Heights Chapter E-News -
Election in 2 weeks and other important stuff
| - Thursday, April 30th 6-8 pm - CH State of the City and Community Resources Event, CH Community Center, we have a table
- Sunday, May 3rd - 2-4:00 - Report out from our School Board and Library Board observers, Coventry library
- Saturday, May 9th - Volunteer Fair at the Heights Main Library, 11-2:00 - talk about League and about democracy. Want to join the table?
- Saturday, May 16th - LWVGC Annual Meeting 9:00 am - 1:00 pm, City Club Forum, 1317 Euclid Avenue. Go to www.lwvgreatercleveland.org, log in, and on the calendar click on the annual meeting to register. Interesting information, free breakfast, lunch for $17 during Mayor Bibb's talk
- Monday, May 25th - Annual Memorial Day Parade in University Heights! Who wants to march?
- (early June - our own annual meeting, details still being worked out)
- June 26-28 - LWVUS Biennial Convention held right "here" in Columbus, Ohio! Give some thought to attending.
- Cedar Fairmount Summerfest - August 9th | Nominating Committee Shoutout from Blanche
Thank you to all of you who responded to a phone call or an email from one of the able members* of the 2026 Nominating Committee! We really appreciate your time and are grateful to those who have stepped up. We are happy to have an almost complete slate, which we will release soon.
There are still two positions we would like to fill and want to ask you to look at your schedule and your heart and see if you have time to claim one for your own.
- First, we need a chapter co-chair to work with Wendy on administering our ever-growing CH/UH Chapter. Wouldn’t YOU appreciate the opportunity to work with and learn from our able leader?!?
- Second, we have formed a Nominating Committee of five members, many of whom have done this previously, to perform this function for the 2027-28 leadership slate. The board will appoint one more in the winter, but these six will need a chair to convene and manage the process. None of the five able volunteers seem to want to lead (or lead again)! The function is time limited. It runs from January or February though May. No wheels need to be reinvented, as we have a timeline and tasks all mapped out for you from years of experience, and we will train you!
Please contact Blanche Valancy at 216-371-1439 or blanche.b.valancy@gmail.com and tell her you are ready to join the slate and the leadership team!
*And thank you to Judy Beeler, Paula Goodwin, Debbie Gurney, Eef Kolkman, & Diana Russo for doing the hard work of calling nearly 100 members!! The best committee ever!
Blanche Valancy
NomComm Chair | In my last newsletter I urged you to reach out into your local communities and organizations to help spread information about checking your voter registration and voting in the primary, and Janette took the challenge and ran with it!
She printed off 500 copies of the flyer for the upcoming primary and coordinated with All Faiths Pantry in Parma to distribute them in the monthly distribution of groceries in Parma. She also added flyers to the groceries she herself delivered, and had another 200 copies to distribute before the primary. A full stomach should definitely help digest the importance of voting.
Speaking of food, I've been back at the Shaker Square Farmer's Market this month with my yard sign, a sign around my neck saying Independents Can Vote, and a smile on my face to seem approachable. I've had some conversations with people who have interesting ideas about what happens in the primary. Some think they should take an "independent" ballot which is actually an issues ballot - they thought they would get all candidates for all parties. Another told me he had requested a Democratic ballot and was disappointed that "the candidates were all the same" - they were all Democrats! And many don't realize this is a benefit in Ohio - that other states don't allow this (and the legislature is considering taking it away, going to closed primaries.) It's amazing what happens if you just make yourself available for conversations. | And Thanks to Others for Stepping Up!
- Thanks to Robin Koslen for organizing volunteers to distribute voter information to parents waiting to pick up their kids after school, and to Eef Kolkman, Ditte Wolin, Amy Vegh, Monica Gordon, and John Lentz for going to the schools. (Noting for the future that we need to stay on the sidewalks and street - not on school property)
- Thanks to Kathy Flora and Marilyn Singer who served as timers at the candidate forums, Kassandra Capretta who came to help at her very first forum and was asked to stand outside and direct people into the building, and thanks especially to each of you who came to the forum for Congressional District 11 - I appreciated each and every one of you for showing up and helping out. We all have to do our part as we are able.
- Thanks to Carol Spackey and Kathy Petrey who have offered to work at the League table at the Cleveland Hts. State of the Union address. There is room for one more at the table if you want to have the chance for conversations with fellow citizens.
And a special thanks to our School Board Observers - Paula Goodwin and Eefje Kolkman, and our Library Board Observers - Judith Beeler and Betsy Tracy, who do the work every month of observing meetings and reporting out their summaries, and to Maryann Barnes who organizes our observer corps. They will all be presenting their insider stories NEXT SUNDAY - 2-4:00 at the Coventry library. Won't you come and join the conversation and learn more about the inner workings of our local governmental bodies? It really is an interesting topic. And there will be snacks if you're worried about being hungry.
| My letter to the editor which appeared in the Plain Dealer on Friday
- feel free to share this information. I put it on my facebook page. Where else can it be shared? Feel free to edit to your own words
What is an Independent voter? An independent voter is someone who carefully considers each candidate for qualifications, priorities and values regardless of party. You do not vote based on party endorsements.
In our highly gerrymandered state, you most likely live in either a predominantly democratic or republican district - there is a strong chance that the party of the winner is pre-determined. By choosing to sit out the primary election in the name of maintaining independence, you are basically silencing your own voice.
I am a strong independent, and have voted for candidates of both principal parties over the years, but if you check my voting record you will see Democrat because I live in a predominantly Democratic district. There may be 8 candidates on the ballot in the primary, but only 1 - the almost guaranteed winner, is on the ballot in November. I want to have a say in who that one will be.
I am not a member of the party, and can freely choose any ballot. This is a privilege we are granted in Ohio with our semi-open primary process.
Take your privilege - claim your voice - vote in the primary.
| I've left in the following blocks of information in case anyone still needs this information, although I know it makes for a VERY long newsletter. I will remove these after the primary election. Everything from here on down is a repeat from the prior newsletter. | IT'S TIME TO STEP UP: 1 - Voter registrations
First, we've all heard the reports that voter registrations are being purged in Ohio. Just because you've been voting doesn't mean you are still registered.
Second, the only chance we have to weaken the false impact of Gerrymandering is for more people to vote.
Third, because of Gerrymandering, many races for Congress and for the Ohio House and Senate will be decided in the primary, and so it is important for people to be registered NOW and not just by October.
League is calling for EACH of us to reach out to help people to get registered to vote by April 6th, and to then understand the need to vote in the primary by May 5th. We are respected by people as sources of unbiased information, and we have access to more factual information than most people.
USE YOUR STANDING IN THE LEAGUE TO BE OF HELP TO PEOPLE.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1) Check your own registration, both to make sure you are still registered and also so you can see how easy it is to do. Go to VoteOhio.gov and click on "Look Up Your Voter Registration" on the right-hand button. You will see that you're there and that your address is correct. If you find that there is an error you can then click on "Update Your Registration." IF you find that you are not registered, you can click on Register to Vote Online" and submit your registration to the Secretary of State. If you prefer to register with your Board of Elections, we will have forms available which can be submitted to the Board of Elections.
2) Text your phone contacts who vote in Ohio: Suggested text: Hello (X). The Ohio Primary is May 5th when many election outcomes will be decided. Please check to be sure you are registered to vote by going to VoteOhio.gov (which is the Secretary of State site) and click on "Look up your Voter Registration" to make sure your information is correct. If it isn't correct you can click on Update your Registration. If your name isn't there you can click on Register to Vote. Easy peasy. Note that you need to do this before April 6th. Help spread the word.
3) Attend a voter registration event: We are arranging to go to the student pickup lines at each of the elementary schools the week of March 16th. Parents begin lining up about 3:10 and all the students are picked up by about 3:45 so it's a short commitment. Robin Koslen is arranging the details. Let Robin or me Heights@lwvgreatercleveland.org know if you are able to help with that. In the past we have also set up a table outside the South Euclid County Library, and are open to other suggestions. (Note that chain stores generally do not allow us to be outside. Local businesses might give approval.)
4) GET BOLD and speak out. Talk to your neighbors, people at book club, your yoga class, the person you have become friendly with at the grocery store. Betsy spoke at her church's women's group, Janice organized a program at her church, and Robin is speaking to the Heights Dems about changes in voter laws. If you remain nonpartisan you might be able to talk to people at work about the registration deadline and the importance of the primary election. | 2: The Voting Laws have Changed - be informed to answer people's questions
There is a publicly available page on the LWV Ohio website detailing the changes to voting in Ohio: https://www.lwvohio.org/ohiovotingchanges I urge everyone to check out this page and learn of the changes. Some of them have been in place for a few years, some of them are new.
The newest changes to voting laws are:
- Absentee Voting (Vote by Mail): All mail ballots MUST BE RECEIVED at the correct Board of Elections building by 7:30 pm on election day. The four-day grace period has been removed. If you decide to drop it off instead of mailing it due to time constraints, it can only be dropped off at the Board of Elections Building - polling places can not accept absentee ballots. Note that the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections Building has moved to 1803 Superior Ave.
- Voters may NOT use a mobile driver's license nor state ID. These are images that are on your phone. You must use the actual physical driver's license or state ID when voting.
- Voters who are naturalized citizens but whose driver's license was issued before they became a citizen and so is stamped non-citizen must bring along their naturalization papers when voting.
- Voters who are unable to return their absentee ballot in time by mail and are unable to travel to the Board of Elections can have their ballots returned only by their spouse, father, mother, father-in-law, mother-in-law, grandfather, grandmother, brother or sister of whole or half blood, or the son, daughter, adopting parent, adopted child, stepparent, stepchild, uncle, aunt, nephew or niece. The person dropping off the ballot must go inside the Board and sign an attestation form. IF THE VOTER HAS A DISABILITY they may select any person of their choosing to deliver their ballot, other than their employer or an officer in their union.
Additional previous changes to voting laws are listed on the website link above.
| 3.) Inform the Voters about Voting in a Primary
MANY people have not voted in a primary. We can tell this by the number of voters who are listed as No Party. Because rules vary from state to state regarding voting in a primary, many people assume that asking for a Democratic or a Republican ballot will automatically make them a member of the party. It does not! It is true that voters in the primary must choose one party and receive that party's ballot. You can't vote for a democrat in one race and a republican in another race in the same primary. But selecting one ballot over another does not make you a member of that political party. The following year you are free to choose the other party's ballot if you wish, or even the ballot of one of the smaller parties.
Thanks to Gerrymandering in Ohio though, many districts for the Ohio House and Senate and for the House of Representatives are divided specifically so that a Democrat or a Republican will win. Because the seats in Ohio have been divided by a heavily Republican legislature, the seats heavily favor the Republican party. It is telling that in 2024 Shontel Brown (D) won with 78% of the vote while Max Miller won with 51% of the vote, and this was by design. When drawing the maps they placed as many Democratic voters as possible into District 11 and just enough Republican voters as needed into District 7. It is almost guaranteed that Congressional District 11 will go to the Democrat. While there are three Democrats running for Congressional District 11, only one of them will be on the ballot in November and the race will already have been decided. And the results are similarly skewed for Ohio's House and Senate.
And thanks to the increasing focus on our elections and our government, it seems more people are running for office than ever, and so many seats are contested. How do voters decide who to vote for? The League is already hard at work compiling candidate responses for Vote 411, and candidate forums are being organized. SO: Explain to voters the importance of voting in a primary, to stay tuned for more information, and make sure they are registered to vote.
** We have a large supply of information cards which you can hand out - the importance of voting in primaries, making your plan to vote, FAQs re. voting, and stickers pledging to vote on May 5th. Let me know if you want any of these supplies for your own personal outreach to people. heights@lwvgreatercleveland.org
If you want to look and see who all the candidates are who have qualified to run, here is the link to the list for Cuyahoga County. If you are helping someone from another county you can go to their Board of Elections page and hopefully they will also have posted the file link on their home page like Cuyahoga has. Cuyahoga County Candidates - 2026 Primary | New Opportunities to Get Involved:
NEWLY ADDED: The CHUH school district is currently seeking residents with financial, accounting or banking backgrounds to join the Lay Finance Committee. The committee will meet quarterly and will review the district's annual state audit report and financial forecasts, make recommendations regarding any future levies, and collaborate with other district committees regarding capital improvements and state funding. If you are interested in participating in this committee, contact Angele Latham, Chief Financial Officer, at a_latham@chuh.org or 216-320-2078. For more information, contact league member Paula Goodwin 216-952-2115. | Reminders from Heather Cox Richardson
- Democracies do not fail because of a single villain or a single event. They weaken when citizens disengage, when exhaustion replaces participation, and when people forget that institutions are not self-sustaining machines. They are collective agreements that require care.
- History is filled with examples of ordinary people altering the course of events without any guarantee of success. The long fight for women's suffrage unfolded over generations, marked by ridicule, violence, and repeated defeats. Many who marched never lived to vote, yet their persistence reshaped democratic participation. The civil rights movement faced overwhelming force, internal doubt, and constant danger. Its victories were not inevitable. They were earned through sustained action by people who refused to wait for permission.
- The past is fixed, but the present is not. The value of historical knowledge lies in recognizing familiar patterns while there is still room to choose differently. Democracies erode slowly, but they are also rebuilt slowly, through participation that feels mundane rather than heroic.
So do not give up. Remain engaged in the community, in the social institutions on which we rely, and keep doing the mundane work. If you are exhausted, take a break, and then come back. The fight is real. It will not be concluded quickly, but I believe our democracy will ultimately stand. | From the Card Campaign: The Constitution and Voting Rights
Some of you are aware of the "Card Campaign" which was started last year to provide informational handouts to voters. They have just issued two new cards - on our Constitutional Amendment Rights and our Voting Rights. These cards are designed to be printed out or shared in social media.
| MEMBERSHIP ROSTER IS HERE!
WE HAVE A NEW DIRECTORY!!! With thanks to Judith Beeler who offered to learn how to use Excel and take over this project, and with gratitude to Janice who just couldn't believe we didn't have a directory in the first place and figured out how to do the first one.
Going forward the directory will be updated quarterly and posted to our chapter's website at www.lwvgreatercleveland.org (and emailed to new members.) The link will be included in the email and can be downloaded by members (which means you need to log in to the website.)
This remains a somewhat manual process since the switch to paying memberships through LWVUS, so please make sure you are included in this roster if you are a Heights member (the newsletter does go out to a few people who are not in our chapter), and please make sure the details are correct. At this point we only have cellphone numbers so if you entered your phone number in the home phone box we can't see it currently. If your phone number is not listed, and you would like it to be, please, click HERE and let me know what needs to be updated/added/deleted. | Links to things you might have missed:
New and not-so-new member orientation program:
The program was recorded and has now been posted on our chapter home page. If you're interested in watching the presentations you can go to www.lwvgreatercleveland.org. You'll need to log in as a member so click in the upper right corner where it says Member Login. (If you haven't set up your login yet, you'll get a chance to do it now.) Then, in the top menu bar click on "Chapters" (just to the left of "About Us") and scroll down to "Cleve Hts/Univ Hts. . Then scroll down on our page past the calendar and the Observer Corp.
The LWVUS "Impact on Issues" book, summarizing our national positions and priorities from the 2024 National Convention is available from Amazon for the low low price of $6.99! (It is also available online at LWV.org which is searchable but extremely long.) LWVUS Impact on Issues
| Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. - John Lewis
No one can terrorize a whole nation unless we are all their accomplices. Edward R Murrow, Journalist
The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love. -William Wordsworth, poet (7 Apr 1770-1850)
All the goodness and the heroisms will rise up again, then be cut down again, and rise up.
It isn't that the evil thing wins - it never will - but that it doesn't die. John Steinbeck
An inspiration from Martin Luther King (per Maya Wiley):
A man cannot be ridden if his back is not bent.
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Thomas Jefferson
"America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've got to want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say: You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as a land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now, show me that. Defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free." The American President | CHUH Chapter Leadership
We are delighted to report the following list of officers for the 2024/2025 year::
Chapter Chair: Wendy Deuring (2024-2026)
Voter Service Co-Chairs:
Membership Development Co-Chairs: Joan Spoerl (2024-2026) Paula Goodwin (2025-2027)
Treasurer: Brenda Bagby (2024-2026)
Recording Secretary: Robin Koslen (2024-2026)
2026 Nominating Committee: Blanche Valancy, Chair; Eefje Kolkman and Judith Beeler
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For the Cleveland Heights City Council, the University Heights City Council, the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education and the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Library Board of Trustees. Watching government promotes good government: | |