News Archives

June 4, 1:30 PM! Hearing on Climate Change #AllEyesOnJuliana👀

ninth Circuit hearing on climate

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Portland, Oregon heard the constitutional youth climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, on June 4, 2019. Counsel for youth plaintiffs, Julia Olson, argued on their behalf and an attorney from the Department of Justice argued on behalf of the federal government. The League of Women Voters supports the young people in their climate lawsuit against the US Government. You can view a recording of the hearing here.

What It’s about

In 2015, 21 young Americans filed a lawsuit ( Juliana v. United States) against the federal government for knowingly contributing to climate change and violating their constitutional rights. The Juliana v. US lawsuit established that young people have a constitutional right to “a climate system capable of sustaining human life.” That right is being violated.

the Portland Rally!

Hundreds of people rallied in Portand and watched a livestream of oral arguments at Director Park in downtown Portland. There was a press conference with the young plaintiffs following the hearing. In March 2019, Multnomah County, OR, filed a brief supporting the plaintiffs. Chair Kafoury and Multnomah Commissioners attended the rally.

The YouTube video of the hearing had 4,890 views by the evening of June 4.

Thanks, Donors!

A great head start for funding our work in the year ahead!

We are excited to have received a recent $18,000 grant from the Carol and Velma Saling Foundation and a $6,000 grant from The Wyss Foundation. These grants will provide funding to support our nonpartisan election information and civic programs on critical community issues in our 2019-20 fiscal year.

Putting a candle on our symbolic cake to support our work in the year ahead

We also are thrilled with the success of our “One to Grow On” campaign. In preparation for the League’s 100th Birthday, the 2020 elections and the challenges ahead of us, we raised more than $10,000 with this campaign. Many thanks to Holst Architecture and an anonymous donor for giving us a matching grant – and to our generous members who met the match and then exceeded it

The symbolic cake filled with donation pledges to meet the match and help fund our work for 2019-20

Our 2019-20 fiscal year will be busy and expensive. League volunteers will be hard at work. As we always do, we will empower voters with nonpartisan election information and advocate for better government and livable communities.

To continue and expand our efforts, we will need more funding throughout the year. We would welcome your support! Please consider making a donation by clicking on one of the Donate links on this website. Thank you!

New LWVPDX 2019-20 Board

At our May 13 Local Convention of LWV of Portland members, we elected a new board president and new members of the Portland Board. All these leaders are volunteers. They serve our community by providing civic and voter information and advocacy for the public good.

The new Board and other leaders for the League of Women Voters of Portland (L-R top row: Marion McNamara, Adrienne Aiona, Amber Nobe, Judy Froemke, Carol Cushman, Eileen Chase, Debbie Aiona; L-R bottom row: Peter Englander, Debbie Kaye, Linda Mantel, Margaret Noel, Maud Naroll, Nancy Donovan, Anne Davidson. Missing Kim Mason, Phil Thor). Our new president, Debbie Kaye, is holding the bouquet of yellow roses.

You may read the profiles of all the 2019-20 League Leaders on our Meet the Board page here.

You also may see more about what happened at our 2019 Convention by clicking here.

School Board Election Forum Video!

Click on the arrow on the picture below to watch the Election Forum for candidates for the PPS School Board. Note that after introductions by the three sponsoring organizations–the League of Women Voters of Portland, the Portland Council PTA, and the Bus Project–the main part of the forum begins at about 7:40.

Voters elect board members from all the zones. All candidates were invited to participate. One of the candidates running for Zone 7, Eilidh Lowery, was unable to attend the forum. She is included in our Voters’ Guide and on Vote411.org.

The candidates are divided into two panels.

Panel 1: Robert Schultz – Zone 7, Wes Soderback – Zone 3, Amy Kohnstamm – Zone 3, Deb Mayer – Zone 3. Listen to these candidates’ statements and answers from 8:47 to 57:40.

Panel 2: Andrew J. Scott – Zone 1, Michelle A. DePass – Zone 2, Shanice Brittany Clarke – Zone 2. Listen to these candidates’ statements and answers from 59:58 to 1:38:07.

Ballots must be received by the Mulnomah County Elections Office no later than 8 PM on Tuesday, May 21. You may also learn about the candidates running in this election and for other Multnomah County school boards by going to Vote411.org and by reading the LWV of Portland Voters’ Guide, available online or in print at your public library or the Multnomah County Elections office.

School Board Candidate Information for the 5/21/19 election

Learn About Candidates for the Portland Public Schools Board!

Click on the arrow on the picture of the video recording in the post above this one to view the April 11 forum.

The recording of the forum features the candidates who are running for the PPS School Board in the May 21, 2019 Special District Election. You can listen as the candidates answer probing questions, so you can decide which candidates should help shape public school policies in the next four years. The forum was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Portland Education Fund, Portland Council PTA, and The Bus Project.

Here are two photos from the forum:

Moderator and First panel of PPS School Board Candidates: L-R Moderator Linda Mather, Robert Schultz , Wes Soderback, Amy Kohnstamm, Deb Mayer

2nd panel of PPS school board candidates: L-R Andrew Scott, Michelle DePass, Shanice Clarke

VOTE411.org is the nonpartisan LWV website with information on the candidates that will be on your ballot for this May 21, 2019 Special District Election. (It includes board candidates for all school districts in Multnomah County, community colleges, and the Multnomah Education Services District).

Special Election Voters’ Guide

The Voters’ Guide is available in print now. You can also read a copy online by clicking School Board Election Voters’ Guide. It includes answers to questions by candidates for this May 21, 2019 Special District election, including board candidates for all school districts in Multnomah County, community colleges, and the Multnomah Education Services District. Printed copies are available at Multnomah County Library branches, and the Multnomah County Elections office.

We thank the funders for these voter service activities: the Wyss Foundation, the Carol & Velma Saling Foundation, the Sara Frewing Fund, the Multnomah Bar Foundation, and the League of Women Voters of Portland Education Fund.