News

The League of Women Voters of California announced its opposition to Propositions 1A, 1C, 1D and 1E on the May 19 Special Election ballot on March 12 and urged voters to reject them.

“We oppose these measures because they are NOT the solution to our long term financial crisis, with the continuing structural deficit in the state budget and flawed budget process,” said Janis R. Hirohama, president of the League of Women Voters of California. “We make this decision with regret. We would support real reform to make the state budget process more accountable and give the Legislature and Governor effective tools to advance state priorities. However, these hurriedly drafted propositions, produced at the end of a flawed process that kept both the public and most legislators in the dark, will only make our fiscal situation worse.”

Your League has been busy as always. In this month's VOTER: read the letter we presented to the Eureka City Schools Board of Education in support of school libraries in these times of budget cutting. This just in! The LWVC's recommendations for the May 19 Special Election: see page 3 to 'vote with the League.' Don't forget to join us for the Avenue of the Giants fund raiser on May 3! See beautiful redwoods as you cheer on some hard-working folks.

The April VOTER

This year’s Civic Contribution Award recipients are Carol Jacobson and the Eureka Symphony, and the Arcata Community Recycling Center.

Carol Jacobson is the Music Director of the Eureka Symphony, a position she has held since 2003. An accomplished cellist, Carol holds a bachelor's degree from Humboldt State University, and has studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Royal Dutch Conservatory and the Royal Conservatory—The Hague. She has performed with the Dutch National Ballet Orchestra, the Netherlands Radio Symphony, and the North Coast Chamber Players. In addition to conducting the Eureka Symphony, Carol teaches and conducts for the Northern Humboldt School District. She also performs in the Helmholtz trio with violinist Terrie Baune and pianist Deborah Clasquin.

The Eureka Symphony brings classical music to the residents and players in our area, and entertains and educates new and seasoned classical music supporters.

The symphony’s story began fifteen years ago when an enthusiastic group of local musicians was organized by Patricia Person to play Johannes Brahms’ Requiem under the baton of Kenneth Hannaford. These performances led to the creation of the Eureka Symphony through the energy and dedication of Ken and Pat.

Following Hannaford’s untimely death, the symphony continued under the leadership of Valgene Phillips (1996-1998), Kenneth Ayoob (1998-2002), and has grown in size and stature under current conductor Carol Jacobson (2003-present).

Last winter, the symphony held its first concert in the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts where the symphony, the audience and the music were transformed. The Eureka Symphony is now a community partner with the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts and receives support and assistance from the center in presenting its concert series. Carol Jacobson will accept the award on behalf of herself and the Eureka Symphony.

The Arcata Community Recycling Center’s mission is to promote and demonstrate innovative waste reduction, reuse and recycling strategies, as socially and economically beneficial methods to conserve the Earth’s finite resources.

The nonprofit Arcata Community Recycling Center (ACRC) was begun shortly after Earth Day 1970 by a group of VISTA volunteers and conscientious objectors to the Vietnam war. In 2002, the ACRC began operation of the Eureka Community Recycling Center at the Humboldt Waste Management Authority Transfer Station, and in 2007 opened a new 36,000 square foot dual-stream processing facility in Samoa.

The center’s facilities offer a variety of services to help people reduce, reuse and recycle, including drop-off recycling, business recycling, a thrift store, a used building materials store and educational outreach. Together, the facilities process over 10,000 tons of material per year, a number which is growing rapidly! Now in its 38th year of operation, the ACRC is America's oldest continuously operating community recycling center. Mark Loughmiller, Executive Director, will accept the award on behalf of the ACRC.

The State of the Community Luncheon will be held on Friday, April 3, 2009 at the Adorni Center. Master of Ceremonies for the event will be Dr. Sharolyn Hutton, LWVHC President. Jimmy Smith, Chair, Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, will address the State of the Community. The keynote speaker will be counselor and writer Tracey Barnes Priestly, M.A.

-Beth Matsumoto,
Publicity Director

For over forty years, Americans have exercised the rights guaranteed by the Freedom of Information Act, which was signed into law in 1966. This act and subsequent statutes, called “sunshine laws”, help foster government transparency. March 15-21 has been designated as Sunshine Week and there will be “sunshine” activities across the nation.

Your League will participate by accepting a proclamation in recognition of Sunshine Week from the Arcata City Council at its March 4 meeting. The proclamation is an affirmation of our right to governmental information and decisions, and recognizes the League of Women Voters’ position on representative government which supports an open government and an informed citizenry.
Plan to attend our next general meeting on March 19. There will be a panel discussing mental health issues, affordable housing, and the connection between the two. This event is a result of the action recommended at our last annual meeting. Thanks, Helen Andrews and Beth Matsumoto, for organizing this community forum.

Let’s continue the vitality our League has demonstrated over the years. These are trying times for our community and our country. The League of Women Voters must continue fulfilling its mission and actively finding solutions to the problems facing our nation.

Sincerely,
Sharolyn Hutton,
President

To borrow a phrase from The Jeffersons TV show: “We’re movin’ on up.” Readers of this newsletter will know that the League has been looking for just the right space for some time now. At the beginning of February, our League leased new office space in the Area 1 Agency on Aging building at 434 7th Street.

Our former location has served us well as a storage location, but it was too small for meetings. After trying a number of off-site and increasingly expensive meeting locations, we have been holding our Board meetings at the home of our president, Sharolyn Hutton. This has been a very kind and generous gesture on her part, which is all the more reason for the League not to outstay its welcome.
We now have an office with windows facing 7th and F Streets, and a lease which includes the use of conference rooms in an elegant, new, well-lighted, and safe location, with parking in the back, and with all of our files and information close at hand.

Our move to our second floor office has been delayed because the elevator is awaiting safety certification, but we hope that by the time you read this, we will be comfortably ensconced in our new digs. Our ultimate goal is to have a League office that is open to the public for information and direction, and this is the first step!

-Judy Bennett,
Treasurer

The Nominating Committee is now accepting nominations of those who would be good prospects for Board service. If you are interested in serving on the Board, or in an off-board position, please let us hear from you. Call me at 442-7495. See the column to the right on this page for a current list of League positions.

Active participation makes the League so vital in communities all over this nation. Citizen participation is sorely needed in these stressful times. There are many ways for you to participate and contribute depending on your time and talents. Let us know what you are interested in, and we will match you up with the perfect opportunity.

Your participation is not only welcome, but needed. Help us put together a dynamic board so that, together, we can ‘Make Democracy Work!’ Call me today at 442-7495, or email the League at: vote@lwvhc.org.

-Kay Escarda,
Nominating Committee Chair

Local and State Program Planning surveys for 2009 and the 2008 state policy update.

Program Planning Survey local 2009.doc 27 KB

Program Planning Survey state 2009.doc 27.5 KB

lwvc_positions_update_dec08.pdf

If you missed this year’s Annual Membership Brunch, you missed a great time! Linda Craig, LWVC Advocacy Chair, was kind enough to come all the way up here to speak to us about Proposition 11 and redistricting in California. We had just under 60 folks in attendance androughly half of those were potential members. We had a great response from those in attendance and several people signed up on the spot with a few sending their information on to us later.

A new element this year was a set of informational tables that brunch attendees could peruse and explore. I want to thank our table tenders for putting together the displays and answering the plethora of questions presented: Anne Hartline for doing the history table, Jessemyn Reid and Amanda Windsor for the technology and media table, Carol Masterson and Willa Mauro for the Voter Services and Citizen Education Table, Helen Andrews and Kay Escarda for the Advocacy and Action table, Carolyn Otis for the polling places table, and Maggie Flemming for the State of the Community Luncheon table.

Thank you to Lois Busey, Elizabeth Matsumoto, and Nancy Kay for being the friendly face of the LWVHC and greeting everyone at the door. Also, thank you to Nancy Quintrell for doing all of the work with the caterer, CC Market in Rio Dell, and for the lovely table decorations. Lastly, I would like to thank our ever-present and cheerful president, Sharolyn Hutton, for opening her home to our out-of-town guests and for performing the Mistress of Ceremony duties. We appreciate all of our volunteers and everyone who helps to make events like this possible. Don't forget that we are still looking for people who are interested in reviewing our positions with regard to elder and mental health issues, as well as for people who want to work on natural resources and social policy. If you are interested in working for any of these areas or if you have a project in mind, please contact me at hobosarah@gmail.com. As I always say, no matter what you are interested in or enjoy doing, we can find a job for you with the League!

-Sarah Reid,
Vice President

The State of the Community Luncheon (SOCL) Committee kicked off this year’s event planning over delicious soups made by our gracious meeting hostess, Kay Escarda. With less than six months until the luncheon, which is scheduled for Friday, April 3, 2009, the committee is looking forward to another successful event.

If you haven’t submitted your nomination for the Civic Contribution Award, you still have time, but you should act fast as December 1 is the deadline. If you missed the nomination form in last month’s VOTER, it's available online here as well. Please mail, email, or fax your choice for this year's SOCL now!

-Beth Matsumoto,
Publicity Chair

The October general membership meeting was held on October 16 at the Humboldt County Library in Eureka. The theme was the Pros & Cons of the propositions on the November ballot. Seven of the twelve propositions were discussed for the attendees. Thank you to participants Helen Hui, Barbara Kelly, Amanda Gutwirth, Alan Dillingham, Kay Escarda, Sharolyn Hutton, and Willa Mauro who helped educate voters about the propositions that will be put to the vote on November 4. Refreshments were provided by Nancy Quintrell. The program was videotaped by Jesse Reid and Sarah Reid and was submitted to Access Humboldt for later broadcast.

-Willa Mauro,
Citizen Education Chair
Pros & Cons