While we take our Positions & Priorities—our LWV Kent version on program planning—very, very seriously, there’s every reason to make it a fun experience for members! Positions & Priorities is set for Monday, Feb. 5, 6:30 p.m., (earlier time) at Kent Social Services, 1066 S. Water St., Kent. PLEASE NOTE earlier time of 6:30 p.m.

We’ll kick off the evening with our mocktail competition! You’ll taste and vote on a lineup of citrusy, bright and fun beverages. There will be the usual array of tempting drinks and snacks, thanks to the coordination of members Chris Schjeldahl and Mary Myers!

Then we’ll dig into the program planning that lets LWVUS know what our priorities are for 2025 and 2026. The goal of the Positions & Priorities process is to achieve collective agreement among all Leagues about how LWV will move the organization’s mission forward for the next two years. We’ll share brief but important information about our national principles (click here, and scroll to page 10 per table of contents) and positions (click here, and scroll to page 11 per table of contents).

LWVUS is advocating for the continuation of the Campaign to Make Democracy Work, which you can review here and we will discuss. 

It's a great overview of the League’s foundational core and the impact of the grassroots chapters, so be sure to join us. 

As per the process, we will send the results of the meeting to the LWVUS national board. The board reviews and debates the results from League chapters across the country. Then at this year’s national convention in Washington, D.C., delegates vote to adopt the plan for the next biennium.

Thanks to the LWV Kent Positions & Priorities Committee members who are leading the local session: Jane Preston Rose, Janice Hutchison, Barb Hipsman Springer, Kim Gruenwald, Renee Ruchotzke, Jackie Peck and Amie Cajka. Here's a map to Kent Social Sevices.

In addition, please bring a nonperishable food item or monetary donation for Kent Social Services. Thank you.

We can’t emphasize enough the importance of member participation in the petition-signing process! One way to help from your phone or laptop is to use your Facebook page to promote petition-signing locations. LWV Kent TECHLab is a great way to find out more about social media and how to use it to support the effort.

TECHLab will be held on Monday, Feb. 5, 5:30 p.m. (earlier time!), before the Positions & Priorities All Member Meeting at Kent Social Services.

Hobbs Hall

Wednesdays through May 29

4 p.m.-6:30 p.m.

Sign up here. 

United Church of Christ

Mon/Sat through May 27

10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Sign up here.

Brimfield Bread Oven

Fri/Sat through May 30

10 a.m.-noon

Noon- 2 p.m.

Sign up here.

Please become a volunteer for the Fair Districts Coalition, our trusted partner in this fight. Complete the form here to join. For local petition collection, LWV Kent members Anne Reid and Iris Meltzer will make sure you have the petitions and other supplies you will need.

If you are new to petition-signature collecting, be trained on the specific requirements for gathering valid signatures. You can sign up for one of these online training sessions: Jan. 30 at 10 a.m., Feb. 8 at noon, or Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.  

If you are unable to attend any of the above sessions, more days and times will be offered in the coming months. If you don’t want to wait, you can listen to this recording, view these slides, and then take this online quiz.

Once you’ve been trained and have petitions, carry them with you and as you meet with friends and family, ask them to sign your petition(s).

Have questions or an idea for a location to collect signatures? Email Iris Meltzer. You also can download a tool kit here from Citizens Not Politicians for more information. Need to know more about the proposed amendment? Click here.



Our community outreach initiative is off to a good start. We staffed a voter registration table at the NAACP Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast on Jan. 13. We also hosted town hall conversations about voting at two Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority public housing locations, with two more scheduled for the week of Jan. 28. Our event at King Kennedy Community Center is being postponed until spring. To date, we have gathered six new voter registrations and seven absentee ballot applications and have started to gain some insight about voting barriers these communities face. Thanks to LWV Kent members Leanne Biltz, Alberta Bowman, Sara Ashley Cook, Diane Grove-Ackerman, Barb Hanniford, Gavin Harris, Mary Lou Holly, Lorraine McCarty and Terrie Nielsen for assisting with these outreach events. 

When: Saturday, Feb. 17, 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

Where: United Methodist Church of Kent, 1400 E. Main St., Kent, Pierson Hall

Cost: Free . . . and open to the public!

Four contested Republican Primary races are on the March 19 ballot in Portage County. LWV Kent is inviting the candidates to talk with voters in small groups. Voters ask their own questions.

Please share information about the forum as far and wide as you can! The forum is free and open to the public. To help get the word out, you can . . . 

Share the link to this page on the LWV Kent website.

Download this pdf with live links to share in your emails. 

Download this jpg file for your Facebook posts.

Also available at the event: voter registration, voter registration updates and absentee ballot applications.

Interested in helping the Voter Service Committee? Email Jill. 

We urge you to consider being a poll worker for the March 19 primary election. To be a poll worker, you must live and be a registered voter in Portage County, have reliable transportation, attend a training class and be available to work on Election Day from 5:45 a.m. through the close of polls at 7:30 p.m. Help is urgently needed! To learn more, click here.

The LWV Kent Book Club selection for Wednesday, Feb. 14, is The Secret Life of Sunflowers: A Gripping, Inspiring Novel Based on the True Story of Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s Sister-in-Law by Marta Molnar and Dana Marton. Meetings are now the second Wednesday of the month, 1:30 p.m., at Hudson Grande Senior Living, 5400 Darrow Road, Hudson. All are welcome to join. Email Jane Preston Rose for details about the meetings. 

February 14 - The Secret Life of Sunflowers: A Gripping, Inspiring Novel Based on the True Story of Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh's Sister-in-Law by Marta Molnar and Dana Marton

March13 - Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation by Tiya Miles

Read the latest from the LWV Kent Observer Corps. Click here. Interested in an outreach activity that puts you in the rooms where it happens? Click here.