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29th Annual Weston LWV "SPEAK UP" - what's your question or statement?
RSVP's from Selectmen, Finance, P&Z, Education, Police, WWHD, legislators...& more!
Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 10:30a.m. until 12 noon
Weston Library Community Room

BUDGET PROCESS SCHEDULE FY'21


TOWN PLAN UPDATE NEWS:



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From the Town of Weston website
VALLEY FORGE ROAD REPAIR/CLOSURE NEWS

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THE NORFIELD RED OAK DECISION
"Work is expected to commence December 27th and end on December 29th on the oak tree at the corner
of Norfield Road and Norfield Farm Lane. It is expected that there will be delays and possible closures
on Norfield Road to allow for work to be done safely."  From Tree Warden, Town of Weston website



Tri-Board Meeting on Governor's Budget:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFzXzhcmAHU

Governor's Budget Proposals by town graphic from CT Mirror:
http://ctmirror.org/2017/02/08/see-how-your-town-fares-in-the-governors-proposed-budget/




"S P E A K    U P    2 0 1 7"

Topics were Hartford melt down, P&Z Town Plan update, D.C. direction from all sides, and others.





 




LWV of Weston "PICTURE STORY" of 2015 three debates in one Saturday morning plus lunch... 

Read Weston FORUM print edition front page story Oct. 22  for reporter's wrap up and highlights!!!

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Weston's "DNA" series of discussion or "Community Conversations"


CONVERSATION #3:  LWV of Weston explores farming heritage.



CONVERSATION#2:  LWV of Weston  program on Weston's Natural Resources over...



    
CONVERSATION #1:  LWV of Weston plan of development update program over...
The League of Women Voters of Weston hosted an update of the Weston Town Plan of Conservation and
Development on Sunday, April 26, from 3:30 to 5 in the Weston Town Hall Commission Room. 
Dr. Tom Failla, Chairman of P&Z presented and ably answered any and all questions in a broad-ranging
discussion...story in full: http://www.thewestonforum.com/47461/public-discusses-weston-town-plan/


WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH PROGRAMS


From our ACTION position...drawn up originally at Program Planning...
  
ACTION ON ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
The Weston League of Women Voters is into Land Use.  Link:  http://www.lwvweston.org/lwvctkelda.htm
WATER SUPPLY:  Time for another program?  Previous event:  http://www.lwvweston.org/program.html
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2015 SPEAK UP VIDEO HERE IN TWO FORMATS

TOWN TV Channel 79:

Daily at 10am

THE PICTURE STORY: 
Standing room only LWV of Weston "SPEAK UP 2015" over...


  
League thanks all who attended, both our invited officials and the interested populace.  We thought
we heard a restrained concern about being financially squeezed, but maybe not!


Picture story continues here.

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Nobody asked about this...the budget process.


Check out the First Selectman's Budget FY'16 here;  LWV of Weston process graphic blow-up here;

Feb. 3 Tri-Board Meeting "streaming" a setting for a demographic preamble: 


We watched the "streaming" Board of Ed Thurs. Jan 29th...Thanks for the "Speak Up" plug!!!



IT WAS 2001 WHEN THIS TOPIC CAME UP AT P.R.I. PUBLIC HEARING
Some other matters to ask about at Speak Up...is it time yet for this issue to surface again?

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Lights Committee 'walk', Dec. 3, 2014.  New planning Region?  Anything new on the Town Website?
With permission, enters private property, measure if "zero" light achieved;  WCCOG?  Anything new with h2o?
Legislature in Long Session:  What's hot?  News on school enrollment? 
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What happened over the summer of 2014? Lots of work inside and out on School Road!  This year?

• Nothing new to the public on drainage study, involving Onion Barn, perhaps.
  
• Lights up/on at the football field see above, Board of Education's Facilities Committee on top of this.
  
• Senior Center South House project underway, not pictured.
  
• Weston Library internal changes in line for grant after planning process, no picture.
  
• Nothing coming out of the "land swap" between Town and bank properties.
• PROPOSAL NOW WITHDRAWN BY BANK  after July 23, 2014
  

 



ANNUAL MEETING (LWV OF WESTON) 2015

"Beyond 2016:  Next Generation American Politics" - watch on YouTube here.
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ANNUAL MEETING (LWV of WESTON) 2014:
Annual Meeting approved new bylaws that formalize the "Steering Committee" as an alternative way to
conduct League business (approved in concept by LWVCT), among other items on the agenda. 

The LWV of Weston  “Betty Hill Forum” and luncheon May 30, 2014 555began at noon at the Red Barn
featured CT Comptroller Kevin Lembo.
 
Our guest speaker will address the topic:
“The State of the State, Transparency, and the Future of Connecticut’s Economy.”

"Picture story" here.

WATCH COMPTROLLER LEMBO'S TALK & Q&A ON THIS TOPIC...LINKS BELOW.

The video is 52 minutes 20 seconds long, and is presented in two formats:

Windows Media Player format (best viewed on Windows computers via Internet Explorer, which will open
Windows Media Player and begin playback without waiting for the entire file to download; other browsers may not
begin playback until the entire file has downloaded, which may take several minutes or more.  Can be viewed on
Apple computers if Windows Media Player has been installed):

www.lwvweston.org/LWVAnnualMtg5-30-14.wmv

(139 MegaBytes)

MP4 format (viewable on most Windows and Apple computers, but playback may not start until the entire file has
downloaded, which may take several minutes or more):

www.lwvweston.org/LWVAnnualMtg5-30-14.mp4

(232 MegaBytes)

CT cleared -  http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/DMV-agrees-to-follow-law-after-DOJ-voter-9125802.php

SPEAKER:  Hon. Kevin Lembo, CT Comptroller,  15th Betty Hill Forum Friday, May 30, 2014
Excellent turnout!  Answer re: "future?"  Moving slowly forward toward GAAP.  Commented on 50-state
bidding wars for jobs.  Questioned state commitment to infrastructure improvements and repairs (we think
we heard that, but we'll check the tape later).  
CT cleared -  http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/DMV-agrees-to-follow-law-after-DOJ-voter-9125802.php

CT ethics is a matter of interest.  Comptroller Lembo at 2014 Annual Meeting/Betty Hill Forum.

Please join the League of Women Voters of Weston, CT - not just for lunch!  Online membership info here.

BACKGROUND READING about topics covered.

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SPECIAL LWV of Weston meeting Friday Feb. 22nd  the day before rescheduled Speak Up...

LWV of Greenwich held this meeting Tuesday...not Simpson-Bowles, but sequester question to the fore.
"HARD CHOICES AHEAD - SIMPSON-BOWLES (A Framework for Change)"
Picture story here.
Videotaped by LWV for online here:

Best viewed with Internet Explorer, which will automatically open Windows Media Player and start playback
without waiting for the download to complete.

1 hour 20 minutes 34 seconds
For cable and dsl users:

http://www.lwvweston.org/Himes2-22-13CableVersion.wmv
(208 Megabytes)

For dial-up modem users:
http://www.lwvweston.org/Himes2-22-13ModemVersion.wmv
(30 Megabytes)
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PUBLIC HEARING ON WESTON ORDINANCE AMENDMENTS COMING MARCH  21ST AT 7PM IN TOWN HALL
WESTON SELECTMEN SERVE UP GUN REG DISCUSSION!

 

Held November 10, 2012, before Sandy Hook School tragedy in Newtown.

LWV Town Affairs Update:  Public discussion of space needs needed?

CT State League events:


Fall Conference
Convention
S.I.R.
Leadership Luncheon


Type in "Fall Conference" in the search box at the top of this page for links to videos and reports of at least ten previous such events.

 
"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything" (Mark Twain)
2016 Fall Conference (in Hartford - the other version of this meeting in Norwalk)



FALL CONFERENCE 2015 on VOTER FRAUD, VOTER SUPPRESSION
University of Connecticut School of Law
Hartford, CT  9:30 - 12 noon
Saturday, November 7, 2015

Video in progress of being edited starting today!  Picture story here...

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FALL CONFERENCE 2014 ON COMMON CORE AND CONNECTICUT:  WHAT'S NEXT?
Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven
Woodbridge, Connecticut
Saturday, October 25, 2014, 9am - 12:30pm
 

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FALL CONFERENCE 2013: SHINING A LIGHT ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN CONNECTICUT
http://www.lwvweston.org/LWVCT10-26-13.wmv
(378 megaBytes; 2 hours 31 minutes 11 seconds)

2013 Fall Conference was awesome!!!  See our "picture story" here...

Link to LWVCT CONVENTION 2014
Saturday, June 14 - in a special LWV of Weston "picture story"... 
Videos of major speakers as well as a sampler of the Convention business reports here: 

LWVCT was at the Graduate Club  for Convention 2014!

At LWVCT Convention, in front of the National President, our state stood fast in support of freedom...
now that the Governor signed it, this "Corrupticut" nickname, much bruited about regarding John
Rowland's offenses, now might apply to present leadership of the Legislature...


Picture story for  LWVCT 2013 Convention here.  VIDEO ONLINE NOW!
As it happens, LWVCT Convention comes at the same time as the end of the Long Session - action
proposed to counter last minute undermining of Campaign Finance Reform laws - unsuccessful.


Symposium on International Relations:
League of Women Voters of Connecticut Education Fund 2015

46th Symposium on International Relations: "Climate Change: What Impact Can We Have Now?”

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League of Women Voters of Connecticut Education Fund 2013

Symposium on International Relations 2013 "Water, Water Everywhere, But Not a Drop..."




        
LWVCT 2016 Leadership Luncheon LINK

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FALL CONFERENCE 2012 SELL-OUT CROWD!!!  For more pictures, click here...

SHEEP AND COMING HURRICANE SANDY...
People and animals at Trumbull Ag School Oct. 27!  Fall Conference shows LWV not chicken, either.
- - - - - - - -


ONLINE SPECIAL EVENT STILL PHOTOS AND STORY
Before the voting by unions (rejecting give-back deal), but after Long Session ended, the LWV of Weston
held its VIDEOTAPED Legislative Wrap Up 2011;


Left, Connecticut logo from previous era.
"What happened?"  League asks legislators in 2011



"WHEN WOMEN RUN, WE CHANGE THE WORLD"

Go direct to watch Patricia Russo's address (Women's Campaign School at Yale):
http://www.lwvweston.org/LWVAnnualMtg5-11-12.wmv

2012 Betty Hill Forum XIII picture story here

Annual Meeting, Weston LWV 10AM, The Red Barn, Friday, May 11, 2012


Friday May 6 - LWV of Weston Annual Meeting at Red Barn; Betty Hill International
Forum 2011 REPORT

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REFERENDUM STORY HERE

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Speak Up 2014

SPEAK UP GAVE A VOICE TO AN ISSUE
As a result of outcry, in 2014 for the first time the Board of Finance chose to make an increase to the Town side of the budget!




Bravo LWVCT - it was a was a great event!!! Click here for more.

THE BIG FINALE!  VIDEO ONLINE HERE
A rousing performance and sing along to "Pride and the Passion" in honor of the League of Women Voters


Please type in "LWVCT Convention" or "LWVCT Council" in search box at the top of this page for more.
LWVCT COUNCIL 2012  REPORT HERE
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Hamden Clarion Hotel and Suites

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LWVCT CONVENTION 2011 REPORT HERE
Saturday May 21, 2011 LWVCT Convention
At the Graduate Club, in New Haven

LWVCT CONVENTION:  Luncheon at left;  afternoon Plenary Session at right

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Video now online here

FALL CONFERENCE 2010 LOCATION
South Congregational Church not a sponsor.

LWVCT FALL CONFERENCE 2010
One Year Later:  Health Care in Our Country and Our State
Interesting sidelight: health care issue in today's news: http://www.ctmirror.org/print/14673

A SUMMARY OF THE FALL CONFERENCE 2010: 

The presenters were Jacob S. Hacker, the Stanley B. Resor  Professor of Political Science at Yale University and
Kevin Lembo, Comptroller-Elect, who had held the position of state Health  Care Advocate and was co-chair of
the SustiNet Health Partnership Board of Directors.  Kay Maxwell, Former LWVUS president, moderated. 



RECENT AFFILIATION
Professor Hacker discussed the future of  health care reform on the federal level and what that would mean for
Connecticut.  He has written an excellent book about all of this, which was available.



Mr. Lembo, Comptroller-elect, described SustiNet and informed the audience about the specifics of the SustiNet
Board’s upcoming recommendations to the General Assembly for implementation. 



The responders were Stephen Glick of the Chamber Insurance Trust and Frances Padilla, the VP Program, Policy
and Administration for  the Universal Health Care Foundation of CT (the organization that helped design SustiNet).



Written questions were collected from the audience during the presentations and submitted to Kay Maxwell.  The
entire conference was video recorded;  DVDs will be distributed to local leagues.

Link here to more background info and a video of the event                   

Want a DVD?  Click here for news of how to obtain one!!!   
    
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS - full story here.

“The league has fought for 90 years to improve our system of representative government and impact public policies
through citizen education and advocacy,” said Helen Z. Pearl, president of the New Britain area League of Women
Voters and a founding commissioner of the PCSW.


NEW TOWN PLAN NEWS HERE

• FROM LWVCT SPECIALIST:  Action Alert on Water Supply Regulations!

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FALLCONF09healthcare.html#watchnow

For cable and dsl users: http://www.lwvweston.org/LWVCT12-5-09CableVersion.wmv

Watch this important discussion from 2009!

One question asked in Q&A was "Why not drop the age to apply for Medicare to 55?" - it took until
2016 for someone to suggest a similar idea!  ("The plan, dubbed “Medicare for all,” would replace the health
policies most Americans currently get through their employers or purchase on their own...Sanders).

Who's Who at the LWVCT:  http://www.lwvct.org

LWVCT FALL CONFERENCE DECEMBER 5, 2009

This year’s LWVCTEF Fall Conference was held at a new venue: South Congregational Church,
277 Main Street, Hartford. 

The topic, “Health Care in Connecticut: What’s Next?” brought out more than 70 members of the public to
hear from 3 speakers:  The Weston LWV offers it for your information here online!


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OBSERVER CORPS:

AGENDA FOR SELECTMEN'S MEETING COMING UP HERE
Including OBSERVER CORPS reports on Town Plan update.

NOW THE LAW TO POST THESE MEETINGS
Town of Weston website for official notice of meetings (televised and otherwise).

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B A C K G R O U N D   O N    L E A G U E  :

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LWV OF WESTON, CONNECTICUT -  PUBLICATIONS: 

• "Know Your Town Directory" 
• revisions coming for "Guide to Local Elections";
  
• revisions cominge for "Guide to Government"
  

WESTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Numbered prints by Mary O'Reilly Sowinski for sale (some still left!) depict Weston in 1979!

Notecards commissioned by LWV of Weston available from the League;

• Test your knowledge of Weston...what is depicted in the print above? 
  
• Is this scene still there?
• Why is this view of particular importance for Westonites?
  

With the economy turnng down, this was a very important forum:
"MUNICIPAL SHARED SERVICE:  THE ROAD AHEAD"
A Symposium Presented by:

• The Connecticut Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations
• The Connecticut Office of Policy and Management
• The League of Women Voters of Connecticut

 

Take a tour of the Capitol with official League Guides--"Capitol and Information Tours" (C.I.T.)

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Video of LWVCT Convention 2007 (long and short versions)...
L W V C T    C O N V E N T I O N    R E P O R T  - E-AWARD to Weston!


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By others:

LWVCT PUBLIC ISSUES TEAM: 
Background on water supply, other sustainability issues, seen though land use lens...

SUSTAINABILITY

NEW:  Ten years on...how has sustainability changed?



BRAND NEW FOR 2018

Previously, from a non-League source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHq-b39yEqc


READ ARTICLE;  WHAT DOES THE CIRCLE OF SUSTAINABILITY LOOK LIKE?

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 Previous speakers at LWV of Weston event held at Weston Library, on Patriot Act.

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