Current Issues

League of Women Voters^®
of the Cape Cod Area

Issues of focus/priority areas

Follow-up Forum. Barnstable County Charter Review. Watch the videos of our discussions. Affordable Housing. See our forum. Addressing the lack of civility.

Governing Cape Cod--Meeting the challenge

The League is conducting a follow-up forum of its "standing room only" forum on County Government. The keynote presenter will be Houghton College political science professor Ronald J. Oakerson, author of Governing Local Political Economies: Creating the Civic Metropolis.
Following Dr. Oakerson's remarks, Rob O'Leary, Co-Chair, Special Commion on Governess; Paul Niedzwiecki, CC Commission Executive Director; Maggie Geist, Association to Preserve Cape Cod; and State Senator Dan Wolfe will comment on and discuss the issues.
Members of the audience will receive a packet of information and will also take part in the discussion.
The meeting will be open to the public and held at the Harwich Community Center Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 9:30 am.

County Government

"Barnstable County Government: Lose It, Change It, Improve It"
Twenty years ago The League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area was an active member of a group working for a new charter for Cape Cod. In 1989 that charter was adopted establishing regional government--Barnstable County. As required, a Charter Review Committee is currently undertaking a 5 year review. But in undertaking this review it has been noted that the function of this current county government is "the best kept secret" on the Cape.
In January, the League conducted a forum to bring basic information to the public on the current structure, the problems, and recommendations for change. The"best kept secret" was out and the forum was "standing room only". Key leaders on the Cape addressed the background and the current regional issues--wastewater, economic development, wind power, and the role towns play in putting up barriers to regionalization. All agreed that we must recognize that it is not possible for individual towns to solve many of the problems before them. Now is the right time to address both these hard questions, and the line between towns giving up power and finding a regional economy of scale that makes sense.
The League of Women Voters of the Cape Cod Area will continue to actively work for a sound structure that reflects the regional needs of Cape Cod and will update the status and progress of this effort for the public to remain informed. A more detailed review of the forum and the issues will be found in the Voter Newsletter, March 2011.

Discussion of Barnstable County Government

Watch the videos of our discussions
http://www.myaccesstv.com/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/957/business-and-economics/discussion-of-barnstable-county-government-part-1.html
http://www.myaccesstv.com/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/956/business-and-economics/discussion-of-barnstable-county-government.html
http://www.myaccesstv.com/component/hwdvideoshare/viewvideo/955/business-and-economics/discussion-of-barnstable-county-government.html

Affordable Housing

Protecting Affordable Housing
Background and History of the Affordable Housing Law: The affordable housing law was enacted in 1969 to address local zoning and land use restrictions that make it impossible or economically infeasible to build affordable housing under existing local zoning. Numerous studies have shown that these restrictions (large-lot zoning and the prohibition of multi-family housing) are responsible for high housing costs, low levels of housing production, as well as increased sprawl. Today, less than 1.5% of land in eastern Massachusetts is zoned for multi-family. The 1969 affordable housing law ensures that each community in the Commonwealth does its fair share to meet the housing needs of its residents. The affordable housing law (Chapter 40B) encourages a goal of at least 10% of affordable housing in each community. A total of 51 municipalities have met this standard+more than double the number in 1997. An additional 40 communities are close to reaching the 10 percent goal, demonstrating the significant progress this law has made in the creation of affordable housing. Today, Massachusetts remains an expensive place to live. The Committee to Protect the Affordable Housing Law is a grassroots coalition of more than 200 individuals and organizations, representing hundreds of thousands of residents. The coalition includes civic, business, religious, and academic leaders as well as senior, environmental, housing, and civil rights groups. The affordable housing law is responsible for 80% of the affordable housing created in Massachusetts, outside the major cities, over the past decade. Almost half of all of the affordable units created using this law were developed by non-profit organizations, like Habitat for Humanity, and by local housing groups. If this law goes away, a lot less affordable housing would be built and in some communities NO affordable housing would be built. Businesses of all sizes need the affordable housing law so their employees can afford to live here. In addition, some seniors would have trouble affording to stay in the communities where they have lived their whole lives, and working families wouldn't be able to afford to live in the communities where they grew up. 12,000 units of housing in the pipeline would never get built; we would lose the construction jobs that go along with those developments.

Wastewater Forum

See Our Forum" Wastewater Forum: Part1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Civility in the Public Square

"Is Disrespect Killing Democracy? "
Increasingly across the country citizens have become upset and discouraged by the lack of civility in public discourse. Negative campaigns ads deliberately mislead and misrepresent; quotes are intentionally taken out of context, politicians avoid open forums because film clips can be so easily manipulated to their disadvantage and questioners are disrespectful. Editorials read: Politicians must work for greater good, not for partisan gain. Polarization has made it increasingly difficult for elected officials to work for compromise. News has become a product to sell. The We of We the people is becoming lost. Can we hope for something better? Fourteen organizations, including Cape Cod Community College and the League of Women Voters, think so! That's why they joined together to present a discussion about the problem and some possible solutions. When the critical mass of those wishing to make choices for greater civility gets large enough, change becomes a social movement that can impact the political process and change the status quo. It's been said: a growing seed can dislodge slabs of concrete!

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: December 2, 2011 00:23 PST.