January - February 2025 Bulletin Issue 50
| | Happy Birthday to Martin Luther King, Jr! His peaceful protests allowed for a better and more equal future for Americans. His brave acts in the civil rights movement inspire us to continue our work to achieve social and political equality. Thank you, Dr. King, for inspiration to make a change! But most importantly, thank you for creating a better world with your monumental speeches and actions. As a country we honor you.
| | | You Can Help
Would you like to be more actively involved with the League? We need you! So we invite you to peruse LWVAC Volunteer Opportunities where you’ll find descriptions and contact information for many areas where you can contribute:
Educational Events Committee: Coordinating educational program plans.
Observer Corps: Observing and reporting on local governments.
Audit Committee/Budget Committee: Helping manage our funds.
Voter Services/Voter Education: Naturalization Ceremonies - High Schools Voter Registration Team - Voter Registration at the Albany County Jail - National Voter Registration Day - Candidate Forums - Vote 411.
Advocacy Committee: Working on policy issues: climate & environment – school student health screenings – short term rentals impact.
DEI Work Group: Purposeful action on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Fundraising and Development Committee: Developing connections and funds.
Membership Committee: Welcoming and engaging our members.
Read the details at LWVAC Volunteer Opportunities.
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LWVAC Members Pizza Party
New and long-standing LWVAC members, you are invited to a pizza supper with some of our board members and officers to learn about the League's activities and how you can take part. We have exciting plans that will depend on committed volunteers like you. Get to know other members; ask questions; share your ideas.
LWVAC will pick up most of the tab, but we're asking for a $5 contribution to hold your spot. (Also, donations are gratefully accepted at the door.) Please sign up by Monday, February 3. Contact Deb Liebman with any questions. We hope to see you there!
| President's Message
It's an important day. We remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and we honor the tradition of Inauguration. Our role today and every day, as League Members, is to empower voters and defend democracy. Fine words, but how do we do it? Local action in a non-partisan, grass roots manner. In this bulletin you'll see many ways to volunteer and contribute to LWVAC. You probably already do a great deal: you join the League, pay dues, contribute funds, join committees, take action, organize studies, register voters, march or lobby. You read, write, make phone calls, and educate us all. Thank you so much! If you are looking for more engagement, we need you and we welcome you.
An administrative item: the LWV of the US is taking on a direct role in membership and dues collection.You will receive email from them early in February inviting you to "activate your account in the LWV Portal." Please, if you have difficulty with the new process, contact our membership committee, or call me. We are happy to hear from you!
Thank you for all you do; I am so proud to be a member of LWVAC.
| | People Over Plastic Advocacy Day: Tuesday, 1/28, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Join Beyond Plastics in Albany to work for passage of two critical bills. Industry lobbyists are fighting hard to defeat the bills and we need your voice! (1) The Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act reduces plastic packaging, bans toxic chemicals, ensures recycling is effective, and makes corporations pay to manage the waste they create. (2) The Bigger Better Bottle Bill expands New York’s existing container deposit program, increases redemption rates, and supports marginalized workers and small businesses. Register here.
| | | Renewable Heat Now Rally & Lobby Day 2/4: 11:00am - 4:00pm
Join Renewable Heat Now and allied groups as we call the Legislature to pass the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition (HEAT) Act in the budget for cleaner heat and lower bills. This bill would cap utility rates and end the construction of new gas hook-ups. Sign up here.
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Seeking Students for SIA Conference (& Members to Score Applications)
We are looking for nominations of Albany County high school juniors or seniors to attend the Students Inside Albany Conference (SIA) conference, May 18-21, 2025, in downtown Albany. LWVAC will award two students the opportunity to attend the Conference this spring. Sponsored by the LWV of NYS Education Foundation, SIA increases students' awareness of their responsibility in representative government and provides tools to become active citizens. Please encourage Albany County high schoolers in your life to apply– children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, friends, neighbors. Contact Mary A. Rosch, LWVAC SIA Coordinator. Applications and recommendations are due Friday, January 31, 2025.
We are also looking for League members to help score the SIA applications, meeting by Zoom, Saturday, February 8. Contact Mary A. Rosch, to help or with questions.
| DEI Committee Invites You to a Brainstorming Meeting
Wednesday, January 22, 5:30 pm at North Albany Public Library, 616 North Pearl Street, Albany
Join us to help plan an educational program to identify city service issues and solutions in the City of Albany. when we brainstorm a panel presentation to be held in February or March at a community site. Possible panelists include a City of Albany Neighborhood Representative, a member of CANA Council of Albany Neighborhood Associations, a representative from the Common Council and another community leader. To RSVP for the planning session or ask questions, please contact committee chair Joanne Shawhan.
Observer Corps: Our Eyes and Ears with Local Government.
What’s happened in the Albany County Legislature recently?
- With Legislator Alison McLean Lane taking the Democratic Commissioner role at the Board of Elections, Timothy A. Lane was sworn in on January 13th as the new legislator for the 14th Legislative District (Menands)
- Due to illness Legislator Bill Clay of the 13th District has resigned after serving for 20 years. Both parties will put forth a proposed replacement for vote shortly.
- Public Comments were made by 6 citizens on reparations, short term rentals, the county housing trust and global warming, and autism in inner city children
(Watch our information session about Observer Corps.)
Save the Date: Know Your Municipality, Thursday, March 27th, 6:30-8 pm,
The first of two virtual educational events LWVAC is presenting with the Rockefeller College at University of Albany and the NYS Coalition for Open Government. This session will cover why we should care about what's happening in our local municipality and what services it provides. A second session, tentatively scheduled for May, will dive into municipal planning and zoning and open meeting laws.
Community Coalition for Civic Education & Voter Registration in County Jail
Read an update on the voter services coalition serving people in our county jail, an inititiative led by LWV Albany County, Capital Area Urban League, NAACP Albany and the NYCLU. Voter Registration in Jails
Welcome New Members!
| | Agnes Zellin, Delmar
Barry Davis , Cohoes
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| Catherine Fahey, Albany
Kathleen Pruzek, Albany
Jacqueline Lasek, Niskayuna
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| Barbara Frankel, Troy
Rosemary Armao, Albany
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| The DEI Bookshelf
A Hudson Valley Reckoning: Discovering the Forgotten History of Slaveholding in My Dutch American Family by Debra Bruno with an afterword by Eleanor C. Mire
When Debra Bruno began researching her mother’s Dutch ancestry, an historian friend told her “If you have Dutch ancestors in the Hudson Valley, they probably owned slaves.” She and Eleanor Mire, a Black woman exploring her own family from the same area, worked together to find as much as they could about the slaveholders and the people they owned in the Hudson Valley. This moving book is not only a genealogical inquiry and a history of slavery in one region, but also an excavation of the carefully constructed cultural fiction that paints the North as an innocent bystander in America’s sin of slavery. Read entire review here.
| | | The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan grassroots organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
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