Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I'm the president of the Walnut Creek Library Foundation, and I'd like to extend a special thanks to our live program sponsor, the wonderful Friends of the Walnut Creek Library. I'd also like to thank Carol Weinstra, Greg Nerland, and the program committee for their efforts to make interesting and thoughtful programs like tonight's possible. Yes, let's give them a round of applause. There's Carol. Is anyone here attending live for the first time tonight? Welcome, welcome. Live from the library is just one of the ways the Walnut Creek Library Foundation works to enhance our city's two public libraries. So if anyone donated while registering for tonight's program or has donated in the past, thank you. Every gift adds up and helps us provide more resources to our libraries. This month, I'm proud to share that the foundation will issue a $30,000 check to expand our library's e-collections, putting more books and more opportunities to read directly into the hands of our community. More books, more access, more possibilities, all made possible by our generous donors. October's live program will be a sneak peek at Center Rep's next great production, Dracula, a Comedy of Terrors. Please take a flyer with you to see our next live programs as well as the date for our annual author's gala in April. If you love books, the library, or free programs like these, I encourage you to get or stay involved. I'll have our foundation board members raise their hands right now, those that are here. Thank you, thank you. You can learn more about the Walnut Creek Library Foundation by talking to these wonderful board members tonight. One final note, the library closes at 8 p.m. You will hear announcements around closing, but do not worry. You will be able to get out, get to your car, and leave tonight. No night at the museum, night at the library. You need to come to the gala for that. Now please help me welcome, already on the stage, Denise Cohn and Dr. Rhiannon Shryers from the League of Women Voters. They will be leading us and the program tonight. Thank you so much.

Can you hear me?

if anyone in the back cannot make sure you let me know okay because sometimes when we're talking we move our mics around right so is this better thank you i'm not very techno um so we are doing tonight 2026 elections changing landscape And as you know, things are very different right now. And we're going to do our best to educate you based on what we've done, the research that we've done. So, next slide please. So, we are the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley. So, our main goal is empowering voters, defending democracy. Yay! Thank you. Appreciate that. So the League of Women Voters, it's a nonpartisan grassroots population organization working to protect and expand voting rights and ensure everyone is represented in our democracy. Okay, we empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy, education, and litigation at the local, state, and national levels. So when we say we're nonpartisan, that doesn't mean we're neutral. meaning we do research and then we through our extensive research will give you the information and coming up will be pros and cons with the propositions and we will have done extensive research on all of those to help you look at it and decide what makes sense to you. And we might say, you know, this is one we support because X, Y, and Z. So we're nonpartisan, but we're not neutral, okay? We empower, again, we empower voters and defend democracy through advocacy, education, which is what we're doing tonight, and litigation. So our foundational principle of non-partisanship states that the League shall not support or oppose any political party or candidate. That's up to you to decide. That's where your voter rights come in. The League believes the freedom to vote is a non-partisan issue. So we are, again, not neutral. We advocate for issues and policies that are central to our mission, which is to ensure that every citizen has the right to vote and that democracy is upheld. And you'll see we have many versions of this. So if you see me flipping through pages, we have revised about five times to keep up with what's happening, which changes every day, as you know. Our agenda is current landscape and context, federal initiatives, Supreme Court of the US, state and county initiatives, and what we can do. So we're gonna spend our time together sharing information, walking through all this, the current landscape. and we want to zoom in on our federal initiatives and scotus followed by state and county initiatives and you'll hear us conclude with a call to action hoping that all of you take a position and vote whatever your position is okay next slide please okay federal state and county roles So we have a decentralized election administration system. So the US election administration system is decentralized across fed, state, and county levels. Decentralization ensures our elections are less vulnerable to outside interference, but also means there is a greater variation in how elections are handled state to state and county to county. It can become very confusing and complicated. Let's start by systematically walking through each level and providing some history on important legislation that supports our election structures.

Next slide, please.

Federal, oops, let me get to that page.

Okay, so,

federal statutes first we're going to start with the 1965 Voting Rights Act And as I look around, I think some of you were around back then and remember that, right? That was the big kahuna of voting laws because in 1965, it was landmark voting rights law. It negated Jim Crow laws. Okay. 1993, we had the National Voter Registration Act. This was called the Motor Voter Law, established DMV and mail-in voter registration, and required a chief election official in each state, which, as you know, we're being challenged with right now as far as mail-in ballots. 2002 was HAVA, Help America Vote Act, established uniform procedures for voter registration, centralization of voter records, and funding of voter equipment.

Next slide, please.

So far it's working. Let's see.

So, expanding voter access nationwide, right? That was in our 1965 Voting Rights Act. What did I just say? Okay, so before the Voting Rights Act, There were 1,000 elected offices nationally to over 10,000 in the decades that followed. So amendments coincided with impending... expiration of parts of the act so there was a registration gap between black and white citizens informally Confederate states it was 30% in 1960s falling to single digits in a single decade post the Voting Rights Act so how did it accomplish this section 2 prohibits racial and language discrimination in any voting practice it enforces the 15th amendment which prohibits discrimination in voting It outlawed literacy tests and challenged the use of poll taxes in state and local elections. It prohibited in federal elections. And here you also see it enforced the 14th Amendment, which is due process and equal protection. It's section five struck down in 2013. Shelby County versus Holder. Big impact since 2013. The turnout gap between black and white voters grew almost twice as quickly in areas formerly subjected to preclearance compared to other similar areas. So you can see how our history really was in what our whole mission is, is to promote everybody's right, equality to vote, every citizen having the right to vote, making it easy for them to vote, and not discriminating.

So, next slide, please.

Let's see, SCOTUS. It's a little bit different on your side too. Okay, welcome to SCOTUS.

Okay, here we go.

So, if you look at what SCOTUS has done, Rucho versus Common Clause 2019 consolidated two cases, North Carolina and Maryland. allegation of partisan gerrymandering in 2016 North Carolina map, ruling that federal courts cannot review allegations of partisan gerrymandering as they are non-justiciable outside the jurisdiction of the federal courts. five to four decision divided along ideological lines left in place both North Carolina and Maryland district maps that favored Republicans in North Carolina and Democrats in Maryland so And then we had Louisiana versus Calais decided 5-4-26, not long ago, right? And that civil rights groups and state over delusion of black voters. Legislator created a new map with a second black district. The Supreme Court questioned Does Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act violate the 14th or 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? SCOTUS decided yes. and Section 2 violates the US Constitution, will cause elimination of majority minority districts. So we have Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, all have already initiated redistricting process to eliminate majority minority districts, thereby reducing representation in Congress and state legislature. So, If you look at this, it's kind of interesting because we also had a vote in California. Now, we have a system in place, but because of what was happening in Texas, California decided to put it to the vote of the people in California. and we the people the majority in california decided that we were going to allow it for now because of what was happening particularly in texas and it did pass and that's just the facts whether we agree with it or not the majority voted and that's what we ended up with next slide

something you probably all know, the SAVE Act and Safeguard America Voters Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act.

Testing, one, two, three.

All right, starting over. The SAVE Act, Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, act save america act it was passed in the house and it stalled in the senate but it may be reintroduced this today this very day we got a notice from the league headquarters that this will definitely be making a comeback next week when congress reconvenes so That's when everyone needs to call their senators. Ours are so pro-save. However, if you have family in other states, have them call. Get them on the phone. And I have to tell you a little story. My husband and I, pardon me, in February, we were working just kind of the SAVE Act was about to happen with the senators. We got on the phone to the Washington DC number, it's a 202 number, and it connects you with all the senators. So we took a list of the senators who we thought most likely would not vote for the SAVE Act. and just put our call in. We were totally transparent. We said we're calling for friends and family in your district and we want you to vote against the SAVE Act. And then we gave, you know, our transparency, our names and the states we were from, California. So anyway, it's amazing what we can do on our own. So it did go on hold. I don't think I'm responsible, but it did go on hold. So again, pardon my voice here, women, 80% have changed their surname. So that's an issue. You have to show up at the voting ballots, at the voting booth, with your own type of documentation. Sixty-nine million women do not have the paperwork for that. It's hard on active duty military and low income students, people who've changed their address. And if you had any changes address-wise or name-wise, be sure to touch base with voter registration. We don't have funding to implement this. And the states must un-rejected voter rolls must go to the DHS. Let's see.

Okay.

Next slide. Here we're going to break down into the state's role and okay. I got it. All right. On the state's role, each state shapes its own election laws and processes. It's overseen by the governor, the attorney general, and the chief election officers. The roles they play are election rules, oversee voting, supervise vote count, certify results, defend the will of the voters in court, and appoint election officials. Next slide. So these are some changes that have been made. I think you already brought these up. State changes and the key provisions. So you can see increased voter ID registration or requirements. for in-person mail or voting by about a half a dozen states. Utah eliminated the universal mail altogether. Oklahoma is limiting voting locations. And then requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration. And then the final one, shorten early voting or mail-in voting. And then the county rose, the next slide. We have a woman named Kristen Conley who's the Contra Costa clerk and she's fabulous. She's very dependable. You can count on her. So, County Rose, you can see the 10,000 election jurisdiction and they're responsible for the integrity, the safety and the efficiency at the polling place. If you have some of you worked at the polling places and you can tell it's just so safe, so efficient. So they organize the poll workers and the locations. All right, the next slide. This is true. The poll that matters is the one that happens on election day. Do you have a slide for the Heritage Foundation? OK. Oh, it's my favorite slide. Heritage Foundation is a conservative think tank. And I'm going to pull down, let's see, the numbers. They give us an example of about seven states. And I'm going to pull up Michigan. So the Heritage Foundation, the number of years they analyzed were 17. The number of elections held were 26. And the total ballots that they oversaw, double checked, triple checked were 64,520, and I'll leave it at that, thousand. And then the number of reported cases of fraud were 19. out of 64 million. This percent of fraudulent votes is 0, 0, 0, 0, 294%. So there is no voter fraud, no such thing. Anyway, okay, I'm going to leave it at that. The poll that matters is the one that happens on election day. Thank you.

Yes, we can take questions and I'll bring the microphone to you.

I was just wondering, Denise, When you said the head office of League of Women Voters had called saying the SAVE Act is going to come up again, did they say they were expecting what kept it, my understanding, from passing before, is there were enough Republican senators that wouldn't vote for it? Did they say there's any change in the number of Republican senators? No. Okay. No.

I think it's just going to be, as you guys know, the current administration is all about confusion. So I think they're going to find some creative ways to bring it up again. You know how to speak separately and work out deals, but work hard on it.

to know about that too for a lot of women you know that took on your husband's name and your birth certificate who knows where your birth certificate is right some of us do but it's almost like they're really setting it up to discourage women minorities I mean it's it's almost like a rule that if it was practical, we'd go, yeah, we should all show our whatever. But 50% of people don't have passports that are American citizens. 50% American citizens. So, and now they're saying, well, that would be your alternate, right? You can show this and this. If you don't have a passport and you just have a license and you don't have your birth certificate, right? You can't vote. So, yes.

Was she going to answer her question? Yeah. I mean...

I don't know. Is, are you currently involved in a lawsuit? I thought I saw something about the League of Women Voters. I believe we are.

Yeah. Microphone? Microphone. Why don't you describe that? A lawsuit for state? I know we're in it, but I don't know the details.

against all this, the Save Act or something or other?

I believe we are. And you kind of verify that, right?

Yeah, I don't, I haven't been following what the details of that is. It might be around, you know, again, voters' rights and, you know, the possibility of them discouraging and setting up a system where people cannot vote. which is our mission is democracy and being able to vote and have a voice everyone every citizen having a voice and they are involved in a number of lawsuits so And again, when we say nonpartisan, the truth is we really are fighting for voter rights. We really are fighting for democracy. And I don't know any American that doesn't believe that. I mean, I think if you look around, everybody's on the same page, that we, the people, should have representation that represents what our needs and wants are, instead of ambitious politicians that are just concerned about being reelected and not representing. And that's on a county level, that's on a state level, that's on a federal level, And that's why we the people have to really know who we're voting for. And are they really on the same page as us? We all live in communities, we all live in counties, we all live in states. And all these people are supposed to be looking at what's, like for instance the gas prices, price of groceries, I mean the list goes on. This is the people's needs, right? These are very basic needs. And so, again, when we talk about nonpartisan, we really believe that all Americans have the right to vote. Every citizen in this country, we should make it easy for them to vote. We should be able to set up, because if you think about it when you're busy, and I've had this experience, it'd be like, I don't have time like it's if I have to travel an hour or I'm working or I don't have childcare or I mean the list goes on, or if I'm disabled. Right. And so we should ideally make it possible for every person who wants to vote to vote. And that's where the mail-in has been so easy. Because people can sit at home, you know put it in an envelope and be heard to be seen and heard and otherwise we we what the president the safe care act is doing is it's taking away people's ability to be represented and so that's why we have a hard time i think it's prop 39 isn't it i think it's prop 39 For the safe act that they're trying to push through.

We have another question. Thank you so much for this opportunity to ask. I imagine that the origins of the power to redistrict had a pro-democracy origin. However, in my lifetime, There has never been a moment when I have heard about redistricting that I have thought, gosh, this will be good for the voter. And so I'm just curious whether or not it might be prudent to target the power to redistrict from the state level as an initiative. Because it seems like the misuse of that privilege or power has become the norm, and so I'm just curious if, in terms of advocacy, if we are looking at opportunities to rein in this misuse of power, in a way that would Be more comprehensive such to say that unless you can show a pro-democracy reason for redistricting then districts will remain fixed and

I think that's really relevant because it's like a tit for a tat, right? So Texas does it, and then we do it, and then it's sort of like everyone's like, okay, well, if you can do it, I can do it, I can do it. And the truth is that most of the districting that has been done in the past was to make sure that those particular communities had representation that represented them, that was part of their community or their district. And so when you start splitting, these people over here probably aren't going to get anyone to represent them that are like them, that are part of their community. It'll be taken over by this person who decided, I'm going to slice you in half so I take away your power because you're not 100% anymore. You know, I'm splitting you. But I agree with that. This is the thing about gerrymandering. It's been going on forever for people, but it's been, I've used the word nonchalant in a very interesting way, It's almost like people didn't notice it because it was done subtly behind closed doors. But it's been going on forever. But now it's like it's out in our face, like it's in the public view. and so now we're seeing it from a point of view especially with the voting rights act from the 1960s where we were really against jim crow and a lot of things that were happening in the confederate states we're going back in time you know if anyone looks at that women's rights you know what's happened to minorities under privilege i mean we're going back And you don't have to be partisan to look at what's happening. That's not a partisan view, right? You just look at your neighbors, look at what's happening around you. And so, I think that's relevant, what you just brought up. I agree. But be aware, it's been going on forever. And for those in this room that have been around a while, you've seen it. You could probably tell stories about it.

Well, just remember too, 64% voted for Prop 50 in the state of California. It's only going on for two years. It ends, it starts in 2027 and then it ends in 2030. So. I'm sorry, what?

that that is where we in california decided to redistrict because of what texas was doing but here's the difference between california and all these other states we've mentioned we had a vote the people the majority of people whether you're for it or against it the majority voted for it in these other states there's no vote

Well, there is. We missed a slide in there. In 33 states, district lines are determined by the state legislature. In nine states, a commission is used. So that's probably. And then there is a hybrid process for two states. So, yes, lots to think about.

Question. Help me understand with all these hurdles that are being put in place, it's affecting all parties, right? That's why they, I don't understand that part.

It's, you know, to me it's confusing too. It's almost like every day we're thrown into chaotic situations that don't make sense. and it's a way of diversion, like it's a way of taking our eyes away from other issues that we all know have not been addressed. One of them being the Epstein files. But if you think about it, if you create chaos and you spill too much on someone's plate, they can't process it all. And after a while, we get burnt out. And we're like, I'm turning off the TV. I'm not going to be a part of this process, which is unfortunately not the right thing to do, even though we all want to do. We all need mental health. But we have to, whatever any of you believe in, you have to stand up. You have to resist. You have to have a voice. And don't ever feel that your voice is not important. We are all here to be seen and heard. And this is our country. We the people. This is our democracy. But it doesn't make sense. I wish any of you... You know, you sit down and you're like, this is so illogical. Where did this come from? Or where did that decision come from? I mean, it's like I was saying to my husband the other day. I said, it's like a reality show. I feel like I'm caught in a perpetual reality show situation. that's just full of drama and emotion. And it's just like every day you don't know what the script's gonna be or who's gonna be impacted or why they're being brought in. It's just, I personally, my lifetime have never experienced this with any other administration and even lived through the Nixon one that looks like nothing compared to where we're at now you know so again they call it the everyday you got to be kidding meter it broke again And I think that's why if you think about the League of Women Voters, and by the way, we're not just women. We have men. This is not a women group. Anybody can be part of this. But the other thing is this comes from the suffragettes. Remember? Back when? Women that got imprisoned. I mean, if anyone went to the play, it really followed pretty much the history of where we've been. And I think we still have the same mission the Suffragettes had. And now we have men that are part of our group. They'll be doing talks like we do. And so it's for everybody. Anybody can be part of this.

I have a quick question in the back. Thank you for the presentation. Has the League of Women Voters always been nonpartisan? Is that kind of what the... Absolutely.

Absolutely.

So I wonder, though, you know, I'll preface this by saying I'm from Illinois, so I know all about gerrymandering going back. And it's not just a red and a blue state thing, necessarily. But I just wonder, are we approaching the day where the League of Women Voters might want to just take a step back and look at actually what is happening? Because on a lot of the slides, when you show the states that are going through and eliminating mail ballots, or they're making it harder to vote, all those states have one thing in common. And I think we all know what that is. So I guess my question is, is there ever gonna come a point where the League of Women Voters, as admirable as the work that they do is, there is one party in this country that is anti-democratic in the last 10 years, and there's one that is not. And that's the fact. So I would ask you guys, Is there a point where the fight is joined rather than staying on the sidelines and saying, here's the facts? Does that make sense?

So I have a good response to that because what I have learned is to sit with someone that has opposing views to me and be curious and find out where they're coming from and let them be seen and heard. and then ask permission for me to share my points of view. There are times that people have opened up and become more aware or more educated. So I think why we stay nonpartisan is we're here to educate. We're here to present information and again you don't want to leave other people out or make them the other that's what the problem is in this country is with the present administration there always has to be the other and then the other are the people that right they we we take a stance against so our Our goal is to, we're all human beings, and I think we all have a right to be seen and heard no matter what side of the aisle we stand on. And again, to educate someone, you can't come in and say, well, this is the way it is, and this is my moral compass, and this is da-da-da-da. They're not gonna hear you. You're not gonna get through. So I think our mission, I hear what you're saying. Obviously, outside of the league, we have our own positions. We're not nonpartisan in our personal lives, in our voting lives. But I think part of the organization is to educate. That's our main goal. But I hear what you're saying.

Yeah.

I see you and hear you. I would love to take certain positions, but.

And then I can add to it. Also, we meet every year. There's a national conference. All the bylaws are looked at. So it's not to say that's out of the question. But just so you know, everything's on the table.

We're still evolving. I mean, you know, it's been, what, how many years has this organization been around? A hundred and something? A hundred and five years we've been around. So you can imagine, a hundred and five years ago, they created this mission, you know. And I believe in not reinventing the wheel if the wheel works, you know. And if it doesn't, we're evolving, we're growing, we're open to suggestions. Your fellow people are giving you the answer. Go ahead, say it louder.

1920.

Thank you. 1920.

The fight to vote started in 1848.

Yeah, and you know, and to be honest, I just put something, like the 1970s, women could not have a credit card by themselves. They could not buy a house. I mean, this is 1970s. I mean, we, though we were able to vote, and we still are not getting equal pay. I mean, there's so many issues. And it's not to say it's all about women. It's about, you know, the marginalized, the less privileged. I mean, the list goes on. And, you know, and that doesn't include just women. That includes everybody, right? Men, women, whatever. And so... I just believe that we have to keep having our voices heard, that if you think about any revolution, No revolution's easy. People get hurt. But think about it. The people that spoke up, like Martin Luther King, he got assassinated. But you know what? We still hear his sermon. We still hear his voice. We still respect and honor his cause. So he was kind of like a sacrificial lamb. But what I'm saying is that it's almost like nothing's ever easy when you're dealing with the truth.

We've got another question back here.

Am I on now? Okay. With all the attacks on mail-in voting, I wonder what your thoughts are about How safe that is going to be if those votes will eventually be thrown out? If we have a choice, should we vote in person? Is that the safest way to vote? If we vote in person, what do we need to bring with us to vote? How do we ensure our vote will be counted? One thing we told when we were registering voters at St. Mary's, we told them to get their ballots in 10 days before the deadline. And we told them to talk to their grandparents because older people have a tendency to just, hey, I'm going to hear something and I'm just going to talk to so and so. and then I'll vote. So make your decision, get them in. To answer your question, you might look at the ballot boxes and try to get them in there. I think we're, we feel like we're going to be safe on the mail in, but do it early. Yeah. Yeah, where do you guys normally, how many people put it in the mail?

Here in Walnut Creek, there's ballot boxes at City Hall and Ignacio Valley, actually at the Shadelands, right, Brendan? Yep.

Okay. And you can follow your ballot. You can go online and you can follow, make sure it gets there.

Another question.

Follow up to what you're saying. I don't think the issue is where we drop off the mail ballot. It's whether we get one in the first place. Because that's what's being threatened at this point.

I think that I like the boxes.

And the mailboxes are safe and we can do that, but if they're not mailed out, how can we get a ballot?

Well, you can call, right? You can call the office and say, I never got my ballot. I mean, you know.

Go to Contra Costa Registration and just check. If you don't get it, there's numbers to call, where to drop it off. It's a great site. Yeah, is that right?

I live in a senior community, and we have done a number of voting things there. I'm also with the League of Women Voters, by the way. What I am saying to the people there is do not mail ballots. Take it to the ballot boxes. And you can harvest. It's called harvesting ballots. You can take ballots for people who are not able to take them themselves. And the question that was just asked, what if some of this executive order that's pending goes through and the ballots don't get mailed, then go to the polls. and vote. If you have to do it in person, do it in person. I think and I hope that that will not pass, that the Supreme Court will stop it. And actually, Kavanaugh just stopped something today. I forget which state it was, but it was a state that wanted to redistrict The voters in that state asked for an election, and Kavanaugh said, you have to have an election, which means that they cannot do it in time for the election coming up, the midterms.

I have a quick statistic to add to that. So Contra Costa County does not have a voter registration problem, but we have a voter turnout problem. So 91% of eligible voters voted in June. I'm sorry, 91% of eligible voters are registered. Only 45% of those voted in the June election. So get the word out to your family and friends.

And particularly if you have grandkids that are of age to vote, because what we're starting with the League, we're starting to get youth involved. We have a young professional group. My daughter's actually part of that now. if they don't like what's happening, it's like, I'm, you know, I'm not doing that. Or they'll go to the ballot and, like, write something in, like, I don't like what you're saying or what you're doing. That's not going to work. And so, you know... what we find and also when you're talking about seniors we go to a lot of those senior places and i think as we go we can actually do a grassroots coalition of offering for them to fill out the ballots and then we bring them to the ballot box for them i mean we need to be grassroots we need to look out for our neighbors we need to take care of each other so if we know people that are disabled or can't make it or they have child care issues whatever we we need to be part of that and be part of helping because the vote is so if you imagine those statistics you would think particularly in california that all these people are like oh yeah fired up but Right? The statistics show that's not happening. So it's a problem. Yeah. Another question?

hi i have some experience around discussions of voter participation with some of the younger folks in my life and i just wanted to say that you know in my house growing up there was an ethic around participation with voting so both of my parents um saw it as a rite of passage for me, just like getting my driver's license, just like graduating from high school, registering to vote. It was the cultural norm in my family. And then when I grew up and went out into the world and started to talk to friends of mine about voting, I imagined that that was across the board a cultural norm. And I found out that it was not. And a very dear friend of mine said, vote? That's a waste of my time. And that was really difficult for me to swallow. because of the way I had been raised and all of the civics education that I received as a young person growing up in Walnut Creek. And so one of the things that I am concerned about in this grassroots effort is the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. So, if parents are engaged civically, then the likelihood of their children adopting that ethic, I think, is pretty high, unless the children want to rebel and just show their parents, you know, what they think of them. You know, so I am concerned that the cultural norm has become apathy, has become that's inconvenient and irrelevant to me. And so, you know, one of the things that I really appreciate in this city is, you know, opportunities to see your tax dollars at work. evidence that my vote made an impact directly on my life. Because I don't know about you, but I look at the young people today and they are very self absorbed. So if it doesn't impact them directly or they don't see how it's relevant to them, then why bother? So, you know, that's not an ethic I share, but it's an ethic I see. So I hope that the League of Women Voters is looking at educating in effective ways to make it a cultural norm to have civic participation because it is not.

We have one member who taught high school in Antioch. And she's putting together, she's retired, but she's putting together a forum in the middle of the high school. They have an open air area. And so she's putting a civic involvement forum together for the kids. So she, she, That is her mission, is to get these kids more involved. Tonight, some of the younger people here were recruited to come. Not recruited in a way, but were invited to come. They have so many great ideas, and they're so international. They have family and friends that live in Scandinavian countries and do the whole immigration thing, the path to citizenship. They hold the key to some wonderful ideas.

So you're right on.

We got to make that happen.

And the league does have, and I sit on it, it's youth engagement steering committee. And so what we're doing is, particularly with school districts, we're trying to get into history classes and civic classes. And so we can do basically what we did here with the young people. And so that's part of our mission. is to get young people on board, because the other way I look at this is, this is their future, you know? We need more young people in leadership positions, and I think all of us need to be mentors that's part of our role with the young is to bring them in to engage them and i was joking because someone was just saying you know i was saying was sitting around with a group of 20 something year olds having coffee and asking them, well, what is your concerns? Number one is the lack of jobs when they get out of college. These are brilliant young people that have done marvelous things. Number two is obviously the economy, right? Can't even afford gas to go down the road. And three is climate change, because they don't believe they're going to have a planet to live on. And someone said to me, well, just tell them to vote. And I said, you know, this reminds me of Nancy Reagan during the drugs, when she said, just say no. Oh, yeah, everyone just said no. You know, it doesn't work. It doesn't work. You have to bring people on board. You have to make the mission meaningful and purposeful and let them really believe that there is a way to bring about change because they do want change. That's my experience. They really do. But again, We're doing that. We've got, and I probably will be leading that.

Thanks for bringing that up because that's, thank you.

Yeah. Thank you both so much. If we could put our hands together. Thank you to Denise, thank you to Rian, and thank you to the League of Women Voters. We appreciate you being here. We appreciate all of you coming. Thanks again, and look forward to our next program in October. Again, it is a comedy of terrors, Dracula, a comedy of terrors. Everyone have a good night. Drive safe.

Thank you.