The LWVD Newsletter
April 2023 | April Briefing
Denver Basic Income Project
Founder Mark Donovan
Tuesday, April 18, 5:30 p.m.
Zoom Link
Homelessness has emerged as a major issue in this spring's municipal elections. One of the more innovative answers in Denver is the Denver Basic Income Project (DBIP). In September of 2022, Denver City Council approved using $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act money to provide monthly cash assistance to 140 people experiencing homelessness through DBIP.
The April briefing will feature Mark Donovan, the founder of the DBIP. He will describe how DBIP hopes to address homelessness through direct cash payments. They believe basic income will shorten the path to stable housing, reduce income volatility, and provide opportunity for stable employment. The program hopes to help a total of 820 people through private donors, corporate leaders and caring foundations like Colorado Health Foundation and the Denver Foundation.
Plan on attending this briefing to get a up-to-the minute update on this experiment in progress. Registration is not required.
| In-Person!
Saturday, May 13, 8:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Montview Blvd. Presbyterian Church
Speaker: Colorado Coalition for the Homeless CEO
Our Annual Meeting this year will be in person for the first time since 2019. Marge Fisch wants to celebrate our coming together LIVE and IN PERSON by furnishing a free Continental Breakfast to everyone in attendance. As in the past, the breakfast begins at 8:30 a.m. followed by our speaker at 9:30 a.m. and then finally the business meeting, all to be finished before noon. We are still working on the agenda and it is possible the times will change slightly.
 Our speaker will be Britta Fisher, the next president and CEO of non-profit, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. Fisher is leaving the position of Chief Housing Officer and Director of Denver’s Department of Housing Stability (HOST), the city’s housing agency that was established in 2019. At HOST, she oversaw a doubling of the locally funded Affordable Housing Fund to more than $30 million dollars per year and put up emergency auxiliary shelters for persons experiencing homelessness during the pandemic.
We have asked her to speak about her accomplishments at HOST and her thoughts about what more Denver can and should be doing to address the low and moderate income housing crisis. We also hope she will share with us her thoughts about what Colorado and particularly Denver can do to strengthen their responses to the needs of the homeless and hear her initial thoughts about where she hopes to lead Colorado Coalition for the Homeless in the coming years.
The business part of the meeting will follow our speaker, including approval of the 2023-24 budget and approval of the new slate of officers. We will be sending the budget and slate of officers in an upcoming Thursday Update so that you have both 30 days before the meeting as prescribed in our bylaws. We will also be sending the 2022-23 Annual report in the coming weeks.
Member input is always welcome and encouraged, but especially at Annual Meeting. The Board is open to new directions and ideas of interest to members and ways to increase our membership.
We also celebrate fellow Leaguers with the Marty Sloven Mother Lode award for a member who has made a major contribution this year and the Shirley Weaver Suffragist Lifetime Achievement Award for a member who has served Denver League well over many years. See the next article for more about the awards and a nomination form.
Let's come together to reconnect in person! Please register for the meeting by Wednesday, May 10.
Register Here
Barbara Allen Ford, Co-Director Program
| Nominate a Fellow Leaguer!
We recognize each other through awards at the Annual Meeting and all members are encouraged to nominate fellow members.
The Mother Lode Award is for special effort during the past year.This award can be won more than once.
The Suffragist Award recognizes lifetime achievement and is only given to an individual once. It is in recognition of outstanding work and contributions to the Denver League over a lengthy period of time.
Previous winners for both awards can be found on the nomination form. Please return the nomination form by Wednesday, April 19 to info@lwvdenver.org.
| How Do You Plan to Help with the Bulb Sale?
 We have begun planning for our annual flower bulb sale which has been our major fundraiser for over 30 years. Last year, our sales were down, so we want our members to commit right now to making this a more successful sale. New members, please plan to join in the effort this year.
Our supplier of directly-from-Holland bulbs has been the same generous company all this time. Our friend Peter has informed us that he is retiring this year. What that means for the bulb sale, we aren’t sure. We plan to meet with him soon to learn more, but because of these uncertain economic times and increased shipping costs, this might be our last year of the sale as we know it.
Therefore, we want every member to do what you can to make the sale a success. We will sell primarily in May and June, but we will get more information to you in April. Please make a commitment now. If you have questions, please ask.
Marty Sloven (MSloven25@aol.com) and the Bulb Sale Team | Will the Denver League Continue?
I have served on the Board of the Denver League for the past year after about 10 years of involvement with the Colorado League, mostly with with Legislative Action Committee. In addition to being on the Board, I have served on the Nominating Committee, which I am currently chairing.
A number of years ago, the Denver League found that the search for a President was becoming impossible. The Board and the members at Annual Meeting chose a different governing structure with three Directors leading different aspects of the League - Organization, Program, and Communications. This past year, the person who had agreed to be the Director of Organization had to move out of state because of her husband's health and the remaining directors took on those additional responsibilities.
From my involvement with the Nominating Committee, it has become clear that a small group of people have been providing the leadership of the League for some time. It is also becoming clear that they are getting worn out and are looking to step down. Without other people stepping up, the leadership will either resign or exhaust themselves and be unable to continue.
At the Annual Meeting in May, we will need to elect the following positions:
Director of Organization
Co-Director of Program
Co-Director of Communication
Voter Service Co-Chairs (2)
Membership Chair
Development Chair
I have no doubt that there are people in the Denver League who could fill these positions capably even if they need some time to learn the details of the job they fill. Please contact me if you are interested or want more information.
Frank Bennett
303-757-2930
FrankBennett65@gmail.com | Voter Service - Confined Voting
Every few months – sometimes more often – trained League volunteers gather with Denver Elections and Denver Sheriff’s Department staffs and representatives of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition at the two Denver jails (see the photo with Anne and the Confined Voting team). Starting early in the morning, we spend a day in each facility, going from pod to pod to educate incarcerated citizens about their rights and to register those eligible to vote. Many people, including those serving time or awaiting trial, are surprised to learn they can vote. In Colorado, only those currently serving a sentence for a felony are ineligible. The rest, including those convicted of a misdemeanor or awaiting trial, are eligible voters. For the last several years we have registered far more voters in the jails than anywhere else.
In addition to helping people with the registration form, we answer questions about elections, voting, and the responsibilities of levels of government. When possible we also conduct in-person voting in the jails. In 2020, Denver was one of three counties in the U.S. that enabled incarcerated citizens to vote in person. We will be helping with in-person voting again for the April 4 Denver Municipal Election. None of this could happen without the support of the Denver Sheriff’s Office and staff in both jails.
Our experience in the jails has been overwhelmingly positive. We always have a deputy with us, so it feels very safe. It also feels worthwhile; these are people whose voices are often silent. We are regularly thanked by jail staff and those who are ineligible, as well as by those we register. We always hear some unusual stories. It’s worth remembering, too, that most of those who are incarcerated will not be in jail forever; the more connections they have with the community, the more likely they are to be able to avoid re-offending once they are released.
If you have questions about the Confined Voting Project or you are interested in helping, please contact me at anned47@msn.com.
Anne Duncan, Co-Chair, Voter Service
| Voter Service - Voter Registration for Denver High Schools
The Denver LWV has partnered with the Denver Clerk and Recorder's office to reach out to several Denver-area high schools, located in neighborhoods which traditionally have had low voter turnout. Voter registration efforts began last spring and are continuing. The high schools we have visited so far include Bruce Randolph, John F. Kennedy, and George Washington. Outreach is still continuing to connect with several other schools. Volunteers with the Voter Service committee have set up tables at lunch hours, senior check-out day, back-to-school night, and parent-teacher conferences. While not directly registering many students, we have distributed information, answered questions, and provided reminders about upcoming elections. We've enjoyed our conversations with students, parents, and school staff. Please get in touch with Voter Service Committee chairs Jeanette Scotland or Anne Duncan if you are interested in helping or if you have ideas for student voter outreach.
Lisa Haddox, Voter Service Committee member | Recap of our March 21 Briefing
Reproductive Healthcare and Access to Abortion in Colorado: Legislative Proposals
Our timing was great for this briefing. Several of our speakers were with us live on Zoom from the Capitol building because their three legislative proposals were being heard before state legislators.
The speakers were from organizations that form a consortium that works to support reproductive rights and gender-affirming care. Their information and insights covered what the current reproductive health provision situation is in Colorado, the three proposals (SB23-188, SB23-189 and SB23-190 ) and the impact of so-called crisis pregnancy centers proliferating here.
Though numerous pieces in the news media are addressing the potential ruling out of Texas, which would withdraw misoprostol, one of the two medication abortion drugs, from use all over the United States, Claudia Perez, the Public Affairs Manager of Planned Parenthood of the Rockies (PPRM), said this would not stop medication abortions. She assured us that physicians can use the other drug, mifepristone, alone to provide safe and effective abortions. PPRM has see its out-of-state patients go from 1500 in all of 2021 to 300 a week currently. This represents a third off all the patients they treat at their clinics, most of them from Texas. Waiting times for all patients have increased dramatically as a result.
Arianna Morales, Policy Manager for New Era, and Mar Galvez, Policy Associate from the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) spoke in detail about the misinformation and manipulation of vulnerable people by the over 50 crisis pregnancy centers in Colorado, problems being addressed by SB23-190. One dangerous promise by these non-medical centers is that they can “reverse” medication abortions although there is no valid research that supports this claim. Crisis pregnancy centers now outnumber actual reproductive healthcare clinics in Colorado by 50 to 20.
Our speakers, including Karen Middleton, President of Cobalt, explained the other two bills in the package:
Senate Bill 23-188 seeks to protect patients who travel here from states that severely limit abortion and gender-affirming care as well as the providers in Colorado who provide that care from facing criminal consequences in the home states of these out-of-state patients. These services are legally protected in Colorado under the Reproductive Healthcare Equity Act passed in 2022.
Senate Bill 23-189 would require Colorado-issued insurance plans to cover medication abortions, contraception, vasectomies and the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.
Because the LWVUS has had a position since 1983 affirming "... the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices," we have received an Action Alert from LWVCO concerning SB190. We assume we will soon see ones for the other two bills.
Finally, Shara Smith, Executive Director of the Interface Alliance, shared that faith is not a monolith when it comes to beliefs about reproductive rights, and we need to be careful about public policy that allows one faith tradition to dictate what healthcare everyone in a pluralistic society should receive.
The LWV of Colorado’s Reproductive Rights Task Force is a way to get involved in efforts to educate voters about the legislative proposals and advocate for other changes in Colorado. Contact Sharon Davis at sharonpdavis@outlook.com or lwvcolorado.org. To listen to the briefing if you were unable to attend it, go to our website.
Susan Stark, Co-Director of Program LWVD | Thank You!
The League of Women Voters of Denver gratefully acknowledges a $5,000 donation from The Barbara A. Moe and Paul G. Moe Family Fund. | Consider Joining a Unit
Hear Ye, Hear Ye to new members and long time members who have an interest in joining one of our four units.
Are you new to the Denver area? Do you miss the sage advice of your aunts or your older women friends? Join a unit. There are folks of all ages in the units and each has a unique, interesting background. When you join, ask the members to give a brief mention of their backgrounds. This will help you connect. The members will give you opportunities to be active in the discussions or you can just listen.
You have options: some meetings are on zoom, and some are in person. To members who haven’t yet joined a unit but have thought about it, this is a unique opportunity. Not all local chapters of the LWV have units. We welcome new members. We realize time can be a priority. If you aren’t able to go to all the unit meetings nor contribute lengthy periods of time for volunteer work that is definitely OK.
See the article below for specifics about the Units or contact me at inforocks@gmail.com for more information, or at 303-455-2405. Please put “inquiry about LWV units,” in your email title or at the beginning of your phone message so I can be alerted to your request.
Terry Cookro, Unit Coordinator | LWV Denver Units
A great place for meaningful conversations (and funs ones too!)
Units meet after each briefing in members’ homes or local public places to get to know one another personally and discuss in greater depth the most recent briefing topic. Geographic designations are not rigid; come when you can!
- Cheesman (Central) meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at 9:30 a.m. on Zoom or in-person. The leader is Bobbie Heisterkamp (303-333-6818, bdheistkmp@aol.com).
- Cherrington (Northeast) meets on Thursday following briefings at 1:00 p.m. on Zoom or in-person. The leader is Peg Oldham (720-220-3988, hamnpeg@msn.com).
- Highland/Woodbury (Northwest) meets in-person on the 3rd Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. The leader is Sally Augden (303-455-5800, saugden2@comcast.net).
- Observatory (South-Central) meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on Zoom. The Leader is Jeanette Scotland (303-479-4368, jscotland@gmail.com).
| 
Please take a moment and check out the Food Waste Toolkit that was put together by the LWV Climate Interest Group, Food, Soil and Agriculture Team. Kudos to the team and especially Carol Parker, our team's food waste leader. Three very important points to keep in mind:
- More than 25% of the materials sent to landfills in the US is food waste where it decays and releases methane, a very powerful greenhouse gas.
- More than 30% of the food produced in the US is lost or wasted.
- Because waste is managed at the community level, local Leagues can have a big impact on reducing food waste and therefore methane emissions as well alleviating food insecurity.
Please contact me for additional information or with any questions or concerns.
Mary O'Kicki
LWV Climate Interest Group Food, Soil and Agriculture Team Leader
| Welcome New Members
Leah Audin, l.audin@comcast.net, 80209
Melinda Bradford, melindabradford@comcast.net, 80207
| 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 online.
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! | Consider a Sustaining Membership
We appreciate all those who pay $60 to be a member. However, the LWV Denver can only keep $8 of that $60 and the rest goes to Per Member Payments to the LWVCO and LWVUS. For those who are able, think about paying a sustaining $125 membership that gives the LWV Denver $73 to use for our education activities, to support our office and to continue our voter service resources for the city of Denver. Thank you!
| | www.LWVDenver.org
info@LWVDenver.org | | 1980 Dahlia Street, Denver, CO 80220
303-321-7571 | | | |