Emailing - League of Women Voters of the Comal Area

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Date: 6/15/2023
Subject: June 2023 VOTER
From: LWV Comal Area

June 2023 VOTER

OFFICERS & DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT

Jerrie Champlin

VP-ORGANIZATION

Kristen Coppock

VP-PROGRAM

Vacant

VP-VOTERS SERVICE

Becky Waguespack

DIRECTOR, ELECTION INFORMATION

Joyce Doyle

SECRETARY

Kay Sherrill

TREASURER

Roxanna Deane

DIRECTOR, MEMBERSHIP

Vacant

DIRECTOR, PUBLICITY

Vacant

DIRECTOR, YOUTH

EMPOWERMENT

Sheila Pattison

CHAIR, NOMINATING

COMITTEE

Vacant

Calendar

WHAT: Juneteenth at Westside

WHEN: Saturday, June 17, 10 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

WHERE: Westside Community Center
2932 S IH Frontage Road
New Braunfels, TX 78130

WHAT: Preserving Open Space,

a CCCA Community Program

WHEN: Tuesday, July 11, 6:00 p.m.to 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: McKenna Center

801 W San Antonio St.

New Braunfels, TX

Comal County Conservation Alliance

WHAT: CISD Employee Convocations

WHEN: mid-August, times and dates TBD

WHERE: CISD High Schools

Welcome New Members!

Sandra Nordenhold

New Braunfels

Most people join the League

because they are asked.

Ask a friend!

Ready to join?New Member Signup

From the President

My most fun task this past month was to present the Defender of Democracy Superstar Award to Jan Estes for her many years of service in the Comal Area League. Jan is a Founding Member and it seems especially appropriate to honor her as we start our 30th year. Our Fall Membership Meeting in September will be a special celebration of those 30 years and I hope to see you all there!

Volunteer opportunities for Get-Out-The-Vote activties before the November election will start in mid-August. The Board will be meeting in late July to create a calendar for coming months. Check our website calendar & volunteering page, newsletters and emails to you for details as those are finalized. When you renew your membership, update your membership profile and interests to get on mailing lists for Get-Out-the-Vote and other activities. We need you to help us empower voters and defend democracy in our community.

-Jerrie Champlin

The three candidates in the 2023 Texas Critter Election: the Mexican Free-tailed Bat, the Texas Horned Toad and the Texas Longhorn.

Three voters in the Texas Critter Election at New Braunfels Pride 2023 ponder their candidate choices.

Texas Critters Headed for a Runoff?

As the final day in the LWVCA's Texas Critter Election approaches, no candidate has emerged as a clear leader. Ballots cast at the Earth Day Celebration at Headwaters on the Comal, New Braunfels CycloViva and New Braunfels Pride 2023 have been tallied but according to local League President Jerrie Champlin, no candidate has received 50% of the votes. "We may be headed for a runoff election in the fall", said Champlin. " If no candidate reaches 50%, we'll decide how to stage a runoff during our Board Planning Session in late July," she added. The final votes from the Juneteenth Celebration at the Westside Conmmunity Center will be tallied early next week and results announced June 20.

Any person under 18 can cast a ballot by drawing the candidate or writing its name on a vote form and placing it in the ballot box. Each voter receives a special sticker. The three candidates are the State Flying Mammal, the Mexican Free-tailed Bat; the State Reptile, the Texas Horned Toad/Lizard; and the State Large Mammal, the Texas Longhorn. "It's a fun introduction to the concept of voting appropriate for young children and teenagers that gets them engaged in thinking about selecting candidates and casting ballots", commented Champlin. "With older teens, we can speak with them about registering for the first time when they become eligible".

Two voters in the Texas Critter Election complete their ballots at New Braunfels Pride 2023.

Outgoing VP for Voter Services Laraine Henchal and Incoming VP for Voter Services Becky Waguespack at New Braunfels Pride 2023.

2023 Jensie Madden Comal Conservation Award Presented

to Honey Creek Spring Ranch Owners

On May 23, 2023, The Comal County Conservation Alliance (CCCA) presented the Jensie Madden Comal Conservation Award to sisters Joyce Moore and Cynthia Martinez for their foresight, commitment to good stewardship and contribution to protecting Honey Creek Cave and the Edwards Aquifer.

Moore and Martinez are owners of the 621-acre Honey Creek Spring Ranch which has been in their family for 150 years. In January 2022, the sisters placed their ranch in a conservation easement which will allow them to continue to own and be good stewards of the ranch but will protect it from the possibility of future development. The ranch, in western Comal County, provides nesting grounds to the endangered Golden-cheek Warbler and Black-capped Vireo and sits above Honey Creek Cave. Honey Creek Cave is the longest known cave system in Texas and drains into the Edwards Aquifer.

This award has special meaning to LWV Comal Area members as its name honors longtime League member Jensie Simms Madden who served on the local Board of Directors in several positions, chaired the committee that updated our Land Use study and position in 2017, and served as the LWV Texas Land Use Issue Chair. Madden was an educator at heart and a model citizen who worked to bring people together to build a better community. She cared deeply about justice for people and for the environment.

Madden was integral to the formation of CCCA in May 2018, and a founding Board member who helped guide the fledgling organization. She strove to foster engagement with elected officials through the Government Affairs Committee which she chaired. Earlier, Madden was very instrumental in bringing stakeholders together to create the Comal Trinity Groundwater Conservation District and served on that Board for several years.

In 2020, the CCCA Board decided to develop an award to publicly recognize outstanding efforts of people within the community to promote and achieve preservation of land, water, and wildlife in Comal County. On January 6, 2022, the Board of Directors voted to honor Madden by titling the award The Jensie Madden Comal Conservation Award. Her qualities of great vision, inclusive leadership, skillful organization, respectful personal engagement, accountability to herself and others, and dedication to the preservation of natural resources in Comal County and beyond are what CCCA honors through this Award and lifts up as an example and inspiration to all. The inaugural award was given posthumously to Madden in 2022 to honor her contributions to conservation in Comal County.

Honey Creek Spring Ranch owners Joyce Moore and Cynthia Martinez and their family members with CCCA Executive Director Ryan Spencer and Dr. Andrew Sansom, Research Professor of Geography and Executive Director of The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment at Texas State University.

The next LWV Comal Area shirt order is coming together. T-shirts and polos are available to members in red, white, blue, purple and gold in sizes XS- 6XL on the lwvcomal.org website Storefront . A. minimum number of shirts is required each time we order so this may be the only order placed for several months. Please note you must be logged in as a member to order shirts.

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