LWVNM Board Minutes, November 15, 2025

LWVNM Board Minutes

November 15, 2025

11:00-3:00 p.m.

Socorro and via Zoom

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT

Hannah Burling, President

Barbara Calef, Second Vice President

Kathy Brook, Treasurer/LWVSNM Liaison

Judy Williams, Program

Janet Blair, Communications

Akkana Peck, Website

Meredith Machen, Special Projects, Women’s Issues, Immigration, Education

Karen Douglas, Nuclear Issues

Starlyn Brown, LWVCNM President

Debbie Helper, LWVSFC Liaison

Felicia Orth, Voting and Elections/LWVLA President

Edwina Jaramillo, Secretary

Jody Larson, Archives

Additional Members Present:

Rebecca Shankland

CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTIONS

The meeting was convened by Hannah at 11:08 a.m. A quorum was confirmed.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Barbara moved and Meredith seconded to approve the agenda. The motion carried unanimously.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Draft Minutes of 09/20/2025 Meeting: A motion, by Barbara and seconded by Kathy, to accept the minutes as corrected, carried unanimously. The following correction to the minutes was made: show Felicia Orth as absent from meeting.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Hannah thanked the Voter Services Committee for their work on Vote411 including the voter information and printed guides for this election. She also noted that:

Hannah also recognized Felicia Orth, who was presented with the Public Lawyer of the Year Award for her long and distinguished career in public law.

Hannah noted several League positions need to be filled and help is also needed from our membership (as shown below). Action Item: Barbara will ask for help in La Palabra.

Judy noted that we need a first vice-president and a succession plan. We need to find somebody who is interested in the president’s position and train them.

Meredith Machen has volunteered to lead the Unite & Rise Initiative in New Mexico.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Treasure’s Report

Kathy stated the treasurer's report (attached) provides details on deposits and expenses for the time period 9/1/25 – 10/31/25 and shows a balance of $27,314.80. The webinar expense was clarified as an Ed Fund expense rather than a LWVNM expense. Action Item: a reimbursement request will be submitted to the Ed Fund by Kathy.

The post office address was confirmed as: P.O. Box 416, Fairacres, NM 88033. Because it appears that LWVNM collects only a bank statement and ads for various internet banking and credit card services for approximately $180 - $190 per year, Kathy questioned whether we should continue paying for a P.O. box when banking activities could be done electronically. Meredith noted there were two addresses on our website and asked which one was correct.

Kathy reported she plans to write to the members-at-large to let them know that they can join a local League if they so desire. It would be helpful to have a point of contact from the local leagues to refer them to. Action Items: send Kathy a local League contact name; Kathy will also send a members-at-large list to the local Leagues.

The treasurer's job description, as posted on the website, needs updating. Action Item: Kathy will update the treasurer’s job description and bring to the January Board meeting.

Kathy noted the League should be filing a gross receipts tax report regularly but requested website and login information from the Board.

Budget Report: Kathy reviewed the budget report showing categories of income and expenses through October 31st. From May 1st to the end of September LWVNM received $13,400 in dues but the budgeted amount was $16,000. The LWVNM has approximately 600 members.

ACTION COMMITTEE

The first Action Committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for December 3rd. The Advocacy Workshop will be taking place on January 10th. Senator Figueroa and Linda Siegle are confirmed for the Workshop but Representative Armstrong has not yet committed.

The Legislative Reception will be held on January 29th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Santa Fe Room at La Fonda. The speaker will be Laura Paskus, a reporter on environmental issues, who is currently a senior producer for NMPBS. League Day will be January 30 in Morgan Hall at the State Land Office. Kristina Fisher will be speaking on the interstate compacts, and we have invited a speaker from the Legislative Finance Committee. LWVNM will have three tables in the Roundhouse, one for the League, one for Fair Districts for New Mexico, and we may offer the third to an ally.

The draft joint resolution for a constitutional amendment to create an IRC for statewide offices and the enabling legislation are with the Legislative Council Service. It is now up to our bill sponsor as to whether we file or not. Additionally, LWVNM will be supporting full funding for the Secretary of State’s office. LWVNM is presenting on November 20th to the Legislative Finance Committee and has sent a letter of support to members of the Committee and to the governor.

Judy and Meredith attended a Modernization Coalition meeting this week. They're planning on a day of action at the legislature and are still hoping for legislation for an independent salary commission. A group of young female senators are starting an action group to push for salaries.

Request from CVNM:

We have received a request from John Martinez of Conservation Voters of New Mexico (CVNM). CVNM is working on a long-term policy agenda plan to hand to our next Governor on day one of his/her administration in 2027 that will guide the administration over two terms. It is not just about climate or environmental issues, but will include issues such as democracy, education, labor, LGBTQ rights, civil rights, etc. They are reaching out to organizations for input and expertise to draft an outline and are asking for LWVNM’s collaboration on the project. Hannah reached out to Dick Mason, who would like to work with them.

Discussion about the request included CVNM’s mission drift and whether LWVNM can support their yet-unknown plans given our positions, CVNM endorses candidates and LWVNM cannot be seen as partisan, and we are not going to advocate or add it to our already large burden during legislative sessions. Action Item: Hannah will inform CVNM that we do not want to collaborate, but will support certain bills.

Tides Advocacy

Hannah asked the Board whether LWVNM should pursue funding for redistricting from the Tides organization, a 501(c)4 donor. They appear to be two different entities -Tides Foundation and Tides Advocacy. They provide infrastructure and services but they are not free.

These are links to two of their services: https://www.tidesadvocacy.org/services/capacity-building and https://www.tidesadvocacy.org/services/project. No decision was made at this time.

PROGRAM

Judy reminded the Board that we voted to support the Colorado position on separation of church and state. She reported that the person in Colorado who spearheaded the issue was overjoyed with the news. There is no other program news.

Meredith sent the Board an email with two topics: 1) program planning for the 2026 LWVUS Convention, and 2) information on concurrence with the LWV Washington State “Welcoming Communities” position. She has been asked to be on the advisory committee to get the Washington state position through the 2026 LWVUS Convention, and asked the LWVNM Board to include the topic of concurrence on the position when doing our program planning for the year.

Starlyn asked for language on book banning that would allow us advocate for legislation. She has been unable to locate a national position on the issue, although state Leagues have acted on the issue. She noted legislation is being drafted to prohibit book banning for any state-funded organization including public schools. Hannah recommended taking it to the Education Subcommittee of the Action Committee. A comment of note was that the issue of book banning is a logical part of the LWV (it concerns democracy, transparency, open government, etc.), so we do not need to a position to be able to work on the issue.

Kathy reported that LWVSNM is working on an update to their library position to include language regarding freedom of expression and those kinds of issues. She has found local League positions and a state position that she can share - some address issues like citizen’s right to know and informed participation in government. Both would seem to suggest we need information, and where we get it is often libraries.

COMMUNICATIONS

Janet reported that a subcommittee on social media (chaired by Blanca Ortiz, our paid intern) has been formed to deal specifically with social media. Blanca has all kinds of interesting plans, e.g., to provide a space where individual League members submit videos explaining why they have joined the League, and what they are doing, or what they expect to get out of it. It's going to be sort of like the, “I Voted because….” project, whereas these videos will be, “I joined the League because…” The hope is that at the next meeting members attend they will snap a few 15-second soundbites with an answer to this question. The videos will be mounted on Instagram and Facebook and other places. Action Item: send the videos to Blanca, or Judy Gibbs Robinson of the social media subcommittee.

Meredith (and Edwina previously in an email) asked if the Communications Committee could send Constant Contact notices about events and topics to members, e.g., the December 4th LWVUS Immigration Discussion Group national discussion entitled, “Countering Disinformation and Beyond.” She stated that she sends information to the Action Committee to post on the Action listserv, which is not really appropriate, but it appears to be our only vehicle for communication. Hannah stated that she is happy to send out a Constant Contact notice at any time, but will not draft or redraft a document. Edwina reiterated there are some events and information that should go to our entire membership via Constant Contact but that it shouldn’t fall to Hannah to send out; instead, the purview should fall to the Communications Committee. Hannah responded that League members don’t want to receive more than one or two messages per week, and the information needs to be concise, 100 words or less. She stated there may be other solutions to communication. Starlyn suggested specifically targeted emails to let people know about things they are interested in would be more effective for our members. Action Items: Meredith will re-send the December 4th informational document to Hannah; Hannah will send the information via Constant Contact to members.

Website

Akkana reported there was no update on the website. She needs timely information for postings to the website. For example, she did not know when Vote411 went live. Judy noted that Akkana needs help with website content and asked the Board to think about how we can all chip in with content. Hannah stated we all have a responsibility to look at the website at least once a week and contribute what we know.

Hannah will soon send a Constant Contact message that asks the membership to “follow”, “like”, and share LWVNM website postings on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media to boost our outreach.

GOVERNANCE

Review of Candidate Forum Policies

Barbara reviewed the revised Guidelines for Creating a Member-at-Large Unit. This revision adds a definition of a Member-at-Large Unit and took out language where it is restricted to one geographic area. Karen Douglas noted the current version requires at least four members-at-large to form a unit, but the body of the document specifies the positions that have to be filled, eliciting much discussion. A motion, by Meredith and seconded by Felicia, to approve the revised Guidelines for Creating a Member-at-Large Unit as discussed, carried unanimously. Action Item: Barbara will revise the document to indicate that a Member-at-Large Unit requires at least two leaders - a chair and a secretary, under Item 4. Under Part III Finances, the document will be revised to indicate LWVNM will manage the finances of the unit.

Meredith noted that the AAUW has done an online unit for years with people from all over the state who meet quarterly. She believes their structure would work for the League’s Members-at-Large.

Candidate Forums

Barbara asked for permission to delete the 5.3 Forum Book from our website since it is redundant. Each local League has guidelines for conducting a forum and there is another document on the website already, called Candidate Forums. A motion, by Judy and seconded by Felicia, to delete the Forum Book from the website and from the League records carried unanimously.

LWVNM Strengthening Democracy Leadership Award

Barbara asked that we change the title of the policy to “Making Democracy Work Award Policy.” So, wherever it says “Strengthening Democracy Leadership,” the text would be revised to “Making Democracy Work.” A motion, by Meredith and seconded by Starlyn, to change the title from “Strengthening Democracy Leadership Award” to “Making Democracy Work Award” carried unanimously.

Know Your State and Local Government

Barbara reported that the LWVNM website is showing page 8 of LWVSNM’s the Voter and thinks it should be removed. A motion, by Kathy and seconded by Meredith, to remove page 8 of LWVSNM’s the Voter from LWVNM’s website, carried unanimously.

ED FUND REPORT

Hannah reported that the Ed Fund Board has approved the Strategic Plan and are now working on a budget. She has set up a new email address (president@lwvnm-edfund.org). This was vital to getting a bronze seal from Candid (formerly Guidestar), will make fundraising easier, and is very helpful for sending thank you letters to donors who donate online. Action Item: Hannah will send the Board copies of the Strategic Plan.

We have finished and submitted the application for the Thornburg grant for $110,000 over the course of 2 years to support voting and election work and for organizational development. We will not know until sometime this month if we will be awarded the grant. We have also finished and submitted the final grant reporting for Thornburg 6, our last redistricting grant. The remaining funds in the Thornburg 6 grant will be used until they are exhausted (likely January or February).

Several foundations have been identified that may be willing to fund redistricting, voting and election work. We are also investigating grants to fund organizational support and capacity building. The Ed Fund board will be meeting again before the end of the year to finalize the budget once we know whether we can expect the grant from Thornburg.

The Ed Fund Board is considering whether the Fair Districts NM (FDNM) website should become part of the Ed Fund website or the LWVNM website. The question is, do we need the FDNM website as a lobbying website or as an educational website? If moved to the Ed Fund website, we can't lobby from it. If moved to the LWVNM website, it would require more work for Akkana and could not be easily updated by anyone else because our website is html. The FDNM website may have to remain, but it will need updating to make it more user-friendly, update the graphics, etc.

Our new treasurer, Jeanne Logsdon, has been helping to refine and professionalize our financial systems.

Recent Invoices

There were no questions or discussion for Kathleen Burke’s itemized invoice to the League of Women Voters of New Mexico/Fair Districts for September 2025.

VOTER SERVICES

Edwina provided a Vote411 debrief report to the Board and will provide copies of local League debrief reports in time for the January LWVNM Board meeting. A spreadsheet of analytics showing state-wide response rates was also provided. A LWVUS Vote411 post-election report that will have state-specific Google analytics (so we can see how many people from our state viewed VOTE411) will also be provided to the Board in January. With the reports the Board can make a decision whether to purchase the 2026 Vote411 Guide. Edwina also plans to provide a compiled report of front-end and back-end Vote 411 issues to LWVUS. We can already sign up for 2026 Vote411 Guide. Last year we paid $5000 for the four local Leagues and LWVNM for the use of Vote411.

Edwina stated the response rate was abysmal for races the LWVNM was responsible for. If we want to continue to do Vote411 for municipal races, we need to do a lot more outreach and publicity. For example, there are LWVUS Op-Eds and letters that the Communications Committee could have used at no cost. For outreach, we might want to consider hiring an intern to make phone calls to candidates. She stated a future discussion item is whether we want to cover the whole state for municipal elections, but she believes that coverage of the whole state is important for state and national elections.

Given the issues with Vote411, Meredith asked whether we should consider another platform rather than Vote411. In response, Judy noted we tried Ballot-Ready one year that was terrible, particularly for customer service, and so the switch was made to Vote411. Judy recommended a conversation with a more senior officer at LWVUS to discuss the issues with Vote411. Additionally, she said more communications from the Communication Committee and money for outreach is needed. Starlyn recommended setting aside a considerable length of time at the January Board meeting to discuss such issues and to invite the chairs of local League Voter Services Committees to participate in the discussion.

NUCLEAR ISSUES

Karen reported the US DOE Collaboration Council for Consent-Based Siting for Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Facility met. Only three communities (Savannah River, SC, Aiken, GA, and Richland, WA) have expressed interest in hosting a consent-based, consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. The DOE has introduced some new criteria that wasn't previously considered: They want to co-locate a privately-operated commercial reprocessing facility with the DOE spent fuel storage facility. The DOE would transport spent fuel from around the country to the interim storage facility, which DOE would own and operate. After a sufficient amount of fuel resulting from the operation has accumulated, the private corporation would submit the radioactive, high-level waste back to the DOE Consolidated Air Storage Facility to become fresh fuel to be reused in commercial reactors. The reprocessing of the spent nuclear fuel tied in with the DOE consent-based siting was a surprise to those attending the meeting. The final repository process isn't being sought as urgently as we had anticipated.

Karen reported she was asked to address the local OASIS Public Affairs Committee to provide background on our nuclear issues study and to discuss some comparisons between nuclear energy and other green energy alternatives. On November 14th she spoke to the LWVWI Natural Resources Committee since commercial nuclear power is being evaluated by Wisconsin elected officials. LWVWI currently has a position on nuclear power that “flows down” from the national position. LWVWI doesn’t agree with it and would like to revisit nuclear energy as a clean energy alternative. They may pursue a separate nuclear issue study that would use much of the material that LWVNM produced in their 2023 nuclear study.

Pennsylvania has introduced a resolution to consider nuclear energy as a greenhouse gas-free alternative supporting the National Climate Emergency. There has also been legislation introduced in Wisconsin to repeal anti-nuclear legislation. Two amendments would create a board to organize, promote, and host a Wisconsin Nuclear Power Summit. WI passed legislation initiating a 2- year siting study for new nuclear projects with bipartisan support from majority Republican House and Senate followed by Democratic Governor approval. They’ve also started the process to restart reactors that have been shut down for decades, and are pursuing additional nuclear energy in part because they have data centers. The LWVWI opposes the data centers, so there's a lot of activity and discussion underway, and they'll be interacting with Karen in the coming months because of this.

LOCAL LEAGUE REPORTS

CNM Report: written report in meeting packet; no discussion.

LA Report: written report in meeting packet; no discussion.

SFC Report: written report in meeting packet; no discussion.

SNM Report: written report in meeting packet; no discussion.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, INITIATIVES, AND OTHER BUSINESS

The deadline for the winter issue of La Palabra is December 5.

NEXT BOARD MEETING

The next board meeting will be held on Saturday, January 17, 2026, at the LWVCNM office conference room in Albuquerque. The March Board meeting will be held on March 7th.

The 2026 LWVNM Council meeting will be held on April 25th.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 1:58 p.m.

- submitted by Edwina Jaramillo on 12/3/25

- edited by Barbara Calef 12/4/25

ATTACHMENT 1

Treasurer’s Report, November 15, 2025

Kathy Brook, Treasurer

Beginning balance, September 1, 2025

$24,564.79

Deposits

$4,669.03

Dues

$4,576.88

Donations

$92.15

Expenses

$1,919.02

Chk 1219 Mark Coomes, VOTE411 contractor

$1,260.00

Chk 1220. Zoom, FDNM webinar (WF credit card)

$85.02

Chk 1222, USPS, P.O. Box

$94.00

Chk 1223, Blanca Ortiz, social media contractor

$180.00

Chk 1225, Blanca Ortiz, social media contractor

$300.00

Ending balance, October 31, 2025

$27,314.80

Balance as of November 7, 2025: $27,670.89

Deposits, November 1- November 7, 2025

Dues: $307.59

Donations (thru PayPal): $48.50

Outstanding checks: none

Expected credit card payment: $1500.00 deposit to La Fonda for legislative reception.

Restricted funds $7,956

Restricted $ 916

Diversity Membership $1,740

Alcohol Harms $5,300

Other Information: Dues payments come to LWVNM through Stripe and, if the member pays by check, through Bill.com. We receive limited documentation of the payments through Bill.com. Stripe payments are reported above net of processing fees.