A lively discussion was held during the March 20, 2019 event on topics of Redistricing, Democracy and the Census.  Our speaker was Alberder Hampton-Gillespie, from the board of Common Cause Minnesota, and she explained the concept and process of redistricting, what the problems associated with it are, and how the census affects it.  You will be able to view a video of the presentation and discussion on our YouTube channel soon.  In addition, Common Cause Minnesota provided documents that you may be interested in:

Three graduate students used data collected from the cities of Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Maplewood and Roseville to produce recommendations to increase available affordable housing in each community.

State Representative Peter Fischer, a Director at Avenues for Homeless Youth in Minneapolis and Elaine Carnahan, Senior Career Counselor at Women Achieving New Directions (WAND) at Fairview Community Center in Roseville spoke to over 50 League members and guests about the need for affordable housing Sept. 19.  Fischer works with young people and Elaine focuses on families.

The Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues of Women Voters (CMAL) will host a panel of housing experts at an October 21 (Saturday) meeting.  The League of Women Voters supports fair housing and equality of opportunity for housing for all persons. Speakers will discuss housing issues, including city comprehensive plan housing updates and the role of the Metropolitan Council. The meeting is co-sponsored by the Roseville Area League and Centennial Methodist Church.

Panelists are:

• Chip Halbach, long-time Executive Director of the Minnesota Housing Partnership
• Gail Dorfman, Metropolitan Council Representative and Executive Director of St. Stephens Human Services
• Cathy Bennett, Housing initiative, Urban Land Institute

The League of Women Voters of Roseville Area will host a panel of experts who will discuss homelessness and the struggle to find stable housing.

• State Representative Peter Fischer, a Director at Avenues for Homeless Youth in Minneapolis
• Elaine Carnahan, Senior Career Counselor at Women Achieving New Directions (WAND) at Fairview Community Center in Roseville
•  If available, people who have experienced homelessness will also participate.

The Sept. 19 meeting will be from 6:30 – 8 p.m. at the Little Venetian Restaurant, 2900 Rice St., Little Canada. A social hour and pasta buffet will begin at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $20. Please reserve by Sept. 15 by mailing a check payable to "LWV Roseville Area"  to Mindy Greiling, 2495 Marion St., Roseville, MN  55113. The program is free and open to the public.

Bonnie Koch presented the LWV Roseville Area Affordable Housing Study to a very engaged audience at the August 1 meeting of the North Suburban Golden K Kiwanis.

Observer Training is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 7 at 3:30 p.m. at the Lexington Park Building (2131 Lexington Ave. N., Roseville).  Participants will receive a League button and learn about the purpose of observing local government meetings (city, school district, county), procedures for being a League observer, topics that we have positions on and how to report in after the meeting.  Everyone is invited – new or experienced! Bring friends.