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VOLUM E XXXVI I I SSUE 5 M ay/ Jun e 2020
Phone: 415 -507 -0824 Website: marinlwv.org Email: [email protected] 4340 Redwood Hwy., Suite F -133, San Rafael, CA 94903
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF MARIN COUNTY
THEVOTER
ANNUAL MEETING June 8, 2020
Time - 10:30am
The Annual Meeting will be a ZOOM Meeting!
At the April board meeting it was decided
that our Annual Meeting will be a virtual
event. Gatherings of all sizes have been
cancelled, but there are certain items that
our membership needs to vote on so that
the League can continue our work in the
coming year. So, on June 8 we will assem-
ble by way of ZOOM to consider: budget
for 2020-21, local program, amendments
to our bylaws and election of officers and
directors.
Please watch for instructions on how to
sign on to a ZOOM meeting.
Closer to the meeting time you will receive
your invitation to join the meeting.
Your Annual Meeting Kit will arrive by email or USPS around May 11.
Save the New Date Annual Gala Dinner
September 10, 2020 6-9 pm Spinnaker Restaurant
Speaker: Carolyn Jefferson Jenkins
Watch your mailbox for your invitation!
We aren’t able to meet face to face these days, and our Zoom meetings are often all
business. So we wanted to send all League members a big THANK YOU for
being a part of this 100 years old organization.
We have made a difference!
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May/June 2020 THEvoter
Building Support for this Constitutional
Amendment
SCF Committee: Our Schools and Communities First com-mittee is back at work, following a short pause to assess the changed landscape created by the coronavirus outbreak. The importance of passing Schools and Communities First, which will generate $12 billion for schools, cities and coun-ties, will only be greater, given the extraordinary needs of communities throughout the state because of the financial effect of the virus. Along with Leagues throughout Califor-nia and other supporters of the proposition, our Marin com-mittee is working to develop the best voter messages. We need not only to inform voters but strongly encourage them to vote “yes”. What’s at Stake: Schools and Communities First would amend Proposition 13, a constitutional amendment passed in 1978, that changed how property is taxed and assessed. Not a new tax, this proposition would change how property tax assessments for commercial and industrial properties are based. Often referred to as the “split roll”, it separates residential assessments (they stay as they are) from com-mercial/industrial properties which would be assessed on actual market value on a regular basis, likely every 2 years once it is implemented. They are currently reassessed only with a change in ownership. That this change would even-tually generate $12 billion annually tells us how much large corporations have benefited financially since 1978.
Of the amendment’s $12 billion annual revenue, Marin County will receive about $71 million. $71 million will pro-vide $30 million for our schools, and $42 million for the county, cities and a few special districts. This is not a solu-tion to funding our local governments but it is a step in the right direction, now needed more than ever.
To learn more about this proposition, go to the Marin LWV website (lwvmc.org) and scroll down to Schools and Communities First. The Revised Ballot Measure: The good news: With over 1.6 million signatures, the revised ballot measure sur-passed, in spades, the required number of signatures need-ed to go on the November ballot. Our League submitted over 300 signatures to this effort. While not yet certified by the Secretary of State it will be. The revised proposition has added benefits for small business, expanding the exemption to small business owners with property valued at $3 million
or less, up from the previous $2 million threshold. It also tightened the Education Finance Language to ensure every school district receives funding in an equitable way. This translates into $100 per unit of ADA for “basic aid” districts, giving all 17 Marin County school districts addition revenue. SCF Committee’s Focus: Our Committee’s efforts at pre-sent are focused in two areas: First, to reach potential sup-porters on the importance of improving our schools, K-14, in Marin County. Second, to understand support of and oppo-sition to SCF by our local business community, especially small businesses. In both areas, we need to craft our mes-sages carefully, to provide correct information to voters.
Our plan to connect with school districts is straightforward. We had originally intended to have a League member read a 3-minute statement at each of Marin County’s 17 school boards’ regular monthly meetings urging their support of the proposition. The coronavirus makes that impractical, so Sue Ream is diligently working on crafting a similar state-ment, sighed by a League member residing in the district and one of our League’s presidents, that we will mail, re-questing that it be read in the remarks portion of school boards’ meetings. We will accompany the statement with a handout for board trustees. We hope to be able to begin before the semester ends and to finish in the fall. Let Sue know if you would like to be a signatory to a letter in your district.
Linda Deer is chairing our effort to communicate with the business community. Here is her summary of that effort: “We have received thoughtful and meaningful feedback from League members who own and operate small busi-nesses in Marin. Through these discussions, we learned a great deal about the potential impacts of SCF on the small business community. In addition, it became clear that fur-ther information is needed in order to craft relevant and ef-fective messaging. It’s a difficult time for owners of small businesses and therefore, we postponed our outreach ef-forts. However, we plan to contact League members, ask-ing for ideas and insights from the small business perspec-tive as well as help in developing a cogent set of messag-es.”
Finally, our team keeps a sharp eye out for possibilities for articles and letters in local papers. This spring, Julie au-thored a letter to the editor in the SF Chronicle (Sunday, March 13, 2020) and Sue another in the IJ. If you see op-portunities for more public comment, please let us know. Julie Monson, SCF Committee
THEvoter May/June 2020
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IN MEMORY
Marcia Hagen March 30, 2020
and Nancy Koors
April 16, 2020
Both Marcia and Nancy were deeply involved in their commu-
nity and worked hard on education issues and Voter
Service activities.
They are greatly missed by all their friends in the League of
Women Voters.
CLIMATE CHANGE COMMITTEE
Wildfires and CLOVID-19 in Marin County The good news…Measure C passed!!!
Supported by the League of Women Voters of Marin County, this measure proposed a new parcel tax to pay for wildfire prevention efforts, requiring two-thirds support to pass. The measure passed by nearly 71%, a stunning achievement in a difficult election! A special thank you to all who participated in the League’s February 14th Day of Action, where we sent out over 200 postcards urging members to vote “yes” on Measure C AND to everyone for voting!!!
As of mid-April, all of the participating agencies in the newly created Marin Wildfire Prevention Authority have selected their representatives. The Operations Committee will have held its first meeting by the end of April. This meeting was open to the public using Zoom. The rest of the story… More than ever, it will be essential for homeowners to pitch in to keep their homes fire safe.
After an unusually dry winter, Marin County fire officials fear that wildfire season could be complicated by the coronavirus pandemic, which threat-ens to put a major strain on re-sources…Facing a potential shortage of healthy firefighters, officials say fire prevention work, such as clear-ing vegetation around homes and roads, is more crucial than ever this year. (Marin IJ, April 6, 2020)
Todd Lando, executive coordinator for FIRESafe Marin,
suggests Marin residents trim vegetation in their yards during the shelter-at-home order as fire season ap-proaches. What a great way to get some exercise and to be outdoors! During the following months the League will continue to play a role in helping educate the public about fire- safe practices and resources. We all have a role to play during these difficult times to protect ourselves, our neighbors and our communities. Do what you can and stay safe! Nancy Bell, Climate Change Committee
THEvoter May/June 2020
TRANSPORTATION/LAND USE/HOUSING
In late March the Marin and Sonoma Leagues submitted their joint letter to
the SMART Board of Directors and General Manager explaining the reasons the Leagues did not take a posi-tion on Measure 1, the 30-year extension of the SMART sales tax. These reasons include our concerns about issues of transparency, communication and co-operation. The letter also informed SMART that the League is supportive of SMART and wants to work with SMART in developing and implementing strate-gies to assist SMART in addressing our areas of con-cern.
The Leagues’ Joint Marin and Sonoma Chapters’ SMART Committee plans to begin meeting with mem-bers of the SMART Board and staff soon to explore opportunities to work with them on these issues.
The San Rafael Transit Center The three sites being con-sidered for the new San Rafael Transit Center are: underneath Highway 101 between Fourth St. and Fifth Ave.; adjacent to the Whistlestop building between Hetherton St. and Lin-coln Ave.; and a site straddling Fourth St. between Third St. and Fifth Ave. The Golden Gate Transit Dis-trict (GGTD) is managing the project, and its consult-ants are working on the environmental analysis for the three alternative sites. In May the District was plan-ning to hold a meeting to provide the public with a status report on the consultant’s analysis of the three alternatives. Because of the current health situation, however, the meeting will be postponed to June or beyond.
GGTD is hoping that the environmental work can be concluded and the GGTD Board can approve the EIR with the preferred alternative by the end of this year. Its recommendation would then be forwarded to the San Rafael City Council for its approval. Construction of the new transit center isn’t likely to begin for sever-
al years. We shall continue to monitor the progress of this project. On March 10 we were joined by Susan Coleman, Team Leader for the RGM Alliance Team, and Grace Geraghty, Team Leader for the RGM Project Manage-ment Team, both members of the RGM Board, a grass-roots nonprofit 501©(3) formed last August. Some residents (and businesses) had learned about the Costco proposal at Northgate Mall and became con-cerned about traffic, pollution, health risks, and the risks in maintaining their healthy suburban quality of life. Instead, RGM is committed to shaping the future of the Mall into a vibrant, profitable, sustainable mixed-use commercial/residential town center, a community destination for neighborhood-scale busi-nesses, not big-box warehouses or stores in residen-tial, suburban neighborhoods like Terra Linda.
RGM is now focusing on letting people know what it supports for the Mall:
*Looking to partner with other San Rafael (and Marin) organizations with similar goals and influence with the City of San Rafael and the developer to find a viable, sustainable “Town Center” solution
*Community gathering places such as restaurants, rec-reational and cultural facilities, cafes, bookstore, retail and services on ground level
*Workforce apartments for individuals and young families that would enhance Northgate Mall as a town center, promote pedestrian, bike and SMART trans-portation, and create a built-in customer base for small and mid-size Mall businesses OR
*Commercial space for small and mid-size businesses that should be located near jobs, transit, and other services and serve as a customer base for the Mall
In summation, RGM believes that, as a community we can do better than a mega Costco Wholesale for the environment and for our collective quality of life. RGM encourages supporters to appear at San Rafael City Council meetings to support the RGM platform. Kevin Hagerty and Judy Binsacca, T/LU/H
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THEvoter May/June 2020
SOLVING STUDENT SETBACKS A New Project with the College of Marin
For the past two years, the Education Foundation was successful in raising funds in support of a special transit card for ESL students at College of Marin. Each year, we sent a grant of $6,000, $3,000 in dona-tions from our members and friends, matched by $3,000 from the Education Foundation.
This year, we took the advice of Keith Rosenthal, Di-rector of Advancement, who with two of his able ac-ademic deans, suggested different needs at the Col-lege. Our transit fee grants of the past two years have become institutionalized at COM (success!). This spring we selected a new project: support for a recently established Student Emergency Assistance Fund (SEAF), and we now encourage you to join us in supporting this critical assistance to students in need.
We continue to be impressed with the overwhelming attention paid by COM staff and faculty to the needs of students, many of whom have to balance work and families with their education. It isn’t easy! The Student Emergency Assistance Fund (SEAF) is a straightforward way to help them continue their ed-ucation under difficult circumstances.
Because of the Coronavirus, many students are now unemployed, not knowing if, and when, they can re-turn to work. This, on top of more common financial obstacles that interfere with their basic needs of food and shelter and the costs of continuing their education. With relatively small grants of from $100 to $500, the fund can provide immediate help so that small problems do not become life-changing events.
Here are examples of SEAF grants:
$100 – Provides grocery gift cards to ensure access to food and essentials like diapers and formula. $250 – Provides assistance to overcome small finan-cial setbacks that could become bigger problems in
the long-term, such as an unpaid utility bill or rent.
$500 – Provides a laptop to ensure continued partici-pation in class – bridging the technical divide.
As in the past, all donations to this campaign in sup-port of the SEAF will be matched one-to-one by the Education Foundation. Our campaign goal is to raise $3,000, to be matched by the Foundation for a total grant of $6,000. Because of the complexities of the Coronavirus, we have decided to send a grant of $5,000 immediately hoping to provide assistance now before the end of the semester. If we raise more than $2,000 from members and friends in the next few months, we shall send that on as well.
Make your tax-deductible donation online at www.marinlwv.org (click the donate button), or mail your check made out to LWV Education Foundation to LWV Education Foundation, 4340 Redwood High-way, Ste. F333, San Rafael, CA. 94903.
Julie Monson, President Education Foundation trustees: Kay Noguchi, Elaine Biagini, Scott McKown, Ann Batman, Sondra Wuth-now, Ann Wakeley, Julie Monson
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Opportunity to become more involved with the
LWV of Marin County.
We are looking for a bookkeeper from within our ranks to replace the wonderful Jessica Williams, who will leaving the Bay Area this summer. Duties: 1. Maintain the books for both the League and the Education Foundation 2. Deposit all checks and pay all of the bills (primarily done online) 3. Reconcile the bank statements and the books at the end of each month
INTERESTED? Need more details? EMAIL: [email protected]
THEvoter
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May/June 2020
FROM THE VOTER SERVICE TEAMS...
G eneral Voting and Election Information
Voter Service Chair, Robin Diederich
March 3 Primary Election
One for the books! On March 3, despite the onset of the COVID19 health concerns, Marin County held a well-organized and transparent election with the high-est turnout in the state, just under 80%! Kudos to Lynda Roberts, Marin County Registrar of Voters, and her staff in the Elections Dept. for staffing all polling stations, taking health precautions and com-pleting the vote count by the original deadline despite staffing challenges due to the COVID19 pandemic! An-nie Layzer and I were among a group of Official Ob-servers as the ballots were returned from the polling stations to the Civic Center on Election Night. Marin County voters can be assured that our elections are in the care of capable professionals. Go to our website, marinlwv.org, for March 3 Election Results. Thank you to everyone who worked on voter registra-tion and education, GOTV (Get Out The Vote) and at the polls!
Voting and Elections during the COVID19 pandemic
While we all follow Stay At Home orders, much of our life has gone online!
Webinars, ZOOM meetings, virtual town halls, media articles, website and Facebook postings - a whole online world bursting with ideas and energy to make voting and elections as safe and accessible as possible. My brain has been working overtime to take it all in! Voting and election advocates across the country are responding to the safety guidelines required by the COVID19 pandemic. We are all sharing and learning about best practices to continue our work to empower voters and ensure fair elections.
All parts of the election process are affected by COVID19 health guidelines (social distancing, masks, disinfecting, etc.) Voter education (registration, forums, pros & cons) Voting methods (in-person & mail) Vote counting We will continue to communicate with all of you on the effects of the pandemic on voter service activities as they evolve through the VOTER, eNews, VS Com-mittee emails, Facebook and our website. Please con-tact me if you have questions, suggestions, a cute ani-mal video :) or want to volunteer at [email protected]. These past few weeks, I have found inspiration from realizing that the Suffragists, who worked through so many challenges for decades, faced the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic in the final years of achieving their goal of Votes for Women.
V oter Regsitration Team Leader, Jackie Dagg
All voter registration efforts are currently being reas-sessed. Unfortunately, several joint projects with com-munity organizations have been canceled due to COVID19 concerns. We are considering virtual, re-mote, electronic and media strategies going forward. We are also communicating with community partners seeking their advice on how to best reach potential voters.
If you are interested in working on voter registration, please send an email to team leader, Jackie Dagg, at [email protected].
C andidate Forum Team - See p. 7 Leader, Nancy Bell
P ros & Cons Team - See p. 7 Leader, Lynn Dooley
Through June, the Team Leaders will be using the monthly VS Committee meeting day to meet virtually and discuss current/future plans. Individual teams will communicate with interested members electronically.
THEvoter
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May/June 2020
Are you looking for an opportunity to make a HUGE difference in our community for the November 2020 election? THIS IS HOW YOU CAN HELP! Citizens and organizations throughout the county rely on the Marin League of Women Voters to provide them with non-partisan Pros & Cons on State proposi-tions, Bond measures and any County-wide local measures for all elections. The in-formation provided includes a description of the issue, some background, what a “yes” or “no” vote means, and who is supporting or opposing the issue.
In the past, presentations have taken place all over Marin at Senior Centers, Libraries. Community Organiza-tions, etc. This year, because of Covid19, Pros & Cons may be presented differently. No matter what the for-mat, we can assure you that PROS AND CONS WILL HAPPEN AND WE WILL NEED YOUR HELP!! We are looking for volunteers to help in the research and presentation process. Our first meeting will be in August 2020. I will head up this effort. Find out more by emailing me at [email protected]. I will be happy to answer any questions. If you are among the many people who are saying, "What can I do about the election?", "How can I be in-volved?", "I want to make a difference?", "I have to do SOMETHING!". Here is your chance. Thank you! Lynn Dooley, Pros and Cons Team
One of the primary activities the League performs during elections is on voter education in the form of candidate forums for local races. How will the League go about educating the public about candidates for the Novem-ber 2020 election in the context of social distancing?
In the months ahead, our safety guidelines will probably be revised on a fairly regular basis, with the possibility that come September/October live forums will not be an option. We are taking this opportunity to explore al-
ternatives, including remote/virtual events. As they say “necessity is the mother of invention”. This presents the exciting possibility to enhance the outreach of candidate forums to a level beyond that which we have done in the past.
Likewise, we see opportunity in strategies to build the candidate forum team. As mentioned in the previous VOTER, plans were in play to do a moderator training session sometime during the spring. We are now con-sidering using an online webinar format for this training, which could also be recorded, providing flexibility to accommodate people’s different schedules, and thus opening up the field of participants.
We are all looking for ways to stay involved and feel purpose in our lives. If you are interested in partici-pating in the November 2020 candidate forum activities and/or training, please contact Nancy Bell at [email protected].
Final decisions are still pending. Please remember to check our website at www.marinlwv.org for updates.
Thank you. Your safety, the safety of your family, and the safety of your community are our top priorities! Nancy Bell, Candidate Forum Team
Officers: Co-Presidents: Ann Batman & Ann Wakeley Vice-president: Linda Jackson Secretary: Doug Cooper Treasurer: Laurie Nardone Directors: Judy Binsacca Dee Dee Butori Mary Caruso Jackie Dagg Robin Diederich Kevin Hagerty Anne Layzer Sue Ream Kira Rossetto Skomer
League of Women Voters of Marin County 4340 Redwood Hwy. Suite F-133 San Rafael, CA 94903
Our next meeting of the membership: Annual Meeting on Zoom - June 8, 10:30 am More details will come with your annual meeting kit to
be emailed/mailed around May 11. Committees are also meeting on Zoom: Watch your email for committee meeting details or
check the League website Marinlwv.org
C A L E N D A R
