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A Voice for Citizens, a Force for Change
e-bulletin
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Message from the Steering Committee |
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A Message From This Month's Chair,
Marla Jamate
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After a two-year suspension prompted by COVID-19 concerns, the LWVA is pleased to plan its annual summer booksale once again! The 2022 sale is set for July 29, 30, and 31, and August 5 and 6 in the Fort River Elementary gym. LWVA volunteers are looking forward to this opportunity to greet the public and to share information about our efforts and goals.
We are cautiously optimistic about resuming other in-person events, including social gatherings that would facilitate new member recruitment. Nonetheless, based on member preferences, our annual meeting will be held virtually this year, on June 2 at 7 p.m. (Additional information, including a link for those who wish to attend, will be forthcoming).
Locally and statewide, we are aware of the public’s wish for ongoing electronic access to many events, for reasons ranging from COVID-19 concerns to transportation and scheduling challenges. On the state level, LWVMA is working to permanently protect the ability of citizens to access government meetings remotely.
For the last two years, due to an emergency measure set to expire July 15, Massachusetts residents have had the right to participate remotely in meetings covered by the Open Meeting Law, including meetings held by Select Boards, Town/City Councils, and school committees. The LWVMA is backing legislation to make remote access and participation permanent.
Locally, as you may know, LWVA members have put significant effort into the organization and production of local virtual forums and other events focused on elections and voting issues over the last two years. You may want to check the LWVA’s website for links to videos of recent events, including an April 2 discussion with U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., on “Voting Rights and Election Integrity.”
LWVA committees and individual members are forging ahead with work to build racial equity, promote national health care reform, and protect our Western Massachusetts environment. Even during these often-challenging and perplexing times, the LWVA remains “A Voice for Citizens, And A Force for Change.”
We wish you a happy Spring.
~ Marla Jamate
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Action Items and Upcoming Events |
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We regret to announce that the panel discussion Connecting the Dots on April 28 is cancelled until further notice. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to get the event back on track as soon as possible.
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Greetings from the Racial Justice Committee (RJC) for April 2022
The Brown Bag Series is going strong! Thanks to our Brown Bag Coordinators Andrea Battle and Rebecca Fricke. The programs are all recorded and available to view on our You Tube Channel. Links can be found on the website: www.lwvamherst.org
May 19, 7–8:30 p.m. the RJC will host Kevin Noonan, the Executive Director of Craig’s Doors to talk about “Homelessness in Amherst.” The link to register will be posted on the LWVA website.
Save the Date! On May 22, 2–4 pm LWVA will be hosting a party to welcome and celebrate the new directors and staff of the CRESS and DEI Departments of Amherst Town Government.
A hearty welcome goes out to Earl Miller, the new CRESS Director. And we can’t wait to meet the DEI Director (not yet hired). These new programs are an excellent result of the fine work of the Community Safety Working Group and the Town Manager and Council.
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Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) educational suggestions:
From Here to Equality, Reparations For Black Americans in the Twenty-first Century, by William A. Darity and A. Kristen Mullen is a must read to understand the Reparations concept. We hope to bring Darity and Mullen to a Brown Bag program later in the year.
~ Marcie Sclove, Chair, Racial Justice Committee (RJC)
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Another “Save the Date” Message for Book Lovers
Preparations continue for the returning summer book sale!
In case you missed the news, we will be collecting books beginning July 1, again at the Ft. River Elementary gymnasium!
THE CALL TO CULL!
This year, the members who are helping price and sort will also try to keep unsaleable books from entering the mix. We are sending letters to the various newspapers, as well as trying to spread the word about what we cannot sell. This includes moldy books or those with mildew, textbooks, and magazines. We ask that you help us spread the word in order to help make this important part of the sale more productive.
For more details about the sale dates, please refer to our League web site for specifics. There will be a reminder next month too, as well as a slightly longer mini bulletin in June, asking for your help with sorting and cashiering.
Finally, if you know of any strong young teenagers who are able to lift boxes of books, please ask if they are interested in working as helpers for the collection weeks and the final clean up day. Minimum wage, short work days and an unusual experience awaits them. We hope to find two available adolescents. For more information, feel free to contact me: Elayne Berger
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Voting Rights and Election Integrity
Don’t miss the League’s conversation with Congressman Jim McGovern
Super thanks to our webmaster for posting the recording of Jim McGovern’s inspirational talk on April 2 so promptly! All League members can now share in this important discussion about combating threats to our voting rights by viewing McGovern’s talk online. From voter suppression and election nullification, to the critical nature of November’s elections and races for local government, McGovern answered questions and shared his insider viewpoint for over an hour. Many, many thanks, Jim, for spending time with the Amherst League!
Here’s what some of our audience had to say:
· Jim is so inspiring, and yet the problems are so daunting! I love his honesty and directness. Very informative.
· So much information and ideas of what to do in terms of voting rights protection.
· Many thanks, and congratulations, to the Steering Committee and all who put this event together. I very much appreciate having such an enlightening opportunity with our elected leader in Congress.
Find the link for ‘Voting Rights and Election Integrity’ at our web page or watch below:
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New Precincts and Voting Places approved for Amherst
Town Council approved a revised proposal for 2022 voting places at their meeting on April 4. Wildwood School will no longer be used for voting, since public transportation does not reach the school. The four precincts that include University of Mass. student housing will now all vote at the Amherst Regional High School. This should make it easier for students to find where they vote. Although there is a new naming system for all precincts (1A, 1B…5A, 5B), the majority of voters will continue to vote at the same place as last year. A map of the new precincts is available on the Town Clerk’s website at Districts, Precincts and Hours | Amherst, MA - Official Website Voters will be notified of their precinct and voting place in the mailing that includes the town’s annual census forms.
~ Bonnie Isman
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SUSTAINABILITY & CLIMATE ACTION COMMITTEE |
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The Latest on Biomass
Recently received from PFPI (The Partnership for Policy Integrity): Good news! The Massachusetts Senate included the biomass bill in the climate package it introduced Saturday! The bill could be voted on as early as next week.
This is the first big step towards ending subsidies for woody biomass in MA’s two main renewable energy programs, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and the Alternate Portfolio Standard (APS).
Please call your state Senator today and let them know you support the biomass provisions in the new Senate climate bill (S2819, sections 14–22, 5, and 57). [Note: this is PFPI’s request, not LWVMA’s; I am waiting to hear whether LWVMA members can request this as LWVMA members, or whether we need to do so as private citizens.]
We are pleased to report that the Senate revised the language to ensure that this bill applies to existing woody biomass facilities, as our groups had requested, as well as new ones. The new language, which PFPI supports, only grandfathers the biomass units that were enrolled in either the APS or the RPS as of January 1, 2022. This is a relatively small number: two biomass combined heat and power (CHP) plants (Cooley-Dickinson and Seaman’s Paper) and about 90 wood furnaces and boilers.
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PFAS 101
A group of toxic chemicals called PFAS have turned up in 115 drinking water systems across Massachusetts. They are also in hundreds of consumer products. What exactly are they? Why are they bad? And how can you avoid them?
To get the answers, join Clean Water Fund and Community Action Works for PFAS 101: How to keep your family safe from toxic PFAS in drinking water and consumer products. This workshop will be held on Zoom on May 18 at 6 p.m. (45 minutes presentation plus plenty of time for questions and discussion.
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When Governments Don’t Act In Our Capitalist Society, Try Pressuring Capital Markets….
The 3/3/22 recording of Driving Capital Markets Towards a Net-Zero Future: A Conversation with Steven M. Rothstein, Managing Director of the Ceres Accelerator will soon be available on the website of the Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts. Although Rothstein speaks primarily to the professional investors best placed to influence the capital markets, he also mentions what ordinary individuals can do. Where are our pension funds, our savings accounts, our insurance companies invested? We can ask those questions and urge a move away from investments in fossil fuels—particularly due to the risk such investments increasingly represent. This webinar gives us the arguments.
This is one of The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts’ “Nature Connects” webinar series: see the link above for the variety of topics.
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Advocacy 101 for Local Leagues April 26, 7 p.m.
Learn how your League can take action at the local, state and national levels on issues that matter to you! When can your League weigh in on town warrant articles? Do you need to do a study? What are the guidelines for working on state bills? How can you suggest a bill to LWVMA? How do you get an okay to work on national issues? Our featured speaker, Jessica Jones Capparell, Director of Government Affairs for the League of Women Voters of the United States, will answer questions along with members of the Legislative Action Committee. We hope each League will send at least one person. Register for Tuesday, April 26, at 7 p.m. here.
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“What Works: The Future of Local News”
The topic of 2022 LWVMA Council’s Speakers
Given the recent interest demonstrated in conversations on leagueleaders.org about the loss of local newspapers, it was decided to focus the program at Council on that concern. After a brief business meeting, we will hear from Ellen Clegg and Dan Kennedy, collaborating on a book about the future of community journalism, “What Works: The Future of Local News,” (Beacon Press, 2023.)
Ellen Clegg. In a journalism career that spanned more than three decades at The Boston Globe, Ellen Clegg held a variety of senior editing positions in the newsroom, including Page One Editor and Editorial Page Editor, where she oversaw the Editorial Page, the Op-Ed Page and the Sunday Ideas section. During her tenure on the Editorial Page, staff members won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing and the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. In addition to the book, Clegg and Kennedy have launched a website (WhatWorks.news) and a weekly podcast to share their reporting and research.
Dan Kennedy, Clegg’s collaborator on book, website and podcast, is a professor of journalism at Northeastern University and a nationally known media commentator. He is the author of two books on the state of media, The Wired City: Reimagining Journalism and Civic Life in the Post-Newspaper Age (2013) and The Return of the Moguls: How Jeff Bezos and John Henry Are Remaking Newspapers for the Twenty-First Century (2018). A contributor to GBH News, Kennedy is a panelist on Beat the Press with Emily Rooney, a weekly media program that was broadcast on GBH-2 from 1998 to 2021 and is now an independent podcast. His blog, Media Nation, is online at dankennedy.net.
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Massachusetts Legislation Update |
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Act Now to Advance Two Housing Bills
“Evictions disproportionately impact women, particularly women of color and single mothers. Domestic violence survivors face evictions due to the violence. Evictions negatively impact women’s and children’s health. And nearly two-thirds of people 65 and older living in poverty are women and are at a high risk of housing instability. The eviction crisis is a women’s crisis….” National Women’s Law Center, July 28, 2021.
ACTION ALERT
Urge your Representative to vote YES on H.4505, the HOMES Act
H4505, An Act promoting housing opportunity and mobility through eviction sealing, or the HOMES Act, has advanced to the House Committee on Bills in the Third Reading. It will be scheduled for a vote on the House floor soon. Please contact your Representative today and ask them to vote YES on H4505 when it comes to the floor for a vote. Are they a cosponsor? Thank them for their co-sponsorship. Please see the sample script, below:
“Hi my name is [NAME], and I am a resident of [CITY/TOWN]. I’m calling today to ask my state representative to vote YES for H4505 the HOMES Act when it comes to the floor for a vote. H4505 would protect tenants from being unfairly marked with an eviction record by providing a process for tenants to petition the court to seal the record on a case by case basis.” [Remember to include your complete name and street address if you communicate via email.]
S.874/H. 1436. An Act promoting housing stability and homelessness prevention in Massachusetts would provide low-income tenants and low-income owner-occupant landlords with legal representation during an eviction. See fact sheet here and League testimony here. Listen to Gina’s story about how legal help matters. Urge Housing Committee Chairs to report the bills out favorably:
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National Convention Set for June 23–26 |
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Are you interested in attending the hybrid National Convention, either in Denver or in the comfort of your home, June 23–26?
LWV Amherst is allotted three delegates: at present only two are confirmed. If you are interested in being the third, contact Susan Millinger, Liaison to State and National, or another member of the Steering Committee (see list under calendar.)
Opportunity to Learn about the Program to be recommended for
FY22–FY24 at Convention
In addition to the readoption of the Campaign for Making Democracy Work®, local and state Leagues had the opportunity to indicate another position or policy that LWVUS should work on. Amherst recommended that LWVUS work to meet the Climate Emergency. According to the League Update: “Staff will use those recommendations of additional positions to shape the watchdog issues for LWVUS to respond if issues come up related to those topics.”
Amherst also recommended two concurrences. The Program Planning Committee will host a webinar on May 5, 4 p.m. ET (registration details to follow) to explain in more detail the proposed program including recommended concurrences, as well as other concurrences and requests for studies being put forward by Leagues.
A new platform has been created for LWVUS and Leagues proposing studies and concurrences to post information on their proposals and for all League members to review and engage in discussion.
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From President Dr. Deborah Turner in the recent League Update:
April is National Arab American Heritage Month, a time for us to honor the achievements and rich cultures of Arab Americans. Throughout the month, LWVUS will be highlighting the work of Arab American women who have shaped the democracy movement. Stay tuned for highlights and more on our social media and at LWV.org.
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Learn what the Supreme Court has been up to and what is upcoming on their docket.
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Natl. League of Women Voters, 9/17/24
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FORWARD THIS MESSAGE!
This monthly message is for anyone interested in the League, not just members. If you know someone who might be interested, forward this message and invite them to subscribe themselves, using the link below.
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e-BULLETIN STAFF AND CONTRIBUTORS IN APRIL
The Editor of the LWVAmherst e-Bulletin, Jessica Ryan can be contacted here. The Associate Editors are Trish Farrington and Susan Millinger; Assistant Editors are Janice Ratner, Phyllis Lehrer, and Kay Fite who checks the links. Contributors to this month's e-Bulletin include LWVA members, Elayne Berger, Bonnie Isman, Marla Jamate, Susan Millinger, and Marcie Sclove. Material on LWVMA and LWVUS comes from the website lwvma.org and lwvus.org, respectively, selected by Susan Millinger.
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