Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy. | | The official newsletter of the League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County.
Vol 65 | Issue 9 | Date: Oct 13, 2023 | | | |
HUMANKIND HOLIDAY GIVE BACK DAY
|  | Wednesday, November 1, 10 am – 6 pm
974 Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo
"Every Time You Spend Money, You're Casting A Vote For The Kind Of World You Want" —Anna Lappé
Support Fair Trade, talented artisans from around the world and the League of Women Voters on Wednesday November 1.
HumanKind has chosen the League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County again this year as one of ten charities to participate in the store’s annual Holiday Give Back Days. When you shop at HumanKind, either online or in person on November 1, 10% of your purchases will be donated to the League to help us in our mission to empower voters and protect democracy.
Get a start on your holiday shopping by visiting the store at 974 Monterey Street (between Boo Boo Records and Passport). Discover the many delightful new products on display. If you prefer, you can shop online here and either pick up your purchases in the store or have them shipped.
Either way, mark your calendar for November 1 to shop at HumanKind. Invite your friends and family to join you in supporting the League and fair trade through their shopping.
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CHUMASH HERITAGE NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY
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Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
Public Comment Period Ends October 25, 2023
|  NOAA’s Office of Marine Sanctuaries has released its draft designation materials for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, including a draft EIR and draft management plan. Read it here. The proposed sanctuary is the first tribal-nominated marine sanctuary in the United States, led by the Northern Chumash Tribal Council. Additional information about the sanctuary can be found at their website here. Sign their support petition here.
The agency-preferred sanctuary boundaries encompass 134 miles of coastline from Montana de Oro State Park to Naples. Excluded from these boundaries are the waters off Cayucos and Morro Bay, an anticipated corridor for industrial development associated with offshore wind energy production. Members of the public may provide public comment until October 25, 2023. To do so, click on NOAA’s website here. Final action on the sanctuary designation is expected in the middle of 2024.
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NEWS FROM CIVIL DISCOURSE
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Successfully Crossing the Political Divide
Webinars to Promote Civil Discourse |  As the holidays draw near we look forward to gatherings with friends and family – sometimes with a bit of trepidation. Are you worried that political arguments might ruin your holiday get-togethers? Help is on the way. Two national organizations devoted to defusing political tensions – the News Literacy Project and Braver Angels – are offering webinars on how to successfully cross the political divide, just in time for the holidays.
LWV is teaming up with the National Institute for Civil Discourse and the News Literacy Project to host a webinar “Productive Conversations Without Confrontation.” The webinar is offered two times: Tuesday, October 24 at 1 pm and Thursday, November 16 at 4 pm.
Experts from three organizations will discuss how and why disinformation manipulates and exploits biases, provide strategies for civil conversation, offer resources to help you debunk falsehoods in a productive way, and describe ways to help your community find reliable election information.
To sign up for the webinar go to News Lit - Productive Conversations Without Confrontation.
Believing that change starts from within, Braver Angels offers a three hour webinar, “Depolarizing Within”, with lively breakout sessions, to raise awareness of our “inner polarizer” – ways that we unconsciously stereotype, dismiss, or ridicule people in the other political party.
This webinar is offered from 11 am - 2 pm on Saturdays, October 14, 21, 28 and from 1 - 4 pm on Sunday, October 15.
To find this webinar go to Depolarizing Within – Braver Angels.
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BREAKING BARRIERS TO THE BALLOT BOX
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Breaking Barriers to the Ballot Box:
Expanding Language Access for California Voters
A Report from California Common Cause
|  Efforts to strengthen our democracy and ensure that voting is secure, meaningful, and accessible have achieved some successes since the implementation of the federal Voting Rights Act in 1965. California, in particular, has made progress with automatic voter registration, Election Day registration and mail-in ballots, reforms that the League and our allies fought long and hard for.
Yet in several ways California’s elections remain unequal. The biggest remaining obstacle to full participation for all citizens may be the barriers that still stand in the way of limited-English speaking immigrant voters. Access isn’t equal if voters do not receive information in a language they can understand.
California Common Cause has published a new report, "Breaking Barriers to the Ballot Box: Expanding Language Access for California Voters", which explores how federal and state laws fall short and what we must do to ensure a multilingual, multiracial democracy.
The report provides a roadmap to ensure that all voters, regardless of their English language proficiency, can vote fairly and equally.
Read the report here.
| A Focus on Local News at Our Opening Meeting
 On September 30, 2023, LWV SLOCO held its opening meeting to kick off the year’s activities. Co-Presidents Ann Havlik and Elizabeth Manak hosted the meeting which featured guest speaker Stephanie Finucane, SLO Tribune Opinion Editor. More than 80 League members and guests attended the Brunch meeting held at the Madonna Inn and on Zoom.
Ann Havlik reminded members of the challenges ahead – from an election year that will tax our mission to register, educate, and encourage people to vote, to monitoring and advocating for an Independent Redistricting Commission, to promoting civil discourse.
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Our guest speaker, Stephanie Finucane, presented an engaging yet sobering picture of the challenges to local journalism. As the financial situation gets worse every year, local newspapers either fold or join forces with larger conglomerates. Subscriptions are a challenge as the increasing cost of the paper edition reduces subscriptions.
Ms. Finucane noted that local newspapers have historically been a source of community identity. With increased costs and drastic reductions in staff covering local beats, that is no longer the case. While local newspapers can obtain grants to cover specific areas--health, the environment-- much that happens locally remains under-reported. Ms. Finucane encouraged everyone to write to the newspaper, tell them what you think is missing, or write letters or op-eds to get your point of view before the public.
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 For the second half of the meeting, Committee chairs (or their stand-ins) from Government Policy (Sharon Whitney), Civil Discourse (Jean Slater, Anne Quinn), Natural Resources (Neil Havlik), and Voter Services (Julie Rodewald) told members what their committees are doing and encouraged people to join. League members can participate a little or a lot, every bit is welcome.
Elizabeth Manak reported on two upcoming fundraising opportunities: November 1, 2023, Humankind will hold their Give Back Day and 10% of sales will go to our League. March 28, 2024, the SLO Rep Benefit Night presentation of What the Constitution Means to Me will benefit our League. Mark your calendars and look for more information in an upcoming Voter.
One bit of business did get addressed. The League approved changes to the by-laws covering the timing of membership renewals.
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We encourage everyone who attended, and those who were unable to come, to get involved. Democracy is not a spectator sport – it demands our attention and participation.
Learn more about the decline of local journalism from the resources listed here.
Ann Havlik and Elizabeth Manak
Co-Presidents LWV SLOCO | Leigh Livick – Volunteer Extraordinaire
If you subscribe to the proposition, “If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it”, Leigh Livick is your poster child. Her can-do, will-do attitude has earned her the spotlight from the Membership Committee as a stellar and omnipresent volunteer. Leigh is the first of many volunteers we will salute in the months to come in this regular feature in The Voter.
A standout volunteer for the local League, Leigh has worked the polls on election day with our Adopt-a-Poll effort, visited high schools as part of our teams registering young voters, assisted with Voter’s Edge, and helped out at candidate forums. In addition, she works on the Communications Committee and has lately become a force on our Membership Committee as we strive to engage our many members.
Leigh has a major role in no fewer than SEVEN other organizations.
She is currently Co-chair of the AAUW Atascadero Programs Committee and chairs the Tech Trek Committee and the International Committee.
She is now serving her third term as President of the Friends of the Atascadero Library, having served on the Board for about 20 years.
Her family hosted AFS (American Field Services) students from Japan, Italy, Indonesia, Tajikistan and Turkey while Leigh served as the AFS SLO County Hosting Coordinator for 15 years. She has been the Coordinator of State Department Sponsored Programs for two years.
This year she travelled to Guatemala for the second time with I CARE International. Leigh has been to Mexico twice and to El Salvador five times with this organization, which provides vision clinics and prescription glasses to underserved communities. She is also currently working on a vision clinic in San Miguel in partnership with Central Coast Lions Clubs.
After returning from Guatemala recently, a friend told her about a group that raises money for impoverished female Guatemalan artisans. It’s based in Colorado but there are chapters all over, including one here in SLO. She assists them with fundraising events such as their annual rummage sale, and booths at community fairs.
Leigh has accepted the volunteer position of Secretary for the Central Coast Coalition for Inclusive Schools (CCC4IS). CCC4IS recently hosted three ACLU attorneys and held workshops at Morro Bay, Paso Robles, and Nipomo High Schools on LGBTQ+ Student Rights in CA Public Schools.
She served as secretary for Hands in Nepal for 10 years, travelling there twice to visit their education and women’s projects. She stepped away from this project two years ago to get more involved with local causes such as LWV SLOCO.
Her husband, Rob, was City Engineer and Public Works Director for the City of Morro Bay. He is an alum of the Cal Poly Engineering Program. Daughter Clare graduated from Mills College and now works at Longcrier and Associates in SLO as an Accounting Clerk with an aim to become a CPA.
Before her life as a volunteer extraordinaire, Leigh worked as a Waste Reduction Specialist in the County Environmental Services Division. Prior to that she did enforcement work as an Environmental Health Specialist and worked for the City of San Luis Obispo running the laboratory at what was then the wastewater treatment plant and is now the water reclamation facility.
When she manages to find time to relax Leigh knits, makes her own soap, and reads avidly, especially WWII historical fiction.
| The San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission met on August 30, 2023 to review the Dana Reserve project and final Environmental Impact Report, and voted to continue the hearing until October 23 and 24 to give the public and the Commission more time to review the project materials and EIR. An all-day Study Session was held on September 28 for the purpose of informing the Planning Commission and the public about the project; the League had previously recommended such a study session due to the size and complexity of the project.
Issues surrounding the project include its size, neighborhood compatibility, traffic impacts, and impacts upon the native oak woodland there. Estimates are that between 3,000 and 4,000 mature oak trees would be removed and associated habitat would be lost.
Other considerations concern the affordable housing component of the proposal. While the need for housing – especially low and moderate income housing – is great in SLO County, the number of units set aside as affordable in the Dana Reserve Project is small. Only 104 of the approximately 1,300 to be built will be sold as affordable. People’s Self-Help Housing Corporation would build and manage these units.
The Natural Resources and Housing and Homelessness Committees are following the progress of this project as it goes through the hearing process at the Planning Commission and on to the Board of Supervisors. We have recommended that the Commission look at alternatives – most importantly, a smaller project that would have a less deleterious impact on the site's natural environment.
For additional information on the project, please visit the County’s website here. | |
UPCOMING EVENTS & WEBINARS
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“No Time to Fail” Documentary: Election Worker Recruitment & Awareness
Premieres October 26 at 8 pm on PBS World | Amidst an onslaught of attacks from a sitting President and the deadly threat of a global pandemic, local election administrators work around the clock to secure the vote for their community. Rhode Island’s election teams take center stage in this unprecedented voting adventure.
Election administrators were once invisible to the general public. Despite the unbelievable challenges and desperate attempts to disrupt and upend the 2020 election, they pulled off the most secure election in our history; and they did it amidst a global pandemic.
Rather than receiving a hero’s welcome, they have become the focus of an ongoing coordinated campaign of disinformation.
"No Time To Fail" gives voice to the experiences of this largely invisible, yet completely indispensable workforce, at this critical time in our country’s relationship with election management.
Read more here. |
AAUW School Board Project
AAUW Central Coast Presents a Discussion with Kathi Harper, past AAUW California Public Policy Chair |  Saturday, October 28, 10 am - 12 pm
Atascadero Library
6555 Capistrano Avenue, Atascadero
School board policies, classroom curriculum, and books in school libraries have become the targets of heated, polarized debate across the country and in SLO County. AAUW California has long made it a public policy priority to ensure equal access to quality public education for all students, including access to a diverse and historically accurate curriculum.
In response to the attacks on public education and educators AAUW California has initiated the AAUW School Board Project. To learn more about the School Board Project and AAUW’s efforts in support of quality education attend this presentation by Kathi Harper, past Public Policy Chair of AAUW California.
This event is hosted by the Five Cities Pismo Beach AAUW. All are welcome. For more information contact Jean Slater at jbslater2006@gmail.com. |
The Sierra Club Santa Lucia Chapter 2023 Annual Fundraiser
Sunday, November 5, 11 am - 3 pm
| Keynote Speaker: José Gonzalez, Founder of Latino Outdoors
The event will feature:
- A delicious brunch
- Live music by vocal artist Yzzi Love
- A special virtual message for our Chapter from Senator Alex Padilla
- Honoree: John Sanders, Founder of Delphinus School of Natural History
- An update on the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary
- Silent Auction
- and much more
Buy tickets here. | | | Wednesday, November 1, 4 pm
SLO County Government Center
1055 Monterey St., San Luis Obispo |  Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara), state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) and Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) will join the County of San Luis Obispo to host a public information session on the development, implementation, and impacts of offshore wind development off the coast of San Luis Obispo County.
The public information session will be held on November 1 at 4 pm, at the San Luis Obispo County Government Center at 1055 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo. The session will feature multiple panels of local officials and industry experts who will provide up-to-date information on the development of offshore wind in the region. These panels will also provide ample time for public comment from attendees of the sessions.
Confirmed attendees of the public information session include representatives from the California Energy Commission, the California Coastal Commission, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo County Supervisors Bruce Gibson and Dawn Ortiz-Legg, and Morro Bay Mayor Carla Wixom. “Offshore wind is coming to the Central Coast, and this is a really big deal,” Sen. Laird said in a prepared statement. “Understandably, however, the residents of San Luis Obispo County have a lot of questions, including whether the turbines really will spin by 2030 and what kind of benefits — and impacts — this new technology may bring. The purpose of this information session is to begin to get those questions answered, and I encourage the community to join us on November 1.” |
Climate Solutions Now
An All-Virtual Conference on Climate Change & Sustainability Issues
October 25-27, 2023 | | Cal Poly’s Initiative for Climate Leadership and Resilience will be hosting an all-virtual conference on climate change and sustainability issues on October 25 - 27.
Members of the public are invited to attend this conference where a wide range of topics will be discussed.
Click here for tickets and to view the agenda for this exciting and impactful discussion. | | |
League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County
The League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County is a nonpartisan, grassroots civic organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Membership in the League is open to people 16 years and older, of all gender identities. With over 100 years of experience, the League is one of America’s oldest and most trusted civic nonprofit organizations.
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