DWCNewsletter - August 2005 ~ Democratic Women's Caucus

Vol. I Issue 6, August 9, 2005

Regina Moore
DWC Chairwoman
DWC Newsletter Editor

Printer Friendly August 9 Newsletter - Word Doc.

We are absolutely on the right track…. More and more people are realizing that women bring a certain quality to campaigns and elections that have been lacking.

note the IDS article last week on the new IU Republican Women Club. ( www.idsnews.com/story.php?id=30435 ) They met with Becky Skillman and other women leaders in the statehouse last week.
note that the Republican (who has the nod of a majority of county chairs) running against Hillary Clinton for Senate next year is a woman. http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/s/nypost/20050808/cm_nypost/pirrozerosinonsenateraceagainsthillary
note that the two local republicans who will benefit most from the county redistricting plan are the two Republican women (Sue West and Marty Hawk).HT Article on Redistricing

So the moral of this story is that the word is out about the dynamic energy that women bring to the process, and to be successful against the Republicans, we have to be smarter and we have to be better prepared for our next election season. Get involved in the caucus so that you can participate in this next election, whether as a candidate yourself or as support for the caucus and other women candidates.

Here are some interesting opportunities for you to get involved:

Watch this space for information on the crazy Republican plan for redistricting the county council districts. Let's keep the heat on the commissioners to keep this process public, and let's speak up about it. If you haven't gotten the emails from the Democratic Party on this, send us an email and we'll get them to you.
New openings on the City of Bloomington Human Rights Commission and Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association Board. Information about both bodies can be found on the city of Bloomington website, including the newest HRC Annual Report.
The BUEA is looking specifically for folks who are residents of the zone. The map of the Urban Enterprise Zone is on the city's website. http://bloomington.in.gov/egov/docs/1066771111379.htmIt includes much of the downtown and near west side neighborhoods.
The Bloomington Police Department has announced their new Police Academy for citizens.ttp://www.bloomington.in.gov

From their course description: Instruction is provided by police officers and will include such topics as emergency driving, vehicle stops, traffic enforcement, crash investigations, criminal investigations, crowd control, firearms and defensive tactics. Other areas to be covered are the history of the police department, uniforms and equipment, districts, roll call, records, dispatch and the interaction between the police department and the criminal justice system. Emphasis is placed on "hands-on" subject matter to give everyone a first hand, in-depth understanding of law enforcement activities. The application form is on, you guessed it, the city's website!.
And there may be a few openings in the Citizens Academy that the city runs each fall. There's no charge for this class, and if you want to know more about city government, how the departments work together and what they actually do on a day to day basis, this is the class for you. You will be amazed and its guaranteed that you will learn a whole lot about your city! Apply on the city'shttp://bloomington.in.gov/ website.
Last fall the city of Bloomington had a meeting in which citizens were invited to give input into the Downtown plan, designed to provide both a long-term vision for Bloomington's downtown, as well as act as a guide to both public and private investment decisions, for many years to come. It was noticed that over two thirds of the citizen attendance that night were men, mostly those who have some interest in investments and developments.

This writer considers downtown to belong to ALL the citizens in Bloomington. When we shop, dine, work, and entertain our out of town guests downtown, this area of the city becomes a real place of pride. It behooves us all to answer the call for feedback on this plan, so take a look at the document (city's website) and plan to come to the September 12th Plan Commission meeting to give your feedback. There's no reason that the guys should have twice as much input on this issue as women. Let's be there.

Finally, The Women's Equality Day Dinner (August 26th)

The Women's Equality Day Dinner will be a wonderful combination of fundraising and friend-raising. This will be THE major fundraiser of the year for the Democratic Women's Caucus and if you want to be there, make your reservations soon. Your check will secure your dinner reservation. If you can't be there, make a commitment to the caucus and send in a contribution. Or better yet, stop by during one of the WomenSpeak Reader's Theater practices (6:30 on August 11th or 8:30 on August 25th ), offer some words of encouragement and drop off a check! .

Invitation: www.democraticwomenscaucus.org/benefitdinner05page0.html
Buy Your Tickets: www.democraticwomenscaucus.org/buyyourtickets.html

Book Club - August 21

Book Discussion

Visit the website often for information on our dinner and movie nights, and reading group. They're wonderful ways to meet like minded women who are interested in increasing the numbers of women in elected office, and in the political process. We're 52% of the population, why not 50% of the seats?!!

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Contact: Regina Moore
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