March 2005

Denton Voter                             

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

March 2005

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

Also available in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format

FEBRUARY MEETING Peg LaPoint

At the February meeting we heard from Shirlene Sitton, Manager of the recycling program for the City of Denton. Ms. Sitton outlined her proposal for a permanent facility which would accept hazardous household waste (HHW) from residents and either dispose of that waste properly or make it available for other residents to use.

Disposal of HHW is extremely expensive and the City has been unable to provide even yearly disposal events. There are enormous amounts of HHWs in the community which pose a serious environmental hazard. If a collection program could be expanded to include the reuse of some materials, the City would save money while still protecting the environment.

Ms. Sitton gave examples of programs which encourage residents to have hazardous materials such as pesticides,

solvents, poisons, paint and household cleaners picked up by the City. The materials are to be sorted and those that are safe to use stocked in a central location where citizens shop. These "stores" reduce the volume of HHW that need to be disposed of and allow residents to obtain materials for free.

Ms. Sitton is confident that grant monies could be obtained to initiate the program. Ongoing support of the facility and two employees would be around fifty cents per household per month. League members are urged to contact City Council in support of such a facility.

Members took the opportunity to quiz Ms Sitton concerning general questions of trash disposal and recycling in the City. She reminded us that any resident can order a larger cart for no extra charge. The larger 65 gallon cart avoids the need to set containers of materials beside a full bin. If possible, residents should fit all recyclables in a bin to avoid extra containers having to be loaded into the truck.

Denton residents can also order a cart for garbage and save money on their utility bill. Residents choose a 35 gallon (the same size as a recycle cart), a 65 gallon, or a 95 gallon cart and put it out for collection only once a week. All discards should fit in the cart. Because it is collected only once a week, the resident is charged less. Ms. Sitton indicated that 75 percent of residential waste is collected on the first of any household's two collection days, making it very likely that most households can easily move to one collection day a week. For more information or to order a cart, call 349-8420.

PRESIDENT’S PIECE Sue Smith

Annual Meeting is Saturday, April 16, at 9:30 a.m. Please bring a covered dish to Jean Aboul-Ela’s home in the Southridge labyrinth. From the I-35 service road at Teasley go south and turn right on Southridge and right on Ridgecrest Circle. Bring your handbook and this VOTER to the meeting. I look forward to seeing you there.

MARCH MEETING Maggie Dodd

Members of the study committee, Corporate Marketing in the Denton Independent School District, will present their findings at the March 28th League general meeting. Kelly Fincher will demonstrate fundraising activities, inviting audience participation. Maggie Dodd will outline the various types of corporate ventures in the Denton public schools reflecting commercialism at large. Dorothy Adkins will introduce the Adopt-a-School program, a partnership of business and education, and the Denton Public School Foundation grant programs. Dr. Bill Giese will review findings of several interviews held with Denton administrative persons. Barbara Coe will offer her unique perspective from the business angle. This is an information session which will be followed by a consensus statement meeting in the fall. The study proposal may be found in your Member Handbook, page 17. We look to see you March 28, 7:00 p.m. at the UNT EESAT Bldg. #176.

REPORT ON LEAGUE LOBBY DAY Linnie McAdams

On Monday, February 28, 2005, I attended Women’s Legislative Days in Austin. It was an awesome experience. When I am surrounded by such women, it really feels as if we have power! The League of Women Voters along with forty other women’s groups were co-sponsors. There were young women and older women – it was good to see the Gray Panthers still working.

I first listened to a discussion entitled Women’s Health and Family Planning Issues. Heather Paffe (Texas Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates), Peggy Romberg (Women’s Health and Family Planning Association), and Sarah Wheat (NARAL Pro Choice Texas) were presenters. Later I sat in on a workshop entitled Texas Water in Crisis: What Will the Legislature Do? Following that I listened to a presentation on Legislating Morality by Kathy Miller, President, Texas Freedom Network.

After lunch I heard Fred Lewis and Patrick Hansen from “Clean Up Texas Politics” speak on that subject. They showed attendees how to look up various campaign finance donations. They explained that the homebuilders gave nine million dollars to members of the legislature and now we have a “state mandated home warranty” but no way to enforce findings against the builder. Most home purchase contracts now include language requiring mediation and an agreement not to take issues to court. If the buyer does not wish to sign such a contract, the seller will simply refuse to sell. Many homeowners have been shocked to discover that even a finding in their favor has no enforcement mechanism. Money talks and nine million spoke loudly!

Our keynote address was by Llenda Jackson-Leslie, President, National Women’s Political Caucus. She spoke of the power of women when we unite and work together for change. She believes if change is to occur it will be due to the efforts of women and to achieve that end she encourages women to run for elective office. I left the meeting feeling that change was indeed possible because there are so many great women working for change. We just need to make our voices heard and we need to enlist more women in the struggle.

On Tuesday, February 28, 2005, I joined the League of Women Voters for their “Lobby Day.” The League did a wonderful job of briefing members about League Positions and prepared a handout to be given to Legislators. The LWV chose to emphasize only three areas – School and Public Finance, Protect Texas Children in 2005, and Recorded Votes in 2005. We had prepared “talking points” and clear concise statements about our positions.

With my materials in hand, I went to the Capitol and spoke with the Chief Aides of both Myra Crownover and Mary Denny. I also spoke briefly with Mary Denny. We left each of them with a cookie baked in the shape of Texas and adorned with LWV in frosting! All and all, a great two days!

AGENDA 2005 Annual Meeting
LWV-Denton April 16, 2005

9:30 Congregate, food to the kitchen
9:35 Welcome, Sue Smith
9:40 Call to order, Sue Smith
        Appointment of tellers and parliamentarian
        Determination of quorum present
        Adoption of Rules of the Day
            Only members may address the Meeting
            Only members may vote
            Speakers are limited to two minutes
            No member speak a second time until all who wish to speak have spoken
9:45 Minutes of the 2004 Annual Meeting
        (Copies available at meeting)
9:50 Treasurer’s Report, Ann MacMillan
        2004-2005 Budget
10:00 President’s Report, Sue Smith
10:05 Presentation of Proposed budget 2005-2006 and discussion, Marilyn Smith
10:10 By-laws, Sue Smith
        Announce clarification of wording Article VIII
        Section 2
10:15 Presentation and discussion of Proposed Local Program 2005-2006, Peg LaPoint
        Re-adoption of current local program

PROPOSED NEW STUDY:

TITLE: Public Library System Funding in Denton

FOCUS: Support provided for the public library system from the City of Denton and County of Denton taxpayer dollars) and other possible sources of revenue (e.g., user fees for non-residents).

SCOPE: Obtain information on the current funding for the Denton Public Library System. Compare funding support from the City of Denton and Denton County with that in other Texas communities and counties of similar size, using as a guide the public library standards published by the Texas Library Association (TLA). Identify benchmarks to help determine whether this financial support is sufficient given the size of the community and the size of the library system. Consider expenditures for operations (staff and utilities) and services.

RATIONALE: The rapid growth in population in the city and county of Denton has implications for funding of municipal services. We propose to look at the impact of this population increase on our public library system, which has grown from one central library to three libraries located throughout the city. In this time of lean budgets, how do we know whether our public libraries are keeping pace with population or falling behind? To what extent does the Denton Public Library System also serve the citizens of Denton County who do not reside inside the city limits?

10:25 Report of the Nominating Committee and nominations from the floor, Sarah McIntire

        2005-2006 Slate of Nominees:

President:	Sue Smith
Organization Vice President:	Linnie McAdams
Secretary:	Maggie Dodd
Directors:	Ken Ferstl Jean Aboul-Ela
Nominating Committee:	Rosemary Witmer, Chair Dorothy Adkins Marilyn Smith

10:30 Invitation to Don Alexander to report on November election
10:50 Presentation of LOLITS award, Sue Smith
11:00 Vote on:
        Dues and proposed budget
       Proposed local program
       Slate of nominees
11:10 Introduction of Board of Directors 2005-2006, Sue Smith
11:15 Appreciation of Board of Directors 2004-2005, Sue Smith
11:30 Introduction of Speaker, Peg LaPoint

BENNY PARKEY
Sheriff of Denton County
“DRUG ABUSE IN DENTON COUNTY”

12:00 Adjourn and close of Annual Meeting
LUNCH

LWV-Denton Proposed Budget 6/1/05 – 5/31/06

*NOTES

Expenditures:

B4b.includes $150 for cost of printing Member Handbooks and postage for mailing

C1. LWVUS will hold a National Convention in June, 2006. Part of the expenses (e.g., registration) will be paid from the 2005-2006 budget and the remainder of the expenses will be covered by the 2006-2007 budget.

C2. LWV-Texas will hold State Convention in 2006. We are accumulating $800 from the 2004-2005 budget to add to the $800 in the 2005-2006 budget to provide for delegate expenses.

D4a. State Per Member Payment is calculated @ $18 per individual member, $18 per first household member and $9 for another household member living at the same address or a student membership. The January 2005 membership report showed the Denton League had 49 individual members, 7 first household members and 7 second household members, and 1 student member. There are also 6 nationally-recruited members for whom we do not pay PMP.

D4b. National Per Member Payment is calculated @ $23.80 per individual member, $23.80 for the first household member and $11.90 for another household member living at the same address or a student member. See Denton membership report figures in D4a.

Income:

Ia. Local dues would remain $45 per individual member; $45 for the first member of a household membership; and $22.50 for each other member residing at the same address; and $20 for a student membership.

Ib1. and Ib2. Contributions to the LWV-Texas Education Fund are not reflected in this budget.

If1. TEF Reserves are funds already on deposit with the League of Women Voters of Texas Education Fund in the escrow account for Denton from which we request reimbursement from the LWV-TEF Board of Trustees.

If3b. We plan to pay 15% of our LWV-Texas PMP with funds on deposit in the LWVTX Education Fund.