1 LWV MINNESOTA NEWS From the President “Making Democracy Work” Recently I was invited to speak on “Why League? Why Now?” to an audience of new, prospective and long-time League members. If you’re reading this column, you share our vision of empowering citizens to shape better communities. Making democracy work is a slogan, nothing more, until you break it down. And that ’s why League and why now… more than ever it’s up to us to make democracy work. The current state of our democracy is inescapable. A lack of civil discourse and campaigns focused on personal- ities, not policy. Voters have fewer candidates to choose from and candidates often are in hiding, refusing to par- ticipate in public appearances where voters get to ask the questions. It seems that the millions and millions of dollars flowing in to campaigns at all levels of government are more important than the power of the vote. That power though is under assault since the Voting Rights Act was dismantled and the Citizens ’ United decision opened the floodgates. Democracy itself is under attack, and never more than during this election cycle. “Making Democracy Work” implies that someone is involved if democracy is to work. Who is responsible for making our democracy work? You are. I am. Every voter is. This is both a responsibility and an obligation we share as citizens. It’s also the responsibility of the candidates who say they want to serve voters ’ interests. It’s one thing to talk to your book group or friends about democracy, it ’s another to actually become a part of the team. Our democracy needs more people of all ages getting involved — and that’s where League comes in. 97 years ago, the fight was about getting women a voice in our democracy. Today, League is still focused on core issues surrounding voting rights. That includes campaign finance reform, redistricting reform and preventing vot- er disenfranchisement through efforts to expand voting. But, your local League is about so much more. A key part of our democracy happens right here, where we live, where our kids and grandkids go to school. It impacts our local government ’s services and obligations to taxpay- ers. That’s democracy in action where it has the greatest impact — that place we all call home. That’s where the word ‘work’ comes in. Democracy doesn’t just happen. It takes work — hard work — by all citizens if it is to survive and thrive. That work starts by having an educated electorate who arrives at their polling place prepared to cast their ballot. And that’s where, once again, League comes in. As you’re reading this, ask yourself what you’ve done or have on your calendar to do to help prepare voters to make informed decisions. I know of at least 32 local League Voter Service chairs who have opportunities waiting for members to share their expertise. Can you spare an hour to staff a voter registration station? National Voter Registration Day is on Tuesday, September 27 th . League members will be fanning out across the state to share voting information and help voters register, change their address or request an absentee ballot. Every League member helps make a difference, a difference that affects our democracy. At my talk there was a question asked on how to respond to comments about not voting because a person doesn’t like the choices. Ask the person if they are satisfied with the local city or county government. Do they have the best schools in the state? Are they happy with things that taxes provide — roads, services for children and the poor, clean water? That’s how League makes democracy work. We ask questions, we study, we edu- cate, we vote. LWV Minnesota—A monthly newsletter covering State office activities Setpember 2016
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LWV MINNESOTA NEWS
From the President
“Making Democracy Work”
Recently I was invited to speak on “Why League? Why Now?” to an audience of new, prospective and long-time League members. If you’re reading this column, you share our vision of empowering citizens to shape better communities. Making democracy work is a slogan, nothing more, until you break it down. And that’s why League and why now… more than ever it’s up to us to make democracy work.
The current state of our democracy is inescapable. A lack of civil discourse and campaigns focused on personal-ities, not policy. Voters have fewer candidates to choose from and candidates often are in hiding, refusing to par-ticipate in public appearances where voters get to ask the questions. It seems that the millions and millions of dollars flowing in to campaigns at all levels of government are more important than the power of the vote. That power though is under assault since the Voting Rights Act was dismantled and the Citizens’ United decision opened the floodgates. Democracy itself is under attack, and never more than during this election cycle.
“Making Democracy Work” implies that someone is involved if democracy is to work. Who is responsible for making our democracy work? You are. I am. Every voter is. This is both a responsibility and an obligation we share as citizens. It’s also the responsibility of the candidates who say they want to serve voters’ interests.
It’s one thing to talk to your book group or friends about democracy, it’s another to actually become a part of the team. Our democracy needs more people of all ages getting involved — and that’s where League comes in. 97 years ago, the fight was about getting women a voice in our democracy. Today, League is still focused on core issues surrounding voting rights. That includes campaign finance reform, redistricting reform and preventing vot-er disenfranchisement through efforts to expand voting.
But, your local League is about so much more. A key part of our democracy happens right here, where we live, where our kids and grandkids go to school. It impacts our local government’s services and obligations to taxpay-ers. That’s democracy in action where it has the greatest impact — that place we all call home. That’s where the word ‘work’ comes in. Democracy doesn’t just happen. It takes work — hard work — by all citizens if it is to survive and thrive. That work starts by having an educated electorate who arrives at their polling place prepared to cast their ballot.
And that’s where, once again, League comes in. As you’re reading this, ask yourself what you’ve done or have on your calendar to do to help prepare voters to make informed decisions. I know of at least 32 local League Voter Service chairs who have opportunities waiting for members to share their expertise. Can you spare an hour to staff a voter registration station? National Voter Registration Day is on Tuesday, September 27
th. League
members will be fanning out across the state to share voting information and help voters register, change their address or request an absentee ballot. Every League member helps make a difference, a difference that affects our democracy.
At my talk there was a question asked on how to respond to comments about not voting because a person doesn’t like the choices. Ask the person if they are satisfied with the local city or county government. Do they have the best schools in the state? Are they happy with things that taxes provide — roads, services for children and the poor, clean water? That’s how League makes democracy work. We ask questions, we study, we edu-cate, we vote.
LWV Minnesota—A monthly newsletter covering State office activities Setpember 2016
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In the days between now and November 8th, each of us has many opportunities to Make Democracy
Work through our Voter Service programs, candidate forums, voter registration efforts and even in our individual conversations with friends, family and colleagues.
Why League? Why Now? Because our democracy is crying out for more citizens like you to raise your voice, lend a hand and help shape our future. You make democracy work and for that I’m grateful.
Volunteer. Speak out. Study. Educate. Vote. How will you contribute to our democracy in 2016?
Terry Kalil
LWV Minnesota President
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Executive Director’s Report To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted...
Whether you recognize this passage from Ecclesiastes or remember Pete Seeger’s tune from the late 1950’s, it’s been streaming through up in my thoughts of late as we enter several new seasons: fall, elections and strategic planning.
By now, new or renewed schedules are feeling familiar. In some ways, September seems like the start of a new year rooted in our experiences with the academic calendar. Casual summer living ends and we return to more structure, even for those who have long lost their direct connections to the academic world. For League members, it’s when the election season really gets going and thinking about plans for the upcoming calendar year. With new starts, comes new energy and excitement. Many of our Leagues are engaging in new partner-ships. We also know planning candidate forums are fraught with unexpected surprises that keep us on our toes.
On September 17, a group of League members from across the state gathered with the Strategic Planning Steering Committee and our consultant, Anne Carroll to take the ideas gleaned from the stakeholder respons-es and work towards creating a road map. We started our time together by grounding ourselves with our or-ganizational mission and values, and addressed the work before us with the underlying question “ What must LWV Minnesota do over the next 5-7 years to meet our stakeholders’ evolving needs and advance our mis-sion?” Ideas were posted, using action terms and clustering “like-minded” ideas together. After several rounds of posting, we literally stepped back from the wall full of posted notes and began to make the connections by topic or theme; linking related ideas together to form goals and key strategies.
Over the coming weeks, the mapping will be translated to a format where everyone will be provided an oppor-tunity to provide feedback and identify any holes or missing links. Once this is completed, staff will work on putting together work plans that will align with the goals and strategies and our budget and present I to the board for approval. All decisions will be based on alignment to the plan and to a supporting budget.
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to all who have participated in the strategic planning process. No matter at what level of participation, your input has meant a great deal to the process. We needed to hear your voices and you resoundingly responded.
This is not easy work. It requires patience, trust and understanding that it indeed has a purpose. We know LWV has many challenges a head if it is to really thrive into its second century. By holding true to our mission, our values and being open to a new season for LWV, we will be able to plan for new growth that will meet our evolving needs and advance our mission. This may mean letting go of some of the things that historically LWV has always done or we figure out a different way to accomplish. We know that we (staff and board) cannot do this work alone. We need all our members to engage in these efforts and decide where and how you can best be effective in helping us achieve these goals.
We are in the season of renewed vision. Each of us needs to be intentional and strategic about what and how we choose to go forward in our participation. My hope is that you will enthusiastically join us as we work to achieve our goals.
Susan Sheridan Tucker
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Strategic Planning Update
About the Process
In light of leadership changes at LWVUS and anticipating our upcoming centennial anniversary, in March 2016 the LWV Minnesota board saw a great opportunity for organizational reflection and launched an inclusive, multi-step strategic planning process. Strategic planning is an essential organizational tool to help boards, staff, and constituencies remain true to their mission, and serves as an organizational roadmap so we continually align our work with our agreed-upon goals. Through this process, the state League will identify evolving opportunities and challenges, a strategic pathway forward toward a stronger and higher-impact state League, and a practical, aspirational, and sustainable framework to help guide future initiatives and resource allocations.
Mapping Workshop
Working from the complete analysis of all stakeholder contributions to date plus the SWOT results, a team of members met on September 17 for a full-day workshop to draft long-term goals and mid-term key strate-gies for the state League.
The draft plan will be circulated amongst the membership within the com-ing days to members along with key donors and partners for feedback. As we finalize those and flesh out the rest of the strategic plan, we will look hard at financial, people, and technology resources to ensure they are aligned We will finalize and announce the new strategic plan later this fall to serve as an aspirational and realistic pathway forward for the state League.
The complete analysis report can be found on our website by clicking here or going to the tab STRATEGIC PLANNING and Interim Reports or clicking here https://www.lwvmn.org/strategic-planning/interim-reports
Next Steps
The Steering Committee is finalizing the “road map”. We will send it out to all members and seek feedback. Once comments are addressed, the document will be finalized. From there, staff will create its work plan for the coming year, weaving it with the Strategic Plan. Please note that the strategic plan is meant to be a document regularly visited over a period of time. We will not be able to accomplish all of our goals in one year or two or even three. Furthermore, if our incoming revenues are not enough to sustain some of the identified goals, we will not be able to move forward, until we can secure adequate funding and/or capacity.
Members of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee
Cheryl Felix - LWV Crystal, New Hope, East Plymouth Jeorgette Knoll - LWV Anoka, Blaine, Coon Rapids
Liz Lauder - LWV White Bear Lake Area Miriam Simmons - LWV White Bear Lake Area
The Equity & Inclusion Task Force is a group of local LWV members recently formed to address issues around racial and social justice, and to create a more inclusive LWV Minnesota. The Task Force is staffed by Liz Haan, Community Organizer, with support by office interns. Additional member participation is welcome! All interested are encouraged to reach out to Liz at [email protected] ASAP!
Local Leagues are planning some training events that we want you to be aware of. All are welcome!
Understanding Race and Racism, and Your Power as a Voter Presented by Vic Rosenthal, Executive Director, Jewish Community Action
and Lauren Muscoplat, Community Organizer and Trainer, Jewish Community Action
6:30-8:30PM, Thursday, October 6, 2016 Glen Lake Activity Center, 14350 Excelsior Blvd, Mtka, MN 55345 (at Woodhill Rd)
This workshop examines how race and racism impacts all of us. We will look at racial justice legacies and definitions and
explore how stories and experiences with race and racism impact us and everyone around us.
Story Sharing: Sharing stories and experiences can lead to better understanding and trust between communities and indi-viduals and this can help create justice and point out our connections and similarities in meaningful ways. When everyone can learn from each other, it is even better. Definitions Brainstorm a definition of Racism. Film: Race the Power of an Illusion: The film explores the history of racial discrimination in housing, credit and redlining and how some groups benefited at the expense of others. It lays out the role the federal government played, motivated by private profit, in developing policies that intentionally discriminated against people of color while enabling white people to build generations of wealth. As you evaluate candidates this election season, please look at their positions and history on racial justice issues. This work-shop will help make you a better-informed voter in this important area. Please RSVP to LWV MEPH at http://www.lwvmeph.org/ Capacity: 50. Free and Open to the Public!
