LWVNM Board meeting, January 2019

League of Women Voters of New Mexico

Board meeting January 19, 2019

North Domingo Baca Center

Present:Judy Williams, Suzanne Ronneau, Kim Sorensen, Karen Douglas, Barbara Calef, Janet Blair, Karen Wentworth, Leah Ingraham, Meredith Machen, Chris Furlanetto, Akkana Peck, Dick Mason, Becky Shankland, Jan Strand, Andrea Targhetta, Gwen Hanson, Hannah Burling, Susan Haase,

The meeting was called to order at 11:00 am.The agenda was approved with one addition. Kim Sorensen requested to present an invitation to the LWVGLC 50th Anniversary Tea.

The minutes were approved with no revisions.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Judy Williams reported that we will review the strategic goals and objectives at the March meeting.

Kim Sorensen presented the invitation to all state board members to the 50th Anniversary Tea to be held February 23 from 2-4 pm at the Double Eagle Restaurant, Las Cruces.

NOMINATING COMMITTEE

Gwen Hanson gave an update on the Nominating Committee. The president and other positions are open. She requested that anybody who has recommendations for officers should send nominations to Gwen Hanson (gwenhanson10@gmail) or one of the other members. Other members include Becky Shankland (Rebecca.shankland@gmail.com), Andrea Targhetta, Rosmarie Frederickson and Laura Atkins.

Judy introduced Hannah Burling and Susan Haase, both members of SFC, as persons interested in being on the state board. Both shared relevant experiences. Becky Shankland moved and Akkana Peck seconded to nominate Burling and Haase to the state board. Motion passed.

Judy suggested we add a couple of additional members at large to the board.

TREASURER'S REPORT

Susanne Ronneau gave the Treasurer’s report. Eight hundred dollars needs to be put in the ed fund for the Native American Voters Guides. The Operating Fund has a balance of $25,718.10. The Ed Fund has a balance of $4,875.50. A donation of $2,000 is held in the CNM Ed Fund to be used for recruiting diverse individuals and young professionals as members at large/scholarships to pay their membership dues.

Susanne reported that she was unable to put the $10,000 approved at the November board meeting into a CD because she doesn’t have authorization. The board authorized adding Judy and Susanne and removing Meredith and Dick as Key Executives.

Judy requested an increase in the Legislative Reception budget by $1700. The reception will be held at the Rio Chama Steak House. Chris Furlanetto moved the budget be increased by $1700 and Barbara Calef seconded; motion passed. It was suggested that next year the board ask for donations to help fund the reception.

CONVENTION

Barbara Calef gave an update on the State Convention. It will be held at the Holiday Inn Express in Los Alamos May 18 and 19. There will be an evening reception May 17, 5 p.m. at the Wheelers’. The state board meeting will follow the conclusion of the convention at 11:30 on the 19th.

The cost to rent the meeting room is $200 and food and beverage cost is $80.

The schedule and speakers are still being finalized but plans are to have an early morning or afternoon meeting for portfolio managers on Saturday. The conference will begin with a welcome by one of the county leaders (TBA). The first plenary session (with a speaker TBA), will be from 9:00-11:30 followed by lunch with a speaker (TBA). There will be a silent auction again this year.

Possible Saturday afternoon activities include issues meetings, a tour of the NM Consortium, a hike, a tour, or visits to museums. The banquet will include a cash bar reception at 6:00 pm followed by dinner from 7:00-9:30 p.m. at the Pig n Fig in White Rock. State Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard has agreed to be the speaker.

Sunday’s plenary session is from 9:30-11:30 featuring reports from local leagues. Following the convention there will be a lunch for board members with a board meeting after.

BYLAWS CHANGES

Judy reported that MAL was changed to Members at Large at the June July 1, 2017 meeting.

BUDGET COMMITTEE

Barbara Calef made a motion to appoint Gwen Hanson, Jan Strand (chair), and Rosmarie Frederickson to the Budget Committee. Dick Mason seconded. Motion passed.

ACTION

Legislative Advocacy Workshop. Dick Mason reported on the Legislative Advocacy Workshop. One hundred and four people signed in to the workshop, which was presented by Senators Wirth and Rue. It was recommended that the workshop be taped in the future.

Advocacy. Dick recommended that the Iowa Redistricting Model be removed as a state priority. He will still recommend the bill be filed but it has little chance of going anywhere this year. There will be time to address it in 2020. Dick Mason moved to remove it as a priority and Barbara Calef seconded. Motion passed.

Independent Ethics Commission. Meredith Machen reported that 2 bills will be filed at some point.

Reproductive Health. Dick reminded the board that Roe v Wade Day is Tuesday, January 22. He also noted that LWVNM supports HB51. A fact sheet will be provided at League Day.

Education. Barbara Calef made a motion to add Education bills SB1 and HB5 and funding early childhood programs out of the permanent land grant fund as a state A list priority. Dick Mason seconded. Discussion included reasons why education was not included as a priority initially. The League supports the education bills in general and this should be emphasized when speaking to the legislators. Dick will have a fact sheet available at League Day. Motion passed.

Census Advocacy: Complete Count. There have been two memorials filed on Census Advocacy. It is unknown if a Complete Count Committee will be named or whether it is in LFC’s budget. Judy will find out. There was a discussion on how counties are getting out information about the census. There are concerns about the budget and getting an accurate count.

PROGRAM

Meredith Mecham presented her proposal for creating a new position on Compensation for Legislators. She argued that an important position statement is embedded inappropriately in LWVNM Campaign Finance and Ethics and warrants its own position.

Meredith presented 2 options. One option was to concur with LWVMA’s position and the other was to change the wording on the current NM position. Option 1 was rejected, arguing that MA’s position included issues that the LWVNM had not considered for there to be a concurrence.

More work needs to be done before the board agrees to approve wording for the position. Meredith will write a justification to present at the convention. Barbara recommended that the board send recommendations on how to improve the wording and send them to Meredith. Meredith will research other state positions for possible concurrence. Dick will research pay for legislators and staff and other resource needs. Meredith and Barbara will work on a revised proposal that will be presented at the March meeting.

It was noted that LWVNM supports Public Officer Salary Commission HJR 5 as a B priority.

LWVNM POSITIONS: State Studies

TFPL [Transfer of Public Lands]: Barbara Calef reported that all local leagues have reached consensus.

Health Care: Akkana Peck reported that the committee will write a proposal for the March meeting.

Spent Nuclear Fuel: Karen Douglas recommended that the committee propose a process for next steps at the March meeting. There was discussion on whether Spent Nuclear Fuel continue as a study. The argument is that the committee has collected enough information to justify replacing the study with an advocacy committee and can use the information gathered and the national position to advocate whether the League should support or oppose the proposed sites . Meredith Machen made a motion to stop the study and create the Spent Nuclear Fuel Research and Advocacy Committee. Becky Shankland seconded. Motion passed.

VOTER SERVICES

Judy Williams reported that 15,000 copies of the Native American Voter Guides were distributed by the Native American Task Force for the 2018 election. Printing costs were paid for by a grant from the Thornburg Foundation. There was a 16% increase in voter turnout in those counties. Plans for the NA Voter Guides in 2020: Judy will request sponsorship of a bill to create a Native American Task Force with a budget of $40,000. Dick questioned whether state money could be granted to LWVNM. LWVNM will write a grant requesting $20,000 from the Thornburg Foundation.

COMMUNICATIONS

Janet Blair requested local chapters send pictures with captions from their events for La Palabra and social media.

Website and document storage: Akkana has been updating positions and tracking sheets. She has created a tracking site, NMBillTracker.com, where you can get the current status of any bill.

Judy reported that she is still trying to get resolution from the problems with the LWVUS website. She will continue to contact Virginia Case and will keep us updated.

Judy reported that the LWVUS Council will be in Dallas this June. Since there is no budget for it, anyone interested in going will have to pay their own way. Judy will let us know dates, etc. Vote411 will be promoted.

SPECIAL PROJECTS

100th Anniversary. Meredith reported that she distributed packets to the committee members.

Meredith and Karen Wentworth attended a meeting with the National Hispanic Cultural Center on January 4th to talk about plans for celebrating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. A proposal to work together on a calendar to promote each other’s events was brought up at the meeting. She recommends we collaborate with them and other groups in celebrating the ratification. She recommends we focus on the League’s role in the ratification rather than the League’s 100th Anniversary.

Women’s Equality Day is August 26 and the 19th Amendment was ratified February 21. Two major events will be celebrated: February 14, 2020, at the Roundhouse (the actual date of NM’s ratification of the 19th Amendment was February 21, but the session ends on February 20) and Women’s Equality Day on August 26.

There will be a planning committee meeting during League Day. Meredith will give a report at the March meeting.

LOCAL LEAGUE REPORTS

Hannah Burling gave the LWVSFC report. All other chapter reports were emailed to the board prior to the meeting.

SFC members have offered beds to League members traveling to Santa Fe for League Day and other events. Susan Haase will coordinate. Her email is: haasesusan@gmail.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The next board meeting will be March 9, 11:00-3:00 at the Santa Fe Higher Education Center.

Dick recommended that we create more email lists so people can communicate with each other based on interests/functions. Akkana volunteered to create more “aliases.”

Spring La Palabra Convention Issue. All articles are due to Barbara at bfcalef@gmail.com by March 15. The issue must come out by April 13 (snail-mail date so members without email receive it 30 days before Convention).

Contents:

Meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.