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The Norwalk League of Women Voters voted to reorganize last night. It established a steering committee to lead the group. The president, Diane Lauricella, resigned.
Membership has fallen off--a story being played out in other leagues around the state. Jara Burnett, the president of the Connecticut Chapter of the LWV, who attended Thursday's meeting, said that Norwalk hasn't been meeting its obligations. The chapter owes $2,337 in member fees to the National League, unpaid since 2006, and $315 to the state chapter. Burnett also said that Norwalk hasn't held required meetings or filed certain administrative documents.
Norwalk's chapter isn't the only one with troubles. Wilton, Ridgefield, Stamford, Hamden and North Haven have all faced these situations, Burnett said. Stamford's chapter dissolved for two years and then started up again, but took two additional years to regain official league standing. The Hamden and North Haven leagues merged. Other options for Norwalk included electing new leadership (president, treasurer and secretary) or being led by a steering committee.
Erik Anderson and Anna Duleep, both Democrats who previously ran for the Common Council, spoke in favor of keeping an active Norwalk league, citing the chapter's work in providing political debates. Neither are members. Lauricella defended the Norwalk chapter. She disputed Burnett's statement that the Norwalk chapter was not in compliance, saying that she had spoken to the league on several occasions about the paperwork. Burnett, without assigning blame, said there was no written documentation to support those claims.
It was up to the Norwalk chapter to decide what course to take. After much discussion, the five members voted unanimously to create the steering committee. Mary Oster volunteered to continue running voter registration efforts, a program that she has been in charge of for several years. Despite verbal support for the reorganization, the members at the meeting weren't quick to step up.
When the full membership meets, the chapter will file a plan to address the fees and other issues, as well as the names of the steering committee members. After that, the challenge will be to intiate interest in the leave, and to rebuild.
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