The LWVD Newsletter
March 2022 | March Briefing
Health and Employment Issues
for Non-binary And Transgender People
Tuesday, March 15, 5:30 p.m.
Zoom
 
Please join us for further exploration of the issues faced by non-binary and transgender individuals in health and employment. Our panel includes Marvyn Allen, who some will remember from last fall's program briefing, presenting issues in accessing health care, and Ariel DeFazio who will talk about rights in the workplace and remaining issues in employment.
Marvyn Allen is the Health Equity and Training Director at One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy organization dedicated to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Coloradans and their families. Allen has a bachelor’s in Social Work, a Master’s in Public Administration, and a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies.
Ariel DeFazio is an attorney with Lowrey Parady Lebsack and over a decade of experience representing employees in state and federal suits and investigations of discrimination and retaliation. DeFazio has bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and graduated from University of Colorado Law School.
Elsie Haley, Chair, Non-binary/transgender task force | Party Caucuses Will Be Held March 1st
To find your precinct number go to Vote411.org.
To find your caucus location go to:
For Republican - https://denvergop.org/uncategorized/caucus-2022/
For Democratic - https://www.denverdemocrats.org/county-post/2022-denver-democratic-caucus-information
What happens at a precinct caucus? At the precinct caucus, organized by the political party rather than the Secretary of State, party members come together to elect precinct organizers. The organizers fundraise in the precinct, organize and officiate at the caucus meeting and may do flyer distributions in the precinct.
In addition, the caucus elects representatives of candidates to go to the county, district, and state assemblies and conventions. These bodies vote for candidates to make up the ballot for various county and state-wide races. The district and county assemblies meet within three weeks of the caucuses and the state conventions meet 73 days before the June 28 Primary.
Jeanette Scotland, Co-Chair Voter Service | Background on the Public Safety Study Group
With the increasing concerns about police killings in recent years, League presented two briefings around the protests’ slogan of Defunding the Police with State Representative Leslie Herod speaking at our Kick-Off in September 2020 and Denise Maes of the ACLU Colorado on Police Reform and Civil Rights in February of 2021. We began using the phrase, “Reimagining the Police,” and Barbara Allen Ford, then Assistant Director of Program, began a Police Study Group in the winter of 2021, which eventually morphed into the Public Safety Study Group. They have been studying the complex world of police and public safety and have just completed a series of interviews of the Caring for Denver Foundation, the STAR Program Manager, Police Chief Paul Pazen, and the head of the Reimagining Police Task Force. They have attended Citizen Oversight Board meetings and City Council Health Safety and Housing Committee meetings and City Council Public Safety Task Force meetings. | City Council on Public Safety
Interviews by the Public Safety Study Group
The Public Safety Study Group was privileged to meet with Councilpersons Paul Kashmann and Jamie Torres in December. Kashmann is chair and Torres is a member of the City Council’s Committee on Safety, Housing, Education & Homelessness and addressed our prepared questions.
Among their answers to a question about obstacles to improving public safety, Councilperson Kashmann responded, “Chief among them is very divergent views of what the problem is. Many believe that this is about law and order. Approaching public safety as a public health issue is a costly approach, but continuously adding more “law and order” isn’t getting at the root cause.”
At the encouragement of Councilman Kashmann, the Public Safety Study Group interviewed the entire membership of the Denver Council two or three members at a time. Here are the questions we asked:
- To what extent is City Council guiding changes in the Denver Police Department?
- What progress have you seen in improving public safety in Denver?
- What are the changes you advocate for? What are your priorities?
- What are the obstacles to realizing those changes?
- What can the League and individual citizens do?
The first of two installments summarizing our interviews held between December and February is on our website. The breadth and depth of the ideas shared is stunning. Embedded in the ideas you will also find the diversity of opinion mentioned by Councilman Kashmann, which also reflects the differences in attitudes and beliefs from divergent parts of Denver.
We have assembled their comments in an unfiltered and unattributed manner to give you a clear assessment of the state of the Council on the issue of safety. The list is long, but persevering through will give you quite a good sense of the state of the Council on this important issue.
As a teaser, here are the answers to "What can the League and individual citizens do?"
- The League can help by helping citizens understand programs and policy and the geopolitical variations of one part of the city to another.
- Become involved. Observe the Citizens Oversight Board. Apply to attend the Police Department Community Academy.
- Understand the power structure. If we think the Mayor has too much power, change the Charter. Attend and monitor City Council meetings.
- Volunteer for the firearms exchange program or the police community volunteer programs.
- Help people understand the way Denver’s government is set up. People are frustrated.
- Help people realize that the civil rights of homeless people prevent the city from implementing some solutions.
- We need more people involved and speaking up.
The Study Group is planning two briefings in April (5 and 19) which will capture the essence of our work to date. One goal we have is to engage the membership more in City Council. We are hoping to revitalize the Observer Corp for City Council and the Safety, Housing, Education & Homelessness Committee which meets on Wednesday mornings at 10:30 a.m. It is an excellent way to find out about many city and community programs and services. We also are hoping to revitalize our LWVD Program positions, particularly as they relates to public safety and public health.
Barbara Allen Ford, Director of Program
Octavia Davis, Chris Humphries, Andrea Mitchell, Kathy Yates | 55th LWV National Convention in Denver
SHERATON DOWNTOWN & ONLINE
JUNE 23-JUNE 26, 2022
LWVCO and LWVD will be hosting the biannual national convention in June in downtown Denver. It is planned to be a hybrid event with either in-person or virtual participation possible. We will need to provide volunteers for the in-person part of the event. Mark your calendars and think about being a volunteer. National is also looking for members willing to host Leaguers from out-of-state in their homes. Marge Fisch and Nancy Ulrich are coordinating for Denver and working with Beth Hendrix at State League. More information to come!
An important part of the convention is deciding on Program for the upcoming two years. Program planning is the grassroots process of recommending and selecting governmental issues for study and agreement in reaching a position. The LWVUS Board has recommended that Program 2022-2024 continue the Campaign for Making Democracy Work® with Leagues throughout the country, which includes work on:
- Voting Rights
- Improving Elections
- Money in Politics
- Redistricting
LWV Denver’s Program Committee just completed Program Planning for LWVUS and LWVCO (now called Positions for Action Review). We strongly supported accepting the recently developed position on election security by LWVCO through an impressive grass-roots process. Although we supported Making Democracy Work at both levels, we also made other suggestions for League positions and action. We can give you more details about those suggestions after the results are announced by LWVUS and LWVCO.
More information on program planning and the LWVUS recommended program can be found on the LWVUS website.
| Our Local League Positions on Social Policy
A year ago, the Program Committee asked me to inform our members about our local, Denver positions, available in the publication Denver Local Program. Although we tend to use State and National Positions in our advocacy in Colorado, we do have Denver positions as well.
Personally, I would suggest that our positions on Social Policy are perhaps our least developed and have become in most circumstances out-of-date. Below are summaries of the four positions under Social Policy.
Positions on Housing: Support of measures to ensure adequate and affordable housing for residents of all incomes. (1965)
Support for the concept of public housing, including dispersed housing. (1965, 1991)
There is a note that LWVD members have been concerned with housing since the 1930s. We are well aware that this issue continues to be of major concern, especially as housing has become more and more expensive in Denver. Most of the “Standards” under this position concern the use of public funds in various ways, as well as zoning and use of government land. An interesting note in parentheses does say that Park land in not considered suitable. This note was used by those supporting Initiated Ordinance 301 in last November’s election.
Position on Education: Support for quality education for all Denver children, long-range planning of school facilities, programs more responsive to individual needs, and increasing communications between schools and community. (1966)
So much has happened in education in the many years since this position was adopted. We did have an active Education Committee that regularly presented briefings on various issues in Denver Public Schools. Unfortunately, our local resource committees have dissolved over the years. It was suggested at our last board meeting that we should try to renew an Observer Corps that would monitor the DPS school board and our Denver City Council.
Position on Human Resources Program: Support for adequate funding of human resources programs which are of value to Denver’s people. (1975)
At our Program Planning meeting last year, several members said they didn’t have a clue what this means. I admit it is vague. However, looking at the notes, the study which produced this position speaks of employment, welfare, and other programs in the fight for the eradication of poverty. Our Women’s Issues Committee at the time worked diligently on many of these issues. From that committee’s efforts came our remarkable program, Women to Watch, which unfortunately in on hold due to the pandemic.
Position on Health: Support for health care being available to all Denver residents and for consumers assuming more responsibility for becoming aware of costs of health care for themselves and their families. (1977)
We must admit, there is not much there. However, we can be assured that on the State and National levels, health care has been a priority. Our LWVUS health care position was adopted in 1994, after a two-year study. I was at that convention when it was adopted. It was exciting. More recently, LWVCO led the way to add Behavior Health to our State and National positions.
This completes our summaries of our Denver positions on Government and Social Policy. You can find all our local Positions in Brief on our website under Advocacy. We also have the entire Denver Local Program 2015, listing many of the briefings and subjects we have studied since the 1930s, available as a link at the bottom of the Advocacy page.
Marty Sloven, Past Director of Program
| When Will Women to Watch Return?
You may have noticed a brief announcement in the LWVD Weekly Update that the board has decided that the Women to Watch (WTW) Program will be delayed for another year due to the pandemic. However, some of the newer League members might not know what this uniquely League event is all about and why, to many of us, its repeated postponement is another loss we have had to adjust to in these challenging times.
Women to Watch was created several decades ago by two highly creative and compassionate Leaguers, Jane Wasson and Mary Ann Feldman-Lang. They wanted to find a way for us to honor women in the Denver community who are often overlooked. Each fall, they reached out to agencies and organizations to nominate women who had faced significant challenges in their lives due to social and economic barriers and yet were striving to attain self-sufficiency and personal goals. The nominees were individually interviewed in person by WTW committee members - at their homes, schools, jobs, and social service agencies. The selected awardees were honored at an event and tea in March every year for Women's History Month. Their families, friends, employers, teachers and nominators were all invited to join LWVD members to hear their stories and celebrate their achievements. Most of the awardees had never been acknowledged for persevering in the face of truly difficult circumstances. We gave each woman a corsage, a LWV mug and a framed certificate; cameras flashed and tears often flowed.
WTW awardees are the members of our community for whom League advocates to ensure that civil rights are upheld and to bring about change in socioeconomic policies and legislation. WTW was one way we could let them know we hear their voices and they in turn inspire us to continue our work.
I took over as Chair of the Women to Watch committee in 2016 and worked with great committee members until the pandemic made it impossible to do all the in-person pieces of the program. We are now looking ahead to the fall of 2023 to accept nominations and celebrate in March of 2024 to bring back this heartwarming event. This is a great future LWVD volunteering opportunity!
Susan Stark | Board Member Highlight
Bobbie Heisterkamp, Treasurer
Editor’s Note: This is the sixth in a series of articles highlighting Board members. We thought you’d like to know a little more about their backgrounds and what League means to them. We’ve also asked them for recommendations on books, movies, or activities.
 Almost 30 years ago (in 1993) my last two children went off to college, and I had to retire from the Parent Teacher Student Association where I was president of the East High School branch. I looked around and discovered that the League of Women Voters had an active Education Committee, so I joined the LWV Denver and added myself to that committee. Since then, I have tried many positions: Treasurer of LWVD and LWVCO, President of LWVD and LWVCO, VOTER Editor of LWVCO and Unit Organization chair of LWVD. Each position gave me new perspective on how the League works and what I could do to help further its mission.
My life has two sides: Denver and Big Elk Meadows near Estes Park. My Denver side contains the Blue Mountain Investment Club, a Wellesley Book Club, and the Denver Postcard Club. My Big Elk Meadows side contains 28 years as treasurer of the Big Elk Meadows Association and Big Elk Water Association, Vice-President of the Estes Park Museum Friends and unofficial historian of the Big Elk Meadows area. I have a research collection of vintage postcards from Rocky Mountain National Park and vicinity, and I continue to acquire and document new postcards along with the 21,000 I already own. These resources have been used by many authors and lecturers, and I occasionally give presentations about the Lost Lodges of Rocky Mountain National Park using my postcards as illustrations. In collaboration with Estes Park Historian Laureate Jim Pickering, I published a book, Shared Moments, Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park as Remembered in Postcards.
My background includes graduating from Wellesley College in 1965 with a degree in Mathematics and from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967 with a Masters in Mathematics. I married David Heisterkamp, an anesthesiologist, in 1965, and we had five children: David II in 1967; Wendy in 1968; Rebecca in 1971 and twins Christopher and Charlie in 1975. We traveled to many foreign countries and designed a mountain house together. David died in 2009 leaving me with five wonderful children to remind me of him every day. | In Memoriam
We were saddened to hear of the death of one of our LWV Denver leaders on February 10, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Joan Sussman, a Honorary Member of over 50 years, and our president from 1991-92, was a dedicated Leaguer and lover of the arts. She and her husband Karl were involved in many Denver civic groups. As a friend said, “Hers was a life well-lived.”
| Grocery Rewards
Grocery card revenue continues to be an important fundraiser for the League. Consider these two options to contribute - or both.
Safeway Community Giving Cards
These cards can be reloaded for any amount to make shopping easier and are the perfect gift for every occasion!
The cards are $10.00 and can be purchased by sending a check to LWV Denver at 1980 Dahlia Street, Denver, CO 80220.
Please contact Nancy Ulrich, 303-359-1484, with questions.
King Soopers Rewards Program
Instead of a gift card program, the King Soopers Rewards program uses their SooperCard to send rewards to participating not-for-profit organizations. If you designate LWV Denver as your preferred organization, we will get a quarterly check for 5% of all the groceries, gas, and pharmacy purchases when you use your member SooperCard (or phone number as “alt id”). To enroll, go to https://www.kingsoopers.com/communityrewards. You will be able to continue to either use your SooperCard or your phone number as the "alt id" in this program. No need for a separate gift card. | Welcome New and Renewing Members!
Theresa Cookro, inforocks@gmail.com
Barrett Edstrom, bsedstrom@aol.com
Barbara Floyd-Hall, no email
Dana Fox, dana.fox@mac.com
Cynthia Kean, cindykean@aol.com
Irene Tynes, irtynes@gmail.com | Please Renew Your Membership or
Become a Member
If you received this email and are not a member, please consider joining us. If it's time to renew your membership, consider doing it on-line. Follow this link to join or renew at one of our membership levels. Membership dues are tax deductible.
| Regular Individual Membership |
$60 |
| Sustaining membership (includes an additional donation) |
$125 |
Two regular members at the same address
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| Two sustaining members at the same address (includes an additional donation) |
$150 |
Member needing assistance with paying dues
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$5 |
| Part or full-time student |
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Members: Forward this VOTER and encourage your friends and neighbors to join! | | www.LWVDenver.org
info@LWVDenver.org | | 1980 Dahlia Street, Denver, CO 80220
303-321-7571 | | | |