YEAR IN REVIEW
2006-2007
What a year we had. It seems like we hit the ground running and didn’t slow down. Here is a summary.
Summer Activities
In June we met with six Afghan legislators and their U.S. State Department translators through Colleagues International. Connie Ferguson and Sue Nelmes gave a short history of the League through interpreters.
The same month we sent delegates to National Convention in Minneapolis. Our representatives were Connie Ferguson, Paula Manley, Jackie Wylie, and Julia Costello.
In July we were on Monday Night Live. Paula Aldridge, Sharalyn Davis and Jessica Reiser talked with Keith Roe about what the LWV does on his hour-long cable show. This was produced by Beverly Byle.
In August, the Women’s Equality Day luncheon was cosponsored by LWVKA and the YWCA. The focus was our passion for affirmative action. Hazel Rood, Paula Aldridge and Sue Nelmes helped with planning while Julia Costello and Connie Ferguson managed the wares market. We had a LWV member from Grand Rapids as the speaker.
September was the month for our New Member Brunch. It was so successful that seven new members signed up on the spot. The membership committee includes Paula Aldridge, Jean Jones and Diane Grundy. Other members participating in the brunch were Connie Ferguson, Janet Jones, Tanya Potter, Monica Elfring, and Jessica Reiser. Monica Evans helped make this event possible by securing the location.
Voter Service
Voter Registration
We were busy registering voters right up to the deadline. Camilla Davis, Paula Aldridge, Carolina Carpenter, Rebekah Fennell, Dolores Hayden, and Jean Jones all participated.
At Bronco Bash at WMU, Holly Jensen, Kathy Kothari, Laura Pernice-Nemeth, Chris Richardson, Jim Stafford, and Lyda Stillwell helped students register to vote.
At Kalamazoo College Barbara Huber, Janet Jones, Hazel Rood, and Pat Thomas assisted students with voter registration.
Election Officials
We excelled in voter service. We traveled outside our area and helped a cooperative housing development conduct an election. Hilary Pummil and Phyllis Thayer were in Sturgis at Maple Tower Apartment to work an election for the cooperative’s board positions.
Voter Guides
Twice we published Voter Guides. Over 20,000 primary guides were produced in August by Terry Hluchyj and Diane Worden. Questions were created by a team of members including Sue Nelmes, Jessica Reiser, Kay Perry and Julia Costello. The design and layout were created by Tamara Carpenter. Delivery to sites was accomplished by several members including Kay Anderson, Amy Anderson, Brenda Hopson, Camilla Davis, Cheryl Lyon-Jenness, Earl Carl, Hilary Pummil, Holly Jensen, Jessica Reiser, Kay Miller, Kate Ferraro, Kay Perry, Janet and Keith Jones, Lois Jackson, Paula Pressler, Rebekah Fennell, Sue Nelmes, Tamara Carpenter and Tanya Potter. A special thank you goes to the team that pitched in to make a correction on a precinct location. Some of the team members were Aijah Jackson, Nia Jackson, Jim Nelmes, Steve Ferguson and Dick Roosenberg.
After a brief hiatus, we turned around and produced a 28-page Voter Guide for the general election in November. Over 30,000 Voter Guides were delivered to over 200 sites. Kay Anderson and Monica Elfring organized deliveries. Members making deliveries were Amy Anderson, Betty Lee Ongley, Brenda Hopson, Camilla Davis, Charlotte Russell, Cheryl Lyon-Jenness, Diane Worden, Gail Walter, Hilary Pummil, Holly Jensen, Jessica Reiser, Jean and Ogden Jones, Julia Costello, Kay Miller, Kate Ferraro, Kay Perry, Janet and Keith Jones, Lorene Cook, Paula Manley, Paula Presler, Phyllis Martens, Rebekah Fennell, Sue Nelmes, Tamara Carpenter, and Tanya Potter.
Education then Advocacy
For over two years we worked with One United Michigan/Michigan United, a coalition of groups across the State working to defeat the Michigan Civil Rights ballot initiative. Many of our members networked with groups we have not worked with before to educate voters about the value of affirmative action.
We passed out literature at local events:
- Folk Life Music Festival: Jo Carpenter, Holly Jensen, Dolores Hayden, Paula Presler, Janet Hanson, Rudy Hanson, Barbara Huber, and Kate Ferraro
- Mattawan Festival Days: Judy Mayo, Carol Urban, Carolina Carpenter, Sally Olexia, Carol Payne Smith, Kay Anderson, Collette Fullmer, Yolanda Mitts, Paula Aldridge, and Janet Nykaza.
- Parkview Hills: Marcia Cowell, Hazel Rood, and Janet Jones,
- Friendship Village: Diane Grundy, Dolores Hayden, and Cheryl Lyon-Jenness.
In September Connie Ferguson and Jessica Reiser attended the second Michigan Women’s Summit in Grand Rapids where the importance of affirmative action was reinforced.
We wrote letters to the editor about affirmative action. Thanks to Sue Nelmes for creating sample letters and suggesting ideas for writers to use in their letters.
Speakers Bureau
Sue Nelmes organized our speaker’s bureau. Along with Sue, Connie Ferguson, Jessica Reiser, Janet Jones, and Brenda Hopkins gave presentations to groups interested in learning about ballot proposals including the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative. We also advocated our positions on three (two state and one local) ballot proposals.
Candidate Forums
Sharalyn Davis was in charge of forums. She managed four Public Forums for the primary, including six candidate forums for Congress, State Senate, State House and Kalamazoo County Commission in the general election. Thanks go to League members who acted as moderators, time keepers, and the videographer. These include Betty Lee Ongley, Brenda Hopson, Beverly Byle, Ken Manley, Holly Jensen, Paula Manley, Charlotte Russell, and Denise Hartsough.
Fund Raising
With the leadership of our Development Director, Rebekah Fennell, we successfully held two fund drives. The fall fund drive focused on contributions to our education fund to help with the costs of our Voter Guides. In the spring we held a second fund drive focusing on the operating fund. Special thanks to Rebekah Fennell and Tanya Potter for organizing and hosting the drives.
Programs
We held a very timely program with Michigan Campaign Finance Network, a nonpartisan, nonprofit coalition of organizations and individuals concerned about the influence of money in politics. The day after the election in November we had Rich Robinson, Executive Director, explain the costs of financing this election.
In January we held our state program planning meeting. Monica Elfring and Connie Ferguson led the session and guided us through our state and local positions to determine what we would recommend for programs at both the state and local levels.
Healthy People for a Healthy World is the title of our February program- a look at the UN Millennium goals for Health Care. Paula Manley did a great job by securing a grant from the LWVUS Education Fund and organizing a panel of speakers. We examined three of the eight millennium goals, including reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.
Michigan Is Ours is an offshoot of the LWVMI Citizens Access to Government task force steered by Kay Perry. Both Kay and Sue Nelmes continued their efforts to encourage local leagues to write letters to the editor and contact their legislators to state our position that “the benefits of tax reduction do not offset the quality of life losses that are inevitable when we under-fund government.”
We cosponsored, with the ACLU, the Bill of Rights Program. This series educates the community about the Bill of Rights, the issues involved and the merits of the positions on all sides. Landmark cases and the important Bill of Rights issues were reenacted in the form of an appellate court.
Starting in October, members of LWVKA took part in the Poverty Reduction Initiative. These simulations force participants to experience what it’s like to live in poverty. Ann Perry is our PRI representative. Kay Perry, Julia Costello and Jackie Wylie were all involved in this project. Kim Crider, Director of the PRI and LWVKA member, hosted a panel discussion with people who had “experienced” the simulations.
To help clarify our direction and establish strategies that guide our choices, a group of 17 LWVKA members held a retreat to develop a strategic plan. Terry Hluchyj, Kay Perry, Rebekah Fennell, and Julia Costello were the impetus behind our priority setting.
In May we held a program to encourage women to run for political office. This was organized by a group of LWVKA members including Sharalyn Davis, Laura Pernice-Nemeth, Janis Clark, Julie Rogers, Beverly Byle, and Hannah McKinney.
Other Activities
Ten Bulletins were written and sent to members, non members, contributors and donors. We thank Monica Elfring, Cheryl Lyon-Jenness, Kathy Beach, Jean Jones, and all the contributing writers.
The Annual Meeting this year moved to a new location. The Lawrence Education Center at Borgess Hospital was the site. We had two speakers from the Toledo, Ohio, League of Women Voters who discussed their experience filing a lawsuit against the Governor and Secretary of State in Ohio. Tanya Potter made the arrangements for this meeting
Alpena was the site for State Convention. LWVKA was one of the significant contributors to the silent auction. Tanya Potter, Beverly Byle, Janet Jones, Rebekah Fennell, Connie Ferguson, Sue Nelmes, Kay Perry, Julia Costello, and Camilla Davis were our representatives. Jessica Reiser was elected LWVMI President and Rebekah Fennell will serve on the board as Development Director.
We completed interviews with our State Legislators. Connie Ferguson, Terry Hluchyj, Camilla Davis and Jessica Reiser asked our State Legislators about issues of importance to the League.
We closed the year with operating funds of $3,656, education funds of $13,170 and the endowment fund with $27,104. We have 196 members.
It has been a privilege to serve as your president. I enjoyed this year very much.
Jessica Reiser