- Pierce County Conservation District Candidate Forum
- Consensus Discussion: LWVWA Journalism Study
- League of Women Voters: A History
Other News and Commentary
- If it's broke, fix it!
- President's message
- How can our lush, beautiful landscaping actually be reducing biodiversity? Consider the birds
| | | Candidate Forum
Pierce Conservation District
Saturday, March 4, 10:00 am
Register for Zoom Forum here
| | | Meet the candidates. Read their bios here. Read more about the Pierce Conservation District below and here. | Consensus Discussion
LWVWA Journalism Study: The Decline of Local News and its Impact on Democracy
Thursday, March 9, 6:30 - 8:00 pm
Meeting ID: 846 4135 4760
Passcode: 523712
On March 9, our League will have its discussion of the consensus questions for the state League study, “The Decline of Local News and Its Impact on Democracy”. This important work was presented to Unit Meetings in November 2022. Now the statewide consensus process is underway. Local League input to the state League is due by March 20.
| | | This consensus meeting replaces the regular Unit Meetings for March.
Any member may attend this meeting, but only those who have read the study are eligible to participate in the discussion leading to our submittal to the State League. Read the study here. If you need a printed copy but don’t want to print one yourself, there are several available at the League office, which you can pick up between 1:00 and 3:00 pm on weekdays.
Read the consensus questions here. Find additional information about the study, process and more here.
We hope to see as many of you as possible at this March 9 meeting. | League of Women Voters: A History
In honor of Women's History Month
Saturday, March 11, 2:00 – 3:00 pm
Tacoma Public Library South Tacoma Branch
3411 South 56th Street
Tacoma, WA 98409
| | | Other News and Commentary | If it's broke, fix it
Looking at sweeps through a cost/benefit lens
By Theresa Power-Drutis
"A sweep, sometimes referred to by government agencies as a “clean up,” is the forced disbanding of encampments on public property and the removal of both unhoused individuals and their property from that area."
~American Civil Liberties Union of Washington
| | | Read the entire article here, including information in each of these categories:
- Some Background: Are there really more unsheltered people or are they just more visible?
- Costs of Campsite Sweeps: Human & Financial
- Additional Resources
Let's Fix It!
| How can our lush, beautiful landscaping actually be reducing biodiversity?
Consider the birds
By Lucinda Wingard
We all like to watch birds visiting our yards. We are sorry to hear that there are declining numbers of them nation-wide. We’d like to help. So we may put out feeders and bird baths. We provide bushes and trees for cover and nesting in our yards. We may even post a sign identifying our yard as a “Backyard Wildlife Habitat.” | | | These actions align with our LWVTPC consensus position on Biodiversity in Pierce County Land Use, 2011. But now we read that scientific data shows that yards with a lovely array of plants can actually be killing bird populations. How is that?
Read more here about the data and what we must do to protect biodiversity - as well as how it can help our yards. Then think about how we can perhaps make the needed changes gradually. Perhaps make 70% native plants in our yards a goal reached in stages. What beginnings can we make this Spring 2023? | President's Message
By Cynthia Stewart
This month I turn to an excerpt from Rosemary Powers, first Vice President, from her opening last week at the Coalition to End Homelessness. Every week she gives an inspirational message at the beginning of the meeting. This one was particularly powerful. The theme is blankets, in anticipation of the cold weather and snow this week. |
Rosemary said, "This morning, 'blankets' suggest a way to center us on our commitment to connect and mobilize to act. I start with definitions:
- Blanket as a Noun
- a large usually oblong piece of woven fabric used as a bed covering
- something that resembles a blanket
--a blanket of fog
--a blanket of gloom
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- Blanket as an Adjective
- effective or applicable in all instances
--blanket rules –applying without distinction
-- A blanket ban –prohibited everywhere
--A blanket statement, referring to every case
"So how do we blanket, with blankets, to create a county blanketed in housing justice? Three suggestions:
First, we keep on with the small acts, gathering and distributing warm blankets/sleeping bags and cold weather supplies for these freezing nights. If you have blankets to share, let me know. We also need a laundromat program to clean and dry these blankets—that are useless when wet. | Second, we continue to voice our strong objection to blanket bans on resting in public spaces, blanket bans on camping in “zones” when no realistic shelter options exist, and lobby for more effective approaches. And,
Third, while collaborating, with respect, with all who are trying to respond to lack of housing, we should blanket the county in indignation at bureaucratic processes that delay and the continuing challenges to coordinating effective emergency responses.
While touched by the power of the “star-eaten blanket of sky, “ and the image of the blanketing shelter of divine wings,” I am more moved today by the image of an imperfect but strongly connected blanket of neighbors who offer other neighbors kindness, practical life-saving resources, and alliances on the way to gaining what all of us need—the blanket of safe and secure housing. " | | | Read Rosemary's entire powerful statement here.
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Observer Corps: What You Should Know
By Lydia Zepeda
The LWVTPC Observer Corps provides three vital services: reporting on local government, holding elected officials accountable by letting them know they are being observed, and educating observers and members about local politics. If you want to know more about what is going on in local government, there is no better way than joining LWVTPC Observer Corps or reading their reports.
Currently there are nine members of the Observer Corps, covering Tacoma City Council, Pierce County Council, University Place School Board, Puyallup City Council, University Place City Council, Port of Tacoma, Sumner School Board and the Puyallup School Board. We need more observers to cover the Pierce County Council, the Tacoma School Board, Lakewood City Council, and the Clover Park School Board.
As an observer, the commitment is one meeting and one report a month. These are posted on the LWVTPC website, on Facebook and highlighted in the Voter. The issues covered affect our daily lives: what is taught or not taught in our schools; racial equity; policing; housing and homelessness; land use development; Covid-19; taxes; and mental health.
Most of the meetings have transitioned to in-person, but there is usually a virtual option. If you are interested in learning more about local government, want to fill the gap left by the lack of local journalism, or simply want to let our elected officials know they are being held accountable, join the LWVTPC Observer Corps. Contact Lydia Zepeda if you are interested. | Read these recent Observer reports:
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Please take note...
Legislative Newsletter
Please note that in the Legislative Newsletter that comes out every Sunday during the legislative session, there are several parts. The first part is called "Action Alerts", which are the items that the entire LWVWA Lobby Team has agreed are the top issues needing your help for the coming week. Please do take action with those.
The second part is "This Week in the Legislature", which describes the legislature's status.
The third part is a list of issues. For each issue, there is a link to a summary, where you can see the progress of each bill being tracked for that issue; and an update, which is a narrative giving more details. Sometimes these also have actions you can take to support the League's position on bills in that issue category.
Please be sure to read the materials for the issue(s) you're most interested in and take action where indicated. If you are not receiving the Legislative Newsletter but would like to, subscribe here.
LWVTPC web site
If you haven't used the new (relatively new) web site for our local League, it's easy to find. Just google, "lwvtpc.org"! You will find a wealth of information there.
We have an Instagram account
If you have not been following our Instagram account, you should. Lydia Zepeda has been posting the Woman of the Week for months. These are fascinating bios of women in history up to current times who have made an impact in Washington State. And this is another site at which you can be alerted to LWVTPC events.
How to sign up?
- Download the Instagram App on your telephone. You can do this by searching for “Instagram” in your “Play Store” if you have an Android phone or “App Store” on an iPhone.
- Once you download Instagram, “follow” our Instagram account by searching for “LWVTPC” and click on “Follow”
“Like” and comment on our LWVTPC posts.
- And please "Share" this with your friends.
No Unit Meetings in March
Since there will be a consensus meeting on the LWVWA Journalism study and a potluck dinner with the LWVWA Board during March (invitations to members only), Unit Meetings for March are canceled. Please watch for the April Unit Meeting announcements.
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