Greetings,
It’s been a busy fall for the League as we navigate the usual fall activities and election season in a changed world. We had our usual booth at the Victorian Fair and we registered some voters and spoke with a lot of folks about election season and local issues. It was a pleasure to be out in the community again!
Candidates Night
We hosted a virtual Candidate Forum for the 4 School Committee candidates via Zoom in October, and the taped Forum was aired on MMTV, with online links for streaming.
VOTE411.org
We joined the VOTE411.org website, hosted by the League of Women Voters US, to create an online voter guide for the local races this year, but we had little participation by the City Council candidates. It’s a new concept for us to host an online voter guide, so we will work to improve the process and participation rate in the future. If you have an opinion or recommendation, or would like to be involved with our digital efforts, please contact any Steering Committee member.
Melrose Alliance Against Violence
The League-sponsored team for the Annual Candlelight Vigil and Walk this year raised $1,470 for the Alliance.
Ranked Choice Voting
At our November Steering Committee meeting, we heard from Keith Lovett about his efforts to institute Ranked Choice Voting in Melrose. This is a matter of state and national discussion, and the League supports RCV. Among other benefits, it eliminates costly run-off elections and ensures that candidates are not elected with less than 50% support. For more information, or to be on Keith’s email list, visit: here.
There is a bill in the state legislature to allow municipalities to adopt RCV. The state League supports this legislation, and you can read about it, and send a letter in support, if you wish.
LWVMA Testimony in support of H.825/S.485, H.843: lwvma.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/LWVMA-Testimony-H.825.S.485-and-H.843.pdf
60 second Email Template for H.825/S.425 “An Act providing a local option for Ranked Choice Voting in municipal elections.”: secure.everyaction.com/CQK-pYbgsUKrqwJfK4XX5w2
League Archive Project
We are seeking volunteers that have access to a scanner to give some time to the Archives project. As we digitize our archives, help is needed to scan documents and save them to a thumb drive. Many volunteers make light work! Please contact Susan Baron if you’d be willing to be on the list.
Dues
Dues for 2022 are due by January 1, 2022: $75 annual membership; $100 sustaining (voluntary additional contribution). Please send to Treasurer Heather Doyle, 145 Sewall Wood Rd. Melrose, MA 02176.
Have a peaceful and happy holiday season. All of us League members are grateful for our community of civic minded, caring people that support our organization.
