Going On Now

Long-time League member, former Senator Rosa Franklin is honored at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center on Thursday, January 30, 2020, 6:00 pm. Her biographer, Tamiko Nimura, and Rosa will sign books at this event.

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/many-faces-understanding-the-reality-of-homelessness-tickets-85592167477

The Many Faces event is presented by the League of Women Voters with the goal of engaging Puyallup area residents in ways that are interactive and thought-provoking with the goal of building community.

This is an opportunity to have a dialogue with friends and neighbors about a topic that has been divisive but is solvable if residents can begin talking and sharing ideas and concerns.

This event is designed to provide information on a basic level to "bust the myths" prevalent in East Pierce County and counteract the fear and discrimination against people in trouble who need our support and empathy.

Two members of the Third Door Coalition will provide a keynote discussion about their experience in forming a problem-solving group dedicated to slowing the rate of increase in homelessness in Seattle. The Third Door Coalition is a group of about 20 leaders from business, social service agencies and research institutions founded by Sara Rankin, a Seattle University Law professor, after the passage of a contentious head tax designed to raise more money for homeless services. Third Door is dedicated to finding balanced solutions that meet the needs of community stakeholders while improving the lives of the homeless by implementing methods with success proven by the results of research.

Learn about how this kind of stakeholder coalition could be implemented in Pierce County communities to identify solutions to impact homelessness.

Participants will have the opportunity to attend one of four topical small-group workshops to learn more about homelessness and poverty in the East Pierce County area. Local experts will answer questions; ideas can be shared to create dialogue with other Puyallup area residents. Following the workshops, a panel discussion with facilitators and community leaders will provide a wrap-up discussion to share the take-aways from the workshops with all participants.

Choose from among four workshops during the evening:
1. Who are the Homeless: Exploring the Systemic Issues
2. Why is Homelessness So Difficult to Solve?
3. Community Enhancement: What makes a community a place where people want to live? Whose responsibility is it to respond to poverty and homelessness in a community?
4. Model Solutions: How are other cities similar to Puyallup responding to homelessness? Review of possible models.

Community groups and service providers will be at the event with "Solution Booths" where the attendees can find out more about what is already being done to improve poverty, housing access and mental health services in Puyallup and the broader Pierce county area.

The 50/50 Raffle, drawn Saturday, December 14, at 2:00 pm, at First United Methodist Church in Tacoma, generated $2,950.

The winning ticket was #100285, held by Roxanne Miles. She will receive the 50% prize of $1,475.00.

Second winner was Gil Dobbe, who will receive the "Cozy" Basket.

Third winner was Luellen Lucid, who will receive the Chocolate Basket.

Fourth winner was Julie Offner, who will receive the Centennial Quilt throw, created by League member Bobbi Fletcher.

Fifth winner was Cheryl Mann, who will receive the $50 Space Needle gift card.

Congratulations to All!

Take a look at the editorial published in the Tacoma News Tribune on December 8, 2019, by Katie Baird and Cynthia Stewart.

Taxing Our Way Toward Greater Equality

Katie Baird, primary author, is a member of the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County and a Professor of Economics at the University of Washington Tacoma. Cynthia Stewart is President of the League of Women Voters of Tacoma-Pierce County and the Lead on Revenue for the League of Women Voters of WA.

Thank you to the sponsors of the 2019 TRY (They Represent You, a directory of elected officials in Pierce County)

Suggested Books to Read

Each month, one of our members submits a brief book review to be published in the Voter. The list above provides ideas of books that may be of interest to League members and others. Take a look at our Voter for additional book ideas.