be interested in serving in government or who want to hear our members. There will be plenty of time to network and social-ize with our many other League members who also have held government positions. Wine and refreshments will be served.

Susan has graciously offered her house as the setting for this reception. Space is lim-ited. Please don’t get turned away at the door! Call Mary at 847-295-1494 to make your reservation by Wednesday, September 26. We hope you’ll join us!

We have a wonderful fall kick-off event planned for Sunday, September 30 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at State Senator Susan Garrett’s home. Plan to be there, and call 847-295-1494 to make your reservation now.

Four of our members will speak briefly about what inspired them to serve in gov-ernment and what the rewards have been. Their experiences run the gamut: political parties, government levels, appointed vs elected, and more.

The speakers will be:

•SusanGarrett, Democrat, State Senator•RoycealeeWood, Republican, Lake County Regional Superintendent of Schools•PegDeterman, nonpartisan, Lake Forest Caucus Secretary•CarolRussGilbert, nonpartisan, Lake Bluff Architectural Board of Review Member

Their years of experience provide fascinat-ing stories. Please bring guests who may

LEAGUE LINESLeague of Women Voters of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Area

SEPTEMBER 2012

“Women in Government” Fall Kick-off Reception Sunday, September 30 • 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Inside this issue:

Pension Study

Fall Candidate Forums

Voter Registration

Parade Photos

League Leader Receives Award

LWV-LC Annual Report

Pension Study Consensus Questions

Peace Corps in Macedonia

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SAVE THE DATE!Thursday, December 6, 10:30 a.m. Grille on LaurelOur holiday program this year should be a real treat! We will be entertained by dramatic book reviewer Jenny Riddle. She will lift your spirits and make you laugh with her book review, “We Will Survive,” based on three very different women with very different ways to survive! Reviews and word-of-mouth reports of her performances have been very complimentary. So mark your calendar to come and join the fun. We look forward to seeing everyone again!

Still want a printed newsletter? If you can access the newsletter online instead, please let us know and save us the postage!

PAGE 2 LEAGUE LINES

Our League’s job first is to provide a way for the public to meet the candi-dates and be able to ask them questions. Secondly, we educate the public on policy issues. Our positions are non-par-tisan. These are very important jobs, and we need your help for this endeavor-- working for good public policies for the common good.

We look forward to a very busy fall, especially with the November election, which will determine public policy for the next four years.

Our membership event on September

30 includes a program on women in government on different levels, includ-ing local.

In October we will be hosting two fo-rums in Lake Forest for candidates run-ning for Congress, State Representative, State Senate, Lake County Board, and Lake County administrative positions.

The last week in October we will have a public educational program on Pension Reform, followed a week later with a consensus meeting for members only, with questions posed by LWVIL.

In December, we will enjoy our annual Holiday Luncheon and program. And at the end of January we have planned an environmental program about Water and Food Sustainability.

Great Decisions will finish its 2012 season at 1:00 p.m. on Fridays: Septem-ber 14, October 12, and November 9. Great Decisions is our study on inter-national concerns. Call Jane Partridge if you would like to join our study group (847-234-1247).

JaneandMary

Letter from the Co-Presidents

OCTOBER MEETING DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED

In a game of cards, when a particularly heinous hand is dealt, someone usu-ally mutters, “Who dealt this mess?” In Illinois, taxpayers are asking the same question. The state pension system is in crisis and people want to know how it got there.

In both cases, it doesn’t matter who’s at fault. Both card players and taxpay-ers have a choice. In a game of cards, players can either play the cards they’ve been dealt or throw in the cards and start over. They can’t change the rules. In Illinois, taxpayers may have a differ-ent choice. They can play the pension cards as dealt or, some believe, they can change the rules.

To understand the issues and ramifica-

tions of proposed solutions, the LWVIL is conducting a pension reform study of our state pension system and is plan-ning to take a position in January 2013.

As part of that study, each local League has been asked to come to consensus around a number of questions put forth by State League.

The week of October 29, LWV-LFLB

is conducting a forum for LWV-LFLB members and the general public. Speak-ers will provide an overview of the cur-rent state pension crisis; explain the five state employee pensions in Illinois and the two-tiered benefit system; address specific issues concerning the constitu-tionality of changing tier 1 employee pension benefits; and the proposed changes, costs, and ramifications of each for stakeholders. The week of November 5, LWV-LFLB will hold a consensus meeting to answer the LWVIL study questions.

Specific dates are forthcoming. We hope you will participate and have your voice heard in this important issue. Please see the consensus questions on pages 5 and 6 to prepare.

SubmittedbyTracyH.Burns

Pension Study in the Works

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE!

Election Day: Tuesday, November 6

Early Voting: Starts October 22

ATTENTION EMAIL USERS

Watch for our E-alerts! They’re your window to the most timely League news. The emails come from con-tact@lwv-lflb.org - be sure to open them!

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Please renew your membership by September 30, if you haven’t done so yet. You can mail in your check or pay online at www.lwv-lflb.org/join_us.html.

SEPTEMBER 2012

We are excited about the two forums we have planned for the general election. There are a number of interesting races that are closely contested. Your vote will matter! Come, question the candidates and learn more about them.

The first forum, set for Sunday, October 14 from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m., will consist of three debates. The opening contest will be between the two Congressional can-didates, incumbent Bob Dold (R) and Brad Schneider (D). The second debate will be composed of the four candidates running for Illinois General Assembly positions. Julie Morrison (D) and Arie Friedman (R) are in contention for State Senate 29th District. Scott Drury (D) and Mark Shaw (R) are competing for State Representative 58th District. The final debate will include six candidates for three different Lake County Board districts. The candidates are Laura Lam-brecht (R) and Steven Mandel (D) in the 11th district; Sandra Hart (D) and David Barkhausen (R) in the 13th district; and finally, Arlene Hickory (D) and Ann Maine (R) in the 21st district. The forum will be in the auditorium of Lake Forest High School, 1285 N. McKinley Road, Lake Forest. Doors will open at 1:00 p.m.

The second forum is a week later at the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Senior Center, 100 E. Old Mill Road, Lake Forest. On

Sunday, October 21, from 1:30 to 4:00 p.m. candidates for the county-wide admin-istrative positions of State’s Attorney, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Recorder of Deeds, and Coroner will participate. The candidates are Chris Kennedy (D) and Mike Nerheim (R) for State’s Attorney; Keith Brin (R) and Rupam Dave (D) for Circuit Court Clerk; Mary Ellen Vanderventer (D) and Bob Bednar (R) for Recorder; and Thomas Rudd (D) and Steve Newton (R) for Coroner. The State’s Attorney office has received national media attention, and the race has generated a lot of local interest.

A co-sponsor, Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Patch, will be live blogging during both forums. In addition, both forums will be videotaped to be shown on our web-site, local public access television, and YouTube.

Watch for more information on our website, www.lwv-lflb.org, or in the local media. If you have questions, email con-tact@lwv-lflb.org or call a board member. See you there!

HERE’S THE LINEUP:

Sunday, October 14, 1:30-5:00 p.m.Lake Forest High School

10th Congressional: Dold vs. Schneider29th IL Senate: Friedman vs. Morrison58th IL Rep.: Drury vs. ShawLake County Board:11th:Lambrecht vs. Mandel13th:Barkhausen vs. Hart21st: Hickory vs. Maine

Sunday, October 21, 1:30-4:00 p.m.Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Senior Center

State’s Attorney: Kennedy vs. NerheimCircuit Court Clerk: Brin vs. DaveRecorder: Bednar vs. VanderventerCoroner: Newton vs. Rudd

PAGE 3

Fall Candidate Forums Set for October 14 and October 21

The League of Women Voters – Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Area will be hosting voter registration drives in various loca-tions in September.

Striving to make the most of promot-ing our great organization, two new high-profile locations this year are the Graffitti Grill in Lake Bluff and Postnet in Lake Forest.

All around the country, Leagues have

been helping citizens make reservations for Election 2012 through voter reg-istration drives. The National LWV is joining with hundreds of other groups across the country to unleash a nation-wide field effort to register thousands of voters in a single day of action. The National LWV Voter Registration Drive Day will be held at the PostNet location on Tuesday, September 25. The LWV-LFLB signs will be prominently dis-played on major roads for good visibility

of our group. On the same date there will also be a voter registration opportu-nity at 2671 Sheridan Road in Zion.

In addition, the joint Newcomers Club and Encore luncheon and Lake Forest Place provide other opportunities for voter registrars to assist.

Please contact Stephanie Victor to assist with voter registration.

Voter Registration Opportunities

Chris Kennedy and Mike Nerheim, candidates for Lake County State’s Attorney

PAGE 4 LEAGUE LINES

Leaguers on Parade: Lake Forest DayLeaguers appeared in style at the August 1 Lake Forest Day parade, in front of and inside Stephanie Victor’s 1971 blue Corvette Stingray. We held the League banner high, and while we might have disappointed the kids by not having candy to throw, Stephanie, Cindy Morehead, Happie Datt, and Liz Bradner spread the League message of civic involvement.

We are very proud to learn that LWV-Glenview member Mary Lou Aagaard (nearleft,speakingwithGailBrown,farleft) is being presented an award by the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. ICPR was founded by the late Senator Paul Simon and former Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra. At

ICPR’s “Legends of Reform” event on October 17 in Chicago, Mary Lou will receive the 2012 Paul Simon Public Service Award for her longtime work as a watchdog of democracy and fair elections. In addition to her work as the issue specialist for elections, Mary Lou has been the go-to person at the League’s state level for many years. She has acted as the parliamentarian or moderator for many Leagues.

Congratulations to Mary Lou on this well-deserved honor!

League Leader Receives Award

The League of Women Voters of Lake County had a busy and productive year. Voter registration, candidate forums, programs, and advocacy kept the board members active.

Voter registration mostly was provided at schools. For years, deputy registrars have registered students at Warren Township High School, Waukegan High School, and Zion Benton. This year also included Lake County High Schools Technology Campus. An unusual additional site this year was the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) event at Allstate Arena in Rosemont. WWE is a national coalition partner which tries to involve youth with its ‘Smackdown Your Vote’ pro-

gram.

For the primary election, LWV-LC provided two candidate forums. The first one was at the University Center in Grayslake. Candidates in contested races for Clerk of the Circuit Court, Coroner, Recorder of Deeds, and State’s Attorney participated. The Daily Herald, a long-time partner, once again co-sponsored. The forum was video-taped and put on YouTube.

A couple of weeks later, the League held another forum. The Round Lake Public Library requested the League’s expertise in providing a forum for their area. Candidates in contested races for the 10th Congressional, 31st State Senate, and 3rd, 6th, and 16th County Board

Districts participated. The forum was broadcast on local radio live, and video-taped for public access television play-back. The Library was so pleased that they immediately requested the League’s help for the general election.

Criminal Justice has been a long-time priority for LWV-LC. With all the me-dia attention on the Lake County State’s Attorney office and its handling of false confessions and wrongful convic-tions, there was a compelling need for a public program. “False Confessions: Do They Happen? How? Why?” was held in April at Lake Forest College. The criminal justice committee contacted three great experts who readily agreed.

LWV-LC Annual Report 2011-2012

continued on page 7

SEPTEMBER 2012 PAGE 5

League of Women Voters of Illinois 2011-2013 Pension Reform Study

Consensus Questions

Considering the possible changes to the Illinois Pension System and their potential impacts on the six stakeholder groups:

What types of pension systems are sustainable and appropriate for Illinois and what reforms should the League recommend consistent with the language and wording of the Illinois Constitution?

Please indicate whether your League reached consensus for or against implementing each potential change or if no consensus was reached. A short rationale statement may be included.

Stakeholder Group I. Current Employees in the Five State Pension Sytems

1. Potential Change: Raise the retirement age. CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

2. Potential Change: Increase the minimum years of service requirement for full retirement benefit. CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

3. Potential Change: Limit application of unused sick leave to years of service for pension calculation CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

4. Potential Change: Increase required employee contribution to pension plan CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

5. Potential Change: Calculated pension only on base salary, excluding such items as overtime, summer school, etc. CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

6. Potential Change: Strengthen anti-spiking provisions CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

7. Potential Change: Reduce pension Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) benefits CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

8. Potential Change: Establish maximum annual pension benefits CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

PAGE 6 LEAGUE LINES

9. Potential Change: Increase early retirement penalty CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

10. Potential Change: Establish a transition period for employees near retirement age to mitigate the impact of any proposed changes. CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

11. Potential Change: Establish defined contribution plan with participation in Social Security as replacement for state defined benefit/pension. CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

Stakeholder Group II. Public School Districts, Public Community College Districts and Public Universities

Potential Change: Pay more into pension system with a transition period CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

Stakeholder Group III. Retirees currently in the five state pension systems

Potential Change: Reduce pension Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) benefits CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

Stakeholder Group IV. All Retirees Who Live in Illinois

Potential Change: Apply Illinois state income tax to all retirement income CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

Stakeholder Group V. Illinois Taxpayers

Potential Change 1: Establish tax on services CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

Potential Change 2: Maintain current temporary 5% state income tax as permanent CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

Stakeholder Group VI. State of Illinois

Potential Change 1: Stretch pension funding ramp beyond 2045 CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

Potential Change 2: Establish a contractual obligation of the State of Illinois to fund its five public pension systems. CONSENSUS: For_____ Against _____ No Consensus_____ Rationale (1-2 sentences)

SEPTEMBER 2012 PAGE 7

The first speaker was Juan Rivera, a former inmate released after 19 years by an Appellate Court decision reversing his conviction. Rob Warden, Executive Director of The Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law, and Jed Stone, Criminal

public access television, and on LWV-LFLB website.

The League has long advocated on transportation and land use issues. The League monitored the Illinois Rt. 53/120 Blue Ribbon Advisory Council and brought up several points includ-ing: environmental impacts, costs, and economic effects on older communities.

LWV-LC has an active Observer Corps which enables the board to stay abreast of important issues at the county level. League members attend both the Lake County Board meetings and the Com-mittee of the Whole meetings.

Finally, the League is a member of the Lake County Women’s Coalition, which has a number of activities throughout the year. The Coalition’s primary pur-pose is to raise money for scholarships to send women back to college.

Defense Attorney, were the other two speakers. AAUW co-sponsored the event along with the College. The program was video-re-corded and can be seen on YouTube and the LWV-LFLB website.

A second program ad-dressed another timely topic: new voter ID laws and voter suppres-sion. ACLU contacted LWV-LC about partici-

pating in a program they were planning for the Round Lake Beach area. ACLU had held a similar program with local leagues in two other suburbs in the Greater Chicago area. Again the pro-gram was taped and shown on YouTube,

LWV-LC Annual Report 2011-2012 (continued)

Members of LWV-LC prepare for their annual meeting and luncheon

ByHappieDatt,LWV-LFLBMember

Though an adventure an any age, serv-ing in the Peace Corps after a successful career and raising children brought a special dimension to my life. Although the application process took some time, I received an invitation to serve in the Republic of Macedonia. Intensive language instruction during the first 10 weeks using only visual clues and new words without English explanations and translations speeded the process of learning the Cyrillic alphabet-based Macedonian language.

Unlike a “project-focused trip” and performing a predetermined set of ac-tions, once our training was completed and after we took our oath in a formal ceremony as PCV’s (Peace Corps Volun-teers) our assignments were specific only to the extent of the site (village, town, etc) and the NGO, Municipal Govern-ment or school. Instructions were to assess the situation on the ground and

make our own experience from the brief description of the organization we had been given - which could range from

vague guidelines to specific assignments determined the organization. In the capacity of Local Economic Develop-ment for the municipality of Makedon-ski Brod (my organization) none of the professional employees or the mayor spoke any English!

In spite of those early hurdles, carving out a program of action was possible with my new language skills. The three pronged mission - providing technical expertise, sharing our American cul-ture in the country of assignment and bringing the culture of the country back to American enabled me to design my assignment.

I never tired of breaking down many of the stereotypical American cultural behavior, gleaned in most part from our entertainment industry, and welcome your questions about the Republic of Macedonia.

A Unique Peace Corps Experience

A statue of Sveti Naym , a priest in Macedonia

League of Women Voters of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Area

P.O. Box 645Lake Forest, IL 60045

www.LWV-LFLB.org... check it often!

CalendarSunday, September 30 Women In Government Fall Kick-off Reception

Sunday, October 14 Candidate Forum

Sunday, October 21 Candidate Forum

October (date TBD) Illinois Public Pension program and consensus meeting

Tuesday, November 6 Election Day

Thursday, December 6 Holiday Luncheon at The Grille on Laurel

January (date TBD) Program on Water and Food Sustainability

League of Women Voters of the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff Area

Board of Directors

OFFICERS

Jane Partridge Co-President

Mary Mathews Co-President

Ann Grant Vice President, Voter Service

M.J. Brady Vice President, Voter Service

Cindy Morehead Secretary

Liz Bradner Treasurer

DIRECTORS

Happie Datt Program

Tracy Burns Program

Stephanie Victor Voter Registration

Linda Bartmes LWVLC Board Liaison

OFF-BOARD POSITIONS

Carol Gilbert E-Alerts

Nicki Snoblin Webmaster, Newsletter

Diane Sanderson Newsletter