January 2017 Meeting

Treasurer's Report

Ellen Kemp said that LWVPA is in pretty good shape financially. (A copy of the Treasurer's Report is available on the Members Only page of the League’s website.)

Membership Update

Ellen reported that we have a total of 47 members, which entitles us to three voting delegates (one for president, one for the first 25 members and one for anything between 265 and 50 members) at the April 29, 2017 State Convention. If membership increases to more than 50, we could have one more delegate. We are entitled to one delegate to National conventions until the membership increases to beyond 50.

Consensus on Sexual Assaults in the College Community

Nine members attended the meeting, and one response was submitted by email. It was noted that one of the concerns driving the need for this study is the policy of many colleges to encourage students to report sexual assaults to the college rather than to law enforcement. The consensus was to agree with or include all but three items. The full report will be available on the Members Only page.

Voter Service

Chrystal Schivell reported that her draft letter asking that candidates be required to supply email addresses when filing for office is being handled by LWVNJ and that since advocacy may be necessary to advance her request, the LWVNJ Board must give approval of the letter.

Callathon

We will participate in Callathon again this year because it raises money for our League as well as for LWVNJ. (See Treasurer's Report for the amount raised in 2016.) Jessica Knowlton will chair Callathon. Please email Jessica to say you are willing to call members to remind them to donate.

LWVNJ Updates

Lee Forbes, who, along with Melissa Scott and Ellen Kemp, is on the State Board, informed members that Sandy Matsen has updated LWVNJ’s “Study and Action” for 2015-17. It is posted on our website.

Nonpartisan policy: The Leadership Committee has agreed to follow LWVNJ’s non-partisan policy rather than create a local version.

Bylaws: Lee suggested that the Leadership Committee meet to update the by-laws to conform to current practice and to LWVNJ’s by-laws. The revised by-laws will be put to a vote at the Annual Dinner.

Program Planning for 2017-2019: It was agreed to suggest no changes in local or state positions.

Upcoming Events

The Lawrence League has invited all Leagues in Mercer County to participate in a Community Program on the topic of voting machines. New Jersey is one of five states in which all voters use electronic voting machines that leave no voter-verified paper trail. The program will take place in the spring, most likely in May, and will be open to the public. Our Leadership Committee has agreed that our League will participate. The proposed format is a panel discussion by experts on this topic.

The Annual Dinner will be held on a Monday in May, probably at the Salt Creek Grille; but to avoid conflict with the Lawrence program, no date has been set.

The next business meeting will be Tuesday, April 11 at the Suzanne Patterson Building.