January Water Issues Forum

On January 26, the League of Women Voters of the Charleston Area hosted its first Water Forum – an event focusing on critical water issues impacting the Charleston area. The event was free and open to the public, with approximately 40 citizens in attendance.

The forum featured the following:
1. CAPT John Cameron, Executive Director of the Harbor Pilots Association and former top Coast Guard officer who spoke to the benefits and challenges of dredging the Charleston Harbor.
2. Cyrus Buffum, Director of Charleston Waterkeeper, described the work that nonprofit is doing and how they are working to increase water monitoring in the Charleston Harbor and surrounding waterways.
3. Katherine Zimmerman, a Project Manager with the Coastal Conservation League, who presented the organization’s research on the cruise ship industry and its effects on the environment and communities.


(Water Issues Forum Panel, l to r: Zimmerman, Buffum, Cameron)

The presentations were followed by a Q&A session which included questions from the audience regarding what actions the Charleston area communities and local governments can take and how Mayor Riley’s State of the City might impact these water-related issues.

Our next public forum will be Tuesday, March 22, 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. The focus will be on Teacher Effectiveness -- stay tuned for more details!

Future Voters Ride in MLK parade

If you haven't ridden in at least one MLK parade with the League, you're missing out. Don't get me wrong, it's no Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, but the camaraderie is something special. The spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. seems channeled into the parade-goers, and as League members and their kids pile in a truck we've adorned in red, white, and blue, our own League pride starts to swell.



This year, the parade ran like clockwork... we started right on time (indeed so early that members had to run to catch up with the "float"!) and progressed through the parade route waving our "Vote" signs, MLK posters, and American flags in just over an hour.

Our favorite part? Parade organizers (probably intelligently on their part) don't allow candy to be thrown from vehicles, so the League hands out "Future Voter" stickers to hundreds of kids (and a few sticker-loving adults!) along the route.

We left feeling great about the role the League plays in the Charleston community, and the next day, got a gratifying surprise when Post and Courier photographer Wade Spees' picture of Leaguer Rose Davis was featured in the paper's MLK Day special section:



Rose's smile says it all!