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| Committee reports, 2003-2004 | |
 Member Services |
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| Member Services has been working hard to increase the membership of the Westport League, as encouraged by LWVCT. A special invitation to RTM representatives has brought some new members as has outreach by many individual members. Every event of the year has been followed by an increase in membership. Our membership is at an all-time high, 227 at this writing. Now the trick is to get all these wonderful new people involved in League work. For this job, we hope for everyone's help. Each of the Member Services Committee's events this year has been a great success, characterized by gracious hosts, good food and large turn-outs. The year began with the annual Meet-the-Candidates Fall Brunch Fundraiser, held at Pamela and James Weil's home and co-chaired by Athena Ploumis Bradley and Karen Curtis. Our next event, a lively Post-Election Coffee, took place at Jenny Clerkin's; it was co-chaired by Sally Galan and Susan Thomsen. The Holiday Luncheon in December was chaired by Julie Conti, Maggie Feczko and Luisa Francoeur and graciously hosted by John and Pat Davis. The Winter Warm-up, held at the Orkands', was co-chaired by Jane Fraser and Lisa Shufro. Still to come are the annual Tag Sale and the Annual Meeting. The committee is engaged in updating the Member Handbook and establishing a data base gleaned from our newly designed member questionnaires. Kitty Graves continues to do a wonderful job of fine-tuning the monthly Voter. Kitty has also helped our telephone tree to become as much of an "e-mail tree" as possible. And finally, the behind-the-scenes work of this committee could not get done without the unflagging care and attention of Joyce Netherton and Bonnie Sammet. Jane Fraser and Lisa Shufro, Member Services Vice Presidents |
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| Community
Services |
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| Community Services covers publicity, the First Grade Recycling Program, the Seventh Grade Civics Program, the High School Voter Education Program, Staples Tuition Grant, publications, and our participation in the Memorial Day Parade. Thanks to an award from the Westport Firefighter's Benevolent Association, we hosted a Community Conversation, Going Nowhere: Connecticut's Transportation Crisis, on March 21 at the Women's Club. A panel of transportation experts presented the transportation challenges facing Westport and Connecticut followed by a dialogue with more than 100 participants. The level of interest has encouraged us to cosponsor, with the CT Citizens Transportation Lobby, a meeting with our elected officials. We updated and published Know Your Town, the LWV guide to Westport's officials, agencies, and services. The brochure was mailed to every taxpayer in town, and is distributed at the Center for Senior Activities, the Library, and Town Hall. Lisa Shufro and several volunteers will visit all the first grades in May and present their lively program on the basics of waste reduction. This is the eleventh year for this program. Voter participation was emphasized with a presentation and role-playing to all the seventh graders at Bedford and Coleytown Middle Schools in April. An interactive presentation demonstrating the importance of voting, The Power of One, will be presented to all high school American Government classes at Staples in May. This is done in coordination with voter registration at the high school. Publicity and marching in the Memorial Day Parade have both been ably handled by Winnie Balboni. Our scholarship student will be invited to speak at the annual meeting in June. Karen Curtis and Ann Hill, Community Relations Vice Presidents |
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| Voter Services |
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| In order to promote citizen education and participation in the electoral process, Voter Services reached out to the community in a number of ways. The
Voters Guide was created and mailed to every household in Westport prior to Election Day 2003. This year, for the first time, the
Voters Guide was available online on our website. The 2003 issue included a letter from Patricia Strauss, the Westport Town Clerk, highlighting the impact of redistricting. A map of the new voting districts was also included. We are grateful to Newman's Own for its financial support of this publication. Two candidates' forums were held in October, 2003. The candidates running for Board of Education and Board of Finance participated in one forum, and candidates for Planning and Zoning and Zoning Board of Appeals participated in the other. The community response was good. Voter Services held two voter registration events. In conjunction with the Registrar of Voters, volunteers registered 67 new voters at Staples High School in May 2003. Another drive took place at the Westport train station prior to Election Day. This yielded a few new registered voters. In addition, registration information was published in all the Westport school newsletters. In an effort to encourage people to get-out-the-vote, Voter Services initiated an advertising campaign. An ad was placed in local newspapers urging people to vote in an election that traditionally has a low turn-out. There was a small improvement in voter turn-out in the 2003 election. Voter Services will continue these efforts in the upcoming year. In addition, for the 2004 election, Voter Services will be participating with other Leagues in our region in providing forums for the 4th congressional district. Lynn Crager and Cathy Walsh, Voter Services Vice Presidents |
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| Program/Advocacy |
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| Program: The Education Study on investigating the effects of "standardized/high stakes" testing on teaching, curriculum development, learning, scheduling and funding is well underway under the able chairmanship of Jill Greenberg. The committee has put together in-depth surveys geared to teachers and administrators and is in the process of interviewing individuals using these surveys. It is expected that the concurrence meeting on this study will take place in the year 2005. The arts study was dropped for lack of leadership and interest. The Study on Funding of Town Departments was completed and culminated in two very stimulating consensus meetings in March. The outcome of the study is a proposed LWV Westport position which will be presented to the membership for approval at the annual meeting. The Legislative breakfast was combined in one meeting with the National Program planning on February 26. Ken Bernhard addressed the group and fielded questions on the deficit crisis, transportation, open space and the affect of Governor Rowland's loss of moral authority on the ability of the government to function. While all national positions were retained, LWV Westport expressed concern with the positions on trade, agriculture, and public participation in decision making on management of natural resources. Local Program planning took place on March 31 and resulted in the retention of all positions and continuation of the Education study. Suggestions were made for public education meetings sponsored by the LWV Westport on education, town owned public property maintenance and revaluation. A committee was appointed at the 2003 local planning meeting to update and conform the wording of the short and long versions of the LWV Westport local positions. This committee did not meet. In the coming year it is hoped that this will occur. Advocacy: On the basis of relevant positions, LWV Westport spoke to the Planning and Zoning Commission on Allenšs Clam House property expressing concern for the potential impact on the neighborhood and its quality of life. Action: The action committee examined the process of taking action in order that public statements correctly reflect League positions, assure that they reflect a consensus of the board, provide for careful examination and structure an ongoing proactive process to supplement the current more reactive process. A proposal will come before the membership at the annual meeting. Observer Corps: Under the joint stewardship of Rose Anne Preston and Winnie Balboni observers regularly attended Westport Board and Commission meetings. The OC meet monthly to present reports, compare notes and identify items for action. This year a reporting form was developed to track and provide a more uniform reporting tool. Additional observers are still needed for the Board of Education and Parks and Recreation. Marge Dunham and Ellen McBride, Program/Advocacy Vice Presidents |
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