Political Reform through Citizen Engagement

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Speak Up and Connect...with your representative!

  imPACT E-Newsletter

  May 14, 2008 - Interactive Ohio Civics CD

  April 2, 2008 - Federal Election Reform

  March 6, 2008 - The Midwest Democracy Network and the Public Financing Flap

February 6, 2008 - The Everest Report

  January 2, 2008 - Federal Election Reform

  December 7, 2007 - From Registration to Recounts

  November 7, 2007 - Speak Up!

October 3, 2007 - Is Justice For Sale?

  September 5, 2007 - Reform Redistricting While Time Is Right

  August 1, 2007 - Study Shows that TV News Broadcasts Do Little to Inform Voters

   June 6, 2007 - imPACT Meeting at LWVO Convention

 
  Initial Steps for Local Leagues

  For more information, visit www.ohioimpact.org

On April 17, 2006, the League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund (LWVOEF) was awarded a grant for $250,000 from the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation. The two-year grant will be used for imPACT-Political Accountability for Citizens Today– a multi-organizational effort to promote a broad political reform agenda in Ohio.

The political reform agenda will be presented to Ohioans in a variety of ways:

A website dedicated to political reform in Ohio
Regional town hall meetings hosted by local Leagues
Regular communication on political reform via email
Production of a DVD that will provide an overview of political reform
A CD primer on state government and political reform will also be created

Redistricting reform will be the central topic this year, along with Campaign Finance Reform, Election Reform, Judicial Reform, and Accountability. The grant will expand LWVOEF’s work around reform research and citizen education, and efforts will be made to diversify Ohio’s pro-reform coalitions.

imPACT seeks to engage candidates and lawmakers on political reform issues through forums, debates, questionnaires, interactive email programs and blogs. Some of these tasks will span the two-year period, while some will be implemented prior to the November 2006 election.

The LWVOEF Board is responsible for project oversight, but has established a Resource Committee of League members to provide reform research and project support. In addition, a part-time Project Manager will be hired to coordinate the grant activities, and a marketing/communications firm will be retained to help the League create innovative outreach tools that will be made available to local Leagues.

Since “all politics is local”, the local Leagues will play a vital role in engaging citizens who can, in the end, make a difference in political reform. LWVOEF will provide each local League with a “toolbox” of political reform information and suggested event planning guidelines for the Town Hall meetings to help generate participation.

Local Leagues can host Town Hall meetings on the five reform topics. Local citizens who have made an impact through their civic involvement can be honored at the Town Hall meeting. Next, a prepared presentation (DVD) on political reform will segue into a discussion led by local League members. The initial focus will be on redistricting, along with other reform issues from the above-referenced topics.

The participants will also be given additional resource information at the end of the meeting on reform issues.

In the immediate future, your local Leagues should:

Announce The Ohio Democracy Project to your membership
Get volunteers to work on the Project
Set a date and find a location for the Town Hall meetings
Begin reviewing the suggestions for selecting the honorees (see attached sheet)

Leagues may work independently, with other neighboring Leagues, or even other civic organizations such as Rotary, Junior League, and Kiwanis to create a large, diverse audience for the Town Hall meeting.

The size of the audience will vary from League to League, which should be taken into consideration in determining a suitable location. While we would like to see an average of 100 attendees at the Town Hall meetings, we do understand that the number will vary based on your community’s needs.

LWVOEF hopes to have a Project Manager hired by June 5. The Project Manager, along with the Resource Committee, will develop a turnkey plan for local Leagues. The Resource Committee is tentatively planning to have regional training sessions in late summer to help local Leagues with the content of the Town Hall meetings.

Additional information on The Ohio Democracy Project will be included in the 2nd and 4th Wednesday LWVOEF Presidential Update emails. You will also be able to get more information on the website www.lwvohio.org starting in mid-June.

LWVOEF believes that Ohio has reached a “tipping point” which could include real political reform – and who better to exert that final push but the League of Women Voters!

Identifying Honorees for the Town Hall Meetings

Purpose: To honor individuals and entities who have made a positive impact on voter education, civic engagement or political reform in your community.

Time to allot for honoree recognition: No more than 30 minutes at Leagues’ Town Hall meetings in the fall – giving Leagues time to explain the honorees’ contributions, and honorees time to respond.

Number of honorees: We suggest a maximum of 4 honorees to give Leagues ample opportunity to discuss the contributions of each and to give each honoree an opportunity to make a short statement.

The number will likely vary by each League’s population area and by the type of synergy you aim to create among honorees.

How to choose: We suggest that you work backwards. Think of the kinds of people you want in the audience - i.e., people who are interested in or have a stake in good government (political reform) issues; people with whom you want to network or collaborate with in the future; people who might become interested in or support future League programs/activities. These will become your invitees, so now try to think of individuals they might know or respect sufficiently to come to honor.

Examples of types of honorees include:

• Individuals, couples and unofficial groups, e.g., a neighborhood;

• Nonpartisan but politically active individuals or groups, e.g., the Board of Election / members, the Clerk of Courts, a sorority or fraternity;
  Retired partisan politicians, respected by both parties, who have championed good government issues to the point of earning respect across party lines.

• Nonprofit organizations or members of them, e.g., faith-based organizations, social service organizations, public radio; and

• For-profit organizations or members of them, e.g., local newspaper or television station, a corporation or firm.

• A person with an inspiring story, e.g. an immigrant from a non-democratic country who has become a citizen.

• People outstanding in the areas of League program, e.g., an environmentalist, someone outstanding in human services, etc.

Leagues may wish to consider the following criteria when selecting honorees, who:

1. Have made a positive impact on voter education (e.g., a high school teacher who is known for her/his enthusiastic teaching of civics), civic engagement (e.g., a company that gives employees time off to vote), or political reform (e.g., a coalition that works towards redistricting, election, or campaign finance reform; a newspaper or reporter who has investigated political dysfunction).

2. Represent a range of ages, races/ethnicities, genders, and socio-economic statuses.

3. Include a mix of well-known and not well-known individuals / entities, rather than just the “usual suspects.”

4. Have a constituency, e.g., a group of people who will attend the event in support of her/him/it.

5. Support (exemplify) League principles and goals.

6. Preferably, is not a member of the League.

7. Has the ability/willingness to engage discussion about the kind of political reform issues associated with this project.