The LWVD Newsletter
Summer 2022 | Annual Meeting Recap
About forty members joined us on May 14 to conduct business and express pride in our Denver League. The meeting opened with our keynote speaker, Dawn Davenport, PhD., who oversees the Child and Family Services at the Mental Health Center of Denver who gave a well-received presentation. See a summary of her talk by Elsie Hayley later in this VOTER.
Here are some highlights from the business meeting:
- Marty Sloven gave a short history of why we changed from having a president to three directors leading our organization. Then each of the three directors spoke about their areas.
- Bobbie Heisterkamp presented the 2022-2023 budget and said we may need to take money from reserves this year to balance the budget. Money from the bulb sale will cover some of the shortfall.
- Many members have assisted our Program Chairs in planning and directing a variety of briefings that were well-attended. The Police Study Committee had many meetings and the Non-binary Committee presented two briefings.
- There was a discussion and vote on a by-law change relating to flexibility in making changes to our program positions, which passed.
- The slate of board members was presented and accepted with the addition of Chris Humphries as Member-at-Large.
- A favorite part of the meeting, as always, was the awards given to our members. See the texts of the presentations below.
- Members had the opportunity to express their concerns and questions during Directions to the Board.
- The meeting concluded with a raffle of gift certificates to the symphony and a local restaurant.
Pam Hovik and Marge Fisch, Co-Directors of Organization | Awards!
Shirley Weaver Suffragist Award
For Lifetime Achievement
Carolyn Engelken
 We were so happy to have Carolyn Engelken win the Shirley Weaver Suffragist Award this spring. Carolyn joined the Denver League in 1993 and almost immediately joined Observatory Unit where she served as Unit Leader for several years. When Buffalo Unit began in a downtown restaurant, she joined that group for a new experience and perhaps to help them get going. Later she joined Cheesman Unit, again where she served as Unit Leader and Co-Leader. Finally, she came full circle and rejoined Observatory more recently. What an interesting way to experience League and so many of its members.
Carolyn served many years as chair and co-chair of Denver’s Health Committee. These were crucial years after the League’s entrée into healthcare with the National position in 1993, a position we still use today, although with additions. For we don’t know how many years, Carolyn was LWVCO’s volunteer lobbyist on reproductive health until she retired a few years ago. Although that is a State League position, Carolyn represented the Denver League well and always gave a thorough presentation of the year’s activities at our Denver Legislative Wrap-Ups every May. Marge says that whenever she was at the State League Office, it seemed as if Carolyn was also there.
She served on Denver’s board, always sold and worked on packaging flower bulbs, worked on mailing the Voter each month, and seemed to always be willing to help with whatever project we needed her for. She was on the top of the list of "Call Anytime" members. Carolyn always attended briefings and was just one of those members who was always there for us.
Carolyn had struggled the last few months, and we were thrilled to see her accept the award with many of her family members watching on Zoom. Thanks to League member and friend Mary Alice Behrns for helping us pull this off. Sadly, Carolyn passed away a few weeks after the presentation. She will be missed.
Marge Fisch and Marty Sloven
First Annual JEDI Award
(Justice, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion)
Octaivia Davis & Lilah Connelly
Octaivia Davis serves as a member of the Public Safety Study Group (PSSG), a LWVD group originally founded to investigate and understand the point of view of George Floyd protesters regarding the truth of unequal justice toward people of color by Denver Police Department. Octaivia is both a LWVD member and granddaughter of LWVD member, Chris Humphries. She has shared her personal and painful lived experience of racially unjust police violence. And as she graduates this Spring from Metro State University, her proactive plan for her life’s work is improving the lives of homeless and mentally ill people, often BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) victims of a failed public safety net and vulnerable to being misunderstood by police. Octaivia is an outspoken change agent, who understands the relationship between public policy and community engagement. She has been a leader at MSU, holding the campus police to a standard that requires responding to the community. She brought that orientation to the PSSG, understanding the fundamental rule that above all the police are accountable to the community they serve. She is intensely curious. She speaks the truth as she sees it. Octaivia was instrumental in moving our study group beyond talking to one another to arranging some of our first informant interviews, including Dr. Robert Davis of the Reimagining Law Enforcement Task Force and Carleigh Sailon of the STAR program. She has also brought enthusiasm and creativity to our work, making it a joy for us at our weekly meetings. Octaivia is our next generation of League.
Presented by Barbara Ford
It gives me great pleasure to present the JEDI award to Lilah Connelly for her volunteerism for the last two years. JEDI stands for Justice, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. Lilah emulates this acronym quite well with the stellar volunteerism that she has performed the last two years on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Denver. Lilah first came to us right after she received her graduate degree. At the time, Lilah was looking to help out a worthy non-profit as she settled into life post-grad. I, of course, met with Lilah, who is a delight and so very interesting and willing to help however she can. Lilah over the last two years has put our extensive partnership data together that allows us to partner with other like-minded entities. In addition, we scrubbed the Colorado League’s website for Denver locations that also fall into voter service opportunities. Lilah impressed me so much. Above what I requested, she prepared an accompanying document that allowed us to see where we started and where we ended up once all the addresses and contact personnel were updated. (Meaning, while the data was updated, we can still follow the historical information of the partnerships and former contacts.) Lilah has also helped with some computer database cleanup, and I am grateful for her willingness to roll up her sleeves to get the job done. Lilah truly deserves the JEDI award.
Presented by Fran N. Coleman
Marty Sloven Mother Lode Award
For Outstanding Service to the League This Year
Kathy Yates & Elsie Haley
Kathy Yates joined the LWV of Denver just a few years ago. She had gotten her feet wet quickly, helping out with Voter Service. But when Kathy stepped into the role of Co-Program Director, there was no holding her back. She immediately began guiding the process of briefings for the 21-22 League year. She got our Program Committee back meeting regularly and helping to make key decisions. She had previously joined the Public Safety Committee and stepped up to an even greater level of involvement, ultimately scheduling 13 City Council people and Chief of Police, Paul Pazen, for informational interviews about the City’s public safety needs and police reform. Of course, her position as Program Co-Director also meant that she has served on the Executive Committee of the League Board, as well. She has been very helpful in furnishing support as our League has moved in the direction of becoming more reliant on video conferencing. She has happily played the role of facilitator and emcee of meetings. She has lent her creativity to strategies for broadening membership and attendance at briefings. She has willingly shared her expertise as a trained facilitator, in addition to her talents in business and organization.
Presented by Barbara Ford
Elsie Haley, the co-winner of the Marty Sloven Mother Lode (of gold) Award, is a talented note taker, writer and organizer. She has shared her skills with our League much to our benefit. Most recently she has taken on the task of herding cats: i.e. League members, to do what she does so easily: researching, note taking and writing. I think one skill she has gained is scheduling meetings of very busy Leaguers. She used her skills this last year by organizing, editing and re-editing and leading a small group of members in the publication of the Non-Binary Tool Kit. Furthermore, she led the committee to organize two briefings with panelists to help educate the League on the same subject. Finally, she has been a meeting leader at several Board meetings respecting the ideas of other board members. This is not an easy job as our board members like to vocalize their ideas to make sure all Board members are "informed voters". And she did all this in addition to her Director of Communication responsibilities and undergoing and recovering from knee replacement surgery. Elsie deserves to be honored for her hard work and dedication to helping League achieve its mission.
Presented by Jeanette Scotland
| Annual Meeting Keynote Speaker
Dr. Dawn Davenport Highlights Services Available to Denver Children and Families
LWV Denver was privileged to have as our Annual Meeting keynote speaker, Dr. Dawn Davenport, Vice President of Child and Family Services at the Mental Health Center of Denver. Dr. Davenport emphasized that the organization uses systems-based work, including families and other systems that are influential in children’s lives.
Child and Family Services has a variety of programs to deliver their services:
The Educational Play Team provides support for early learning centers—both children and staff—including grief support.
Right Start works on mental health for infants, serving early learning centers, doctors and hospitals.
Outpatient services works across the entire life span, infant to the elderly.
Skyline Academy educates grades one through eight with behavioral and emotional support. The goal is to transition Skyline students back to the regular school system.
Community based school support makes sure clinicians are embedded in some DPS schools.
The Intensive Treatment Team provides family therapy and partners with the juvenile justice system.
Stay Safe Partnership is a grant-funded clinic for youth who have attempted suicide.
Vox y Corazon provides suicide awareness and prevention.
Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-Being is the latest location and provides extensive services, including access to produce and protein, a community garden, clinical services, a dental clinic, a food pantry and a community event space.
Dr. Davenport’s ultimate goal is to provide services to every community in Denver. New resources are coming soon to the Somali community in West Denver and to the Montbello neighborhood. Her challenges include a shortage of qualified workers and adequate funding.
If you missed Dr. Davenport’s speech, a recording is available on the LWV Denver website.
Elsie Haley, Director of Communication | Thanks to Those Who Bought, Sold or DonatedTo this Year’s Bulb Sale
As we go to print, our total sales and donations for the flower bulb sale are $7,600 short of our goal of $23,000. In hindsight, that was probably an unrealistic goal, and we are thankful for the money we did make. We had hoped the new option of ordering online and Barbara Mattison’s marketing efforts would increase sales, and they did make a difference. Although we aren’t sure who all the people are who ordered online, there are many names we don’t recognize, many undoubtedly from Barbara’s efforts.
We usually recognize those who sell, buy, or donate $200 or more. However, this year we don’t always know the answers to that since we don’t always know if a member is connected with a sale. Just know that anything you did to help, even the smallest order, was appreciated and helpful.
In the next couple of months, some of you might want to look at the list of online purchasers to see if you had customers who purchased bulbs that you can deliver for us. In October, we will be looking for members to package the bulbs and deliver them.
Thanks to the others on our bulb team this year, Barbara and Roger Mattison and Andrea Mitchell. Andrea has done and is doing all the computer work, including setting up the online option. We plan to discuss changes for next year that will make the sale more effective. For example, it may be that going online with the sale reduced the number of “personal touch” contacts that were made. We all know that it is more compelling to be asked to donate or purchase when the ask is coming from an individual rather than through 'internet'!
We have heard from several members who struggled to sell this year that perhaps we have become too dependent on the bulb sale. If you have ideas for other fundraisers, please let Fran know in the office, and she will send those ideas on to the Development Committee.
Marty Sloven, Bulb Sale Team Member | League of Women Voters of Colorado
Annual Meeting
May 20 – 22, 2022
Safeguarding Global Democracy
The convention opened at 5:00 p.m. Friday afternoon after a social hour with participants from around the state. Diane Primavera, Lieutenant Governor, welcomed the participants and stated, “... the women of Colorado will decide the next election.”
The usual convening business was conducted followed by the Business Reports and Presentations.
- Bonnie Seals presented financial statements and the proposed Budget for 2022-23 - to be voted upon on Saturday. There is a onetime increase in PMP income from $30,000 to $58,000 because of the change in the way PMP is collected from once a year to automatic weekly withdrawal from the local League bank account when a member joins or renews.
- Gerry Cummins presented a White Paper on Elections that has been written by the state League. It examines key election components: security; user friendliness and transparency. The 23-page report is available on the state website: lwvcolorado.org. This paper was also presented and well-received at the LWVUS Convention last weekend. See the accompanying article about the report later in this VOTER.
- Proposed Bylaws Change Presentation (to be voted upon Saturday). Irene Tines presented the bylaws change which follows a decision in 2021 to eliminate Conventions and Councils and substitute Annual Meetings each year to expedite the Program.
- Proposed Program 2022-23 Presentation (to be voted upon Saturday)
- Barb Whinery presented the board recommendations. She stated, “we are focusing on action and not doing a lot of studies.”
- The LWVCO Board recommends retaining all current positions and that no new study or review of positions take place, and continuing the campaign Making Democracy Work with emphasis on the following: voting rights; improving elections; money in politics and redistricting.
- The LWVCO Board did not recommend the following proposals by various Leagues around the state: a review of the position on Zoning Laws (Arapahoe/Douglas League); an update of current positions on housing which do not adequately address homelessness (Jefferson County League), or a review and update to current relevant terminology for LGBTQ+, including “justice” and “right to liberty;” putting homelessness, policing, gun violence and behavioral health under public health and safety; and recategorizing “reproductive health” under health care (Denver League).
- Officers & Directors 2022-3 Presentation (to be voted upon Saturday). Connie Fox presented the results of the nominating committee search for board members.
|
President |
Irene Tines, Denver |
| Vice-President |
Sharon Davis, Larimer |
| Secretary |
Veniece Miller, Mesa |
| Treasurer |
Bonnie Seals, Estes Park |
| Voter Services |
Chris Humphries, Denver; Barb Whinery Greeley/Weld |
| Action & Advocacy |
Maud Naroll, Arapahoe/Douglas, Kathy Wilson, Larimer |
| Local League Support |
Karen Sheek, Montezuma |
|
Directors-At-Large |
Stering Harris, Denver; Deborah Lively, Denver; Cameron Manning, Denver; and Anne McGihon, Denver |
JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion): Bonnie Seals discussed a new initiative at the state level to widen the lens of the communities that the League encompasses and to try to co-market and sync our events with other organizations. “Partner, partner, partner” she said. Currently, League members are predominantly female, white and privileged, and League struggles with gaining diverse membership when their outreach is tone-deaf. The LWV Colorado is directly recruiting community leaders with no previous League experience into leadership roles. The goal is to establish a statewide JEDI task force to consolidate resources, develop an action plan, ensure local programs are advertised on the statewide website, and build local relationships. It is important to listen to the local needs first and then build a program based on those needs rather than on preconceived notions.
The convention reconvened at 9:00 a.m. Saturday. Ambassador Gary Grappo spoke on Democracy’s Biggest Test: Confronting Authoritarianism in the 21st Century. Today, twenty-one countries meet the criteria as being a Full Democracy, down from twenty-nine countries in 2012, so we’re backsliding. The United States was downgraded in 2017 to a Flawed Democracy.
The American political system is geared towards the short-term, and budgets are created on an annual basis, not a multi-year basis. Countries around the world are hesitant to follow America’s lead towards Democracy because it is not guaranteed in the long term. Democracy does not have all the answers for other countries. Authoritarian countries like China, Russia, Iran and North Korea seem to have some answers that attract other countries. The natural order of things historically has been authoritarianism.
America should establish democratic principles first and then hold elections, or we are doomed to failure. It is important to educate our citizens, when they are young, about Democracy.
The Proposed Budget, Proposed Bylaws, Proposed Program and the Proposed Officers & Directors all passed.
Directions to the Board: Linda Hutchinson presented the statement on News Access & Literacy, which had been approved for inclusion in the Making Democracy Work agenda. Shelly Roehrs asked the board to look into the lack of ballot box locations in downtown Colorado Springs because there were no working cameras for that area. Jeanette Scotland asked the board to partner with more Latina groups and offered an immigration presentation for the board as well as statewide.
Bobbie Heisterkamp
| Colorado's Innovative and Stellar Election System
 The United States is a representative democracy with our government elected by citizens. Citizen participation is key, and voting is a cherished political right. Colorado’s voting system is considered an election gold standard and exemplifies the League mission: Empowering Voters, Defending Democracy. It is a product of evolving improvements, as elected county clerks, the elected Secretary of State, and other stakeholders seek additional means to provide accessibility, security, accuracy and transparency.
The League of Colorado has created a document to provide a general overview of Colorado’s election system with the purpose of supporting League members nationwide in advocating for election reforms and legislation enabling the mail delivery of ballots to all registered voters.
This is the culmination of work Denver Leaguer Sue Stark did with Karen Sheek, Gerry Cummings, Fern Black and Stacie Johnson over the past nine months. She tells us it was many, many hours of work and a true labor of love. Her interest in being a part of this project grew out of volunteering as a Poll Watcher in the 2020 election. Sue would love to get more LWV members to take the training and serve as Poll Watchers in upcoming elections.
Check out the full document and the one-page information sheet in English or Spanish. | Pam Hovik is Leaving Denver
As some of you may be aware, LWVD Director of Organization, Pam Hovik, is moving this summer to Seattle. This was a fairly quick decision to address her husband's health issues. Pam met with the four Co-Directors of Program and Communications, Barbara Allen Ford, Susan Stark, Elsie Haley and Frank Bennett, to make suggestions about covering the most important tasks and responsibilities of the Director of Organization. The final decisions about distributing these responsibilities will be addressed by the entire Board of Directors later this summer. The Board will announce these assignments to the membership when they are finalized. We wish Pam the very best and thank her for her leadership this past year. | Consider Joining the Denver Program Committee
We’d love to have some new ideas for briefings and other Program issues this year. Please check us out on Wednesday, July 13, on Zoom at 9:00 a.m. and join our planning session. As Directors of Program, we also want to start an Observer Corps, so we have a presence and know what is going on in our city, possibly starting with City Council Committees and the DPS School Board. We are open to other goals. We have a committee in place, so you would be joining a group already dedicated to education and advocacy.
Let us know if you’d like to join the conversation by emailing one of us so we can get you the Zoom link.
Barbara Allen Ford (barbaraaford46@icloud.com)
Sue Stark (susanstark1947@gmail.com) | Voter Service Activities
LWVCO Positions on Current Initiatives
The LWVCO Board of Directors recently voted to begin taking positions on initiatives while still in the signature collection phase.
Information on each initiative and LWVCO's justification for the positions are listed here.
#31 State Income Tax Rate Reduction - Oppose
#54 Petitions - Oppose
#56 Unlawful Murder of a Child - Oppose
#58 Access to Natural Medicine - No position
#61 Legal Possession and Use of Entheogenic Plants and Fungi - No position
#63 Additional Dedicated Revenue to the State Education Fund - Support
Ballot Issue Researchers Needed
The Voter Service Committee is looking for League members who would be willing to research one or two city ballot issues that might be coming up for the November Ballot. At this time there are only two issues, but it is expected that City Council will be putting a few measures on the ballot and there are possibly some citizen-initiated measures as well.
Please contact Diane Young if you are interested in taking on this task. It is one of League's most important commitments. We have written procedures for the task, which is usually done during late summer and early September. No in-person meetings are required.
Diane Young
dioyoung@comcast.net or call 303-759-3921 | 
Marge and Sue at the Welcome Table
We are just beginning to get reports from our delegates to the National Convention that was held last week. It was the first in-person one since the beginning of COVID and in our own backyard. On the pandemic front, National sent a note to attendees that several in-person attendees tested positive for COVID-19, so it continues!
Thanks to our delegates for their attendance and representation: Anne Duncan, Marge Fisch, Toni Larson, Jeanette Scottland, Rona Shor, and Sue Stark.
Rona Shor mentioned that LWVCO out-going President Karen Sheek was eloquent and warm in her welcome and stressed our gratitude at being on native lands. Rona also enjoyed a panel that included the president of NOW and a woman from Workers Circle. Of course the Roe decision came in the middle of things. Rona said they mobilized quickly, made signs and headed to the state capitol in an orderly fashion. Although a lifetime member, this was her very first National Convention.
Anne Duncan enjoyed meeting people from all over the country - and from other parts of Colorado. “It's always fun and inspiring to learn what others are doing and what is important to them. I learned things that will be useful to our voter service work.”
Both Rona and Anne mentioned challenges with organization of events and the hotel logistics.
Sue Stark was the main presenter for the Colorado White Paper caucus on our voting systems. See the additional piece about this great work in another part of the VOTER.
Barbara Mattison was involved with the Election Security Team and bringing the concurrence to Convention. Unfortunately, the concurrence was not adopted, though it was a good effort by a very fine team!
National sent an email on June 28 with a summary of the convention as well. So be sure and read that if you haven’t yet. The event was also recorded, so you can view part of the meeting at will. We hope to have more detailed impressions from our delegates in the September Voter. | Consider Joining a LWVCO Task Force
Although we have two Denver Study Committees at the present time, LWVCO is developing advocacy committees on a variety of topics. Since most of these issues are not just local issues, we need Denver members to join these committees as well so we can be represented and learn from them.
The Climate Emergency Task Force is excited to plan for the future of the committee, which includes taking action on helping to create new legislation and lobby for legislation next year, identifying candidates and legislators who will be pushing environmental bills and monitoring how the laws we helped to pass last legislative session and previously are being implemented.
The Task Force is planning to meet on the 3rd Thursday of the month on zoom. Here is the link for our next meeting on July 21 at 10:00 a.m. (Zoom)
You should be proud of the action of our task force and the League for contacting legislators and the governor during and after the last session. Governor Polis got so many emails from environmentalists including LWV members all over the state that they asked that we stop having people send encouragement for him to sign one of the environmental bills. And he signed it. A number of bills passed in the last few days of the Legislature because of pressure from constituents including League members. We made a difference.
We are looking for goals and directions for the next year and are hoping to focus on air quality and start a group to address it this year. Another area of interest is wildfires.
If you would like to try it out, just email me and I will add you to the list.
Here are two articles from the Colorado Sun that will make you want to take action:
https://coloradosun.com/2022/06/10/colorado-air-pollution-permit-parachute-fracking/
https://coloradosun.com/2022/06/08/electric-vehicle-charger-requirements-colorado/
Written by Sandra Schuster and submitted by Barbara Ford |  | Please Renew Your Membership or
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