Through its actions and activities, LWVN members strive to learn more about our community and the issues that we care about, to educate and inform the citizens of Newton on issues of political interest to them and to the community, to energize an informed citizenry to participate actively in the political process, and to work to ensure transparency and good government.
The LWVN achieves the goal of educating and informing citizens by engaging them through public conversations on timely and important issues. We are proud to sponsor and co-sponsor events, sometimes referred to as Topic Meetings, that bring together experts in their fields to share research, analysis, and recommendations with members of LWVN and the Newton community.
More recently, the LWVN sponsored its inaugural Civic Challenge as a fun way to educate our community about federal, state and, most particularly, local government; prepare Newton citizens (both young and old) for their roles as voters; and build community on a non-partisan basis.
To ensure transparency and good government, the LWVN monitors governmental bodies for information of importance to the League and the community/state by using its Observer Corps to attend public meetings subject to the Open Meeting Law.
The LWVN also works to develop positions on particular policies in the public interest and to advocate for that position. Those positions, at the national, state and local levels, are developed through member study and consensus.
To develop positions on policies, the LWVN engages in member study and consensus, at times on a local level and at other times in coordination with other local leagues, the state league, and the national league. The League makes decisions carefully, following procedures established over many decades on the national, state, and local levels. While this means that the League can take longer than other organizations to come to a decision, most League members believe that this approach ensures thoughtful and meaningful action.
Topics to be discussed, and/or issues for study and action usually come through one of our committees, although we welcome individual members (or groups that aren’t formal committees) to propose topics for discussion and/or issues for study.