help_outline Skip to main content

info@LWVDenver.org
1980 Dahlia Street
Denver, CO 80220
303-321-7571

Date: 8/26/2022
Subject: LWV of Denver VOTER - September
From: League of Women Voters of Denver




The LWVD Newsletter
September 2022

LWV Denver 2022 Program Kickoff
Dr. Alex Marrero
Denver Public Schools Superintendent
Tuesday, September 20, 2022, 5:30 p.m.

Register Here


Dr. Alex MarreroLeague of Women Voters of Denver will begin the League year with a timely presentation by the Superintendent of Denver Public Schools.  As you know, we have well-developed positions on education that have come from research and consensus up from local Leagues through the US League.  Here's is the summary of the Denver position:

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

Dr. Alex Marrero became superintendent of Denver Public Schools, Colorado’s largest school district, in July 2021. He began his tenure as superintendent with a deliberate plan to meet with as many family and community members, students and staff as possible in the first 100 days. During this time, the superintendent visited 68 schools and held over 100 meetings, virtually and in person, in every region of the city. Based on this listening tour and the help of an advisory team, he recently announced a new strategic plan for DPS, which he has described as a "fluid roadmap" with the goal of "Every Learner Thrives."  

Marrero grew up in New York the child of a Cuban refugee and an immigrant from the Dominican Republic.  He prides himself on representing many of the Latinx students in the communities he has served as a school leader and in district leadership positions. He began his education career in New York Public Schools, serving as a guidance counselor, assistant principal and principal.  He previously led the City School District of New Rochelle as the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction and then became the first Latinx head of the city’s school system, serving as acting and then interim superintendent. Prior to that, he was Assistant Superintendent at East Ramapo Central School District.

Dr. Marrero begins this school year leading a district of 90,000 learners who have gone through three years of COVID disruptions and also faces the challenge of a contentious school board. 

We have asked him to address a set of issues developed by the Program Committee including:  recruitment and retention of teachers; testing requirements cost and effectiveness; school closings; and charter schools.  As always, you can submit questions through chat for a Q&A time at the end.  

This promises to be an interesting and informative briefing. Please invite neighbors and friends. All are welcome of course, but registration is required and easily done on our website.

Program Committee


The Election is Coming!

The November election is just around the corner.  We have an update on Denver Decides and some dates to remember.


Our long-standing partnership with INC and Channel 8 continues, with funding for this election cycle becoming available due to the intervention of a couple of Councilpersons.  There are also good indications that we will be able to do full coverage of candidate forums for the early Spring election in 2023!  This fall, Channel 8 will work with INC to televise their ballot issues forums.  We at the League will be asked to provide questions.  We will also provide the Pro/Cons to Channel 8 for their ballot show as we have done in the past.  As you hear more about the ballot issues, be thinking of questions to ask the proponents and opponents and forward them to Pearlanne at pzelarney@yahoo.com.


Election Dates
Here are some relevant dates from the Denver Elections Division.  Visit their website to see more details including the locations of the Voter Service and Polling Centers (VSPCs).

 October 17  Mail ballots mailed out this week
   24-Hour Ballot Drop-Off Boxes open to receive mail ballots 
   22 day Colorado residency deadline
   Wellington Webb Municipal Building Voter Service and Polling Center (VSPC) opens
 October 24   Phase 1 VSPCs open (13 centers)
 October 31  Phase 2 VSPCs open (5 centers)
 November 4  Phase 3 VSPCs open (5 centers)
 November 7  Phase 4 VSPCs open (15 centers)
 November 8  General Election (doors open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 7:00 p.m.)
   24-Hour Ballot Drop-Off Boxes close at 7:00 p.m .
November 16  Military and Oversees Voters and Cure Deadline
November 18  Risk Limiting Audit
November 23  Deadline for election certification and canvass

Mary Ann Thompson

What is an Observer Corps?


CityCountyBuildingThe League has been a champion of government transparency since our founding in 1920.  It is one of our core principles and a vital part of our mission.  An Observer Corps is one tool used by many Leagues across the country to effectuate this mission.  Leagues employ Observer Corps to help ensure that citizens are aware of the decisions that impact their lives and promote government transparency and accountability. Ideally, observers monitor both the issues being discussed as well as the processes by which the issues are addressed.  Observers are present at City Council and School Board meetings to watch the proceedings though not because something is assumed to be wrong or to place blame if something is wrong.  They are there to ensure that the public’s right to know is being honored and protected.  Good communication between the League and government offices and agencies is also a goal.

Observers collect information on process and content information.  Process includes who is in attendance, how the meeting is being conducted (Was the meeting announced in advance? Is there an agenda?  Is there opportunity for public input?), and where the meeting is being held (Is the venue accessible?  Can discussion be heard?  Is the public accommodated?). Observers are also there to monitor content.  What issues are being discussed?  Do the issues relate to League priorities or positions?  Should the League prepare for action? Observers will attend City Council meetings (including City Council committee meetings) and Denver Public School Board meetings.  Meetings have become much more accessible in the past several years.  First, though meetings are held in person, they are also held on Zoom.  Second, meetings are recorded, so if the live meeting time is inconvenient (such as City Council meetings every Monday evening), its possible to watch the following morning, just as well.

Of relevance to members wanting to learn more about government, being an observer is tremendously informative.  You learn the personalities and perspectives of those who make up our elected officials. You learn about all the many facets of many given topics within the jurisdictions of the Council and Board.  For example, Chris Humphries and Barbara Ford have been observing the City Council committee on Health, Housing and Public Safety for the past year.  On a near weekly basis, Council members hear from Denver City government leaders discussing the detailed work of their agencies and programs – their goals, their challenges, their progress and success.  Only last week we learned about a nascent piece of legislation – 22-0970 – governing access and priorities for affordable units under Denver’s new requirements of new developments.

If you would like to be part of this important and impactful work, please contact me at barbaraaford46@icloud.com

Barbara Ford

The 2022-23 Member Roster Is Coming Soon

If you are looking forward to your new roster, we are hard at work to get it to you soon.  There will be some changes this year as the Board has approved moving to an online directory with the option to request a paper copy if you want one.

We are still working out the details, but the roster will be a PDF so you will be able to print it yourself as well, if you would like to do that.  We are currently planning to have it available only for members who login to the website as a privacy precaution.

We hope you will find this change to be convenient.  It will save money on printing and mailing and will allow for periodic updates as well.

If you would like to have a paper copy, please email the office (info@lwvd.org) or call and leave a message (303-321-7571).

Elsie Haley
Co-Director of Communication

We Don't Know Who You Are, and We are Looking for You!


For a good many years now, the Board of Directors of the Denver League has been composed of a small group of dedicated champions of voter education, voting rights, and women’s rights.  As this group has gotten older, it has become clear that we need new blood and fresh ideas and energy if the League is going to continue as an effective force in our community.

The Nominating Committee of the League is charged with proposing a slate of Board members each year for approval at the Annual Meeting, but it is not easy to find candidates to fill all the positions.  This past year has been particularly complicated because several Board members needed to step down after election because of family, health or job issues that made further service on the Board impossible.

board retreat IMG 0119 (edited)To keep the Board functioning, several people have stepped into new roles or taken on new responsibilities (Sue Stark to Co-Chair of Program; Directors of Program and Directors of Communications taking on responsibilities belonging to the Director of Organization when Pam Hovik had to move to Seattle).  We currently have two vacancies that we would like to fill:  Director of Organization and Chair of the Development Committee.

We suspect that there are a significant number of members whose skills and experience we do not know and who could fill these positions capably.  For us to fill these positions, we need these folks to put themselves forward because we do not yet know who they are.

Additionally, in the last three years, over a hundred people have newly joined the Denver League, and the Nominating Committee is largely unaware of the skills and experience these new members bring to the League.  We suspect that there are people who recently joined the League who have experience in managing organizations or in raising funds, and we are asking you to step forward and let us know who you are.  (If you know of someone with these abilities, please feel free to encourage them to call us or let the Nominating Committee know of their existence.)

To let us know about yourself or someone else, please contact any member of the Nominating Committee:  Carla Bennett, Chair 303-757-2930, Bobbie Heisterkamp 303-333-6818; Sally Augden, 303-455-5800; or Frank Bennett, 303-757-2930.

Thank you.
Carla Bennett, Chair Nominating Committee

Board Member Highlight

Pearlanne Zelarney

Editor’s Note:  This is the ninth 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.  Today it is my turn!


ZelarneyI joined the League in my twenties.  Dennis Gallagher, a long-time Denver official and also a League member, had talked me into going to a caucus soon after I moved into my first house in North Denver.  It hooked me on politics.  When looking around for ways to learn more about politics, I came to several League briefings and was so impressed by the depth of knowledge and welcome of the League members.  I attended Observatory unit meetings for a year or two before my son Neal was born, then I went mostly inactive for a few years.  When the Highland/Woodbury Unit was formed in my neighborhood, I became a member and am still today, though I haven’t been able to attend unit meetings much in the last few years.  It’s a great group and many of us have gone on to be leaders on the Board.  When Neal was young and I was a single mother, he used to attend unit meetings with me to the point my fellow unit members used to call him “Our Neal.”  Neal continues as a member of League today.

A couple years after I joined Highland/Woodbury, Rose Tanaka called me and asked if I’d like to join the Board as membership chair.  Even though it was a bit of a crazy time with taking care of elderly parents, working, and taking care of Neal, it sounded like a great outlet.  I did that for a couple of years and then moved on to doing the newsletter with Marty Sloven.  It has been so great to work with Marty all these years and to keep the newsletter going through paper to our mostly virtual one now.  I also served as Communications Chair for a few years.

All these years, I have also worked.  My degrees are in Biology (BS from Regis College) and Microbiology (MS from University of Wyoming).  I started my career as a research lab tech at National Jewish.  From there I went into scientific publishing and for a few years, book publishing as director of the Publishing Institute at University of Denver.  From there I went back to National Jewish Health and for the last 10 years or so have been working with clinical data for research, what’s now called Real World Data.  We help researchers find clinical trial participants, provide data and samples for biomedical research, and mine data for medical insights.  During the COVID years, we have provided dashboards that tracked the pandemic and led to new discoveries.

Outside of work and League, I am an avid reader (check out Lessons in Chemistry for a great read), watch lots of Netflix (love the new UnCoupled series), and fish (not going to tell you my favorite fishing hole!).


Welcome New Spring and Summer Members

Janice Abbott,   ja42056@optonline.com
Elizabeth Bennett,   eliza500@aol.com
Leila Covrigaru, leila@covrigaru.com
Kathe Brown Hoekstra,   silverwinco@gmail.com
Paula Bunge,   PaulaHB2003@msn.com
Lilah Connelly,   asianbeauty1216@gmail.com
Courtney Cregan,   courtney.cregan@du.edu
Virginia Dalton,   vmdalton@aol.com
Elizabeth Doris,   elizabethsdoris@gmail.com
Connie Fenton,   Conniesfenton@mac.com
Melissa Harris,   mellissa@studioharris.com 
Arias Hathaway,   arias.hathaway@gmail.com
Sherry Kenney,   clumom49@gmail.com
Ellen Lemberg,   ellen.lemberg@comcast.net
Vickers Meyers, vickersmyers1@gmail.com
Jill Nelson,   jill.w.nelson.11@gmail.com
Shayne Rich,  shayneameliarich@gmail.com
Mallory Salas,   malydawn@gmail.com
Holly Schafer,   holschafer@gmail.com
Beth Steinhorn,   bsteinhorn@comcast.net
Gwendolyn Valencia, grobinvalencia@comcast.net
Kathy White,   ka.white303@gmail.com
Laura Wray,    wraylamarre@msn.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 and remember that it covers Denver, Colorado and National membership. Also, please consider renewing at the sustaining membership level. Membership dues are tax deductible. 

Regular Individual Membership   $60
Sustaining membership (includes an additional donation)  $125
Two regular members at the same address
 $90
Two sustaining members at the same address (includes an additional donation)  $150 
Member needing assistance with paying dues
 $5
Part or full-time student  $10


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