Congratulations to the three Leagues to be awarded grants from the Lotte E. Scharfman Citizen Education fund under the third funding cycle of the new program. These three Leagues submitted grant applications, and were recommended for funding by the grant review committee. The deadline for the next funding cycle is June 2, 2013. The total amount dispersed in this cycle for the three grants was $720.
The program offers funds to help Leagues carry out events and projects in the areas of citizen education and voter service. Generous contributions to the Lotte E. Scharfman Fund have made this successful grant program possible. Please consider donating to the fund. Donations can be made through the website, lwvma.org, and a big thank you to those of you who have donated in the past, making this grant program possible.
The March grant recipients are:
LWV Westford: “A Guide to Town Meeting” booklet ($250)
The League edits and prints a booklet named “A Guide to Town Meeting”. This 28-page booklet describes the entire process of Town Meeting for Westford. It includes sections on the participants, articles and motions, the debate, and voting.  It is an invaluable reference for voters who have just moved to Westford, or are unfamiliar with the way Town Meeting is run locally. As procedures and rules change, League members have worked on the document to keep it up to date. The League prints and distributes this booklet at Town Meeting. The printing costs can become substantial, as it is a longer document. We are asking for a grant to cover the costs of printing “A Guide to Town Meeting”, so that we can continue to provide this valuable service to the voters of Westford. This grant would cover a portion of our printing costs.
LWV Hingham: Citizen’s Guide to Hingham Open Town Meeting booklet ($250)
Two years ago, the LWV of Hingham conducted a study to analyze how to increase participation in Hingham’s Open Town Meeting. One result of the study was recognizing the need for greater voter education of the Open Town Meeting practices and procedures. The LWV of Hingham created a Citizen’s Guide to Hingham Open Town Meeting which we posted on League’s and the town’s web-sites and publicized the guide through local media. We recognize the need for having a printed booklet for citizens who do not depend on the internet for information and for greater exposure. We plan to distribute copies through the Town Clerk’s office, Library, League Warrant Review forum (another result of the study), League Candidates Forum and other League events.
LWV Winchester: High School Building Renovation Citizen Education Sessions ($220)
The Winchester League would like to hold two citizen education sessions regarding the high school building renovation project as it goes through the Mass. School Building Authority planning and approval process. Winchester High School is located on the edge of the town center. The first session, to be held this spring, would focus on providing information about how the project impacts the entire community (not merely families with school age children), and publicize ways for citizens to participate in the planning process and/or comment upon the proposed project design. The second, fall session would focus on the architect’s schematic details of the final project design, total project cost, construction phasing and budget (in preparation for an anticipated Proposition 2 ½ override – if any-)
- Spring Event – General High School Building Project Information Session
- Fall Event- School building Prop 2 ½ debt exclusion override forum