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| The Nashville Voter
Volume 76, No 10-- October 2023
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| Welcome to this issue of the LWVN Voter. You'll notice that the Emma page design allows you to access the LWVN Calendar by pressing a button at the top of the page!
Please note, you can increase your screen size within your personal information manager (i.e., Microsoft Outlook). In the Microsoft Outlook Message Bar at the top of the e-mail page, choose "Other Actions'' and then in the dropdown menu choose "Zoom." The Zoom window allows you to increase the file size; try 140% for easier onscreen reading.
Also, please note that if you want to share/forward this newsletter to others, you MUST click on the envelope icon at the upper right side of this emailed version.
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Friday, November 3rd at 12:00PM on Zoom. League of Women Voters Nashville Hot Topic: Common Sense Gun Legislation in Tennessee. Linda McFayden-Ketchum, representing Moms Demand Action, will be joining us to delve into discussions surrounding common-sense gun legislation and efforts aimed at heightening awareness among citizens and the Tennessee Legislature. Linda McFadyen-Ketchum is the volunteer Co-Lead for Legislative Work for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America/Tennessee. As Legislative Co-Lead, she works with other Tennessee Moms to pass common sense gun laws in Tennessee and to defeat gun bills that would endanger Tennesseans. Click here to register.
Friday, November 15th at 12:00PM on Zoom. League of Women Voters Williamson County Program. Guest Lindsey Kimery, will discuss intellectual freedom and liberty, and the right of library users to read, seek information, and speak freely as guaranteed by the First Amendment. Ms. Kimery has over 20 years of experience serving in Tennessee public schools and is currently Coordinator of Library Services at Metro Nashville Public Schools, where she supports 130 school librarians and 40 library clerks. Click here to register.
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| President's Message
This month I want to give you some updates about some of the work of the Board of Directors. At the last meeting, everyone shared goals for the next year to identify priorities. One theme that emerged from the goals was identifying projects where different chairs and committees could work together to reach a common goal. I’m really inspired by all the hard work and dedication from all who serve on the Board of Directors, and I look forward to our work over the course of the next year together.
I would also like to invite you to serve on the board. We have two openings currently. We are looking for a Secretary, and a Community Connections Co-chair. The Secretary is part of the leadership committee and records minutes during the meeting. The Community Connections Co-chair is tasked with working on community outreach. If you are interested or know someone who might be, email me at lwebbteacher@gmail.com.
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Voter Services
By Kathryn Anderson and Kalen Russell
Voter Services participated in two events at Nashville State Community College. The first was on Constitution Day on September 18. The second was at the Fall Y’All Festival October 4-5. We registered several students during those events and distributed information on online registration to many others. We also talked with many students about the importance of their vote and participation in our electoral process.
I want to thank volunteers Anne Ercelawn, Anne Smith, Becky Hinshaw, Stephanie Becker, Carole Kenner, and Anne Lucas. I appreciate all of the work and enthusiasm from these women. We will be working with NSCC in the spring.
Want a Constitution refresher? Since October 2022, former Tennessee Attorney General Paul G. Summers has written concise, insightful columns on the parts of the U.S. Constitution. Click here to read the series.
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Communications Committee
By Ophelia Doe
We're inviting high school students to participate in our Civic Engagement Survey and Focus Group. This is all about encouraging voter registration and active involvement in our democracy. But before we dive in, we want to hear directly from high school students to understand what motivates them to get involved.
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November Hot Topic: Moms Demand Action and Common Sense Gun Legislation in Tennessee
By Karen Wieckert and Melissa Hanson
At the October 6 Hot Topic, Reverend Stacy Rector, Executive Director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, shared the TADP mission and disheartening data on the current TN Death Row situation. TADP works to honor life through education and citizen advocacy efforts that empower surviving families of murder victims, families of those incarcerated with death sentences, death row exonerees, and others by partnering with the racial justice and faith communities and other citizen groups. Tennessee ranks high on the list of states still utilizing the death penalty and over 40 inmates are currently awaiting appeals or execution, a process that takes on average 28 years to complete.
TDAP advocates that the multi-millions of tax dollars spent on this failed process could be better spent on support for surviving families and other victims of violent crime, fund trauma informed care, and expand mental and behavioral health services. Tennessee also has inadequately resourced measures and programs that prevent violent crime, public defender services, drug addiction treatment programs that could all help reduce the overall incarcerated population. To learn more, please visit TADP at Tennesseedeathpenalty.org.
Mark your calendar for Friday, November 3rd for our Hot Topic Program on Common Sense Gun Laws in Tennessee!
Linda McFayden-Ketchum, representing Moms Demand Action, will be joining us to delve into discussions surrounding common-sense gun legislation and efforts aimed at heightening awareness among citizens and the Tennessee Legislature. Moms Demand Action, a grassroots organization with chapters across all 50 states, tirelessly advocates for public safety measures designed to protect individuals from gun violence while promoting responsible gun ownership. If you're interested in joining Moms Demand Action, click here: https://momsdemandaction.org/act/.
Linda McFadyen-Ketchum is the volunteer Co-Lead for Legislative Work for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America/Tennessee. As Legislative Co-Lead, she works with other Tennessee Moms to pass common sense gun laws in Tennessee and to defeat gun bills that would endanger Tennesseans. Before taking on the Legislative role, Linda served as Chapter Leader for 5 years. She started Moms Demand Action groups in Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, Knoxville, Tri-Cities, Williamson County, Murfreesboro, and Cookeville.
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Health Care/Public Health
By Constance Caldwell and Clare Sullivan
What’s in Store for our Health Care/Public Health Committee?
For the last four years, our committee has sought to keep abreast of most health care issues and the legislation affecting them. The issues have been multiple and often difficult to keep up with. We have monitored maternal and child health care concerns, reproductive rights, health-related educational issues, gun violence and prevention, and health care systems designed to steer people toward accessible and affordable health care. We have realized that these are monumental tasks and will take more than a seven-person team to keep up with them and keep our LWV constituents informed.
So where do we go from here? The committee has decided to make concerted efforts to collaborate with other LWVNashville committees in addition to community partners with similar interests and expertise. We are endeavoring to recruit new members to share these responsibilities and to develop new programs and objectives. We are also looking to identify new leadership for the committee. A Position Description will soon be released.
If you are interested in joining our team, please contact Clare Sullivan at clare.d.sullivan@gmail.com or Constance Caldwell at constancecaldwell269@gmail.com, Co-Chairs of the Health Care/Public Health Committee.
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Metro Council
By Pat McCauley and Karen Hernan
Metro Council met at 6:30pm on Oct 3, 2023 for the first meeting lead by Vice Mayor Angie Emory Henderson. Mayor Freddie O’Connell spoke to the council conveying the message of welcomed input for suggestions and all communities to provide solutions to Nashville’s strategy for prosperity and growth.
Safe schools, safe neighborhoods, and staffing police, firefighters, EMTs, and county positions are priority for this administration. Affordable housing stock and solutions to assist the homeless population are focus areas council members will be challenged to impact. Continual dialogue to include all neighborhoods and groups between the mayor’s office and the council body will promote community cohesion. Public interest and citizenship is needed to bring out the best in Metro Nashville.
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Williamson County Update
By Bette Holmes and Linda Sherman
Intellectual freedom, according to the American Library Association, is one of the core values of the library profession. The right of library users to read, seek information, and speak freely as guaranteed by the First Amendment, defines this core value. Guest Lindsey Kimery, will guide discussion regarding intellectual freedom, at the Williamson County League of Women Voters program on November 15th.
Ms. Kimery has over 20 years of experience serving in Tennessee public schools and is currently Coordinator of Library Services at Metro Nashville Public Schools, where she supports 130 school librarians and 40 library clerks. Ms. Kimery’s professional service includes past-president of the Tennessee Association of School Librarians, co-chair of the AASL Legislative Task Force, AASL Supervisors’ Section Chair, immediate past-chair of the AASL and Future Ready Libraries board member. She is a 2023 Library Journal Mover and Shaker. Ms. Kimery is a former employee of Williamson County’s Woodland Middle School, as both teacher and librarian. She resides in Franklin, TN with her sons.
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Membership
By Reba Holmes
We hope to keep growing our membership and encourage more people to become advocates for democracy and its essential cornerstones. By becoming a member, you can participate in various activities, such as promoting democracy, educating others in the community, engaging in political discussions and forums, and registering new voters.
We Are Looking for Volunteers
We are excited to announce the formation of a Membership Committee. This committee will assist with the annual membership campaign and work on other critical membership-related initiatives. We would like to invite you to join the committee and take on tasks such as aiding with membership communication and recruitment.
Committee Job Description:
- The committee will provide a strategic vision to increase membership, focusing on effective, comprehensive growth, new member integration, and membership retention
- Develop a program designed to mentor new members, specifically young adult members
- Increase awareness regarding the League throughout our community by working with other portfolio managers to develop a communication and outreach program
- Develop annual renewal implementation procedures, timeline, communication, and follow-up
- Develop a strategy to recruit potential members across various demographics
- Work in partnership with other portfolio managers, e.g., Voter Services, Education, Metro Council, etc.
If you are interested in serving on the committee please send an email expressing your interest to lwvnash@gmail.com.
Member Comments
We want to hear from you. Please share your comments regarding why you joined the League of Women Voters. Email your comments to lwvnash@gmail.com
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| Stay Informed about Upcoming Calendar Events!
If you get the electronic version of the Voter, we want you to know that the upcoming calendar events are available on our wonderful, new website – www.lwvnashville.org. On The calendar scrolls on the events of the current and upcoming events thanks to Tracy Depp, who keeps the calendar current. If you haven’t taken a look, do so to make sure you mark your calendar so you won’t miss a thing!
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ATTENTION: The Nashville Voter is a digital publication. If you have received this copy of the Voter in the mail, it means the League of Women Voters of Nashville does not have an e-mail address for you. Please help us by sending your e-mail address to LWVNash@gmail.com. Being on the LWVN e-mail database ensures your receipt of all LWVN newsletters, event invitations, meeting announcements, and Call to Action alerts.
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| 2023-2024 LWVN Board of Directors
Co-Presidents: Lara Webb
Immediate Past President: Madeline Garr
1st Vice Presidents: Melissa Hanson and Karen Weickert
Secretary: Elise Lamar
Treasurer Susan Mattson
Portfolio Chairs
Communications: Ophelia Doe
Community Connections: Sabina Mohyuddin
Education: Harper-Grace Niedermeyer and Patricia Brock
Environment: Russanne Buchi-Fotre and Jack McFadden
Health Care/Public Health: Constance Caldwell and Clare Sullivan
Membership: Reba Holmes
Metro Government: Pat McCauley and Karen Hernan
Voter Services: Kathryn Anderson and Kalen Russell
Williamson County Representative: June Bond
Nominating Committee Chair: Senator Brenda Gilmore
Nominating Committee Members: Betsy Walkup, Constance Caldwell, Hasina Mohyuddin, June Bond, and Brenda Wynn
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