Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘League of Women Voters’ Category

Virtual forums set for Barrington-area candidates in April 6 election

Posted in 2021 Elections, 220, Barrington Area Library, Board of Education, League of Women Voters, One Barrington Hills, Politics, Riding Club of BH, School Districts on February 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

The League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area and the Barrington Area Library are hosting a series of virtual forums for candidates in several Barrington-area races in the April 6 election.

The first three are set for Saturday, March 6. Barrington Hills village president candidates Brian D. Cecola and Dennis Kelly, are scheduled for 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Cate Williams will moderate. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/6s4f1dkh.

From 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Kim Inman will moderate a discussion with Barrington Hills village trustee candidates Laura S. Ekstrom, David Riff, Thomas W. Strauss, Brent Joseph Burval, Paula Jacobsen and Robert M. Zubak. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/12bj0f4g.

A forum for Barrington Area Unit School District 220 candidates is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Saturday, March 13. The field includes William Betz, Erin Chan Ding, Sandra Ficke-Bradford, Katie Karam, Lauren Berkowitz Klauer, Jonathan Matta, Malgorzata McGonigal, Thomas J. Mitoraj, Michael Shackleton, Alex Strobl, Steve Wang and Robert Windon.

To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/2kp6j4pc.

The forum will be followed from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. that day by one for Barrington Area Library board candidates Josie Croll, Jennifer J. Lucas, Anne Ordway and Denise Tenyer. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/3ngvn4ad.

“Candidate forums are an ideal way to see and hear your community leaders and their opponents explain their views, defend their voting record, and answer questions posed by our fellow citizens,” Vicki Martin, co-president of the League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area, said in an announcement of the events Tuesday.

All candidate forums are run by trained, nonpartisan moderators. Equal time is given to all candidates to answer each question. The candidates will have two minutes to present an opening statement, in turn, by number drawn.

Questions solicited from community members and nonpartisan groups will be vetted in advance by the league for appropriateness and relevance. Candidates who are unable to participate will be allowed to submit a three-minute statement that will be read by the moderator.

Read Full Post »

Does Village of Barrington Hills President Martin McLaughlin deserve your vote? You decide.

Posted in 2020 Elections, League of Women Voters, OP/Ed, Politics, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes on October 18, 2020| 1 Comment »

On September 26th, The League of Women Voters (LWV) of the Palatine Area, lwvpalatinearea.org, conducted a virtual non-partisan candidate forum for three candidates running for the 52nd District of the Illinois House of Representatives; Martin McLaughlin, Alia Sarfraz and Marci Suelzer. The YouTube recording of the meeting can be viewed here.

We listened intently to the recording and felt we would be remiss if we did not share at least one excerpt we believe is critical for voters to hear or read. The LWV asked candidates to,

“Think of a person that is, or has served in Springfield, that’s made an impact for the better in our state.”

Marci Suelzer’s response to this simple question was,

Marci Suelzer

“I’m somewhat at a disadvantage in this question in that I did not grow up in Illinois. But I do think that Governor Pritzker has made an impact in saving lives in Illinois.

I wish that I had a better base of historical knowledge to go back two decades or whatever, but I simply don’t.”

The question and her response can be heard here.

Though she admittedly lacks experience, that has not stopped significant contributions to Suelzer’s campaign which only began less than three months ago. Her campaign committee has amassed upwards of $400,000, primarily from Democratic Party of Illinois ($129k), Democratic Majority ($94k), LIUNA Chicago Laborers ($58k), Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters PAC ($58k) and Friends to Elect Kathleen Willis ($45k).

Clearly with this overabundance of political funding, Marci Suelzer does not need to worry about her lack of experience, since if she is elected, her well-financed handlers will tell her how to vote.

Martin McLaughlin has been running for the 52nd District for nearly a year with funding of about 20% of that of his opponent. What matters most when considering which candidate to vote for in an election;

  • (a) one who has been successfully leading a Village for eight years or
  • (b) one who, although inexperienced, has substantial financial backing from the current State leadership?

You decide!

Campaign finance references: Marci Suelzer Campaign Committee, Martin McLaughlin For State Representative

Read Full Post »

League of Women Voters 52nd District candidate forum Saturday

Posted in 2020 Elections, League of Women Voters, Politics, Property Taxes, Springfield, Taxes on September 24, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area, lwvpalatinearea.org, has scheduled a virtual, nonpartisan Candidate Forums September 26 from 11 AM to noon to help inform and educate voters prior to the Nov. 3 General Election. Candidates running for the Illinois House of Representatives 52nd District are Martin McLaughlin, Alia Sarfraz and Marci Suelzer.

Register for virtual forum at: https://balibrary.librarycalendar.com/events/illinois-52nd-candidate-forum.

Read Full Post »

How suburban leaders pushed movement for women’s votes

Posted in League of Women Voters, Politics, Topics Of Interest on August 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

(Click on image to enlarge)

The first woman to vote in Illinois lived in Lombard.

The leader of a pioneering 1910 auto tour across northern Illinois to stump for suffrage lived in Oak Park.

The architect of the law that let Illinois women vote for municipal and presidential elections after 1913 hailed from Evanston. So did the longtime president of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, a group that led a major push for the suffrage cause.

The suburbs were fertile ground for the decadeslong movement that eventually allowed women the vote nationwide 100 years ago with the ratification on Aug. 26, 1920, of the 19th Amendment.

Nearby in Chicago, women like Ida B. Wells and Jane Addams also pushed the needle forward by forming a suffrage club among African American women and taking a leadership role in the National American Woman Suffrage Association. With these efforts, adding in the actions of women across the suburbs, historical experts say, the region took on a strong importance in the push to secure “Votes for Women,” as suffragists’ campaign signs often read.

“It’s the whole Chicago area that is influencing the movement,” said Lori Osborne, director of the Evanston Women’s History Project.

Read more of the Daily Herald article here.

Further references cited in this article can be found at Evanston Women’s History Project, Lombard Historical Society, DuPage County Historical Museum, Illinois Humanities Road Scholar and the Naper Settlement.

Read Full Post »

At forum, GOP hopefuls Ives, Kinzler stress problem-solving, contrasting backgrounds

Posted in League of Women Voters, Politics on March 8, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Gordon “Jay” Kinzler answers a question while seated beside Jeanne Ives during the League of Women Voters candidate forum featuring candidates for the Republican nomination for the 6th Congressional District at the Barrington Area Library Saturday. (Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer)

Two Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for the 6th Congressional District in the March 17 primary stressed their problem-solving skills and contrasting backgrounds at a forum Saturday at the Barrington Area Library organized by the League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area.

Jeanne Ives, a former state representative and veteran who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for governor in 2018, and Gordon “Jay” Kinzler, a surgeon, colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves and former Glen Ellyn park board president, agree on many issues, such as smaller government, lower taxes, supporting President Donald Trump’s border wall and Second Amendment rights.

Read more here.

Read Full Post »

Barrington High School holds voter registration drive for eligible students

Posted in 220, Barrington High School, Board of Education, District 220 referendum, League of Women Voters, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes on January 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »

District 220 seems to be pulling out all the stops in advance of the March 17 referendum, but it’s doubtful taxpayers will receive an accounting of the total money spent in the process.

The Barrington High School commons area was crowded Thursday morning as students lined up to join the electorate during the school’s first voter registration drive.

BHS social studies teacher Cary Waxler organized the daylong event. He said he’s helped students register on an individual basis for years but wanted to offer the big event to make it easier.

“Eighteen- to 29-year-olds are the lowest voting group by age bracket,” he said. “We wanted to do something to remedy that.”

Illinois law allows any voter who will be 18 by the time of the General Election to also vote in the primary, even if the voter is only 17 at the time of the primary. Because of this, Cary said the school has about 900 students who are eligible to vote in 2020, and the goal for the event was to get at least half of them registered throughout the day.

Read more here.

Read Full Post »

Barrington District 220 pushing voter registration ahead of March referendum

Posted in 220, Board of Education, District 220 referendum, League of Women Voters, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts on October 21, 2019| 1 Comment »

After low turnout in April’s election that saw voters reject a $185 million bond issue for Barrington Area Unit District 220, officials are encouraging parents, students and others to register to vote ahead of March’s primary election featuring a scaled down ballot measure.

Barrington Area Unit District 220 officials are encouraging parents, students and others to register to vote as part of an effort connected to next year’s $147 million referendum to fund building projects.

“I’m not sure how many people we actually will get,” District 220 Superintendent Brian Harris said, “but it’s at least worth the opportunity to engage people in their constitutional right.”

Harris said the district’s goal is to have employees qualified to perform voter registration at all 12 schools and the administration center on Main Street in Barrington, with the hope of boosting turnout within District 220’s boundaries in March. That idea was endorsed by school board President Penny Kazmier at a recent meeting.

“It’s a nice kind of community service, I think,” Kazmier said.

Read more from today’s Daily Herald here.

Read Full Post »

League of Women Voters releases recordings of recent candidate forum

Posted in 2019 Elections, 220, Board of Education, League of Women Voters, Organizations, Politics, School Districts on March 20, 2019| 2 Comments »

Four of five candidates vying for three seats on our Board of Trustees along with at least two-dozen residents attended the recent League of Women Voters (LWV) candidate forum held at the Barrington Area Library. The LWV has released a video of the hour-long forum that can be viewed here.

The LWV has also released a video of Barrington District 220 pitch for the $185 million referendum to be voted on by residents on the April 2 ballot. A recording of that video can be viewed here.

Read Full Post »

%d bloggers like this: