out to register for convention at the Early Bird fee.  There will be a $25 increase after April 23.   The same deadline applies to the reduced hotel rate.  After April 23 the hotel rate increases by $50 per night!  If you have not already done so,  register today and capture the Early Bird rates!