Coming This Month

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." --Abraham Lincoln'sMarch 4th, 1861 address to the nation.

As we contemplate the current divisions in our nation, some are reminded of the civil war and fear we are headed in that direction. How do we heal the divisions in our nation and return to the "United" States?

How do we reconnect with the "better angels of our nature" to heal our relationships with those who hold opposite views?

Active Listening for Understanding& Finding Common Ground

A Conversation with Paul Schwebel, Braver Angels

Monday March 27th at 11:30 am Zoom Only

Registration Required.

:Link to Register

See Article Below

The meeting Zoom link will be sent to you after you register.

Invite a friend to join you and then try out these listening techniques afterwards.

Hope Washburn

Memories from Jeannie Schulz

Jeannie was moving from Hawaii to Santa Rosa and was referred to the Sonoma County League of Women Voters as a potential member. Hope Washburn showed up at her door in 1962 to encourage her to join which Jeannie was wont to do because “people I liked to have as my friends belonged to the League.” She is still friends with many League members. She describes Hope Washburn as a typical Blue Stocking lady who was educated, read poetry, and was an enlightened pioneering woman. She had been a teacher in North Carolina and lived with a woman named Frances who taught piano to high level budding pianists so education and the arts were very important to her.

In those days the League members spent time doing studies. Jeannie remembers school consolidation (sound familiar?) and hospital reorganization (how many MRIs were needed in the county?). They also monitored commissions and meetings throughout the city and county. Jeannie became expertise in all things sewage after monitoring the PUC. Then they would meet with their elected officials to discuss what they had learned. “The League stuck their nose into everything.”

Hope and the League taught Jeannie to understand civics and her duty as a citizen so when Jeannie was President of the League and Hope had passed away, she set up a fund at the Sonoma County Community Foundation which would – and still does – support the work of the League. If you can help keep this fund going, please send a check to the League office at 555 Fifth Street Suite 300 O in Santa Rosa, 95401.

Ruth Bates
One of the Founders of our League Chapter

Ruth Bates was born March 11, 1905 in St. Louis Missouri. She lived and went to school in Missouri until she moved to California. She attended Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. Law writing and research work with Prentiss-Hall Inc of New York City and with the Lawlers Co-operative Publishing Co. in Rochester New York are highlights in her career.

While living in Missouri she became a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of Missouri. During World War 11 she was an officer in the recruiting, intelligence and legal assistance branches of the service reaching the rank of First Lieutenant in the Women’s Corps.

She moved to Santa Rosa in March 1950, to open her law practice after being admitted to the California Bar. As well, she practiced before the California Supreme Court and several lower Federal Courts. It did not take her long before she became active in the community’s civic affairs.

She headed the establishment of the League of Women Voters of Santa Rosa in 1950, guiding it through it’s provisional period until it became an established chapter in 1951. She became it’s first president. During her tenure leading the League she worked with the Board launching numerous educational projects on voting practices and laws for the community. And was active in writing articles for the Press Democrat promoting the League and its members. When she left that office, she continued being active in the local League on the nominating committee and other responsibilities.

She was active in many other diverse sectors of the community. Ruth Bates died April 26, 1983 leaving a legacy of alifetime of community activism and leadership.

And a FunAnecdoteabout a Woman Inventor

For those of us who were once part of the essential typing pool…

White-out is a term applied to blizzard conditions with low visibility. White-out is also the colloquial name of a product used to correct typing errors. First known by the name “Mistake Out”, it was later patented as “Liquid Paper.” The product was invented by a single mother working as a typist in a Dallas bank struggling to raise her young son, Michael. She was fired for her efforts.

Fourteen years later in 1979, she sold the Liquid Paper company to Gillette for $47.5 million. That woman was Bette Nesmith Graham, mother of Michael Nesmith of the Monkees musical group.

Election Interference Is Not Going Away – So How Do We Combat?

U.S. Cyber Command Director Gen.Paul Nakasonesaid on Tuesday that election interference from nation-state threat actors is still an ongoing issue that the U.S. must continue to address.Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Nakasone said that election meddling is essentially here to stay, especially as adversaries of the U.S. like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea continue to enhance their cyber capabilities.

Nakasone added that influence operations and disinformation campaigns launched by adversaries are “much more prevalent these days” than attempts to hack into election systems.“Last year,a report released bycybersecurity firm Mandiant uncovered that a pro-China disinformation campaign was aggressively targeting U.S. voters prior to the 2022 midterm elections.The report revealed that the campaign was attempting to discourage Americans from voting, divide the country along party lines and discredit the U.S. political system.” --The Hill

Read more athttps://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/3888331-chinese-cyberspace-threats-are-growing/

What can we do to combat this? We need to teach ourselves, our friends, family, children, and grandchildren how to spot fake news and to rely less on social media for our “facts” and more on trusted sources of information such as the League at the local, state & national level.

Try your hand at the game “Verify It” (developed by the Alameda League.)https://playverifyit.org/game/game-setup/ Share the game with others to sharper our skills on how to spot fake information.

Property Deeds and Restrictive Covenants

(Excerpts from the County Clerk’s Office)

A Restrictive Covenant is a restriction placed on property for use. This was a common practice during the early part of the 20^thcentury and earlier to prevent Black families and other people of color from buying land in predominately white neighborhoods. These illegal restrictions pertain to age, race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, veteran or military status, national origin, source of income. Such restrictive covenants are now illegal and void under existing law and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. They still exist in the record itself as it was recorded in the past. As properties have changed hands over time, many property owners may not even be aware that these covenants exist. Property owners can ask the County Clerk Recorder for a Restrictive Covenant Modification, but very few have done so possibly because they are not aware that that is an option.

A new 2021 California state law imposes a state-mandated local program and opens the ability to all -- including all County Clerk Recorders Offices -- to request redaction of the illegal restrictive language.The Clerk Recorder will provide a suggested redaction to County Counsel for review. If approved, the document will be recorded anew, and the illegal restrictive language will be blacked-out on the new recording. In Sonoma County, there are about 25 million pages to be reviewed. (The original document remains recorded and will remain unmodified.) This project is underway now. The next reporting date to the Legislature is January 1, 2025.If you don’t want to wait for the county to catch up with the law, you can ask the Clerk Recorder to redact the illegal language. The process is simple and free.The description is at:Restrictive Covenant Modification

Member Marketing Survey

HEAR YE, HEAR YE…

2023 is a year of many opportunities. With no election, we have time to focus on how to improve and grow. For this, we need your help.

The Sonoma LWV is putting together a marketing plan that will meet the goals of the organization and the membership. We are asking for your input on:

• Our target audience
• Our content theme
• And, our tagline

Take advantage of this opportunity to give us your input. Thank you for participating.

Link to Survey

Last month we held our first Monday Monthly Meeting entitled Social Justice and Racial Equity with Kirstyne Lange, President of the local chapter of the NAACP. Many who attended were surprised to learn that Sonoma County has a long history of social injustice toward Black residents that still exists today. Kirstyne shared information from The Portrait of Sonoma County - 2021, and data from the Human Development Index (HDI). The Index is a scale from 0 to 10 that is a composite measurement of well-being that includes data on access to health resources, education & earnings, and longevity. Interestingly it does not include housing. For the year 2021 the California HDI is 5.85. The overallHDI index for Sonoma County is 6.19. But the overall Index for Blacks it was 3.99, an alarming drop from 4.68 in 2014. This is lower than for Black residents in the State as a whole. Life average expectancy for Sonoma County is 82.2 years. But for Black residents it is a dismal 71 years.

Questions came up about the problem of microaggressions toward Black leaders in our community. Kirstyne said this is an all too common phenomena that Black people experience. Diversity & equity are hard to accomplish in such a pervasive atmosphere of racial bias.

What can our League do to promote more racial justice?

• First, we need to educate ourselves about the reality of these deeply rooted injustices in our community.
• Next, we each need to be willing to examine and change our own hidden biases and attitudes.
• If we see acts of microaggression, or worse, be willing to respectfully say something.
• Consider joining the local NAACP who are doing amazing things to help the Black community.https://naacpsantarosasonomaco.org

These Monthly Monday League Meetings will happen on the fourth Monday of each month at 11:30 am on Zoom. The next one will be on March 27^th. The topic will beActive Listening for Understanding & Finding Common Groundby a member of the Braver Angels. Please do join us for that conversation.And please check the League’s online calendar each month for League events and meetings at lwvsonoma.org under the News & Events tab.

LWV State Convention 2023

What:The 69th State Convention of the League of Women Voters of California

When:Friday, May 19 - Sunday, May 21, 2023.

Where:Hyatt Regency San Francisco Downtown SOMA, 50 Third Street,
San Francisco, CA 94103

Who:The Board selected the three voting delegates who will represent our League at the May convention: President Donna Roper, Program/Outreach Chair Leona Judson, and Voter Service Co-chair Therese Scherrer. Also attending as a non-voting delegate is Voter Service Co-chair Karen Weeks.

Why:LWVC meets every other year to conduct business as outlined by the bylaws. See below for specifics. But just as important, the purpose of Convention is to inspire and empower Californians to increase their active and informed participation in civic life. Come meet passionate people from across the state who are making democracy work!

Read about the schedule, workshops, special activities, and more on our site:http://lwvc.wordpress.com. This site is updated as plans take shape, so please check this site frequently.

If you are interested in attending as a non-voting delegate, send an email topresident@lwvsonoma.org

LWVSC Board Adopts Partnership Policy

Fosters Expanded Outreach to Local Partners

League of Women Voters of Sonoma County has a long history of joining in partnership with organizations whose goals and missions are aligned with the League. Together we work on committees, commissions, and boards to enhance one another’s work by creating and delivering educational information and providing non-partisan voter registration, events, and services.

In March 2023, the LWVSC board approved its Partnership Policy as a tool to formalize the practice. The policy guides both the review and approval of members’ involvement in partnering work, criteria for assessing the partnership fit, and guidelines to foster mutually beneficial work.

For example, this policy applies to Voter Service activity when LWVSC joins forces with partners to plan and conduct Candidate Forums and Pros & Cons presentations. Specifically, the new Partnership Policy works in tandem with a Sponsorship Agreement developed for specific events which details the protocol, roles, and mutually agreed upon terms of the partnership. Co-sponsoring organizations must be non-partisan and agree not to endorse candidates prior to a forum event.

We invite League members to actively consider asking aligned partners to co-sponsor Voter Service events. Potential community partners are invited to contact the Voter Service Co-Chairs to explore partnership: Karen Weeks atklweekse55@gmail.comor Therese Scherrer atthereseduluth@gmail.com. As much as LWVSC would like all Sonoma County organizations to partner on our work, we are not able to accept every request.

Many thanks to those that drafted the new policy and accompanying documents – Barbara Coen, Debbie McKay, Karen Weeks, and Therese Scherrer – with help from the LWVUS guiding policy documents. The documents are available under the Member Resources section of the website. Questions may be directed to the co-chairs or any board member.