the voter › uploads › 7 › 9 › 7 › 7 › 7977240 › voter... · the adoption draft of the...

The VoterLeague of Women Voters of Santa Fe County

1472 St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87505-4038Phone: 505-982-9766 www.lwvsfc.org

OfficersPresident--Donna Reynolds (Ed Fund)Vice President--Chris Furlanetto(Action)Secretary--Pat PedersenTreasurer--Berit LeonardPast President–Judy Williams (Program)

DirectorsMarcy Litzenberg (Voter Services)Janet Lincoln (Membership)Patricia Hawkins (Public Relations &Fundraising)Ann Coulston (Arrangements)Adair Waldenberg (Assistant Treasurer)

Nominating CommitteeJody Larson, ChairJanet WilliamsLynn Gary

Finance/Budget Committee(appointed by the board)Karen Heldmeyer, ChairAdair WaldenbergNeva Van Peski

The VoterPublisher: Miriam Ries

- 1 -

Dear League Members:

On October 11, we celebrated EleanorRoosevelt’s birthday, a fascinating woman whomade a difference in the lives of Americans.The League is sharing a powerful video thatshowcases how Eleanor’s membership changedthe League and how the League changed her.In the 1920s, Eleanor Roosevelt served as vice president for legislativeaffairs at the League, monitoring federal legislation and hearings inCongress. I hope you will take a few minutes to access the video andwatch a part of our history! Copy and paste this link into yourbrowser: http://library.lwv.org/node/201

Along with many other Leagues across the country, the Santa FeLeague will host an Affordable Care Act panel in November featuringa number of experts to help educate the public on issues facing thegovernment, practitioners, health care providers, individuals and busi-nesses as the Act is fully implemented. I hope you will join me by at-tending and learning more about this national health care programrollout.

With Thanksgiving Day on the horizon, I’d like to take a moment tothank your dedicated board of directors and study chairs for their dili-gent efforts advancing the work of the League. I am honored to havethe opportunity to serve the League alongside such a wonderful teamof wise and talented ladies. I wish you and your family have a safeand memorable Thanksgiving holiday.

Cheers,

• Volume 62, Number 11 • November 2013

-2-

, a LWVUS publication that includes the official statements of position for each pro-gram area, briefly traces significant past actions and achievements, and indicates links among positions.The LWVUS public policy positions reflect the 2012-2014 program adopted by the 2012 convention ofthe League of Women Voters of the United States; the "positions in brief" listed there summarize the offi-cial statements of position included in this guide. The Santa Fe League has purchased a number of cop-ies, now available at a cost of $10. Please contact the office or email [email protected] with yourrequest.

The League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County thanks the following members fortheir generous donations to the education fund and general operations of the Leaguethat have been received as of October 15, 2013:

Janice BakerNikki Harnish

Velma Kathleen KerrJody Larson

Karen HeldmeyerAdair Waldenberg

The Voter is your publication. Send us your opinions, a reviewof a book you recently read, report on a speech you’ve heard or aplay you have seen– anything you care to share with the member-ship. Send your text to Pat Hawkins, [email protected]

-3-


On October 15, a dozen LWVSFC members toured the local video production facilities – Santa Fe Studios andthe Greer Garson studios at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Although there was no filming under-way at Santa Fe Studios (no stars to see!), we got a full and detailed introduction into how the studio workswith production companies interested in filming in New Mexico. Led by Stan Hulse, the company controller,and Bret Buchanan, the Vice President of Operations, we toured the huge sound stages, production offices,makeup rooms, and even got to pose in the dressing room equipped for Johnny Depp! We also had the benefitof hearing from David Griscom, Economic Development Manager for Santa Fe County, how important theindustry is to the County and State and how much revenue it produces. In fact, we were told New Mexico isquickly overtaking both Los Angeles and Atlanta as THE place to film. Stan and Bret were very discreet in dis-cussing future productions that are lined up at the Studios, but they promised some exciting surprises.

Unfortunately, our intended interlocutor at the Greer Garson Studios was called away before we arrived, butwe did get to tour the halls, covered with movie and TV posters that had been produced at the University, andtalk with one of the professors. We were also permitted to peer down at the sets for the television drama,

, which is expected to resume shooting soon.

League members and hosts at Santa Fe Studios


-4-

Tuesday, November 12, 2013, 5:00 p.m.Christus St. Vincent Hospital

The League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County is hosting an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Forum onNovember 12, 2013, at Christus St. Vincent Hospital’s

at 5:00 p.m. Former New Mexico Senator Dede Feldman will introduce theforum and moderate the diverse panel of speakers. The panel includes J.R. Damron, M.D., Chair of theNew Mexico Health Insurance Exchange; Dorianne Mason, staff attorney with the New Mexico Centeron Law and Poverty; Anne Sperling, an insurance consultant; and Justina Trott, M.D. The panel willdiscuss progress toward implementation of the Affordable Care Act in New Mexico. The public is invitedto attend the Affordable Care Act Forum to learn more about the health care reform initiative.

The Affordable Care Act has already made a difference in the lives of many Americans. People are no lon-ger denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions, young adults can stay on their parents’ health plansas dependents until age 26, all policies will include behavioral health, preventive and wellness services,and Medicare beneficiaries will have annual wellness visits and mammograms with no copayments or de-ductibles. As of October 1, many uninsured Americans began to sign up under expanded Medicaid andthe Health Insurance Exchanges. This means we are one step closer to health care for all.

Under the ACA, nearly 150,000 adults will become eligible under expanded Medicaid, including 10,000in Santa Fe County. An additional 18,000 Santa Fe County residents will be able to obtain insurancethrough the New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange and the Federal Exchange. In addition to insur-ance, the ACA is implementing many provisions to improve quality and availability of health care provid-ers in the county and around New Mexico.

For more information, contact the League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County at (505) 982-9766 orwww.lwvsfc.org.


-5-

The League of Women Voters of Santa Fe County is starting a book club for members and other in-terested members of the public. Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse has agreed to host ourbook club at their downtown location (202 Galisteo Street) a couple of times a year. The store willalso provide a 10% discount on the chosen book for members. This is a great opportunity to havesome fun with members as we discuss works of nonfiction. The first book club meeting will takeplace on November 21st at 10:30 a.m. The book chosen is “Lean In, Women, Work and the Will toLead” by Sheryl Sandberg. Sandberg is CEO of Facebook and is ranked on list of the 50Most Powerful Women in Business. The next book will be selected at the November meeting. Pleaseplan to attend and bring a suggested book for the next book club meeting.

The adoption draft of the Sustainable Land Development Code (SLDC) was released October 1. The Board ofCounty Commissioners and staff members are now in the midst of study sessions and public information meet-ings.

Upcoming meetings include:· Final BCC study session, Nov. 5, 9-noon, County Commission chambers· Final two public information meetings (details on the county website)

§ October 30, Galisteo Community Center, 6-8 pm§ November 7, Chimayo, 6-8 pm

· Public hearings§ November 19, 6:30-8:30 pm, County Commission chambers§ December 3, evening – time TBD, County Commission chambers

The A&A committee is monitoring as many of these meetings as possible; we have publicly repeated our re-quest that the BCC act expeditiously to finalize a strong code consistent with the Sustainable Growth Manage-ment Plan adopted in 2010.

Once the SLDC is adopted, the BCC must then approve the Capital Improvement Plan and the Zoning Mapbefore the code actually takes effect. Other items that must be completed include a schedule ofdevelopment/permit/impact fees, submittal checklists, Developments of Countywide Impact, and revisions tocommunity plans and related ordinances to bring them into compliance with the SLDC. Even if the code isapproved this year, the entire process will extend well into 2014.

The BCC has indicated that the target for approval is still before the end of 2013, but clearly time is runningshort to make that happen. Some members of the public have asked for outside review of the code and for a3-month extension of the timeline, but so far the BCC has not agreed to either request. LWVSFC will continueto advocate for timely passage of a strong code.


-6-

The LWVSFC continues to monitor the Santa FeCity Council meetings on amending the charter.

Several League-sponsored amendments have beenrecommended by the Charter Commission to theSanta Fe City Council for inclusion on the March,2014 ballot. These include citizen redistricting, lim-its on campaign donations (both co-sponsored withCommon Cause), inclusion of water policy in thepolicy section of the Charter, requiring the city toprovide clear, timely information about the purposesof any tax or bond proposals that are submitted tothe voters, and having the mayor vote on all issuesfacing the governing body.

These amendments, along with a few others thatwere recommended by the Charter Commission, willbe considered for inclusion on the ballot at the eve-ning session of the October 30 City Council meeting.That will begin at 7:00 PM at City Hall.

The Charter Commission also recommended that theissue of a “strong mayor” be placed on the ballot.This would amend several different parts of thecharter, and would give the mayor much more pow-er over the city, including the right to hire (withCouncil approval) the city manager, city attorney,and city clerk, the right to hire (without Council ap-proval) all department heads in the city, and the uni-lateral right to fire anyone who was a mayoralappointee. It would also make the mayor's position“full time” and prevent the mayor from holding anyother job, part-time or full-time, including running abusiness. It would remove the Council's power tofire the city manager and to serve as the principalpolicy making body for the city. As recommendedby the Charter Commission, these changes would gointo effect after the March, 2018 election, althoughthat timeline could be changed by the Council.

Since the Charter Commission recommended this ver-sion of the “strong mayor” proposal, several other ver-sions have been introduced, some by the samesponsors as the original version. Some of these ver-sions give fewer powers to the mayor, some give more.One version adds a provision for runoff elections tothe charter. There has been very little discussion bythe public or any press coverage of these different ver-sions. The Council did discuss postponing their delib-erations on any of the strong mayor proposals until theNovember 13 Council meeting, but all these proposalsare on the agenda for the October 30 meeting, sotechnically, they could be discussed or voted on at thatmeeting.

The LWVSFC will continue to urge the Council tomake the public aware of the different versions of the“strong mayor” proposal before the Council votes onincluding one or more of these provisions on the bal-lot, given the sweeping nature of these proposals andthe lack of publicity they have received. One possibili-ty is to postpone any public vote on these provisionsuntil the 2016 municipal election so there will be moretime for study and discussion.

The League has presented the Council with a list ofpros and cons on the Commission-recommended“strong mayor” amendments and will do so for theother similar amendments as they are proposed.These can be found on the LWVSFC website atwww.lwvsfc.org.


-7-

I’m relatively new to the Santa Fe League, but a long-time League member.

I first joined the League way back in 1977 when werelocated to Galveston, TX – and my husband’s newboss’s wife happened to be a very active Leaguemember. I have to admit that I didn’t know muchabout the organization initially, and I had not beeninvolved in politics. We were a young group – weeven had a regular babysitter for daytime meetings! Iremember calling in vote totals when the polls closedon election days, typing many letters to elected offi-cials as Legislative Action chair, and working on anInitiative and Referendum study. Once I went backto work teaching chemistry and remedial math at alocal community college, however, I needed to reducemy involvement.

After leaving Galveston, I maintained my membershipin the LWVUS but was not active for many years. Itwasn’t until I retired from a second career in market-ing research that I contacted my local League(Charleston, SC) and began to attend a few events.

And then it was time to move again – to Santa Fe –to be closer to grandchildren – two here and two inLA – definitely a good decision! We’d visited heremany times after our son and his wife moved here in2004 and had thoroughly enjoyed exploring the natu-ral beauty of the region. It was a bit of an adjustmentto a dramatically different climate and landscape, butwe feel at home now.

Joining the LWVSFC was one of the first things I didafter we arrived and settled in - that and signing upfor docent training at the Folk Art Museum. Bothhave been wonderful ways to meet fascinating people,to continue learning, and to contribute to my newcommunity.

Lynn Gary has contacted some of the area highschool government and history teachers and sched-uled VR in their senior classes. Four League mem-bers, joined by two County Bureau of Elections staff,spoke with two government classes at St. Michael’sHigh School on the afternoon of October 23rd.

This initial presentation of “Register HS Seniors” atSt. Michael’s resulted in about 90% of the forty stu-dents filling out their voter registration forms. Wethank Mr. Kevin Garcia, government teacher, forwelcoming us. Lynn and Marcy Litzenberg had talk-ed about classroom presentations being more effec-tive than presenting to large assemblies of seniors.So the St. Michael’s result gives us great incentive tocontinue this project.

As of October 24th Lynn has scheduled eight morepresentations: three at Capital High on October 29th,two at Capital High on October 30 and October 31,and three at S.F. Prep on November 4th. There willbe more presentations in November and Decemberand a return to St. Michael’s in January (for the sec-ond trimester government class there).


-8-

Lynn thanks League members Karla Holomon, JanetLincoln, and Teresa Seamster, along with Sima Gon-zales and Teri Martinez of the SF County Bureau ofElections, for making the presentation at St. Michael’ssuch a success.

This high school project gives us an opportunity to bereally involved in the League’s mission of cultivating aparticipatory democracy . . . engaging our young peo-ple. Some of the seniors we register will be 18 in timeto vote in the Santa Fe Municipal ElectionMarch 4, 2014.

We know how busy our lives get, and still there is the hope that when the callgoes out for LWV Volunteers to help register that there will be many positiveresponses from a number of members.

If you want to be part of this productive project, email Lynn to let her knowof your interest; include your phone numbers.

[email protected]


-9-

· President Reynolds will meet with the Santa Fe Public School’s contact for theWomen’s History Project.

· The Board agreed that there would be a silent auction at the Holiday Luncheonon the December l8th. Berit Leonard and Pat Pedersen will facilitate this activity.

· Chris Furlanetto attended the city charter amendment meeting. There is onemore hearing before the city council votes on the amendment changes to go onthe March 4, 2014, ballot.

· Chris Furlanetto reported that she has a hard copy of the Santa Fe SustainableLand Development Code. The first hearing is scheduled for October l5.

· Marcy Litzenberg reported that Ray Rivera, the new editor of the ,assured the League that they would continue to publish the Voter's Guide at nocharge to us.

· Lynn Gary has arranged several voter registration events at Santa Fe high schoolsin October, November, and December to register students and inform themabout voting.

· Pat Hawkins will advertise the Affordable Care Act event planned for November12th, which will be held at Christus St. Vincent, Southwest Conference Room.The panel (J.R. Damron MD, Justina Trot MD, Ann Sperling, Dorianne Mason)will be moderated by Dede Feldman.

· Next Board meeting scheduled for November 13.


-10-

Nov. 12: 5-7 - The Affordable Care Act: What’s Next? (Christus St. Vincent Hospital, room located off the cafeteria)

Nov. 16: 10-2:30 - LWVNM Board, Socorro

Nov. 21: 10:30 - Book Club at Collected Works book store, Santa Fe

Dec. 18: 11:30-1:30 - Holiday Lunch

Jan. 4: 11-2:45 - LWVNM Board, Albuquerque

Jan. 7: 11:30-1:30 - Legislative Preview

Jan. 28: all day - League Day at the Legislature (LWVNM)

Feb. 4: 4:30-6:30 - Meet and Greet

Feb. 5: 11-1 - Program Planning Meeting

Feb.11: 6-8 - Municipal Election CandidateForum I

Feb. 13: 6-8 - Municipal Election CandidateForum II

Feb. 19: 6-8 - Municipal Election Candidate Forum III

Mar 4: Municipal Election Day

Mar. 11: 11-1 - Local Referenda StudyConsensus Meeting (members only)

Mar 22 or 29: Breakfast - Women’s History Month Event

Apr. 8: 11:30-1:30 - Santa Fe CommunityCollege Visit and Lunch

Apr. 15: 8-10 - Breakfast with a Leader: Valles Caldera Action President

May 7: 11-2 - Annual Meeting and Luncheon

May 17: LWVNM Council, Santa Fe

1st Thursday of each month.Next meeting will be Thursday, Nov. 7, noon, atthe Rio Chama Steakhouse, 414 Old Santa FeTrail. New members are always welcome!

2nd Wednesday of each month

-11-

MEMBER INFORMATION FORM FOR USE ONLY BY THE LWVSFC

Date_____________________ Name (please print)______________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________ Phone:___________________________

Email__________________________________ _____________ Alternate phone___________________

. Our membership year is September 1 – August 31 and includes membership in theNew Mexico league (LWVNM) and the national league (LWVUS).

____ Individual Membership $52 _____ Family Membership $78 _____ Student Membership $30

____ Contribution to general fund (by separate check, payable to LWVSFC)

____ Tax-deductible contribution (Please make check payable to LWVSFC Education Fund)

I would like to receive the VOTER (League newsletter) by: ______ Email ______ Regular Mail

____ Check here if you do NOT want your contact information listed in the League annual directory.

70s 80s 90s 2000sWhere? ______________________________________

: Full Time Part Time Retired Current or former __________________________

? : City Issues County Issues

Federal Issues International Issues Women’s Rights Gun Control Civil Liberties Education

Healthcare Ethics in Government Election Reform Immigration International Relations

Natural Resources Environment Transparency in Gov’t. Climate Change Elections

Very Active Somewhat Active Mostly Dues Paying Support

As a grassroots organization, we depend on the volunteer efforts of our members. Please indicate how you mighthelp with the League’s work.

_____Membership _____Newsletter writing, editing, mailing _____Public Relations

_____Voters Guide _____Voter Registration _____Forums (Candidate & Issues)

_____Website _____Arrangements of events _____Fund Raising

_____Help in Office 2-4Xs/month _____Serve on Board _____Serve on Study Committee

League of Women Voters ofSanta Fe County1472 St. Francis DriveSanta Fe, NM, 87505-4038www.lwvsfc.orgE-mail: [email protected]

-12-

the voter › uploads › 7 › 9 › 7 › 7 › 7977240 › voter... · the adoption draft of the...

Documents