On Sunday, May 19, community members participated in a town hall and panel discussion on HR1 and campaign finance reform, featuring current and former state and U.S. legislators.

The program featured a town hall discussion by Congressman Sean Casten (IL-06) on HR1, the For the People Act.  The For the People Act has now been introduced in the U.S. Senate to modernize our election system, reform redistricting, and restore the Voting Rights Act. Former State Senator Daniel Biss moderated the town hall.

The panel discussion on how the national campaign finance reform movement connects with local and state policy here in Illinois included Elizabeth Lindquist, the LWVIL Issues Specialist for Campaign Finance Reform, and Illinois State Senators Laura Ellman and Suzy Glowiak. The panel was moderated by Audra Wilson, Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Illinois.

This event was co-sponsored by the Downers Grove/Woodridge/Lisle, Glen Ellyn, Naperville and Wheaton Leagues of Women Voters; IL Common Cause; Reform for Illinois(RFI); and Illinois Public Interest Research Group ( IL PIRG).

COMMUNITY MEETING

WATER LITERACY

April 18, 2019 at 7:30pm

Guest Presenter

Krista Grimm, LWVIL Issues Specialist, Discussed Current Hot Topics

+Lead +Water Pollution +Federal Water Rules +GE Watershed Impairment

Emily Worth is a Staff Attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois where her work focuses on women's and reproductive rights. Emily joined the ACLU of Illinois in the fall of 2014. At the Harvard Law School, she was active in the Tenant Advocacy Project and the Employment Civil Rights Clinic and was an editor of the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Emily joins more than 300 staff attorneys and thousands of volunteer attorneys to defend individual freedoms including speech and religion, a woman’s right to choose, the right to due process, citizens’ rights to privacy and much more. Since 1920, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

Author Rita Dragonette uses her personal experiences as a student during one of the most volatile years of the Vietnam War and gives voice to the women of her generation. “It’s an important perspective with a rich and complex backstory that has informed the involvement of women in protests through to and including today’s ‘Never Again’ movement.” Rita Dragonette After Rita spent nearly 30 years as an award-winning public relations executive, she has returned to her passion for writing. Her first novel “The Fourteenth of September” released in 2018 has already won a number of awards and recognitions. WHEN: MARCH 21, 2019 @ 7:30PM (Doors Open @ 7:00pm) WHERE: THE HISTORY CENTER, 800 North Main Street, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137 For additional information: www.LWVGE.org

Date: March 16, 2019

Place: Glen Ellyn Historical Society Anderson Room and lobby for Meet and Greet

Time: Doors open at 8:30 a.m.

9:00 Welcome

9:05 District 41

10:10 District 87

10:50 Glen Ellyn Park Dist

11:35 College of DuPage

12:15 Forum closes

 The next election will be on April 2, 2019 for Village Trustees (3 seats), Library Board (4 seats), Park District Commissioners (4 seats)  and School District Boards 41 (3 seats), 87 (3 seats) and 89 (3 seats). Of these, Village Trustees, Library Board and District 89 are uncontested so we will not hold forums for those races.

Currently there are five candidates running for the three open seats on the Park District Board: Ben Stortz, Christine Wilson, Paul O. Bischoff Jr., Jeff West, Kathy Cornell.

There are five candidates running for three open seats in District 41: Stephanie Clark, Kurt Buchholz, Jessica Buttimer, Edward "Ted" Estes, Julie Hill.

Four candidates are running for the three open seats in District 87: Margaret DeLaRosa, Martha Mueller, Mireya Vera and John Kenwood.

Four candidates are running for two open seats on the College of DuPage Board of Trustees: Annette Corrigan, Marc Incrocci, Dan Bailey and Maureen Dunne.”

Candidates nominated and unopposed in the race for Glen Ellyn Village Trustees are: Mark Sendak, Kelli Christiansen and Steve Thompson.

Library Board candidates are: Molly Hoerster, Karen Volk, Mollie McGinnis Knapke and Tim Brinker.

In District 89, three candidates are running for three open seats: Tim Jedlicka, Scott Pope and Ben Yates.

Our selection was Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America One Step At A Time by Jeff Speck.  The book jacket says "A delightful, insightful, irreverent work." We met on Saturday February 9th at 9:00am at Michelle Peterson's, 579 Riford.

LWVGE Program Planning Meeting 2019 When: Saturday, February 2 @ 8:30am-11:30am Where: Brookdale of Glen Ellyn, 60 Nicoll Way (just north of Roosevelt Road)

Why: To let your voice be heard and contribute to the mission of the League

What to Bring: January 2019 Voter State Position Section (5 pages), 2018-19 Membership Directory and your ideas

Summary: The Program Planning event is held at the beginning of each year by Leagues from all over the country to share in ideas to capture the essence of the League of Women Voters – to educate and actively participate on selected governmental issues.

Attending Program Planning is a great way for new members to engage with longtime members about issues that are relevant to the local and wider community and to creatively participate in planning process for the upcoming year.

Agenda: Mingle with League Members Enjoy a light breakfast State Level Position Review This year local Leagues will be participating in the biennial review of State Program Platform for 2019-2021. The Local Leagues’ input is instrumental in the development of an action-oriented program which will be adopted at the 2019 LWV of Illinois Convention this summer.

The State League’s “Positions in Brief” follow and are divided into four topic sections: Representative Government, International Relations, Natural Resources and Social Policy. The task for our local League is to review these positions for each and recommend to retain, study/update or drop; we also have the opportunity to share with the LWV-IL what we are working on within this framework.

For the LWV-IL review checklist, see January Voter Newsletter. For the full text of the State Positions “Where We Stand 2017-2019”, visit the LWV of Illinois website or the link: https://www.lwvil.org/uploads/1/5/9/8/15985276/where_we_stand_short_version_2017-19.pdf Local Level Position Review The LWVGE local positions are found on pages 21 – 31 of the Membership Directory 2018-2019. The local positions will be reviewed for revision/study/update recommendations similar to the process of the State positions review. Recommendations for revisions to local positions identified at last year’s Program Planning will be highlighted. Break Local Level Program Planning Generate ideas for advocacy, programming and possible study for the upcoming year. Member ideas for putting our positions into action are encouraged. Our Membership is ripe with creativity, thoughtfulness and amazing intellectual prowess, especially when we gather together with a common purpose.

Link to video of State of the Village https://youtu.be/C5Rdi3R2l1M

Come hear Village President Diane McGinley, give a "State of the Village Address", hosted by the League of Women Voters of Glen Ellyn , Thursday, January 17, 2019 at the GE Police Headquarters, 65 S. Park Blvd. Doors open at 7pm; Program 7:30-9:00.  This is one of our League's most popular events. PUBLIC WELCOME  and encouraged to come! 

Wonderful attendance at our NEW MEMBER COFFEE on January 12th.  Want to join a terrific group of individuals dedicated to “ Making Democracy Work”? Check out our website at www. lwvge.org and hit the Membership link. We may be the League of ‘Women’ Voters but men are members too!  Come join us!!

The League of Women Voters Roselle/Bloomingdale will host a presentation titled, “The History and Impact of the Electoral College” on Tuesday, January 8th at 7:00 pm at the Bloomingdale Public Library located at 101 Fairfield Way in Bloomingdale. The Electoral College is a puzzling system that often has voters scratching their heads about how it works and why we use it. More and more Americans are questioning this system and would like to see it replaced with direct election of our President. Our guest speakers will be Issues Specialists from the state League, Peggy Pissarreck from LWV Arlington Heights, and Rosemary Heilemann from LWV Deerfield Area. They will lead a discussion including a brief history of the Electoral College, a discussion of its impact on our democracy, and how to change to a direct election of our President. Start the new year out right with a thought provoking evening with the League of Women Voters Roselle/Bloomingdale. This meeting is free and open to the public.