Dear Members,
Hello to all of you and thank you for the support that the League has received. Since my last newsletter article, there have been meetings and presentations shared by non-profit organizations around the valley. These events have been open and free to the public, and to League members. As always, I try to keep up on these events to share. The Leadership Team have stated that GOTV is the most important activity that the league can do. I am wondering what you as a member would like to see the League of Women Voters of Yakima County do. Please attend the LWVYC Annual Meeting on June 16th
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ELLA invited our League to participate in the May Day event in Sunnyside, WA on May 1st. I went to the event and set up a table with materials and resources. I provided information sheets about “Decline the ILP26-500” that have been circulating around the valley. I put together a fact sheet on talks about prohibiting mail-in voting, and information about the SAVE AMERICA Act which, if passed, will require all citizens who vote to provide certain identification each time when voting. The requirements are the voter’s name must match their birth certificate, or passport, or driver’s license. At this event, I had sixtyeight community attendees stop by the table and take various resources. I also gave out six business cards. No one registered to vote, but being present was good. Our communities want to know that the Yakima County League of Women Voters are visible and present. I enjoyed the Aztec’s ceremonies, the Mariachi music, and the baile folklorico, Mexican cultural dances. ELLA, thank you for inviting the Yakima County League to be a part of this May Day event.
You might know that I have been part of the two-year Indian Study of Treaty Rights, which is important to me. I have connected with tribal members at various gatherings and workshops. On May 8, I attended an event outside Goldendale, Washington, where I had the opportunity to visit the Pushpum Encampment site and see its beautiful landscape of rolling hills and views of the Columbia River. The encampment is at the highest elevation in the valley, and on a cloudless day you can see the sister Mountains, the Blue Mountains, and the Columbia River. Although the day was cloudy, cold, and windy, I was grateful to attend and take part in the gathering. We learned about the importance of keeping the Pushpum area open to the River People tribes. It has been a sacred place for thousands of years, where the Bands of the Yakama Nation have gathered food, fished, and hunted. The federal government has approved a permit to build a water storage shed on the Pushpum encampment area without input from the River People tribes. The Tribes were not informed by the Federal Government prior to the permit approval. On May 15th, Washington Conservation Action, 350 Climate, and Yakama tribal member Elaine Harvey also presented a free documentary, The Sacred Hills. Afterwards, Elaine Harvey answered questions and shared concerns about the water storage shed. Popcorn and licorice were an added treat. There is also a petition that registered voters can sign, and I will try to get the QR code for it.
There was another opportunity to watch a documentary film, Beyond the Bridge: A Solution to Homelessness. Two film producers worked together to produce the documentary which was filmed in locations across the United States. This film took the audience with the producers on that journey. It is troubling to see the judgment and labels often placed on people experiencing homelessness, especially by those who have never faced it themselves. The film emphasized that homelessness is a condition, not a person’s identity, and that people experiencing homelessness are human beings first. I also learned more about how homelessness became a larger issue during the Reagan era, when affordable housing policies for low-income people often fell short. Many housing programs had strict requirements and offered too little support to help people remain housed and off the streets. Finding affordable housing was especially difficult after an eviction was filed, and waiting lists were often long. African American communities have been disproportionately affected by homelessness for distinct reasons as mentioned in the film. One harmful label mentioned was “laziness” and “druggies”. I am grateful for the community members, organizations, and League members working to find solutions. County Commissioner Kyle Curtis spoke about Yakima County’s five-year homelessness plan, which is available online. If you would like to learn more, please contact the County Commissioners’ Office. Download the document
Janis Luvaas also loaned me a book titled, Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America’s Housing Crisis by James S. Burling. It discusses the challenges faced by individuals and families, with their stories drawn from experience in getting housing. It is a great read.
I have been actively involved with the Redistricting Committee since last June. I have a great deal of information to share with the League about why this work is so important to our communities and to Yakima County. There are communities in the Yakima area that get little representation. If you would like to learn more about this project or get involved, please let me know. This week, I spoke with the Chair of the Redistricting Committee, Alison McCaffree. She and a group of League members from the Seattle area would like to collaborate with us here in the valley to walk the district lines of District 14 and 15. I would like to welcome their support. Please consider supporting this effort if you are interested.
I am not sure if you know about the campaign for “Getting Out the Vote” which started with Between the Ridges and other organizational partners in Yakima County. I feel strongly that all organizations, churches, and civic organizations representing our communities need to be a part of this campaign. Partnerships are vital to getting into communities that have not been active or are in rural areas with hard-to-reach places. If you are interested, please let me know.
Last, I have spent approximately twenty-five hours cleaning up and adding amendments to update our Bylaws. Hopefully, you will have an opportunity to see the changes at the Annual Meeting on June 16th . Steve Hill helped me with this project. If you have any questions about any of these projects, please reach me at 509-594-6469 or at cindyo4lwvyc@gmail.com.
Cindy Olivas, President
