Dr. Glenda Overstreet Vaughn

President’s Perspective: July 2025

Posted by & filed under Board of Directors, President's Perspective.

Greetings!  Understanding our history helps us to make better informed decisions and to avoid the mistakes made.

Exclusion in any form is wrong.  That is one reason why our Brown vs. Board site visit was so powerful!!  Rain could not keep us  away from a truly eye opening and timely educational experience as we took a film tour through history starting with the Colonial Law of the South Carolina Act of 1740, the Antebellum, Nat Turner Rebellion, History of the HBCUs, the Reconstruction Era, Jim Crow, the NAACP and legal scholars such as Huston, Marshall and Robinson on through the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act. What a whirlwind of knowledge on a perfect rainy day.  Thanks to all the wonderful supporters who joined us.  

July 8 is our next Tuesday Topics site visit.  It will be at the new KBI Forensic Science Center at 2001 SW Washburn.  Attendees are limited to 30. Get your registrations in.  Glennie, Gretchen and Lissa have planned a fabulous schedule of events for the year for you.  You don’t want to miss them because they are designed especially for you as members!

Our Voter Services team will be at the Farmers Market at the Topeka Library on July 7.  Please check them out if you are interested in registering or getting someone else to register to vote, setting up a voting plan, want to volunteer or just want to hang out to see what we do.  We would love to have you!

Our connection with the Juneteenth event was co-hosted with The Links Incorporated – Topeka (KS).  What a great way to have fun with a purpose!  Celebrating freedom of the past while supporting those valuing their freedom today through voter education!!

These days are evidence of the true IMPORTANCE of your vote!  Don’t ignore or disregard it.  Be an informed voter!  Be an involved voter!  Be an active voter!  Your family, your community and your nation is depending on you.  Help the LWV help your families to keep democracy alive.  Join us!! 

New legislative laws will be out, effective July 1.  Please access at www.kslegislature.org.

Welcome to our New members: Kathleen and Lesley!

We are glad you have joined us and we look forward to working with you!

 

Teamwork makes the dream work.

 

Best regards,

Dr. Glenda Overstreet Vaughn

President

Legislative Session Resource

I encourage you to contact members of the Shawnee County legislative delegation, by phone or email, regarding proposed or passed legislation. Included below is their Statehouse contact information.

  • Sen. Brenda Dietrich  Room #223-E  785.296.7648Brenda.Dietrich@senate.ks.gov
  • Sen. Rick Kloos  Room # 418-E  785.296.7645Rick.Kloos@senate.ks.gov
  • Sen. Patrick Schmidt Room #135-E  785.296-7372 Patrick.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov
  • Sen. Kenny Titus Room #124-E  785.296.7656Kenny.Titus@senate.ks.gov
  • Rep. John Alcala Room #173-W  785.296-7371 John.Alcala@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Jesse Borjon Room #512-N  785.296.7374Jesse.borjon@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Ken Corbett Room #187-N  785.296-7679 ken.corbet@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Kirk Haskins Room #43-S  785.296.7673Kirk.Haskins@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Kyle McNorton Room #561-W  785.296.7460Kyle.McNorton@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen    785.296.7669 Room #174-W    Tobias.Schlingensiepen@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Alexis Simmons Room #43-S  785.296.7632Alexis.Simmons@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Virgil Weigel Room #451-S  785.296.7104virgil.weigel@house.ks.gov

Furthermore, you may access the Kansas Legislative website at http://kslegislature.gov to review bill status and content, house and senate calendars and committee schedules.  Through this website you may listen to or via video streaming follow committee hearings and General Session proceedings. 

An additional resource is the State Library.  You may access their services in the following ways:

  • Phone:800-432-3919 or 785-296-2149
  • Legislative Hotline: 800-432-3924
  • Email: infodesk@ks.gov
  • Download the Ask a Librarian app to your mobile device.

 

 

LWVTSC, Voter Services Needs You!

Posted by & filed under Voter Services.

The following is a message from the Voter Services Chair, Vicki Buening, regarding Summer 2025 member opportunities.

“Democracy is not a Spectator Sport!”

This statement is what embodies the work of the League of Women Voters. It’s also a team sport. Good afternoon from Vicki Buening, your voter services chair. Voter Services has been busy this spring getting ready to go out into the community during this upcoming election season with the goal to bring more voter onto “Team Democracy.” 

 
How do we do that?  We have a plan and it starts with a volunteer training: 

  • Join the Voter Services Committee online, June 17, 10:00 am or 5:30 pm
  • Watch for our email blast in June with details and RSVP to get the Zoom link. 

I know, that many of you are experienced and ready to volunteer. We’ve streamlined volunteering using an online app called POINT.  You will choose when and where you want to volunteer plus get details about the event all in one location. two members at a voter information table

  • Check out this link on our LWVTSC website to get started. https://www.lwvtsc.org/get-involved/volunteer/
  • You will need to set-up an account to sign in and choose LWVTSC as your organization. You can also download the POINT app to your phone for easy access.
  • If you’re not comfortable getting started, no worries we’ll provide brief training on June 17, so another reason to sign up!  
  • Here’s the June events scheduled:  June 6: First Friday NOTO at Arts Connect;  June 9: The TSCPL Farmer’s Market;  June 14: Heartland Military Days, Kansas National Guard Museum.
  • We have more events in progress such as Juneteenth, Topeka Fiesta and an assortment of others. When confirmed they will be posted to our website through POINT. 

As a member of this group, you will receive more frequent emails as we add activities in search of volunteers, so if for any reason you do not wish to receive these notices, please contact me at the email address below.  We appreciate all of our members and we know there are a variety of ways to participate in supporting all that we do to encourage the public to join the “Team Democracy.”

 
I want to recognize these members who agreed to help me on our voter services committee: Mary Lou Davis, Mary Gallagan, Gretchen Gleue, Jane Hanni, Connie Jacobson, and Robin Sweeney.  I’m sure any of them would be willing to answer you’re questions as well. 
Vicki Buening, contact by email, League of Women Voters Topeka Shawnee County

The Voter: May 2025 Newsletter

Posted by & filed under Voter.

Our monthly newsletter, The VOTER, provides information on League programs and events, and updates on our advocacy efforts, among other topics.

Lissa Staley, Communications Chair

Articles for the Voter are due the Friday after the monthly Board of Director’s meeting held on the second Tuesday of the month.

Calendar of Events

 

Tuesday Topics
May 6 | Noon | Marvin 101BC at Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library
Hear updates from Kansas Reflector staff in an interactive presentation. Attend in person or on Zoom.

SAVE THE DATES for Summer “Field Trips” for Tuesday Topics

June 3 | Noon | Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park
1515 SE Monroe Street, Topeka, KS 66612-1143

July 8 | Noon | KBI Forensic Science Center
2001 SW Washburn Avenue, Topeka, KS 66604
Signup required as limited spaces are available. Tour includes some stairs, and standing throughout. Watch for updates!

 

President’s Perspective

 

President Glenda Overstreet VaughnGreetings! I am very excited to serve as your President for the next two years and I thank you for the opportunity to do so.  With that being said, I apologize in advance for the length of this initial letter.  However, I want to share with you the wide array of advocacy, activism, and social aspects of the organization that you are a part of. Trust me, such a lengthy letter will be an anomaly.

Read the full article, which includes fun photos of recent league events! 

 

 

 

Local Observer Reports

LWV observers keep you informed about what is happening in local government. The Local Observer Corps volunteers attend city, county and school board meetings and take notes. Read the Observer reports for the May 2025 Voter.
 
 

Voter education for new citizens April 24 2025On Thursday, April 24, our League of Women Voters of Topeka-Shawnee County Voter Services team welcomed new citizens after their naturalization ceremony at the Brown v. Board of Education National Historical Park and offered voter registration and education.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Club Updates

 

The LWVTSC book club meets at 11 am on the second Friday of every month. We’re currently in the Anton Room on the 2nd floor of the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. Lunch in the Millennium Café following the discussion is optional. Anyone is welcome. Contact Carole Jordan for more information.
For Friday, May 9, read and discuss Bone of the Bone by Sarah Smarsh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

LWV Board Highlights

  • Our Voter Registration/Education booth at the Library’s Farmer’s Market will start on May 12th.  We’ll be there once a month this year.
  • We have 206 members!!
  • Voter Services is re-organizing to better coordinate volunteers and activities.  They’ll use POINT for signup.
  • Danielle Twemlow and Mary Lou Davis are joining the Board as President’s appointees.

State League Action Alerts & Newsletter

Stay informed of State League of Women Voters articles & news.

2024-2025 Board of Directors

Check out all issues of The Voter in our archive.

Observer Reports: May 2025

Posted by & filed under Observer Reports, Voter.

Each month, LWV volunteers attend city, council, and school board meetings. Their observer reports help keep us informed.

Thank you to observers Paul Post, Vicki Arnett, and Elvera Johnson for attending 8 meetings over the past month!

Topics our local boards and officials discussed in those meetings include:

  • A schedule change for County Commission Meetings
  • The Topeka Housing Trust Fund
  • A new crosswalk at 15th and MacVicar
  • A presentation by the LWV to the Topeka Citizen Government Review Committee

Their most recent Observer Report is available to open as a pdf. 

 

League members sitting at table during monthly board meeting

Interested in joining the observer corps? Send us an email today.

May 2025 Tuesday Topics: Kansas Reflector Staff

Posted by & filed under Tuesday Topics.

Join us each month for Tuesday Topics! League members, friends, and guests enjoy an engaging and interactive presentation, along with League updates and actionable items to help you put your new knowledge to work. View the Tuesday Topics calendar here.

On Tuesday, May 6, the staff of the Kansas Reflector held a lively Q&A session. We enjoyed hearing their insider perspective as Statehouse reporters! Click the image below to view the full recording on Youtube.

Dr. Glenda Overstreet Vaughn

President’s Perspective: June 2025

Posted by & filed under Board of Directors, President's Perspective.

Greetings! What a great Tuesday Topics session held in May by members of the Kansas Reflector staff. We had 101 people joining us, including visitors, members and zoom attendees. A variety of topics in the format of questions and answers were addressed. Many thanks to our Tuesday Topics team!

For the month of June, we have the wonderful opportunity for a site visit at Brown vs Board. This is the 71st anniversary of the Brown vs Board of Education and we are excited to arrange this opportunity for you.  

For July only, please note Tuesday topics will be moved to the second Tuesday (July 8) to accommodate our exciting program. However, the KBI Forensic site can only accommodate 30 for the tour, so get your space reserved.

Please be reminded of the public hearing on Evergy’s proposal to the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting a $196.4 million (8.62%) rate increase for Kansas Central customers. The LWVTSC supports continued wind and solar energy efforts of which there remains plenty, rather than building new costly infrastructure and gas plants. Per the KCC’s website, a public hearing on this proposal will take place as noted below:

Monday, June 16 at 6 p.m.
Washburn Institute of Technology
5724 SW Huntoon St.
Topeka, KS 66604
Register to attend via Zoom (deadline noon June 15)

The Commission will accept written comments on the proposed rate changes through 5 p.m. on Monday, July 14. Click on the link below to submit a comment.

Public Notice | View Docket Details | Submit a Comment

Feel free to submit your comments!

Welcome to our New members

Carolyn, Phyllis, Jody, Kathleen and Lesley!  We are glad you have joined us and we look forward to working with you!

Please feel free to connect with our voter services team at the Farmer’s market venues.  They are outreaching to the community providing education on registration and voting.

During our attendance at the LWV Kansas Annual Convention in April, it was announced that Topeka would be the site for next year’s convention! We are looking forward to working with the Kansas League and will  provide more details as they unfold.

Congratulations to Kimberley Brown, newly appointed board member. We look forward to working with her. 

 

Teamwork makes the dream work.

 

Best regards,

Dr. Glenda Overstreet Vaughn

President

 

Legislative Session Resource

I encourage you to contact members of the Shawnee County legislative delegation, by phone or email, regarding proposed or passed legislation. Included below is their Statehouse contact information.

  • Sen. Brenda Dietrich  Room #223-E  785.296.7648Brenda.Dietrich@senate.ks.gov
  • Sen. Rick Kloos  Room # 418-E  785.296.7645Rick.Kloos@senate.ks.gov
  • Sen. Patrick Schmidt Room #135-E  785.296-7372 Patrick.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov
  • Sen. Kenny Titus Room #124-E  785.296.7656Kenny.Titus@senate.ks.gov
  • Rep. John Alcala Room #173-W  785.296-7371 John.Alcala@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Jesse Borjon Room #512-N  785.296.7374Jesse.borjon@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Ken Corbett Room #187-N  785.296-7679 ken.corbet@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Kirk Haskins Room #43-S  785.296.7673Kirk.Haskins@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Kyle McNorton Room #561-W  785.296.7460Kyle.McNorton@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen    785.296.7669 Room #174-W    Tobias.Schlingensiepen@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Alexis Simmons Room #43-S  785.296.7632Alexis.Simmons@house.ks.gov
  • Rep. Virgil Weigel Room #451-S  785.296.7104virgil.weigel@house.ks.gov

Furthermore, you may access the Kansas Legislative website at http://kslegislature.gov to review bill status and content, house and senate calendars and committee schedules.  Through this website you may listen to or via video streaming follow committee hearings and General Session proceedings. 

An additional resource is the State Library.  You may access their services in the following ways:

  • Phone:800-432-3919 or 785-296-2149
  • Legislative Hotline: 800-432-3924
  • Email: infodesk@ks.gov
  • Download the Ask a Librarian app to your mobile device.

 

 

Dr. Glenda Overstreet Vaughn

President’s Perspective: May 2025

Posted by & filed under Board of Directors, President's Perspective.

Greetings! I am very excited to serve as your President for the next two years and I thank you for the opportunity to do so. With that being said, I apologize in advance for the length of this initial letter. However, I want to share with you the wide array of advocacy, activism, and social aspects of the organization that you are a part of. Trust me, such a lengthy letter will be an anomaly.

For those who have not joined us for Tuesday Topics, I extend a personal invite to you to join me along with our regular attending members on May 6. You will be in for a real informative treat as we hear updates from the staff of the Kansas Reflector. Tuesday Topics are always filled with interesting speakers and subjects from diverse areas of perspectives in our community.

Since transitioning to the president’s role in April (ironically, April Fool’s Day), I have certainly hit the platform moving full speed ahead starting with the submission of testimony in opposition of Evergy’s proposal to the Kansas Corporation Commission (KCC) requesting a $196.4 million (8.62%) rate increase for Kansas Central customers.

The LWVTSC supports continued wind and solar energy efforts of which there remains plenty, rather than building new costly infrastructure and gas plants. My sincere appreciation to our awesome Climate Study committee members for their diligence and effort in making this a targeted matter. Per the KCC’s website, a public hearing on this proposal will take place Monday, June 16 at 6 p.m. You may register to attend via Zoom and the Commission will accept written comments on the proposed rate changes, review the KCC’s Public Hearings and Comment Periods page (https://www.kcc.ks.gov/your-opinion-matters) for
details and to submit your comments.

 

All were invited to our Social meet and greet on April 6 and a wonderful time was had by all! Don’t worry, if you missed it, plans are underway soon to have another one. We will keep you posted. New members, current members, prospective members, families, and friends were all welcome to come and eat, drink, play games, and get to know each other! This is a great time to also extend a hearty welcome to our new members:

Susan, Bert, Kimberley, Irene, and Amy!

We are glad you have joined us and we look forward to working with you!

On April 9, our Climate Study lead and I attended and provided comments before the Citizen Governmental Review Committee as they worked to review the effectiveness of the city governance structure.

 

Vote 411 Day 2025

On April 10, the Vote 411 Terrific Trio of Jan Martens, Angel Romero, and Lissa Staley and their support crew from Topeka Voter Collaborative entertained visitors about creating voting plans and educated the public about upcoming local elections all while customizing voting buttons. If you haven’t seen how buttons are made, you need to add it to your list of things to do. The kids loved it as well as the adults. Many thanks to the Vote 411 crew and the awesome graphics.

LWVTSC at LWVK in Salina April 2025
On April 26, The State Convention meeting brought in newly elected board members. The League of Women Voters Topeka Shawnee County was well represented at state convention in Salina.

The SAVE Act was passed by the House and you are encouraged to contact your representative in Washington regarding their vote. Also, unfortunately, the Kansas legislators overrode the governor’s veto, eliminating the 3 day grace period for voters to mail in ballots. This option was available to Kansans since 2017 and quite honestly the defeat feels like a step back into the past decade. As many of you are aware, this has been a very active and
challenging legislative session.

I look forward to working with such a diligent league of voters carrying out the mission of the League. I am just as excited to work with a dedicated and worthy team. They include:

 

Teamwork makes the dream work.

Best regards,

Dr. Glenda Overstreet Vaughn

President

Legislative Session Resource. I encourage you to contact members of the Shawnee County legislative delegation, by phone or email, regarding proposed or passed legislation. Included below is their Statehouse contact information.

  • Brenda Dietrich Room #223-E  785.296.7648Brenda.Dietrich@senate.ks.gov
  • Rick Kloos Room # 418-E  785.296.7645Rick.Kloos@senate.ks.gov
  • Patrick Schmidt Room #135-E 785.296-7372 Patrick.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov
  • Kenny Titus Room #124-E 785.296.7656Kenny.Titus@senate.ks.gov
  • John Alcala Room #173-W 785.296-7371 John.Alcala@house.ks.gov
  • Jesse Borjon Room #512-N 785.296.7374Jesse.borjon@house.ks.gov
  • Ken Corbett Room #187-N 785.296-7679 ken.corbet@house.ks.gov
  • Kirk Haskins Room #43-S 785.296.7673Kirk.Haskins@house.ks.gov
  • Kyle McNorton Room #561-W 785.296.7460Kyle.McNorton@house.ks.gov
  • Tobias Schlingensiepen 785.296.7669 Room #174-W    Tobias.Schlingensiepen@house.ks.gov
  • Alexis Simmons Room #43-S 785.296.7632Alexis.Simmons@house.ks.gov
  • Virgil Weigel Room #451-S 785.296.7104virgil.weigel@house.ks.gov

Furthermore, you may access the Kansas Legislative website at http://kslegislature.gov to review bill status and content, house and senate calendars and committee schedules.  Through this website you may listen to or via video streaming follow committee hearings and General Session proceedings.

An additional resource is the State Library.  You may access their services in the following ways:

  • Phone:800-432-3919 or 785-296-2149
  • Legislative Hotline: 800-432-3924
  • Email: infodesk@ks.gov
  • Download the Ask a Librarian app to your mobile device.

Observer Reports: April 2025

Posted by & filed under Observer Reports, Voter.

Each month, LWV volunteers attend city, council, and school board meetings. Their observer reports help keep us informed.

Thank you to observers Paul Post, Vicki Arnett, and Elvera Johnson for attending 11 meetings over the past month!

Topics our local boards and officials discussed in those meetings include:

  • Road construction detours
  • The Stormont Vail Events Center
  • Plans to eliminate DEI initiatives among city staff
  • The history of consolidating Topeka and Shawnee County parks departments.

Their most recent Observer Report is available to open as a pdf. 

 

League members sitting at table during monthly board meeting

Interested in joining the observer corps? Send us an email today.

President’s Perspective: March 2025

Posted by & filed under Board of Directors, President's Perspective.

President’s Perspective
March 2025
We’re all familiar with the saying that all politics is local. This is certainly true as the 2025 election cycle will be for city offices and school board positions.

The cities of Topeka, Auburn, Rossville, Silver Lake and Willard each have city council and/or mayor positions that will be on the ballot. Likewise, Shawnee County school districts — Seaman, Silver Lake, Auburn-Washburn, Shawnee Heights, Topeka/501 and Kaw Valley — each have school board positions on the ballot.

Information on which city district positions and school board district positions is available at the Shawnee County Commissioner of Elections website. Candidate filing deadline for these positions is noon, Monday, June 2. Please consider serving your community – whether it be seeking office yourself or become involved in actively supporting a candidate whom you believe would be an asset to our community. Primary election day is Tuesday, August 5 – early voting begins Monday, July 21. The general election is on Tuesday, November 4 – early voting begins Monday, October 20. As in the past, the
only Shawnee County early voting location is at the Shawnee County Election Office.

The LWVTSC continues efforts meeting with elected county and state officials stressing the need for more advance voting locations in our county. For the 2024 general election, Johnson and Sedgwick counties each had 18 advance voting locations. Wyandotte county had five while Douglas county had seven advance voting locations. Shawnee County is the third largest county by population behind Johnson and Sedgwick counties. Wyandotte and Douglas counties are the fourth and fifth largest by population. Several of these counties also had Saturday voting. Shawnee County must do better!

View the complete 2025 primary and general election calendar from the Shawnee County Election Office.

Stay informed and engaged with the League of Women Voters, Topeka Shawnee County! Should you wish to become a member or as a member want to be involved in any community events, high school civic education presentations, candidate Meet and Greet events or policy studies, please contact the League through our website.

Legislative Session Resources

As you know, the 2025 legislative session has begun. I encourage you to contact members of the Shawnee County legislative delegation, by phone or email, regarding proposed legislation. Included below is their Statehouse contact information.

• Sen. Brenda Dietrich Room #223-E 785.296.7648 Brenda.Dietrich@senate.ks.gov
• Sen. Rick Kloos Room # 418-E 785.296.7645 Rick.Kloos@senate.ks.gov
• Sen. Patrick Schmidt Room #135-E 785.296-7372 Patrick.Schmidt@senate.ks.gov
• Sen. Kenny Titus Room #124-E 785.296.7656 Kenny.Titus@senate.ks.gov
• Rep. John Alcala Room #173-W 785.296-7371 John.Alcala@house.ks.gov
• Rep. Jesse Borjon Room #512-N 785.296.7374 Jesse.borjon@house.ks.gov
• Rep. Ken Corbett Room #187-N 785.296-7679 ken.corbet@house.ks.gov
• Rep. Kirk Haskins Room #43-S 785.296.7673 Kirk.Haskins@house.ks.gov
• Rep. Kyle McNorton Room #561-W 785.296.7460 Kyle.McNorton@house.ks.gov
• Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen 785.296.7669 Room #174-W Tobias.Schlingensiepen@house.ks.gov
• Rep. Alexis Simmons Room #43-S 785.296.7632 Alexis.Simmons@house.ks.gov
• Rep. Virgil Weigel Room #451-S 785.296.7104 virgil.weigel@house.ks.gov

Furthermore, you may access the Kansas Legislative website at http://kslegislature.gov to review bill status and content, house and senate calendars and committee schedules. Through this website you may listen to or via video streaming follow committee hearings and General Session proceedings.

An additional resource is the State Library. You may access their services in the following ways:
• Phone:800-432-3919 or 785-296-2149
• Legislative Hotline: 800-432-3924
• Email: infodesk@ks.gov
• Download the Ask a Librarian app to your mobile device.