• (this is the advocacy side of League, not the education side)

The forum is free and open to all. Contra Costa Times political editor Lisa Vorderbrueggen will moderate the forum and take questions from the audience, which will be put to each of the candidates for a response.

The forum features Democratic candidates from 7- 8 pm. Expected to show: Joan Buchanan, Anthony Woods, Adriel Hampton, Mark DeSaulnier, John Garamendi.

15 minute break 8 - 8:15 pm

The forum features Republican candidates from 8:15 - 9:15 pm. Expected to show: Christopher Bunch, David Harmer, Gary Clift, David Peterson, Mark Loos, John Toth.

For more information contact Tim Farley, Director of Community & Government Relations, Saint Mary's College, 925-361-4860 or Joyce Kingery, League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley, (925) 386-0067.

Background: California's September 1 special election is a result of the resignation of Representative Ellen Tauscher, who now serves in the U.S. State Department. Should none of the Congressional candidates achieve a majority vote of 50 percent plus one, the recipient of the most votes in each party will advance to a general election on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.

The League of Women Voters Diablo Valley and Saint Mary's College of California will host a forum for candidates seeking California's 10th Congressional District seat in the Nov. 3, 2009 general election to replace U.S. Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo.

This forum is free, open to all and features the following five candidates:

~ Jeremy Cloward (Green)
~ Jerry Denham (American Independent)
~ John Garamendi (Democratic)
~ David Harmer (Republican)
~ Mary McIlroy (Peace and Freedom)

Contra Costa Times political editor Lisa Vorderbrueggen will moderate the forum and take questions from the audience, which will be put to each of the candidates for a response.

Co-sponsored by: the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley and the Contra Costa Times.

The 10th Congressional District spans parts of four counties + Contra Costa, Solano, Alameda and Sacramento. It includes the unincorporated communities and cities of Alamo, Antioch, Bethel Island, Dixon, El Cerrito, Fairfield, Isleton, Kensington, Knightsen, Lafayette, Livermore, Moraga, Oakley, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Suisun City, Walnut Creek, Walnut Grove and sections of Concord and San Ramon.

We will discuss the pending legislation on water, the strategies for the January 23 Delta Water Plans Forum and make commitments to assist on Forum day.

We will review Forum contacts, where to post, and what we can do in the coming weeks to raise awareness regarding the Forum and it's issues.

We will need volunteers to greet, question-card collect & sort, plus provide refreshment coordination, membership tabling, signage placement, carpooling offers, and more.

What this legislation truly is about has many concerns. We need to inform our community members so that they can better understand the issues, make smart decisions, and take intelligent action.

We will continue our discussions re: the pending legislation on water, the strategies for the January 23 "Our Delta Water" Forum and make commitments to assist on Forum day.

We will review progress on Forum contacts, postings, and what we can do in the coming weeks to raise awareness regarding the Forum and it's issues.

We will need volunteers to greet, question-card collect & sort, plus provide refreshment coordination, membership tabling, signage placement, carpooling offers, and more.

What this legislation truly is about has many concerns. We need to inform our community members so that they can better understand the issues, make smart decisions, and take intelligent action.

12 Noon:
North Steps of State Capitol
1301 10th Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

January brings the resumption of legislative activity for this two year bill.

SB 810 (Leno) must be voted on by the Senate Appropriations Committee before January 22nd and by the full Senate by January 29th. We must make sure that all of our State Senators understand the importance of passing single payer health care in California.

SB 810 will provide high quality, affordable, guaranteed health care to all Californians, AND save the State billions of dollars in health care costs. At a time when growing State Budget deficits, and millions of Californians are without jobs and healthcare, we must take the important step of passing REAL health care for all. The League of Women Voters of California holds a strong support position on this legislation, and is one of the 23 members of the State Strategy group working for passage.

Learn what activities the LWV of Diablo Valley is planning for 2010, in conjunction with the elections and the many important initiatives.

Enjoy meeting your neighbors and sharing your interests and questions about your community.

Who will benefit? Who will pay? Why you need to be in on the decision making?

Controversy abounds over how to use this precious natural resource that suffers from present drought conditions.

As Voters, we need to be informed and direct our government agencies and legislators to work out solutions for ourselves and our future!

Come listen! Ultimately YOU the VOTER and TAXPAYER will direct decisions that will impact the quality of life of our Delta and economy of our state for the next century.

The League of Women Voters of the Bay Area Presents:

Bay Area League Day 2010: Big Steps, Little Steps to Addressing Climate Change,

A program about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and confronting climate change.

Featuring keynote speaker Mary D. Nichols, Chair, California Air Resources Board

With additional experts in the morning session addressing:

Regional Transportation Requirements of Senate Bill 375
(Steve Heminger, Executive Director, Metropolitan Transportation Commission)

State Land Use and Smart Growth Policies
(Julia Lave Johnston, Deputy Director for Planning Policy, Governor's Office of Planning and Research)

Environmentalist Visions for the Bay Area in 2035
(Jeremy Madsen, Executive Director, Greenbelt Alliance)

Regional Air Quality Requirements of Senate Bill 375
(Speaker from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District)

State Housing Requirements of Senate Bill 375
(Cathy Creswell, Deputy Director of Housing Policy Development, California HCD)

Learn about League activities and member resources.

Learn how to register voters the League way, one of the most important services the League provides.

Discuss what issues we feel are important in our communities.

Want to influence what LWVUS and LWVDV focus on in the next year? Attend this meeting!

Beverages and dessert provided. Optional pizza and salad for $5.00.

If you cannot attend, please email or call in your suggestions to:

~ Ashley Coates: president@lwvdv.org or 925-283-3638
~ Jan Howe: bobhinsram@sbcglobal.net or 925-837-8972

(Deadlines: Feb 8 for US suggestions and March 8 for Diablo Valley suggestions.)

Hear about the fascinating women pioneers in Contra Costa County: What risks did they take? How did they meet the challenges? Come learn from history. The following speakers shall cover:

~ Catherine Accardi: Women of Walnut Creek, including the Penniman family
~ Karen Terhune, Traci Parent: Women of the Black Diamond Mines area
~ Beverly Lane: Women of San Ramon Valley

These four speakers are contributors to Arcadia Publishing's 'Images of America' series and will have their books for sale after their talks.

Refreshments provided.

A docent tour of the new library/learning center will be given at the end of the program.

Sponsored by:

Our key speakers are:

~ Dr. Debbie LeVeen, health policy expert; Professor Emerita, San Francisco State University
~ Andrew Maguire Executive Director of Health Care for All - California (HCA - C).

Sponsored by LWV's West Contra Costa County team and:

~ California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA): http://www.californiaalliance.org/

~ California Nurses Association (CNA): http://www.calnurses.org/

~ Contra Costa Chapter for Health Care for All - California (HCA - C): http://healthcareforall.org/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=2&sobi2Id=23&Itemid=157

~ Interfaith Council for Contra Costa County: http://www.interfaithcouncilofccc.net/index.htm

Come and learn how community members can hold the state legislators accountable for the current crisis in Education.

Our DV League is presenting a follow-up event to its 2009 events on education funding issues and the ongoing budget crisis.

Speakers include our two LWVDV members:

~ Barbara Wilson, Superintendent of the Pittsburg School District
~ Nancy Vandell, Education Advocate, Legislation Team, California State PTA

Our moderator will be LWVDV Voter Editor, Anita Johnson, a local teacher herself.

These excellent speakers will be joined by a representative compliment of stakeholders as panelists for this important update.

A Dialogue between Senator Mark DeSaulnier & Dr. David Baggins, head of the CSUEB Political Science Dept.

This event, crafted by the new partnership between LWVDV and CSUEB/ Scholar-OLLI, could be deemed a local version of the "Clash of the Titans."

The speakers, one an academic and the other an elected official, hold strong points of view on what needs to be done to get us back to effective government. Both have years of experience with the political world. Both thrive on spirited discourse. There are so many questions they can answer for us.

Find more information by visiting http://www.ca.lwv.org, or, click on this link:

The League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley presents:

Senator Loni Hancock on "Campaign Finance Reform, Prop 15, and Fair Elections"

Additional information about other propositions on the June 8 ballot will be presented, including League and other organization's recommendations.

Please Come to our Annual Meeting!

Agenda:

9:45 am: Registration
10:00 am: Business meeting (we need you to make our quorum)
11:00 am: Speaker: Tomi Van de Brooke, a trustee of the Contra Costa Community College Governing Board and Chief of Staff for Supervisor Mary Piepho.
12:00 Lunch

LWVBA will adopt positions and priorities for 2010-2012, elect officers, hear reports from local League and hear a speaker from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES 49TH NATIONAL CONVENTION JUNE 11-15, 2010

MAKING DEMOCRACY WORK: A HISTORY OF CHANGE. A FUTURE OF HOPE.

The LWVUS invites all members to join fellow Leaguers from 50 states, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hong Kong to celebrate 90 remarkable years of League achievements and chart the course for the next biennium of League programs.

All League members are invited to attend Convention, but Presidents of local, state and ILO Leagues appoint their allotted delegates. Non-voting members can be part of the excitement as the Convention delegate body debates and adopts the 2010-2012 National Program, the LWVUS Budget for the next fiscal year, and amendments to the LWVUS Bylaws. Delegates will also be choosing the LWVUS Board officers, directors and nominating committee for the next biennium.

Expected Attendees: New and outgoing Board, item chairs, and area reps

Self-provided brown bag lunch

Do you like to interact with the candidates for local office behind and before the cameras? We have just that opportunity for both new and experienced members of the Diablo Valley League.

To sign up, either call the LWVDV office at 283-2235 or send an email to joyce.kingery@gmail.com. Either the office staff or Joyce will contact you with details of the opportunities available, such as timers and helpers in the studio on the day of filming. Once we have the schedule, it is fun to sign-up for a time when your local city council or school board will be taping.

Televised candidate roundtables are among the most effective ways to provide citizens with the information they need to be well-informed voters. Co-sponsors include the Diablo Valley League, Contra Costa Times, CCTV, Contra Costa Council and Scholar-Olli. We have submitted an application to the Lesher Foundation. We are hoping they will support this effort as they have done in the past.

The LWV of DV presents:

"One Woman, One Vote"

An outstanding documentary film on the struggle for women's right to vote. Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment!

In honor of Women's Equality Day

This excellent film includes original photographs and film footage of the 70 year struggle for women's suffrage. We have deep gratitude for the women and men who made our right to vote possible. The National American Woman Suffrage Association became the League of Women Voters after the passage of the Amendment.

The XIX Amendment states the following:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Regional Workshops

An upcoming day of workshops provides many opportunities for curious, active members. Participants have choices of topics:

Advocacy - When, Where & How Does League Do It, using local and state examples
Redistricting - What League members can do to assure that the new process works
Technology - a short presentation about http://www.CAvotes.org and plans for revamping the Members Only Website

Political, Yes; Partisan, NO! Walking the Fine Line

The LWV of DV presents:

"One Woman, One Vote"

An outstanding documentary film on the struggle for women's right to vote. Celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment!

In honor of Women's Equality Day

This excellent film includes original photographs and film footage of the 70 year struggle for women's suffrage. We have deep gratitude for the women and men who made our right to vote possible. The National American Woman Suffrage Association became the League of Women Voters after the passage of the Amendment.

The XIX Amendment states the following:

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Come grab a cup of coffee or tea and join us!