LWVGB July 2012 Voter

July 2012 Edition The VOTER
League of Women Voters of Greater Birmingham
http://www.lwvgb.org

Special points of interest: A Word from the League President

Next League Member- Greetings, Members! President, Trisha Powell If you are available to serve in
ship Meeting in Birming- Crain. LWVGB made history any capacity with upcoming
ham will be held in Sep- The work of the League con- with the appointment of its first events, projects or commit-
tember. Stay tuned for tinues, and its efforts were male board member, Michael tees, please don't hesitate to
more information. celebrated on June 28th, O'Donnell, who will serve as contact a board member.
when the United States Su- Treasurer. Thank you for your continued
Next Constitutional preme Court upheld the Af- support of LWVGB, and all
Revision Commission fordable Care Act. The Meeting dates were set, port- that you do!
Meeting on July 22 at 9am League of Women Vot- folios were assigned and
in Montgomery in Room ers worked tirelessly to sup- deadlines were discussed for In League,
617 of the State House. port the Act's passage in upcoming Bylaws and Audit Cyrondys Jackson
2010, and has vowed to fight committees. Overall, sea- President
ACCR Luncheon Meeting for its protection. soned League members
& Update on August 11 at agreed that we were getting
11am at Samford Univer- The advocacy continues, as "back to basics" and forging
sity in the Moot Court Leagues across the US ener- ahead.
gize members to take the
charge and support issues While reading this issue,
close to their hearts. Locally, please ask yourself two ques-
Inside this issue: in this election year, the efforts tions: 1) What do you want
of the LWVGB will center on from the League, and 2) What
Voter Services, headed by qualities or talents do you
Constitutional Reform 2 board member Arlene Godwin. bring to the League? Please
During last month's planning email your responses
Public Transportation 2 meeting, returning board to cyrondysjackson@gmail.co
Abroad members welcomed our new- m.
est Directors and First Vice
Back to Basics 3

Happy Birthday Title IX 3 LWVGB Changes to a New Facebook Page

LWVGB is changing over to a keep you posted on all the site and not as open to the
League National Conven- 4
tion new Facebook page! Please League action and project public. LWVGB President Cy-
go to www.facebook.com/ news on the new page. rondys Jackson and the Board
Alabama’s Clean Energy 5 LWVGB and "like" us. The want the LWVGB Facebook
Future
original LWVGB Facebook Why the change? The presence to be more inclusive.
FREE ACCR Luncheon 5 group page will be LWVGB Facebook "group" is We thank you for your pa-
"mothballed" soon, but we will a somewhat more restrictive tience as we move forward.
Lest We Forget 6

The VOTER Page 2

Constitutional Reform by Nancy Ekberg
At the Constitutional Revi- a.m. in Room 617 of the State
sion Commission's meeting House in Montgomery. All
on Wednesday, June 20, meetings are open to the pub-
Professor Howard Walthall, lic. ACCR is providing tran-
provided a discussion of scripts of the meetings, avail-
constitutional law that out- able on the website of the
lined ways in which home Alabama Law Institute http://
rule could be accomplished. ali.state.al.us/ .

The Commission has ap-
pointed member, Greg But-
rus, a lawyer with Balch and
Bingham to head up a sub
date.
committee to discuss all the
options that Professor Walthall The next full Constitutional
cited, and report back to the Revision Commission will
whole Commission at a later meet August 22nd at 9:30

Service is the rent

we pay for being. Public Transportation Abroad by Leonette Slay
It is the very
While in southern Chile for a has more seats, as the seats to travel between U.S. cities in
purpose of life and few weeks, I had the opportu- recline about 120 degrees, a "semicama", more travelers
not something you nity to take two overnight bus and the assistant provides the might opt for bus transporta-
trips, and they were a revela- same services. tion.
do in your spare
tion. Chile is 3,000 miles long
time. and its citizens have an aver-
~ Marion Wright age yearly income of about
Edelman
$8500. Several inter-city bus
lines provide safe, inexpen-
sive travel throughout the
country. The buses that I rode
were "semicamas", meaning
that passengers had seats
that reclined and other ameni-
The upper deck tickets cost
ties that made for a very com-
about $30. As the bus nears
fortable seven hour
its destination, the assistant
trip. These buses are double
opens the curtains, collects
deckers, with the bottom hav-
blankets and pillows, and
ing only eight seats, since the
gives each passenger a juice
seat reclines 180 degrees for
drink and cookie. I rode on
overnight sleeping. An assis-
two different bus
tant to the bus driver hands
lines, and both
out a small pillow and blanket
buses left on time
to each passenger and shuts
and were very
the curtains for the overnight
clean, as were the
trip. These seats cost about
bus stations. If we
$50 one way. The upper deck
had an opportunity

The VOTER Page 3

Back to Basics by First Vice President Trisha Powell Crain
This year, our League will go meetings of local governmen- News, the League’s efforts in
“back to basics” and focus on tal bodies/agencies, observers this area become even more
areas of the League that are learn more about what their essential by providing physi-
at the heart of our mission:
government is doing. They cal coverage at governmental
facilitate citizen participation in
learn about the issues facing body meetings. Reports will
government decision-making. be published, although we
their community and are em-
How do we plan to do this? are still working on the best
powered to take action, if war- way to do that: online, in
Well, this being an election
year, Voter Services rose to ranted. They also learn how print, or both.
the top of the list. The League issues are being addressed.
No special qualifications are
will redouble and expand ef- Observer programs benefit the needed to become a member
forts to provide access to community by: of the Observer Corps.
voter registration and opportu- League members come to
nities to register to vote. Vot- Creating a civically engaged the League with a desire to
ing is the most basic and di- and empowered cadre of know more about their local
rect way that citizens partici- watchdogs; representative government,
pate in government’s decision- Connecting individuals and this is an excellent op-
making. Your participation in (observers and others portunity to contribute your
staffing these events is essen- with whom their observa- efforts to the League and to
tial in order to cover as much tions are shared) with the broader community. Look
territory as possible. Look for government; for information in the near
opportunities to participate in Promoting open, transparent future about how to get in-
the near future. and accountable govern- volved in the Observer Corps.
ment;
Next on the list is reinvigorat- In addition to Voter Service
Connecting elected/appointed
ing the League’s Observer officials with their con- and Observer Corps, we are
Corps. From the National stituents; looking to broaden our mem-
League publication, Educating the public about bership and recruit new faces
“Observing Your Right to issues impacting their to the League. Begin consid-
communities and their ering inviting potential mem-
Know”: an observer is an indi-
lives; and bers to our membership event
vidual who attends a govern- Identifying areas where action in September.
mental meeting, or improvement is
We are excited about getting
notes what hap- needed.
back to basics this year, and
pens at the meet- With concerns about the count on your help to Read more about the
ing, and reports back breadth of local news cover- strengthen our local League.
to the League and the com- age starting in the fall due to League’s Observer Corps at
munity. By attending public staff cuts at The Birmingham http://www.lwv.org/files/

LWVEF_ObservingYourGover

nment.pdf .
Happy 40th Birthday Title IX!
step forward in achieving The League is committed to
equal opportunity for women. continuing to help protect Title
This simple sentence did IX as it has over these 40
it! “No person in the United years. We know that hard-
States shall, on the basis of fought gains in civil rights re-
sex, be excluded from partici- quire constant vigilance
pation in, be denied the bene- against attempts to diminish
fits of, or be subjected to dis- them. But today, we celebrate
The League was jubilant when crimination under any educa- Title IX and all it has meant to
Title IX of the Education tion program or activity receiv- the daughters and grand-
Amendments Act was passed ing federal financial assis- daughters of those who
on June 23, 1972. Passage of tance.” blazed the trail to this mo-
this historic Act was another ment!

The VOTER Page 4

League National Convention by Joyce Lanning
LWVAL President Kathryn joyce.lanning@gmail.com for “advocate strongly for all ap-
Byrd lead a seven-member more information. propriate, duly-considered
Alabama delegation to the measures …. to set reason-
50th National Convention of The LWVFL was commended able regulations on campaign
the League June 8-12, 2012 in a presentation by Attorney contributions and expendi-
in Washington, DC. Appropri- General Eric Holder for its role tures; and insure that elec-
ately, most of the team was in filing an amicus brief in a tions are determined by the
from LWV Mobile, which re- Justice Department suit suc- voters. How to address the
ceived the Strengthening De- cessfully challenging the ille- impacts of the Citizens United
mocracy Power the Vote gal and inaccurate voter purge decision was a major topic of
award for their highly success- initiated by the state of Flor- Watch Videos from the 2012
discussion.
ful Vote 18 project. See more ida. Approved a new study to LWV National Convention at
on their website at http://
review and update the
www.lwvmobile.org/ . Con- The LWV is a deliberative http://lwv.org/blog/watch-
LWVUS agriculture position,
gratulations LWV Mobile! body and models the proc- which dates from 1988. videos-convention-2012.
esses it promotes. A half-day Retained all other current
The LWVGB was represented each of four days was spent LWVUS Positions in Repre-
by board member Joyce on League process and pro- sentative Government, Inter-
Lanning who spoke to a cau- gram and the rest of the time national Relations, Natural
cus sponsored by the LWVUS was available for very useful Resources, and Social Policy.
Climate Change Task Force and informative workshops For a full report on the results
on which she has served for and informal sharing. The of the Convention, see http://
four years. The program cov- major decisions made by the library.lwv.org/events-series/
ered the recent additions to delegates were: convention-2012
the national Toolkit for Climate
Action which is available on Raised Per Member Pay-
the LWV website at http:// Lanning suggests that anyone
ment due to National for each
who has the opportunity at-
participate.lwv.org/c/9217/ member from $30 to $31.
tend a National Convention do
t/6398/p/salsa/web/common/ Concurred with the LWVDC so. “You will learn more about
public/content? Sentencing Policy position: the LWV programs and proce-
content_item_KEY=3766 - or The LWVUS believes alterna- dures and be energized and
just search for LWV Toolkit. tives to imprisonment should informed.” She reports return-
be explored and utilized, tak- ing home with a broader per-
With little international or na- ing into consideration the cir- spective and even greater
tional progress being made to cumstances and nature of the dedication to our programs
control the emissions and land crime. The LWVUS opposes while feeling the support of
use changes which are in- mandatory minimum sen- members all over the country
creasing temperatures and tences for drug offenses. who are making democracy
acidifying oceans, the LWV is Decided to undertake a com- work for all in their own com-
supporting local and state prehensive program to edu- munities.
improvements in efficient use cate members and communi-
of energy in buildings and ties on the issue of campaign
implementation of renewable finance in order to inform our
resources. The presentation education and legislative ef-
will be available on the forts as needed.
LWVUS website. Go to An additional motion calls
the Toolkit, or contact upon the LWVUS Board to

The VOTER Page 5

Transparency Encouraged in Planning for Alabama’s Clean Energy Future

Matt Bowden, Alabama Power 2016, even as they convert to determining how to meet pro-
Vice President for Environ- natural gas to take advantage jected demand, and Alabama
mental Affairs, and Joyce of the cleaner-burning fuel and Power could expand its efforts
Lanning, LWVGB Board Mem- lower prices. in that direction to help reduce
ber and LWVAL Natural Re- customer energy use and bills.
sources chair, spoke on July Dr. Lanning pointed out that
28 to over seventy people Alabama’s power residential Citing the League’s longstand-
gathered at the Birmingham bills are third highest in the ing tradition of transparency in
Harbert Center for The nation due to our price and public decision-making, she
Women’s Network meeting. use, and that had we been called for citizens to come
Georgia Power energy con- together for policy changes
Mr. Bowden explained the sumers in 2010, customers which would require appropri-
company’s activities and ex- would have saved almost ate stakeholder input in the
penditures – over $3 billion - $463 million that year. This development of a state energy
to bring the company into may or may not be an appro- plan for our clean energy fu-
compliance with Environ- priate comparison, due to dif- ture. Also, other utilities and
mental Protection Agency ferences in costs in the two states allow citizens greater
regulations under the Clean states. However, Alabama has access and an ability to im-
Air Act. The act requires EPA no state energy plan as many pact utility Integrated Re-
to use the latest science to other states do, and the Inte- source Plans and Public Ser-
protect human health by re- grated Resource Plans re- vice Commission rate deci-
quiring that harmful pollution quired of utilities are inacces- sions – access which should
be contained. sible to us, even with proprie- be also available to Alabam-
tary portions removed. Due to ians.
Recognizing that the Clean Air the processes used by our
Act had been successful in Public Service Commission, The Alabama Environmental
reducing health-harming pollu- which regulates our monopoly Council, with Lanning as a
tion while electricity use and utilities, there is very little op- contractor, is working to ex-
the economy grew, Mr. Bow- portunity to impact decisions pand options for a clean and
den questioned the benefits of being made about our energy energy-efficient future for Ala-
imposing new requirements, choices or prices. bama. Joyce Lanning can be
especially under short time reached
frames. The company is pur- As one example of possible at joyce.lanning@gmail.com a
suing alternative energy, es- improvement, Lanning pointed nd AEC at http://
pecially wind, and has plans out that energy efficiency www.aeconline.org/ .
for spending another $1 billion should be treated as a re-
on coal-plant controls by source – a first fuel – when

You are cordially invited to attend a FREE Annual ACCR Meeting named after founder, Bailey Thomson, on August
11th from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Samford University in Birmingham.

This will be held instead of the Bailey Thomson Award Luncheon, which will be held next year. The meeting is free and open
to the public. It will update us on what is happening with constitutional reform, particularly the new Constitutional Revision
Commission, legislation that needs our vote in November, and plans for legislation next year. We will also learn about ACCR
plans to educate and organize this reform movement throughout the State. The meeting will be held in the Moot Court Room
of the Cumberland School of Law, which is co-sponsoring this event.

Featured speakers at our meeting will be Dean John Carroll of the Cumberland School of Law, Professor Wayne Flynt, Gover-
nor Albert Brewer, retired Executive Director of the Alabama Law Institute Bob McCurley and some of the early leaders in this
movement. We will let you know what the new Commission plans as it reviews Article IV, the Legislature. This article can bring
changes to county governance and is a great hope for reform for our state.

Keep in mind that there will be three constitutional amendment reforms on our ballots in November. They include elimination
of the racist, unconstitutional language, revision of the banking article and revision of the corporations article. They all need
our support!

Note: While this is not a League event, the League strongly supports Constitutional Reform.


League of Women Voters Mission Statement
PO Box 530522 The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encour-
Birmingham, AL 35253 USA ages informed and active participation in government, works to increase under-
Phone: 205.583.5000 standing of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through
Website: http://www.lwvgb.org education and advocacy.

Making Democracy Work! League of Women Voters Education Fund Mission Statement
The League of Women Voters Education Fund works to encourage the active
and informed participation of citizens in government and to increase under-

Lest We Forget by Voter Services Chair Arlene Godwin
Property-ownership, religion demographic differences such voters, volunteering at voter
prerequisites, citizenship stan- as race and gender, inhabit registration drives, and work-
dards, literacy tests, poll the same nation and are ing as poll monitors. Too, we
taxes, race, and gender bound together by more things are all obligated in this regard,
bias—all of these are past common than different. not only to those who share
hurdles to inclusion in the our own personal political
Voting on every scale, funda-
American voting process. creeds or who rally behind the
mentally impacts how citizens
Each were challenged by a same causes we support, but
are represented in matters of
few in order to ensure the to all citizens. Lest we forget,
state. However, major elec-
rights of many. They were our role is not to control voting
tions, such as the impending
challenged, not just as acts of trajectory, but to preserve and
2012 Presidential election,
morality or for political postur- safeguard the very right to
should particularly remind us
ing, but to promote democratic vote.
of those who took up the suf-
posterity. Specifically, legisla-
frage charge on our behalf.
tive milestones constitutional
We can honor their efforts by
amendments 15 and 19, serve
holding firm to the baton that
as edicts, “officially” declaring
has been passed, serving as
the worth of certain groups as
catalysts for change by edu-
valuable members of a co-
cating current and potential
citizen collective, who despite

Board of Directors, 2012-2013

Cyrondys Jackson President
Trish Powell Crain 1st VP
Michael O’Donnell Treasurer
Nancy Ekberg Director – Constitution Reform
Karen Threlkeld Director - VOTER Editor
Wanda Godfrey Director - Education
Joyce Lanning Director - Environment
Jean Johnson Director - Technical
Arlene Godwin Director – Voter Service
Leonette Slay Nominating Committee Chair
Donald Marks Social Media (Off Board)

P. O. Box 530522
Mountain Brook, AL 35253

LWVGB July 2012 Voter

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