THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY MARYLAND A Message From The President

Diane Hibino President

July 2008

President’s Report from the National Convention of the League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS) held its 48th biennial national Convention in June in Portland, Oregon. The four-day gathering of nearly 700 voting delegates gave League members from around the country the opportunity to celebrate the organization’s accomplishments and prepare for their efforts educating voters during the 2008 presidential elections.

“In this critically important, exciting presidential election year, League members will play a pivotal role helping voters – most especially the millions of new voters – to be sure they have the information they need to go to the polls,” said Mary G. Wilson, the League’s newly reelected national President. “Go back home and keep up your good work, registering and educating this cadre of first-time voters so that they turn out to vote in this election and become life-long voters.”

After being unanimously reelected as president, Wilson thanked members for entrusting her with the leadership of this 88 year-old organization. “I am excited to continue leading the League of Women Voters of the United States to new heights,” Wilson said. “The League, and its 130,000 grassroots members and supporters, are the place for honest, nonpartisan and unbiased information.”

There were seven delegates from our Montgomery County League who attended the plenary sessions as well as workshops, meetings and caucuses on such burning issues as redistricting, health care reform, a national popular vote and global climate change. There were proposed bylaws changes to allow the grassroots membership to play a greater role in conducting “League” business like election of officers, input to PMP (per member payment) increases, to decisions on which resolutions are brought to the floor of convention. The 14 workshops covered membership and diversity, voters service, fundraising, and advocacy, among others. Other meetings offered models for replication such as workshops for high school girls by elected women officials, a homeless youth study, civil union equality study, the UN, etc. - 34 meetings in total beginning from 7:30am before the plenary sessions began and continuing until 10pm at night, after the sessions. It wasn’t all work and no play, we enjoyed the Dine Around meeting other League delegates at Portland’s wonderful restaurants, a fundraising performance “Chocolate Confessions,” and quick opportunities tour around the city’s parks and other landmarks under sunny skies and cool temperatures.

The speakers were excellent: two former Oregon governors, a former Colorado Supreme Court Justice and a panel on “The State of Climate Change.” There is a “Western” way of communicating that comes over as sincere and easy-going and we found ourselves hanging on to every word. Gov. Kitzhaber, a physician, spoke on “The Unfinished Business of the Baby Boom Generation: Health Care for the 21^st Century” which was appropriate since the League voted to adopt a Health Care Program to educate the membership and communities to prepare for health care advocacy. The panel helped us understand the causes and results of climate change and we adopted an Education and Advocacy Campaign to promote solutions to global chimate change.

Here are some comments by our delegates:

Debbie wrote: The convention was very interesting and lots of fun. It was inspiring to see the breadth of interest of League members, from all over the country, and the commitment, energy and intelligence they displayed about their issues. I also think we got good results, picking out two important subjects, health care and climate change for further work. On the negative side, I noted the tension between the grassroots and the national a feeling of which I was unaware before the convention. Although there was little emphasis on children's issues, my main focus of interest in the League, there was a meeting on homeless youth, previously known as runaways, which made me think about the situation here.

Pat said: I was impressed by the commitment and focus of the members from across the country. The workshops and caucuses I attended were informative and engendered enthusiasm. Tampa Bay's outgoing president, Mike - offered insight into the problem of male membership, as did others in the group. I plan to follow up on the Santa Clara County, CA issues re "No Child Left Behind". The speakers were outstanding - focused and with meaty comments, and familiar with LWV. Mary Wilson, president LWVUS, was awesome in her handling of the plenary sessions,
patient, and always ending with a smile.

Barbara wrote: For me, the adoption of program is almost always the highlight of the convention because it really defines who we are and sets out path for the next few years. I had the feeling all through the convention that the members were trying to "take back' the process from the national board - e.g. the proposed change to setting legislative priorities, the adoption of two nonrecommended items and the effort to change the resolution process are all examples of this, as was the attempt to allow local and state LWV's to act on national positions without consulting LWVUS.

Ralph said: The highlight of the convention for me was the debate on the issues in the plenary sessions. It is difficult to have a discussion among more than 600 people, but speakers were respectful of differing views and also committed to the League's principles of study and consensus. Also, we had to consider what types of issues are best dealt with at the national level and which ones should be decided in the states. For the time that we were in session, we were a living laboratory of federalism.

Linda said: For me, as current local Natural Resources Committee chair and with 38 years of interest in environmental issues (that’s a half-year longer than I’ve been a League member!), climate change was an absolutely key topic. When making action on climate change a priority under several of the League’s NR positions about 18 months ago, the national board was able to call on some able and experienced LWV members to form a climate change taskforce. At the convention, several taskforce members presented a workshop on the worldwide importance of taking prompt action to combat global warming.

Then the topic became the focus of a major plenary session presented by a panel that included the taskforce chair and two national figures. Especially impressive was the up-to-date graph shown by V. (Ram) Ramanathan who had predicted in 1980 a warming climate that would begin to show dramatic changes around 2000. Thoughtful LWV members listened, asked questions, and later voted unanimously to make education and advocacy on climate change/global warming a top League priority for 2008-2010.

The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, MD received an award for converting the most national (LWVUS) members into local Montgomery County members. Congratulations! I reccomend that all members attend a national convention - it’s an eye-opening experience especially for first-timers. Have a wonderful summer!

Diane Hibino