Margaret Noel, Author at League of Women Voters of Portland

Signing Initiative Petitions

Signature Gatherers want you to sign!

It’s that time of year. People with clipboards (including some League members) are asking voters to sign petitions to put ballot measures on the November ballot. Should you sign? You definitely should think about whether you really support the petition and would like it to become law. Ask for an explanation of what the measure would do and read the ballot title. The League of Women Voters cautions you to “Think Before You Ink.” Here’s some information to consider before you sign.

The league is supporting some initiatives

Portland Clean Energy Fund

As of July 6, this initiative appears to have enough signatures to qualify for the November ballot. The Portland LWV supports this proposal. Our support is based on our Climate Change and Equality of Opportunity positions. It would fund renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and clean-energy jobs training for disadvantaged workers. Income for the Fund would be from a 1% supplemental business license surcharge on large retail corporations with over $1 billion a year in national revenue and $500,000 in Portland sales. (Revenue from groceries and medicine would be exempted.)

Initiative 43, regulating sales of assault weapons

Our support of this initiative was based on our position on gun safety. However, the coalition of clergy members, youth and other advocates, “Lift Every Voice,” has withdrawn the initiative and will refile it for 2020. The initiative proposed two steps to make Oregon a safer place. The first was to require semiautomatic weapons and large capacity magazines to be registered by responsible gun owners. The second step would have been to prohibit the future sale of these weapons and magazines in Oregon. This effort is delayed, but not over.

Thanks, Awesome Volunteers!

More than 100 League members and nonmember volunteers worked on the 2017-18 activities of the League of Women Voters of Portland. They were honored at our May 2018 Convention. We also honored our Volunteer of the Year, Peggy Bengry. See the article about her service here.

voter service volunteers

For the 2018 Primary Election, League volunteers produced and distributed our nonpartisan Multnomah County Voters’ Guide. They composed substantive questions for the candidates and researched the ballot measure on the Children’s Levy; they entered contact information for candidates on Vote411.org and invited the candidates to participate; they edited and proofread the drafts, and carried bundles of the printed guides to libraries and other places where voters could find them. Other volunteers organized our forums, invited and hosted the candidates, arranged for video recordings, moderated the forums and timed the candidates’ statements to make sure all candidates had an equal chance to state their positions. Another group of volunteers organized and conducted the interviews for our Video Voters’ Guide.

Civic Education volunteers

Throughout the year, volunteers also organized and moderated our monthly civic education panel discussions. (These panel discussions were recorded and may be viewed on our YouTube channel as the complete programs or as shorter Highlights.) Volunteers also began a two-year re-study of Portland’s City Government. Other members participated in small “unit” discussion groups and started interest groups to learn about civic issues and help us plan for future civic education events, as well as for advocacy.

Advocacy volunteers

Action Committee volunteers studied the issues that will affect the future of our city, county, and Metro area, and, when the Portland City Council debated issues related to our positions on city planning, government transparency, police accountability and water quality, our Advocacy Team sent letters and testified before the Council.

Volunteer hours are worth a lot!

Some volunteers contribute five or ten hours of their time a year; others contribute 250 to 1,500 hours a year. All together our volunteers donated at least 8,000 hours of their time in the past year. Their time (at $24.14/hour) was worth more than $193,000!

We are grateful to all our dedicated, hard-working and talented volunteers! If YOU would like to help us in the year ahead, when we will be preparing information for the 2018 General Election and for our 2018-19 Civic Education Panel Discussions, please click here.

Thanks, Donors!

Why we need help

The League of Women Voters of Portland is a low-budget nonpartisan volunteer organization. We depend heavily on donations from individuals, businesses and foundations to support the work of our Education Fund, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization. We also need support for member services and for the advocacy work of our 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization.

What you can do

Please consider clicking on the donate buttons to help us pay for the voter services we provide for every election and for our monthly civic education panel discussions. Or as a member, you can volunteer to help with voter services and civic education or to advocate with our Action Team for better government and the rights of the people of Portland and Multnomah County.

Thanks to members, Businesses and foundations for their support

We are grateful to the many League members who donated to our Education Fund in May to help us Meet the Match! We were also helped in 2018 by Portland area businesses: Vernier Software and Technology, MetroEast Community Media, The Neil Kelly Company, and Paloma Clothing. In addition, we recently have received grants from the Carol & Velma Saling Foundation, the Wyss Foundation, the Walsh Foundation, the Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, and the Multnomah Bar Foundation to expand our educational work. These donations and grants will help us reach more people throughout the Portland area with our educational services.

Congratulations, Volunteer of the Year!

Volunteer of the Year Award:

Each year at our Local Convention, we recognize a volunteer who has done an outstanding job carrying out a project or projects that advance the mission of the League of Women Voters. The honored “volunteer of the year” is given a framed certificate, flowers and a standing ovation from the members.

Our 2018 Volunteer of the Year:

Voters’ Guide Editor and Nominating Committee Chair, Peggy Bengry, was named the 2017-18 Volunteer of the Year for the League of Women Voters of Portland!

Peggy joined the League of Women Voters of Portland in 2008, shortly after retiring from IBM as a software engineer. She became involved right away as a member of the LWV of Oregon 2008 study committee on Election Methods. She says she was delighted with the welcome she received and the talented, competent people she found in the League.

In 2010, Peggy agreed to be the editor for the LWV of Portland’s Multnomah County Voters’ Guide. She was the Voters’ Guide Editor for the 2010 Primary and General elections and the May 2011 and 2013 elections. In 2012, she was elected to the Portland League Board. From 2013 to 2017, she served as Voter Service Chair and Second Vice President, as well as Voters’ Guide editor.

In 2015 and 2016, when the Portland League lacked an elected president, Peggy was one of the three vice presidents who shared leadership of the League. Her role was to plan and conduct the board meetings. At the same time, Peggy co-chaired the 2015-16 LWVOR Election Methods Study Update and organized the Portland League’s November 2016 Civic Education Program on Election Methods. She also served on our Budget Committee. She did all this while living in Yamhill and farming hazelnuts. Although her board term ended a year ago, Peggy remains our 2018-19 Voters’ Guide Editor. She also chairs the Nominating Committee.

Clearly, Peggy is a responsible, dedicated and well-organized leader. She has done a great job spotting and recruiting talented League members to do each part of the important work of Voter Service. She is kind and generous, but also very competent and strong.

Peggy’s Volunteer of the Year Certificate said:

As Voter Service chair for four years and Voters’ Guide and VOTE411.org editor for every election cycle since 2010, Peggy Bengry has provided candidate and ballot measure information to tens of thousands of Oregon voters. She offers discerning judgment, a collegial approach, an eye for detail and accuracy, and a great spirit.

Videos of Highlights from 2017-18 Civic Programs

What are Highlights Videos?

Highlights videos are shortened versions of recorded panel discussions about important civic issues. The League presents these panel discussions during many months of the year. The full discussions often last more than an hour. But now you can see a shorter version with the most important points. Highlights videos are typically 20 minutes long.