Read our December 2015 issue of The Voter

The League of Women Voters of North Orange County
The Voter
December 2015
714-254-7440
P.O Box 3073
Fullerton, CA 92834
www.lwvnoc.org
Serving the cities of Brea, Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma, Placentia, Yorba Linda
The Year in Review
by Jan Wagner, President, LWVNOC
The end of 2015 has been a busy and effective time for our League
members. The Hon. Jodie Remke, Chair of the FPPC, spoke at our KickOff, providing us with candid insight into the interplay between money and
regulations in California politics. That set us up well to participate in the
ILO study of Money in Orange County Politics. You will find the results of
that study in this Voter on page two. Congratulations and kudos to an
extraordinary team who wrote and conducted that study, headed by our own
Mary Fuhrman and Wanda Shaffer.
From there, we conducted a US Constitutional Amendment update
study in November.
Materials were available on our website, with
presentations and discussion at an extended Lunch with League.
Congratulations and our thanks for a job very well done to study co-chairs
Jeanne Blum and Jerry Young, plus presenters Jodi Balma and Pearl Mann.
Inside This Issue
Our Special Events Chair, Cheryl Quadrelli-Jones, and her team have put
together
a delightful holiday dinner at Black Gold Golf Club on Monday,
OC Money in Politics
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December 7. We look forward to just sharing a good time together!
Tributes
2
In January we will be turning our attention to the LWVUS Money in
Read with League
3-4
Politics study, with our consensus meeting at Lunch with League. If you
In Memoriam
4
BOS Report
5
would like to be involved in this important study, please contact me or chair
Thank You to Donors
5
Deborah Vagts.
A Letter from Anita
6
We have also agreed to host a candidate forum for the North Orange
LWVNOC Calendar
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County Community College District special election. That forum will be at
Membership Drive
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Cypress College on January 12.
Officers and Directors
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As I write this, just a few days after Thanksgiving, I am truly grateful for
Membership Form
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the people in LWVNOC. You are effective, interesting, dedicated, and
caring. Thank you.
LWVNOC The Voter December 2015
ILO Reaches Concurrence in
Money in Orange County Politics Study
The League of Women Voters of Orange County supports the inclusion in the Orange County Charter of a
permanent, local oversight mechanism to enforce governmental ethics, and campaign financing and lobbying
laws. This mechanism should be designed to ensure transparency, accountability, integrity and impartiality.
Key elements of this mechanism ideally should include, but not be limited to:
• Independence
• Training for candidates, elected and appointed County officials, and key County staff in the areas of
governmental ethics, and campaign financing and lobbying laws
• Subpoena power to allow for collection of relevant information
• Adequate budget and staff
• Annual reports to the public
• Enforcement mechanisms
• Whistleblower protection
• Timely responses
This ILO Position was adopted at the final Session of the Orange County League of Women Voters InterLeague Organization (ILO) on November 7, 2015 and then Approved by the ILO Board at their regular
meeting on November 7, 2015.
Tributes
Tributes can honor a person for an exceptional event, help to observe a
special occasion, salute to a deserving friend or a colleague, or serve as
a memorial for a loved one. For publication in the Voter, send your
words of tribute along with a check to the LWVNOC Ed Fund, Patti
Chikahisa, Tribute Coordinator, 406 Del Monte West, Fullerton, CA
92832. For more information call Patti Chikahisa at (714)
906-4649 or visit our website at www.lwvnoc.org.
A tribute to Jeanne Blum, Jerry Young, and their committee for doing such a wonderful job preparing and
presenting the Constitutional Amendment Update. From Jan Wagner and Patti Chikahisa on behalf of the
entire board.
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LWVNOC The Voter December 2015
Read with League by Penny Brown
Hello Fellow Readers! We had a great book discussion at the last RWL – thanks, Anita! We also discussed
our upcoming gathering and decided to start at 12:30 pm. We will each provide a “hearty appetizer,” our
marked up book lists, and a wrapped book for our book “exchange.” Arline suggested that, rather than buying a
new book, we could bring a book we’ve already read and liked, so your choice may be either new or pre-read. I
have received several more suggestions for books to read and discuss in the upcoming year. I am including them
below. If you have any more suggestions, please get them to me ASAP – this will give all of us a chance to
decide which ones we would like to include. I will send another reminder closer to the date of our party.
RWL Future title suggestions winter/spring 2016
Killing the Messenger: The Right-Wing Plot to Derail Hillary and Hijack Your Government by David Brock. Twelve (Sept. 2015) 300 pp. If you want to know the Republican playbook for smearing
Democrats by making stuff up, read this and then use it as a guide on how to fight back.
Lean Out by Melissa Stravinsky. OR Books (Sept. 2015) 184 pp. Encourages people fed up with gender
inequity to start their own firms
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by Naomi Klein. Simon & Schuster (Sept.
2014) 577 pp. Provides us sufficient reasons for the imperative to recreate our economic world in ways that align
it with our physical world and our only home. [This is the book the Pope read and, apparently, on which he
based his statement on climate change.]
Encyclical on Climate Change and Inequality: On Care for Our Common Home by Pope
Francis. Melville House (July 2015) 192 pp. The pope’s clarion call adds an ethical dimension to a debate too
often bogged down in warring statistics and economic arguments. His powerful message on climate change
should have the skeptics and deniers, who’ve stood in the way of meaningful action, squirming in their seats and
feeling the heat. (Possible companion read with This Changes Everything ??)
Rethinking Education and Poverty ed. by William G. Tierney. Johns Hopkins University (Sept. 2015)
296 pp. A highly original and substantial contribution to the literature on poverty and education. The diverse
authors Tierney has collected are luminaries in the field, and their scholarship and theoretical insights are equal
to their reputations.
Blood Brothers: the Dramatic Story of a Palestinian Christian Working For Peace In Israel
by Elias Chacour and David Hazard. Baker Books (new ed. Apr. 2013) 241 pp. This international bestseller,
now updated with commentary on the current state of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, offers hope and insight
that can help each of us learn to live at peace in a world of tension and terror. Note: Chacour has been
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize
Ladies of the Canyon: a League of Extaordinary women and Their Adventures in the
American Southwest by Lesley Poling-Kempes. University of Arizona Press (Sept. 2015) 384 pp. Ladies of
the Canyon is the true story of remarkable women who left the security and comforts of genteel Victorian
society and journeyed to the American Southwest in search of a wider view of themselves and their world.
Believer: My Forty Years in Politics by David Axelrod. Penguin Press (Feb 2015) 528 pp. “Beautifully
written with warmth, humor, and remarkable self-awareness, Believer is one of the finest political memoirs I
have ever read. Through one memorable anecdote after another, Axelrod tells a revealing and moving story of
his long and honorable career in public life. This is a thoroughly terrific book.” Doris Kearns Goodwin
[See Book Club Titles on the next page]
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LWVNOC The Voter December 2015
Book Club Titles, from page two
Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Berman. Farrar,
Straus, and Giroux (Aug. 2015) 385 pp. A fascinating, if also infuriating, chronicle of the modern era in voting
rights - a time when those hard-won rights are suddenly in great jeopardy
Once in a Great City: a Detroit Story by David Maraniss. Simon & Schuster (Sept. 2015) 464 pp.
“Maraniss offers us an unforgettable portrait of 1963 Detroit, muscular and musical, during the early days of
Motown and the Mustang. Bursting with larger than life figures from Henry Ford II, Walter Reuther, and Mayor
Jerome Cavanagh, to Berry Gordy, Martin Luther King, and Reverend C.L. Franklin, Aretha's father, this book
is at once the chronicle of a city during its last fine time and also a classic American story of promise and
loss.” (Gay Talese)
Frank: A Life in Politics From the Great Society to Same Sex Marriage by Barney Frank. Farrar,
Straus, Giroux (March 2015) 399 pp. This is an enlightening and entertaining romp through a half-century of
American politics and policymaking. But what can it possibly offer as a guide to fixing government during an era
of polarization, dysfunction, and public disaffection? The short answer is more than you might think.
Voices From Chernoble by Svetlana Alexievich. translated by Keith Gessen Dalkey Archive Press (Oct.
2015) 257 pp. A journalist by trade, who now suffers from an immune deficiency developed while researching
this book presents personal accounts of what happened to the people of Belarus after the nuclear reactor
accident in 1986, and the fear, anger, and uncertainty that they still live with. The Nobel Prize in Literature
2015 was awarded to Svetlana Alexievich "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in
our time.
Truth and Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power by Mary Mapes. (St.
Martin’s Press, Oct. 2006) 385 pp. In September, 2004, Dan Rather anchored the 20/20 report on President
George W. Bush's dereliction of his National Guard duty for CBS News. The firestorm that followed their
broadcast trashed Mapes' well-respected career, caused Rather to resign from his anchor chair a year early, and
led to an unprecedented "internal inquiry" into the story. Now a movie with Kate Blanchett and Robert
Redford
$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Sept. 2015) 240 pp. If you ever thought that every American has a safety net, or
that every person willing to work can be self sufficient, this book is important reading.
The Whip: Inspired by the Story of Charlie Parkhurst by Karen Kondazian. (Hansen Publishing
Company 2012) 302 pp. The Whip is inspired by the true story of a woman, Charlotte "Charley" Parkhurst
(1812-1879) who lived most of her extraordinary life as a man. The Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsberg (Oct. 2015) 240 pp. In her
fierce honesty, resolute realness, and, yes, innate sense of style (those collars!), Ginsburg emerges as a cultural
icon worthy of her own fanbase Martha Leahy, passed away last month at age 95 in Fullerton. She was a long-time LWV volunteer
many years ago. She staffed the citizen's call-in phone number for many years. During voting times, she
enjoyed helping citizens get the information they needed to make better choices.
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LWVNOC The Voter December 2015
Your OC Board of Supervisors by Wanda Shaffer, ILO, LWVNOC
With a 4-0 vote, (Supervisor Steel abstaining) the BOS will be putting a proposal on the June 2016 ballot to
establish “A Campaign Finance and Ethics Commission,” to drop Measure E and to reword/update TINCUP.
This action has evolved over many months with an ad hoc committee study and a public forum.
The 21st Annual Report on the Conditions of Children in OC has been released. It has been
reduced to one-fourth the previous size, but the data can be retrieved online. The five OC Districts will hold
free forums on the report’s highlights and data trends. The First District has already held theirs, but the other
four districts will feature speakers and a give out free copies. Dec. 1: The Fifth District holds a forum on
District Youth Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Dec. 11: The Third District holds a forum on
Protective Factors of Education. The Fourth District will hold a forum on Young Children’s Mental
Health, but no date has been set yet. The Second District will hold a forum on Healthy Beginnings, but no
date yet. For more information contact Lisa Burke, 949-200-6221, lisa@lisajburke.com
The Olinda Alpha Landfill is ready for Phase 2, final closure. The Bowerman Landfill will last until 2067,
and the Prima Landfill will last to the end of the century.
With a 5-0 vote, the BOS passed a Memorandum of Understanding with Southern California Edison to
provide financial support for emergency preparedness and response activities, and equipment and services to
San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) totaling $5,331,250. Chairman Spitzer insisted there be
added language that Edison is still responsible for cleaning up, even if this agreement is accepted. The
Memorandum also approves a transfer agreement with OC Fire Authority and Capo Unified School District,
term ending June of 2022.
The California State Association of Counties awarded four 2015 Challenge Awards to the County of
Orange, more than any other county: A Challenge Award for the “Vets Helping Vets Work Study Program,”
and three Merit Awards for “OC Stories: Keeping History Alive,” “Removal of Treatment Barriers for
Offenders,” and for “Teen Collaborative Inspires Hope for Foster Youth.”
John Wayne Airport has a new Director: Barry Rondinella. His salary will be $200,000.
Although this report only covers the meetings of Oct. 20 and 27, the OC Board of Supervisors signed
contracts for over $131,735,025! Thank You to all our Generous 2015 Silent Auction Donors
Arthur's Restaurant
Lillie’s Q Restaurant
Bowers Museum
Long Beach Symphony Orchestra
Brea Improv Comedy Club
Los Alamitos Race Course
Brea Plaza 5 Cinemas
Mal and Kay Bruce
Brea's Best Hamburgers
Marconi Automotive Museum
Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant
Mary Fuhrman
California Pizza Kitchen
Matador Cantina
Camino Real Playhouse
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts
Museum of Tolerance
MUZEO
Cheryl Quadrelli-Jones
Norm and Susan Fried
Children's Museum at La Habra
Pearl Mann
Courtyard at Marriott Cypress
PizzaRev
Diane Taylor
Richard and Anita Larsen
Dominic's Ristorante Italiano
Richard Nixon Presidential Library &
Museum
Early Bird Café
Estela Casarez
Roberto Quadrelli
Frann Shermet
Salon LuJon
Gloria Schlaepfer
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Sandra Graham-Jones
Helen Arthur
Sprouts Farmers Market
Heroes Restaurant
Stage Door Rep Theatre
Huntington Library
Stater Brothers Market
Summit House Restaurant
Kimmie's Coffee Cup
Trader Joe's
Knott’s Berry Farm
Wanda Shaffer
La Mirada Theatre
Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill
Laguna Art Museum
Yard House Restaurant
Laguna Playhouse
LWVNOC The Voter December 2015
A Letter from Anita
Our good friend Anita Smiley, who has helped run Lunch with League, has been missing in action for several months while she
undergoes chemo treatment for cancer. During her absence she has kept us informed of her progress with a series of humorous and
inspiring letters. She received a bone marrow transplant from a generous male donor. Because she now has both male and female
DNA, she sometimes wryly refers to herself as Anito instead of Anita. Here is her most recent letter, from November 18.
Hello Everyone,
Thank you all again for the wonderful cards you keep sending me. They really make me smile and just
make me just feel so good.
Very slowly I think I am getting better. It’s kind of hard to tell because I am on so many crazy drugs. A lot
of them are anti-rejection drugs, and they make me sick all by themselves. I think I take 15 different drugs and
a 4-hour infusion given by a home health care nurse; and, believe it or not, Stan gives me five 1-hour infusions. We do it every night about 7 pm. It scared the stuffing out of both of us the first time, but now it’s no big deal. Maybe this will a become new profession for him if he ever retires. He actually infuses this stuff into a pick in
my arm that goes to my heart. And we are surviving this--- who would have thought?
We refilled all the prescriptions this past week. We are still making our way up to UCLA every Thursday. Depending on the time of day it takes us more than two hours. I guess it’s a good way to see Westwood every
week.
One of the drugs they love to give me is Prednisone. Apparently it’s one of the drugs of choice for antirejection. It’s also the drug of choice to develop a great big round face. As you can imagine I just love that. If I
can find a green stem for my head, I will be the perfect pumpkin for Thanksgiving. I can always be the football
that is not deflated for all the games, but the point has to be going down. Of course, I won’t even get started
about playing Santa on Christmas. I would have to grow white hair for that. I bought a lot of hats and many of
them are now too small.
Stan happened to glance at the price of one of the drugs. It’s more than $5000! It’s an anti-fungal drug. I
didn’t think we had enough humidity here in CA to grow fungus. I have no idea why I’m taking it. But then, I
can’t tell you most of the names of the multiple drugs I take. I will say it does take both of us to get through
them every day, and on the weekends they are different. It’s a good thing we both went to college! They tell me
my immune system is down to nothing, so I also take pills for that. Isn’t this a little pathetic? The most
important thing in my life right now is the assortment of expensive medications I stuff in my mouth?
All the medical people tell me I am doing fabulous, and I will survive this. I do wonder, living with some of
the side effects.
I regularly get my nails done, and wonderful Andrea checks all my non-hair occasionally. It does seem to be
growing back a little. She even trimmed one of my wigs. BTW, the wigs don’t work well yet. I will keep trying.
I think I’m on day 39 or 40 since the implant. I have to keep all this up until day 100. I don’t know what
happens after that. Maybe at midnight I really will turn into a pumpkin or lose my glass slipper.
But life goes on, and I am very much alive and functioning. Thanksgiving will be a big deal in our family. We have a lot to be thankful for. Stan and I know every day we are one pair of the lucky ones.
We hope everyone has a happy and wonderful holiday season--My love and good health to all,
I want to thank all the members of LWVNOC for the contributions in my name, the cards I continue to
receive and all the love that comes shining through from all of you. Stan and I are really hoping we can make it
to the holiday party on December 7th. Everyone have a wonderful holiday season and the happiest and
healthiest 2016.
Anito, TBE [The Bald Eagle]
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LWVNOC The Voter December 2015
LWVNOC
DECEMBER
7 Monday
Holiday Dinner
8 Tuesday
Read with League
5:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Black Gold Golf Club,
1 Black Gold Drive, Yorba Linda 92886
It’s not too late to make reservations, but we must
hear from you by Friday, December 5!
The cost is $30 per person for appetizers and dinner.
You can reserve online at
lunchwithleague@lwvnoc.org
or mail a check to
LWVNOC, P.O. BOX 3073, Fullerton, CA 92834.
3rd Annual Holiday Party and Book Exchange. 12:30 am at the home of Penny Brown
JANUARY
20 Wednesday Board Meeting
10:00 am to 12:00 pm at the Fullerton Joint Union High School District Office,
located at 1051 W. Bastanchury Road, Fullerton, CA 92831
28 Thursday
11:30 - 2:00 at the Meridian, located at1535 Deerpark Drive in Fullerton
Lunch with League
I Don’t Mean to be Alarmist, but....
Membership Drive
by Carol Bittle
That time has come again when we ask all of you to remember to renew your
membership in our League of Women Voters of North Orange County. Our
“campaign” began in September and concludes at the end of January, 2016,
when I file the list to the National League.
There are two changes on the form: 1. Our dues have increased by $5, due to an increase
voted on at the National Convention last summer and the State Convention this year. 2. We
have also decided to have a separate form to reserve a place for our Kickoff Luncheon held in
September, so that will no longer be included in our renewal application.
Just remember you will have from now until January 25 to send in those checks.
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LWVNOC The Voter December 2015
LWVNOC 2015 - 2017 Officers and Directors
Officers
President
Vice-President
Secretary
Treasurer
Past President
Directors
Action/Advocacy
Development
Program Lunch w/ League
Co-Membership
Voter Service
Jan Wagner
Patti Chikahisa
Karen Hill
Marilyn Buchi
Pearl Mann
Mary Fuhrman
Anita Smiley
Lois Smith
Carol Bittle
Frann Shermet
Barbara Orosz
Deborah Vagts Voter Editor
Publicity Web Host
Observer Corps
Special Projects
Nominating Comm.
Jim Hill
Sandy Smith
Ed Smith
Wanda Shaffer
Cheryl Quadrelli-Jones
Pearl Mann
Marge Imbler
Jeanne Blum
Off-Board Directors
Read with League
Penny Brown
Tributes Patti Chikahisa
League Phone
Shirley Bloom
League Mail Box
Edith Bockian
Speakers Pearl Mann
Student Outreach
Jodi Balma
Excursions
Marguerite Lyon
Observers
Anaheim
Brea
Buena Park
Cypress Fullerton
La Habra
La Palma
OC BOS
Placentia
Yorba Linda
Deborah Vagts
Jennifer Trafford
Satya Khouri
Mary Fuhrman
Kathy Sidaris
Wanda Shaffer
Carol Bittle
LEAGUE of WOMEN VOTERS of NORTH ORANGE COUNTY
Membership Form 2014-2015
Name(s) of Member(s)_______________________________________________________________
Address___________________________________________________________________________
City _____________________________________________ Zip Code ________________________
Phone _________________ Cell _________________ E-mail________________________________
Individual member $65.00
Renewal ___ New member ___
Additional household member $32.50
Renewal ___ New member ___
Student member $32.50
Renewal ___ New member ___
Additional donation to League (To cover our operating expenses, etc.):
$25 $50
$75
$100 other Donation to Educational Fund (Separate tax-deductible donation):
$25 $50 $75
$100 other Additional donation to League:
$25
$50
$75
$100
other Total enclosed (Make checks payable to LWVNOC.) Thank you. $______________
$______________
$______________
$______________
$______________
$______________
$______________
How can you serve the League? How can the League serve you?
Please complete this member survey. Circle your choices or fill in the blanks.
Our areas of emphasis this year are: Climate change, Money in politics, and Voter Rights.
I am interested in working on: ______________________________________________________________
I would also be willing to work on special events and other League projects.
Yes
No
I have special skills (for example: graphic art, computers): _______________________________________
I am currently: Working ___
Retired ___
My job/profession: _________________________
I prefer to attend League events:
During the day In the evening
Weekdays
Weekends
Suggestion for an activity or speaker: _________________________________________________________
I am not able to participate in League events, but wish to support the work of the League
by renewing my membership or by making a donation.
Comments: ______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Please send this completed form with your check to LWVNOC, P.O. Box 3073, Fullerton, CA 92834
For Treasurer’s Use Only: Check # __________
Amount $ _____________
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Date: ___________
League of Women Voters
P. O. Box 3073
Fullerton, CA 92834
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