League of Women Voters Manistee County

P.O.Box 320, Bear Lake, MI 49614
(231) 864-2686

E-Mail: info@lwvmanisteecounty.org

Join US! Be Part Of The Solution!
We grow democracy, one vote at a time ..........

We invite you to join the non partisan LWV Manistee County.
We invite you to support our education programs.
Would you like to join our public ListServ to receive meeting and event notices?
email: info@lwvmanisteecounty.org

LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS MANISTEE COUNTY
2008 MEETING & EVENT INFORMATION PAGE
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Community Survey: LWV Manistee County invites your comments on the following questions?

Most other local counties televise, hold regular ‘out county’ meetings and hold evening meetings.
Our Community Survey questions:
1) Do you think that holding County and Road Commission meetings during the work day discourages attendance and prevents good candidates from running for Commission seats?
2) If these meetings were held in the evening would you a) attend and/or b) consider being a candidate? If not, why not?
3) Are you a) retired, b) employed, c) self employed. Does this affect how you answered the questions above?
PLEASE MAIL OR EMAIL YOUR RESPONSES BACK TO US - PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR MANISTEE COUNTY MAILING ADDRESS. This information will be held in the strictest confidence and is only to verify that you are a Manistee County resident.

NEXT MEETING - click here

Regular monthly meetings in 2008 are at 7pm on the SECOND Thursday of each month. EVERYONE is welcome!

January 10, 2008
Farr Center on Main Street in Onekama.
League of Women Voters US is currently engaged in a study of the immigration issues and policy decisions facing the country as a whole.

The democratic process whereby LWVUS arrives at a Position Statement is by grass roots discussions and consensus building from the local League levels upward.

Immigration is one of those 'hot button' issues for 2008. We should also note that Manistee County itself was populated by immigrants of many nationalities, many of whom arrived here long before there were any laws governing settlement. An excellent PBS Series " Destination America  "  can be seen at http://www.pbs.org/destinationamerica/usim.html
It details the many waves of new citizens who now comprise the 'melting pot', and how each new influx raised many of the same animosities, distrust and reactions we are seeing today. Is immigration America's bounty or destined to be the downfall? If we all came from somewhere else, how do we feel about newcomers today? What do we want our next elected government to do about it?

In January, we will be discussing the consensus documents related to the Immigration Study as available for review at the LWVUS web site.

League of Women Voters solid waste imageFebuary 21, 2008
Happy 88th. Birthday, League of Women Voters! This month our scheduled Valentine's Day birthday dinner meeting had to be rescheduled due to bad weather.

With the unlikely topic of "Talking Trash! - Love It or Live In It!" we encouraged people to find the hidden treasures in their garbage. Like many northern Michigan counties, we are struggling to find a means to use/recycle or dispose of the 'stuff' we all throw away every day! With innovative programs and technologies already up and running successfully in other NW MI regions, or elsewhere in the US, shouldn't we look at trash as a resource to be mined, and treasured, rather than an expensive mess to be buried?

Patrick Donovan MDEQ Field SpecialistOur guests were Patty O'Donnell, Regional Planner with Northwest Michigan Council of Governments, who is the lead contact for the Northwest Michigan Sustainable Business Forum; Philip Roycraft MDEQ Cadillac District Supervisor, Waste and Hazardous Materials Division and Patrick Donovan MDEQ Field Specialist, Environmental Science and Services Division. The kind of opportunities we saw tonight, to turn trash into real treasure - income, jobs and fewer landfills prompted much talk about the basic infrastructure we have here in Manistee County which could make this the perfect location for a major resource recovery industry.
Enviroglass and Enviromode | Champion Polymer Recycling | North Shore Sanitary District Zion, IL Vitrification Plant | Recycling Chipped Tires (1.3mb PDF) | MDEQ Small Business Pollution Prevention Loans | USEPA's Grant Incentive program for harvesting landfill methane as a source of alternative energy.

March 13, 2008
Sunshine Week.

April 10, 2008
"If we don't know where we started, how do we know how far we've come?"
This month we are again scheduling another special Luncheon meeting with a visit to Manistee County Historical Museum to look at how the experiences of the past are very much the same as the issues we deal with today: industrial development and collapse, precarious levels of government funding, immigration and racial tensions, election vagaries and the power of money. Join us for a trip to Manistee County's often colorful political past! Come for lunch at Tuscan Grille, 312 River Street, Manistee at 12.30 pm

May 8, 2008
Officers and Members will meet to discuss final logistics and preparations for JUNE PRIMARY CANDIDATE FORUMS

June, 2008
We will not have a regular general meeting in June as we will have several major events.
Michigan Energy Fair LWV Manistee County will once again exhibit and gather electorate consensus on local and state ballot issues concerning energy and environmental policy.
PRIMARY CANDIDATE FORUM June 18, Manistee High School Auditorium 7pm: Building on the issues identified during "Run, Manistee, RUN!" LWV Manistee County will moderate candidate forums for county and state seats contested in the August Primary races.

July, 2008
We will not have a meeting this month.

August, 2008
Date and details to be announced. We are planning a site trip with pic nic supper to the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy Preserve in Arcadia part of 6,320 acres included in their Coastal Campaign. The dunes and forestland are owned and managed by the Regional Conservancy for the benefit and recreational use of the public. Farmland currently under lease agreements with local farmers was placed under agricultural conservation easements, protected in perpetuity, and made available to local farmers for their continued use either through outright sales or leases.

September 11, 2008
We will pause for remembrance.
We will meet at Bear Lake Manor, corner of Main and Smith St. Bear Lake and discuss final logistics and preparations for OCTOBER GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE FORUMS and preparation for October LWVMI and Manistee County General Election Voter Guide.

October, 2008
We will not have a regular meeting this month as we will be moderating OCTOBER 9, GENERAL ELECTION CANDIDATE FORUM (Manistee High School Auditorium 7pm) for county and state contested seats as well as statewide ballot proposals.

November 13, 2008
We will meet at Bear Lake Manor, corner of Main and Smith St. Bear Lake to debrief, relax, renew and regenerate following the 2008 General Election.

December 11, 2008
Join Us for our Annual "Celebrate The Bill Of Rights!" Dinner.
6.30 pm at Tuscan Grille, Downtown Manistee, River Street.
Everyone is welcome whether a LWV Member or not. At this Holiday Season Dinner we invite our Honoree who has most exemplified upholding one of those precious civil liberties contained in the Bill Of Rights. Nominations are welcome!