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The Rensselaer County Sheriff and District Attorney are collecting unwanted cell phones for re-distribution to seniors and victims of domestic violence so they can call 911 for emergency assistance. This effort is being conducted in partnership with the 911 Cell Phone Bank, charity that maintains a bank of cellphones for law enforcement use. Individuals, businesses, and organizations are encouraged to participate in this effort. Phones may be dropped off at any town or city hall in the county. One more way to get rid of unwanted stuff!!! (See "Stuff Guide" at bottom of this home page.)
The annual meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 21 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Kellas Meeting Room, at Emma Willard School (285 Pawling Ave./Rt.66) in Troy. Our guest speaker will be Nancy Iannucci who is an archivist and librarian at Emma Willard. She will talk about the strong connection between Emma Willard and the League in her talk entitled: "Eunice Burton Armstrong: A Life Devoted to Social and Political Activism. Eunice Armstrong attended Emma Willard and was co-founder of the League of Women Voters
The evening will begin with socializing at 6:00 followed by dinner at 6:15. Ms. Iannucci will speak at 7:15 after which we will hold our annual business meeting and elections. The cost is $20 per person. Reservations are due by May 16. For questions or to make a reservation, call Marcia Easterling at 518-273-5416.
Everyone is cordially invited to a ceremony to dedicate the state LWV's new building at 62 Grand Street as the Anne F. Holtzmann Building. They will also unveil their Room of Honor in recognition of their many generous donors and volunteers. The event will take place at 62 Grand Street in Albany on Thursday, May 15, at 4:00. Please R.S.V.P. by May 9 at 518-465-4162 or lwvny@lwvny.org. Parking should be available in the OGS (Office of General Services) Visitors Parking Lot on Grand Street ($5) or along the street.
The RenCo LWV will moderate two school board candiate forums to be held on Monday, May 12, 2008. Both events will start at 7:00 p.m. The Troy forum will be conducted in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium between the Middle School and High School on Burdett Avenue. The E. Greenbush forum will be held in the East Greenbush Community Library. (***See at the end of this home page an excerpted letter to the editor of the Troy Record explaining sent during the 2007 election season to explain how the RenCo League conducts and moderates candidate forums.)
School Board elections are on Tuesday, May 20, 2008. Please note that in Troy the School 1 and School 2 election sites have been merged -- all School 1 voters should go to School 2 at Tenth and Middleburgh Streets. If you have questions, call the Clerk of the Board at 328-5070.
* RenCo League open meetings. The Board would like to know what topics and speakers are of interest to members. The Board would also like to hear from members about preferred time(s) of day, day(s) of the week, and locations. Call Anne Burton at 283-3499 and leave a message or convey your ideas via this website (See "Contact Us" above).
* Monitors needed for Troy Housing Authority Tenant Commissioner Elections, Wednesday, Aug. 27. Petitions from candidates are due by June 16 at which time we will know if there are more than two candidates required for a contested election. At this point it looks like there will, indeed, be more than two candidates. We need a list of potential volunteers in place by the end of May. There will be two shifts: 11:30 am to 4:00 pm and 3:45 pm to 8:00 pm. This is an important source of income for our League!! Call Irene Wynnyczuk for information: 513-279-9789,
* Troy Farmers Market - Voter Registraton Volunteers. Volunteers are needed for a Voter Registration effort at the market on the last Saturdays of the month through the summer. If interested in serving for a couple of hours, call Marica Easterling at 518-273-5416 or Gail DeMarco 518-434-2413. This is a very important activity, especially this presidential election year; it's also a way to reach potential new LWV members, as well.
Click here to read the League’s full response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Indiana voter ID case. The League decried the Court’s decision, stating that voters cannot look to the Court to ensure fair elections.
"Declare Yourself" is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to empower and encourage all eligible 18 to 29 year-olds in America to register and become involved in the political process. Using the power of startegic media partnerships, celebrity spokespeople, the sports arena, and most importantly, mobile and Internet technology, Declare Yourself's campaign blankets the landscape of popular culture, as well as universities and high schools, with a simple, clear message: REGISTER and VOTE!
A website devoted to young voters was set up in 2004. Check it out at www.declareyourself.org.
The Rensselaer County LWV conducted a consensus meeting on immigration this past winter and provided results to the national League. Many local leagues around the country participated in this endeavor. After a lengthy and comprehensive study of the complex issue, the Board of the LWVUS unanimously adopted a position that calls for a clear path to citizenship for current unauthorized immigrants. The new position provides for federal enforcement of immigration laws and full due process rights for immigrants. State and local Leagues may oppose efforts in their communities to deport, detain, or harass unauthorized immigrants who have no histroy of serious criminal activity. For more details, go to the national League's website at www.LWV.org and search for LWVUS Immigration Position.
The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) calls for the nation's antiquated voting machines to be replaced. New York State has lagged behind all other states in making a decision about what machines to use. The Leauge has been supporting the replacement of the old mechanical lever machines with ballot marking devices that are compatible with optical scan machines.
In January, just when we thought the battle had finally been won, a judge in the New York State Supreme Court overruled the state Board of Election's (BOE) determination on direct recording electronic (DRE) machines. The BOE concluded that DRE's do not provide a usable way for voters with disabilities to verify their ballot. The judge's decision would allow counties to purchase DRE's, such as those sold by LiberyVote.
According to Bo Lipari's blog (http://www.nyvv.org/boblog/), "the flawed ruling now sets yet another legal precedent that the right of voting machine vendors to turn a profit supersedes that of voters to demand the equipment we spend our tax dollars on [to] be up to the job."
Each county in New York must make its own decision about what machines to use. Counties were up against a February 8 deadline to select a machine for the 2008 election that would meet requirements for disabled voters. Full installation of machines for all voters is to come next year.
The Rensselaer County LWV sent a letter to the county Election Commissioners reiterating support for ballot marking devices (BMD's) that are compatible with optical scanners and pointing out that DRE's cost twice as much as the BMD's. The Rensselaer County Election Commissioners chose the Sequoia ImageCast Ballot Marking Device/Optical Scanner combination for the 2008 election. As of this writing (2/11/08), only one county in the state has chosen a DRE system (Hamilton County).
The League will remain vigilant, because there is still a chance that county Boards of Election could chose DRE's for the 2009 election year.
You can find information on this important topic in our Feb.-March Rensselaer County LWV newsletter, on League websites, and in the media.
In March the RenCo League conducted a panel discussion on health care entitled: "Who is Sick: the Patient or the System?" Those with a strong interest in pursuing this subject may want to view or read a recent PBS Frontline documentary entitled "Sick Around the World" that compares health care systems in a number of countries around the world. The program is excellent! It does put the U.S. system to shame but also provides ideas on how we might go about addressing the U.S. health care crises. For more, go to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/etc/script.html.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo launches new website designed to inject more transparency into NYS government. League members encouraged to submit comments.
The Attorney General gives the following introduction to the new website at www.sunlightny.com:
"Project Sunlight is an effort by my office to promote your right to know and to monitor governmental decision-making. This website - the first of its kind in New York - allows you to easily access statewide government information that until now has been scattered and difficult to retrieve.
Of course, Project Sunlight would not be available without the support of Governor Eliot Spitzer, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Their agreement - and the support of the entire legislature - ensured that start-up funding for Project Sunlight was included in this year's state budget.
Currently, we are working on the first phase of this project: collecting and standardizing different data and making it available to you on a comprehensive, easy-to-search website. During this initial phase, you have the ability to search the Project Sunlight website to examine information related to campaign finance, legislation, lobbying activity, and recipients of state government contracts.
Our goal is to promote disclosure as well as to increase government's transparency and accountability to you. As James Madison, the Founding Father of the Bill of Rights observed, "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
We look forward to receiving your comments or suggestions, and any requests for additional information you would like to see made publicly available. We will incorporate your ideas into a more robust version in 2008."
"Stuff, Stuff and More Stuff: Ideas on How to Reuse and Recycle all Kinds of Household Items" is now up on this website (click on "Issues and Action" in the banner at the top of this page). Do you want to do your part to minimize the amount of garbage you send to your local landfill? Do you wonder what can be done with styrofoam peanuts and other packaging materials, old electronics, light bulbs, smoke detectors, unused drugs and more? Are you confused about what the "chasing arrows" and numbers mean on plastic containers? Take a peak at the guide. It will be updated periodically as new information and recycling ideas become available.
(Click on "Newsletter" at top of this webpage for the complete newsletter.)
* Report of the Nominating Committee
* Proposed RenCo LWV Budget for 08-09
* Proposed RenCo LWV Local Program for 08-09
* Report on the March health care forum
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Letter to the Editor:
Part of the Voters Service mission of the League of Women Voters is to conduct and moderate Candidate Forums. .............
We conduct these forums as a service to voters because it gives them a means of forming a first-hand judgment of the various candidates. [It is also] a service to candidates because it gives them an opportunity to present their views to citizen audiences of varied political affiliations. We do not refer to them as "debates" since no one conducts classical debates.
The format we general use is somewhat formal. Candidates start by making an opening statement. The moderator then asks a series of questions alternating [which candidate gets to make] the first response. ....Finally closing statements are made by each candidate. The time allowed [for the forum] depends on the number of candidates. In addition to the written questions collected from audience members, questions [may also come from] ...... the League and the meeting sponsors. It is the responsibility of the moderator to see that the questions reflect the issues of greatest interest to the entire community, cover a broad range of topics, and are worded to elicit the political philosophy of each candidate. The moderator also screens out "soft ball" or inappropriate questions submitted by the audience.
The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan volunteer political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government. The League does not support or oppose political parties or candidates. We look forward in future election seasons to working with non-partisan community groups who take their civic responsibility seriously by volunteering to sponsor Candidate Forums.
Gail DeMarco
Marcia Easterlin
Co-Presidents
League of Women Voters of Rensselaer County
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