LWVNM State Convention, May 2019

League of Women Voters of New Mexico

Convention 2019 Minutes

Holiday Inn Express, Los Alamos

Day 1: Saturday, May 18, 2019

Welcome and Announcements

The LWVNM 2019 Convention started at 9:00 a.m. President Judy Williams welcomed and thanked the organizers. Becky Shankland from the Los Alamos League introduced Los Alamos County Council Chair, Sara Scott, who gave the opening welcome. Judy Williams then introduced Liz Bander, LWVUS liaison to LWVNM, who gave the key address.

Call to Order

The 2019 Convention of the League of Women Voters of New Mexico was called to order at 9:26 a.m. by President Judy Williams.

Appointments

Jan Strand, parliamentarian; Kim Sorensen, secretary; Lynn Jones, Credentials Committee chair; Judy Buckingham, timekeeper; Lynn Jones and Judy Buckingham, vote counters.

Credentials Committee Report

Lynn Jones from the Credentials Committee confirmed that there were 22 non-board delegates in attendance of the possible 27, constituting the quorum requirement that at least 40% of the non-board delegates be in attendance. A motion to adopt the Credentials Committee report and establish a quorum was approved.

Adoption of Convention Rules

A motion to adopt the rules of convention was approved.

Adoption of the Order of Business

A motion by Barbara Calef to place the Bylaws Report before the Nominating Committee Report was passed. A motion to adopt the amended order of business was approved.

Appointment of Committee to Approve the Meeting Minutes

A motion was passed to approve Barbara Calef and Meredith Machen as the committee to review and approve the minutes.

Treasurer’s Report.

Treasurer Suzanne Ronneau reported the following ending balances: Operating Fund, $26,645.67; Checking, $16,645.67; CD, $10,000; and Education Fund, $4,046.96. In addition, a donation of $2,000 was made to the Education Fund for recruitment of diverse individuals and young professionals.

Report of the Budget Committee

Jan Strand, Chair of the Budget Committee, reported that the 2019-2021 PMP is based on membership as of January 31, 2019. She noted that a budget for the 100th Anniversary was added under Other Income and Grants. Budgeted income for 2019-2020 is $9,611.50; for 2020-21 is $11,311.50. Budgeted expenses for 2019-2020 are 8,766.00; for 2020-2021 the budgeted expenses are $12,466.

Report of the Bylaws Committee

Barbara Calef, Chair of the Bylaws Committee, presented the following amendments to the Bylaws. All of the proposed amendments were previously approved by the board. Amendment #1: Replace MAL with the words Member-at-Large throughout the document. Amendment #2: in addition to the President, Secretary, and Treasurer, add to the list of officers a First Vice-President/President-Elect, a Second Vice-President, the Action Chair, and the Past President. These changes affect Article IV. Amendment #3: Change Article V to increase the number of elected directors from six to eight.

Report of the Nominating Committee.

Gwen Hanson, chair of the Nominating Committee, presented the committee’s report. Becky Shankland made a motion to nominate Hannah Burling for president. Hannah agreed. Gwen reported that there was no nominee for the position of First Vice-President. She asked for nominations from the floor; there were none. The following people have been nominated: Hannah Burling, President; Barbara Calef, Second Vice-President; Kim Sorensen, Secretary; Dick Mason, Action Chair; Suzanne Ronneau, Treasurer; Judy Williams, Past President; Chris Furlanetto, Program Director; Janet Blair, Communications and Outreach Director; Diane Goldfarb, Reproductive Rights and Voter Services Director; Meredith Machen, Education and Immigration Director. Karen Douglas, Hannah Burling and Susan Haase have been nominated as At-Large Directors.

The Nominating Committee members recommended for election for the next biennium are Gwen Hanson (Southern New Mexico), Chair; Rosmarie Frederickson (Los Alamos), and Andrea Targhetta (Central New Mexico), members.

Report of the Action Committee

Richard Mason, Chair of the Action Committee, reported there were two new developments this year that improved the effectiveness of the League’s legislative action. First, the League set five priorities for advocacy. Second, the lobbying group doubled in size. The big victories this year included passage of same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration. The committee will focus their efforts for the next session on the census and redistricting reform.

Report on the Program for Study and Action (2017-2019)

Chris Furlanetto, LWVNM Program Director, reported that position updates recommended by the board include changes in the Education; Election Procedures; Gun Safety; Health Care; and Selection of Judges positions, as well as establishing a stand-alone Wildlife position. Positions recommended for adoption through concurrence include Net Neutrality; Immigration; Legislature; and Civil Engagement and Civil Discourse. Chris also reported that she would seek approval for a new position on Transfer of Federal Public Lands, written after thorough study and consensus. In addition, Chris reported on the results and recommendations from the committees that had studied billing and transparency in health care and nuclear waste storage. Chris reported that the objectives of the health care study were achieved with additions to the Health Care position. While one purpose of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Study had been to adopt a new state position, the state board decided the national position was sufficient and voted at their January 19 meeting to change the study committee to a Spent Nuclear Fuel Research and Advocacy Committee. Karen Douglas will continue to serve as chair.

Finally, Chris announced that the state board had recommended a new study on Judicial Selection, including qualifications and means of selection of judges of the lower court.

There were no motions to add other studies.

Meeting was adjourned at 11:15.

After the early ending of the plenary session, delegates broke up into discussion groups: voting, immigration, environment, census/redistricting. Then Christine Chandler, State Representative for District 43, shared her experiences as a new legislator. Finally, we had meetings for those interested in the 100th anniversary of the League or League action issues.

Day 2: Sunday, May 19, 2019

The day started off with reports from the presidents of the four local Leagues.

Call to Order

Judy Williams, President, called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.

Credentials Committee Report

Credentials Committee Chair Lynn Jones reported that, according to the bylaws, a quorum had been reached. A motion to accept the attending delegates as a quorum passed.

Adoption of the 2019-2020 Budget.

It was requested that the Newsletter Expenses for 2019-2020 be increased to $200, amending Member Services Expenses to $291. A motion to adopt the proposed budget as amended was passed.

Adoption of Program

Chris Furlanetto, Director of LWVNM Program, presented the program recommended by the state board. She began with a motion to adopt the positions as presented.

A motion was made by Mary Wilson to discuss each of the changes to the positions separately. It was pointed out that discussing each proposal separately would better educate members on the positions. The motion passed.

Civil Engagement/Civil Discourse: The motion to adopt the position by concurrence with LWV San Luis Obispo County, CA, passed.

Selection of Judges: A motion was made to adopt the first paragraph and delete the second paragraph. That motion passed. Then a motion was made to amend by inserting the words “and Metropolitan Courts” in the first paragraph immediately following the words “District Court.” The motion passed. The motion to adopt the Selection of Judges position as amended passed.

Election Procedures: A motion was made to adopt the position as presented. Discussion followed. Some members felt that it was premature to endorse Item 8, “Ranked-choice voting in all elections.” Reasons included the lack of education of League members on what ranked- choice voting means and the argument that failure of RCV in some other places warrants further study. The motion to amend the position by removing item 8 passed. Akkana Peck moved to reinstate Item 12: amending the State Constitution to allow run-off elections in the case of non-partisan elections. The motion to adopt the Election Procedures position as amended passed.

Legislature: Chris stated that the first paragraph of this position belongs under the Executive Position (administrative error). The motion to adopt the Legislature position minus the first paragraph passed.

Transfer of Federal Public Lands. Chris moved to adopt the Transfer of Federal Public Lands position, based on study and consensus. The motion passed. It was recommended that LWVNM take this position to the national convention to encourage LWVUS to adopt the position through concurrence.

Education: Chris moved to adopt the changes to the Education position as presented. A friendly amendment was offered to insert the word “gender” into the general subsection of the Education position immediately preceding the word “race.” The amendment passed. The motion to adopt the Education position as amended passed.

Gun Safety: A motion was made to adopt the Gun Safety position by concurrence with the LWVUS position, as presented in the packet. A friendly amendment was passed stating the following: Delete the first sentence and change the second sentence to read “The League of Women Voters of New Mexico supports regulation of firearms for public safety.” The motion to adopt the substitute statement as the Gun Safety position passed. The motion to adopt the Gun Safety position as amended passed.

Health Care: The motion to adopt the changes to the Health Care position as presented in the packet passed.

Immigration: It was moved to adopt the Immigration position by concurrence with Minnesota’s position. A friendly amendment to remove the word “immediate” in the first bullet so that it would read “promoting reunification of families” passed. The motion to adopt the Immigration Position as amended passed.

Wildlife: The motion to transfer existing text in the Natural Resources Position to a stand-alone Wildlife position as presented in the packet passed.

Net Neutrality, High-Speed Internet, Public Access Media: Chris moved to adopt the position by concurrence with LWV Connecticut, as presented in the packet. The motion passed.

Adoption of All Positions: The motion to adopt all positions passed.

Judicial Selection Study: Chris moved to adopt the Judicial Selection Study as presented.  The motion passed.

Amendments to the Bylaws (requires a 2/3 vote).

Barbara Calef, chair of the Bylaws Committee, presented the following amendments to the Bylaws:

Amendment #1: Barbara made a motion to replace “MAL” with the words “Member-at-Large.” She explained that LWVUS required replacing the term MAL. The motion passed.

Amendment #2: Barbara made a motion to change Article IV, Sections 1, 3, 4, and 5 as presented in the packet. She explained that the Nominating Committee requested the amendment to reflect the importance of the Action Chair; the need to maintain a pipeline at the top (succession plan); and the need to provide a mentor by adding the past president to the board. The motion passed.

Amendment #3: Barbara made a motion to change Article V to increase the number of elected directors from 6 to 8. Barbara explained that the Nominating Committee requested the change to allow for greater distribution of responsibilities to the board. The motion passed.

A motion to add the words “or Designated Liaison” after the word “Presidents” in Article V. Section 1 passed after some discussion. The Santa Fe League delegates felt that the change was needed because they do not have a president and also some local League presidents might not be able to attend state board meetings.

Nominations and Elections:

Gwen Hanson, the chair of the Nominating Committee presented the following nominations:

Officers: President; Hannah Burling, 1st Vice President, none; 2nd Vice President, Barbara Calef; Chair of the Action Committee, Dick Mason; Secretary, Kim Sorensen; Treasurer, Suzanne Ronneau; Past President, Judy Williams.

Directors: Program, Chris Furlanetto; Communications, Janet Blair; Education and Immigration, Meredith Machen; Voter Services and Reproductive Rights, Diane Goldfarb; Webmaster, Akkana Peck.

Directors-At-Large: Karen Douglas, Susan Haase, and Pat Hawkins. Pat was nominated to fill the vacancy created by Hannah Burling’s move to president.

Nominating Committee (non-board members): Chair, Gwen Hanson, and members Andrea Targhetta and Rosmarie Frederickson.

Gwen asked for nominations from the floor. Karyl Ann Armbruster nominated Barbara Calef for First Vice-President, but Barbara declined.

The motion to unanimously approve the officers, directors, and nominated members as presented passed.

Appointed Board of Directors: Meredith Machen, Director of Special Projects—100th Celebration.

Off Board Directors and Portfolio Holders:

Archivist/Historian—Vacant; Budget Committee—appointed 4 months before the convention; Health Care—Dick Mason, Judy Williams, and Akkana Peck; Natural Resources—Barbara Calef and Judy Williams; Constant Contact—Janet Blair and Lynn Jones; Member Database—Lynn Jones.

Acknowledgements:

Judy Williams acknowledged the following board members: Dick Mason for his outstanding work as the Chair of the Action Committee; Janet Blair for her outstanding work as editor of La Palabra; and Diane Goldfarb as Director of Voter Services and for the development of 12 separate voter guides for counties with large Native American populations; and Barbara Calef for “editing everything.”

Barbara Calef presented Judy with a gift from the Board and thanked her for her outstanding work as president of LWVNM.

Transfer of Presidency

Newly elected President Hannah Burling took over the meeting.

Directions to the Board

Hannah instructed members to fill out the “Interests and Directions to the Board” sheet in their packet and turn it in before leaving the conference.

Announcements

Members thanked LWVLA Convention organizers for a great convention. Hannah reminded people to pick up and pay for auction items purchased.

Convention Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 11:38 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Kim Sorensen, Secretary

Reviewed and edited by Barbara Calef and Meredith Machen

Approved by the board July 20, 2019.