Articles in This Issue
For the Election on November 5: Be an Informed Voter
Proposed Tacoma Charter Amendments Forum
General Election Candidates Forums
Ballot Parties: Gathering for Democracy Talk and Action
Ballot Curing Project
Protecting the Ballot | |
Important Dates Coming Up
October 10: World Homelessness Day
October 14: Indigenous Peoples' Day
October Unit Meetings: Ballot Initiatives
President's Message
Environment & Climate
Large Battery Storage Facility Coming to Pierce County
Observer Reports | | | For the Election on November 5: Be an Informed Voter
Watch these forums before you vote | | | Proposed Charter Amendments Forum
Tacoma Residents:
Before you vote on November 5, learn about these proposed changes to the City charter, how they originated, what they mean, and the pros and cons: | | |
- Limitations Upon Sale or Transfer of Waterfront Property
- Duties and Authority of Council Members
- Composition of the Planning Commission
- Changing Term Limits for Future Elected Council Members
Charter Review Committee Speakers:
Katie Baird Latasha Palmer André Jimenez Nicholas Carr | General Election Candidate Forums
Watch the candidate forums listed below before you mark your ballot. Get direct links here or use the QR code on the flier below. | Ballot Parties: Gathering for Democracy Talk and Action
By Rosemary Powers
Participating in a “ballot party” can be a good way to become more informed about important local, state and national issues and candidates. The issues may be confusing or complicated, and we often don’t know enough about candidates to confidently choose between them. But inviting friends and family to consider the issues together can make these decisions easier, may change some minds, and can help ensure that party goers complete and return their ballots! | | | Puyallup State Fair visitors at the League of Women Voters’ information booth this year were asked what they thought was the best way to get people out to vote. They chose “family and friends” by a wide margin. In the spirit of that informal poll, we offer this Ballot Party Kit to help encourage people to come together for democracy talk and action. As we say at the League: Vote like democracy depends on it. It does!
If you’d like detailed suggestions for planning or proposing a ballot party, check out the Tool Kit provided by the Ballot Ready national organization here. A simple gathering of friends and family can work just as well by encouraging discussion, raising clarifying questions, and making sense of ballot issues together.
Our Ballot Party Kit Includes a suggested plan for the party, copies of a voter checklist and FAQs, including election deadlines and tips, suggested conversation starters, a bag of microwavable popcorn and several bags for serving. Those attending the party would be asked to bring their Pierce County Voters pamphlet, their ballot, and any questions or information they have gathered about issues or candidates.
Our Ballot Party Kit is offered as a resource for voters, but our League is not hosting the actual parties. Members and others who would like a kit to use for their own event should contact Rosemary Powers at rpowers@eou.edu. We will assemble the kits when requested and arrange for you to pick them up. We can also provide several kits for community groups or organizations you think would use them.
We hope you will consider hosting a party or encouraging others to do so. With ballots arriving soon in our mailboxes, knowing there is a plan to gather, engage in democracy talk, and share insights about ballot choices can help voters make those choices with more confidence.
| Ballot Curing Project
By Carolyn Edmonds
Since June a team of awesome League members and volunteers have been working to ensure ballots are counted. We have been working with Pierce County Elections on this project. There are voters every election whose ballots are rejected because the ballot signatures do not match the signatures on file and, therefore, not counted. Many of these voters have their ballots rejected in multiple elections. | | | You, the League members and volunteers on this project, have completed 14 of the 17 lists, contacting 73% of the 476 voters on the lists. You have been to 352 voter doors to help voters validate their ballots. That is a great success and a wonderful gift to democracy.
There are 3 remaining lists:
#15 - Auburn & Bonney Lake - 20 Voters
#16 - Lake Taps & Sumner & Bonney Lake - 26 Voters
#18 - Milton, Fife, Puyallup, Edgewood - 26 Voters
Any readers who are interested in one more list, please let me know. Our next meeting will be Monday, October 21, at 4:00 pm, at the LWVTPC office. Many thanks to all of you. Great work on this project!
| Protecting the Ballot
An article for an upcoming LWVWA publication
By Beth Pellicciotti, LWVWA Board Member, Chair of Civic Education
Marty Gibbons, a LWVWA Board member, took a picture of this trash can recently at a rest stop off a highway. The picture reminds me of other discouraging messages about voting. We hear, “Your one vote doesn’t count,” “You don’t know enough to vote,” “The system is rigged.” | | | League members who have worked at Voter Information tables have heard all these negative comments and more.
And so what do we do? . . .
Read the complete article here. | Important Dates Coming Up | October 10: World Homelessness Day | On October 10, 2024, people around the world will commemorate World Homeless Day in multiple ways. Actions and activities focus on:
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Increasing awareness and understanding of homelessness;
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Advocating for useful policies and systemic changes;
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Preventing and reducing homelessness;
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Alleviating the suffering of those experiencing it; and
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Celebrating progress wherever it can be found
On Thursday, October 3 at 9 am, all are welcome to join the Tacoma/Pierce County Coalition Communication & Advocacy workgroup to help plan local events and educational opportunities for World Homeless Day 2024. Join via the Coalition webpage here.
Here are a few resources for those interested in learning more:
| October 14: Indigenous Peoples' Day | Indigenous Peoples’ Day has been celebrated around the world for 40 years. In the late 1980s South Dakota issued the first resolution naming this special day. Berkeley California linked Indigenous Peoples’ Day with Columbus Day in 1992. Federally Indigenous People’s Day and Columbus Day were linked in 2023 though the Federal Reserve, which oversees banking holidays, still lists the Oct. 14 banking holiday as Columbus Day. While not an official holiday for Washington State employees, the State refers to the day as Indigenous People’s Day.
We recognize Indigenous People's Day to acknowledge the Native citizens who lived on this land before European explorers arrived and whose later generations have been so marginalized by white culture. Check out the some ways you can participate in Indigenous People's Day this year.
- Tacoma Art Museum's In the Spirit exhibit and activities here
- Tahoma Indian Center events here
| October Unit Meetings
Join us to learn about the four state wide Initiatives on our ballots, Initiatives 2109, 2066, 2117 and 2124. Cynthia Stewart, WA State LWV Lobby Team Chair, who has been attending many meetings virtually and in person to educate League members and the public about these initiatives, will be the presenter. Hear what these Initiates are and the possible outcomes if approved. The WA State LWV supports a NO vote on each of the them.
In other exciting Unit Meeting news - the Gig Harbor Unit Meeting is back! Thank you to Lucina Wingard and Katie Coiffi, Co-Leads, for your willingness to be Co-Leads. The Gig Harbor Members, as well as all of us, appreciate you.
Unit meetings are open to the public, so consider inviting others to join you for this introduction to the League. October Unit Meetings dates and times are as follows. | | East Pierce/Puyallup Unit
Saturday, October 12, 10-11:30 am
Puyallup Public Library
324 South Meridian
Puyallup, WA 98371
Gig Harbor:
Saturday, Oct 12, 1:00 – 2:30 pm
Anchor Room, Heron’s Key
4340 Borgen Blvd.
Gig Harbor, WA 98332 | | | President's Message
By Rosemary Powers
On September 23, at 5:43 am Pacific time, the Fall equinox signaled the arrival of Autumn. Halloween decorations, multi-colored leaves, and pumpkin-flavored drinks now appear everywhere.
As of October 1, we are 36 days from the General Election. The years-long non-stop national politicking feels almost assaultive, and the high-stakes predictions create a yo-yo experience of despair and re-doubled effort. | | | Meanwhile, our current elected representatives continue the daily work of leading our communities, and we continue to judge their performance in enacting our priorities. During this election season, a majority of us will vote for these officials to continue or put our faith elsewhere—voting for new representatives or perhaps abstaining from voting at all.
I am thinking mostly today about the daily-ness of the work of governance, and of the historical record of the League in focusing attention on the issues of our common life at all levels.
Leading up to the General Election, our local League candidate forum team continues the work they started during the primaries—offering on-line forums where all of us can hear directly from the candidates who seek to represent us. They are recording the forums to make them available to view after the events. Attend if you can and share links with your networks in whatever ways you communicate. Also watch the Tacoma City Charter amendments forum that is included in this newsletter. You can attend one of our Unit meetings to hear about the Initiatives on the statewide ballot.
If you are looking for a specific project to promote more informed voting, consider organizing or proposing a “Ballot Party” for friends, family, neighborhood, or other groups. We have put together a Ballot Party Kit with directions and resources you can share. Read more about this elsewhere in this Voter.
In this yo-yo time, I feel more able to redouble my efforts to defend democracy when I remember the work of earlier League members who believed in the power of individual voices joined together. We build a more inclusive community by holding ourselves and our public officials accountable to that goal.
| Large Battery Storage Facility coming to Pierce County
By Chuck Jensen
East Pierce County will see the siting of perhaps the first large battery storage installation in the state. Washington's Clean Energy Transformation Act will require Puget Sound Energy to become greenhouse gas neutral by 2030. That means that the utility will have to bring 6,700 megawatts of renewable energy (solar and wind) to its energy mix of electrical generation in the next six years.
PSE has announced they will build a 142-megawatt solar project (on 1,000 acres) next to it's existing wind farm in Pomeroy, Garfield County. The wind turbines produce the most power in the winter, which will compliment the solar output in the summer. That combined output will be transmitted to the Sumner storage facility, which will provide 200 megawatts an hour for four hours. | Find out what is going on in your local city or county government. Read our most recent Observer reports. If you would like to help inform our members and the public by being an Observer, contact Lydia Zepeda, zepelow@gmail.com.
Puyallup City Council, September 24 2024
Puyallup School Board, September 3, 2024
Tacoma City Council Study Session, September 17, 2024
Tacoma City Council Study Session, September 24, 2024
See previous Observer reports here.
| League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County
621 Tacoma Ave. S.
Tacoma, WA 98402
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