Newsletter LWV Glenview

League of Women Voters^®
of Glenview

Current Activities

Newsletter LWV of Glenview

monthly news/notes. Glenview League announces winners. guidance to LWVUS Board. Cook County. government spending. Community Boards.

From The Glenview LWV President

Well, our so-called summer vacation is over and the League is ready to launch our myriad fall activities.
Our first fall event will be the Glenview League dinner September 15th honor honoring our retiring state representative, Beth Coulson Please plan to attend so we can honor Beth's public service and show our appreciation for being an outstanding friend of the League in Springfield.
Voter Service will certainly be highlighted this fall as the Glenview League is co-sponsoring many candidates' debates For arrangements that are not quite finalized, we will be keeping the membership up to date as soon as we have the information. The Leagues need many volunteers at the various events.
Another Voter Service event scheduled is the Student Mock Elections held at both Glenbrook North and South. The elections were very popular at GBS in 2008 with over 1,000 students participating and all students were eligible whether or not they were 18 years old (after all it is a Mock Election).
As for the election itself, you should have received the LWVIL ENews,which included an article on the Recall Referendum which will be on the November ballot. The proposed amendment would provide for a special election to recall a governor and for a special election to elect a successor governor. LWVIL is working on a recall informational pamphlet to be available to voters.
Thanks to our members for their generosity at the LWVIL Phonathon; we received our share which totaled $544.00 and is more than we had budgeted!
In July, we held our Bake Sale & Friendraiser at the Farmers' Market and did extremely well - a new record of $359.50! We also garnered a list of prospective League members. Another fund raising activity will be Carson's Community Day that will be Saturday, November 13th. It will be the usual terrific deal with a $5.00 coupon book purchase to be used at a Carson's Nov. 13. Please contact Barbara Marsh if you want coupon book(s); they are available now.
Our recent "picnic" potluck luncheon and meeting about organic community gardening were both delicious and informative. Thank you to all attendees who contributed to the luncheon.

2010 Good Citizenship Awards

Glenview League of Women Voters Honors Young Citizens Late May and early June award assemblies mark the right of passage for local eighth graders from their middle school accomplishments to their high school prospects. Notes of the Star Spangled Banner resound from gym and auditorium walls as students, teachers and guests face the American Flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. These symbols of patriotism are an appropriate backdrop for the award assemblies that included the presentation of the 2010 Good Citizenship Awards by the League of Women Voters of Glenview.
Five local middle schools participated in the 2010 Citizenship Essay Contest by composing essays nominating fellow classmates as outstanding citizens. Glenview State Bank donated the $50 savings bonds presented to winners from five local middle schools: Attea, Field, Gemini, Golf and Springman.
League members, Sarah Hill, Chris McCooey Marilyn Miller, Patty Marfise-Patt, Janet Rawicki and Carole Weber judged the essays and awarded honors to some very promising young citizens from:
Attea- Micael Dowd nominated by Kat Economou
Field - Rosalie Mahler nominated by Haley Silver
Gemini - Megh Patel nominated by Sean Thomas
Golf - Faisal Warsani nominated by Jacob Douglas
Springman - James Cho nominated by Lizzie Baetz
Believing all Americans should endeavor to be good citizens The League of Women Voters works to educate the public about political issues so that voters might make intelligent, informed choices. Award presenters explained that citizenship is about individuals making their community better by being a good neighbor, protecting the environment and staying involved.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization, dedicated to making democracy work through voter education, issue advocacy, and citizen participation. As a grass roots organization that works at the national, state and local levels, the League neither supports nor opposes candidates for office at any level of government. While steadfastly non-partisan, the League is wholeheartedly political and works to influence policy through advocacy. To learn more about the League of Women Voters of Glenview visit http://www.glenview.il.lwvnet.org.

Sustainable food and water sources

GUIDANCE TO THE BOARD
The Glenview League of Women Voters proposes the creation of a new public policy position statement: The League of Women Voters believes that policies relating to natural resources, including air and water quality, environmental protection, pollution control and sustainable agriculture require governmental action in order to assure access to adequate, sustainable food and clean water supplies.
This statement is based on applicable portions of the current LWVUS Natural Resources and Agriculture Policy positions that address these issues. We see a need to have food policies that encourage access to plentiful and nutritional food, promote land use policies that are sustainable and environmentally sound, support the conservation of natural resources, protect all water sources, and establish appropriate national standards relating to food supplies.
Now is the time to consider this because of widespread concerns for our health and well being, as well as the larger issue of global sustainability. By bringing together the relevant elements from two major position statements we are creating a statement that would allow the League to act specifically on proposed food policies. If you are interested in more information, a documentary is available at the library called Food, Inc.
LWVUS Convention June 2010 CAUCUS REPORT
We had a great turnout at the Sustainable Food and Water Caucus we sponsored in Atlanta on Saturday morning. We ran out of our 100 handouts and people who came really sat in their seats and stayed for the full two hours. After Barbara clearly explained our concerns and why we went about it by presenting a Guidance. We are going to write up a report from the meeting to submit to the new Board.Women from Vermont to California, Washington State to Florida all have concerns, interests and initiatives they have already taken on with regard to both water and food. It was a fabulous feeling to be with so many of them sharing ideas and concerns at our caucus. Though we are comfortable that current LWVUS policy positions support what we are already doing, there was basically unanimous consent that the Guidance is timely and is the strategically correct way to respond to current concerns (which were not on the minds of position writers in the 1970s and 80s).Many thanks to Roxanne Junge for raising her hand initially at our program planning meeting, to Sheri Latash for her informed contributions and excellent research, to Mary-Lou Aagaard for writing our universally applauded position and to Judy Beck for inserting the concern about water(without which we wouldn't have farms at all!) and for her constancy, wisdom and encouragement.
Overall, our Board and our League have made a substantive contribution by bringing this issue forward. We will have to wait for a while to hear from the new US Board whether they will take action, but in the meantime some really good communication has gotten started and we seem to be off to a great start.

Shakman Decree Compliance panel

About 70 LWVCC members from all over Cook County gathered at the Brookfield Zoo on May 17 for the 2010 Annual Meeting. Under the guidance of President Cynthia Schilsky, League members conducted necessary business, received reports on the year's activity, and heard interesting presentations from two of the three Cook County Shakman Compliance Administrators on efforts to fulfill the court decrees on restricting patronage in hiring and promotions resulting from the 1969 lawsuit by Michael Shakman. Ms. Mary Robinson, Compliance Administrator for the Cook County President's Office since 2009, explained the extensive efforts of her office to eliminate patronage hiring, with a major focus on monitoring all the hiring for non-exempt staff. In addition her office is developing a plan for better employment procedures, identifying unprofessional practices currently in use, recommending better and more efficient management practices, and improving training. She admitted that efforts to clarify the extent and location of Shakman exempt positions (those positions exempt from the impact of the court decree) have been stalled, although it is a key issue. Mr. Jan Carlson, Compliance Administrator for the Forest Preserve District since 2009, has been examining hiring and personnel process for the more than 500 Forest Preserve employees. He reported meeting a pattern of obstruction in efforts to enforce compliance, and outlined the benefits to the taxpayers from better hiring practices and better management of personnel. Ms. Robinson reported that the Sheriff's Department has been quite cooperative and has greatly improved hiring practices. League members found the presentations both interesting and discouraging, and responded with several questions, including how the League could encourage County Commissioners to support efforts to improve hiring and employment of County employees. You can find further on the LWVCC website at http://www.cookcounty.il.lwvnet.org.

Where Does Cook County Spend Our Money?

Members of the League of Cook County presented Cook County Matters - The Facts: an overview of Cook County government, including its structure, budget, and budget process, as well as some recent developments, including the sales tax issue to the Glenview, Evanston, Glencoe, Park Ridge, Wilmette & Winnetka/Northfield/Kenilworth Leagues and their guests at the Glenview Police Station on Saturday October 3, 2009.
Cook County Facts Cook County is the second largest county in the nation. It has 5.3 million people and covers 946 square miles that includes some 800 local governments. The county is 85% incorporated and 15% unincorporated. Cook County provides vital services that no other government provides to for its citizens and their property.
The county employs 25,000 workers to protect persons and property (court system, sheriff, jail, state's attorney, public defender); provide health and hospital services (department of health, 3 hospitals, 15 ambulatory health centers) and general government services (records births, deaths, marriages, assesses property, runs elections).
Cook County has Home Rule authority and gets its power for the 1970 Illinois Constitution. The County's three branches of government are:
Executive Branch (has more elected executive positions than the state)
Legislative Branch (17 Commissioners)
Judicial Branch (one of the largest unified court systems in the world)

Cook County Budget The county is running on a $3.37 billion dollar budget for the fiscal year ending Nov 30, 2009. Cook County& revenues come from several sources. Home rule taxes like the infamous 1.75% sales tax and cigarette taxes account for 29% of revenues. Another 24% comes from fees for services like marriage licesnes and birth certificates. Property taxes make up another 21% and the familiar other category covers 12% which includes transfer taxes from the federal and state governments. Most of these monies are expended on operations ($2.29 billion) and public safety ($1.1 billion). Of the County's 24,453.7 full time equivalent employees, most (18,000) are union members in 30 -35 different unions. Following are the number of employees in the largest departments:
7,564.4 in the Health System
6,814 in the Sheriff's Office
3,208 in the Chief Judge's Office
2,138.5 in the County Presidents Office
2,027 in the Clerk's Office
1,335 in the States Attorney's Office

Cook County Health & Hospitals System The County's health system is a year and a half into a three-year ordinance to be run by an independent board that was created in turn for a 1% sales tax increase. A professional CEO was hired in May 2009 and committees were formed (financial, audit, quality patient care and human resources). The system has 7,500 employees working in three hospitals (Stroger, Oak Forest, Provident), 15 ambulatory health centers and the Department of Health. Forty percent of the county's uninsured residents rely on the County for their health care.
The Cook County League's recent study of county government followed the allocation of money and employee positions to each unit of county government. The allocation of money and employees was viewed in the context of the County organizational chart, and drilled down to each department under the President of Cook County. The complete interactive report is available at http://www.lwv-cookcounty-il.org/CookCountySpendingReport.html.
The Cook County League supports measures that improve the structure and function of Cook County government, including retention of single-member districts, separation of powers, a timely budget process, government transparency, and inter-governmental cooperation. Visit http://cookcounty.il.lwvnet.org/Publications.html for a summary of the positions of the Cook County League of Women Voters.

GLWV Local Government TASK FORCE

"We must have government, but we must watch them like a hawk." Former Congresswoman Millicent Fenwick
The Glenview League's Local Government Task Force approved at the Annual Meeting will be taking Ms. Fenwick's advice seriously as we review the League's March 2005 Local Government position to determine whether the League's recommendations are being implemented.
The study from which the position evolved focused on the village board of trustees and its advisory commissions. The Task Force, with regular input from the League's observers, may wish to consider whether the recommendations can or should be applied to other local governing boards.
The legislation (SB189) amending the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act was signed by Governor Quinn on August 17. The Illinois Reform Commission and the Attorney General were instrumental in developing this legislation that takes effect January 1, 2010. Its implementation offers the GLWV Task Force some additional factors to consider as it examines the way our local governing boards conduct business.
If you are interested in joining the Task Force please contact me by e-mail.
Tell me if you have a specific interest or concern about local government and indicate what are the best days and times for you to meet. An initial planning meeting will be held after September 15. Mary-Lou Aagaard, Chair GLWV Local Government Task Force ml.aagaard@comcast.net

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: August 28, 2010 13:30 PDT.