League of Women Voters
Board Activities & News
As a local League, our activities pattern themselves after the programs promoted by the League of Women Voters/US and League of Women Voters/NYS. We tailor our local program to fit the complexion and personality of our local communities. During 2009/2010 we:
General Membership Breakfast Meetings
and Educational Programs
- Sept. 2009 — (9/19/09) — We heard from Oneida County Sewer District Commissioner Steve Devan and other officials on the status of the Oneida County Sewer District Sanitary Sewer Overflow Abatement Project (OCSD SSO Abate ment Project), the multi-year, multi-phase infrastructure evaluation and improvement project, which is the result of a Consent Order executed between the NYS DEC and Oneida County. [An ongoing LWVUR study.]
- Nov. 2009 — (11/21/09) — We heard Pamela Mandryck and Kathleen Perez, newly appointed Oneida County Board of Elections Commissioners, speak on the various duties of their positions, including the need to teach veteran and newly hired election inspectors how to use the new voting equipment, yet with minimal resources.
- Jan. 2010 — (1/23/10) — A good turnout of League members and their friends enjoyed a panel discussion on "Health Care Reform," featuring Congressman Michael Arcuri, along with our NYS League President, and a representative from Single Payer New York. A question-and-answer period followed the presentation.
- Mar. 2010 — (3/20/10) — We enjoyed a discussion on "Fair Pay" and "Pay Equity," (and an update on the "NYS Fair Pay Act"), conducted by two NYS League of Women Voters representatives, along with local women executives, who shed light on the issue due to their dealings with labor issues and their own personal experiences.
- May 2010 — (5/1/10) — Annual Meeting — We will be hearing about "Hydrofracking," or hydraulic fracturing, a natural gas drilling method in which sand/water mixtures are forced horizontally into underground wells under pressure whereby the pressure splits the natural gas-bearing sandstone to allow the gas to move toward the wells.
Voter Service/Voter Education
- June 2009 — We set up a voter registration table at the "Poverty Symposium," sponsored by the Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency, Inc., and held at MVCC.
- July 2009 — We conducted voter registration drives at the Clinton Farmers' Market.
- August 2009 — By invitation, we set up voter registration Aug. 1st at the Cornhill Festival at Watson Williams Park.
- Sept. 2009 — We partnered with MVCC's (student-run) Public Policy Assn. and AAUW to conduct an on-campus, two-day voter registration drive.
- Oct. 2009 — We co-sponsored with RCIL (Resource Ctr. For Independent Living), a series of three (3) candidate forums: October 22nd for the five (5) candidates for the three Utica Common Council At-Large seats; October 27th for the three candidates for City of Utica Comptroller seat; and, October 29th for the two New Hartford Town Supervisor candidates. We benefited from extensive coverage by WIBX Radio, and some from WKTV.
- Nov. 3, 2009 — (Gen. Election) — We took ballot counts periodically through the evening for both Oneida and Herkimer Counties, reporting results, via telephone, to the Associated Press.
- Aug. '09 - Apr. '10 — We participated in seven (7) naturalization ceremonies — 3 federal & 4 county — where we registered approximately 80 new citizens to vote.
- Jan. - Feb. '10 — After familiarizing ourselves with League-provided information on "Government Consolidation/ Shared Services," at our "hot topic" meeting on 2/27/10, we came to consensus and chose to support the NYS League's pursuit of a policy as concerns initiatives for government consolidation/shared services in NYS.
- Mar. 2010 — We co-sponsored with the Mohawk Valley Women's History Project, three afternoons of entertainment and discussion concerning women's achievements and progress in a variety of fields of endeavor.
- April 15, 2010 — We held voter registration at an MVCAA-sponsored public forum at M. L. King, Jr. School.
Year Round — Our League's Action Chair distributes via e-mail to not only League members, but also to numerous good government & community groups, updates on state and national issues, urging their members to "take action" by contacting their legislators.
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