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Small districts need your votes, too. On April 23 ballots are due for Fire Protection District 17: Proposition 2024-15 Authorizing Regular Property Tax Levy.

Are you acquainted with a LWVBWC member who has contributed to the League in an outstanding way, and deserves special recognition? Now is the time to send in your recommendation! Send your recommendation to president@lwvbellinghamwhatcom.org by May 1. The Board will review the recommendations and select the honoree.

The Candidate Forum team will try an innovative approach to the primary elections for local offices this August. It will interview the candidates individually, by Zoom, asking the same key questions of each contender for a given office. The interviews will be posted on our website, so that the public can learn about a candidate of interest without committing to watching an entire hour or so of a traditional forum.

Have you heard about Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)? Multi-member districts? There are many ways to manage elections that may be fairer than the winner-take-all system we have now. LWVBWC volunteers have produced short videos on https://lwvbellinghamwhatcom.org/civics-education to explain RCV.
This year we have an opportunity to propose Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) in Whatcom County. Every 10 years a Charter Review Commission is elected to review the current charter and propose amendments that are then brought to the voters for approval. We are at that ten year mark now. If you are interested in offering ranked choice voting to Whatcom County voters, please consider filing for the Commission.

Political innovations that can improve our elections is the topic for Book Group members at our next meeting. Members will read the 2020 The Politics Industry: How Political Innovation Can Break Partisan Gridlock and Save Our Democracy, by Kathryn Gehl, Michael E. Porter, and Mike Gallagher. The authors believe our political system is not broken, but fixed, and not fixed to serve the public good. One of the innovations promoted by the authors is Final Five voting, which combines a top-5 primary election and ranked choice voting in the general election. Alaska recently implemented this change.

Coffee and Happy Hour happening on May 15th!

As you know, our League depends upon volunteers, donations and memberships to carry out our mission of empowering voters and defending democracy.
LWV of Bellingham/Whatcom County is a 501(c)(4) organization, which means donations to us are very welcome but not tax deductible. A 501(c)(4) organization is a social welfare organization that is exempt from taxes by the IRS but has the ability to lobby and advocate for its positions, which is different from a charity.
But there are ways to donate that do have tax benefits. The League of Women Voters of Washington State (LWVWA) maintains a qualified charitable 501(c)(3) organization, the Education Fund, that accepts tax-deductible donations on our behalf.

If you are wondering what is happening at PeaceHealth, a recording of Chuck Prosper’s presentation to the Healthcare Issues Team on March 18th might answer some of your questions. Chuck Prosper is the CEO of PeaceHealth Northwest. A recording of his presentation is available on the LWVBWC website on the Healthcare page. Also of interest, in February, there was a presentation to the Healthcare Issues Team about the reinstated PeaceHealth Palliative Care Program. This recording also is on the LWVBWC website.

The Racial Equity/Healthy Democracy committee wants to invite all of you to our third annual celebration of Whatcom County’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. Mark your calendar for Sunday, June 2nd from 2-6. The event promises information, connection and entertainment.