You have your vaccination card and mask in hand as you walk into a beautiful hotel, the Delta Hotels-Marriott in Everett, Washington. Fellow League members from all over Washington state are perusing local League table displays of current projects, books and brochures, and perhaps silent auction baskets.   

At the council, delegates from your local League (you may be one) will vote on new state Board members and discuss the upcoming LWVUS 2022 National Convention issues as well as reconnect, restore, and renew themselves.  

Friday, June 10 at 1 p.m. starts the formal council with panels and roundtable discussions with local League leaders (and those who want to be). There will be talk of challenges, working sessions on strategies to achieve the League goals of continuing to network the organization (instead of a pyramid), making an impact on our members and our communities, and sharing how Leagues are navigating these times.  

Saturday, June 11 highlights include: 

• Nonpartisanship: What makes it so? What about empty-chair debates? Forums? 

• Diversity, equity and inclusion: What works for my League? 

• Civics education: What can I do? 

• How do some Leagues energize new and long-term members?  

• Environment: What is the League doing? How can I be involved? 

• Legislative advocacy: What happened this year? What’s next? 

• Speaker Nick Lovrich, co-editor of Outside Looking In: Lobbyists’ Views on Civil Discourse in U.S. State Legislatures. 

• Speaker Jessica Rohloff (LWVUS Board member and Washington liaison) will give a full report on what’s happening at the national level, particularly as it affects local Leagues. 

Sunday, June 12 is the Board of Directors’ election/retirement, a wrap-up to identify actions to take going forward. For the election, each local league and member-at-large unit is allocated one delegate for its first through 15 voting members, and one delegate for every 25 additional voting members. Just like at the convention, 30 delegates make a quorum (see the bylaws for more details).  

This will be the first time we have been able to meet in person for two years, and we’re ready! We’ll have masks, vaccine cards, social distancing (six seated at tables designed for 10), and an air-filtration system bringing in fresh outside air through frequently changed filters. And it will be summer! Come see what our neighbors in Snohomish and Skagit Counties love about where they live. 

Registration for the council is $125 (early bird) and includes a Friday pizza party, Saturday lunch and dinner, and beverage breaks Saturday and Sunday. Registration covers your food while the LWVWA Education Fund is paying for the space, tech, and other essentials. Early-bird registration closes at midnight on May 14; after May 15 the cost will be $150. 

More specifics (such as transportation, schedule, and how the election will be handled) will be published as we get closer to the council.

Register Now