May 2014 Meeting

Attending

Sandy Smith, Rita Ludlum, Lee Forbes, Melissa Scott, Frieda Gilvarg, Nancy Hall, Bob Wiedis

Convention and National Positions

The proposed LWVUS program, budget and bylaws changes were discussed. In addition to the existing program, the Human Trafficking proposal from NJ has been recommended. Lee also mentioned the several emails regarding items that are likely to be brought up from the floor, such as income inequality, minimum wage, some minimal bylaws rewording, and an effort by one of the nominees for the board to be nominated for President.

Membership

Nancy distributed the LWV-Princeton Area business cards suggested by Beverly at the last meeting. These are for members to keep on hand to give people that we think might be interested in learning more about the League and hopefully becoming members.

Nancy suggested that we set aside some time during one of our upcoming meetings to divide up the list of lapsed members and call them.

Discussion on the possibility of adding a membership category for “local” or “associate” members took place. Everyone agreed that we did not want the dues to be an obstacle for a prospective active member who cannot afford to pay $60, so suggestions of how that could be accomplished were discussed. Melissa offered to review the bylaws to see how this might be accommodated and we agreed to continue working on how we can keep members who want to help with the work, but can’t afford the dues.

Treasurer’s Report

The treasurer’s report was emailed to the leadership committee before the meeting. The asset balance is $6,681.67. Year-to-Date income is $3600 and expenses are $3915.22.

Annual meeting

The annual meeting of the LWV of the Princeton Area will be held on June 16 at Salt Creek Grille from 6-8:30 PM. Cornell Brooks will speak on “The Beloved Community Behind Bars: A Dream Deferred.” The brief business meeting will be at 6:00 and will include votes on the Leadership Committee slate, budget, and any other necessary matters, allowing more time for members to socialize. Melissa will arrange the speaker gift. Sandy will send an email invitation to membership.

Spring Workshop

Nancy and Lee reported on the Spring Workshop they attended at Brookdale Community College. The roundtable speakers on "Restoring Trust in New Jersey’s Government" were very good, all speaking from their areas of expertise on ethics, transparency, and accountability. There was a good turnout, including some students and LWV interns; the venue and food were good; and the afternoon sessions Nancy and Lee each attended were worthwhile.

Stand against racism, Communiversity, Earth Day

Nancy reported on participating in the two Princeton events. She did not feel that all the effort that is required to do Communiversity is successful in attracting members so does not think we should do it next year.

Melissa and Lee reported that the table they had at Earth Day for voter registration and LWV info in Montgomery also got very little results, other than a Women’s Club contact who is interested in having us speak at one of their meetings and possibly partnering on a project.

Princeton Community Housing

Sandy reported on the very successful event that Princeton Area League co-sponsored with Princeton Community Housing On May 5 on affordable housing, which had 54 attendees. A video of the event can be viewed here.

Meeting rooms for coming year

Chrystal will follow up on booking our meeting rooms for next year. We plan to meet in the evening at Suzanne Patterson for all months except February and March. We may need a new daytime location for Feb-March, since the Princeton Library has increased its room rental fee.

Respectfully submitted,

Lee Forbes