Our President's Pages

By Sandra Slifer, President, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS® OF ST. TAMMANY
A "sense of place"...what does it mean? I've been thinking about this term a lot recently. It started when I began working on the Mandeville Candidates Forum. I realized that I only had a vague sense of what areas of St. Tammany are located within the boundaries of Mandeville. Everyone immediately identifies the Lakefront and Old Mandeville as `Mandeville'. I knew that the East Causeway Approach area was a part of Mandeville because that's where the City Hall and Police Station are located. One of our board members lives in Beau Rivage and I knew she lived in the city. Another board member lives in Beau Chene and lives in unincorporated St. Tammany--I'd forgotten that. How much further west does the city go? I only had an even more vague idea about the northern limits of the city and I wasn't too sure about the eastern boundary, either. Is this important? I don't live in the city of Mandeville. Why should I care whether or not I knew exactly where Mandeville, the city, was located?
This question stuck with me and I ended up asking all of the candidates to answer a question about this "sense of place". Is it something that matters to them? Maybe I'm making too much of a big deal about this whole issue. I am not a native St. Tammany resident; I'm not a native Louisianan. I don't have the nostalgia of youth regarding this place that has been my home for almost twenty years.
I grew up in a small town sixty-five miles north of Chicago. We lived too far away from my schools for me to easily walk to school although I did occasionally walk home if I'd missed the bus, but it was a very long walk. I did run around the neighborhood as a child, but it wasn't an idyllic setting by any means. When we drove into our downtown area, we had sidewalks and awnings and stores that had been there for many years. People lived above the stores and I vaguely remember staying with some friends for a week when our home was flooded. They lived in one of the apartments above a storefront and we were able to walk down to the comic book store and go to the drug store for ice cream sodas. There was a lean and tall man who wandered the downtown streets and everyone called him the Mayor of Main Street. Thinking back now, he was probably a bum, but all of us kids would run up to him and say hello whenever we saw him. Crystal Lake wasn't much of a town back then, but when I was young, before the new big stores started to get built on the outskirts, I definitely remember what a downtown small town looked and felt like.
Perhaps I'm just longing for something other than suburbia and I'm wondering if the residents of Mandeville are happy in their big houses totally disconnected from each other. Many residents work across the lake and leave for work early in the morning. By the time they get home, do they still have time to visit with their neighbors? Do they even know who their neighbors are? I'm tired of looking at strip malls and cookie cutter houses with large manicured front lawns that only the occasional squirrel enjoys. How did the city of Mandeville, that started by the lake with its grand old large homes followed by many smaller cottages on inter-connected streets turn into just more of the same too-large homes on too-large lots in subdivisions that never connect to anything? No more sidewalks or awnings...no more front porches pressed up against the sidewalks encouraging passers-by to stop and visit...no more long walks around the block with the dog...no more community. Is this all we have to look forward to in the future? Is it too late for Mandeville to develop a "sense of place" for all of its residents and not just those fortunate few who still can walk around the block on sidewalks and visit with their neighbors?
Might the vision of architects such as Steve Oubre and Andrés Duany and planners like Peter Calthorpe shift us out of the "suburban sprawl" paradigm and back to communities where people come first? Oubre created the highly-acclaimed River Ranch in Lafayette; he's working on Terra Bella off of Highway 1085 in Covington. Perhaps we'll start to recreate the small town neighborhoods within our cities and parishes before it's too late. And Old Mandeville may be the best place for new Mandeville to look if it wants to recreate the "sense of place" that is missing from our cities and unincorporated areas.

NORTHSHORE Conifer[DECEMBER]

AND JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO PICK UP THE PHONE OR GO TO THE MAIL BOX A LOOK FORWARD TO THE 2008 ELECTION CALENDAR by Sandra Slifer, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF ST. TAMMANY
Just when I thought it was finally safe to pick up the phone or go to the mailbox without a wheel barrow I realized that St. Tammany parish citizens only have a few weeks reprieve before the next election cycle begins in mid-December! No wonder there are so many 2 x 4 campaign sign frames remaining.
Let's take a quick look at the election cycle for 2008 and see what the future holds besides more mail, phone calls, and the ubiquitous campaign signs.
St. Tammany Parish voters in Mandeville and Madisonville will be going to the polls on February 9 to vote for mayoral and council or alderman candidates. Qualifying for these offices is scheduled for December 12 + 14. The City of Mandeville has term limits and not everyone is eligible to run for their current seats. Mayor Eddie Price, Council-at-Large member Trilby Lenfant, and Council Member Jerry Coogan from District A are eligible to run for their current seats in the upcoming election if they choose to do so.
However, Council-at-Large member and Northshore Conifer publisher Denis Bechac, and Council Member District B member Adelaide Boettner, and Council Member District C member Zella Walker are all term-limited out of their current seats. Rumors have circulated for years about different council members desires to one day be Mayor. We'll have to wait until qualifying ends later this month to see how this one shakes out.
The Town of Madisonville is not encumbered by term limits and while the residents have re-elected Mayor Peter Gitz and Aldermen Jerry Lange and Lawrence Ostendorf numerous times, there's been more turn-over in the three remaining seats.
Further complicating the election cycle this spring is the special election to replace Governor-elect Bobby Jindal. Cleo Fields sponsored legislation that put in place a closed primary system for Congressional candidates. Voters in the 1st Congressional District will be the first to participate in the newly-devised election process. Qualifying for this special election is scheduled for January 29 -31, 2008. A whole slew of possible candidates' names have been tossed around. Some, like Slidell Mayor Ben Morris, have already picked their hat up out of the ring. Will this be a race that pits south shore and north shore candidates? Political pundit Clancy du Bose thinks so.
On March 8, registered Republicans will be voting for Republican candidates. However, the Democratic Party has opted to allow Independents and Democrats to vote for Democratic candidates. If no candidate wins more than half the vote in the primary, the top two vote-getters in each party will participate in a primary run-off election that is scheduled for April 5. In this scenario, the top vote-getter in each party will meet in a head-to-head election on May 3. In the second scenario, if a party run-off election is not needed, then the general election is scheduled for April 5. Did you follow all that? We can only hope that citizens will find a way to motivate more of their neighbors to participate in all this democracy in action. I won't bore you with my tirades regarding the benefits of Instant Run-off Voting, but you can visit http://www.fairvote.org to learn more about a much simpler and less expensive approach.
The Legislature has not yet seen fit to eliminate the July 19 propositions-only election date. We're grateful that the January propositions-only date is no more. Hopefully, our new legislators will not buckle to all the special interests seeking to keep a special date in the middle of summer for their tax propositions.
If you're not already exhausted, fall 2008 brings us more candidate elections. Qualifying for the 1st Congressional District, Mary Landrieu's Senate seat, Public Service Commission and all the judicial offices is scheduled for July 9 + 11. The Congressional Party Primary is scheduled for September 6. The Primary run-off for Congressional candidates and the Primary for local candidates are scheduled for October 4. And the busy 2008 election schedule ends on November 4. What a year it shall be!
I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season. I also want to thank Denis and Ashton for all of the effort and determination to shepherd the Northshore Conifer magazine successfully through its first year. I tip my hat to all of the staff and contributing writers for their insights, humor, and hard work each and every month!

NORTHSHORE Conifer[NOVEMBER]

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR HOUSE AND SENATE ELECTED OFFICIALS by Sandra Slifer, President, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF ST. TAMMANY
First, I'd like to offer my congratulations to all the winners of the Primary Election on October 20. You've fought the good fight and bested your competition. If you are on the ballot for the General Election, you now have an opportunity to reach out to voters who didn't agree with your platform. You are learning what it takes to convince voters you are willing to listen to their concerns and fight for them in Baton Rouge.
For some politicians, campaigning is the hardest work they'll do over the next four years. At least until it's time for them to campaign again. For others, campaigning and raising money will be an on-going effort that requires most of their attention, leaving very little time to serve and govern. I'm hoping that these observations will only apply to those other legislators from over there and none of our officials.
Over the course of the past few months, we've listened to all of the candidates proclaim their willingness to serve the people. The words `ethics, insurance reform, smaller government, infrastructure improvement, economic development, health care, better schools, crime, and coastal restoration' have been tossed around like Mardi Gras beads. Now it's time to prove to the citizens that these words aren't just empty promises and begin the hard work of governance.
I have a few specific requests for the newly-elected Senators and Representatives: Please stop the practice of voting other members' machines. It's unfortunate that some members are too busy to be on the floor of the Senate or House for votes, but the citizens who elected them deserve to know that the person they elected isn't there to vote.
When you are sitting at your desk on the floor, please don't spend three hours playing solitary or watching a DVD movie. The citizens up in the balcony can see you and you appear to be very disinterested in serving the public.
Also, will you please stop the practice of allowing legislators to change their votes after the fact? I don't care why you want to change your vote; it's just not an accurate reflection of your voting record.
Please attend the Committee Hearings. This is where the real work is done. Testimony is heard and bills are amended or die in Committee. Remember the quotation by Lord Palmerston, an English Statesman, 1784-1865, "Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests." Seek out allies on an issue by issue basis. If we're going to see the kind of reform that Louisiana needs, there may be some rather unorthodox coalitions that form around this issue or that one. You may only agree on one issue with someone, but you may need that one vote!
A lot of you promised to hold regular public meetings with your constituents. Please don't forget about us before the Legislative session begins. We'd like to meet with you and discuss your strategy and priorities. We'd like your help on amending certain bills that other legislators are proposing. We'd like to ask for your support on some other bills. We want to meet your staff. We're more than happy to work with them on a regular basis as long as we know you're in the loop.
Stop with the Constitutional Amendments already! I realize that our Constitution is a hornet's nest and that seemingly mundane changes have to be put on the ballot because some other well-meaning legislators put them in the Constitution in the first place. Many of these amendments could have been dealt with by statute and just flat-out don't belong in the Constitution. I heard a lot of candidates talk about a Constitutional Convention, but please wait a year or so and gain some experience before dashing headlong down this path. Listen to a lot of different people's ideas before you back any one's proposal. Careers have been made and destroyed during Constitutional Conventions.
Please focus on the important issues that you discussed during your campaign. Do we really need to spend hours or days debating whether the yam or the sweet potato is our State's Root Vegetable? Keep your eye on the big issues when you are pre-filing your bills: coastal restoration, ethics, infrastructure, health care reform, paying down the debt in the retirement systems, and education (especially pre-K and vocational training).
Reach out to a wide variety of organizations and businesses before making a decision. A compromise is probably somewhere in the middle between and among the various options that each proffers. Everyone develops a reputation and to be called `fair-minded' is a compliment, indeed!
My hope is that through your efforts our citizens will be better-educated and our politicians more honest. You will champion rebuilding our vanishing coastline and disappearing wetlands. The hundreds of thousands who live their lives in poverty and hopelessness will have good jobs and health care. Our children will stay in Louisiana to work and raise their families. Our elderly will be given a real choice about staying in their homes or going to a nursing home. And that we stop competing with Texas to see who can have more of their population incarcerated.
I wish you nothing but the best.

NORTHSHORE Conifer[OCTOBER]

IT'S ALL OVER BUT THE VOTING! By Sandra Slifer, President, LEAUGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS® OF ST. TAMMANY By the time you read this article, all nineteen of the Candidate Forums the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS® OF ST. TAMMANY scheduled will be over. We will have listened to sixty-one candidates tell the voters why each one of them is the best person for the job. All of the candidates who were going to respond to the written questions we sent out will have submitted their answers and voters will be examining them on our web site, http://www.lwvst.info. Access St. Tammany will have shown all of the taped forums several times already. People are stopping me in the grocery store and asking me whom to vote for or what does this Constitutional Amendment mean. The League conducted Candidate Forums for the following offices: Senate Districts 1, 6, & 11; House Districts 74, 76, & 77; Attorney General, Slidell Council-at-Large, & Parish President; Commissioners of Agriculture & Insurance; and Parish Council Districts 2, 4, 6, 7, 9,10, 13, & 14. We could not have done this without the support of our members, a few friends, and Access St. Tammany. Thank you all for sharing your time and energy to make this happen. Congratulations must be extended to those candidates who won without opposition. The public has entrusted you to work on our behalf. Your votes and actions will be watched even closer because you didn't go through the rigors of a campaign. I've come across two very good publications I urge everyone to examine before casting their votes this year. The Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana (http://www.la-par.org) has published a guide entitled Election 2007: Questioning Candidates Beyond the Platitudes. The PAR report focuses on five topics: Restructuring Tax and Spending Polices, Strengthening the Workforce through Educational Realignment, Meeting the Standards of Education Accountability, Funding Health Care for the Uninsured, and Funding the Big Ticket Needs (transportation, retirement systems, coastal protection/restoration, and rebuilding storm-damaged areas). IF YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR CANDIDATES' VIEWS ON THESE TOPICS, CALL THEM UP OR SEND THEM AN EMAIL AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY HAVE TO SAY. If they think that campaigning is hard (and it is), just wait until they get to Baton Rouge and they have to craft legislation or understand and pass a budget. Some of these problems have been with us for a very long time and we're no closer to solving them now than we were twenty years ago. The Council for a Better Louisiana (http://www.cabl.org) has published Louisiana Fact Book for the 2007 Election: How do we measure up? How far do we have to go? This twenty-page booklet is filled with graphs, statistics, and issues that should be important to the candidates and voters alike. CABL makes a convincing case for Universal Pre-K, workforce training, and reforming our tax structure, including the highest-in-the-country homestead exemption. Ethics Reform is or should be on the top of everyone's list of needed reforms. I don't believe that Louisiana politicians are necessarily more corrupt than everyone else (I grew up in northern Illinois!), but Hollywood has made movies starring our crooks and our reputation for embracing the scoundrels precedes us. It's time to demand more of ALL of our elected officials: accountability, financial disclosure, and lobbyist reform. After reading this report, just ask yourself if you want Louisiana to be ranked the same or worse in four years. Be an informed voter this year. Isn't it worth an hour or two of your time to learn what each candidate intends to do with your money, your coast and wetlands, your children's education, your health care, your job, and your government? Louisiana citizens deserve and must demand the best of our elected officials.
ANNOUNCEMENT: The League of Women Voters is having an Election Day Garage Sale on Saturday, October 20 beginning at 7:00a.m. League members have sorted through their closets, dressers, cupboards, attics, and garages and our junk just might be your treasure! All proceeds benefit the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany Education Fund. Candidate and proposition information will be available! ELECTION DAY GARAGE SALE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 20 7:00A.M. until ? 25402 HIGHWAY 190 BIG BRANCH (between Mandeville and Lacombe)

NORTHSHORE Conifer[SEPTEMBER]

Top Ten Reasons Why People Don't Vote
I know a lot of people who don't regularly vote. Most of them know that I'm President of the League of Women Voters here in St. Tammany. It seems as if they think I'll tell them that it's okay. I listen politely while they relate all of the reasons why they don't vote. And I think I've heard them all a thousand times. Here are some of the reasons people use the most.
1. I don't like politics. What does this mean? Does the person not like politicians? Do they know any politicians? And what difference does that make? Webster's Dictionary has several definitions of politics: the art or science of government, and the total complex of relations between people in society. Government and therefore, politics, directly influences your daily life at least as much as family, business, or religion. Politics determines the conditions of your roads, whether there is a park close to your neighborhood, and if your son or daughter might be asked to go to war. If you take the broadest definition of politics you could say that we are all engaged in the political process whenever we exchange goods and services and behave in a civil and respectful manner with other people. It's a part of the daily fabric of our lives.
2. It doesn't matter . They're all the same. I know a lot of people and except for some identical twins, none of them are "the same". I'm always amazed when I hear someone say that they would never vote for either a Democrat or a Republican. Candidates aren't stamped from cookie cutters (or shouldn't be, at any rate). Some candidates have studied the science of government, but not the art. Others have only the art and none of the science. Some candidates turn into politicians who craft good laws and persuade enough of their colleagues to vote for laws that make a difference in your life. Think back to the great statesmen; each of them has or had a way of making everyone around them smarter and better.
3. My vote doesn't count. History has proved this statement wrong so many times. John F. Kennedy won the Presidency in 1960 by getting one more vote per precinct in Illinois; Texas won statehood in 1845 by just one vote; and women won the right to vote in 1920 by a single vote. There are thousands of instances from around the world where one vote has made the difference. Do we need election law reform? Absolutely. By now, everyone who reads this column knows that I'm a strong supporter of Instant Runoff Voting. The League of Women Voters also supports redistricting reform, campaign finance reform, and the abolishment of the Electoral College system for Presidential elections. The only way for change to occur is by voting in politicians who share these views.
4. I don't have time to learn about the issues and candidates. These are the people who will determine what level of services you will receive and how much it will cost you. These propositions and Constitutional Amendments become laws that you and your children have to live with for many years in some cases. Read the newspaper, attend a candidates' forum, search the internet, or at least ask a friend what they are going to do and why. I wouldn't trust some of these candidates to feed my cats for a weekend let alone ask them to solve the healthcare or transportation crisis.
5. My spouse and I always disagree and we just cancel out each other's votes. Honest, I'm not lying, this is one of the most common reasons I hear every year. Generally speaking, the candidate who receives the most votes wins. That means that your vote gets added up with a lot of other people's votes and that's how a winner is determined. Just because you and your spouse vote differently, doesn't mean you cancel each other's votes out. Go vote.
6. I just don't have time. You can vote early. I know it's a little tricky trying to figure out when Early Voting begins, but go to your Registrar of Voters office two weeks before the election. For the October 20 election coming up, Early Voting is October 8 through the 13. It's no longer called absentee voting so you don't have to make up a reason why you can't vote on Election Day. Just go and vote.
7. My spouse votes for me. I kid you not. I've had women tell me that their husbands take care of this, like it's the same thing as emptying the garbage or mowing the lawn. Women struggled to win the right to vote from the time of Abigail Adams when she warned her husband John, "to remember the ladies" when the Constitution was being written and right through to the end when Carrie Chapman Catt (the founder of the League of Women Voters) and millions of others finally convinced enough states to ratify the 19th Amendment.
8. I'm not registered to vote because I don't want to serve on jury duty. I usually just ask them if they have a driver's license and when they say yes, I tell them they have just as much chance of being called for jury duty as someone who is registered to vote.
9. I'm working for change outside the system. Oftentimes, the person who says this is wearing a t-shirt with a huge red A on it for anarchy. I sympathize with young people. We've made a huge mess of a lot of things: the environment, taxes, schools, and health care, to name just a few. We need your new ideas because we're obviously not getting the job done. It's up to each of us to inspire our 18-24 year olds to get involved in the political process.
10. And last time, I didn't know there was an election. Campaign signs litter every foot of the highways. Old bumper stickers are being removed and new ones are showing up. You Tube, the internet, newspapers, radios, and televisions are filled with election talk. How does this happen? Are their days and nights so filled with work or play that this news just passes them by?
Be an informed and active voter this October. For a list of candidate forums and more information, visit our web site, http://www.lwvst.info.

NORTHSHORE Conifer[August]

SURVEY RESULTS HOLD SOME SURPRISES!
I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to fill out and mail in their survey from the June issue of the Northshore Conifer; some of you even took the time to write extended answers. The survey results will be one of the tools we use when developing the questions for the candidate forums this fall. While the total number of surveys turned in was small, I thought I'd take this opportunity to share some of the results with you this month.
The top three issues for St. Tammany and Tangipahoa residents for the next Governor were Coastal Restoration, Health Care Reform, and Ethics Reform. Transportation and Economic Development rounded out the top five priorities. There was very little support for maintaining all the current four year colleges, making LSU a world class research university, or for funding universal pre-K.
Respondents overwhelmingly voted that the chief task for the Lt. Governor should be to focus on Tourism. The results were about evenly split between Recreation and Culture. Readers thought the Secretary of State should put more energy into increasing voter turn-out. Again, decreasing the number of elections and, much to my surprise and delight, working on instant run-off voting, were tied for the number two priority.
Support for requiring insurance companies to reduce people's homeowner insurance provided they have purchased flood insurance topped the list of priorities for the Insurance Commissioner. Running a strong second was increasing the number of insurance companies writing policies in Louisiana followed by lowering premiums for Citizens.
Results for the Agriculture Commissioner were very evenly spread out among the four issues: outlaw cockfighting, support for the Forestry industry in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa, continued support for other agricultural uses for land in St. Tammany and Tangipahoa, and to focus on integrity and ethics.
Most people think that the Treasurer should continue to pay down debt followed closely by continuing efforts to improve the state's bond rating. When it comes to the BESE Board, hands-down, most people want to see the state move towards merit pay raises for teachers. The second priority for our readers was to require school districts to allocate increased resources for schools that are under-performing when compared to other schools in their district. While there was strong support for this position, one person took the time to write an extended response stating that under-performing schools should have to account for every penny they spend and bring back prayer and discipline!
The results for the State Senators and Representatives mirrored those for the Governor making Coastal Restoration and Ethics Reform the top two priorities. There was mild support for paying down the debt in the public retirement funds, but there was no widespread consensus either for or against a limited constitutional convention, election law reform, reducing taxes, increasing the Rainy Day Fund, or reducing four year colleges and increasing junior colleges. And bipartisan cooperation doesn't seem to be high on very many people's radar screens.
The League of Women Voters has advocated reducing the homestead exemption for many years. It only makes sense that local governments should generate the revenue that is needed to provide for local services. And apparently we're making some progress in this area since working to decrease the homestead exemption tied with leaving the homestead exemption alone for the top priorities for the Assessor. There was very little support expressed for the Assessor to focus on increasing the homestead exemption. We're probably not there yet, but it's nice to know that people are beginning to question whether it's better to send money to Baton Rouge and then wait for it to be sent back to the parishes or if more of the money should be raised and spent locally.
Again, the results for the Clerk of Court were evenly divided between decreasing the number of elections and increasing voter turnout. It appears that there's still more work to do before the voters get behind the idea of reducing the number of hours the polls are open. When it comes to the Sheriff, increasing patrols and investigations in known drug hot-spots only narrowly edged out enforcing traffic laws.
When it comes to the Parish President and the Parish Council, there is broad support for Ethics Reforms that includes full disclosure of involvement in real estate transactions and other economic development ventures. Running a very strong second as an issue for the Parish President was support for the adoption of a Master Plan to guide development. While support was very strong for financial disclosures for the parish council, there was some support for changing the terms of the Zoning Commission members to not coincide with the council members. In fact, one person felt that Zoning Commission members should be limited to a single four year term!
I'm sure we'll see many more scientific polls in the coming months, but it was very interesting to see what topics mattered to the people who mailed in the surveys. Perhaps we'll find a way to provide for an on-line survey in the future that will make it easier for the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany to obtain more public input.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at lwvsttammany@hotmail.com or give me a call at (985) 875-9388 and let me know what's important to you. Please continue to visit our web site for more information.

NORTHSHORE Conifer[JULY]

CANDIDATE FORUMS SCHEDULED
First, we'd like to thank everyone who turned in a survey from last month's Northshore Conifer. We'll report the survey results in next month's column.
To everything there is a season and the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS® OF ST. TAMMANY is about to enter our most-active election year cycle this fall. All forums are scheduled for the Parish Administrative Complex Parish Council Chambers located at Koop Drive. They will be taped and shown on the Access Channel (Charter Communications Channel 10). In order to have time to run as many forums as many times as possible, the time allotments for the forums will be as follows:
If there are two candidates: forum length will be 30 minutes.
If there are three candidates: forum length will be 45 minutes.
If there are four or more candidates: forum length will be 1 hour.
PLEASE CONSULT THE CALENDAR SECTION OF THIS SITE FOR UPDATED INFORMATION ABOUT DATES/TIMES FOR THE FORUMS
Schedule of Candidate Forums:
Monday, Sept. 17 3PM Senate District 12
Monday, Sept. 17 4PM Senate District 6
Monday, Sept. 17 5PM Senate District 11
Monday, Sept. 17 6PM Senate District 1
Thursday, Sept. 20 2PM House Rep. District 75
Thursday, Sept. 20 3PM House Rep. District 74
Thursday, Sept. 20 4PM House Rep. District 76
Thursday, Sept. 20 5PM House Rep. District 77
Thursday, Sept. 20 6PM House Rep. District 89
Thursday, Sept. 20 7PM House Rep. District 90
Monday, Sept. 24 2PM Coroner
Monday, Sept. 24 3PM Clerk of Court
Monday, Sept. 24 4PM Assessor
Monday, Sept. 24 5PM Sheriff
Thursday, Sept. 27 1PM Commissioner of Agriculture
Thursday, Sept. 27 2PM Commissioner of Insurance
Thursday, Sept. 27 3PM BESE #1
Thursday, Sept. 27 4PM Parish Council #1
Thursday, Sept. 27 5PM Parish Council #4
Thursday, Sept. 27 6PM Parish President
Monday, October 1 2PM Parish Council #14
Monday, October 1 3PM Parish Council #12
Monday, October 1 4PM Parish Council #8
Monday, October 1 5PM Parish Council #11
Monday, October 1 6PM Parish Council #13
Monday, October 1 7PM Parish Council #9
Wed, October 3 2PM Parish Council #10
Wed, October 3 3PM Parish Council #7
Wed, October 3 4PM Parish Council #5
Wed, October 3 5PM Parish Council #3
Wed, October 3 6PM Parish Council #2
Wed, October 3 7PM Parish Council #6
While we don't anticipate all thirty-two races to be contested, there is a high probability that we will be doing more candidate forums this fall than we've ever done before. We will, of course, be reaching out to other non-profit organizations for co-sponsorship opportunities.
Unlike many other forums, the League always asks candidates to respond to a series of questions in writing. The survey responses will be one of the tools we'll use to develop these questions. The written responses may be picked up at the forums and local libraries and they are posted on our web site, http://www.lwvst.info. The written answers are retained and provide a basis to compare rhetoric with actions for those fortunate enough to be elected.
All of this entails a great deal of work and some expense. If you have been thinking about joining the League of Women Voters of St. Tammany, now would be a great time to down-load the membership application and send in your completed application and check. Each forum requires a minimum of seven volunteer workers (moderator, screeners, time-keeper, greeters and question collectors). When you add the time it takes to develop and write candidate questions, contact the candidates, gather and collate their answers, and then get them printed and distributed, perhaps you can see the strain this puts on even the most-dedicated group of volunteers. Quite frankly, we could use your help!
League members not only receive information and participate in local issues, but are also a part of the national and state Leagues. Membership dues are not tax-deductible, but we are able to use tax-deductible donations to the LWVST Education Fund to pay for all of the expenses associated with candidate forums.
CANDIDATES: PLEASE SEND ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND OTHER CONTACT INFORMATION NOW. The League's email address is lwvsttammany@hotmail.com. It takes a long time to reach each candidate by phone. If I have your email address, I'll send you the questions the day you qualify to run.
CITIZENS: PLEASE COME TO THE FORUMS AND BRING A FRIEND WITH YOU. This is your opportunity to listen and watch the candidates respond to issues important to you. I know that many people watch the forums on television. I'm also sure that some of you are shouting at the television set and would have liked an opportunity to write down your question and listen to the candidates' answers.
Most of all, please take the time to register to vote if you're a new resident of St. Tammany. Everyone thinks that we've experienced a huge increase in population. Registration ends 30 days prior to the election. Don't get caught up in the back-to-school rush and let this deadline pass. Do it now while you're thinking about it. There is a link on our web site where you'll find voter registration information and a down-loadable form.
In addition to the candidate selections, St. Tammany voters' parish-wide will be asked to renew taxes for the Mosquito Abatement District and the Library System as well as a possible change to the Home Rule Charter regarding term limits. Some voters will also face tax issues concerning fire protection and recreation districts.
JULY PROGRAM: What Can Land Conservation Organizations Do For You? Come and learn about the four non-profit land conservation organizations operating in St. Tammany and how you can retain the use of your land and reduce your taxes. Please visit http://www.lwvst.info to learn more about this exciting program. Time, date, and place information will be posted when available.

NORTHSHORE Conifer[APRIL]

Representative Peppi Bruneau's early resignation from the Louisiana Legislature is just the latest in a long list of Louisiana senators and representatives who have jumped ship early because of the looming term limits that kick in this fall. U.S. Senator David Vitter championed the Legislative term-limits when he was a member of the Louisiana House back in 1995. Fifteen states voted to impose term limits on their State Legislatures during the 1990s. In Louisiana, this legislation limited lawmakers to no more than three four-year terms beginning in 1996.
The full impact of this vote will finally be seen during this fall's elections. Term limits will result in 15 Senate seats and 47 House seats changing hands. Since 1995 when term limits were enacted, there have been more than 35 interim elections to replace legislators. Between 2004 and 2007, 10 House members have left office early; 4 of them have been elected to other offices. In 2006 alone, 2 House members and 6 Senators ran for other selected offices. Twenty-one House members have already declared their intentions to run for the Senate this fall.
I visited the Louisiana State Legislature website to learn more (http://www.legis.state.la.us). Rep. Mike Strain is a member of the House Special Committee on Preparing for Term Limits. NOTE: Strain is eligible to serve in the Legislature through 2012, however he has declared his intentions to run against Bob Odom.
There are a small number of very-long serving legislators who wield considerable influence, power, and knowledge. For twenty years (976 + 1996), voters chose new representatives 25% - 33% of the time. The average seniority ranged from 20 to 28 years. Since 1996, turnover has decreased to less than 20% while the average seniority has increased from 28 years to 32 years. This fall, approximately 45% of all House members will be new and the average seniority will drop to around 10 years.
The House Term Limits Committee has identified four major goals: Institutional Knowledge: the lack of knowledge about the workings of the House structure, operation, and management has the current House leaders concerned about their power in the future. The executive branch has gained power in almost all of the states that have instituted legislative term limits, particularly when it comes to the area of budgets.
Legislative Independence: The Committee is reviewing "the why's and how's of the Governor's control of the legislature. A lot of us `good-government types' are wondering why the Legislature hasn't stopped to figure this one out a long time ago.
Partisanship: Partisan politics haven't played a dominant role in the Louisiana Legislature in the past, but we're "witnessing the birth of member partisanship". The Committee is examining the best and the worst and the "not-so-good" partisan activities of other states. Their goal is to adopt a planned transition to a partisan organized and managed House of Representatives.
Improving the Institution: the Committee is looking at best practices in other states as it pertains to practices, procedures, and behavior--better late than never!
We're not going to discuss how increasing the level of partisanship will improve the institution in this article--some things are better left to ponder over a stiff drink!
So, what does all this mean to St. Tammany and Tangipahoa voters? The only Senator that is term-limited in our area is Tom Schedler. Senator Schedler was elected to the Senate in 1996. Our other senators were elected to the Senate in 2004-5: Walter Boasso, Ben Nevers, and Julie Quinn. Boasso is running for Governor. Nevers, while new to the Senate, was in the House for a number of years.
On the House side, Robby Carter, Tank Powell, Pete Schneider, and Diane Winston are all serving their last terms in the House. As mentioned above, Mike Strain has announced that he's running against Bob Odom this fall. A.G. Crowe and Tom McVee are both eligible to run for one additional term in 2007 if they so choose. Tim Burns and Harold Ritchie were both elected in 2003 and are eligible to serve through 2016. election.
Will lobbyists have more or less influence with the new legislators? Will the new legislators trust the non-partisan staff or will they only work with the partisan staff members? Will the legislators take the time to get to know one another? Will the more experienced legislators mentor the new legislators? Will Democrats and Republicans work together to solve the State's problems or will the wheels grind to a halt in a fit of partisan bickering? Will the Legislature find a way to train their new members to assume leadership positions?
Will St. Tammany and Tangipahoa have new clout? Will any of our legislators chair committees? Which parishes and regions of the state will be the winners and losers after all this shakes out? Will the 2008 Legislature be ready to tackle the tough issues facing Louisiana regarding insurance, coastal restoration, education, and rebuilding? Stay tuned. The next few months promise to be an exciting ride for all of us here in Louisiana.

NORTHSHORE Conifer [MARCH]

HIGH COSTS OF MULTIPLE ELECTIONS
On March 31, the citizens of St. Tammany begin a cycle of candidate elections that will shape our Parish for the next four years. The city of Covington, village of Sun, and the 7th District Parish Council seat vacated by Joe Impastato will serve as the warm-up to this fall's elections for our parish-wide and statewide elected politicians.
According to the St. Tammany Parish Registrar of Voters Office as of February 9 there are 6, 150 registered voters in Covington and 11, 019 people registered to vote in the 7th Parish Council District. I wondered how many of these registered voters would take the time to exercise their right to vote? Would even half of the people eligible to vote take the time to go to the Registrar's Office and vote early or go to the polls on March 31? And what if there's a run-off election on Saturday, May 5 for the 7th District Parish Council seat or the at-large seats in Covington? Would even 25% of the voters bother casting their votes?
Recent history tells us that voter turnout has been steadily decreasing nationwide. America, the home of democracy, has fallen off the charts when it comes to voter participation in our elections. This was my original assumption and then like so many times, the facts interrupted my rant. Researcher Dr. Michael McDonald, an Assistant Professor at George Mason University and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, claims that the US Census Bureau is calculating the percentage of voters by using the Voting Age Population or VAP and that it's skewing the numbers. Dr. McDonald and his United States Election Project use a different criteria called the Voting Eligible Population or VEP to calculate voter turnout and states that voter turnout in the United States has remained stable for the past three decades: 55.3% of eligible voters have voted in Presidential elections and 39.4% in mid-terms. (Reported in the washingtonpost.com on Sunday, October 29, 2006.)
So what's the difference between the VAP and the VEP you might ask and why should I care and does it make any difference? The answer is...maybe, but the data is still grim for Louisiana no matter how it's counted. Dr. McDonald's data subtracts non-citizens and convicted felons from the Voting Age Population to arrive at his figures. In 1972, non-citizens and felons accounted for about 2% of the US population; today that figure is closer to 10%. According to McDonald's stats, Louisiana has a small percentage of non-citizens (1.37%), but when you add up the people in prison, probation, on parole, and those classified as ineligible felons, the figure is 181,070 people who are not eligible to cast votes. (For complete information on the United States Elections Project, visit their website: http://www.elections.gmu.edu)
All right, now that I've debunked my original premise that voter turnout has declined dramatically since the 70's; just what does Louisiana's voter turnout picture look like and what can be done to improve voter participation? Again, according to Dr. McDonald, Louisiana still ranked last in the 2006 election with a dismal VEP Rate of 27.5% in the November 2006 election. Minnesota had the highest VEP Rate in the nation with 59.97%. It should be noted that statewide politicians were on the ballot in Minnesota. Fair Vote (http://www.fairvote.org) had a slightly higher figure for Louisiana voters who cast a ballot for a US Congressional Representative: 39.1%, still dead last.
Quoting Dr. McDonald from an October 31, 2006 washingtonpost.com article, he states "Building competitive elections--and giving voters real choices--will do much to increase voter turnout in American politics. There are a number of reforms on the table: redistricting to create competitive districts, campaign financing to give candidates equal resources, and even altering the electoral system to fundamentally change how a vote elects representatives. If voters want choice and a government more responsive to their needs, they should consider how these seemingly arcane election procedures have real consequences on motivating them to do the most fundamental democratic action: vote."
One of the first things we need to examine in Louisiana is the number of elections that voters are asked to participate in any given year. We've got two election dates reserved for propositions (January and July); we've got spring and fall primary and general elections (four more dates) and we've just added a closed primary election date for Congressional races in 2008! Many countries around the world only ask their voters to come to the polls once every five years! No wonder there's a higher voter turnout in other countries. We're asked to participate in this most-valued pillar of democracy--voting--way too often in Louisiana. And this is evidenced by our ranking last in voter turnout.
What are some of the reforms that Dr. McDonald mentioned? One of the most talked about reforms is called Instant Runoff Voting or IRV for short. Basically, IRV determines a majority winner in a single election instead of asking voters to return to the polls and choose between the top two vote getters. Louisiana requires that a candidate win a majority of the votes cast (at least 50.1%) in winner take-all districts. When no one candidate reaches this thresh-hold, the voters have to cast their ballots again just a few short weeks later and voter turnout drops significantly. IRV allows voters to rank the candidates in order of preference. According to Fair Vote "if no candidate receives a majority of the votes based on voters' first choices, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. The votes are then recalculated using the second choices of voters who originally favored the eliminated candidate. This process is repeated until a candidate receives a majority." If the voter's first choice doesn't win a majority of the vote, he or she has already made their selection for 2nd, 3rd, etc. choices.
Fair Vote has identified several benefits of using IRV to determine a majority winner in a single election. These include saving money for candidates and governing bodies, eliminating hassle, maximizing voter turnout, reducing the campaign cycle, and allowing for the possibility of a compromise candidate. Candidates are more likely to respond to voters' concerns even when they know they aren't likely to be the voters' first choice in order to move up and perhaps become their second choice selection. IRV also eliminates the impact of the "spoiler" candidate: those candidates who don't have a realistic shot at winning, but simply drain votes away from other candidates and sometimes changing the election results.
IRV has broad bi-partisan and non-partisan support. Supporters include Senator John McCain, R-Arizona, Democratic chairman Howard Dean, and Senator Barack Obama, D-Illinois. The local and state League of Women Voters chapters have supported IRV every time it has come up for a vote. IRV is used in Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It has been used for municipal elections in San Francisco since 2003. The Republican Party in Utah uses IRV to select their Congressional nominations. IRV has been on the ballot eight times since March 2002 and voters have approved it every time. In November 2007, voters in such diverse cities and counties as Pierce County,WA, Oakland,CA, Minneapolis,MN and Davis,CA voted in favor of Instant Runoff Voting.
Lest some of you are questioning if it is Constitutional for voters to rank multiple candidates, the Supreme Court has ruled that because a person only gets one vote in each round of vote counting that it is legal. Also, all major voting machine companies can meet the technical requirements for IRV because they have all submitted bids that required this capability. It is up to our election officials to require that all voting machines that are purchased are "machine ready" to handle IRV and proportional voting systems.
And now for the surprising good news: Louisiana is actually a leader in using IRV! Due to our shortened election cycles between the primary and general elections and the Department of Justice's insistence that military personnel be afforded the right to cast ballots in the primary and general elections, soldiers overseas have been using IRV ballots since the early 1990's successfully. Louisiana has also extended this right to citizens living abroad.
The next time a politician bemoans our lack of money and poor voter turnout, ask him or her why we don't have Instant Runoff Voting. But in the meantime, all you voters in Covington, Sun, and Parish Council District 7: please vote in the March 31 and May 5 elections.

NORTHSHORE Conifer [FEBRUARY]

"Action without study is fatal. Study without action is futile." Mary Ritter Beard, Historian (1876 + 1958)
I've heard this quotation many times during my association with the League and I never thought about it very much. Many Leagues feature it prominently on their websites and letterhead. I agree with it, but I think I would have added that if you don't get consensus in-between the study and the action that you'd have gridlock or something worse. Last month I used the word `consensus' in my article to describe the process the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERSâ uses to arrive at a position from which we can then take action. We've heard the term consensus used a lot lately to describe the work of the Iraq Study Group and the 9-11 Commission. The St. Tammany citizens who participated in New Directions 2025 arrived at consensus positions. What actually is consensus and why does it produce results some of the time and other times, the work seems forgotten or ignored? I decided that the dictionary was a good place to start - Consensus: general agreement; the judgment arrived at by most of those concerned; group solidarity in sentiment and belief.
I was struck by the second definition--the judgment arrived at by MOST OF THOSE CONCERNED. If we accept this definition of consensus then it would seem that the key to consensus is assembling the proper group of individuals to agree to participate in the study and consensus process. But is this practical or is it too difficult? When the League comes to consensus on an issue, we use all of the resources and information that the study group has unearthed. Consensus is messy; consensus takes too much time; we disagree with the conclusions that others reach; we argue passionately to try to persuade others to agree with our point of view. Sometimes, we reach an impasse and have to move on to another part of the discussion and return to the sticking point with more information and calmer heads and hearts. But throughout this process, only League members' voices are heard. And yet, Leagues all over the country have many success stories and most had to start with consensus.
MOST OF THOSE CONCERNED...small group...larger group...the nautilus. The spirals that form the center of the nautilus are very tightly coiled; as the nautilus increases in size, the spirals continue to get larger and larger. Perhaps if we use the example of the nautilus to describe successful consensus building, we'll see that consensus among a small group of people is usually necessary to begin the discussion. As the small group takes action based on the consensus that was reached, other interested parties, or stakeholders enter the discussion. Alternate views are heard. Will the nautilus continue to grow or is it destined to remain a tightly coiled spiral content that it achieved consensus?
In order to grow, the nautilus must create another larger spiral. This is the time for creating a larger study group, examining the data, and reaching consensus within the larger group. This process may have to continue many times and when the subject matter is dynamic and fast moving, a stable condition may be achieved only when the process continues to re-evaluate the results and seeks to be more inclusive instead of restricting access and ideas.
Let's use New Directions 2025 as an example of this process. Granted, hundreds of citizens participated in the meetings that were held in the late `90s. However, this is still a small sub-set of MOST OF THOSE CONCERNED. What would have happened if developers, businesses, non-profits, and government had joined the discussion as it was happening? Perhaps the meetings would have continued with more involvement by a larger number of stakeholders and St. Tammany Parish would reflect the vision expressed by New Directions 2025.
All right, let's say that it's just not practical for such a large group of people to meet. Busy people...no time...be realistic. What if the Steering Committee for New Directions 2025 had included the Zoning Commission members and the Planning Staff? What if the Homebuilders' Association and the Chambers of Commerce had seats at the table?
Would St. Tammany look different than it does today or will look in the next few years when the developments that have been approved are finally built? Would the comprehensive re-zoning for the parish be finished instead of just beginning a three-year process? Would St. Tammany have adopted a policy that the infrastructure must be in place BEFORE construction begins instead of promising to have some of the infrastructure in place before some of the buildings get occupancy permits? Would the Parish Council have to decide 10-12 Zoning Appeals every month and would Parish Council members be engaged in "let's make a deal" instead of sending cases back to the Zoning Commission to be re-worked?
I don't have the answers to any of these questions, No one does. We'll never know because we never achieved consensus from MOST OF THOSE CONCERNED. The process was crippled by not making the spiral larger and including a greater number of stakeholders in the process. We are now faced with a new three-year process to re-zone the parish. Will the meetings be filled with only the residents who live in the area or will more of the stakeholders take part in the discussions? Will it be messy? YES! Will it take longer? Probably not. We know that all of the stakeholders will have a say in the process ultimately. The parish fooled a thousand active citizens with New Directions 2025. This time around, the parish is bigger and the citizens are madder. It's time for the stakeholders to sit at the table together and figure this out.
Perhaps the next time a special session of the Legislature is called, we will arrive at consensus ahead of time. And perhaps before we spend billions of dollars and risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, we will arrive at consensus.

NORTHSHORE Conifer[JANUARY]

The LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS® of St. Tammany (LWVST) congratulates Denis Bechac on his new endeavor, the NORTHSHORE Conifer. Thanks for the opportunity to help educate the citizens of St. Tammany about the issues confronting us every day.
The LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS is a non-partisan political organization born directly out of the women's suffragist movement. The founder of the League, Carrie Chapman Catt, worked tirelessly for women's suffrage starting in 1890 when she was just thirty-one years old. She became Susan Anthony's protégé and focused her attention on organization and structure for the thousands of independent-minded groups and individuals fighting for women to have the right to vote. In 1919, when passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was imminent, Catt shifted her attention to a new women's auxiliary organization, the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS. The purpose of the League was to educate new voters; encourage the informed and active participation of citizens in government; increase public understanding of major public policy issues; and influence public policy through education and advocacy. These same objectives are true today.
Even though the League is non-partisan and doesn't support (or work against) candidates, we do speak out, sometimes vigorously, on issues we have thoroughly studied and on which we have arrived at a consensus position. We have positions on Representative Government, International Relations, Natural Resources, and Social Policy. In St. Tammany, we have been actively campaigning for more open government, better planning, and a more informed citizenry.
One of our positions concerns our support of the Home Rule Charter form of government. Even when voters chose to return to the Police Jury System in 1983, LWVST advocated a return to the Home Rule Charter form of government. Basically, the Home Rule Charter forms the structure of our parish government and acts as our Constitution. League members participated in the weekly meetings conducted by the St. Tammany Parish Home Rule Charter Commission back in 1978-79 and again in 1997-98. After careful consideration, debate, and deliberation over the document that was produced by the 1998 Commission, LWVST publicly endorsed the proposed Charter and worked with many other groups and individuals to educate and motivate the voters to approve the Charter in October 1998. We didn't agree with every section of the document, but there were provisions for changing the document that could be initiated by the citizens or the parish council and it represented a giant step forward for St. Tammany. (The charter may be read at the parish libraries or can be down-loaded at the parish website, http://www.stpgov.org.)
Here we are approaching 2007 and no serious effort or even discussion about changing the Charter has yet been entertained. The Bureau of Governmental Research (http://www.bgr.org) published a St. Tammany Parish Home Rule Charter Assessment Report in 2002. BGR and LWVST (http://www.lwvst.info) have similar recommendations for major Charter Changes: . BGR RECOMMENDATIONS LWVST RECOMMENDATIONS Independent Legal Counsel Independent Legal Counsel Council Size and Composition Reduction in Council Size to 9 Reapportionment--Time Frame Reapportionment--Independent Consultant Comprehensive Planning No Term Limits for Parish President
Councilmember Henry Billiot discussed a couple of charter amendments in August 2006 in The St. Tammany Farmer. Like BGR and the League, Billiot recommends a smaller council comprised of seven district and two at-large council members. He also proposes that term limits be applied to both the Council and the President or neither. (Currently, the Parish President is limited to three four-year terms, but there are no limits as to how many times a council member may be elected.)
LWVST is hosting a panel discussion and public forum on MONDAY, JANUARY 22 from 6 + 8 P.M. at the Parish Council Chambers at 21490 Koop Drive to discuss possible changes to the Charter. Confirmed panelists include Janet Howard, the President and CEO of BGR and Henry Billiot, 10th District Parish Councilman. Unconfirmed panelists at press time, include Parish President Kevin Davis, a second parish council member, and a former member of the Home Rule Charter Commission. The League will also have a representative on the panel. The program will be taped and shown on the ACCESS! Channel, Charter Communications channel 10.
Any proposal to amend the charter may either be initiated by petition by 20% of the registered voters or by a two- thirds vote of the council. All amendments must be approved by a majority vote of the electors voting on any proposal. The public is invited to participate in the discussion. Written questions may be submitted in advance by emailing them to lwvsttammany@hotmail.com or turned in during the panel discussion.

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