March 2007 Voter - League of Women Voters Oakland Area
Transcription
March 2007 Voter - League of Women Voters Oakland Area
Oakland Voter The League of Women Voters Oakland Area 8 MI 48067 200 S. Washington2005-2006 Ave., Suite 4, Issue Royal Oak, Phone: 248/548-1097 Fax: 248/548-1306 website: www.lwvoa.org August 2006 President: Eva Packard e-mail: Pres@lwvoa.org is south of Maple Road). 2007-2008 Issue 5 March 2007 The League of Women Voters of the United States has recently launched a two-year Immigration Study aimed at helping communities understand the implications of immigration at the local, state, and federal level. The scope of this study explores the underlying values and principles regarding immigration, the reasons for migration from other countries, current federal immigration policy, and the impact of immigration in American society. The League of Women Voters of the Metropolitan Detroit Area presents a panel discussion on: Immigration Policies and Human Rights in Michigan Before and After September 11th Saturday, March 24th 10:00 a.m. – noon Southfield Public Library 26300 Evergreen Rd. (between 10 and 11 Mile Rd), Southfield The public is invited. Panelists: David Koelsch, attorney and professor at University of Detroit Mercy, and Secretary of the Michigan Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Scott Cooper, attorney and President of the Michigan Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. A third speaker will round out the panel. Panelists will each have ten minutes to speak. A question and answer period will follow the presentations and will be moderated by Mary Koch, President of the LWV of the Metropolitan Detroit Area. Cards will be passed out for written questions. Coffee will be served. Our thanks to the LWV of Metropolitan Detroit for arranging this panel, especially Mary Koch and Dorothy Conrad. Dr. Bernadette Najor of the LWV Oakland Area will provide evaluation sheets asking for suggested topics for our next immigration meeting. For more information on the Immigration Study, see the article on page 3 and read the article on Page 4 which explains immigration terminology. The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE (by Eva Packard): HAPPY 87th BIRTHDAY to the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS! LWVOA Board of Directors, 2006-2007 PRESIDENT Eva Packard 1st VICE PRESIDENT Vacancy 2nd VICE PRESIDENT Sue Abrams - Membership 3rd VICE PRESIDENT P. J. Royale - Development SECRETARY Lysa Postula-Stein TREASURER Fran Fisher DIRECTORS Judy Bateman – Candidate Forums Jerry Burden – Voter Sponsors Laura Gogola - Administrative Director Deb Horner Randa Keener – State Liaison Tera Moon – Website Administrator Bernadette Najor – Immigration Study OFF-BOARD POSITIONS Mary Ann Barkach – Voter production Dorothy Conrad - Administrative Support Mary Howarth - Data Management Donna Sklar – Voter Registration Edith Phillips - International Milla Wilson – Public Relations NOMINATING COMMITTEE Mary Ann Barkach, Chair Linda DePoorter Barbara Rosalik Judy Bateman Laura Gogola THE OAKLAND VOTER is the official publication of the League of Women Voters. It is published eight times a year by the LWVOA. Articles and Letters to the Editor, with writer's name, address and phone number may be sent to the LWVOA office. The League of Women Voters was born February 14th, 1920, after women won the right to vote. It remains committed to educating and engaging members of the community in their government. Thank you to all our members who have helped us to improve our communities and are continuing to do so. LWVOA’s Agenda for 2007 includes both working on issues and providing voter services. The national study of Immigration is in high gear with background papers available online and an active online discussion by members nationwide, preparatory to fall meetings to provide the consensus of our membership on this issue to the national board. See Bernadette Najor’s article about the study and how you can learn more. Plan on coming to the Detroit Metropolitan Area’s panel discussion on March 24th about immigration policy. Immigration law significantly influenced my life. In 1921, the U.S. instituted immigration quotas based on place of birth and then made them much stricter in 1924. This was the U.S. policy for more than 40 years. I am an immigrant from Budapest, Hungary, and was able to come to the U.S. as an infant due to the quirks of that law. The small Hungarian quota was subscribed for years out when I was born, but because my Hungarian dad had the good fortune to be born in Japan, our family of 4 was able to get slots in the tiny Japanese annual quota of 100 to immigrate to the U.S. My dad told us that the U.S. is a great country and that being able to vote was a great privilege. He also emphasized that being knowledgeable about candidates and issues was vital to be able to vote intelligently. That is why I joined the League in my 20’s because I saw that it provided information about candidates and studied issues and was an advocate for good government policies. I have been privileged to meet and learn from and work with other women (and men) who share that attitude about what it takes to keep our country an open, free, and vital democracy. Thank you League! Continued on page 5 2 Oakland Voter February 2007 LWVUS Immigration Study By Dr. Bernadette Najor, Immigration Study Chair/LWVOA The Immigration Study was approved at the June 2006 LWVUS convention. The approval was originally for a three-year study, then shortened to two years. Under the new timeline LWVUS will distribute a Leaders Guide, including consensus questions, in August 2007. Consensus forms will be due back in the national office by February 1, 2008. The decision to shorten the study process was because of members’ request, because Immigration Study Committee background material is already available on the web site, and because many local Leagues are already holding educational meetings and forums on the subject. An on-line Immigration Discussion List for members started on January 1st, 2007. This discussion list is a tool for League members to use to engage each other in conversation about the immigration study process, immigration resources, pertinent state and local legislation and/or information, and ways to best educate members and communities. Because the study is strictly educational, taking a position is inappropriate at this time, and messages on the list must be non-partisan, non-derogatory, non-inflammatory, and non-discriminatory. Instructions to join the member-only Immigration Discussion List for members are on page 11. League members in many states who are knowledgeable about this issue have sent in many articles. Other members have joined the list to educate themselves. It is helpful, and inspirational, to have all these members sharing what is happening in their states. Michigan is one of the crossroads of America. There should be so much interest in this topic in our community. I expect the study to be a great educational opportunity for all our league members. Besides the member list discussion, the national board appointed one of their members to Chair the Immigration Study and selected members to serve on the LWVUS Immigration Study Committee. That committee has created a scope for the study and is gathering background materials. (See LWVUS statement on page 1 for a brief description.) The LWVUS Immigration Study Committee members are researching and writing background papers to help Leagues educate members and communities about immigration issues. The papers' topics include business and economic effects and impact, diversity, effects of global interdependence on migration, federal policy and proposed reforms, and motivation of refugees, asylees, and other immigrants. These papers are available to the public at web site www.lwv.org, In addition, the February 2007 National Voter has an introductory article,” Immigration: A Historical Perspective”, by League member and U. of Minnesota professor Katherine Fennelly. If you misplaced your Voter, go to the website, and click on the article. If you would like to join me on the LWVOA committee, contact me at immigration@lwvoa.org or leave a message at the League office, 248/548-1097 for Bernadette. (continued on page 11) 3 Oakland Voter March 2007 THE ABC’S OF U.S. IMMIGRATION Who Is an Immigrant? According to U.S. law, an immigrant is a foreign-born individual who has been admitted to reside permanently in the United States as a Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR). How Do Immigrants Get Admitted to Permanently Reside Here? Typically, a foreign-born individual seeking to become an LPR can do so in one of three ways: • Through family-sponsored immigration, a U.S. citizen can sponsor his or her Immediate Relatives defined as foreign-born spouse, parent (if the sponsor is over the age of 21), and minor children. This category has NO CAP. In recent years, more than 350,000 immediate relatives have immigrated per year. Citizens can also sponsor adult married and unmarried children and brothers and sisters. Lawful Permanent Residents can sponsor their spouse, minor children, and adult unmarried children. A minimum of 226,000 visas per year are reserved for these latter two groups. • Through employment-based immigration, a U.S. employer can sponsor an individual for a specific position where there is a demonstrated absence of U.S. workers. As of 2005, immigration law allowed 140,000 such visas annually broken into five categories. • By winning one of a limited number of immigrant visas available in the annual diversity visa lottery that is open to immigrants from certain countries. 50,000 diversity visas are awarded each year whose purpose is to set aside some visas for countries that send relatively few immigrants to the U.S. Who Is a Refugee? an Asylee? A refugee is a person outside of the United States who seeks protection on the grounds that he or she fears persecution in his or her homeland. To obtain refugee status, a person must prove that he or she has a "well-founded fear of persecution" on the basis of at least one of five specifically-enumerated and internationally-recognized grounds. Those grounds include the person's race, religion, membership in a social group, political opinion, or national origin. Each year the President sets the number of refugee visas in consultation with Congress. In 2005, the ceiling was 70,000 of which 50,000 was allocated among various parts of the world. A person who has already entered the United States, and who fears persecution if sent back to his or her country, may apply for asylum here. Once granted asylum, the person is called an "asylee." Like a refugee, an asylum applicant must also prove that he or she has a "well-founded fear of persecution" based on the same enumerated grounds. Both refugees and asylees may apply to become LPRs after one year. Who Is an Undocumented Immigrant? An undocumented immigrant is a person who is present in the United States without the permission of the U.S. government. Undocumented immigrants enter the U.S. either illegally, without being inspected by an immigration officer, or by using false documents, or legally, with a temporary visa, and then remain in the U.S. beyond the expiration date of the visa. Who Is a Non-immigrant? A non-immigrant is an individual who is permitted to enter the U.S. for a period of limited duration. Nonimmigrants include: students, tourists, temporary workers, business executives, diplomats, artists and entertainers, and reporters. Depending on where they are from and the purpose of their visit, nonimmigrants may be required to apply for and obtain a visa from the U.S. government. Canada and 27 other countries currently participate in the Visa Waiver Program. The application process for visas entails an interview with a U.S. consular official in the nearest U.S. consulate, who has the sole authority to grant or deny a visa. Even if granted, the visa is merely a travel document. All non-immigrants—regardless of whether they have a U.S. visa—must also pass immigration inspection upon arrival in the U.S. In 2003, of the 28 million persons who came to this country temporarily, more than 24 million came here as tourists or business visitors and over half a million as students. Who Is a Naturalized Citizen? Lawful Permanent Residents are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship through a process called naturalization. To qualify for naturalization, applicants generally must reside in the U.S. for five years (three if they are married to a US. citizen) without having committed any serious crimes, show that they have paid their taxes and are of "good moral character," and demonstrate a knowledge of U.S. history and government as well as an ability to understand, speak, and write ordinary English. 4 Oakland Voter March 2007 Continued from page 2 – President’s message Oakland Area discussed the League’s state positions on issues at our January meeting and supported their retention. Our members also felt very strongly about making access to voting easier coupled with an increased effort to encourage people to vote, especially our young people. We need to “Make Voting Cool!” Fran Fisher volunteered to coordinate our Legislative Interviews for 4 State Senate districts and 13 State Representative districts to gain a better understanding of where our legislators stand on various issues of interest. That effort is in progress. We will provide Voter Guides and hold Candidate Forums for the school and city elections this year. See the article on the candidate forum workshop we held to train more members so we can hold more forums. Candidates filed on Feb. 13th for the May 7th election in the city of Bloomfield Hills and 19 school districts in our area. Twelve districts have contested elections: Bloomfield Hills, Brandon, Clarkston, Hazel Park, Lake Orion, Lamphere, Madison, Novi, Oak Park, Pontiac, Walled Lake, and West Bloomfield. Watch our website for Voter Guide and Candidate Forum information. Xät COME to the STATE CONVENTION of the LWV of Michigan! By Eva Packard Would you like to meet and work with other League members from across the state, ask questions, pursue common interests, participate in workshops, learn more about the League, and get great information to use here in Oakland County?? Come to the Michigan State Convention! The 30th biennial State Convention of the League of Women Voters of Michigan will be held May 18-20, 2007, at the Holiday Inn in Alpena, Michigan. Delegates from 24 Local Leagues throughout Michigan will meet to adopt the state program and a budget for the next two years, amend bylaws, and elect a board of directors. As the largest League in the state, Oakland Area is entitled to 13 delegates. Activities run from Friday afternoon through about noon on Sunday with optional events on Friday afternoon and Sunday afternoon. There are three plenary sessions (Define, Discuss, Decide) dealing with the business of the convention. Workshops will include membership, candidate forums, the Local Governance study, Michigan is Ours, net neutrality, and more. Breakfast tables will include discussions on advocacy, fundraising, citizen access to government, issues and studies. The Saturday evening speaker will be Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver. The approximate cost per person including two nights with a shared room, meals, and registration fee is about $250. At our next board meeting, we will assess our financial status to determine whether LWVOA can afford to pay the budgeted $150 per delegate or just the $65 registration fee or nothing. Each League is being asked to provide something unique to their area for the silent auction. Examples would be tickets to a place or event. If you have any suggestions for Oakland Area, let Eva know. While some Board members will be going, you don’t have to be a board member of our League to be a delegate. It is a great opportunity to get acquainted with how the League works and the great people throughout the state who make up the League of Women Voters. Contact Eva Packard by phone (see Membership Directory) or pres@lwvoa.org if you are interested in going. Let us know before the end of March. We would like to send a full delegation. 5 Oakland Voter March 2007 MARK JUNE 2ND ON YOUR CALENDAR FOR OUR ANNUAL MEETING by Eva Packard Our Annual Meeting this year will be held later than usual on Saturday, JUNE 2nd at the Shenandoah Country Club on Walnut Lake Rd. near Drake in West Bloomfield. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. with the business meeting at 10 a.m. followed by lunch and a speaker. Cost will be $30. A mailing will be sent out a month before the meeting with full details and a registration form with lunch options. The Budget Committee of Barb Moorhouse (Chair), Sue Leich and Fran Fisher will be meeting to plan the budget for the next League year. Per the directive from last year’s annual meeting to consolidate (where possible) similar Rochester Area and Oakland Area positions, the following Local Program Positions are being worked on: Local Government (Barb Moorhouse, Dorothy Conrad, and Mary Howarth), Zoning and Housing (Dorothy Conrad and Karen DeGrendel), Education (Grace Kachaturoff and Barb Rosalik), Recreation (Jerry Burden and Margaret Kanost) and Libraries (Edith Phillips and Mary Howarth). The Nominating Committee is listed on the masthead on page 2. Contact one of them if you are interested in serving on the board or if you know a good candidate, or e-mail Mary Ann Barkach at mbarkach@yahoo.com January 27 State Program Planning Meeting Winter doesn’t seem so daunting when we gather in Vicki Lange’s comfortable Western style living room with its large fireplace and western artifacts. We are so grateful for her hospitality. We thank our telephone committee who reminded members of the meeting: Sue Abrams, Nancy Goedert, Randa Keener, Sue Montgomery and Betty Spehar. Our members brought marvelous breakfast treats, and we had a nice opportunity to visit before turning to the business at hand - State Program Planning. From our existing State Program Positions, LWVMI chose five topics related to good government and asked us to list them in order of importance to us. After lively discussion, our members selected: 1. Voter Access (Interest in same day voter registration; Get-Out-The-Vote campaigns, especially for young adults with a "Voting is Cool" theme and using Candidate Forums on webcast + more programs and forums in schools.) 2. Judicial Selection 3. Ballot Access 4. Tax Reform 5. Redistricting and Accountability of the Legislature In addition to choosing priorities, members want to RETAIN all present LWVMI Program Positions with the following changes: 1. UPDATE Solid Waste Management to include Safety. There was concern regarding regulation of Canadian waste and hazardous waste. 2. REWORD Summary of Pesticides to read more clearly. 3. REWRITE Summary of Public School Academies to strengthen its message. Lastly, LWVOA members recommended a new state study proposal on the Insurance Industry with the following scope: - Investigate insurance industry legislation and practices, including rights and responsibilities of both policyholders and insurance companies and the impact on the parties involved. - Recommend appropriate legislation to protect Michigan consumers. 6 Oakland Voter March 2007 2007 Directory Changes and Distribution By Laura Gogola, Administrative Director LWVOA is moving into the electronic age of the 21st century. When the 2007 Directory is available, an Email will be sent to all members for whom we have an Email ID asking whether they want to have a 2007 Membership Directory Emailed to them. Printed copies of the Directory will be available for pick up at the Annual Meeting on June 2nd. Those who cannot attend but would like to receive a printed Directory can request one by sending an Email to lgogola@ameritech.net or by leaving a message at the LWVOA office 248548-1097 requesting that a printed Directory be mailed to them. The rationale for this change is two-fold: lowering the significant cost involved in printing and distributing the directory to about 300 members, and keeping information current. Periodic updates will be provided for those receiving an Emailed copy. We want the new directory to be as accurate as possible. Please review your information in the 2005 Directory and send any changes to the LWVOA office, 248-548-1097, or to me by email, lgogola@ameritech.net. Legislative Interviews by Fran Fisher Each year the LWVMI requests local leagues to interview their State senators and representatives. I would like to thank the following members for conducting the interviews this year. Mary Ann Barkach Judy Bateman Carol Cotter Bodner Larry Brown Jerry Burden Dorothy Conrad Karen DeGrendel Dora DeMarco Linda DePoorter Jan Dolan Carole Elder Nancy Goedert Laura Gogola Nadine Harvey Mary Howarth Emily Ingle Christine Jurgensen Margaret Kanost Marguerite Kowaleski Vicki Lange Judy Lessin Don McHarness Gretchen Pugsley Lysa Postula-Stein Barbara Rosalik P.J. Royale Muriel Versagi Katie Wilke Kay Wolf Confused by Lansing Budget Battles? Check Out the Citizens Research Council Website The State of Michigan has been operating with a structural deficit since Fiscal Year 2001. The constitutional requirement of a balanced budget has been met in large part through the use of one-time "fixes." While a few nonrecurring resources remain, most have been utilized and the attention of policy makers is increasingly turning to alternatives available to bring long-term revenues and expenditures into balance. Proposals to reduce spending are being discussed as well as numerous proposals to restructure the Michigan tax system. As the debate on taxes becomes more intense, the need for solid information on taxation will be great. To help policy makers, the media, and interested citizens make sense of the debate, the Citizen Research Council released its completely updated Outline of the Michigan Tax System, a wealth of information on all of the taxes levied by state and local government in Michigan. For each tax, you can find information on its legal authority, rate, base, administration, and the amount of revenue it raises. It also contains helpful links to official sources, so that more detail can be found that might not be available in a summary outline. Go to crc.com. 7 Oakland Voter March 2007 Members Make Forums Happen By Lysa Postula-Stein, LWVOA Secretary One of the League’s most important functions is the political education it provides the general public through candidate forums. On February 10, 2007, LWV Oakland Area sponsored a training seminar for interested members on producing and moderating such events. The workshop was held at the Farmington Community Library in Farmington Hills. The knowledge and skills needed by forum coordinators and moderators were presented by Linda DePoorter through discussion, comedy and mock forums. Assisting with the training was Debbie Macon. Attending were Tera Moon, Lysa Postula-Stein, P.J. Royale, Milla Wilson, Don McHarness, Judy Lessin, Sybil Levenson and Charlene Krygier, the Voter Service Chair for the NorthWest Wayne LWV. With the proper training, any LWV member can plan a successful forum. Potential participants must be identified and invitations extended. Facility, staffing, cable and publicity requirements must be satisfied. The question process from the audience to the moderator must be set up to assure relevance and appropriateness. Strategies, policies and formats must be implemented for ensuring equal exposure time for all participants, and for managing antagonistic candidates or crowds. Throughout this process, all actors must maintain the League’s vital appearance and exercise of non-partisanship. The League is always looking for forum recommendations and members to assist in forum execution. Members with ideas and volunteer interests should contact LWVOA President, Eva Packard, at Pres@lwvoa.org Everyone's Reading: Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle by Tera Moon Promoting a community-wide conversation on a topic like civil rights is an activity in line with LWV values. In its sixth year, Everyone’s Reading is an effort to get everyone in the metroDetroit area reading and talking about one book. The book for 2007 is Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle. The book follows the sensational 1925 murder trial in Detroit of Ossian Sweet, and illustrates how this trial was an important event in the nascent civil rights movement. Twenty public libraries across Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties are hosting book discussions, films and chances to hear the author, Kevin Boyle, speak. In addition, other community groups are facilitating the conversation. The Birmingham Race Relations and Diversity Task Force is hosting Mr. Boyle on April 16th at 7:00 p.m. at the Birmingham Community House. For more information visit the Everyone’s Reading web page at http://www.everyonesreading.info or call your local library. Mothers, Daughters, and Leaders of Oakland County March 3th through June 16th 2007 The Rochester Hills Museum at Van Hoosen Farm - in partnership with the Oakland County Office of Arts and Culture and the Rochester Regional Chamber of Commerce - is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibit “Mothers, Daughters, and Leaders of Oakland County.” This new exhibit will showcase women who have made contributions to their local communities in a variety of areas and have been nominated by area residents. After opening at the Rochester Hills Museum, this exhibit will travel to locations throughout Oakland County. It will include extraordinary women such as Sarah Van Hoosen Jones, who earned the Master Farmer honor on a dairy farm in Rochester Hills, and the woman who became a world-renowned surgeon and the founder of the American Medical Women’s Association, Dr. Bertha Van Hoosen. 8 Oakland Voter March 2007 9 Oakland Voter March 2007 10 Oakland Voter March 2007 (continued from page 3) HOW TO JOIN THE IMMIGRATION DISCUSSION By joining this list, you agree to follow the pertinent rules and norms stated in the "Guidelines for LWVUS/LWVEF Sponsored On-Line Lists" as listed below: 1) List participants must be League members and shall identify themselves by name and League on all postings. 2) Messages must be nonpartisan, nonderogatory, noninflammatory, and nondiscriminatory. 3) Messages must be related to the subject of the list and must be consistent with the mission and goals of the LWVUS/LWVEF. List moderators will enforce these rules and norms to encourage League-like participation. TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THIS LIST: Use the e-mail address: lwv-immigration@lists.lwv.org Additional Tips: TO READ THE ARCHIVED (EARLIER) MESSAGES: (You need to have cookies enabled in your web browser) 1) Go to http://www.lwv.org 2) Click on "For Members" button 3) Click on "Get Involved" 4) Under League Sponsored E-mail Lists, click on "Join a new list or manage your account" 5) Click on "please login" 6) Type in e-mail address and password and click on Login 7) Click on "Click here to continue" 8) Scroll down the page to lwv-immigration 9) Click on "View List" under lwv-immigration description 10) Type in e-mail address and click "OK" 11) Leave password blank (unless you have assigned yourself a password in the Lyris program) and click on "OK" You will see a "You are logged in" message on the screen and then be on page with all the messages listed with the latest message on top. At the bottom you will see "next" and "show more" buttons. Click on "show more" to see additional messages. You may need to click on "show more" to see all the messages. Under "Subject" column, you will see all of the messages by subject title, and under "Replies" you will see the number of messages related to that subject. To read message using the subject: click on the underlined subject title and you will see all the messages (last first) for that subject. When you see a number larger than 1, you know more than one person has responded. If you look carefully, you will notice tiny little up and down arrows on the headers line (date, subject, replies and author). If you click on an up arrow (sort ascending) it will sort A to Z or earliest date first and down arrow (sort descending) does just the reverse 11 Oakland Voter March 2007 The League of Women Voters Oakland Area 200 S. Washington Ave., Suite 4 Royal Oak, MI 48067 The League of Women NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 32 BIRMINGHAM, MI A Voice for Citizens, A Voice for Change Time Dated Material Enclosed Calendar of Events Sat., Mar. 24 10:00 a.m. Immigration Panel Discussion, Southfield Public Library 26300 Evergreen Rd. (between 10 & 11 Mile Rds), Southfield A program of the LWV of the Detroit Metropolitan Area The public is invited. April (dates to be determined) Candidate Forums for May 8th elections – 20 school districts, 1 city Mon., Apr. 16 7:00 p.m. LWVOA Board Meeting Residence Inn Novi, 27477 Cabaret Dr., Novi, MI. Wed., Apr. 25 7:00 p.m. LWV 101 – A program for new and not-so-new LWV members St. Andrew Lutheran Church, 6255 Telegraph Rd., Bloomfield Hills, MI Fri.-Sun, May 18-20 LWV of Michigan State Convention, Alpena, MI Sat., June 2 LWVOA Annual Meeting, Shenandoah Country Club 5600 Walnut Lake Rd., West Bloomfield 48323 12 10:00 a.m. Oakland Voter March 2007