League of Woman Voters of Northampton Area

Commonwealth Conversations-Tuesday, March 28, 6:15-8:15 p.m.
2017-03-28 06:15 - 20:15 (America/New_York) | UMass Student Union Ballroom, 280 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA, 01002
State Senators from around the Western Massachusetts will be listening to what you have to say, and working hard to make sure they carry your voices and your ideas back to Beacon Hill. Senator Don Humason, Senator Adam Hinds, Senator Eric Lesser, Senator Jim Welch, and Senate President Stan Rosenberg will hold a Town Hall Forum at the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Student Union Ballroom, 280 Hicks Way from 6:15-8:15 on Tuesday, March 28th. This is your opportunity to have your voice heard.

League of Women Voters Board Meeting
2017-03-21 19:00 - 21:00 | MA
The Board will be meeting on Tuesday, March 21 at 7 pm at Osa Flory’s home, 82 Petticoat Hill Road, Williamsburg. All are welcomed to attend.

Postponement of LWV Northampton Area Board Meeting
2017-03-15 19:00 - 21:00 | 139 Berkshire Ave, Springfield, MA
Due to a lack of a quorum, this is a cancellation notice of the meeting of the Board of the League of Women Voters of the Northampton Area that had been scheduled for Wednesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at the home of Osa Flory, 82 Petticoat Hill Rd., Willliamsburg. We will reschedule and post the date as soon as we know.

Exploring the Electoral College: a forum
2017-02-07 18:30 - 20:00 | Brightwood Branch Library, 359 Plainfield St., Springfield, MA, United States
Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election marked the second time in 16 years that the winner of the popular vote has lost the election in the Electoral College. This disconnect between winning the vote of the nation’s electors and winning the vote of the nation’s people has prompted renewed calls to abolish the Electoral College.

All 50 states and every other democracy in the world directly elects its leaders by popular vote. So, keep the Electoral College or dump it? The League of Women Voters/Springfield and the Springfield City Library bring together a panel in a free public forum to explore this important question Tuesday, Feb. 7, 6:30-8 p.m., at the Brightwood Branch Library, 359 Plainfield St., Springfield.

Doing a deep dive into the pros and cons of our unique American institution will be State Senator Eric Lesser (D-Longmeadow), who has called upon the state Senate to petition Congress to abolish the Electoral College, and political scientists Amel Ahmed and Jesse Rhodes from UMass Amherst, and Adam Hilton from Mount Holyoke College.

“The League of Women Voters of the United States believes that the direct-popular-vote method for electing the President and Vice-President is essential to representative government,” says panel organizer Linda Matys O’Connell, convener of the League of Women Voters/Springfield. “We also believe people need real information to make good decisions about our government, so we are eager for an in-depth airing of the issues surrounding the Electoral College with our thoughtful panelists.”

Senator Lesser also hopes to spur an exchange of ideas: “Given the importance of empowering voters to believe every vote counts in a presidential election, the repeal of the Electoral College merits a thorough discussion and examination. My hope is that this Resolution contributes to such a discussion,” he said in a statement when he filed his Senate resolution.

To kick off Tuesday’s discussion, Professor Rhodes will lay groundwork and provide context by presenting a short history of the origin and functioning of the Electoral College, and Senator Lesser will present his rationale for calling for its abolishment.

Professor Ahmed, will speak in its defense. She argued recently in the journal “The American Prospect”: “While the disconnect between the electoral and popular votes may be cause for alarm, abolishing the Electoral College poses even greater dangers, particularly for liberals. . . . Indeed, the Electoral College is one of the greatest guarantees our system delivers to ensure that minority interests are represented in the office of the presidency.”

Mount Holyoke’s Hilton notes that one of his students described the hybrid American presidential election system as a “Frankensystem.” While he acknowledges that the system is “needlessly complicated, and operates in a way now that it was not designed to do,” he will focus on the pitfalls of substituting what he calls “technical solutions” like Electoral College reform for solutions to social-political problems.

“I think the grievances of the citizens are something we have to think really carefully about—what kinds of political arrangements, compromises, and deep fundamental changes need to happen for those grievances to be addressed in a positive way,” he said in an interview with Mount Holyoke’s Keely Savoie.

About the panelists
Jesse Rhodes is an association professor of political science at UMass Amherst. His major areas of scholarly interest are social policy, voting rights policy, economic inequality and political behavior.

Amel Ahmed is an associate professor of political science at UMass Amherst. Her main area of specialization is democratic studies particularly the politics of institutional choice in the process of democratization.

Adam Hilton is a visiting instructor of political science at Mount Holyoke College. He focuses on electoral history and practice.

State Sen. Eric Lesser is co-chair of the Senate’s Millennial Engagement Initiative. He represents parts of Springfield and Chicopee, and East Longmeadow, Hampden, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Wilbraham, Belchertown and Granby.

Cyber security: a talk by Juliette Kayyem
2017-02-06 17:00 - 19:00 | Bentley College Wilder Pavillion, 175 Forest St, Waltham, MA, United States
February 6th at Bentley College Juliette Kayyem will give a talk on Cyber security, terrorism and democracy. Jean and Bob Cherdack will be going and will carpool if anyone is interested. The talk begins at 5, they will be leaving Northampton by 3 p.m.

Western Massachusetts Legislative Summit 2016
2016-12-03 08:30 - 13:30 | MA
Once again the League is a cosponsor of the Legislative Summit as we did in 2014. The event will run from 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM on December 3rd at the JFK Middle School in Florence. There will be a wonderful free lunch that’s “Fresh and Local”, donated by the wonderful farms and restaurants in the region. If subgroups want to make action plans, we are holding the space until 3:00 PM. We also will sponsor follow-up meetings in 2017 and 2018 during the legislative session as part of an annual event that HCOG and FRCOG sponsor with Senator Rosenberg in Northampton. Possible topics being discussed are agriculture, broadband, economic development and possibly infrastructure. Group discussions on these topics will take place after a keynote speaker. Groups will then presents summaries of their discussions. At the end of the summit the invited legislators from Western Massachusetts will speak to those issues and about their priorities for the coming year. More information will follow.

Charter School Study Consensus Meeting
2016-10-29 10:00 - 14:00 | MA
The Northampton Area League will be holding their consensus meeting on Saturday, October 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lilly Library, 19 Meadow St., Florence. Lunch will be served. This is meeting for League members to come to consensus on the State League’s questions developed from the Charter School Study. For more information go to Charter School Study

Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden State Senator Candidates' Forum
2016-10-13 19:00 - 21:00 | MA
There will be a candidate’s night in Ashfield for the two senate candidates. It’s scheduled for Thursday, October 13th from 7-9 in the Ashfield Town Hall, 412 Mains St. The candidates are Adam Hinds and Christine Canning.

Book Sale
2016-09-24 09:00 - 16:00 | MA
Saturday September 24, 2016. Early birds enter at 8 a.m for a $10. non-refundable fee.

Book Collecting for Annual Book Sale
2016-07-15 08:00 - 2016-08-05 17:00 | MA
Books are currently being collected for the Annual Book Sale which will be held on Saturday, September 24, 2016 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School, Locust St. in Northampton. Book donations can be left at Forbes Library, Cooper’s Corner and Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School. We will collect books until August 5.
