The President’s Message
I hope you all had a good summer. Mine was filled with music: touring in Europe
with the Camerata Singers, getting back in time for marathon rehearsals, and
then singing in the Bach Festival Chorus. Singing is my idea of a good time.
What’s yours?
But the League has also been busy this summer. Have you see the articles in
the Herald about the Pacific Grove City Council working on a campaign finance
reform ordinance? By the time you read this it may have been adopted, directly
as a result of our Campaign Finance Reform Committee’s study. The Committee
approached the City of Pacific Grove, which agreed to form its own committee
to study adoption in PG. The chair of our Campaign Finance Reform Committee,
and another League member were on the PG committee that recommended adoption
to the City Council.
Thank you, too, to the Natural Resources Committee. They wrote two letters
this summer. The one to the Monterey County Board of Supervisors expressed
our concerns that the Board wanted to shorten the period for public review
of General Plan Update #4 (GPU#4) and that the Board proposed not using the
advice and expertise of the Land Use Advisory Committees (LUAC). That letter
was signed by me and by the Salinas Valley League President and was read to
the Board on July 18. The next day the Planning Commission asked for review
by the LUACs.
The second letter, sent just from our League, was to the Monterey County Planning
and Building Inspection Department. After studying their Mitigated Negative
Declaration for Villas at Laguna Seca, the Natural Resources Committee had
12 concerns about matters, and the letter from the League explained these technical
concerns which would affect the environment and which we feel require an EIR.
What a great committee that can understand and explain the very technical matters
referred to in the Mitigated Negative Declaration. I’m not sure I even
know what that is!
As of this writing we’ve not had a reply to either letter. But watch
the newspapers to see if the Board of Supervisors and the Planning Department
seem to be responding to our requests.
The Public v. Private Ownership of Water study got started this summer. It
is chaired has an enthusiastic and hard working membership busily studying
and preparing materials to present to us for consensus early next year. Be
watching for that.
The League has planned our luncheon speakers for the coming year. You’ll
see the schedule in the Handbook. It looks to be an interesting and informative
year. You’ll particularly want to attend our September and October luncheons.
In September we’ll be talking about the voting machines being used in
Monterey County, which was a very hot topic at the LWV National Convention.
As a League we’re very concerned that there be a paper trail of all votes,
one which the voter can review before casting his or her vote and one which
an auditor can use to determine that votes were counted correctly. Then in
October you’ll want to know the League’s positions on the various
propositions on the November ballot. Be sure to make reservations for those
luncheons for yourself and your friends. They’ll want to learn about
these important matters, also. See you in September!
Marilyn Maxner, President
