Provides a forum for League of Women Voters Idaho Falls Members-At-Large to ensure communication and enable open discussion of issues, ideas and events.
LWV of Idaho has been working in our state for seventy years. The League neither supports nor opposes candidates or parties. It is a non-partisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. We believe that every citizen should be protected in their right to vote, have access to free public educa
07/23/2020
DHS Confirms It Sent Three Paramilitary-Style Units to Patrol Streets of Portland In Portland, Oregon, federal agents tear-gassed protesters on Tuesday night, the 55th day of demonstrations in the city against racism and police brutality. Over the past week, unidentified federal officers have been attacking antiracist protesters and even snatching activists off the streets in unm...
LWVID Takes Action to Prevent Barriers to Coverage and Preserve the Will of the Voters
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Mary Bostick
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Jan 10, 2019, 4:21 PM (2 days ago)
to Susan, bcc: me
To LWVID Advocacy Chairs, League Leaders, and MALS,
This is to clarify a previous email with the topic. If your membership is moved to take action to support Medicaid Expansion (Proposition 2) passed by ballot initiative in November. This information should give you everything you need for various actions. Please read all the information carefully!
The Close the Gap Preventing Barriers to Coverage toolkit for 1) responding to legislation, 2) preparing for legislative office visits 3) composing letters to the editor, 4) composing postcards to legislators, calling legislators, or other activities during the upcoming months of the legislative session. The toolkit is thorough and very good! Please do not post the Toolkit on Facebook, or other social media.
The toolkit is attached, and I have pasted the link that you can share here:http://www.closethegapidaho.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Work-Requirements-Info-Page-FINAL8.pdf I have attached two of the handouts from the toolkit, Topline Messages, and a Frequently Asked Questions document. But you will want to review the entire toolkit thoroughly before any action.
An excellent Action link on Preventing Barriers to Coverage and Preserving the Will of the Voters is at
https://www.closethegapidaho.org/take-action/take-email-action/
Currently emails, postcards, and phone calls should be sent to JFAC and the JFAC, Senate Health and Welfare Committee. These committees are critical in this stage, which is to recommend and pass appropriation of funds for Medicaid expansion passed in November.
Idaho Legislative Committees and Chairs have been named and can be located at:
https://legislature.idaho.gov/committees/
Note: JFAC is under joint standing committees. The committees have links to each member's page, and include email address, phone numbers for Boise and other office locations.
State Senate address for all Senators is:
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0081
Central Phone for Senate: 208-332-1000
State House address for all House Representatives
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0038
Here are the names:
Senate Health and Welfare: Chairman: Fred Martin; Vice Chair, Mary Souza; Lee Heider, Abby Lee, Mark Harris , Carl Crabtree, Van Burtenshaw, Maryanne Jordan and David Nelson.
JFAC: Steve Bair Senate Chair; Dan Johnson Senate Vice Chair ; Rick Youngblood House Chair; Wendy Horman House Vice Chair; Neil Anderson, Paul Amador, Clark Kauffman, Britt Raybould, Scott Syme, Caroline Nilsson-Troy, Melissa Wintrow, Sally Toone, Lee, Agenbroad, Carl Crabtree, Scott Grow, Van Burtenshaw, Jim Woodward, Janie Ward-Engelking and Mark Nye.
Respectfully,
Mary Bostick
LWVID Advocacy Chair
208-596-0677 (call if you have any questions!)
3 Attachments
01/12/2019
League of Women Voters Gets Trump Bump - WhoWhatWhy The venerable League of Women Voters has seen a surge in members and resources since the 2016 election. Nearly 100 years after its founding, the League has become a major player in the fight against voter suppression.
01/12/2019
League of Women Voters Gets Trump Bump - WhoWhatWhy The venerable League of Women Voters has seen a surge in members and resources since the 2016 election. Nearly 100 years after its founding, the League has become a major player in the fight against voter suppression.
My previous post has somehow been removed. I have copied the post plus the comments from my notifications.
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
Published by Carolyn Abbott · 23 hrs ·
The following is the email I received from the 4 Republican candidates. I have responded that this proposal is not acceptable. I have canceled any previously scheduled forums that they have refused to attend.
Zollinger
Wed, Sep 26, 3:15 PM (2 days ago)
to me, David, garylmarshall, Barbara
Dear Carolyn,
We, the District 30 and 33 Republican candidates, would like to thank both you and the League of Women Voters of Idaho for the invitations to participate in candidate forums. We truly appreciate your efforts in hosting these valuable forums each election cycle. We would be honored to participate in the League of Women Voters of Idaho candidate forums.
As a united Republican team, we are doing much of our campaigning together to minimize time burdens on the citizens of our representative districts. There are a few other candidate forums approaching where we will most likely be appearing together. Because of other commitments and time restraints, we would ask that we all be able to appear on one evening for a joint forum. We would be willing to sit for questions for two hours rather than the scheduled one and one-half hour so more questions could be asked.
We believe that this will enable citizens who would like to hear from all candidates to do so without taking four separate evenings and would also enable all of us to attend rather than some of us having to miss due to other commitments and time restraints. We would also be filming the forums to share with all citizens, so we have a broader reach and can make sure all citizens who want information about our positions have access.
If this arrangement is satisfactory, we would all be available on October 24th or 25th with the preference being on October 25th as one of our members already has a conflict on the 24th. Please let us know as soon as possible which date works best and we will plan on being there on that date for a joint forum.
Sincerely, Barbara Ehardt (Dist. 33 House Candidate)
Dave Lent (District 33 Senate Candidate)
Gary Marshall (District 34 House Candidate)
Bryan Zollinger (District 33 House Candidate)
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Katie Jennings
Katie Jennings May I ask why this isn't acceptable?
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs Because the Republican candidates are trying to dictate how the forums are run. It is not the League way to do a candidate forum. I have now also posted my rationale.
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Like · Reply · Commented on by Carolyn Abbott · 1d
Katie Jennings
Katie Jennings I guess that makes sense...but I actually appreciate their efforts to not waste my time.
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs I don't think it's a waste of time to have sufficient time to get responses to audience questions. If we have that many candidates in the room there might be 5 or 6 questions asked and the answers would have to be very brief in order to save time. So 3 nights and about a total of 5 hours of you time total compared to one night with 2 hours is too much time?
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Katie Jennings
Katie Jennings My other question is that they seem to do it the way that it was suggested by the candidates in Bannock county- why the difference in our county?
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs I've been doing this for about 6 years. Every year and in the past, all of the candidates have been very appreciative of the forums and how they got to address many issues instead of just a few. This is the first time anyone has inferred that it was too much time. I think it's more important for the audience/voters to have the opportunity to ask their questions.
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Like · Reply · Commented on by Carolyn Abbott · 1d
Katie Jennings
Katie Jennings I've never attended one of your events and I'd like to- but often times- as a republican woman- I feel like a minority at these things and that I and my opinion and questions are unwelcome- would this be a problem or is it fairly attended by members of all parties?
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs I don't determine the demographics of the audience. However, there has been a comment that it's mostly Democrats, but I don't know. Everyone I have talked to has always been friendly. I doubt that anyone would try to make you feel uncomfortable. I welcome you to come. The audience is encouraged to write out their questions on 3x5 cards either before the forum or after it starts. No-one knows who asked the questions. But we won't have any League sponsored forums this year in IF. Compass Academy will be holding a forum for all 8 candidates on the 30th, but they don't ask for audience participation.
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Katie Jennings
Katie Jennings Awesome. I will look forward to it. :)
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Miranda Marquit
Miranda Marquit While the Compass Academy folks always do a great job, I don't think it's enough time to really get to hear from those who would represent us, especially with all eight of them up there. And it would be nice to be able to send in audience questions.
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Andy Frerichs
Andy Frerichs Note: I deleted my previous comments because my math was incorrect. My mind filled Mr. Lent in as District 34, since Mr. Marshall is *actually* District 30. Clearly someone didn't proof read their original email very well (Did Gary Marshall even see this email before it was sent, I wonder?).
That said, the fact remains that the current proposal does disadvantage District 30 voters, since when taking an average that district will only get to hear their candidates speak for 30 minutes.
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Karie Caldwell
Karie Caldwell I didn't view that proposal in any way as them trying to dictate anything. Rather, I only see they made a proposal/suggestion. What is there to get upset about?
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
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Miranda Marquit
Miranda Marquit I think it's too bad they're trying to avoid answering audience questions. I've attended these in the past, and it's always been great that we get through a bunch of questions, and that the voters actually get to ask the questions. And there have been people from all sides of issues there to ask the questions. I think it's too bad that they think that it's a waste of time to engage with citizens. And I think it's even sadder that there are citizens who think it's a waste of time to actually get to know the candidates and the issues. If our republic fails it will be through the combined apathy of the citizens and a feeling of entitlement on the part of our elected representatives.
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Katie Jennings
Katie Jennings I really don't think they are. In fact, when I've had questions, I've emailed them and they've been very eager to speak with me and address my concerns.
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Miranda Marquit
Miranda Marquit Then why don't they do it publicly so the rest of us can? I think the essence of our democratic republic is PUBLIC participation and greater access for a number of people. In fact, it would probably waste LESS time for them to come out and have a forum publicly, one-on-one with a challenger, so that we could all compare side by side, rather than having them answer the same questions over and over again privately. Just my opinion, but I think public forums and this sort of "job interview" process is valuable for us to be able to evaluate them side by side. As someone who looks at the person and ideas, and would like to see more public engagement and discourse at all levels of government, I think it's too bad none of them are willing to sit down side-by-side and have an exchange of ideas. The fact that there's an unwillingness to have that exchange in public, and the fact that the public is unwilling to participate at that level, is a major problem in our republic right now. It's why we have low voter turnout and a toxic political environment.
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Karie Caldwell
Karie Caldwell Miranda Marquit it was clearly stated in that letter posted above that there are other candidate forums they will be attending. Plural. This is not the only way or only opportunity for citizens to ask questions or learn about candidate's positions.
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Katie Jennings
Katie Jennings Um, you can. Email them all. They are all very willing to have conversations. I think forums are actually QUITE toxic because you usually only get to hear the voices that yell the loudest. I think having conversations one on one actually gets more of a result. Personally, I've spoken with Rep. Ehardt and Rep. Zollinger about issues I'm concerned about and they've done their best to address them. Just try.
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs The forums I organize do NOT become toxic. The audience/constituents do not yell their questions and everyone is civil. Everyone has the opportunity to write their questions and get answers. You seem to have a very skewed idea of how a forum happens.
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Like · Reply · Commented on by Carolyn Abbott · 23h
Karie Caldwell
Karie Caldwell Regardless, they were politely ASKING you to accommodate their schedules. Not demanding. It appears the unwilling and unworkable party in this situation is the League.
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs Karie Caldwell I had talked to two of the 4 on the email, they stated very clearly that they would only do a forum with all of them there. They did not get buy in from the other candidates and they would not do anything other than what was described. I did not want to mix the two districts nor the senate and republican seats.
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Like · Reply · Commented on by Carolyn Abbott · 23h
Karie Caldwell
Karie Caldwell Is there a reason Republicans may not want to attend this forum? It sounds as though they're hesitant. Could there be a reason for that?
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs Karie Caldwell Have no idea since they have never voiced any objections in the past.
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Like · Reply · Commented on by Carolyn Abbott · 23h
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs I am very upset that I won't be hosting the forums in IF this year. Thank you for your comments.
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Heather Colwell
Heather Colwell Wow! How incredibly cowardly. Not a spine left in the whole group.
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Katie Jennings
Katie Jennings How is it cowardly? To come out with a united front?
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Karie Caldwell
Karie Caldwell Heather Colwell Cowardly to make a suggestion/proposal? What a stretch...
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Andy Frerichs
Andy Frerichs Karie: The page moderator had comments which were in reply to another comment which has since been deleted stating that in phone conversations the parties inthis letter indicated that this way the only way they would participate. That's not a suggestion /proposal. That's an ultimatum. In addition, the page moderator also stated that they insisted on recording the event for their own use, which as I understand it is against League rules.
That said, a "united front" is a particularly odd concept in my mind where each candidate is running independently, as an individual. I want to know what each of them thinks, not what the "group" thinks on issues.
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League of Women Voters of Idaho Idaho Falls Members at Large - MALs
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As a LWV member, I am posting my rationale for the necessity of cancelling Candidate Forums in IF.
I am a proud and active member of the League of Women Voters of Idaho. The mission of the League is to encourage informed active participation in government. A large portion of that is done in Candidate Forums and voter registration drives so that voters can be informed when they vote. The League is nonpartisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or political parties at any level of government.
For the past 6 years I have scheduled a public forum for local state and city council candidates to provide them the opportunity to interact directly with their constituents. Individual forums benefit both the candidates and the public by providing the necessary time for constituents to get sufficient answers to their questions.
By mixing districts and or positions (Senate, House), candidate positions on issues may not be clearly represented and will be a disservice to the voters. With a total of 90 minutes with 8 candidates, the number of questions will be limited to 6 or fewer.
The 4 Republican candidates suggested (attached email) suggested limiting the candidate forums to one with all of the 8 candidates who are running for one Senate seat and 4 house seats in two districts. They also stated that they would be filming the forum, However, League rules state that “Forum content is the property of League of Women Voters (LWV). The forum will NOT be recorded by other than LWV. No portion of the forum is to be used for political advertisement. Permission must be sought to rebroadcast recorded forums even it its entirety or to print excerpts.”
Therefore, I have canceled previously scheduled forums for this year and will not participate as League.
The following is the email I received from the 4 Republican candidates. I have responded that this proposal is not acceptable. I have canceled any previously scheduled forums that they have refused to attend.
Zollinger
Wed, Sep 26, 3:15 PM (2 days ago)
to me, David, garylmarshall, Barbara
Dear Carolyn,
We, the District 30 and 33 Republican candidates, would like to thank both you and the League of Women Voters of Idaho for the invitations to participate in candidate forums. We truly appreciate your efforts in hosting these valuable forums each election cycle. We would be honored to participate in the League of Women Voters of Idaho candidate forums.
As a united Republican team, we are doing much of our campaigning together to minimize time burdens on the citizens of our representative districts. There are a few other candidate forums approaching where we will most likely be appearing together. Because of other commitments and time restraints, we would ask that we all be able to appear on one evening for a joint forum. We would be willing to sit for questions for two hours rather than the scheduled one and one-half hour so more questions could be asked.
We believe that this will enable citizens who would like to hear from all candidates to do so without taking four separate evenings and would also enable all of us to attend rather than some of us having to miss due to other commitments and time restraints. We would also be filming the forums to share with all citizens, so we have a broader reach and can make sure all citizens who want information about our positions have access.
If this arrangement is satisfactory, we would all be available on October 24th or 25th with the preference being on October 25th as one of our members already has a conflict on the 24th. Please let us know as soon as possible which date works best and we will plan on being there on that date for a joint forum.
Sincerely, Barbara Ehardt (Dist. 33 House Candidate)
Dave Lent (District 33 Senate Candidate)
Gary Marshall (District 34 House Candidate)
Bryan Zollinger (District 33 House Candidate)
09/03/2018
Let's register to vote! You can register at the County Elections Office, located on Shoup and E, across from the DMV. Let's exercise our most important right!
September is Voter Registration Month | League of Women Voters September is National Voter Registration Month—and Leagues across the country are working hard to make sure eligible voters are registered to vote.
04/30/2018
Idaho Gives is on Thursday! Consider giving to the League of Women Voters! We're a non-partisan organization focused on voter education and encouraging civic participation.
11/20/2017
Compass has been asked to host another mayoral debate on Wednesday November 29. Both candidates have committed. We are trying to get community members to suggest topics and questions. Would you please share the link at the end of this email with anyone you can? It leads to a form where folks can submit their ideas. We will accept submissions until the morning of November 27. Also, we'd appreciate it if you could help spread word about the debate. If people cannot attend, it will be live streamed on the Compass TV YouTube channel.
Question Suggestion Link
http://tinyurl.com/IFrunoffdebate
Thanks,
Holly
Mayoral Debate Questions The Idaho Falls mayoral race between candidates Rebecca Casper and Barbara Ehardt will be decided by a runoff election on Tuesday, December 5th. To help inform voters, a debate will be held at Compass Academy the evening of Wednesday, November 29th. We would like to get input from the community as w...
The Candidate Forum for Seat 4, James Francis and Chris Lords has been changed to Friday October 20th due to a conflict with City Clubs' Mayoral forum on the 19th.
It will be held at the IF Senior Citizens Center, 535 W. 21st Street at 7 PM.