Welcome to the Fall 2015 Unit Meetings. Your Tulsa League Program Committee has been hard at work planning interesting and timely topics for discussion. The Unit meetings are where League action starts! If you are looking for a great way to meet other League members and discuss issues important to Tulsa and our nation, you’ve found the right place! New members are always welcome.
September 2015 Unit Meeting Schedule
North Tulsa Unit: Monday, September 28, noon to 1:00 pm. This unit meets on the 4th Monday of the month at the Rudisill Library, 1520 N. Hartford Avenue. Study Topic: “Re-Entry into Society after Prison”. The membership will be preparing their presentation for the Social Justice Symposium at Langston University on October 2. Look for information about this symposium in local news.
Midday Unit: Tuesday, September 15, 11:30 to 1 pm. Meetings are on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at the League office, 3336 E. 32nd. Lunch and visitation start at 11:30 (bring your own sandwich). Meeting is at 12:00 pm.
Breakfast Unit: Tuesday, September 29, 7 to 8 am on the 4th Tuesday of the month. During the month of September the Breakfast Unit Meeting will meet at the New Atlas Grill- Courtyard Tulsa Downtown, 415 S. Boston Ave.
The Midday and Breakfast Units will be discussing the Knight Foundation’s article, “Why Millennials Don’t Vote for Mayor”. http://chiesman.org/images/uploads/Knight_Foundation_Report_-_Why_Millenials_Dont_Vote_June_2015.pdf
Maybe you read David Blatt’s recent article “Grim and Grimmer: Voter turnout hits all-time lows” on OKPolicy.org. It is about the U. S. Census Bureau report on the most recent elections. The Bureau’s findings show fewer Americans voted in the 2014 midterm elections than in any election in at least 45 years. In Oklahoma, barely one out of three adults (34.2 percent) went to the polls. Among voters age 45 and under in Oklahoma, less than one in five voted. And, “Last November, less than one in eight Oklahomans ages 18-24 went to the polls.” Turnout in Oklahoma was the second lowest in the nation in the 2014 mid-term elections.
The Tulsa League is working hard to reverse Tulsa’s negative voter turnout. Our discussion at the September Unit meetings will be part of the League’s efforts, during the 2015-2016 year, to learn more about factors hampering voter turnout and to identify possible approaches for encouraging voter turnout. We will be discussing 3 questions:
1. What does the Lake Research Partners’ data show concerning voter turnout for local elections, particularly among millennials?
2. What does the focus group research tell us about millennial drop off voters and their sense of ownership and loyalty to their community, as well as their current forms of community engagement and attitudes toward local government and voting?
3. What suggestions does this research make about advancing millennial participation in local elections?
Hope you will join us!