Voting Problems Will Be at Full Boil

During the last Presidential Election, I was a poll worker for Ward 3 Precinct 32. Dispite our best efforts to keep the system up and running at our polling site many issues arrose and were never reported in the press or addressed by the Election Office. On election day our Precinct along with 5 Precincts around us ran out of "Fail Safe" voting ballots used by people who claim to have registered to vote but do not show up in the voters register provided by the Election Commissioner. Our official Election Office worker disappered, not to be seen for the entire day after a very early morning visit. Phone lines to the Douglas County Election Office rang busy all day. We gave up trying to call for help after several hours of not getting throught by phone. We also had very long lines of people waiting to vote all day. At the end of the day we had many people waiting 1.5 hours just to vote. In order to increase the number of people voting at one time to more than 9 we improvised. Instead of using just the provided mobile "booths" used at all polling stations we set up folding chairs spaced about 10 feet as impromtu "voting booths". . This allowed more than 9 people to vote at one time. We let people voluntarily use the chairs as a place to vote if they chose not to wait for an official booth. These were just a few of the irregulatities that took place that day. And this local messy outcome was witnessed with a only a record 36% of registered voters actually voting!

The following is a letter I sent to the election commission. I never received a response.

"Dear Douglas County Election Office, I wanted to file several complaints about the election process yesterday. I worked at Ward 3 Precinct 32. First, W03P32 ,along with 7 to 8 other precincts around us, ran out of fail safe envelopes and thus had to turn voters away. Second, W03P32 also never saw an election official after about 1pm in the day. We had several problems and questions that we had to resolve on our own. Three, the ballots were printed too lightly and the circles were not visible to many people, especially to those with glasses. Many voters tried to check mark the ballots because, despite their best efforts, they could not see the circles. Fourth, W03P32 worked in the same space as W03P18. From time to time I was asked to help out P18. The instructor for P18 was not well trained and that resulted in poor record keeping by the clerks of P18. I personally witnessed that clerks failed to have fail safe voters sign the voter book at P18 prior to 2:30pm. I also witnessed fail safe ballots that should have been voted in other precincts accepted by P18. The fail safe ballot addresses were clearly for another precinct! I strongly urge that a new inspector be found for this precinct."

Planting trees for future generations 

What can happen with good intentions

I have been working on writing a grant for around two months now. I have the application and expect it to be approved without any problem once it is sent in but I have to get it sent in first. I am dealing with a landmarked historic mansion in the neighborhood and the layers of committees that come with such a designation. Everyone wants a say in what is included in the plan.

The landscape grant is for replanting trees that have been lost over time on the 5.5 acres that surround the home. The turn of the century family that built the home had lush naturalistic plantings designed for the grounds including paths and a pond/pool. The house on the property was built in 1903 but everyone seems to still call it Victorian. Victorian my rumpus. Victorianism was dead and cold by the time 1903 rolled around. It is a limestone castle with a Tudor Revival interior with Arts and Crafts flourishes.

I was told to contact the Landscape Committee and to run my tree planting plans by them. The Landscape Committee has not met in 6 years so I found it kind of odd to get them back involved at this point but I wanted to follow the rules. I invited the members to my meeting and no one showed up. Then, just days later, I was invited to attend their meeting scheduled just one week after mine. Out of the meeting I got a clear picture why nothing had progressed with the landscape in 6 years. The main hang up was a lack of a Master Plan to guide any work on the yards. Druing the meeting,, the committee members were leaning toward not allowing anything to proceed until one was finished. No mention that 6 years had passed and no one had made any attempt to finish a Master Plan. I asked for the Committee's written interim guidelines that control work on the ground in the absence of a Master Plan. I was told that there was nothing written down but every committee member knew what the guidelines were. Oh really. So my question was, how are these guidelines being communicated to the maintenance workers and garden club now tending to the yards? Simple answer, they were not.

So since that meeting I have meet with several people to figure out what the rules are to guide me in placing and planting trees. Everyone said to look at the Period Landscape Plan (PLP). Problem, no one knew where it was. I waited 3 days for someone to find it. Zip. So one morning I went over to the property offices and found the Period Plan in less the 10 minutes. It was sitting on a book shelf. Armed with the PLP I met one member of the Committee to review placement and species of trees. This was truly and out of body experience. The board member, who shall be named M, drug me around the yard with the PLP in tow. Without even looking at the map M directed me to plant trees helter skelter among the existing trees. M also told me which tree species M liked best and where to plan them in disregard of the PLP. I didn't question M (because I new I was going to ignore most of what M told me) and we moved along.

After we parted I went back to the PLP and made my own notes and decided to stick as closely to the PLP as possible using the original plant inventory as a guide for species. Where the PLP noted "no photo documentation" and hence blank spots in the yard map I did some forensic work. I looked for depressions in the grass which would indicate to me that a tree sat in this spot at one time and the root ball has rotted away creating a depression. It actually was a very effective method I think. Through this method I think I have sited an extra 6 trees that are not included on the PLP. Given my architectural background I also spent an afternoon sitting and standing in various parts of the lawns thinking of the historic photos and the vistas they revealed. To me the landscape plan was more about creating outdoor spaces that drew the eye to a vista than showing off a grouping or variety of flora and fauna.

At any rate, I trudge on. I will get this planted and maybe in 25 years, when I visit the lawns, they will be more lush and filled with vegetative candy for the eye and a restful place for the soul.