[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 19 (Tuesday, February 8, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E151]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         A TRIBUTE TO THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS PASADENA AREA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 8, 2011

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor The League of Women 
Voters Pasadena Area, LWVPA, upon its 75th anniversary.
  The Pasadena League was established in late February, 1936, when 50 
women--charter members--met in the Pasadena home of Mrs. James Grant 
Macpherson. Shortly afterwards, on March 31, 1936, about 100 women held 
a public meeting in Pasadena to launch this local League of Women 
Voters chapter. Working out of an office in the Women's City Club, the 
fledging Pasadena League followed the national League's goals of 
political education, legislation and getting out the vote, while also 
focusing on children's issues, city government, and eradication of 
gender and racial discrimination in housing, education and government.
  In the first few years, the new League studied government and child 
welfare issues, and was instrumental in working on a ``street-trader 
law'' that protected youth who sold newspapers on city streets. The 
1940s saw the League leading guided tours of Pasadena City Hall, the 
appointment of two women to the city's Planning Commission, and 
assisting on a school bond issue. In the 1950s, the League urged the 
formation of a redevelopment agency to address blighted residential 
areas of Pasadena and published a pamphlet, The Perfect City, about 
planning, zoning and urban renewal, and citizen participation.
  In the 1960s and 1970s, the League worked on local issues such as 
school and municipal bonds, and was instrumental in the formation of 
the Pasadena Human Relations Commission and the Commission on the 
Status of Women. The League promoted minority representation in local 
government, backed a 1968 measure to change the election system of the 
Pasadena City Council, advocated for the integration of Pasadena's 
public schools and sued the Pasadena Board of Education for violations 
of the Brown Act over that issue. By 1976, with the expansion of the 
League to include La Canada Flintridge and Sierra Madre, and the later 
incorporation of the Alhambra and South Pasadena Leagues, the LWVPA was 
the second largest league in California and a prominent political 
force.
  The 1980s and 1990s saw the LWVPA produce public affairs programs on 
cable television, advocate for greater citizen input regarding power 
deregulation, support local library tax assessments and participate in 
the study and adoption of Instant Runoff Voting, and SmartVoter.org. 
From 2000 to 2011, some of the LWVPA's achievements include supporting 
Prop 11 which established a Citizen's Redistricting Commission, 
providing objective information on ballot measures and conducting 
candidate forums, and monitoring affordable housing in local 
communities.
  It is my honor to ask all Members of Congress to join me in 
congratulating the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area upon 75 years 
of service to the community.

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