The LWVD Newsletter
December 2024 / January 2025 | January Briefing
Looking Ahead: 2025 State Legislative Session
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| Chaer Robert |
Caroline Nutter |
Andrea Wilkins |
LWVD will hold a virtual briefing with three panelists who will address the likely issues and proposals from across the state during the January to May 2025 legislative session. Our speakers will be Chaer Robert from the Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP, policyco.org); Caroline Nutter, Legislative Coordinator at the Colorado Fiscal Institute (CFI, www.coloradofiscal.org); and Andrea Wilkins, LWVCO Legislative Liaison.
After ten years as CCLP's Legislative Director, Chaer Robert has stepped into a new Emeritus Advisor role with the organization. For over 25 years, Chaer directed the Women’s Commission for the City and County of Denver and was a founding board member of Mi Casa Resource Center, Women’s Lobby of Colorado and the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. Over the years, she has served as Board Chair of Mi Casa Resource Center, Colorado Women’s Legislative Breakfast, Women’s Lobby and Colorado Social Legislation Committee.
Caroline Nutter joined the CFI as tax policy analyst in 2020, providing research and analysis of state fiscal policy issues and advocating for policies that bring equity and prosperity to all Coloradans. She took the role of legislative coordinator in December of 2022, where she works to coordinate and provide strategy to all legislative advocacy efforts.
As Legislative Liaison, Andrea Wilkins promotes League positions on issues in the Colorado legislature and advocates to advance the mission of LWVCO. She coordinates and supports lobbying activities of the LWVCO Legislative Action Committee, provides direct testimony, engages in LWVCO coalition-building efforts, and provides writing and editing for the Legislative Letter, a bi-weekly newsletter produced during the legislative session.
On the heels of a very busy session last year, the 75th General Assembly starting in January will address an array of issues that touch on LWV positions. Will there be new legislation affecting voting access, healthcare, affordable housing, education funding, and other topics of interest to Denver Leaguers? Please plan to join us by Zoom.
Susan Stark, Director of Program | Voter Service In Action
Gratitude
A big thank you to the many volunteers who worked with the Voter Service Committee in 2024! We registered voters, researched ballot measures, prepared ballot guides, and spoke to community groups about the state and local ballot measures. We worked with our Denver Decides partners to produce ballot measure and candidate forums, which were available online. We initiated a Youth Council and posted more frequently on social media platforms. Although the year is not yet finished, committee volunteers have so far contributed more than 1500 hours of their time and hosted more than 140 events. Again – thank you!!
LWV members across the state supported the gathering of signatures for the Constitutional Right to Abortion Amendment. Did you know that 38% of the signatures collected by volunteers for this amendment were gathered by LWV petition circulators?
Denver Elections – 2024 General Election Dashboard
The Clerk and Recorder’s Office posts election information online. See tabs (At a Glance, Ballot Return Data, Ballot Returns by Age, etc) across the top of their election dashboard here.
Looking ahead to 2025
As required by the state, we’ll begin the annual training of voter registration Circulators during the early months of the year. And then we’ll start registering voters! 2025 will include a School Board election for Denver Public Schools. In the new year, we hope to delve more into voter education activities. Strengthening our partnerships with other likeminded organizations will also be a priority. If you’d like to participate with the Voter Service Committee, please contact Lisa Haddox at lisa.m.haddox@gmail.com or at 303.495.4715.
Lisa Haddox, Voter Service Chair
| Get it Done!
The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that guarantees equality of rights under the law for all persons regardless of sex, was first introduced in Congress 101 years ago, in December 1923.
In December, 1978, our younger daughter was born. In the recovery room, my husband asked what we were going to name her. We had decided on a boy’s name, but weren’t definitive about a girl. I asked, “Do you like Erica Rae?”, the name I had settled on. His question was, “Do you realize what her initials will be?” “Oh… YES!” was my response. Thus, Erica Rae Augden had a name. My hope was it would be a good omen in getting the ERA finally ratified. Sadly, it was not yet to be.
The long journey of the possible 28th amendment has been an arduous one. Three-fourths of the states (38) must ratify for the amendment to be added to the Constitution. The version approved by Congress in 1972, before sending it to the states, reads:
"Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provision of this article.” Within a year, 30 states had acted to ratify the ERA, but organized opposition slowed things down. By 1977, three more states had joined in, but five legislatures voted to rescind. The deadline of 1979 was moved to 1982. By 2020, three more states, Virginia the last, had voted to ratify, bringing the count to 38. There are multiple proposed solutions to finalizing this process, given the deadlines have yet to be extended.
LWVUS has settled on a push for President Biden to follow a 1984 law charging the Archivist of the United States with issuing a formal certification after three-quarters of the states have ratified an amendment. Members are encouraged to contact the President and urge him to send the Equal Rights Amendment to the Archivist before the end of his term in January. You can reach the President through the link below.
Sally Augden, League member
Contact President Biden | Recap of November Briefing
Indigenous People and Their History in Colorado
The LWVD’s November briefing was provided by Rick Waters (Kiowa and Cherokee), the Executive Director of the Denver Indian Center (DIC). Rick’s focus was to educate us about the often-misunderstood history of Indigenous Americans in our area and to address the challenge of “invisibility” of Native people.
Rick told the attendees that according to the 2020 Census, there are about 106,000 self-identified tribal members in the state, with 76,000 American-Indian-only ancestry. They come from about 200 tribes and most of them live in the metro Denver area and the southwestern part of the state. About 50% are southwestern Navajo and a little fewer than half are Lacota and Northern tribes.
His historical timeline began in about the 1850’s when white settlers advanced west to acquire the land and its resources, ignoring that the land was already occupied for thousands of years. The Indian Removal Act and military action were intended to push Native people off their traditional lands. This Reservation Period’s solution to the “Indian Problem” was to negotiate treaties that promised “protection and non-encroachment” on enclosed areas labeled "reservations"; however, almost all the 374 treaties were broken repeatedly, especially where gold, silver, oil and water were desired. Brutal methods were normalized. People were treated like undesired trees and rocks to be moved aside for white expansion.
The next era Rick noted was the Boarding School period. Since killing indigenous people and isolating them didn’t solve the problem, the government and religious organizations turned to assimilation, forcibly taking thousands of young Indians away from their families and denying them their traditional languages, religious beliefs, customs and even hairstyles and clothing. Forced labor and inhumane treatment took place in many of the 523 government- funded “schools” from the 1870’s well into the 1900’s.
Native Americans still had the treaties and were sovereign groups, but the US government devised a third method of control under the 1956 Federal Indian Relocation Act. The “opportunity” to move to cities, including Denver, from the reservations to improve their lives encouraged mass relocation, but no support services to find jobs, housing and deal with racism were provided. A high percent moved back to the reservations, but those who stayed, Rick noted, were “resilient.” The ongoing needs for access to services and community to sustain their cultural heritage led to the founding of the Denver Indian Center in 1983.
The range of services offered at the non-profit Denver Indian Center include a Native Workforce Program, Honoring Fatherhood, Elders’ Programming, Youth Literacy and Summer Camps and Direct Services. LWVD Voter Service Committee collaborated with DIC to hold two voter registration events this fall. Over 90 different tribal representatives have come to DIC for assistance. DIC also works with non-Native low-income people in their Morrison Road neighborhood.
The LWVD Program Committee has asked Rick to be a consultant as we propose a Land Acknowledgement Statement to present before our events in the future. Rick advises organizations who take this step to build in a commitment to give back, become an ally of and continue to educate their members about the Native Community. League’s advocacy activities will monitor legislation that impacts Native Americans,including three bills that have been proposed by an interim committee of the legislature.
Keep an eye out for future opportunities to collaborate with the Denver Indian Center.
Susan Stark, Director of Program |  | | Leaguers Joan Friend, Marty Sloven, Patty Andrews, Sally Augden, and Barb Mattison sort bulbs at the greenhouse. The indoor bulb sale results have been tabulated and we made over $4,000. (Photo by Sue Stark)
| Upcoming Briefings and Program Events
LWVCO Religious Freedom Study Group Presentation and Consensus Discussion
Tuesday, February 11, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
In-person or virtual TBD
Jeff Oster has been leading the LWVCO Religious Freedom Study Group and will be hosting in-person presentations statewide. These sessions will provide historical context on the First Amendment, explore challenges like religious nationalism, discuss tax-funded support of private and religious schools, mandated Bible study in schools, and other current ideas that are being put forth that challenge the separation of church and state. The presentation will foster discussion and clarity on these critical issues in anticipation of a consensus vote on a proposed statewide League Position.
This meeting may be for League members only because the Study Group will be recommending that LWVCO adopt a position supporting the First Amendment within which our rights related to freedom of religion are stated. Denver League of Women Voters will be asked to come to consensus regarding the proposed position by March 1, 2025. You will be hearing more about this study in future Voter issues and Updates. For now, please hold this date in your calendars.
What's Up at the Colorado Western Center?
Tuesday, February 18, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
Virtual on Zoom
In 2015, Denver voters approved the issuance of bonds or other obligations in an amount not to exceed $778 million dollars from a 1.75% tourism tax on hotel rooms and rental cars to enhance and develop the Colorado Western Center. How have these funds been used to benefit our city?
The US Federal Judicial System 101 -- Its History, Challenges and Suggested Reforms
Tuesday, March 4, 5:30 - 7:15 p.m.
In person at Montview and open to the public
LWVD members formed a study group about the federal judicial system to inform voters about a democratic institution that has been the focus of much scrutiny lately. This will be the educational session to prepare LWVD members for the upcoming consensus process on a proposal from LWVUS on a nationwide Position on the federal judiciary.
Sue Stark, Director of Program | Annual Letter
Once again this December, LWVD has sent a letter to members and friends asking for support for our valuable work. The letter details all of the many voter education and voter registrations successes of our League this year and asks for a tax-deductible contribution. Please consider contributing or sending the letter to friends.
Annual Letter
| Meet Kayla Berry: LWV Denver’s new Office Manager
 “Its been a great week! I think I’ll come in on Monday.”, Kayla said summing up her first week as the new Office Manager. Kayla was drawn to apply for the League job due to her interest in research-based grass roots activism. A Colorado native, Kayla was raised in Grand Junction by a voting-conscious family. Her parents urged her to do her own election research so that she could form her opinions and be an informed voter. She remembers fondly participating in mock elections in school. These elections included researching the candidates and sending in the ballots to the teachers who acted as election officials.
After high school an interest in criminal justice and forensic science took Kayla east to New Haven University in Connecticut. Law enforcement, however, did not meet her interest in helping people to feel safe in their environments. Additionally, the humid Connecticut weather could not compete with the dry and sunny Colorado winters, so Kayla transferred to the University of Colorado Boulder. It was at CU that Kayla found her passion.
She participated in the two-year Social and Environmental Justice Leadership Program that prepares leaders in grass roots activism. Her first internship focused on learning about environmentally responsible farming and mining practices and then advocating for them at the Colorado State Capitol. Kayla headed to Detroit to learn grass roots organizing and community activism at the Grace Lee Boggs Community Center, which teaches community leadership. Her CU capstone project focused on promoting comprehensive self-defense strategies to change gender-based violence individually and at the community level. This project led her to start her own business, We Are Safer Together. In addition to self-defense classes, Kayla and her partner want to focus on safety and trauma-informed healing in communities through grassroots community activism.
Kayla loves reading science fiction and fantasy when not rock climbing, skiing, hiking, swimming, rafting or playing pickle ball. She keeps company with her husband, Brian List, who is Director of Rock Climbing at Colorado Academy, and her two cats Vlad and Tsu.
Please welcome Kayla when you get the chance to meet her in person.
Jeanette Scotland, Co-Director of Organization | Support the League by Shopping!
We have almost 100 free Safeway cards available that are linked to the League. They do not have any money loaded into them, but they can be easily loaded by credit card in stores and used for groceries or gas. With each purchase, LWVD receives 5%. Consider picking several up at the office for holiday gifts or use one regularly for grocery purchases.
| New Membership Portal Coming
Joining and renewing your membership will now be handled by LWVUS, centering membership all in one place. To do this, LWVUS has adopted a new membership platform for national, state and local Leagues called ChapterSpot. This change to joining and renewing will go into effect in early February.
A significant change will be that dues are now pay-what-you-can. The recommended dues rate will be $75 (minimum of $20). Of this $75, 20% of dues will go to the Denver League, 47% will go to the state League, and 33% will go to LWVUS. On the page after you choose your dues rate, there will be an option to make a contribution directly to your local League and 100% of that donation will go to Denver League. Our sustaining and benefactor memberships, which included donation amounts, will no longer exist. If you are a sustaining or benefactor member now, you can continue to add to your basic $75 membership by making an additional donation on the next web page. However, you can avoid this additional step by donating directly to the LWVD by using our website or sending a check. We strongly recommend this.
The National League's preferred method to pay your dues will be ACH, an electronic payment method that just requires typing in the numbers found at the bottom of your check. This is preferred because it has the lowest fees and maximizes the amount of money going toward League work. The secondary option is to pay online by credit/debit card.
We will be sending more information as it becomes available from the national League in the Weekly Updates. If your membership is due, please consider renewing soon, before the change. A list of FAQ is located on the National League website at lwv.org under League Management. You can also email membership@lwv.org with any questions.
| In Memoriam
We recently learned of the passing of two of our 50-year members in November. We learned through a daughter that Rhoda Weinstein died in Vermont at the age of 88. Rhoda joined League in New Jersey when she was 21 years-old, undoubtedly the earliest she could at that time, and was active in many other social justice groups as well. She moved to Denver after retirement and joined the Observatory Unit and attended every briefing she could during those years before moving again to be close to family.
Also through a daughter, we learned of the passing of Bev Bridges from complications with Parkinson’s. Our records show Bev joined the Denver League in 1970. She was very active in Observatory Unit and served on our board in many capacities including Program and Voter Service. For years, she was in charge of King Soopers’ Coupons, which were paper at that time and had to be taken to events. Every briefing found Bev sitting at the entrance table encouraging us to purchase. She received the Mother Lode Award in 2003 and our Shirley Weaver Suffragist Award for a lifetime of outstanding service to League in 2010. | Welcome New Members
Kathleen Cook, kathycook1029@gmail.com
Eleanor Crymes, eleanor.crymes@gmail.com
Virginia Dickinson, ginnid20@gmail.com
Laura Hundley, hundley.laura@gmail.com
Laura Lefkowits, laura@lefkowits.com
Joanne Littau, jslittau@gmail.com
Nancy McMahon, nancymcmahon123@gmail.com
Anna Munoa, amunoa@gmail.com
Holly Noel, hanoel86@gmail.com
Sheila Porter, sheilaporter1@comcast.net
Mary Title, gorillatitle@aol.com
Erika Walker, ewalker8070@gmail.com | Board Highlights
Monday, December 9, 2024
- Met our new office manager, Kayla Berry
- Approved holiday gifts for the church sextons (custodians)
- Recognized the success of our new Socially Aware Book Club and heard ideas for a February Drinks and Dialogue
- Learned the timeline for possible consensus on two new studies, one at the state level and one at the national level
- Heard of a potential collaborations with Denver Public Schools and Girl Scouts especially for our Youth Council, established this past year
| LWV Denver Units
A great place for meaningful conversations
Units are small groups who meet after briefings to discuss the topic further and whatever else is on the minds of the attendees. In December, since we do not have briefings, the units usually choose something to do together. Think about joining one of the "Choices" or making a New Year's resolution to join a unit in 2025.
December/January schedule:
Cheesman Unit
Unit's Choice: Met December 10 at the LWV Colorado’s new office downtown and had lunch at Ponti's in the Denver Art Museum. They are also encouraging members to donate to the Denver Indian Center noting the donation is from a League of Women Voters member.
Next in-person meeting: Tuesday, January 28, 9:30 a.m. at Bobbie’s House
Leader: Bobbie Heisterkamp (303-333-6818)
Cherrington Unit
Unit's Choice: Usually a field trip, this year to Joshua Station in west Denver at 1:00 p.m. followed by lunch in the area. Joshua Station is transformational housing for families rebuilding from homelessness.
Next in-person meeting: Thursday, January 23, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Place TBA.
Leader: Peg Oldham (720-220-3988)
Highland/Woodbury Unit
Unit's Choice: A potluck lunch at Sally Augden’s house, Dec. 18 at 1:00 p.m.
Next in-person meeting: January 15 at 1:00 p.m. at Sassafras Restaurant, 3927 W 32nd Ave. (80212)
Leader: Sally Augden (303-455-5800)
Observatory Unit
Because Thanksgiving interfered with their November meeting, they used their Unit's Choice to discuss the Indian Center briefing on December 10.
Next Meeting: January 28 on Zoom, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Contact Diane Young (303-886-3365) dioyoung@comcast for Zoom link.
| VOTER Articles Welcome!
We welcome articles from all members. We usually publish the VOTER on the fourth Thursday, so the deadline to submit articles is the Friday before.
| VOTER |
Article Deadline |
Voter Publication Date |
| February. |
Friday, January 17 |
Thursday, January 23 |
| March |
Friday, February 21 |
Thursday, February 27 |
Please send your articles or ideas about articles to pzelarney@yahoo.com. | Rather Read the VOTER on Paper?
Click this link for a printable pdf version of the newsletter (9 pages this month):
Printable LWVD VOTER
| | 1980 Dahlia Street, Denver, CO 80220
303-321-7571 | | | |