League of Women Voters Plans ‘Threat to Civic Civil Engagement’ Discussion at Palomar College

The League of Women Voters of North County San Diego will sponsor a free, public “Threat to Civil Civic Engagement” panel discussion at Palomar College, covering causes and solutions to the threats and harassment to public officials.

From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on July 24 in Palomar College’s Learning Center, representatives from the Violence, Inequality and Power Lab at the University of San Diego’s Joan Kroc Center for Peace and Justice will present updated findings from surveys and interviews with local elected officials in San Diego, Imperial and Riverside Counties.

These findings reveal many local elected officials have considered leaving their positions due to threats, harassment and other abuse. This event serves as a follow-on to last year’s popular presentation on Civil Civic Engagement.

“Our communities depend on an open exchange of ideas and information to conduct the business of our local governments. Aggressive tweets, harassing behavior and hate-filled comments at public meetings are being reported by many in elected positions. We don’t believe that our public officials should have to accept threatening or harassing behavior as a normal part of elected service, but we need to work as a community to find ways to address the problem,” said Marian Vega Clancy, president of the voter organization.

Attendees will hear from partners working to bridge the divides in opinion across our communities to get to solutions to this harassment. Carl Luna, director of the Institute for Civil Civic Engagement, will moderate the event and will be joined by guest speaker, Rachel Locke, director of the VIP Lab, who will be discussing the findings of their surveys, including taking a critical look at how women officials are often targets of this harassment more often than men. After the speakers’ presentation, attendees will break into small groups to discuss the information and brainstorm ideas for policy solutions.

The event serves the voter organization’s goals to encourage informed and active participation in government, increase voter understanding of public policy, and influence public policy through education and advocacy.

The “Threat to Civil Civic Engagement” event will be held in the Palomar College Learning Center, Room 438. The event includes some refreshments. Free parking is available in Lot 12. For further information, visit www.lwvncsd.org/events or leave a message at 760-736-1608.