League of Women Voters of Washington adopts new positions

The League of Women Voters of Washington Board of Directors adopted two new positions on April 10, after League members throughout the state spent over two years researching, publishing studies and reaching consensus.

The two positions regard local news and shoreline management. Both of the new positions are available in full online at lwvwa.org.

The Local News position states: “The League of Women Voters of Washington believes it is the responsibility of the government to support credible local journalism that includes comprehensive reporting which informs the public about the decisions and actions of their government, and which holds civic and social leaders accountable to their constituents.”

LWVWA President Lunell Haught explained the position doesn’t spell out the type of support that might be warranted, although she emphasized that League members are clear that support must not impede the independence of news operations.

“Regardless of any support that might be provided, control of all content must remain exclusively with the news organizations,” Haught said.

The Shoreline Management position states: “The primary goal of the Shoreline Management Act is to protect the ecological functions of our shorelines. Therefore, when balancing legislative goals, environmental protection should be overarching and not considered co-equal to the goals of development.”

Haught noted that the League has had a long history of supporting conservation efforts and working with the state of Washington around the Shoreline Management Act.

“LWVWA has long recognized that effective land stewardship includes our shorelines, and shorelines impact all of Washington, even places far from the coast,” Haught said, adding that the League uses a time-tested method for taking positions on issues, with members studying an issue, holding local League meetings to develop consensus on the issues raised by the study and developing a written position statement, which is then approved by the state board. Once approved, they can be used for advocacy by the League of Women Voters of Washington and local Leagues.