Happy New Year! We hope that you are striding into 2023 refreshed and ready to make a difference in our community! After a year of rebuilding, the League of Women Voters Lynchburg is ready to make some big moves, and we are excited for you to join us. Here's what to expect: On January 28, please join us in person for our Program Planning meeting. While the name is boring, the event itself is a wonderful opportunity to talk about our priorities for the coming year. Voter protection, environmental justice, childcare and education--we've got something for everyone! More information is below on how to register and pre-read materials for those who want to come prepared. This is probably our most important member meeting all year--please attend if you can! With the potential for revised by-laws and a streamlined Board of Directors, our leadership team will have more time to help coordinate in-person events and community advocacy. For example, did you see that our new Mayor Stephanie Reed is re-introducing a resolution to declare Lynchburg a 2nd Amendment Sanctuary City? With the new conservative majority in City Council, they will likely have the votes to pass it. The League has a position on gun safety, and we have the opportunity to decide as a group whether this is something we want to voice our opinion on (in Letters to the Editor, speaking at City Council meetings, starting a petition, etc.). If this is something you care about (or if you have other issues you care about!), now is a great time to find like-minded folks. We are stronger together! As always, the League is at its best when members are actively engaged. We encourage you to choose an issue or two and dig deeper in 2023. Let us know if you're interested in leading work on a particular effort--we're always looking for volunteers. Warmly, your Co-Presidents Jennifer Woofter and Jennifer Gauthier |
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Our Program Planning meeting will take place on January 28, 10am-12pm at the Loving Co (901 Jefferson Street). You do not have to register to attend, but doing so will help us better prepare the space and meeting materials. You can RSVP on the LWVLY website here. Before the meeting, please take a few minutes to read the state positions at this link and our local positions here. We'll review these together in the meeting as well. Meeting Agenda Review of State and Local Positions Welcome and Introductions Program Planning Review the League's Program Planning Process, and see how it ties into the national, state and local League work Discuss the state and local positions and decide to affirm them, or provide comments/feedback on new initiatives we'd like to see Finally--this big piece! We'll take a deeper dive into five key areas of potential work this year: Environmental Justice. How do we create communities where folks have equal protection from environmental hazards and enjoy equitable access to nature and environmental benefits? Lynchburg is doing a LOT of interesting work in this area, and we'll explore how to amplify that work! Money in Politics. Do you know that more than $347,000 was raised by candidates for the most recent Lynchburg City Council election? Learn about efforts to keep dirty money out of elections and opportunities to create more transparency and accountability in our election cycles. Childcare. In Virginia, 40% of families live in a child care desert, one of the highest in the nation. Lynchburg is one of those areas with a huge need for qualified early childhood education and childcare centers--you'll hear about how to plug into this important issue. Education. Lynchburg is a hotbed of discussion around school vouchers, teacher pay, school closures and special education. With Governor Youngkin introducing a bill that will reduce public school funding in favor of private and home school choices, our League has a role to play in advocating for quality education for our children. Voters Service. Voter registration, election security, and restoration of rights are the bread-and-butter of our League's activities, and we'll discuss how to organize and prioritize those efforts in 2023, the first year of state legislature elections with the new district lines!
Bylaws and Board of Directors Discussion and Votes We'll have another round of discussion on the proposed bylaws and the new Board of Directors slate Once we've discussed everything, we'll take a vote!
Upcoming Events and Activities Before we leave, we'll ask that all attendees indicate their interest and willingness to get involved in one or more of the League's activities this year--be ready to indicate where your heart and your mind is leading you! We'll also talk about specific upcoming activities, including our Annual Meeting in May. Get out your calendar, friends!
Adjourn See you at the meeting! Members of the Board |
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Proposed Changes to Bylaws: FAQs |
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If you didn't get to review these FAQs in our last bulletin, please review them now so you'll be ready to vote on changes at the Program Planning meeting. You can read the proposed bylaws here; this version includes the diversity, equity, and inclusion language added in 2021. We wanted to share the existing bylaws for your reference as well; you can read them here. Why are we rewriting the bylaws? As you have heard in previous newsletters, the Board has struggled over the last few years with several challenges: We struggled to recruit board members, committee leads, and members of the Nominating Committee. We spent countless hours trying to fill seats, with few people willing to serve in a leadership role. We struggle to have Board members attend monthly Board meetings--in several instances, we failed to achieve a quorum and could not do League business in a timely fashion. The Board has been overwhelmed with administrative obligations associated with state and national responsibilities outlined in our bylaws. Trying to keep up was like drinking from a firehose, and we often fell short of the obligations mandated in our bylaws (which, in Virginia, are legally binding and tied to our nonprofit status). Because of the administrative burden, the League's Board members (often the most active members) often did not have the time/energy to participate in the true work of the League (like supporting voter registration events, scheduling/hosting member socials, organizing issue-driven meetings, etc.).
After consultation with the Virginia State League (LWV-VA), the Board brought a plan to rewrite the bylaws to the May 2022 Annual Meeting, as part of a larger discussion about leadership challenges. Key points included: The bylaws are the "minimum rules of the road" for how the organization operates. We are free to go above and beyond, but Board members must be in conformance with the bylaws. Per LWV-VA, a shorter set of bylaws is best when a local League needs flexibility. We were provided with a sample bylaws to use that ensured we got the basic elements in place. We are free to create supporting documentation (Board job descriptions, League vision/strategy plans, committee charters, etc.) to support our work--these are helpful but outside of the bylaws, so that they can be aspirational and/or implemented only when there is the bandwidth to do so.
Why are we closing the online ballot and moving to an in-person discussion and vote? Based on excellent feedback from members at last month's open Board meeting, we realized that the sample bylaws version provided to us by the LWV-VA didn't include the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) statement incorporated into the 2021 bylaws amendments. We've updated the proposed bylaws with this previously-approved language. We also heard members' desire for more time to discuss these changes. We appreciate the discussion with members at the most recent Board meeting, and we hope discussion can continue at the upcoming Member Socials and at our in-person meeting on January 28. Our apologies for the extra work--we hope you agree that explicitly addressing DEI and giving members more opportunities for discussion are worth the second round of voting! Why are we restructuring the Board? There are three major changes happening with the Board structure: We have formally shifted to two Co-Presidents and one Vice President and shuffled the election cycles so that it is a three-year cycle (a person will serve as VP for one year, then "junior" Co-President for one year, and then "senior" Co-President for one year). This ensures that we have a solid pipeline for leadership and that we are not asking members to step directly into the Presidency (as we have had to do in the past). We have proposed a smaller board of just the officers (two Co-Presidents, one Vice President, one Secretary and one Treasurer), which will make it easier to meet our quorum responsibilities and releases additional Board members to spend their time supporting League activities, rather than sitting in largely administrative Board meetings. Note: This vote for the new Board is a separate vote from the bylaws. The only change to the bylaws related to Board size is to move to a minimum of five to seven elected directors (previously four to seven). The Board's ability to appoint up to seven additional directors remains the same. We have reduced the required number of Board meetings to four, down from nine meetings in the current bylaws. Again, this does not preclude us from meeting more regularly but does allow us the flexibility to adjust as needed while still being in conformance with our legal obligations.
Why has the section on programming been removed? One of the biggest and most time-consuming parts of the Board process is managing the local, state, and national studies and programs. There are hundreds of emails, webinars to attend, documents to review, and events to schedule each year--and in 2022 we have FOUR different studies to review: Education Equity, Childcare, Environmental Justice, and Money in Politics. Removing the programming language from the bylaws allows us to participate in this process as we are able depending on available leadership and member interest, rather than as a requirement. And given that the League members agreed at our Annual Meeting that our primary focus should be voting rights and voter protection, we believe that it's smart to remove any potential obstacle that prevents us from devoting our limited time and attention to that goal. Jennifer Woofter, on behalf of the Board |
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(L to R) LWVLY members Molly McClenon, Arelia Langhorne, Pat Bower, and Jan Willinger with David Neumeyer, who recently stepped down as Chair of the Lynchburg Electoral Board.
Several LWVLY members attended the December 28th reception honoring city Electoral Board members and registrars. The Electoral Board, consisting of three court-appointed citizens, appoints election officers who work the Election Day polls; the Board also works closely with city election staff throughout the year to ensure our elections are safe, accurate, and in compliance with Code of Virginia standards. Election preparation and security precautions are managed by the Electoral Board members and staff members in the registrar's office. State process and security requirements are reviewed weekly, and the Board meets monthly to make policy decisions which are then implemented by city staff. The new city Electoral Board will include Carolyn Sherayko as Chair, Steve Troxel as Vice Chair, and Betty Gibbs as Secretary. League members Carla Health and Molly McClenon have served as observers over the past 12 months, attending meetings and keeping the League up to date on current issues and concerns.
For additional information on the Electoral Board, read David Neumeyer's recent News & Advance editorial. Submitted by Jan Dunning Willinger |
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We honor LWVLY member Elaine Jackson |
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We were saddened to learn that League of Women Voters Lynchburg member Elaine Jackson passed away on December 26, 2022. Elaine joined the Lynchburg League in May 2011. She served on the Board as secretary from 2017-2019, but she also took minutes at Voter Services organizing meetings over the years. She kindly stepped in to take minutes at our Annual Meeting last June when our current secretary was unable to attend. Elaine was recognized as a lovely person and a worker who was always willing to “lend a very competent hand” wherever needed. Whether she was attending a state conference or passing out Voter Guides in her neighborhood, Elaine was an engaged and supportive League member. Her presence and positive attitude will be greatly missed. We send our condolences to her family. Please visit this link to read her obituary. |
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