Program Planning

Water

LWVP recognizes the vital importance of ensuring an adequate, clean water supply for California. In December 2020, we hosted Ashley Boren, Executive Director of Sustainable Conservation for a presentation entitled, "California's Water Future: Drought or Deluge?" She explained that our water infrastructure, a complex, interconnected system of reservoirs, canals, and transport pipes is decades old, desperately in need of refurbishment. At the same time, increasing drought is threatening groundwater replenishment. Looking ahead, we can no longer rely on an ample or predictable Sierra snowpack to supply all of our water needs. California's increasing population and role as the country's producer of two-thirds of all fruits and nuts, one-third of all vegetables and one-fifth of all dairy put additional pressure on a fragile system.

We believe that California's water policy is closely tied to food security, health and economic stability in our state. In addition, as climate change accelerates, a comprehensive approach to managing, storing and distributing water is essential. We are particularly interested in minimizing the presence of microplastics in water, groundwater replenishment, and the balance of water usage between agricultural use and residential use. We recommend that LWVC advocate for legislation that improves California's water policy.

Education

The LWVP believes in providing free, equitable access to high quality education with a goal of increasing diversity among teachers and administrators and related individual services based upon scientifically developed curricula and instructional strategies. A strong public education system, preschool through post high school training, is essential to a healthy, successful populace and it safeguards such important components of the State of California as:

• equity
• stability
• democracy
• trained and ready workforce
• productivity
• mental health
• civic order
• economic goals
• family structure
  

To further the goal of a free and appropriate public education system in California, the LWVP supports the development and funding of high quality universal preschool accessible to all Californians in an equitable manner. We recommend LWVC advocate for this goal in the state legislature and potentially through ballot measures.

Criminal Justice

The California League of Women Voters is focusing on "Elimination of systemic bias including the disproportionate policing and incarceration of marginalized communities." The LWV of Piedmont concurs and recommends that policy reform in this area is imperative.

To that end the LWVP have presented several virtual events in the past year which address this issue of criminal justice reform. The first was a two part series that we presented in the summer of 2020 titled "New Models for Social Justice: Police Reform Q & A." Part one of this series included our local Piedmont Police Chief, Jeremy Bowers and California Department of Justice attorney, Nancy Beninati who discussed potential policy changes in law enforcement to ensure fairness, justice and more constructive outcomes for our society as a whole. The second part of this series featured Anne Janks, Organizer at the Coalition for Police Accountability. Anne Janks shared with us the proposed Oakland pilot program which would respond to some 911 calls with a counselor and an EMT, instead of armed police. Many questions have been raised about the use of force, racial profiling, police training, eliminating police in schools, the role of police in nonviolent situations, racial injustice, social inequity, and the role of our own community in the national conversation. Finally we co-sponsored a panel in January with our local Racial Equity Campaign and Antiracist and Diversity Committee titled "Reimagining Public Safety: Can Surveillance Be a Fair & Effective Tool?" to discuss how surveillance impacts racial justice and public safety in Piedmont and our broader community.

We will continue to present educational programs on these topics and we recommend that LWVC take concerted action in the legislature to further policy reform in policing.