The Voter: April 2014

Notes from President Bart Henshaw:

What a nice turnout for the Human Trafficking program in February. This important and difficult topic will be a part of our “continuing conversation series” in the spring. Julie Oates is willing to provide information and hopefully our own Ronda Pauley will soon be able to participate. April 3 at 4:30 at Schlegel's Coffee House we will continue the local discussion about awareness and action on this crucial problem.

Five representatives from the Chillicothe-Ross League will travel to Columbus on April 9th for Statehouse Day. Not only will our representatives learn about resources,new topics and what other League are doing, but we will also attend the caucus where state business is conducted when there is not state convention. Talking about Conventions, for the first time in many years we have two member representatives attending the National Convention in Dallas, Texas in June. Portia Boulger and Ruth Tootle will travel to Texas and dive into three days of 9am to 9pm meetings and discussions. Thanks to them for volunteering time from their busy schedules. This will give our League two votes on major developments, new information and connections for our own programs.

Please take time to read the information about the upcoming March program, This takes place on WEDNESDAY. We usually meet on Tuesday but due to unforeseen circumstances we will meet on Wednesday March 26th at 7pm at the Northside Library. More information is included, see below.

Nominations:

This year there are two board positions up for election.

Vice President of Programming has been filled by Ruth Tootle and Portia Boulger as Co- Chairs of this important League position. Portia is willing to continue if elected.
Secretary: Cheryl Richards is our current secretary and is willing to continue in that position.

Anyone interested in running for either Vice President of Programming or for Secretary should contact our Nominating Committee:

Sarah Skinner at 779-0804 or email her at sharpbeak@roadrunner.com, or

Dawn Zarbakhsh at 642-3366 or email at zarbakhsh@aol.com

Elections will take place at our annual meeting on May 6th at the Adena Mansion.

Important dates

Wednesday March 26th 7pm in the Northside Library
April 22 Rescheduled Women's Reproductive Issues 7pm Bennett Hall OUC
May 6th Annual Dinner, Adena Mansion ($15.00)

From Portia Boulger, Program Chair...

On Tuesday April 22nd at OUC Bennett Hall at 7pm

WOMEN’S RIGHTS: A REALITY CHECK

You aren’t as equal as you think...

· Reproductive Rights are not guaranteed

· The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) is not ratified

· Voting Rights are under attack for men & women

So where do we go from here?

FIND OUT

Guest Speakers:

Stephanie Kight, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio

Tammy Simkins, ERA Action

Ruth Tootle, Local & State LWV Board Member

WE EDUCATE!

From Cheryl Richards: Program Chair for our Human Trafficking Committee

February Meeting

Our February meeting dealt with Human Trafficking, a follow up from

last year’s meeting. Melinda Sykes Haggerty, Director of Children’s

Initiatives for the Ohio Attorney General’s office gave an overview of the efforts at

the state and local levels to bring harsher punishments against the traffickers. House Bill

262 raised the penalty for Human trafficking to a first-degree felony with a mandatory

minimum sentence of 10 years. Also speaking was Julie Oates of the Ross County

Coalition to End Human Trafficking. She stated the coalition will formalize a set of

protocols on how to handle future human trafficking cases in Ross County by educating

and enlisting the help of Other agencies.

WE TAKE ACTION!

5 of us plan to go to the Statehouse Day on April 9

Would you like to join us?

Join us for Statehouse Day and Council 2014! The day will be full of engaging presentations on

important issues critical to Ohioans such as election administration and voting rights, judicial reform,

women's reproductive health rights, clean water and water usage. The event will be held at the Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square in downtown Columbus. The address is 75 East State Street, Columbus, OH 43215

Interested call Dawn at 642-3366 or email me at zarbakhsh@.com

We Communicate!

From Sarah Skinner Membership Co-Chair

Announcing our new web page

The new Chillicothe League of Women Voters’ website is up and running at www.lwvchillicothe.com

Not only can you find a full listing of all our upcoming programs, links to our public Facebook Page,

and fill out (or download and print) out membership applications (making new member referrals super

easy), but there is also a special area just for members. Just click on the “Members” link in the menu

and enter the password Carrie1920 to gain access to our member roster, program calendar, past

newsletters, current newsletter content, and announcements – you can even pay your dues online!

There is also a link to our private Facebook Group for those who’ve had trouble finding it.

If you have any suggestions for other useful features, be sure to contact Sarah Skinner at

sharpbeak@roadrunner.com or wrensharpbeak@gmail.com our e-mail at LWVchillicothe@gmail.com

Last but not least our TWITTER ACCOUNT is @LWVChillicothe

LOG ON, Tune In, TWEET and Check these out!

The League's Mission:

The League of Women Voters of Ohio, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League of Women Voters is nonpartisan - it neither supports nor opposes any political party or candidate.

The League may take political action on issues on which member agreement has been reached.

Members, as individuals, are encouraged to participate fully in the political process and persons with

partisan affiliations are actively sought as members. However, certain League officers and chairs are precluded from active partisan activities during their term as a League board member

Important Business : Our Bylaws

Under Article V111:

. States that we must have a Nominating Committee. Our Nominating Committee for this year, 2014, consists of Sarah Skinner and Dawn Zarbakhsh. If anyone else would like to step up to join us on this

committee your services would be greatly appreciated.

Nominations and Elections

We will accept suggestions for nominations for officers and directors from any voting member. That means anyone who is a current member of the Chillicothe Ross League of Women Voters and has paid dues. As discussed in our President's notes the two board positions that are up for renewal are: Vice President of Programming and Secretary. If you would like to serve or nominate anyone besides those who have volunteered to run again please contact either Sarah or Dawn.

Portia Boulger has agreed to continue as VP of Programming and Cheryl Richards has agreed to run again as Secretary.

Another possibility is to offer to co-chair with either position. Ruth Tootle who is now on the State League Board has stepped down as VP of Programming as Portia's co-chair. Denise Ruby was Sharon Verhouf's cochair for Voter Service.

The Programming Chair is considered the right hand of the President.

This committee or member is in charge of finding information or speakers on the topics chosen for each year(from the annual meeting).

The Secretary is in charge of keeping records on each meeting and on important votes taken by the board.

Committee Chairs that are open are Voter Service and Natural Resources.

Again these positions may benefit from another member offering their services as co-chair.

What is Voter Service?

In League Basics a publication by the State League from 2009, Voter Service is defined as: “activities [that] are designed to provide citizens with unbiased, factual information that they can use as a basis for reaching their own decision.” p.13. We have traditionally held a Voter Forum in October which is one of the highlights of our local league. Our Voter Service Chair is a key component of what we do locally and may not be running for office or be a public part of either political party.

What is the Natural Resource Chair?

Our local league has been actively interested in educating our members and area voters on our county's natural resources. These are the elements that make our area liveable, like water, land and air. We are currently focused on Water. The Natural Resources Chair keeps abreast of these issues and developments in regards to local Natural Resources.

Action is taken at the Annual Dinner after the report is given by the Nominating committee. Please respond to us if you want to volunteer for these or any other committee positions.

Programming

Action is also taken on the proposed programs for the upcoming year. The board proposes local programs for the upcoming year. These are:

Reproductive Rights and Human Trafficking
Water Resources and Fracking information.

If you have ideas for other topics please bring these to our ANNUAL Dinner May 6th at Adena Mansion, 7pm. Because of the later scheduling of Statehouse Day the board has not yet finalized this slate above as we will learn about the state's focus in April. Members are the League's MOST VALUABLE ASSET. p. 11 of League Basics.

Budget

Our proposed Budget must also be published two months before our annual meeting. Here is the

Proposed Budget from our Treasurer Mary Martin.

PROSPOSED BUDGET 2012-2015 17-Mar-14

Expected Income