the local spotlight may-june 2014lwvnj.org/redbank/spotlight/2014-05+06_spotlight.pdf · plastic...
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LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 1
Date Time Event Location
5/12/14 11:30 Board Meeting Majorie Levy RSVP [email protected] or (732)
842-4245
6/14/14 11 – 2PM Annual Meeting The Sheraton Hotel, Eatontown
Articles in this Spotlight
President’s Message /Final List of Nominees Page 2
Annual Meeting – June 14, 2014 Page 3
Breakfast With the Board – March 15, 2014 Page 4
EIGTH ANNUAL RUNNING AND WINNING WORKSHOP Page 5-7
Spring Forum/ Municipal Election Information Page 8
ILO Board Meeting Report/ Mayor Steven Fulop, Mayor Jersey City, Speaks at Eagleton Institute Page 9
Victory in Wisconsin on Voter ID May Have Broader Implications Page 10
Human Trafficking Consensus Reached/ Plastic Bags & the Environment/ Governor Christie & Vetoes! Page 11
Membership and Board Page 12
CHECK OUR WEBSITE FOR UPCOMING LEAGUE ACTIVITIES: www. lwvnj.org/redbank
- Aberdeen - Atlantic Highlands - Eatontown - Fair Haven - Hazlet - Highlands - Keyport - Little Silver
- Long Branch - Matawan - Middletown - Monmouth Beach - Oceanport - Red Bank - Rumson - Sea Bright
- Shrewsbury - Shrewsbury Township - Tinton Falls - West Long Branch
NEW WEBSITE: www. lwvnj.org/redbank
LWV-GRBA
P.O. Box 7649
Shrewsbury,
NJ 07702
The League of Women Voters, a
nonpartisan political organization,
encourages informed and active
participation in government and
influences public policy through edu-
cation and advocacy. The League of
Women Voters is a nonprofit membership
organization functioning on local, county,
state and national levels.
THE LOCAL SPOTLIGHT May-June 2014
REMINDER: League’s activities are open to all members and guests.
Invite a friend to come with you to the events listed above.
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 2
PRESIDENTS’ MESSAGE
Happy Spring, Everyone!! We are finally through with this winter! This year is going so fast, we are coming up on our
Annual Meeting. Please check the information in this issue (see pages 3 ) and save it for the meeting. The Board is
looking for people interested in being a director. Please contact any Board member if you would like to join us. You can
choose the amount of time you want to spend on the issue and perhaps you can start a group of members getting
together to cover a subject. It is a great way to get together with other members! We are also always looking for new
members, so ask a friend to join and bring them along to one of our programs. Madelyne Ryterband, our Program
Director, works VERY hard all year to put programs together, and is always ready to take suggestions from our
membership for other programs. Feel free to contact her with your ideas. Nonnie & I hope to see you all at the Annual
Meeting on June 14th !!
Barbara Chaudhery & Nonnie Godvin
Final List of Nominees
Co-President: Barbara Chaudhery & Nonnie Godvin
2nd VP: Ellen Hock
Treasurer: Anne Torre Beebe
Recording Secretary: Florence Hauer
Directors: Madelyne Ryterband Program
Norma Rosenbloom Program
Grace Chen Spotlight
Directors: Bobbie Goldstein Communications
Florence Hauer Education
Aimee Humphreys Membership
Marianne Kligman Publicity
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 3
SaturdaJune 14 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Sheraton in Eatontown
Members and non-members are all welcome!
Special Guest: Lauren Nicosia M. S., Senior Development
and Public Affairs Associate, Planned Parenthood. She has been a
counselor, educator and all around person for Planned Parenthood for
over 35 years.
TOPIC: The challenges in Women’s Reproductive Healthcare in the
nation as well as New Jersey. Also information about our local Planned Parenthood, Planned
Parenthood of Central and Greater Northern New Jersey.
Delicious Hot & Cold Buffet Brunch including:
Tossed Greens and Bow-Tie Pasta Salads; Assorted Cold Sandwiches & Warm Deli Sandwiches; Condiment tray;
Cookies & Brownies; Beverages
Agenda includes:
Approval of 2013 Annual meeting minutes, Treasurers Report
Budget presentation & vote, Nomination committee report a & elections
Presidents’ Annual reports, Update on League happenings at local, state
and national levels, Directions to the Board etc.
Please make your reservation as soon as possible, and before June 7th
Send check for $25/person, payable to LWV-GRBA, to Ellen Hock,
580 Patten Ave #86, Long Branch, NJ 07740 (732-571-8757) [email protected] .
To The Greater Red Bank Area
League of Women Voters’ Annual Meeting with Brunch
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 4
Breakfast With the Board ---March 15, 2014, 2014Break With The Board
Guest Speaker: David Early
Honoring Lila Singer
THOSE WHO ATTENDED: NONNIE GODVIN, ANNE FREEDMAN, NORMA ROSENBLOOM, FLORENCE HAUER BOBBIE GOLDSTEIN, AIMEE
HUMPHREYS, ELLEN HOCK, PAT RITACCO, VIRGINIA McLAUGHLIN, BARBARA CHAUDHERY, KATHLEEN CHAUDHRY, PHYLLIS KINSLER,
LILA SINGER, JEAN KLERMAN, KAY JENSEN, MARJORIE LEVY, BETTY SCHULMAN, MARY ANDREWS, PEGGGY BAKER, JANET WHITE,
LOUISE USECHAK, MADELYN RYTERBAND, PAT PELLEGRINI, AMY MALLET, GLORIA BROWN SIMMONS, JOAN LUCKY, DAVID EARLY
The Breakfast with the Board Meeting was held March 15 at the Sheraton in Eatontown and was attended by 31
members. We had a lovely breakfast that was arranged by Ellen Hock. We had to bid farewell to one of our longtime
members, Lila Singer, who is moving to North Carolina to be near family. We presented Lila a lovely engraved gift for
her many years of service to the League. Lila will be greatly missed, she brought a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm to
our League!
Our speaker for the day was David Early, from the Brennan Center or Justice at New York University Law School. David
spoke on the then upcoming decision of McCutcheon vs. the Federal Election Commission. David covered the history of
setting limits on contributing to elections by individuals that started with the case of Buckley vs. Valeo. The present case
challenged the law that stated that there is an aggregate limit that can be contributed biennially to national political parties
and federal candidate committees.
On April 2, 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment invalidates aggregate contribution limits. ! This
decision, along with the Citizens’ United decision basically destroys our Nation’s Campaign Finance laws. As a result of
these decisions, C-4, C-5 and C-6 organizations are not required to disclose donors. Some of these organizations are Super
PACS. 17% of people who donate to Super PACS do not have to disclose their identities. One of the concerns is that for
example, $3.6million dollars can be donated to a campaign which is 70 times the median family income.
Here are some things we can do to gain more equality in the election process. Encourage small donor matching programs,
lobby for better disclosure provisions. Let’s find out who ALL of these donors are. Also, let us examine the First
Amendment, how can it make all of us more effective in the election process. Barbara Chaudhery
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 5
EIGTH ANNUAL RUNNING AND WINNING WORKSHOP
The 8th annual Running and Winning Workshop was held on Friday, April 25. Its purpose was to introduce young women from eleven Monmouth County high schools to the possibilities of public service, elected or volunteer. Fifty seven young women, selected as potential leaders by their schools, assembled at Monmouth Regional High School to listen, learn and role play during the day-long program. The student participants came from Henry Hudson High School, Keyport High School, Long Branch High School, Middletown High School North and South, Monmouth Regional High School, Red Bank Regional High School, Rumson Fair Haven Regional High School, Academy of Allied Health and Science, Communications High School, and Marine Academy of Science and Technology. Running and Winning is sponsored by four local organizations, the Red Bank Area League of Women Voters, AAUW Northern Monmouth County Branch, the Junior League of Monmouth County and the Red Bank Chapter of Hadassah. Running and Winning is the sponsors’ response to the underrepresentation of women in legislative bodies, especially at the state and national level. Since 2007, the four organizations, initially brought together by the League of Women Voters, have successfully collaborated to provide the Running and Winning experience for more than 650 high school juniors. Running and Winning began at 8:00 a.m. when students checked in, had group pictures taken and enjoyed
breakfast supplied by ShopRites Inc. and Bagel Oven. They then met in groups of 4 with trained facilitators to
introduce themselves and receive their notebook of workshop materials. The 18 invited Women in Government
assembled on the auditorium stage as the others joined them for the welcome and an explanation of the day’s
schedule by the co-chair, Marian Wattenbarger.
The Women in Government were introduced and info provided regarding how each had become involved in
their leadership positions. . (All participants had also received short bios & contact information for future
contact if desired).
Students then returned to their tables and interviewed three different Women in Government to learn directly
from their experiences. Through the years, all of the women in government have shared their personal stories, which have varied, but their advice to the students has been similar. They told of victories large and small, but also of frustrations, of long hours, of personal sacrifices. They warned that issues are often not as simple as they seem at first, that sometimes compromise is necessary and not a bad thing. “Always fight for what you want,” one woman advised. “Continue to push forward.” “Be aware that you will be accosted in Acme.” And finally, as women, “support each other,” said several of the women in government. The Women in Government who participated in the 2014 workshop included: Laura Atwell, Cynthia S. Burnham, Janice Fuller, Eileen Higgins, Kathy Horgan, Ellynn Kahle, Janice Kroposky, Sophia Lamberson, Juanita Lewis, Amy A. Mallet, Randi Marder, Stephanie Murray, Teri O’Connor, Jane Pattwell, Rosemarie Peters, Amy Quinn, and Susan Sorenson. After meeting with the Women in Government, the students worked in their small groups to prepare a presentation for a mock school board meeting. The focus was “Finding Your Voice” and each group selected a topic of interest, from a provided list, to use as the focus of their presentation. Some possible topics included school safety, uniforms or not, block testing, electronic support in classrooms and standardized testing. Each group prepared a tweet that could be used to encourage other students to
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 6
attend their presentation. At the close of the workshop day each group’s tweet was shown on a screen as they made a 2-3 minute presentation about their topic to all assembled participants. In final remarks Bobbie Goldstein, co-chair, encouraged the students to continue to think about how they can make a difference in their school and community by finding and using their voice in public service. The workshop also provided an opportunity for 10 teachers from the invited schools to attend and network,
meet many of the Women in Government and participate in a discussion related to the students’ hands on
learning experience. Marian Wattenbarger, Co-Chair, noted that the long term goal of these annual workshops is to see more women involved in public service, running for political office and influencing public policy. She remembers the advice given by a Women in Government at an earlier workshop who said to the students, “You don’t have to start out with the intentions of going into government. Things come up in life where all of a sudden you change your mind and make sure you’re changing things in your society and your community.” This workshop also succeeded in providing the students with the opportunities to meet and work
with their peers, participate in public speaking, develop leadership skills, and leave with a new and more
positive view of the political process.
Special thanks to the following LWV-GRBA members who volunteered their time to make Running & Winning the success it was: Steering Committee members: Bobbie Goldstein, Co-Chair, Judy Kramer, Topic Chair & Facilitator; Susan Gelber, Food Co-Chair; Peggy Baker, Facilitator; Aimee Humphreys, Publicity & Facilitator and Workshop volunteer, Sandra Blackman. We also wish to thank Monmouth Regional High School for providing the facilities and personnel to take and print the group pictures; Saker ShopRite Inc. and the Bagel Oven, Red Bank for donating breakfast and , Bertucci’s of Hazlet for donating box lunches for all the participants. Also to Jersey Printing Associates Inc., Atlantic Highlands for printing our posters. Howard Kramer, Anderson Flowers, Iselin for donating the plants. Please thank these donors if /when you go there. If you would like to make a donation to Running & Winning or to be part of this very special project that
encourages young women to find and use their voices, contact me or any member of the Steering Committee.
Barbara Goldstein, Co-Chair. Running & Winning
A sampling of the girls from each group presenting their issue before everyone
Sample of student tweets
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 7
8th annual Running & Winning April 25, 2014 *LWV-GRBA members also on R&W Steering Committee
Women in Government
Bobbie Goldstein*, Co-Chair (left)
helps with registration
Facilitators –include LWV-GRBA members: Peggy Baker,
Aimee Humphreys* & Judy Kramer*
Susan Gelber*, Sandra Blackman
help with the food
Students work on their Campaign
Issue & enjoy box lunch.
Bertucci’s provided box lunches &
Bagel Oven and Saker ShopRites,
Inc. provided breakfast
Marian
Wattenbarger,
Co-Chair
welcomes
everyone
Education Liaisons from most of
the schools also participated
Women in Government, Facilitators,
Education Liaisons, other volunteers
received a plant as a thank you.
Students interview Women in Government
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 8
"Restoring Trust in New Jersey's Government: Upholding Ethics, Transparency and
Accountability"
Thank you to everyone who attended the LWVNJ Spring Forum on Saturday,
April 26 at Brookdale Community College.
Panelists Paula Franzese, Walter Luers, and Jody Calendar left participants
well informed about open and ethical government and energized to work for
change in our state.
During lunch, we held our first Youth Organizing Committee meeting and had the
opportunity to hear from many young people that are passionate about politics and
getting involved with working with the League to design a forum about the politics
of youth. We are looking for college students, graduate students, and young
professionals to get involved in this committee. If interested, please email Jesse
Burns, LWVNJ Director of Communications at [email protected].
In the afternoon, attendees participated in skill building workshops on
effective lobbying, voter education, and president's training.
Thank you for attending! You can see more photos from the day here.
Municipal Election Information
May 6, 2014 – Deadline to apply by mail, requesting a Main-In Ballot for the May 13th Municipal Election
May 13 - Municipal elections (6 a.m. - 8 p.m.):
Long Branch - A municipal election is held every four years in Long Branch and that means all five council seats are up for grabs as
well as they mayor' seat.
Highlands-Electors in Highlands vote to choose:
Council: 1 Mayor, 6 Councilors
Keansburg- vote to choose
2 Councilors
The next primary election is Tuesday, June 3, 2014. The registration deadline is Tuesday, May 13, 2014.
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 9
ILO Board Meeting Report
The ILO Board Meeting was held on April 9 at Louise Usechak’s home. Some of the things discussed were: a
Tri-League meeting to be held Wednesday, September 17. This is Constitution Day and Citizenship Day. We
will encourage Board Members from each of the local Leagues to attend and promote their League and
hopefully gain some new members. There will be seismic testing off the New Jersey Coast, and local fishermen
are concerned about the environmental effects on the environment and their livelihood. Keep up with this
subject in the Asbury Park Press or at: www.app.com. The ILO is sponsoring a bus trip to the Pinelands, will
pass along info on the website and through email. Monday, June 16 is the Annual ILO meeting from 6pm to
8:30 at the Monmouth County Library in Shrewsbury.
Barbara Chaudhery
Voter service
Voter service drives at both Middletown High Schools in March and April were very successful. 52 new voters were
registered in Middletown South and 242 new voters were registered in Middletown North.
Barbara Chaudhery
Mayor Steven Fulop, Mayor Jersey City, Speaks at Eagleton Institute
On Tuesday, February 11, 2014, Anne Torre Beebe and Aimee Humphreys attended a talk given by Steven
Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City, at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers. The evening was part of the Arthur
J. Holland Program on Ethics in Government, which was established by Rutgers in 1989 to honor Arthur
Holland, mayor of Trenton for 23 years between 1959 and 1989 and known as an exemplary practitioner of
open, responsive and ethical government.
Steven Fulop is a first generation American who left a career in finance to join the Marines after September
11th
, serving in Iraq as a member of the 6th
Engineer Support Battalion. Back home in Jersey City, he entered
politics with an unsuccessful primary challenge to then Representative Robert Menendez in 2004, followed by a
successful run for Jersey City Council the following year. He was elected the 49th
Mayor of Jersey City in a
special election in May 2013, defeating incumbent Jerramiah Healey.
Mayor Fulop provided a narrative on his journey to his current position and answered wide-ranging questions
from a packed house. Much of his attention as a city council member and now as mayor has focused on ethics
reform. After his election as mayor, he told the audience, he finally removed from City Hall Frank Hague’s
legendary desk, rigged to allow the mayor to push the center drawer outward so that visitors could deposit cash
without ever witnessing the mayor touching the money. His ethics reforms include more serious legislation as
well, including pay-to-play ordinances and bans on dual office holding.
Frequently mentioned as someone with the potential for higher office, Mayor Fulop is a young, energetic
political figure, very optimistic about creating change in his city to improve education, services and
opportunities for all his constituents.
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 10
Victory in Wisconsin on Voter ID May Have Broader Implications
By: Elisabeth MacNamara 05/02/2014
What a difference nearly a decade makes. When laws requiring strict, government issued voter photo ID were
first introduced in Georgia and Indiana in 2005, the League joined other groups in challenging those laws in
court. In both cases, the challenges were filed before the state had actually implemented the requirement, so the
challenges necessarily contended that the laws were unconstitutional on their face. The challenges also raised
issues under the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. Neither state’s law was successfully overturned, although
Georgia’s law was amended to make it less burdensome for voters.
Challenging a law on its face is always a very difficult thing to do. But, as we have seen over the years since
voter ID laws have been applied in these and other states, these laws discriminate. The judges who years ago
ruled the Indiana law constitutional are now publicly changing their minds.
This week, a federal judge in Wisconsin ruled that that state’s voter ID law was unconstitutional in denying
voters equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment and that the law violated Section 2 of the Voting
Rights Act. While the case will likely be appealed, this was a significant victory not just for voters in
Wisconsin, but for voters in every state that has enacted these restrictive laws. Still pending in Wisconsin is the
case the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin is appealing to the state supreme court under the state
constitution.
But if the recent positive outcomes on voter photo ID laws in Arkansas and Pennsylvania are any indication, our
hopes should be high and that after all these years, with all the experience states have had with these laws, that
we will prevail in keeping our elections free, fair and accessible to every eligible voter.
Persons:
Elisabeth MacNamara
The League of Women Voters of New Jersey, A non-profit, non-partisan organization whose
purpose is to promote political responsibility through informed and active participation in
government
For pertinent New Jersey voting information, downloadable forms, etc. go to:
www.lwvnj.org ; call for answers: VOTELINE 1-800-792-VOTE (8683)
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 11
Human Trafficking Consensus Reached
Human Trafficking: Oppose all forms of domestic and international human trafficking of adults and children,
including sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
Women and Family Issues
Statements of Positions and History
Human Trafficking - 2013
The League of Women Voters of New Jersey opposes all forms of domestic and international human trafficking
of adults and children, including sex trafficking and labor trafficking. We consider human trafficking to be a
form of modern day slavery and believe that every measure should be taken and every effort should be made-
through legislation and changes in public policy-to prevent human trafficking. Prosecution and penalization of
traffickers and abusers should be established, and existing laws should be strictly enforced. Extensive essential
services for victims should be applied where needed. Education and awareness programs on human trafficking
should be established in our communities and in our schools.
Read the specifics, background, and history of the position here.
Plastic Bags & the Environment
Did you know that those plastic shopping bags you use cost more than you think? They are factored in to the cost of
your groceries, then your taxes help pay for their disposal and you may even pay for it a third time when it has to be
fished out of a pump station, recycling machine or wastewater treatment plant. ! There is also a cost to ocean life:
dolphins, whales and sea turtles mistake them for food and then starve to death because their digestive tracts are filled
with plastic. We have to make an effort to see a law gets passed to ban plastic shopping bags. Hopefully, we can start
small and all start using reusable bags ourselves and our elected officials will see that it can make a difference!!
Barbara Chaudhery
Governor Christie & Vetoes!
Governor Christie has pocket vetoed 44 bills, breaking the record for the most vetoes of any Governor. He has totally
vetoed 164 bills many of which have an environmental impact. One of the bills he has vetoed is the combined Sewer
Overflow which would require municipalities to inform residents when toxic materials enter waterways at the more than
200 permitted combined sewer outfalls across the state, or when raw sewerage backs up out of manhole covers.
Another bill is to Establish Transportation Infrastructure Bank. We need another way to refill the Transportation Trust
Fund. One bill that affects our area is S2976/A4394 Standards for Home Elevation. Is there anyone in our League who is
interested in following and reporting on the goings on at the state level? Let us know!!
Barbara Chaudhery
LWV-GRBA Spotlight May-June Page 12
Annamarie Godvin co-President 732-870-0241
Barbara Chaudhery co- President 732-671-4058
Ellen Hock 2nd
Vice President 732-571-8757
Anne Beebe Treasurer 732-842-9383
Florence Hauer Secretary 732-493-4171 [email protected]
Directors:
Grace Chen Spotlight Editor 732-571-3931
Barbara Goldstein Communications 732-747-0824
Zena Gurman Voters Service 732-542-1525
Florence Hauer Education 732-493-4171
Aimee Humphreys Membership 732-530-7954
Marianne-Kligman Publicity 732-758-9089
Marjorie Levy 732-842-4245 [email protected]
Norma Rosenbloom Women Issues 732-212-8390
Madelyne Ryterband Program 732-530-7954
Bernadette Sabatini Voters Service 732-670-3325
Off Board:
Budget
Social Policy
Internship in Democracy Middletown Program HS
North - Barbara Chaudhery [email protected]
Nominating Committee (for 2014)
Wilhelmina Gillem, Ellen Hock, Aimee Humphreys
and Camille Terracciano
MEMBERSHIP & LWV-GRBA BOARD
Membership Dues Membership is open to women and men of voting age.
Your dues will now include one copy of the 2014 New
Jersey Citizen’s Guide to Government at no extra charge.
For additional copies, contact Anne Beebe (732-842-9383
or [email protected]).
(Your dues include membership in LWV-GRBA, ILO,
LWVNJ, LWVUS and provides you with excellent
local, state and national publications.)
Dues: $65/individual, $100/family, $25/full-time student
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Address___________________________________
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Telephone_________________________________
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Make checks payable to LWV-GRBA and send to:
LWV-GRBA, PO Box 7649, Shrewsbury NJ 07702
___ I am interested in learning more about the LWV
___ Please send me a complimentary copy of the Spotlight
For more information about LWV-GRBA contact:
Aimee Humphreys,
732-530-7954 [email protected]
or go to http://www.lwvnj.org/redbank
Membership Info
New Members:
Anne Freedman, [email protected], 732-361-1890
Sue Kiley, [email protected], 732-580-1116
Please notify [email protected] with e-mail, phone, and address changes
Stay informed! Since League activities on all levels tries to keep up with current major and local
public policies we urge all members to save these websites as favorites and visit them frequently:
www.LWV.org, www.LWVNJ.org and www.lwvnj.org/redbank