For there is always light,
If only we're brave enough to see it.
If only we're brave enough to be it.
Amanda Gorman, "The Hill We Climb"
|
|
From the League President |
|
First and foremost, I want to thank the membership for putting your trust in me for leading this esteemed organization for the third term. I am honored and humbled. I welcome all the board members, those who are joining the board this year and those who are continuing. Each is an inspiring leader dedicated to the League’s mission.
With voting rights in Texas under attack, with leveraging of social media and targeted advertising to spread misinformation, and with serious voters showing much less appetite for partisan messaging, the League of Women Voters has a critical and important role to play in our community. The League’s choice over hundred years ago to avoid supporting or opposing candidates and political parties has helped to ensure that the League’s voice is heard above the roar of party politics.
I know I speak for the board, the League leadership, and the membership when I say it is with renewed vigor that we rededicate ourselves to our purpose and focus on the important work at hand–safeguarding our democracy by protecting our voting rights and empowering every eligible voter to fulfill their responsibility of voting.
The state election is around the corner. To elect leaders who will make registration and voting simpler and easier, we will need to boost voter turnout, contrary to the Texas legislature’s failed attempt (thus far) to do just the opposite. The League plans to continue to expand its arsenal of voter education tools and expand its outreach. As we kick off this year with enormous challenges facing us, what is reassuring is that the League can count on YOU – committee members, member volunteers and all the friends of the League – to do what binds us together: Empowering Voters and Defending Democracy.
In the words of Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Women Voters, “Winning the vote is only the opening wedge: to learn to use it is a bigger task.” This is the League’s legacy and mission.
Happy Fourth of July!
Madhu Sridhar, President
League of Women Voters of the San Antonio Area
|
|
The League of Women Voters of the San Antonio Area met virtually on Saturday, May 15 to conduct its annual business meeting and to hear a keynote address by Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. The first hour of the meeting was focused on the business at hand, with membership approving the proposed budget and electing the slate of officers presented by the Nominating Committee. Madhu Sridhar was elected to her third term as president. The full slate of nominees was: |
|
The second hour of the annual meeting was Judge Hidalgo's address and the follow-up Q&A, moderated by board member Monica Garza. A video of the session is available on the League's YouTube channel.
|
|
If you weren't able to attend the meeting, a wealth of information about the League's 2020–2021 year is available in the Annual Meeting Workbook, including a recounting of the quantity and quality of work accomplished by members and volunteers in a year dominated by the restrictions and concerns of the pandemic. Be sure to check out "Remarks from the President" on page 3 and the highlights of 2020–2021 that start on page 4. Even better, take some time to review the extraordinary amount of work accomplished by the League committee members and volunteers, starting on page 22. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard, in extraordinary circumstances, to protect democracy and empower voters.
|
|
Meet the 2021–2022 Officers and Board Members
The biographies of our new officers and board members begin on page 17 of the Annual Meeting Workbook. Please take a moment to read about the remarkable people who were on this year's slate.
The officers and board members for this year are listed below, with their contact information. You are invited to contact them directly if you have questions about their project or you want to volunteer.
|
|
Starting in April, the Committee on Economic Inequity has presented one virtual forum a month, where the committee members have reported on how economic inequity affects the lives of Bexar County residents. The April forum presented an overview of the inequity that currently exists and the contributions that our tax policies have made to it. The second forum in May dealt with education and childcare. The June forum looked at a range of issues that exist in the workplace and the role that criminal justice plays in creating inequity. A fourth and final virtual forum will be held July 28th at 6:00 p.m., with a focus on how economic inequity affects housing and health. Please use this link to access the forum.
If you missed the previous forums or want to revisit one, videos of the three forums are available on the LWVSA YouTube channel.
|
|
League members and volunteers registered voters at this year's Texas Freedom Festival to celebrate Juneteenth at Comanche Park on June 18 and 19. Volunteers promoted ICOUNT to send text alerts with election information, Vote411.org, LWVSA.org, and the Frequently Asked Questions brochure. Several visitors to the League booth took photos of our signs promoting Vote411 and ICOUNT so they could use and share later. Several future voters agreed to share their photos.
|
|
|
|
A BIG thank you to our volunteers.
|
|
FIESTA Party
As the vaccination rate increased and the viral load dropped in Bexar County, League members and their friends decided it was okay to gather on the lawn at Villa Finale for the first in-person gathering in over a year.
|
|
 |
League member Jeannie Frazier and new board member Diane Simpson served refreshments. |
|
|
|
Jill Torbert, chair of the Host Committee, and Madhu Sridhar, League president, announced winners of the trivia quiz. |
|
|
|
President Madhu Sridhar welcomed guests. |
|
This summer's interns, Devyn Moore and Douglas Mathis, talked to guests about Picture This: Our Future, Our Vote, the League's Youth Initiative.
|
|
We got to meet new board members, Greta Hawkins-Mathis (on the left), and Yvonne Pelayo and Andrea MacRae (on the right). The person in the wonderful hat in the picture on the left is League member Linda Murray. |
|
|
|
And League members did what they do so well – network.
|
|
Special thanks to Jane Lewis, director, of Villa Finale and the museum's excellent staff, for their assistance before, during, and after the party.
A BIG thank you to our volunteers: Diane Simpson, Jeannie Frazier, Mary Dierolf, Monica Garza, Erica Harris, Glenda Wolin, Paula Starnes, Kim and Clay Cauthorn, and Yvonne Pelayo. Great job, guys.
Thanks to Jill Torbert, Host Committee chair, Andrea MacRae, Madhu Sridhar, and Harriet Wiygul for giving us all an excuse to get together.
|
|
The League of Women Voters of San Antonio is planning an inaugural run/walk event for Spring 2022. We need help! No experience is needed, but enthusiasm is helpful, follow-through a must, and creativity a plus! You don’t have to be a runner to join the fun! Please contact Mary Malich at 5K@lwvsa.org to volunteer or for more information.
|
|
Welcome To Our Newest Members! |
|
Virginia Burkholder
Linda Allen
Sandra Sutton
|
|
Darcy Walker Dominique Valenzuela
Carmen Soto
Douglas Mathis
|
|
Robin Kallick
Yvonne Pelayo
Devyn Moore
|
|
Thanks also to all of our renewing members! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
