Good Afternoon and Happy Thursday! Here is your Weekly Update from the League of Women Voters Milwaukee County (LWVMC). Something for everyone! |  |  | | REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
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 p.m. for social time in the first floor large conference room. Dinner will be served at 5:45 p.m. for members and their guest(s) who purchase tickets in advance, $20 per person. The dinner will be a Middle Eastern buffet, vegetarian and gluten free friendly options available. No ticket is required to attend the business meeting, which will begin at 7 p.m. The annual meeting is our opportunity to elect officers and directors, vote on bylaws changes, and adopt a budget and program of work for the coming year in League. Paid Registration is required for the dinner (Although you may pay at the door, we prefer that you pay in advance.)
Our guest speaker this year is LWVMC member, Anita Johnson, voting rights advocate and recipient of many awards including: the 2020 Robert H. Friebert Social Justice Award and the 2023 Black Excellence Award in "Community Leadership." Her work with Souls to the Polls is ongoing.
We look forward to seeing you there and thank you for all you do for the League!
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April 2023 Voter Experience Survey
Complete the survey from LWVWI here. |  |  |
Thank you to the Volunteers!!
The Spring 2023 Election has been a banner election season for the League of Women Voters of Milwaukee County’s Voter Guide at VOTE411.org. While the election is over and the Voter Guide has been unpublished, the League’s online presence as a “go to” Voter Guide continued to expand, improve and get used more often by voters. This year we increased our coverage of local races. We invited candidates in municipal and school board races in Milwaukee County; candidates in municipal races in Waukesha County's thirteen largest communities and candidates in the eight K-12 school districts in those communities; candidates for circuit court races in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties; and candidates for County Executive in Waukesha County.While this took more work, we had an amazing group of volunteers doing different tasks and the Voter Guide could not have happened without them. Watch next week’s Update when we acknowledge the League members who worked as community volunteers, question writers, and translators, who all worked tirelessly to accomplish the publication of the successful Spring 2023 Voter Guide!!
| The Milwaukee Bucks supports voter education and civic engagement! | | On Sunday April 2, the Bucks invited the League to staff a kiosk during their game. Volunteers JoAnn (Joey) Walsh (pictured on the right) and Nancy Beaumier volunteered to staff this kiosk. They talked to over 100 people, provided voter information, distributed literature and buttons. One of the people who stopped by the booth was Josh Kaul, Wisconsin’s Attorney General.
The Bucks offered the League free tickets to the game and Joey was able to distribute 12 of them to high school volunteers and contacts who recently worked very hard to register as many eligible students as possible prior to the April 4th election. | | |  | Help Recruit Municipal Clerks
LWVWI will be holding a virtual Clerk Recruitment Information Session on Tuesday, April 25th, 2023 (7:00pm- 8:00pm)
Municipal clerks play one of the most important roles in our democracy. In Wisconsin, these 1850+ individuals have enormous power to make sure elections are carried out in a way that makes voting accessible for all eligible Wisconsin voters. It is for this reason that we are working together with our partners to educate the community on this important role and help raise awareness and generate interests to help fill vacancies whenever they arise.
Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from current municipal clerks about what clerks do, how they lift up their communities, and how to become employed as a clerk in your own communities.
This is where we will need your help: Help us get the word out about this event! Please share this exciting opportunity with your networks.
| New Edition of LWV Impact on Issues Announced
The LWVUS 2022-2024 edition of Impact on Issues, the League’s cornerstone policy positions document, is now available online.
Check it out, and also watch the LWVUS advocacy team’s webinar for further details on this biennium’s Impact on Issues. Throughout our 103 years, the League has served dual purposes of education and advocacy, engaging in studies on representative government, international relations, natural resources, and social policy. Although our history of advocacy goes back to our beginnings, this version of Impact on Issues covers our advocacy efforts beginning in the 1960s.
Impact on Issues provides a clear understanding of LWVUS positions, how they interrelate, and how they can complement and reinforce state, local, and regional Inter-League Organization (ILO) positions, strengthening the League’s impact at all levels of government.
Leagues can begin using the positions in Impact on Issues right away, and a paperback version will be available through Amazon in the coming months.
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Great Decisions
As it is incumbent on every voter to understand myriad topics to fulfill their obligation to be an informed voter, it is with great pleasure I (Ned Maxwell) have been leading and care-taking the International Affairs Committee these past fifteen years. There will be a discussion on China and the U.S. Thursday April 13 at the Wauwatosa Public Library, at 10AM and all are welcome. The Great Decisions program co-chairs are Ned Maxwell and Gloria Weiskotten. |
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:
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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.
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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
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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.
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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!
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