Action and Advocacy

League of Women Voters^®
of the Richmond Metropolitan Area

We are truly a grassroots organization...

Local Program: Positions are adopted by consensus, after careful & thorough study by the members. These positions allow us to take action at the local level. There may be corresponsding or expansionary positions at the state and national level, which the local League may also use.

Boards & Commissions. Child Care. Education. Fiscal Policy. Health Care. Housing. Juvenile Justice. Land Use. Local Government. Transportation.

Boards and Commissions

Position on Boards & Commissions, adopted MAY 1995; changes in wording for clarification, May 2002.
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports:
1. Having boards and commissions open to all residents who have an interest in the general well-being of the community and a commitment to attend meetings regularly. Boards and commissions should represent, as fully as possible, the diverse nature of the community. No one should be appointed who has a conflict of interest.
2. A recruitment process for boards and commissions that requires adequate public notice of vacancies, a statement of general qualifications, and how to apply.
3. Required training for current and newly appointed board members. The training should clearly define the role of the commission/board and the role of the appointee.
4. The maintenance of regular communications among boards and commissions with similar interests and between boards and the governmental body that appointed them.
5. The provision by boards and commissions of information about their meeting times, agendas, and decisions. Boards and commissions should publish a calendar in all available media.
6. Regular review of all boards and commissions by their appointive body.

Child Care

Child Care:
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports:
1. Professional training for child-care personnel.
2. Developmental child-care programs which stimulate the growth of the social, mental, and physical needs of young children.
3. Promoting understanding of the importance of upgrading licensing standards for child-care services.
4. Promoting development of sufficient child care, including family centers.
5. Supporting child-care services through:
a. Corporate involvement,
b. Information and referral,
c. Networking and a clearinghouse.

Education

Education, (AMENDED: 1995; wording adjusted, June 1999 and June 2002)
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area believes in equality of education for all, and supports:
1. Community involvement in the development of school policies, programs, and budget processes.
2. School divisions in the Richmond Metropolitan Area providing up-to-date information on school policies, programs, and activities to students, parents, and the public.
3. Increased cooperation among school divisions.
4. Exploring, evaluating, and implementing policies and programs for high quality education with an emphasis on:
a. Programs which equip students to live in the future.
b. Special education for both handicapped and gifted students as mandated by the Virginia Standards of Quality.

5. Community/education/business partnerships that work to:
a. Increase student learning,
b. Support the professional development of teachers and expand resources available to them.
c. Encourage innovation and develop effective evaluation tools of these partnerships.

We encourage regional partnerships, guided by a regional oversight committee which:
...establishes goals
...receives and allocates resources, and
...evaluates criteria.

We believe partnerships should:
...have long-term commitments

...have everyone involved sharing in goal setting and decision making, and
...avoid undue influence by any one sector.

In all education, but particularly in prevention of juvenile delinquency:
6. Teacher training and evaluation of teacher performance.
7. Adequate services to children who exhibit pre-delinquency behavior in school, require or would benefit from special classes, need prevocational or vocational training, drop out, are pushed out, or are suspended from school.

Fiscal Policy

Fiscal Policy, (Change in wording for clarification, June 2002)
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports:
1. Open Budget Process. The budget-making process should be open for citizen participation throughout all its stages. Governing bodies should hold open, public work sessions at which citizens can be present. Elected officials should hold regular meetings with constituents to determine their desires and needs.
2. Shared services. Local areas should share more services such as transportation, libraries, recreation, parks, school programs, and other facilities, when appropriate. Evaluation criteria should be established to determine which programs would benefit most by area cooperation and coordination.
3. Additional services. Appropriate service levels should be maintained and/or upgraded. And new programs should be added as the need arises
4. Fiscal Impacts Statements. A fiscal impact statement should be included in any proposal for a tax cut or in considering the addition of any new service. Fiscal impact statements must be made public. Fiscal impact statements must not be used to circumvent adding new services.

Health Care

Health Care, (APPROVED: 1989; change in wording 2002)
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports:
1. A strong consumer advocacy group on health care planning.
2. Consumer awareness of the many aspects of the health care system.
3. The local/regional health planning concept with an advisory role in the regulatory process.
4. Education on health care costs and on the delivery of health care services.
5. The state or an independent agency having the responsibility for providing education on health care costs and on the delivery of health care services.
6. The League assuming a role in providing education on health care costs by serving as an initiator, having a representative on an independent agency, conducting seminars, forums or all-member meetings, and encouraging other groups to be involved.

Housing

Housing, (APPROVED: 1980; change in wording for clarification June 2002)
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports:
1. Maximum efforts to upgrade and maintain the quality of housing.
2. Maximum public and private efforts to increase the supply of sound housing which low-income persons can afford.
3. Efforts to make housing, which persons desire and can afford, available without discrimination.

Juvenile Justice

Juvenile Justice
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports:
1. Expanding juvenile delinquency prevention programs in public schools with an emphasis on:
Coordination and communication among city, county, and state health, education, welfare, and mental health agencies, and the courts.

Teacher training and evaluation of teacher performance.

Adequate services to children who exhibit pre-delinquency behavior in school, require or would benefit from special education classes, need prevocational or vocational training, drop out, are pushed out, or are suspended from school.

2. Youth service systems or bureaus to coordinate the programs and facilities or public and private youth-serving agencies and to assess their effectiveness in dealing with the problems of youths in the Richmond area.
3. Local implementation of the Gault decision which affirms a child's right to be notified of the acts alleged against him, receive legal counsel, remain silent, and confront and cross-examine witnesses against him.

Land Use

Land Use (Change in wording for clarification, June 2002)
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports:
1. Open space. We believe that land is a resource and that "open space" plans provide the highest and best use of land and provide a better quality of life. Considering the density of the population and its subsequent needs, such plans should provide and preserve permanent "open space" land, recreational and park areas, and historic and scenic areas. The plans should also conserve prime agricultural land and other natural resources, as well as preserve areas with unique features and areas crucial to the integrity of a given ecological system.
2. Development and growth. We support:
Comprehensive planning in the Richmond Metropolitan Area and cooperative regional planning, with enforcement of minimum plat and site plan review ordinances.
a. Requirements for independent and in-depth environmental and socio-economic impact reviews for public and private projects or developments which could significantly alter existing conditions.
b. Public commitment of local governments to the concept of controlled and/or directed growth and a method to implement such growth management through citizen participation in land use planning. Parties who have recorded an interest in items tabled, continued, or postponed should be notified when such items are to be acted upon.
c. Public explanations of the rationale for both granted and denied requests for zoning variances.
d. Public commitment to protect and encourage preservation and restoration of unique archaeological and historic sites and structures.

3. Roadway construction. Roadway plans should consider, in a complete and independent environmental impact statement, the amount and kind of growth which will result from their implementation. Land use policies should provide roadways that are aesthetically pleasing, that promote recreation along the James River, and that preserve park land or provide for its replacement.

Local Government Structure

Local Government Structure, (APPROVED: October 1995)
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports:
1. Four-year terms of office for all local government officials. Four-year terms can increase opportunities for regional cooperation, encourage more long-term thinking on the part of local officials, and reduce campaign and election costs.
2. Holding all local elections in November. November elections would provide consistency within the region, increase voter turnout, and reduce election costs.

Transportation

Transportation
The League of Women Voters of the Richmond Metropolitan Area supports a regionally-planned, balanced transportation system which efficiently and economically meets the region's needs without adversely affecting planned growth or the environment. We support:
1. A regional organization which sets policy for a multi-modal public transportation program which plans, coordinates, and is the designated recipient of federal and state funds, which operates or contracts for services, and which could have taxing powers.
2. A mixture of public (federal, state, and local) and private funding for public transportation. We support increased local participation with some public funds utilized to encourage private support and the use of innovative financing methods, such as tax incentives, to encourage private sector participation.
3. The formation of a transportation round table to promote public transportation, regional cooperation, and alternatives to the automobile, as well as the development of a speakers' bureau to raise the consciousness of the general public and public officials as to the viability of public transportation in our growing urban area. We support the use of a variety of incentives to increase the use of public transportation

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: September 21, 2008 17:53 PDT.