January2012 - League of Women Voters of Corpus Christi

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January 2012
THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS - CORPUS CHRISTI
League of Women Voters
PO Box 8276
Corpus Christi, TX 78468-8276
http://www.lwv-cc.org
LWV-CC Officers, 2011-2012
President - Judy Telge
[email protected]; [email protected]
813-6397 (cell)
Secretary - Twila Mouttet
834-3719; [email protected]
Treasurer - Bobbie Wood-Hughes
993-0052; [email protected]
VP, Program
Pam Maupin, 949-8708
[email protected]
VP, Community Relations
Maria Jimenez, 888-7560
[email protected]
VP, Member Services Sandra Heatherley, 814-9120
[email protected]
Directors
Peggy Banales
241-6842, 726-9404
[email protected]
Frank Pimentel
[email protected]
Off-Board Chairs
Nominating Committee
Carolyn Cutbirth, chair; Pat Jalufka,
Peggy Duran, members
Website Editor - Lois Huff
774-1500; [email protected]
The VOTER Editors
Ricky Walraven, 992-8031
[email protected]
Chris Davis Garcia, 991-2784
[email protected]
Immediate Past President
Evy Coppola
New members Matilda Saenz and Elena Buentello are welcomed by President Judy Telge at
the League’s Holiday Party on December 15.
Health Authority to speak at January Meeting
Thursday, Jan. 19, is the date of the next monthly meeting. Our speaker will
be Dr. William Burgin Jr., Local Health Authority for the City/County Health
Department.
His topic will be “The Role of the City/County Health Department in Public Safety.” His presentation will kick off our League’s study of this subject and
the importance of funding for public health to assure the safety and well-being of
our community.
The meeting will be held at the First Baptist Church recreation center at
3115 Ocean Drive from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m..
The cost for lunch is $10 and you may choose either a large chef salad or an
egg salad sandwich on pumpernickel bread. The dessert and beverage are included with either lunch choice.
Please call the LWV answering service at 880-6501 by Tuesday, January 17, to reserve your menu choice and a place at the table. Bring a friend or
guest but be sure to make a reservation for them as well.
The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan, political
organization, encourages informed and active participation
in government, works to increase understanding of major
public policy issues, and influences public policy
through education and advocacy.
January 2012 1 THE VOTER
President’s Message
Turning the corner from 2011 to 2012 was done a
little reluctantly partly because of the wrapping up of
‘old year’ activity and feeling some complacency that
comes with settling in, and the gearing up to tackle
the important work in the coming year. Here are a
few of the important activities before the League of
Women Voters-Corpus Christi:
• Elections this spring and in the fall, whichmeans publishing the Voters Guide and holding the
candidate forums for our community;
Judy Telge
• Voter registration – through the PAVP grant
LWV-CC president
VOTE 18 Project;
• Preparation for the Annual State LWV convention in April – where we
hope to have a good showing of LWV-CCers;
• Participation in setting a League legislative agenda – under way now
at the national and state levels;
• Consensus studies – our submittals to date are the results of the water
study and
• Support for a statewide LWV position against human trafficking; and
• Continuing to participate in ‘protecting the voter’ stances, monitoring
legislative or judicial implementation of redistricting, voter identification and
other issues.
This list doesn’t include requests to consider positions on various issues affecting our community, such as the post office sorting process closure
in Corpus Christi, monitoring of municipal private-public ventures, and a
constitutional amendment on personhood. There will be more, but we can’t
get to them unless we have members who will provide the time required
to research the issues, involve others, and make those determinations.The
challenge of attracting and maintaining members is critical to a strong and
vibrant organization. It became very evident at the end of 2011 with the lossof longtime member Lois Nickerson and the resignation of Twila Mouttet.
We hope these losses can be offset with the four new members and a renewing member we gained during the Holiday Meeting.
It is the members that constitute the lifeblood of the League and is the
basis of what we can and do accomplish. We need our members to provide
their time, talent and expertise.
Right now, our League needs you to volunteer for any of the bulleted
items in this column.
Opportunities abound … let’s make 2012 a banner year for our League
and our community!
Will Voters Need Photo ID in 2012? We Still Don’t Know!
Please see related story, page 4
The Texas law
requiring voters to show a photo ID at
the polls requires federal approval
before taking effect. Texas must
provide data on voters without an
acceptable photo ID before the
Department of Justice can make a
decision. DOJ has up to 60 days to
review the information once received
and make a decision.
THE VOTER
2
January 2012
Election News Update
By Pat Parr, Voter Service Chair
There have been some changes made
to dates set earlier concerning the
2012 election. The Secretary of State
of Texas has listed many of the changes, due to the federal court orders. We
are still waiting for a final decision on
redistricting guidelines.
The Primary Election date has
been changed, by federal court order,
to April 3. The deadline to register to
vote in the primary elections will be
March 5. The run off election date has
been set for June 5.
The last day to file is now February 1, 2012. This is referred to as the
“second filing.” The “first filing” was
December 19, 2011.
LVWUS lists
Resolutions/Hopes
for New Year
Instead of the usual New Year’s
resolutions, LWVUS has put together
this list of Election Year Resolutions/
Hopes for the upcoming year:
Ensure all eligible voters are
registered to vote and can exercise
their right to vote without having to
overcome unnecessary and restrictive
hurdles.
Educate the electorate on the
candidates and issues on their ballots
and help them find their polling place.
Encourage informative and productive debates between candidates
so voters can learn about their elected
representatives through more than just
sound bites.
Fight to make sure election outcomes are decided by voters, not by
special interest money.
Promise clean air for children
and their families, and change the discussion to the important issues facing
Americans in 2012.
Plans for VOTE 18 Project
President Judy Telge to be interviewed on Education channel
WATCH Channel 19, the Educational Access channel, at 7:30 pm on
Wednesday, Friday or Sunday throughout January for the interview
of President Judy Telge with show host Mary Jane Garza, the Hispanic Women’s Network representative on the LWV VOTE 18 Project.
Minutes of VOTE 18 Meeting, November 30, 2011:
Present: LWV: Judy Telge, Sandra Heatherley, Twila
Mouttet, Chris Garcia, Peggy Banales
Republican Women: Kara Rose
Democrat Women: Carolyn Moon
Hispanic Women’s Network: Mary Jane Garza
ΔΣΘ (Delta Sigma Theta) alumni: Alicia Benn, Stephanie Rhodes, Mirakal McGill, Evon English, Cheryl Moon
Guest: Nuri Rodriguez, Nueces County Voter Registrar
Introductions--all
Opening remarks—Judy Telge, League President
Judy thanked all those in attendance and showed a video
explaining the lesson plan that we propose to use in the targeted
high schools.
She also explained that the LWV-CC has received a small
grant ($1,000) to assist with the expenses incurred during the
VOTE 18 project,
Deputization to become voter registars—Nuri Rodriguez
Nuri explained the voter registration process and those
present completed their forms to become a deputized volunteer.
Review of precinct voting history—Sandra Heatherley
Sandra reviewed the voting precincts with the lowest
(<40 percent) turnout in the last presidential elections. These
precincts are in zip codes 78380 (Robstown); 78404, 78408
(Miller), 78405 (West Oso and Moody), 78415 and 78416
(West Oso).
Review of Handout re: Community-wide high school
voter registration campaign—Twila Mouttet
Twila led a discussion regarding which schools to target
First Name
Last Name
Nuri Rodriguez, Nueces County Voter Registrar, discusses the
procedures of voter registration at a VOTE 18 meeting.
and which methods to use. The consensus of the group is that
classroom sessions are the most effect ive venue for the lesson
plan we plan to use. The schools we agreed to target are Robstown, Miller, Moody, and West Oso. Cheryl Moon with ΔΣΘ
teaches in Ingleside, which is not in Nueces County, however,
she is willing to become deputized to register in San Patricio
County, and we can also approach Ingleside HS about offering
this program for their seniors. It was also suggested that the Collegiate HS at Del Mar be used as an ”alpha testing site” for us to
practice in prior to going to the targeted schools.
Develop timeline and future strategy—Sandra H. and
Chris Garcia
Chris and Sandra shared their thoughts on how to proceed
and agreed to send letters out tomorrow to the superintendents
and principals of the above mentioned schools. Others agreed to
follow up with a personal contact:
(Please see VOTE 18, page 6)
VOTE 18 Contacts
Phone
e-Mail
Sandra
Heatherley
876-4321
[email protected]
Twila
Mouttet
834-3719
[email protected]
Nuri Rodriguez
888-0477
[email protected],tx.us
Cheryl
Moon
523-1085
[email protected]
Peggy Banales
241-6842
[email protected]
Carolyn Moon
815-4471
[email protected]
Chris
Garcia
991-2784
[email protected]
Judy Telge
813-6397
[email protected]
Kara
Rose-Sands
331-7320
[email protected]
Mary Jane
Garza
537-1313
[email protected]
Alicia Benn
779-9561
[email protected]
Stephenie
Rhodes
739-4146
[email protected]
Mirakal
McGill
853-5634
[email protected]
Evon
English
825-5786
[email protected]
January 2012 3 THE VOTER
Organization
LWV
LWV
Nueces County Voter Registrar
Delta Sigma Theta
LWV
Democrat Women of Nueces County
LWV
LWV-President
Republican Women of Nueces County
Hispanic Women's Network
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta
Delta Sigma Theta
Texas voters must show
a qualified photo ID
beginning in 2012
Old—oops—make that Longtime—and new
League members mingled and enjoyed
tamales, punch, coffee, and plenty of other
delicacies at the Holiday Party December 15
at the First Baptist Church recreation center.
Thanks to Judy Telge and Chris Garcia, who
provided the photos for this issue of The
VOTER.
After January 1, 2012,* Texas voters must show
one of the following qualified photo IDs at the polls:
• Texas Department of Public Service-issued driver’s
license, personal ID card, concealed carry permit, or election identification certificate; or
• United States government-issued passport, military
ID, or citizenship papers that include a photo.
The election identification certificate will be available
from DPS after Jan. 1, 2012, at no cost to voters who lack a
qualified photo ID.
Exceptions
• Voters with evidence of disability and no photo ID
may apply for an exemption.
• Voters with a religious objection to being photographed or whose ID was lost in a recent declared natural
disaster may vote a provisional ballot and sign an affidavit
within 6 days of the election.
• Voters who cast a ballot by mail will not need to
show a qualified photo ID.league of women voter of texas
Obtaining a Qualified Photo ID often requires documentation such as a birth certificate and takes several
weeks. If you do not have a qualified photo ID, obtain
required documents and apply now to have qualified
photo ID in time for the primaries.
• LWV-TX, 512-472-1100, [email protected];
• Texas Secretary of State, 1-800-252-8683, [email protected], www.sos.state.tx.us, votexas.org
• Your County Clerk or Election Administrator
At the Polls
When you go to vote, poll workers will check that:
• the photo is of the voter and
• the name on the ID matches the name on the voter
registration list.
If the names are not identical but similar enough that
a reasonable individual would conclude it is the same pers
on, the voter should be accepted. The ID address does not
need to match the voter registration address.
Voters who do not show a qualified photo ID at the
polls will be able to vote a provisional ballot. For the ballot
to count, the voter must present a qualified photo ID within
six days of the election.
Additional Information
*This requirement must be approved by the Department of Justice or courts before taking effect.
THE VOTER
4
January 2012
Holiday Party
a big success
Thanks everybody for a fun time December 15 at the LWV-CC Holiday Party! Besides spreading good cheer to members
new and old, we also:
1. signed up six (6) members and
received a $10 donation;
2. corralled new members to participate in the VOTE 18 Project, advocacy
and the Voters Guide;
3. identified a strong candidate to
fill a vacancy on our Board (more on that
later); and
4. took enough pictures to fill the
entire January Voter.
For those who couldn’t attend, we
missed you and hope you are well, on the
mend or enjoying whichever port you’re
in. Many, many thanks to Sandra Heatherley and Pam Maupin for a well-planned
and executed event.
Hunter&HandelP.C.
Todd A. Hunter, Attorney at Law
555 N. Carancahua, Suite 1600, Tower H
Corpus Christi, Texas, 78478
[email protected]
Phone (361) 884-8777 Fax (361) 884-1628
January 2012 5 THE VOTER
Twila Mouttet and Judge Manuel
Banales at the Holiday Party
Twila Mouttet
Relocating
to Houston
By Judy Telge
Our Board Secretary Extraordinaire, VOTE 18 Project Co-Chair, and
loyal LWV member Twila Mouttet
is relocating to Houston in January.
Twila joined the League in 2007 and
served as Program vice president during Evy Coppola’s leadership term.
She did an outstanding job
promoting the Waffle Breakfast for
candidates in 2010 and has demonstrated her leadership skills at every
turn. I hope you’ll join me in letting
her know how much we appreciate
her good work and that she will be
missed. Thank you, Twila, for your
outstanding leadership and dedication.
League asks DOJ to deny Pre-clearance
of Nueces commissioner precincts map
Whereas these requirements are based in the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (the Equal
Protection Clause), the Fifteenth Amendment (prohibits
voting discrimination based on race) and the federal Voting
Rights Act of 1965; Whereas U.S. Supreme Court Justice
William O. Douglas wrote in 1963, “The conception of
political equality from the Declaration of Independence,
to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, to the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth Amendments could mean only one
thing—one person, one vote.” Gray v. Sanders, 372 U.S.
368 (1963);
Whereas the submission to the U.S. Department of
Justice Voting Section for redistricting of commissioner
precincts for Nueces County, Texas dilutes minority voting strength in commissioner district 1 from an existing
Hispanic population of 65.15 percent to 63.61 percent and
reduces the Hispanic Voting Age Population from 61.46
percent to 59.87 percent in violation of the federal Voting
Rights Act.
Therefore be it resolved that the League of Women
Voters of Corpus Christi, Texas respectfully requests that
the U.S. Department of Justice deny Pre-clearance of the
Nueces County adopted plan to redistrict commissioner
precincts under Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act.
Hard-working minority voters have changed the face of
Texas over the past decade. Our democracy needs to reflect
that.
Judy Telge, President
November 16, 2011
League of Women Voters – Corpus Christi
LWV members attending the November meeting heard a
presentation by Lisa Hernandez and approved this resolution, which had been approved by LWV-Texas. Lisa, who
serves on the LWV-Texas redistricting committee, traveled
to Washington, D. C. to present the local resolution and
also to speak as a private citizen against the redistricting
map drawn by the Nueces County Commissioners Court.
For sixty years, the League of Women Voters – Corpus Christi, Texas has built citizen participation in the democratic process by engaging communities and promoting
positive solutions to public policy issues through education
and advocacy. The League is a nonpartisan political membership organization, which acts after study and member
agreement to achieve solutions in the public interest on key
community issues at all government levels.
Whereas the League has a long standing interest in
fair representation of all our citizens. The power of an
individual’s vote is diluted if districts are drawn to make
them safe for one party or the other, to pack racial or
ethnic groups unfairly into one district in order to suppress
their influence, or to break up those groups among several
districts for the same purpose. Such actions can have farreaching impacts on hard-working families;
Whereas two primary requirements govern all redistricting decisions in the state: First, that districts have equal
or nearly equal populations, and second, that districts be
drawn in a manner that neither has the purpose nor will
have the effect of denying or abridging the right to vote on
the basis of race, color, or language group;
VOTE 18
From page 3
Stephanie Rhodes will follow up with West Oso and
Moody.
Kara Rose will follow up with Miller.
Sandra Heatherley will followup with Robstown.
Cheryl Moon will follow up with Ingleside.
THE VOTER
Chris Garcia will follow up with the Collegiate HS.
Mary Jane Garza agreed to feature the VOTE 18 project
on her public access TV program on December 13 with Judy
Telge and one other of the community partners.
Kara Rose offered the same with her program on KTMV
for January 6 with Carolyn Moon.
The plan is to :
Determine from principals who will be the “in school”
contact person for the project
Assign volunteer groups to each school
Present the lesson and voter registration in the schools by
February 6, ahead of the local primary elections.
Present a second presentation at the end of April ahead of
the general elections.
Set date for January meeting—all
The group actually preferred to meet sooner and December 14 at 5:30 p. m. in the RTA board room was agreed to.
6
January 2012
Welcome to These New Members:
Michele Villarreal-Kuchta
Bryan Bode
Sylvia Ramirez
Matilda Saenz
Elena Buentello
Thanks to This Renewing Member:
Ann Smith
Save the Date:
Membership Luncheon,
Thursday, February16
LWV-CC’s monthly Membership Luncheon will be
held on Thursday, February 16, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
at the First Baptist Church Recreation Center located at
3115 Ocean Drive. Information about the program and the
menu will be announced in early February. Save the date!
Reserve your room for Spring Convention
Event scheduled for April 13-15 at San Antonio Airport Hilton
Every two years in April of even-numbered years, LWV
Texas convenes a state convention to which delegates and
members from the state’s 29 Leagues are invited. The
2012 Convention is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, April
13-15, 2012, in San Antonio at The Hilton San Antonio
Airport on NW 410 Loop, and room reservations are being
accepted.
The room rate is $104 (plus state sales and occupancy
taxes) and includes free parking and a complimentary
breakfast coupon for both Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Chris Garcia of our League is the 2012 Convention
Chair. The tentative agenda includes registration beginning at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 13; several excellent workshop choices on Friday afternoon; an outstanding Silent
Auction; a Friday evening social event hosted by LWV-San
Antonio; business plenary sessions on Saturday; and special Saturday luncheon and Saturday evening dinner events
with keynote speakers.
How to make room reservations for Convention
2012: You can follow the instructions below to make your
room reservation right now for the 2012 Convention:
Individual reservations can be made by calling hotel
Save the Date!
Friday-Sunday
April 13-15, 2012
LWV-Texas Convention
San Antonio, Texas
The Hilton San Antonio Airport
reservations at 1-888-728-3031, or via the internet at www.
hiltonsanantonioap.com.
Please make sure to give our group/convention code
LWV to receive the group rate of $104, plus tax, per night
and all group special concessions.
A credit card number of one night’s advance deposit
will be required to secure a room out of this block. Cancellations must be received 72 hours prior to arrival or the one
night room and tax will be assessed. The group rate is only
available through March 13, 2012, so make hotel reservations now!
Bay Area Smart Growth Initiative : BASGI
Promoting quality growth & community livability through policy
reforms. Diverse community-based group meets 1st and 3rd Fridays each
month.
Join the basgi yahoo group at www.groups.yahoo.com
or contact Jeff Pollack at [email protected].
January 2012 7 THE VOTER
THE LEAGUE OF
WOMEN VOTERS
CORPUS CHRISTI,
TEXAS
PO Box 8276
Corpus Christi, TX
78468
THE VOTER
8
January 2012