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Date: 7/30/2023
Subject: The VOTER Newsletter - August 2023
From: LWV of Johnson County




2023 Vote
TUESDAY, AUGUST 1 and TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7
 
Voters in Johnson county will decide 124 open seats in November.
SEVEN of these will be in the
JOHNSON COUNTY PRIMARIES TUESDAY, AUGUST 1 (click HERE to learn more)
 
Voters in Wyandotte County will decide 63 open seats in November.
SEVEN of these will be in the
WYANDOTTE PRIMARIES TUESDAY, AUGUST 1 (click HERE to learn more)
 
Visit  Vote411  to learn what you can do!
Visit our Facebook Page updated daily for news and events!
VOTER INFORMATION:
HELPING YOU
PREPARE TO
VOTE IN
2023
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT
THE VOTER INFORMATION COMMITTEE
Members of our Voter information Committee holding Meet & Greet Events throughout July
(left)

UPCOMING...
Tuesday, August 1
Johnson County, Kansas primary elections
Sunday, August 6
Anniversary of Voting Rights Act of 1965
Friday, August 18
Anniversary of 19th Amendment ratification
Saturday, August 26
Women's Equality Day
 

OUR NEW HOME STARTING SEPTEMBER!
 
Mark your calendars now for our Saturday, Sept. 9 Program Meeting at SMUUC, 9400 Pflumm Road, Lenexa. Bring your friends, family and neighbors. We look forward to seeing you there!

The program for our September 9 Program Meeting:
Immigration Crisis?
What is the state of immigration in the U.S. & Kansas in the 21st century?

Goodbye July! Hello August!

CALL TO ACTION
As I write this, many Johnson County residents are still without power due to recent storms. We have experienced a record number of poor air quality days and flooding from water runoff. And the heat! The League believes that Climate Change is a serious threat facing our nation and planet. How are YOU taking action? How can we, as a League, take action? Please share your ideas with our CO-PRESIDENTSWe want to hear from you!
 
 
Although we have taken a short summer break from hosting programs, we have been very busy behind the scenes. Here is an update:
 
ABOUT OUR NEW HOME FOR MEETINGS
Beginning on Saturday, September 9, The League of Women Voters of Johnson County (LWVJoCo) will be holding our Program Meetings at the Shawnee Mission Unitarian Universalist Church (SMUUC). In addition to providing beautiful space for our monthly programs, they have laid out the welcome mat and given us permission to use their sound equipment, coffee area, and lobby. As if that was not enough, they have given us a reduced fee!
 
We would like to reciprocate. SMUUC hosts a  walk through food pantry each Tuesday afternoon and invites all in need of food to come. LWVJoCo will be collecting the following food items at each meeting: 

Rice
Canned Meats
Peanut Butter
Pasta
Beans
Chili
 
ATTENTION TO INFRASTRUCTURE
 Our nation has learned the hard way that you cannot keep deferring necessary structural changes. Just as Kansas and the Federal Government are addressing infrastructure, so too, is the League. We are creating written processes for each of the committees and leadership job descriptions: 
 
Connie Taylor is updating the Leaders Manual.
Mary Lou Jaramillo is putting together a finance team.
Alleen VanBebber is updating our position statements.
- We are we are defining the how-tos of technical support so that we can train and empower other members to help with programs.
 
YOU ARE IMPORTANT AND NEEDED (How you can help)
 If you like to edit, do research, and/or keep up-to-date with technology, please contact our
 
 
In closing, we are gearing up for the November elections and planning to provide Voter Information and Engagement to area youth groups. People from ages 18-29 are often issue-based voters. We would like to motivate them to vote in every election. Are you interested in volunteering? Are you connected to an organization who would like the League to provide voter services? Contact VOTER REGISTRATION.

As the largest of nine Leagues in Kansas, we are helping to lead the way to change!
 
Thank you!

Janet Milkovich
......................................................................
 
Co-Presidents
Janet Milkovich
Connie Taylor

DEI - Nudging a big ship in August
Big ships turn slowly, and the League of Women Voters is no exception. We are, undoubtedly, a great ship, but with the League's Transformation Roadmap of 2018 and the 2022 release of the Structure Transformation Planwe know we also have great challenges to continue to be relevant for changing times and changing populations. The League’s Roadmap is, indeed, directing us on a new course:

#1 Advancing a clear strategic focus:
#2 Building a more inclusive culture
#3 Building a healthier League network
#4 Increasing capacity at all levels.

The work of the DEI Committee of LWVJoCo focuses on, but is not limited to, #2 -- Building a more inclusive culture. Our DEI Committee is studying the bright spots where other leagues have succeeded in increasing their numbers and diversity. We are undertaking a mission of creating for ourselves a culture of safe spaces, where every member can feel included and valued — spaces where difficult conversations not only can happen, but where we want them to happen. Good governments gracefully manage difficult things. We are the ambassadors of good government — seeking to grow the ranks of ambassadors.

This year, our DEI Committee has been meeting with individual committees to strengthen League communication within, while researching ways to equip ourselves to reach out. Other leagues that have been successful with reaching out and growing have started with intentional, planned, and facilitated discussions among members. These discussions have helped solidify league members with each other as they deepen their personal and working relationships within the League. The resulting solidarity fosters creativity, collaboration, and growth. Be watching in the coming months as we work in new ways to build strength across all of LWVJoCo, planning intentional conversations, trying the untried, serving the underserved, and even thinking the unthinkable. We are just getting started.

Observer Corps reports
READ AUGUST OBSERVER REPORTS HERE
PLEASE GIVE A WARM WELCOME
to
THESE NEW MEMBERS:
 
Gayle Robinson
Ann Taylor
Mary Anne Hile 

Get the Latest Kansas Legislature News
 LWV Kansas is a supporter of Kansas Rural Center's Policy Watch updates.

Our partners at Mainstream and Loud Light publish newsletters with their observations on legislative action: 

*Mainstream Coalition

Loud Light


Board and Committee Briefs
  
Saturday, September 9
📆 Next Monthly Program: Saturday, September 9, 2023, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Sunday, September 17
Announcement from the DEI Committee: NAACP Freedom Fund Annual Banquet (tickets HERE)
 
📧 Click here  to contact Board Members by office.

Stay Connected
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS of JOHNSON COUNTY
 
 
LWV of KANSAS
 
 

 
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