WHAT ISSUES SHOULD OUR LEAGUE EMPHASIZE FOR ADVOCACY AND COMMUNITY EDUCATION IN THE NEXT TWO YEARS?

Join the League as we decide on our advocacy priorities for the next two years! You voted in November because you care about our political future; now make your voice heard through the “Program planning” process.

The League is a grassroots organization that sets its agenda through the “Program planning” process. As members and friends of the League, this is our chance to help choose our priorities in education and advocacy and determine what we want for the future of LWVUS, and our local League.

• Where should the League focus its energy over the next two years?
• What are the issues of concern to us here in Sonoma County?
• Where is there a need for legislative activity and other types of advocacy, both in the U.S. capital and in our cities and county?
• What will we do to participate in the LWVUS Campaign toMake Democracy Work?

This is your opportunity to make your voice heard. Join us on Marc 5 via Zoom.

Here We Come!
LWV Observer Corps

Bring a Friend!

Are you worried about our Democracy? Being a good citizen is about learning about the issues and candidates, voting, and knowing what is going on in your local government. Don’t wait until something happens locally that alarms you. Come watch the wheels of government with the League.

We do it together, so it’s fun. We explain the background of what is being discussed, so you’ll understand. While there is danger of COVID, we do it on Zoom, so you don’t have to drive. We make it easy. Stop taking your democracy for granted! Register on our Event Calendar now! Bring a Friend! It’s 3 session (2 requisite training sessions and then the Monthly Local Government Review). They are the 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^thFridays of the month at 10:00 AM on Zoom (so that’s January 14, 21 and 28 at 10 am) You can register here:https://lwvsonoma.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=720180&item_id=1613805

For more information, email Judie at:observer@lwvsonoma.org

I was surprised how emotional I was on January 6^thwhen I lit a candle of remembrance. I was mesmerized a year ago in front of my television – not really believing what was happening in our country. Trying to understand why the mob was so angry has been analyzed frequently since. It seems to me that people are not getting the correct information about how our democracy works. That’s why the work of the League is more important than ever so that the community can be registered, educated, and encouraged to vote in all elections both local and nationally.

This Spring will be a busy time as there are many local candidates vying for office and the League would like to cover all, if not most of them via zoom. We need your help so please contact Karen Weeks, the Voter Service chair, for more information. We will train you! We will also be providing some educational zoom sessions on the role of the District Attorney, the Childcare Crisis and Housing the Unsheltered. If you have interest in these areas of emphasis, we need “champions” to research and educate the rest of us.

Deciding on what the League should emphasize will be discussed at our Program Planning session on March 5^thvia zoom so please join us. Deva Marie Proto, the Registrar of Voters will also explain the new Voter Choice Act.

Making Democracy Work is an ongoing, constant effort and the League is committed to continue this work for another 100 years. I want to thank Debbie McKay for her recent thoughtful articles on democracy.

“Nobody expects me, or you, or any one individual to change the world. But we do expect each individual to influence the things that he or she is able to influence… People who make the optimistic choice – not to deny the problems but to believe they can be fixed – make the world better.” Gregg Easterbrook

January 2022

The Board is exploring the possibility of League members marching in local parades to increase the visibility of the League in our community. If you are interested in marching or working on this effort, please send an email toinfo@lwvsonoma.org.

In the next few months, the Nominating Committee will be contacting member so see who is interested in serving on the Board or in off board leadership roles.

Resources are contually added by the Board to our website and Board members will be receiving more training on how to post items and news on our website, so check outwww.lwvson0ma.orgperiodically to see what’s new.

A marketing plan is being developed and the Board may authorize advertisements in local newspapers as a way to let the community know more about the league. The Board also approved periodic article in the Sonoma County Gazette.You may read the first article athttps://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/is-our-democratic-system-under-threat/

The League President Donna Roper and immediate past president, Debbie Mc Kay authored a recentlyClose to Home article in the Press Democrat regarding Jan 6^thand voting rights. To read the article go tohttps://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/opinion/close-to-home-fraud-fears-and-the-impact-on-voting/

Board members Judie Coleman and Gayle McKinney-Peterson are updating the Meaning of Membership brochure. If you would like a copy when it is re-printed, please send an email tomembership@lwvsonoma.org

The Board agreed to once again partner with other Northern CA Leagues on our annual interviews with state legislators. This February Donna Roper and Debbie Mc Kay will be representing our League in these interviews.

Watch the online calendar for upcoming events authorized by the Board such as the Program Planning meeting, Candidate forums this spring, informational presentations such as what is the role of the District Attorney, and our Making Democracy Work Series.

The next Board meeting will be held via Zoom on Feb 5^that 10:30 am.

Did you ever wonder what a deferred or accelerated voters is, and what their impact might be on elections. You can find an interesting article on this in ourReferencesection online.

Deferred Voter Information

This particulararticleis the theElections and Votingsection of General References, but there are many other articles and documents available in theReferencessection ofResources. Check them out.

About Voter’s Edge California

Voter’s Edge California (VEC) is a joint project of MapLight and the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund (LWVCEF).

Voter’s Edge California is a comprehensive,nonpartisan online guideto elections covering federal, state, and local races in the state of California.

With Voter’s Edge California, you can:

• Access your full, personalized ballot by entering your voter address of record.
• Get in-depth information on candidates, measures, and who supports them.
• View candidate biographies, top priorities, answers to questions, photos, policy videos, endorsements, and detailed information about who funds their campaigns.
• Browse unbiased explanations of ballot measures; find out who supports, opposes, and funds them.
• Check where, when, and how to vote, including information on your local polling locations.
• Share information about the election with friends and family.

Check theOnline Calendarfor the latest schedule

and for location or links to virtual meetings.

Link to Calendar

• Zoom Social-Thursday, January 27, 2022, 6:30 PM until 8:00 PM.Register online.
  
• Observer Corp II,Friday, January 21, 2022, 10:00 AM until 11:00 AM. Register online.
• Observer Corp III,Friday, January 28, 2022, 10:00 AM until 11:00 AM, Register online.
• Sonoma League Youth Program Meeting,February 10, 2022, 4:00 PM until 5:00 PM.
• Bay Area League Day, February 19, 2022, 10:00AM until 2:30 PM. (See below)
• Program Planning, Saturday March 5, 10:30--Noon
  

Standing Meetings

• Board of Directors,1st Saturday of the month from 10:30 AM to Noon
  
• Advocacy Committee-1stTuesday of the month from 10:30 AM to Noon
• Voter Service Committee- 1stThursday of the month from 2:00 to Noon
• Book Group: 3^rdThursday of the month from 10:30 AM to Noon.

Presented by the League of Women Voters Bay Area

Solving for Housing

The Nexus of Housing Policy and Climate Policy

February 19, 10:00 am – 2:30 pm

Zoom Webinar

As wildfires worsen, temperatures peak and air quality decreases, Bay Area communities are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. These challenges directly impact the calibre and number of houses available and to be built. This year’s LWV Bay Area annual educational day explores how we build more housing that is affordable while protecting critical natural and working lands. A resilient Bay Area requires the implementation of strategies at local and regional levels that can achieve multiple benefits.Solving for Housingwebinar will take a holistic look at land-use strategies and decision-making involved in placing housingtodayat the federal, state and regional level.

Hear experts discuss critical actions we need to take right now to address climate challenges while increasing housing affordability and availability for all. Learn how leading environmental and housing advocates are coming together to create a more resilient California with nature-based solutions for how we use our land and equitably grow our cities. In one panel calledSave the Planet with Land Use!—Alliance for Housing and Climate Solutions,speakers include Sarah Karlinsky, SPUR author of Housing as Infrastructure; Amanda Brown Stevens, Greenbelt Alliance Executive Director and author of Resilience by Design-Resilience Playbook; and Graciela Castillo-Krings, Sacramento Advocates and advisor to Alliance for Housing; moderated by Melissa Breach, COO of YIMBY. See interactive resilience demonstrations and more.

Recognizing that Bay Area is in the midst of a severe housing shortage and climate crisis underscored by inequities, and that cities and counties must update their Housing Element strategies in 2022, it is an opportune time for League members to learn more about tomorrow’s landscape for housing-resilience decision-making and what we can do be part ofSolving for Housing.

Register at

http://tiny.cc/2022BayAreaLeagueDay

Check out Monitor Notes and LWVBA websitehttps://my.lwv.org/california/bay-area-leaguefor more breaking news about speakers and full agenda.

January 21, Moderated by Mary Virdeh

Owls of the Eastern Ice, by Jonathan C Slaght, 370 pages, 2020.

This is a story about a graduate student who goes to the Russian province of Primorye. This is a remote corner of the world, not far from where Russia, China, and North Korea meet. He goes there to try to find an owl called Blakison’s Fish Owl in an effort to craft a conservation plan to ensure the species survival. This is an enormous owl described as looking like a small bear with decorative feathers.

The book introduces us to characters, living conditions and weather that are very difficult to imagine but make us feel like we are there experiencing them. I found it very gratifying that enormous efforts like this are made to ensure the survival of a species. The author has an excellent writing style that engulfs our imagination.

February 18, Moderatedby Judie Coleman

Mindf*ck: Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America.by Christopher Wylie, 270 pages, 2019.

This book will blow your mind. It details how the power of social media manipulation has been used to topple government, to be the deciding influence for Brexit, to help Trump get elected, and to destroy America's democracy. Data manipulation in social media can result in the bloodless takeover of governments. The author, Wylie, is one of the founding fathers of this new style of mind manipulation and walked away when he realized that he had helped to open Pandora’s box upon the world. He educates us on how it works and concludes with some concrete and realistic suggestions for how social media can be regulated. It’s well written and will hold your interest all the through. Even if we don't pick it for the book club, this should be required reading for everyone.

How To Lose The Information War: Russia, Fake News and the Future of Conflict
by Nina Jankowicz. 288 pages, 2020

Disinformation and Fake News is the new form of war. The US has finally begun to wake up to online threats and the disinformation attacks from Russia. The question: what can they do about it? Ms. Jankowicz takes us through five Western governments’ responses to Russian information warfare tactics – all of which failed. She shows us how these campaigns are run, the motivations behind these attacks, and, most importantly, how to beat them. This book shows what is at stake: the future of civil discourse and democracy, and the value of truth itself. Judie’s note: fascinating and very readable book. Disinformation and social media manipulation are the two most important and most powerful factors impacting our world right now -- in our politics, in whether or not we believe in getting vaccinated and wearing masks -- it could even cause a civil war in our country, etc., etc. The biggest problem is that we barely understand it. We are going into an election year, and both books are critical to both helping you to recognize these mind and emotional manipulations when you see them and to be savvier about a lot of techniques that will be used on us and others.

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