While Youth Outreach chair Lynn Dooley focused on the huge number of initiatives for this year’s Pros and Cons, Chris Riezenman and I stepped in as interim co-chairs of the Youth Outreach committee. We further shared responsibility by enlisting volunteers to serve as School Organizers, who took full charge of scheduling visits to their school(s). Our School Organizers were Elaine Covell (Analy, Laguna, Roseland Collegiate Prep), Martha Selig (Elsie Allen), Paula Hawkes (Healdsburg), Chris Riezenman (Cloverdale, Windsor, SRJC) and me (Casa Grande, Montgomery, Petaluma, SSU). Another change that helped was having a dedicated Materials Organizer, Nancy Lewis, to prepare the packets we distributed to students. Shared leadership wasn’t the only thing that worked well for us in this year of expanded outreach – read on to learn more about our team’s success with youth this fall.

Along with the 5 School Organizers, each of whom also served as presenter and trainer of new presenters, I want to thank 8 other LWV members who joined us in high school classrooms as Presenter or Observer: Nan Butterworth, Lynn Dooley, Leona Judson, Gwen Kinney, Nancy Lewis, Cheryl Perry, Gayle Peterson and Theodora Pollack. One of our SSU Elections Ambassadors, Aubrey Deuel, pinch hit as Voter Education presenter in three high school classes. In total, we presented in 45 high school classes this fall, compared to 30 last fall, adding three new schools to our roster – Healdsburg, Montgomery (where Leona is pictured with a hallway mural) and Cloverdale. We reached over 1,400 high school seniors and registered or pre-registered 781 voters!

Our high school outreach was enhanced this year in other ways besides numbers, thanks to our chapter’s partnership with the Sonoma County Library. A grant obtained by two Teen Librarians funded printing, manufacturing and translation for 1,000 very cool tote bags filled with bi-lingual materials, along with a few of our helpful bookmarks in English. Lynn, Chris and I trained and worked with 5 Teen and Youth Librarians to bring a bi-lingual slide presentation to several schools and two youth-serving nonprofits (VOICES and Conservation Corps North Bay), adding visuals - and younger presenters - to our package. 

The final piece of our Youth Outreach effort this fall was also greatly expanded, thanks not only to the leadership of Chris and Lynn, but also to Dr. David McCuan, Professor of Political Science at Sonoma State University (SSU). Lynn and I trained Dr. McCuan’s entire Elections Seminar class of 20 and presented them with their Elections Ambassadors pins before they headed out to register and motivate their peers to vote.  Dr. McCuan invited LWV to sponsor SSU’s It Matters! Voter Engagement Series; after accepting that commitment, Donna, Lynn and I attended the kick-off party on the chapter’s behalf. We were also invited to speak to two double classes of first-year SSU students about voting; I was joined in that effort by two SSU Elections Ambassadors, Aubrey Deuel and Miles Dillingham. Our presence among SRJC students also expanded, as Chris trained 2 new Elections Ambassadors and pitched the program to three groups of student leaders in Santa Rosa. 

The Youth Outreach committee benefitted from the participation of all the members who attended our meetings this year, and I thank each of you for your input and support toward the expansion of our reach among Sonoma County’s youth. 

Congratulations to Sonoma LWV’s Pros and Cons Volunteers!

A very sincere thank you to all League members who volunteered to participate in our Pros & Cons effort for this election.  It was spectacular!!

The 19 Sonoma LWV volunteers researched, wrote, recorded or presented the ten state ballot propositions and Sonoma County measures I, J and W at 13 community events. We spoke to a total of 615 voters!  

I’m also pleased to announce that for the first time ever we translated the pros and cons interview scripts into Spanish and had them recorded.  This allowed us to bring this information to an all new audience! 

We posted all the English and Spanish videos on our League YouTube channel and the views are through the roof:  We got 27,784 English views and 7,078 Spanish views proving once again that Sonoma County voters rely on the League for trusted, unbiased election information. 

Please join me in thanking: Bob Pendoley, Chlele Gummer, Connie Williams, Donna Roper, Gayle Peterson, Gregory Fearon, Jim Masters, Juanita Roland, Judith Rice-Jones, Karen Weeks, Kellie McNerney, Lee Lipinski, Leona Judson, Linda Robinett, Pat Kuta, Sukey Robb-Wilder and Therese Scherrer.  

I’d also like to thank the students in Dr. David McCuan’s Sonoma State University’s Election class for their help in providing weekly updates on Campaign Financing.  

--Lynn Dooley, prosandcons@lwvsonoma.org

Most of us are reeling from the results of our national election. We ask ourselves did all the letters we wrote or the GOTV efforts and people we registered to vote not matter? I think it’s time to remind ourselves that Democracy during this election did work. Voting was free and fair. There were only minor disruptions, and there will be a peaceful transfer of power. The outcome was not what most of us wanted. So, the question is, now what? That will take a while to answer.  

Meanwhile, elections locally are some we can feel good about. Chris Riezenman and I want to thank the many members who worked hard on our city council forums. They all went off well with only a few minor hiccoughs along the way.  It was a great experience to meet sincere candidates interested in helping their city governments meet the many challenges they face. Our league did what LWV does well, put on non-partisan, informative forums & make them widely available to educate voters.  

On a closing note, Chris Riezenman and I will be stepping down as co-chair of voter service. So, there will be a hiatus until we can recruit another chair. This is a good time for someone to take the reins as the next election cycle isn’t until 2026.  We will have time to expand more voter outreach to a wider community. We could develop a workshop on how to run for public office and more. That’s right, no time to rest. 

As a valued supporter of the League of Women Voters, you know the important work we are trying to achieve in promoting democracy. From voter registration to candidate forums to high school presentations, the League has adapted to meet the needs locally for action, as well as supporting a national effort on many issues we care about. To ensure that our local league can sustain and grow this vital work, we would like for you to consider a bequest - designating the League of Women Voters of Sonoma County as a beneficiary or creating a legacy through a trust.

Also, December 3^rd is Giving Tuesday – an opportunity to support our non-profit work each year. With all that is going on in the world, it makes me very thankful that we can shop, eat, be housed, and live a life free from bombs falling on our heads. I hope you all will be giving thanks for the people in your life and the simple pleasures we often take for granted.  I am very thankful for the work of the League as we navigate these challenging times. If you, too, are thankful, consider a gift to the League either online or a check to our office.

 “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” 

Marian Wright Edelman

 LWVSC Board Briefs Nov 2024

Treasurer’s report:  The 2023-24 ending budget showed a loss for the fiscal year of $6097.  This loss was anticipated as 2024 was an election year, and there are sufficient reserves to cover the loss. 

Our great VP of Administration, Lee Lipinski is resigning from the Board due to family commitments.  However, Lee has agreed to continue to check the mail and phone calls.  Linda Rosen and Lee are meeting to work out office coverage.  If you would like to know more about this position, please contact Donna Roper at President@lwvsonoma.org.

Legislative Interviews: Legislative interviews have been scheduled for the week of Feb 24^th.  We need volunteers to participate.  This is a short term commitment and you learn a lot.  Interested or want to know more, please contact Donna Roper at President@lwvsonoma.org.

Advocacy Committee:  The committee has not had much recent activity and is waiting to see how the Board of Supervisors responds to the recent court decision concerning the proposed development at the Sonoma Development Center site and the recent judge ruling on the lawsuit on the proposed new Well Ordinance.  The Cannabis ordinance may be revised as experience is showing that Outdoor grows are profitable, while indoor grows are not.

Ballot Measure Consensus:  The board adopt a new Ballot Measure Consensus procedure.

Membership:  Donna Roper reported that we now have 193 members, and about 20 of them are students.   .  

Student Dues: Currently we do not charge students dues.  However, when the new national dues structure is implemented there is no dues exemption for students.  Our Board will need to make a decision on whether or not to charge students dues.

Low Income Members:   The new National Dues structure is implemented as it will require a minimum of $20/yr in dues.  Also, PMPs will be a percentage of dues paid, rather than a set amount.

New member orientation:  Gayle Peterson will be hosting a new member orientation on Wed., Nov.13th 5:30 pm until 7:00 pm at the League office.  

Communications:  Watch for the next issue of What’s Up and a December issue of The Voter.

Voter Services:

GOTV –We have been scheduling several Facebook & Instagram posts each day about the election and are referring people to our website, Vote411.org, our YouTube videos, and other resources. Please visit our Facebook and Instagram pages to share posts and like them to get more traffic.

Vote411:  Rebecca Jones has taken over this assignment. Vote411.org is a system adopted by the National League and now adopted by the CA League. We have had about 50% participation by candidates.  We contacted 60 and 30 responded.   We did not have any email for some of the candidates, which made it more difficult to contact them.  Rebecca reported that our local Registrar of Voters (ROV) was very helpful and responsive.  

Recruiting a new Voter Service Chair:  We are currently recruiting for this role.  If you want more info please contact Donna Roper.

Pros and Cons:  Out YouTube channel was hot this month . T As of 11/2/24 there here have been 2626 views of the candidate forums. And Pros & Cons did even better: Spanish:  2059 views & English views: 22,590 which is an all-time record!  We did 13 in person Pros & Cons presentations in Sonoma County.  We had 615 people attend presentations in person. 

Youth Committee:  

H.S. Students: We reached 1400 students this year (so far). Of that total about 52% register or pre-registered.  A total of 8-9 volunteers have been participating in the HS presentations on a regular basis..

SSU & SRJC Students:  We have new Ambassadors at SSU.  We are finding more students who want to volunteer.  

Our joint project with the local libraries was a big success.  The Library provided resources to use with students, including some in Spanish.

Voter Reg Card Distributions:  A couple of Post Offices and Libraries ran out of cards again and we replenished them right away.  

Citizenship Class Graduation:  Jim Masters attended the graduation and share information on voting.  He encouraged the new citizens to take a picture of their naturalization cards to be used as proof of citizenship when they go to vote at a Vote Center.

The next Board Meeting is Dec. 7^th at 10:30 am via Zoom.  The Zoom link is in the online calendar of events.