Heights Chapter E-News -
FINALLY some Appreciation! |
- Cedar Fairmount Summerfest - Sunday, August 9th , 1-4:00, looking for volunteers to staff our table and talk to people Sign up
- CH-UH School Resource Fair - August 14th - all volunteer slots are filled
- Voter Registration Training - Saturday, August 29th - 10-11:30 am, Boulevard Room of the Shaker Main Library. Click HERE to sign up
Note: The first note of appreciation is that someone somewhere out there in the cyber world has fixed whatever was giving this system the heebie jeebies so that I can finally now send out the list of thanks to folks. Now if I can just find all my notes and lists....
| There was a PARADE! a whole holiday ago
Twelve of us came out on a sunny but cool Memorial Day to join the annual parade in University Heights, and this year we had protest signs, so that was fun. We gave out all 500 Vote 411 bookmarks, plus a couple hundred copies of the Ten Habits of Good Citizens, which seems more and more meaningful. And best of all was that we were between the stilt walkers and the Da Land Brass Band, so I personally danced the entire 1.8 miles with the music, tho apparently not all the marchers were as moved as I was by the music.
Two fun facts - Leah Davydov wasn't able to march this year but she was an enthusiastic cheerleader from the treelawn as her junior suffragette slept on her lap; and the Tobin Pepper duo did a tag team march - Steven started with us while Linda raced from a prior commitment, and then he stepped out just as she joined us. The one sadness is that Jack Valancy wasn't able to be our photographer as he was in Columbus recuperating, and Blanche was with him instead of greeting voters at the carnival after the parade.
Our marchers were: Susie Kaeser, Kathy Flora, Carol Spackey, Monica Gordon Pershey Natalie Barrett, Kassandra Capretta, Linda Tobin, Steven Pepper Amy Vegh, Diana Woodbridge, Wendy Deuring, and Natalie's friend Ann. | Random Voter Outreach Events
Thanks to the ongoing efforts of our Voter Registration Team of Amy Vegh and Carol Spackey, we have been busy at a variety of events over the summer. Thanks to Brenda Bagby, Lisa Chavez, Monica Gordon Pershey and Amy Vegh for hanging out at the Juneteenth celebration in Cain Park. And Carol took some time out to greet the cyclists at the Slow Roll on June 29th, urging them to make sure they were registered.
And we have finally begun to work once again with Seniors at Heights High School, thanks to Carla Bailey who is on staff and Robin Koslen's contacts and persistence. At Heights High there was a brunch for seniors where Carol, Monica, and Robin collected 20+ voter registration applications! And on Tuesday, May 26 the seniors had a picnic on the football field and Amy, Monica and Robin collected more than 20 additional registrations.
AND A CAUTION: from the latest All Ohio LWVO call - In Ohio elections so far in 2026, 760 provisional ballots were rejected for lack of valid ID and 928 were rejected for lack of valid registration. Please remind everyone to verify their registration before election day, and if you are registering voters PLEASE double-check their form to make sure every required blank is completed before they walk away. Far too many registration forms are incomplete or illegible. And if you can, remind them to make sure their ID is not expired before election day. The BMV will issue a state ID (not a license) at no cost for people who need one to vote.
And thanks to Paula for joining those calls and passing along highlights. |  | | Amy Vegh and Kathie Ellis helped kids learn to vote by voting for their favorite dinosaur. Apparently they used paper ballots. It was a squeaker, but after a ballot recount the t-Rex defeated Brontosaurus Rex by a single vote. And if anyone doubts Amy’s resolve, note that she has grabbed a brontosaurus by the tail even while holding the ballot box with her other hand. (And I don't know why this photo has tipped over. A new challenge. And no, I am not seeing a way to rotate it. And noting that the other picture did not tip over. Perhaps the dinosaur is large enough to keep things stable, as opposed to the tiny dinosaur in the other picture? And what's with all these dinosaurs?) |  | | We may have found the basis for the rumors that non-citizens are being registered to vote. Carol Spackey was at this year's Jazz Fest and handed the clipboard to this fine young, um, Tri-C Student? She notes that we are not required to check citizenship status - the Board of Elections does those cross-checks when they create the actual registration record. | | |
Our Members Out in the Community
And, in celebration of Cleveland's 230th anniversary as a city, the Cleveland Public Library will be honoring "230 individuals whose work, leadership and impact reflect the spirit and strength of our city." And one of those honorees is Joan Spoerl for her work with the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Check out her bio, and then scroll down and see how many other people you recognize. It's quite the list! OneCLE 230
And while it isn't "out in the community" per se, here's a shout-out to Brenda Bagby who has stepped up to oversee Voter Services for Greater Cleveland, and Janice Foster who is working on Membership with Greater Cleveland!! And a loving shout-out to Maryann Barnes who has provided much-needed website support for our Greater Cleveland website! I should probably also mention that I agreed to join the nominating committee for Greater Cleveland for next year, so you might want to anticipate my call next Spring to see how you might step up. :-) Apparently the magic word is "Sure!" (Meantime, I really need to learn alternative responses that aren't "sure". It seems to keep getting me more work.)
And finally, Cleveland Heights holds an annual Democracy Day allowing people to speak out against the corruption of money in politics. Kathy Flora spoke on behalf of the League this year:
"Thank you , Mayor and Council for hearing us today. My name is Kathy Flora. I am a member of theLeague of Women Voters , which has said that 'one thing is abundantly clear. Our country is in a Constitutional Crisis.' Our voices have been severely muted by the Citizens United ruling and we have learned since that time that money in politics actually equals corruption, not speech. It has distorted our constitution and the government’s adherence to it.
- The Executive branch has exceeded its constitutional authority and has failed to faithfully execute or abide by the law. The balance of power called for in the constitution has been undermined or disregarded completely. The Administration has unilaterally imposed Tariffs, blocked funds from appropriated uses in order to spend at will, used emergency powers to remove inspectors general,agency officials and even entire Departments without congressional oversight .
- We have been dragged into a war, in violation of the law, to profit the donor class. The Executive Branch has ordered the extrajudicial destruction of boats and the killing of fishermen in international waters . We have not been told why or who this benefits. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has violated 96 court orders across 74 cases, in just one state, in one month. The Administration has solicited and accepted income from domestic entities for personal use and has used taxpayer funds, the Justice Department and the Federal apparatus for personal vendettas.
- All of this has resulted in unlawful Federal interference in state elections to maintain power. The corruption inherent with money in politics has distorted the law and our constitution. It is now a crisis. The PEOPLE’S voices have been vastly overpowered by that money. We have a duty to each other to stay informed as best we can by speaking up, NOT staying silent. And that includes our precious right to vote."
| 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 (2026-2028)
Voter Service Co-Chairs: Jennifer Bier and Monica Gordon Pershey
Membership Development Co-Chairs: Joan Spoerl (2026-2028) Paula Goodwin (2025-2027)
Treasurer: Brenda Bagby (2025-2027) and Diana Russo (2026-2028)
Recording Secretary: Robin Koslen (2025-2027) and Judith Beeler (2026-2028)
2027 Nominating Committee: Bianca Menendez; Amy Vegh, Eef Kolkman, Diana Russo, Debbie Gurney and Blanche Valancy. Chair: OPEN
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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: | |