February 2005

Denton Voter                             

The League of Women Voters, Denton, Texas, est. 1961

February 2005

Sue Smith, President
Kelly Fincher, Editor
P. O. Box 424945 TWU Station
Denton, TX  76204
www.lwvdenton.org

JANUARY MEETING Maggie Dodd

Claudette Fette, Denton County Federation of Families, spoke to a well attended January 28th general meeting. The Advocacy Training Project which she spearheaded and designed, works with family members, self-advocates, and professionals to more effectively present their needs to legislators and policy makers. Claudette Fette spoke of her experience as a parent and advocate for change. She tirelessly works to unite the various social service agencies of Denton County to more successfully serve those in need of support. She offered a summary of proposed bills which affect health care services. Interested persons can interact with professionals and families by accessing www.dentoncountyfederation.org or groups.yahoo.com/group/txleg79/

PRESIDENT’S PIECE Sue Smith

Even though the turnout for the Feb. 5th bond election was very disappointing, it was nice to be on the winning side…..

All of our general meetings this year have been interesting and informative. That will continue with our next general meeting on Hazardous Household Waste, Monday, February 28th. (See details in this VOTER.) As always, bring one or more friends, then mark your calendar for our last general meeting on Monday, March 28, when the topic will be Corporate Marketing in DISD. We’ll have parking permits available for each meeting.

Don’t forget to send us any changes on your contact information especially those email addresses….

If your VOTER gets mauled in the mail or you would like to share one with a friend, go to our website and print a copy of the latest issue.

FEBRUARY MEETING Peg LaPoint

At our February meeting we will hear an address by Shirlene Sitton, Director of the recycling program for the City. Ms. Sitton is promoting a permanent facility for the city which will handle hazardous household waste (HHW), such as paint, pesticides, cleaning agents and chemicals. This facility would accept, reuse, recycle, and dispose of HHW, and would incorporate a reuse "store" where usable products would be given to residents for free. Please join us to learn more about this fascinating and progressive proposal.

LWVUS EDUCATION FUND

The League of Women Voters Education Fund (LWVEF) recently launched “Local Voices: Citizen Conversations on Civil Liberties and Secure Communities,” an eight-month initiative that will foster public dialogue about the balance between civil liberties and homeland security.

LWVEF is receiving funding for this project through a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The MacArthur Foundation, with headquarters in Chicago, is a private, independent grant-making institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. Other partners in the project are Lake, Snell, Perry & Associates, the Study Circles Resource Center and the Constitution Project.

“In this post-September 11th world, it is critical for all communities to explore the relationship between these two important topics,” said LWVEF Chair Kay J. Maxwell. “This effort builds on the League’s role as a trusted convener of community discussions, as well as our traditional focus on the protection of our civil liberties. We are thrilled to begin work on Local Voices.”

The League will develop materials, train local facilitators, and encourage citizen participation in large League-led conversations about this topic. While all 900 local and state Leagues will have opportunities to work on this important topic, 10 select cities will be the focus of the LWVEF work on Local Voices. Representing ethnic, economic, and geographically diverse locations, the outcomes of the conversations in these locations will be gathered, analyzed, and compared with larger national trends. A final report will be released in Fall 2005 to coincide with the national debate about the sunset provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Local Voices continues the League’s traditional leadership in the area of civil liberties. In the 1950s, the League led a national campaign, The Freedom Agenda, to educate the public about their rights and to combat the impact of the McCarthy hearings. More recently, the organization has lobbied Congress on legislation that affects civil liberties, and Leagues across the country have held educational forums about the Patriot Act. Local Voices will allow the League to further involve the public in grappling with the interplay of civil liberties and security in their own communities. –lwv.org

GENERAL LEAGUE NEWS:

• SMU’s 40th Annual Women's Symposium recognized the League of Women Voters and many other women's organizations at their opening night dinner February 21 on campus at the Hughes-Trigg Student Center,. The speaker was Dr. Juliet Garcia, President of the University of Texas at Brownsville.
   
• Metroplex area Leaguers were asked to help register 900 new voters at the U.S. Citizen Naturalization Ceremonies February 22 at the Dallas Convention Center.
   
• The League of Women Voters (LWVUS) celebrated its 85th birthday on February 14, 2005. Founded by Carrie Chapman Catt in 1920, the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, has worked for 85 years to improve our systems of government and impact public policies through citizen education and advocacy. “The League strives to make democracy work for all citizens. We have spent 85 years…encouraging citizens to take part in their government and their communities,” said Kay J. Maxwell, LWVUS President. “We will continue to help Americans understand the fundamental importance of citizen involvement in our democracy,” Maxwell declared.
   
• Leaguers state-wide were encouraged to attend Children’s Advocacy Day held February 16 in Austin. The event brought together child advocates from around the state to hear policy updates, meet with their legislators, and rally on the Texas Capital steps for the improvement of child well being in Texas. Their website is TexansCareforChildren.org

LWV-TEXAS LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES

The 79th Legislative Session convened on January 11, 2005. LWV-TX priorities reflect the League’s multi-issue program. Following the opening of the session, LWV-TX sent a letter with their legislative agenda to all legislators. These are the priority issues:

Capital Punishment: Protecting the mentally retarded from the death penalty.

Child Care: Adequate state and federal funding for accessible, affordable, quality child care.

Child Health Issues: Adequate health insurance for children.

Election Laws: Implementation of election law changes put into place by HAVA.

Equal Opportunity/Income Assistance: Work development programs including training for living wage jobs.

Financing State Government: A fair and equitable tax system, which provides enough revenues to fund state programs.

Hazardous/Low Level Waste: Funding for TCEQ citizen advisory committee travel; monitoring 2003 disposal site legislation implementation.

Health Care for the Elderly: Monitoring funding of healthcare/services for the elderly and reorganization of Dept. of Disability and Aging; restoration of budget cuts to Medicaid.

Judicial Selection: Merit selection and/or nonpartisan election of Texas appellate judiciary.

Political Campaign Process/Campaign Finance: Closing corporate and union money loopholes; establishing reasonable contribution limits; improving effectiveness/independence of the TEC.

Public School Finance: Adequate and equitable funding of public education.

Recorded Votes: Constitutional amendment to require that votes in the Texas Legislature be recorded and made readily available to the public.

Redistricting: Bill calling for an independent redistricting committee.

Reproductive Choice: Enactment of emergency contraception measures that will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions.

Services to the Seriously Mentally Ill: Maintain or increase current funding level for services for the seriously mentally ill.

Water: Water conservation policies and best management practices; protection of Texas’ rivers, bays, estuaries, and groundwater.

-from the LWV-TX Legislative Newsletter



Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rebuy…..
Each ton of recycled paper saves 3.3 cubic yards
of landfill space, 7,000 gallons of water, 17 trees,
and 4100 kilowatt hours of electricity.
    -TexasRecyclesDay.org