May 2005

Denton Voter                             

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

May 2005

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

PRESIDENT’S PIECE Sue Smith
Another great League year ended with our Annual Meeting. We enjoyed being in Jean Aboul-Ela's home and having a chance to visit with members as well as conduct a lot of business. Dorothy Adkins served as Parliamentarian and Pat Cheek and Duane Kraeger were tellers.

Ken Ferstl, newly elected director and former VOTER editor will assume that responsibility this coming year. Marilyn Smith is trading her position as Organization Vice President for a spot on the nominating committee.
Marilyn has been great at organizing refreshments for all our meetings and leading a successful Finance Drive.

As noted elsewhere in this VOTER, we will meet this summer on July 8 to make plans for next year. If you have any program or action ideas, contact me or any board member.

ANNUAL MEETING Peg La Point
The membership gathered at the beautiful home of Jean Abu-Ella for the annual meeting and lunch. The membership approved the standing programs and voted to initiate a new study on Library Funding. The study will be led by Sondra and Ken Ferstl.

The Little Old Lady in Tennis Shoes award was given to Don Alexander, Denton County Elections Judge, for his excellent leadership during the Presidential Election. Mr. Alexander gave us a wonderful address outlining the trials and triumphs of the excellent Denton County election staff in the face of high voter turnout. Thanks to Marilyn Smith for decorating the tennis shoe.

The featured speaker was Sheriff Benny Parkey, who gave us a harrowing and informative talk about drug abuse and law enforcement in the County. Sheriff Parkey has made enforcement of drug policy a priority and has reorganized his department in an effort to apply more manpower and time to this critical issue.


The membership voted to install the following officers for the upcoming year:

Sue Smith, President
Peg La Point, Program V.P.
Linnie McAdams, Organization V.P.
Sondra Ferstl, Community Relations V.P.
Ann MacMillan, Treasurer
Maggie Dodd, Secretary.
The Directors: Ken Ferstl and Jean Aboul-Ela
Nominating Committee: Rosemary Witmer, Chair, Dorothy Adkins and Marilyn Smith, members.

The Board will be meeting on July 8 for a review of position responsibilities and LWV procedures. Everyone is welcome. In August, the Board will set the agenda for the fall and winter meetings and urge the membership to provide them with ideas for programs for the season.

NEW LOCAL STUDY APPROVED Sondra Ferstl

A study, Public Library System Funding in Denton, was overwhelmingly approved by members attending the Annual Meeting of LWV-Denton in April. Ken and Sondra Ferstl, study co-chairs, have issued a call for study committee members to join with others who have made known their interest in the topic.

The committee will meet in late June or early July to plan the research, begin formulating consensus questions (for subsequent board approval), and identify the materials and programs that will be presented to Denton League members during 2005-2006.

The study will focus on the support provided for the public library system from the City of Denton and the County of Denton (taxpayer dollars) and the potential revenue source of user fees for those using the library who live outside the city limits.

The Denton League is not the first League in Texas to study its public library system. LWV-San Antonio Area and LWV-Tyler have recently updated their library positions, in view of changes in public funding that have occurred during the past decade and new technology available to public libraries.

Send an e-mail to klferstl@charter.net or leave a message at (940) 383-3775 if you would like to participate in the study committee. The Ferstls will be out of town May 17 – June 10 but will be in touch with you soon after their return.

TALKS ON VOTING GIVEN AT NCTC

Three government classes at North Central Texas College (NCTC) heard a 30-40 minute talk given by Sondra Ferstl on the importance of registering to vote and voting. The students also had the opportunity to register to vote with Ferstl, a volunteer deputy voter registrar for Denton County. Ms. Reta Oliver-Muller invited the League to speak to her 160 students in April on the subject.

VOTERS GUIDE TO MAY ELECTIONS PREPARED BY DENTON LWV

A Voters Guide to the May 7, 2005 elections to the City Council and the Denton Independent School District Board of Trustees was prepared and disseminated prior to early voting. In addition to copies sent to members, the current council and school board members, and those running in contested races, bundles of guides were placed at both branches of the Denton Public Library, University of North Texas Library, and Texas Woman’s University Library. Other sites where guides were made available included the Denton Chamber of Commerce, the City Manager’s Office, the Voter Registration Office, and the four city centers (Senior, Denia, Martin Luther King, Jr., and North Lakes). An electronic version of the guide was placed on the LWV-Denton web site.

The Board of Directors determined the questions for the candidates. Sondra Ferstl contacted the candidates, collected their replies, and did the draft of the guide. Tracy Lindsay helped with final formatting of the six-page publication and transmitted the electronic version to three web sites. Ken Ferstl prepared the mailing to members and others; he also made the rounds in Denton with bundles of copies to the sites mentioned above.

The Voters Guide cost $263 to prepare—mainly in photocopying charges. The LWV-Denton has requested reimbursement of $200 from our escrow account with the LWV-Texas Education Fund for this citizen education project.