© 1999 - 2007 League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham and
League of Women Voters of the
United States
The Voter
June 2007
A Publication of the League
of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham.
Re-formatted here for web publication with index and links added. Web
Editor's navigational notes added in [bracketed italics].
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Get a "hardcopy" of this Voter for printing:
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INDEX
 MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Ruffner Mountain Visit Saturday, June 16th
8:30 a.m. Ruffner Mountain Nature Center 1214 81st Street South Birmingham, AL 35206 Read more & get the map! |
It’s Your League -- A Note from the President
My mother was a League president in Mesa, Arizona. I was thinking the other day that she was born before women received the right to vote. That history made involvement in the League more important to me. It also made me realize what a relatively short time it has been. It is like trying to remember a time before computers. Things have changed but it is still important to be educated about issues and to be engaged in our community development.
We want to hear from you! We on the LWVGB Board continue to send you information but we know that you have things to share with us. With that in mind, please contact us at anytime at our e-mail address admin@lwvgb.org.
- Tell us how you would like to participate. If you can give 30 minutes or an hour, we will connect you with activities that help.
- Do you want monthly meetings, or are you someone who would rather receive electronic information?
- Would you be willing to receive action alerts on legislation to contact your elected officials?
- After receiving e-mailed action alerts would you be willing to contact our interested members without computers via telephone?
The New Board We want to welcome Kathryn Kerchof and Leonette Slay as members of the board and Paulette Rowe who is moving from off-board to an on-board position.
Planning by the Board Your new board is moving into this next year with planning activities after meeting with our outgoing President, Yvonne Brakefield. During the past two years Yvonne guided us another step-up in development and we plan to keep her close to us for her wise and always pleasant counsel.
- Your new board will be planning our year in more detail on July 28th. We have already set up the dates for board meetings and membership meetings. Everyone is welcome to both board and membership meetings and we will share those dates with you after we fill in some details on July 28th. Some are already listed in the calendar.
- Some items that we will be considering at our planning session include
- Advocacy issues
- Actions and Projects to Pursue
- Potential for blogging either with our own site for observer corps comments and/or to one of the existing blogs that feature local issues and observations.
- Voter Registration activities during the next year
- League sponsored forum for the Birmingham mayoral candidates
- Advocacy related to our positions
- Observer corps for Jefferson County government, Birmingham Water Works Board, Birmingham City Council
- Environmental related outings – One is already scheduled for June 18th.
- Legislative follow-up study and consensus on Initiative and Referendum from our LWVAL
- Study and Consensus meeting on Immigration as part of the National League’s process. The study materials at available from the League of Women Voters website.
I look forward to working with you and the new Board this coming year.
-- Ginny
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LWVGB has a new address!
LWVGB P.O. Box 530522 Mountain Brook, AL 35253 |
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Local League Well Represented at LWVAL Convention
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Congressman Davis was kind enough to stay to have his picture taken with the convention attendees from Birmingham. Front Row: Jean Johnson, Kathryn Kerchof, Congressman Artur Davis, Yvonne Brakefield Back Row: Ginny Randolph, Sarah McDonald, Mary Lynn Bates, Paulette Rowe |
LWVGB was represented at the State Convention in Tuscaloosa on May 19 -20 by delegates Virginia Randolph, Sarah McDonald, Paulette Rowe, and Kathryn Kerchof. In addition, Birmingham members also in attendance were Yvonne Brakefield, Mary Lynn Bates and Jean Johnson. Our own Mary Lynn Bates was elected President and Yvonne was elected Secretary for the LWVAL for 2007- 2009. Congratulations to both women and we look forward to working with them.
The convention titled It’s All About the League focused on League functions and tools to accomplish League activities. All was informative, but we were especially proud of Jean Johnson who with Scarlett Gaddy put on a glitzy high tech workshop that demonstrated the best internet tools for us to use. She is putting her tips on our LWVGB website too. Jean is the webmaster for our website and deserves kudos for all of the late hours and work she puts into making the LWVAL website and Birmingham site useful sources for members and interested citizens. One item that she and Scarlett Gaddy put together is A Leaguer’s Guide to Online Resources which may be found on the LWVAL website under Convention Followup in the Members section. Jean has also summarized the activities on the LWVAL website in the Members section.
During the Convention business sessions we
- elected a new board
- voted on Program Planning, reaffirming all the existing positions and adopting the continuation of the Legislative Study on the topic of Initiative and Referendum as well as a new study on Election issues focusing on Off-Site Voting, absentee ballots and early voting.
- heard from Sue Flood about the League’s role in working with the Legislature on issues of
- PAC to PAC transfers
- Constituional Reform by Citizen Convention
- Requiring lobbyists to report expenditures at a level significantly lower than the current $250 per day per legislator
- heard a report from members who met with Legislators regarding merit selection of judges.
At lunch on Saturday the convention attendees heard a presentation by Kimble Forrister. Kimble is the Executive Director of Alabama Arise and was able to expertly explain to us why the tax structure in Alabama needs to be reformed.
Saturday night the convention attendess were treated to a compelling speech by Congressman Artur Davis. Congressman Davis recapped the history of American immigration and emphasized that our history of allowing immigration is why we have the strongest and most vibrant economy. He entertained excellent questions and everyone left knowing more about the immigration legislation being debated in Congress.
The convention adjourned on Sunday morning and everyone went home having learned a lot about the League and even more about one another. It was a great weekend of learning and fellowship.
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A Long Goodbye
We are sad to announce that we must say goodbye to Kate Long. Kate and her husband are set to leave Birmingham in order for Kate’s husband to pursue additional medical studies. Kate has contributed greatly to Voters Service and to the Board during her short time in Birmingham. We will miss her. As a legacy she has donated the membership fees for five (and still counting) friends. Thank you Kate! Good luck and goodbye. Kate invites other members to meet her challenge and recruit five new members this year. Kate, we will report back to you on how we do on your challenge. Birmingham’s loss will be another city’s gain!
Member Profile – Yvonne Brakefield
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| Sarah McDonald passing the gavel to Yvonne Brakefield in May 2005 |
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Get Out Your Walking Shoes! -- Ruffner Mountain Visit in June
Get out your walking shoes and go with us on a stroll through Birmingham’s woodland park and nature center, Ruffner Mountain, at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday June 16th. Ruffner Mountain sits along and atop Red Mountain in the East Lake area and has a terrific view of downtown Birmingham. There are ancient rocks with the waves and fossils of sea life that lived in this area when Birmingham was under the ocean. The forest is predominately hardwood filled with native birds, a few mammals and wonderful shrubs and wildflowers. For any who would like to stay, there is a native foods workshop (but please call Ruffner Mountain to reserve your place 833-8264) that Saturday morning.
Ruffner Mountain Nature Center 1214 81st Street South Birmingham, AL 35206 Tel: 833-8264
Directions:
From I-20 East: Take the Oporto-Madrid Blvd. exit (#132). Turn left onto Oporto-Madrid Blvd. Go to Rugby Ave.; turn right. Go to 81st Street, turn right.
From I-20 West: Take the Montevallo Rd. exit (#132). At the end of the exit ramp, go straight. Follow the sign to Oporto-Madrid Blvd.; turn right onto Oporto-Madrid. Go to Rugby Ave.; turn right. Go to 81st St., turn right.
From I-59 North or South: Take the 1st Ave. North exit (#132). Turn right onto 1st Ave. North. At the first intersection take a right onto 83rd St. South. Follow 83rd St. South for several blocks until it bears to the right and becomes Rugby Ave. Follow Rugby Ave. to 81st St. South, turn left.
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Moss Rock Adventure
May 19th the LWVGB went for a stroll to Moss Rock in Hoover. As you get off the busy street on a Saturday morning and walk a few feet to the trailhead, you enter the cooler realm of Moss Rock. Trees were the major vegetation as we were walking the uplands forest, but as we descended into the small canyons that were wet, we saw wonderful wildflowers, ferns, large boulders and waterfalls. It was a delightful respite, and Leonette Slay treated us to refreshments afterwards. All in all a perfect walk in the woods!
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| Leonette Slay and Kathy Bolland at Moss Rock Preserve. |
May 19th the LWVGB went for a stroll to Moss Rock in Hoover. As you get off the busy street on a Saturday morning and walk a few feet to the trailhead, you enter the cooler realm of Moss Rock. Trees were the major vegetation as we were walking the uplands forest, but as we descended into the small canyons that were wet, we saw wonderful wildflowers, ferns, large boulders and waterfalls. It was a delightful respite, and Leonette Slay treated us to refreshments afterwards. All in all a perfect walk in the woods!
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Puerto Rico Faces Recycling Challenges
Leonette Slay recently went to Puerto Rico on a business trip and discovered that the island faces a solid waste problem. Although over 100 private companies collect and process recyclable materials, the rate of recycling is only 8.8%, and only 3% is recycled into new materials or products in Puerto Rico, so the recycling companies are operating under capacity. If the solid waste authority (SWA) does not find ways to increase this percentage, the landfills will be full in 12 years. To manage waste, the SWA has unveiled a $2 billion plan which includes expanding existing landfills, recycling centers, and the development of two waste-to-energy projects (which activists there have vowed to oppose). The plan also calls for boosting the recycling rate to 35% by 2016--a goal that the government had hoped to meet in 1996. (from The San Juan Star, April 22, 2007)
Editor’s note: Many of you travel, and we are always interested in issues that you encounter that apply to the issues that concern us at the League such as transit, the environment and voting. Please forward your travel observations on to the Voter editor, and we can all learn from your travels.
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Report of the Alabama Water Agenda
 Earlier this year, the Alabama Rivers Alliance and Southern
Environmental Law Center released "Alabama Water Agenda: Guiding the
Way to Healthy Waters". This is a very readable report which can be
downloaded at www.AlabamaWaterAgenda.com. I will summarize threats to
Alabama water as described in the report in this Voter and policy
changes that the AL Water Agenda proposes to combat the threats in the
next Voter. -- Leonette Slay |
As we all know, Alabama is a water-rich state, containing over 77,000 miles of rivers and streams. All precipitation becomes part of one of 14 major river basins. As a result of our diverse waterways, Alabama ranks fifth in the nation in plant and animal diversity and first in freshwater species diversity. Protecting our waterways is therefore vital to sustaining our tremendous array of native species as well as the people, economy, and wildlife that depend on the water.
Of the 77,000 miles of water in Alabama, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) has only analyzed 7%. Of this 7%, a whopping 40% is considered to have poor water quality. A number of grassroots organizations have been working for decades to protect and improve our state waters. The agenda published in January (from which this information is taken) was developed from comments and direction of nine grass roots groups* and speaks to those areas with the most potential for success through policy changes. Four main areas of water health were considered to formulate actual or potential threats: water quality, water quantity, public health, and aquatic communities.
Our water quality is threatened by both direct and indirect pollution. The main sources of pollution are land development, agriculture, urban storm water runoff, and surface mining. In the area of water quantity, the major threats are excessive unregulated water withdrawals, excessive flooding within urban areas, and increasing demand for water supply for both local and out-of-state entities. Our public health is put at risk through pollution (bacteria and toxins) and fish that are unsafe to eat. Because of poor water quality, waterborne illnesses put thousands of citizens and state visitors at risk each year. Finally, aquatic communities must be protected from in-stream erosion, degraded water quality, sedimentation, and loss of stream bank vegetation. A thriving aquatic community indicates a healthy watershed. This, in turn, promotes the economy and tourism. The Alabama Water Agenda maintains that a comprehensive state water program will ensure that the four categories of water health discussed above are maintained for future Alabamians. In the next Voter, the policy strategy of this group will be summarized. We can examine this strategy in light of LWVAL positions on the environment.
*Of the 70 groups in AL dedicated to protecting water and wetlands, here are the nine that formed the peer review for the AL Water Agenda: Black Warrior Riverkeeper; Cahaba River Society; Choctawhatchee Riverkeeper; Flint River Conservation Association; Friends of Rural Alabama; Lake Watch of Lake Martin; Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation; Dan Murchison; and Save Our Soughahatchee.
-- Leonette Slay
Look for Leonette’s article in the next Voter on the policy changes being proposed.
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| Sandy Robinson, Congressman Artur Davis and Mary Lynn Bates |
"Local League Well Represented at LWVAL Convention"
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Get Well GreetingsLWVGB would like to extend good well wishes to Judith Hand.
Judith is recovering from surgery for a perforated appendix. We
are happy to hear that Judith is out of the hospital and we wish her a
speedy recovery.
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LWVGB Board of
Directors 2007-2008
League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham
P. O. Box 530522
Mountain Brook, AL 35253
admin@lwvgb.org
205 583-5000
President (2007-2009)
Virginia "Ginny" Randolph
vrandolph@lwvgb.org
205 699-5582
First Vice President (2007-2009)
Nancy Ekberg
nanekberg@aol.com
205 967-2897
Second Vice President (2007-2008)
Kate Long
shima_om@yahoo.com
205 879-5347
Secretary (2006-2008)
Cissy Bennett
cissybennett@bellsouth.net
205 969-0249
Treasurer (2006-2008)
Sarah McDonald
smcdonald3357@charter.net
205 967-2829
DIRECTORS:
Kaydee Erdreich-Breman (2006-2008)
kaydeeeb@bellsouth.net
205 871-5541
Virginia "Ginny" Randolph
vrandolph@lwvgb.org
205 699-5582
First Vice President (2007-2009)
Nancy Ekberg
nanekberg@aol.com
205 967-2897
Second Vice President (2007-2008)
Kate Long
shima_om@yahoo.com
205 879-5347
Secretary (2006-2008)
Cissy Bennett
cissybennett@bellsouth.net
205 969-0249
Treasurer (2006-2008)
Sarah McDonald
smcdonald3357@charter.net
205 967-2829
DIRECTORS:
Kaydee Erdreich-Breman (2006-2008)
kaydeeeb@bellsouth.net
205 871-5541
Kathryn
Kerchof (2007-2009)
kerchof@bellsouth.net
205 802-7215
Beverly Nelson (2006-2008))
beenel@bellsouth.net
Paulette
Rowe (2007-2009)
prowe1963@aol.com
205 254-1960
Leonette
Slay (2007-2008)
lwslay@cs.com
205 824-4723
Carol Ann
Vaughn (2006-2008)
cavaughn@samford.edu
205 988-3789
OFF-BOARD (2007-2008)
Technical
Director
Jean Johnson
jjohnson@lwvgb.org
205 870-3063
Observer
Corps
Ann Smith
wlyons2525@charter.net
205 823-4749
NOMINATING COMMITTEE
(2007-2009)
Betty Warnock, Chair
bettywarnock@bham.rr.com
205 254-6052
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About the Voter:
The LWVGB Voter is a publication of the League of
Women Voters of Greater Birmingham.
Contact:
Kathryn Kerchof, Editor
Email: kerchof@bellsouth.net
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LWVGB Calendar of Events
Saturday,
June 16thRuffner Mountain Hike
Ruffner Mountain Nature Center
1214 81st Street South
Birmingham, AL
[ map
] [ more information
]
8:30 - 11:30 AM
Saturday,
July 28thBoard Planning
Sarah McDonald
3357 Cherokee Road
Birmingham AL
9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Tuesday,
September 18thBirmingham Mayoral Forum
WorkPlay
500 23rd St. South
Birmingham, AL
(Broadcast on CBS 42)
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Saturday,
December 1stMember Holiday Luncheon
The Club
11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Thursday,
April 24thMember Business Meeting
TBA
6:00 - 8:00 PM
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