Happy Thursday! Here is your Weekly Update from the League of Women Voters Milwaukee County (LWVMC). Something for everyone! | | We look forward to seeing you at the LWVMC Annual Meeting at Summit Place, 6737 W. Washington in West Allis, on Wednesday, May 24!
Please join us at 5:00 p.m. for cocktails. A catered dinner will be served at 5:45 p.m. for members and their guests who have purchased tickets. (Please see later Updates for details.) Our guest speaker this year is LWVMC member, Anita Johnson, - voting rights advocate and recipient of the 2020 Robert H. Friebert Social Justice Award and the 2023 Black Excellence Award in Community Leadership.
No ticket is required to attend the business meeting, which will begin at 7:00 p.m. The annual meeting is our opportunity to elect officers and directors, vote on bylaw changes and adopt a budget and program of work for the coming year in League.
We look forward to seeing you there and thank you for all you do for the League! |  |  | April Election Voter Guide at VOTE411.org
Between now and Election Day, April 4, go to VOTE411.org. Haven't used VOTE411 yet? Visit the website and enter your address to see your polling location and personal election ballot. You can compare candidates' answers to questions posed by the state League for state-wide races and by LWVMC for local races.
Encourage candidates to respond, especially those involved in a competitive race. If you do not see a candidate's response on your ballot, use the candidate's contact information shared on VOTE411 to encourage them to respond right away.
Keep spreading the word to family, friends, colleagues and neighbors.
Be sure to vote before or on April 4, and thank your local candidates who participated in the League’s Voter Guide for responding to our invitation.
VOTE411.org is always available and will go wherever your phone or tablet goes, even to the polls on election day. | Recruiting Election Observers
With the April 4th Spring Election around the corner, we want to uplift the Spring Election Observer Program hosted by All Voting is Local. As you know, all eyes will be on the State Supreme Court election. This race is expected to bring record turnout this cycle. Yet, there are several other key races across the state of Wisconsin; including mayoral, city council, and school board races. This Spring Election Observer Program is meant to ensure municipalities follow proper Wisconsin election laws, prevent voter-intimidation, and uphold democratic values.
We need your help to achieve this! We are looking for volunteers interested in observing the April 4th Spring General Election. Becoming an election observer offers an engaging opportunity to help support and affirm a fair, secure, and safe election in Wisconsin. Since elections are highly decentralized in the state, monitoring the electoral process helps to ensure that elections are conducted in a free and fair manner.
There will be a Spring Election Observer training on Thursday, March 30th (TODAY) at 6pm! Sign up here to be a Spring election observer and attend our observer training!
Spring Election Observer sign up link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd6WPeXj5Cx5ChKyio2pxaFIliuKVnpeT0yiNJGyuql-_tKhw/viewform
For any questions please contact Joe Waldman at joe@allvotingislocal.org
|  | | LWVWI Get-Out-The-Vote Volunteer Opportunities
- GOTV Phone Bank - 4/1 @ 1pm - we'll provide the list, script, and training. Register here.
- GOTV Text Bank - 4/2 @3pm - we'll provide the list, text script and training. Register here.
- Election Observation in Collaboration with Campus Vote Project - 4/4 - training and resources provided. Sign up here
- GOTV Friend Bank - on your own time up until Election Day. We've created an action in outreach circle to make it super easy to text and email your friends and family with reliable information about the upcoming election.
- Alternatively - take a few minutes to text 10 friends about the upcoming election. Here's a sample message:
- Hey there! I just wanted to remind you about the WI April 4th election. It's important that we show up and vote to help shape the future of the state Supreme Court. I can help you get ready if you need it. I found LWV's candidate info really helpful. VOTE411.org/ballot
Partner Volunteer Opportunities:
| Volunteer for Rides to the Polls
Souls To The Polls Wisconsin (https://www.soulstothepollswi.org/) is currently implementing similar "vote tripling" efforts that were executed during this past November 2022 Senate election for the upcoming Tuesday, April 4, 2023 spring election in Wisconsin. Bruce Colburn and Corinne Rosen are overseeing the effort and I'm helping to implement it.
Would you be willing to help in-person and/or share the opportunities below with people?
If so, please sign up via your preferred Google form or pass them along!
VOLUNTEER SIGN UP FORM:
- Various 4-hour shifts on April 4, 2023 election day
JOB APPLICATION FORM ($20/hr):
- Hiring workers now thru April 1st during early voting period & on April 4th election day
For questions. contact: Susan Wozny at Souls To The Polls WI, 917-548-5004
|  |
For Our Birds
The birds absent from our midst in Wisconsin are our “canaries in the coal mine” We can still hear them as they call for help though their numbers have fallen 30% and more since the 1970’s. They are telling us we need to act personally, locally and statewide. We can protect them and provide for them in our yards and neighborhoods. Find pointers HERE for more on the issue and small steps you can take to save our songbirds - and ourselves. |
UPDATE on the Milwaukee City-County Climate and Economic Equity Plan.
The Milwaukee County League has again expressed support for the City-County Climate and Economic Equity Plan, most recently at the City of Milwaukee’s February 22nd virtual webinar sponsored by the City’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Task Force. The ARPA Task Force has received comments from community members about where those dollars, specifically $92.7m, should be allocated and spent by the 2026 deadline.
Our statement supported an appropriation to the City’s Environmental Collaboration Office (ECO) since is it poised to work with other City departments and community stakeholders. We asserted the ECO deserves an “allocation of ARPA funds commensurate with the challenge of meeting the Plan’s climate and equity goals so that all in our community thrive.” The two overarching goals of the Plan are:
-
Reduce community-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45% by the year 2030 and achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner.
-
Reduce racial and income inequality by assuring that greenhouse gas reduction investments and policies will create the maximum number of permanent living wage green jobs for people who live in the most impoverished Milwaukee neighborhoods with limited economic opportunity.
To prepare to advocate for the Plan, PLEASE read the Executive Summary of the latest Plan draft HERE. Many League positions support the Plan. We will monitor the Plan as it moves forward and will solicit your timely support as it is considered by the City Plan Commission and appropriate Committees - and, if recommended, by the Common Council. |  | Join the YWCA’s Racial Justice Challenge | | For a full month, beginning on April 17, the YWCA will send you daily activities to foster personal reflection, encourage social responsibility, and motivate you to identify and act on ways to dismantle racism and other forms of discrimination.
Download the Racial Justice Challenge app for free today:
Not into App's? You can register online from your computer here.
Watch the video detailing why you should join thousands of other participants across the country for the YWCA Racial Justice Challenge. | Milwaukee’s Poet Laureate Mario "The Poet" & Friends Celebrate National Poetry Month Celebration at Milwaukee Public Library Branches
| | | |
Each event includes a poetry reading by Mario “The Poet” and an Open Mic session facilitated by Ryeshia Farmer. All ages are welcome to participate.
- Saturday, April 1, 3-4:30 p.m.; East Branch, 2320 N. Cramer St.
- Saturday, April 8, 3-4:30 p.m., Bay View Branch, 2566 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.
- Saturday, April 15, 12-1:30 p.m., Washington Park Branch, 2121 N. Sherman Blvd.
- Saturday, April 22, 3-4:30 p.m., Villard Square Branch, 5190 N. 35th St.
- Thursday, April 27, 4-5:30 p.m., Mitchell Street Branch, 906 W. Historic Mitchell St.
|  | Meg Zucker in Conversation with Sally Haldorson
Boswell Book Company
2559 North Downer Avenue
Friday, April 14, 3 pm, Free
Register here.
Boswell presents an afternoon featuring Meg Zucker, empowerment speaker, UW-Madison grad, and author of Born Extraordinary: Empowering Children with Differences and Disabilities, which offers a parent's guide to empowering children to embrace their visible and invisible differences. In conversation with Sally Haldorson, Managing Director of Porchlight Book Company. Cosponsored by Independence First and Porchlight Book Company.
Meg Zucker was born with a genetic condition called ectrodactyly, which she would eventually pass on to her two sons, and, along with her husband, raise them and their adopted daughter, who has her own invisible differences. Born of the family’s hard-won experiences, this book offers invaluable advice on raising confident, empathetic, and resilient children who succeed, not despite but because of their differences.
|  | |
What: League (& friends of the League) field trip presented by the LWVWI Multicultural Adventures Committee
When: Saturday, April 15th at 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. CT
Where: Menominee Cultural Museum located at W3236 Wolf River Drive, Keshena, WI
Who: Led by David Overstreet, Ph.D. (LWV Milwaukee County) & the LWVWI Multicultural Adventures Committee
Further details and registration here. Space is limited.
| Support Democracy. Support your League.
Your support is critical to help our nonpartisan grassroots organization reach voters play a critical role in democracy. It would not be possible to empower voters and defend democracy without your support.
Thank you!
| |