League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area

As they apply to Grand Traverse Area units of county government:
The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area supports easy citizen access to and review of the process of governing by:

Giving adequate and well-publicized notice of meetings and agendas for all committees, boards, and commissions.
- Notification of meetings and agendas needs to be expanded and an effort made to televise and/or broadcast County Commission meetings to inform interested citizens and arouse interest in others.
- Efficiency may dictate additions or deletions from published agendas. However, this practice makes it difficult for commissioners to make responsible decisions and for the public to follow issues.
Holding meetings at convenient times and places.
- The timing of closed sessions should respect the convenience of citizens in attendance.
Providing opportunity for citizen input at meetings.
- All persons addressing a meeting should be required to identify themselves.
Increasing accountability by handling more County business as a Committee of the Whole where:
- Discussion of issues takes place in meetings subject to the Open Meetings Act.
- Action on important issues is not taken under the Consent Calendar.
- The public has the opportunity to:
  - Hear the pros and cons of the discussion leading to action.
  - Provide input.
  - Evaluate the performance of individual commissioners
Attracting and appointing a broad representation of citizens to County boards and commissions through:
- Publication of vacancies with full description of duties.
- A written statement of the desired qualifications.
- A standard form of application which can be kept on file for a period of time.
- Orientation and training for new appointee

The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area supports the active role of each County in promoting and facilitating flexible regional problem solving. Continuing action should focus on:

Communication and cooperation between local units of government for the purpose of:
- Coordinating services.
- Building consensus among governmental units, agencies, and the public, on projects of common concern.
Management of growth by seeking new and creative solutions and by:
- Encouraging a regional perspective which includes long range planning and updating of local government unit plans.
- Serving as an educational resource for local units in growth and planning through mechanisms such as the use of retreats to serve as a means of fostering education and collaboration.
- Ensuring that citizen concerns are incorporated in proposals.
- Strengthening the role and authority of the County Planning Commission.
- Encouraging collaboration among all units of governme

The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area supports long-range financial planning.

The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area supports an appointed administrator, acting under a well-defined job description, who coordinates the County's business and implements the policies of the Board of Commissioners.

Education Position Revised May 1997

The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area — having studied the structure and functioning of the Traverse City Area Public Schools and the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District — believes that the pursuit of excellence should be encouraged throughout the school system and each student should be expected to complete course work which is individually challenging. The school system should establish high standards of core curriculum whether leading to college, university, or directly to the job market.

Curriculum - Programming

Educational philosophy should be founded upon the acquisition of basic learning skills in reading, writing and arithmetic.
Program should prepare the student:
- To understand and function in our multicultural political, economic and social system;
- To be aware of the contributions and rights of women and America's minorities, particularly native American
Three basic educational courses of study should be offered at the secondary level:
- Academic programs preparing the student for further education;
- Vocational-business programs preparing the student for the current job market, and/or for further training;
- Special programming for performance within the students' limitation

Administrative Policies

The administration, especially principals, should promote a learning atmosphere, should work in partnership with teachers, and should be available to staff for discussion of problem solving.
The administration should provide opportunities and encouragement to improve teaching skills.

Teacher Policies

Teaching attitudes should reflect a positive expectation that students will learn.
Teaching performance should be regularly evaluated.
Teachers should demonstrate continuing proficiency in their subject areas and should make efforts to improve teaching skills.
Promotion should be based on performance, not solely on seniority.

Educational Environment

The school should provide an orderly learning environment. This should include a safe school with well-disciplined classrooms.

Review and Comment on Millage Proposals When Appropriate

Farmland Preservation

Adopted May 2010

Recognizing that the farmland of northwest lower Michigan is a unique, finite resource, the League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area believes that preserving this land must be a responsibility shared by all. In developing policies concerning farmland use, public as well as private interests should be respected. Each level of government bears responsibility for planning and managing farmland resources. It is essential that local government support access to public financing, through ordinances or other means.

Libraries Position

Revised May 1997, 2000

The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area has studied the Traverse Area District Library, the public school libraries of Traverse City and the information gathered from a questionnaire sent to all public school libraries in the TBAISD (Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District). The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area believes that development of improved library facilities and services in our area should be actively encouraged. The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area supports:

School Library Media Program
Assure students will have developed processing skills (to locate, interpret, analyze, evaluate and communicate information and ideas.)

The post of School Library Media/Technology Director will be a cabinet-level position. This person will possess a degree in Library Media and serve on all district-wide budget committees. The Director will lead and coordinate: teacher training, curriculum implementation, student assessment, integration of technology, identification of district needs, and make recommendations at budget meetings.
Each school will have a Library Media Center equipped with both print and electronic resources.
Each school will have a certified full time library professional on site.
Trained teachers in all schools will use the written curriculum for student acquisitions of informational processing skills. These skills will be regularly assessed and the results will be reported to parents, staff and to the Board on a regular basis.
Financial support will be given to reach standards set forth in Informational Power: Guidelines for School Library Media Programs (American Library Association) or its successor, which is supported by the Michigan Department of Education's 1992 Position Paper on Information and Processing Skills.

Funding will be detailed in the school budget.

Public Library Services
Excellent library services for all residents of the area served by the Traverse Area District Library (TADL), including:

Identification of optimum library services for the District;
Determination and funding of building, collection, administrative and staffing
needs to provide those services throughout the District, in accordance with Wisconsin Standards for Public Libraries;
Development of an educational effort to inform the community of what the public library does and could do for the residents;
Encouragement of public participation in District Library concerns through Friends of the Library and other volunteer groups and better publication of TADL Board meetings;
Consideration of expansion of the TADL Board to eight members, the addi¬tional member to be appointed by the County Commission, with all members representing the District at large;
Provision of more equitable access to services throughout the Traverse Area District Libraries by improving the organizational relationships among the main library, its branches and member libraries.

Inter-Library Cooperation
Cooperative planning among the libraries of the Traverse Area District Library, the Traverse City Area Public Schools, and the Mark and Helen Osterlin Library at Northwestern Michigan College, including computer networking that would provide patrons and staff of any library electronic access to the catalogs of other libraries in the area.

Freedom from Censorship Pressures

Natural Resources Position - read the proposed new Natural Resources Position (spring 2011)

Revised June 2011

The League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area supports preserving, protecting, and enhancing environmental quality through evaluation of local and regional policies and programs.

The League supports:

A. Water Resources: Protection of Great Lakes, inland lakes, streams, rivers, and wetlands through programs and policies that reflect the interrelationships of water quality, water quantity, both ground and surface water, and that address the potential depletion or pollution of water supplies.

B. Energy Solutions: Environmental policies and programs that reduce energy growth, emphasize energy conservation and efficiency, and encourage the use of renewable resources.

C. Waste Management: Policies that promote reuse and recycling of solid and hazardous wastes, and environmentally sound disposal methods that protect public air, health, water, and land resources.

D. Land Use: Managing land as a finite resource through comprehensive long-range planning, and policies and programs that will improve air and water quality by proper use of land and water resources. Including:

Recognizing that the farmland of northwest Michigan is a unique, finite resource, the league believes that preserving this land must be a responsibility shared by all. In developing policies concerning farmland use, public as well as private interests should be respected. Each level of government bears responsibility for planning and managing farmland resources. It is essential that local government support access the public financing, through ordinances or other means.

E. Air Quality: Polices and programs that measure, regulate, and reduce air pollution from vehicular and stationary sources.

The League believes local governments should:

A. Promote environmentally sound practices.

B. Inform their citizens about developments in natural resource planning and communicate local concerns to the regional planners.

C. Provide greater transparency in natural resource decision making by: 1) effective noticing, 2) use of open meetings, workshops, and community outreach, 3) extensive use of communications technologies.

view the LWVMI State Program 2009 - 2011

view the LWVUS National Program 2010 - 2012