VOTER NEWSLETTER
Vol. 63, No. 5 December 2023 Editor: Virginia Marsh
| | Inside this Issue
- From the President
- Helen St Clair's Funeral
- March 5 Primary Election
- Deadline to File as a Candidate in the Primary Election
- Committee on Inclusion and Engagement Commission Created by Richardson City Council
- Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Formalized by Richardson City Council
- November 7 Election Results
- Gearing Up for 2024 Voter Registration
- CHIP and Children's Medicaid Update
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Key Dates in December 2023
- Dec 8 Funeral Service for Helen St Clair
- Dec 11 Last Day to file as a Candidate in the March 5, 2024 Primary Election
| | | By Ellen Steger, president@lwvrichardson.org
Thanksgiving is over, but it's always the right time to say how much I appreciate each and every one of you! And I do! I appreciate all who use the League of Women Voters of Richardson’s (LWVR) unbiased information (online and printed Voters Guides, website, Facebook, Instagram, monthly VOTER newsletters, Member Updates) so our users can be informed on the issues and cast an informed vote.
But, especially, I appreciate our members and contributors. Without you, the League of Women Voters of Richardson would not exist.
December is a time for the League to rest up after the November election and all that we did during the Fall, including:
- LWVR, LWVDallas, and LWVCollin combined to register 956 new citizens at 5 naturalization ceremonies for North Texas.
- LWVR registered 28 people at Richardson ISD functions: BackPack Bash, New Hire Vendor Fair, and a PTA meeting.
- LWVR registered 45 people at University of North Texas at Dallas.
- Other voter registration events were held with the Council of PTAs, Dallas College Mountain View Campus, Women’s Club, and National Night Out, where lots of information was passed out and lots of questions answered.
- LWVR registered 14 people at City of Richardson functions: the 150th Celebration, the Wellness and Safety Fair, Huffhines Harvest Fest, and Culture in the Core.
- LWVR’s socials are a time to just get to know each other better. We had socials at the Dog Haus, Sweetwaters Coffee and Tea, and Shady’s Burgers and Brewhaha.
- A Discussion Group met to talk about the City of Richardson's recent Envision Richardson Open House events.
- 3 CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program) sessions were held.
A Challenge
I want to challenge everyone who is reading this article to commit to participating in at least one LWVR event between now and the end of our fiscal year (May 30, 2024).
You may choose from:
- Voter registration events at naturalization ceremonies, universities, Richardson ISD, City of Richardson (for info, contact Cathy at newcitizen@lwvrichardson.org or Janet at voterreg@lwvrichardson.org)
- Preparing candidate questions for our Voters Guides and forums (for info, contact Jean at voterservice@lwvrichardson.org)
- Volunteering to help at LWVR’s candidate forums (for info, contact Jean at voterservice@lwvrichardson.org)
- Attending a social (for info, contact Nita at membership@lwvrichardson.org)
- Attending al LWVR public meeting (in March, 2024) (for info, contact Ellen at league@lwvrichardson.org)
- Attending the LWVTX State Convention (April 19-21 at Embassy Suites Park Central in Dallas) (for info, contact Ellen at league@lwvrichardson.org)
- Participating in LWVR’s Local Program Planning survey to review LWVR's positions (for info, contact Marcia at program@lwvrichardson.org)
- Attending LWVR’s Local Program Planning Meeting (by Zoom) to give LWVR direction on new positions or modifying existing postions (for info, contact Marcia at program@lwvrichardson.org)
- Volunteer at a CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) help session (for info, contact Martha at CHIP@lwvrichardson.org)
- Attend LWVR’s Annual Meeting (for info, contact Ellen at league@lwvrichardson.org)
Help LWVR provide the community with unbiased, nonpartisan information…in everything that we do. It takes a village...and we need you!
|
Helen St Clair's Funeral Service
2:00 p.m., December 8, 2023
| Helen St. Clair, former President of the League of Women Voters of Richardson, passed away. Not only was Helen active in the activities of LWVR for many years, she was an active member of The Lunch Bunch, started 30 years ago by about a dozen LWVR members. Their most recent lunch was this past Fall. Our sympathies go to Helen's family. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, December 8 at Sparkman-Hillcrest Funeral Home, 1029 S. Greenville Avenue in Richardson.
| The next election in Texas will be the March 5, 2024 Primary Election. In
the Primaries, the two major political parties hold elections to choose the
candidates who will appear on the ballot in the November General Election.
On the ballot will be the President and Vice President, one U.S. Senate
seat, all U.S. House seats, some Texas Senate seats, all Texas House seats,
and many statewide and regional offices and judgeships.
|
Deadline to File as a Candidate in the March 5 Primary
| The deadline to file to run for office for either the Democratic or Republican Primary Election in Texas is Monday, December 11, 2023 at 6:00PM. Information on how to file can be found on the website of the Texas Secretary of State.
|
Community Inclusion and Engagement Commission
Created by Richardson City Council
| At the November 13th City Council Meeting, Council approved the new nine-member Community Inclusion and Engagement Commission.
- Applications for the new Commission will be accepted in January 2024 with interviews occurring in the February 2024 timeframe and an initial meeting in April 2024.
- The Commission, which shall be representative of the city’s diverse community, was created to act in an advisory capacity to the City Council in matters pertaining to advancing harmony in the community, encouraging inclusion and participation by all stakeholders, and furthering the City’s engagement and outreach on issues such as diversity, inclusion, engagement, and accessibility.
- Appointed members are eligible to serve four two-year terms.
|
Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee
Formalized by Richardson City Council
| The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee was formalized by Council on November 13th.
- The committee will be comprised of five residents, 1 person from Transportation and Mobility, and 1 person from the Police Department.
- The committee will assess bicycle infrastructure and parking throughout the community and make recommendations to City Council to create a more bike-friendly community.
|
November 7 Election Results
| In the November 7, 2023 election, voters in Collin County voted on five bond
propositions, while voters statewide voted on fourteen proposed amendments
to the Texas Constitution. All five of the Collin County bond propositions
passed. Official results can be found on the Collin County Election Department website.
Of the fourteen proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, all but one
passed. The one that did not pass would have increased the mandatory
retirement age for state judges from 75 to 79 and the minimum retirement age
from 70 to 75. An informative article about the results can be found on the
website of the Texas Tribune.
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Gearing Up for 2024 Voter Registration
| 2023 was a busy year for LWVR voter registration. We registered voters and provided voting information in a variety of ways. LWVR attended RISD events such as PTA events, back to school events, teacher training events and coordinated with RISD officials about registering high school students and providing a collaborative project to encourage voting.
LWVR also provided registration opportunities at city festivals such as Richardson 150th, Huffhines Harvest Fest, and Culture in the Core. Voter registration information was provided in local National Night out celebrations around the city as well.
A regular presence at Naturalization ceremonies offered voter registration in collaboration with other groups interested in voter registration. Thanks to Cathy Murphree, multiple efforts have been provided to register young adults at the college level.
At each and every voter registration event we were pleased to hear that folks regularly utilized LWV information to help them understand who and what was on the ballot and made them more comfortable in voting. Many told us that LWV was their “go to” for accurate non-biased information.
As busy as 2023 has been, 2024 may be even busier. Thankfully, we have a dedicated group of Volunteer Deputy Registrars. We could always use more folks to become a Volunteer Deputy Registrar. Training is available online or in person. If you would like to learn more or attend training you can access VDR training opportunities in Dallas County or VDR training opportunities in Collin County.
For 2024 we expect there to be several opportunities to register voters in a variety of settings. We would love to hear from you if you would like to join the LWVR voter registration team! Please contact Janet Centola at voterreg@lwvrichardson.org if you have questions or are interested in helping register voters.
Respectfully submitted by Janet Centola
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CHIP and Children's Medicaid
| According to the Dallas Morning News article on November 24th,
- 14 million Texans have lost Medicaid after the pandemic-era continuous renewals ended.
- At least 812,000 children are among those who have lost health care coverage (according to the Kaiser Family Foundation).
- Texas has the highest un-insurance rate in the country. When children don’t have coverage, they miss more school (among the many negative effects).
St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church (St. B) hosted an application help session Oct. 28, 2023, from 9 am to noon. The Council of PTAs publicized the session and the school nurses had copies of the flyers in English and Spanish. The Community Council of Greater Dallas (CCGD) sent their specialists Patricia Marquez and Judy Tran. It was a cool, rainy day and no one attended. However, several families called and were helped by telephone. I handed out invitations to the session on Oct. 14th at a Health Fair at St. B and perhaps those attendees were responding.
On Nov. 16, CCGD specialist Alejandra Aquilar and I participated in a family information night at the Math/Science/Tech magnet school from 6 to 7:30 pm. Although it was not well attended, we invited several parents to another help session at St. B and handed out information.
St. B hosted another session on Nov. 18 from 9 am until 12:45 pm. CCGD Judy Tran was busy with 15 families attending. Amanda Burfoot (St. B) and I assisted. One young woman received information and instructions about CHIP perinatal. One had filled out a renewal form for a daughter of a friend who was incarcerated and for whom she has custody. She wanted us to check if she had completed the form correctly. One family had recently arrived from Afghanistan and needed help with a senior family member in addition to help with her children. One person asked for help getting child support payments. One family had been invited Nov. 16. Two families were directed to the Social Security Office. All who receive benefits are required to have Social Security numbers. We were elated and excited by this success.
Thank you for your continued support for these programs. Everyone is welcome to visit/help with these events. Our next event is Jan. 20, 2024.
Submitted by Martha Dorris
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