INDEX

President's Message

I have a school child’s mentality when it comes to the calendar. School starts in September and so does everything else. The year winds up in May and so does everything else. Summer is for vegetating.

Not!!

If we are to accomplish our goal of involving the community in public policy decision-making and activism, we have to work ‘round the calendar. It also makes it easier on those who do the planning and organizing of activities. Consequently the Birmingham board no longer takes the summer off. There will be a comprehensive planning session early in the summer during which goals will be set and priorities will be put in place depending on our resources of time, money and energy. The summer might be the perfect time for members who are teachers to become involved. Distribution of the soon-to-be-published revised Fingertips will require volunteers.

Helping with the mailing of the Voter (yes, we currently mail a paper Voter to about 25 members) will free up board members, even if only for a month or two. Volunteer for the Observer Corps as regular or back-up observer. Contribute an article to the newsletter. The Legislative Study committee can use a few thoughtful souls to plan for the final presentation and consensus to be held in the fall.

Get involved, if only for a few months!

March Unit Meeting
Thursday, March 31, 6:00 pm
Vestavia Red Lobster

Come join us on Thursday, March 31st to receive food for the mind and body! We will learn the focus group/study circle method of community dialogue, using Home Rule as our theme...and have dinner as well! A group from Tuscaloosa called Challenge 21 has learned the focus group/study circle method of engaging community dialogue from the Kettering Institute. They will demonstrate this method, using us as participants.

The following resource materials on Home Rule are available for you to read (if you have the time):

• Limited Home Rule.pdf
• SB129.pdf
• An Opinion on SB129.doc

But knowledge of the subject is not necessary in order to attend, which is the beauty of focus group/study circles. They are learning and sharing experiences!

We hope to see you at the Red Lobster restaurant in Vestavia on Highway 31 at 6:00 p.m. on March 31. (We will all order and pay for our own food.) The program and dinner should not take more than 90 minutes. Questions? Nancy Ekberg 967-2897.

ACCR Petition Drive

As League members know, we are working with Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform on a year-long effort to get signatures on a petition asking our Legislators to allow us to vote on a constitutional convention. All Leaguers should have received a mailing that included a copy of the petition, a page on "how to" carry out a petition drive, a cover sheet to mail with the completed petition and a tri-fold brochure with information about the drive. Just think, if each of us got 100 signatures, that means that our League would provide 77,000 signatures toward this effort! Awesome! Please consider getting as many signatures as you can, and then send them to the address provided. Our web site provides links to additional information about the drive and how to sign the petition online. We also need volunteers to collect signatures at activities taking place in our area over the coming year. Contact Nancy Ekberg, 967-2897.

League Legacy Spotlight on EJ Stephens

Today’s LWVGB is rooted in the work of exceptional women who filled leadership roles in past years. This month we are spotlighting one of those women, EJ Stephens.

EJ Stephens was president-elect of the Wichita, Kansas LWV when she moved to Birmingham in 1977. She quickly joined the Birmingham League because, with seven kids at home, she knew it was important to stay involved with the community. “I didn’t want to get squash rot,” she explains. The League was not as well known here and EJ helped raise its profile and grow membership to a level not equaled since. The League maintained an office downtown and EJ showed up most every day.

When asked what the major issues were during her most active years, which included stints as Voter Service chair and President of LWVGB, EJ can’t help but sigh. The primary issues were Constitutional Reform, Home Rule and a move toward regional government in Jefferson County. She made countless trips to Montgomery and lobbied legislators for change. She recalls pointing to a particular passage on a paper to a legislator when he responded, “That’s a purty ring you’re wearing.” Another suggested she “Go home and fix your husband’s dinner.”

Don Siegleman led the movement for Constitutional Reform while serving as Secretary of State. EJ was disappointed when he dropped the issue after becoming governor.

During this time the LWVGB was awarded special recognition from National for membership growth and its work on constitutional reform. The LWVGB was the only organization Nell Hunter, head of the Jefferson County Board of Registrars, allowed to register voters. Voter Services went to every high school in the county, managed SGA elections at UAB and conducted debates at the state and local levels. League publications on local school systems and fingertips were well known and widely used by real estate agents and bank newcomer departments.

In addition to her League work, EJ has worked with outreach programs at her church, the Birmingham Symphony Women’s Association, Southside Ministries and the State Mental Health Board. Since her husband’s retirement they take time for travel and spend July to November each year at their second home in Colorado.


Government is too big and too important to be left to the politicians...Chester Bowles (1901 - 1986)

Observer Corps
Jefferson County Commission

Although Roland Pugh Construction, Inc. is under indictment for bribing county employees, the Jefferson County Commission continues to accept bids from the company. On February 22, Roland Pugh Construction was the second lowest bidder on contracts for sewer work on Shades Creek and Valley Creek. Commission President Larry Langford said that legal counsel advised the county to conduct “business as usual” with the company until the charges are adjudicated. In response to the indictments, commissioners told reporters that they were out of the loop when it came to decisions made by the county department that awarded sewer contracts. Commissioner Gary White said, “We were told on a need-to-know basis.” The commission voted to address this problem by awarding a Birmingham environmental consultant a contract of up to $500,000 to reorganize the department. Commissioner Collins voted against the contract, bringing up the consulting work already done by BE&K ($2.5 million), Burk Kleinpeter ($1.75 million) and Auburn University’s Center for Governmental Services ($592,000). Langford said the prior studies did not address how the department should be organized. Commissioner Buckelew accused Collins of grandstanding, “acting as the county’s only savior and the only one trying to save tax dollars.”

Commissioners Langford and Buckelew showed displeasure at the March 1 meeting when Commissioner Smoot previewed a presentation by Volkert and Associates on road department operations. Buckelew was over the road department from 1998 to 2002. She walked out of the meeting after Smoot said the commissioners would be “shocked by the way the department was run.”

Good news came in the form of additional reimbursement for Hurricane Ivan cleanup. Cities that joined with the county in cleanup will be reimbursed 90% of the cost rather than the 85% anticipated. Mountain Brook will receive $251,000 and Vestavia Hills will get back $183,000. Fairfield’s $8,000 bill, which has not been paid, will be forgiven.

“Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn't block traffic....Dan Rather

Board Watch Observer Corps

Volunteers are needed to observe:

• Birmingham Board of Education meetings 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 3:30 pm at Central Office, 2015 Park Place North across from Lynn Park
• Birmingham City Council meetings each Tuesday at 9:30 am at City Hall, 710 20th Street North. (Many cable systems carry the meetings, so a volunteer could do this by watching a televised broadcast.)

Contact Nancy Ekberg, 967-2897.

LWVAL State Convention
April 30 - May 1

The LWV Alabama State Convention will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 30th and May 1st at the Tuskegee Institute. In addition to debating program items, electing a new state board, approving a budget, and possibly amending the bylaws, the meeting will include four interesting workshops and two excellent speakers.

Jean Johnson and Becky Sylvester taped an interview with former Senator Howell Heflin. It will be shown at the luncheon on Saturday. Saturday night’s banquet will feature Rep. Artur Davis of the 7th congressional district.

All League members are most welcome at the convention, whether for just Saturday’s events or for the entire meeting. We encourage carpools to Tuskegee. It’s just down the road a piece! Get all the information on the meeting, including hotel reservations, by calling or emailing Sarah McDonald at 967-2829 or smcdonald3357@charter.net.

Did You Hear About...?

Death Penalty Voided for 13 on Alabama’s Death Row
On March 1 the US Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that executing juveniles was unconstitutionally cruel and that the death penalty must be reserved for the worst offenders, a category that cannot include people who have not reached adulthood. The ruling established the age of 18 as the point where society draws the line between childhood and adulthood. Thirteen inmates on Alabama’s Death Row who committed crimes when they were under 18 will have their death sentence commuted to life without parole.

Poll Finds Americans Ready for Woman President
The White House Project by Roper ASW found that 76% of Americans surveyed were comfortable with the idea of a woman as president and 82% comfortable with the idea of a woman vice president. At least 38 women have run for president. The first female candidate was Victoria Chaflin Woodhull, who campaigned for the office in 1872 and 1892, decades before women received the right to vote.

Birmingham Council Supports Voting Rights Restoration
On March 1 the Birmingham City Council voted to support the proposed Alabama Restoration of Voting Rights Act, which would automatically restore voting rights to people who have been convicted of felonies when they are released from prison. The bill was introduced to the State Legislature by Representative Alvin Holmes and is currently pending committee action.

Latrines Bring Equality to Ethiopia
A Carter Center program to fight disease by promoting latrines was unexpectedly successful in Ethiopia. The center hoped for 10,000 new latrines, but villagers built more than 90,000 last year. Use of latrines helps fight trachoma, the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness. Latrines reduce the amount of human waste in the open, taking away breeding grounds for flies that transmit the disease. Women recognized another, more immediate, advantage to building latrines. Ethiopian tradition allows men to defecate in the open during the day. Women, however, are expected to wait until dark so that no one will see. One woman told a center representative, “With the latrine, we are equal with the men.” Having a latrine has become a status symbol in many villages.

LWVAL Program Review
Photo courtesy of Beverly Nelson

Highland Coffee Company was the setting for one of two unit meetings to review state programs in February. Pictured are (from left) Ginny Randolph, Judith Hand, Sarah McDonald, Ann Smith and Michelle Adamo.