Speed Dating at 'Meet Your Public Officials' Fundraiser April 30

You can ‘speed date’ many local public officials such as Mayor Trish Herrera Spencer,    Councilmember Jim Oddie, Fire Chief Doug Long, and City of Alameda Health Care District Trustee Tracy Jensen at the League of Women Voters® of Alameda’s annual “Meet Your Public Officials” (MYPO) fundraiser Thursday, April 30, at the Community Center of Harbor Bay Isle, 3195 Mecartney Road (on Bay Farm Island) from 5:30 – 7:30 PM.

For over 30 years, the LWVA has sponsored MYPO to recognize elected and appointed officials’ contributions to Alameda and to offer an opportunity for people to get to know their local representatives.

MYPO ‘speed daters’ will have easy access to local officials in four-minute sessions during three rounds of speed dating from 5:50 to 7:00 pm. Attendees can meet with several officials in rapid succession by moving from table to table. Every Alameda elected official, every appointed member of the City of Alameda’s boards and commissions, and many senior city staff members have also been invited to attend MYPO.

“We introduced speed dating last year to increase the mixing between elected officials and members of the community. It was a big hit and everyone loved it. We had a hard time getting people to stop talking to each once they got started,” said MYPO 2015 Chair Deborah Wright. “We revised our ‘Rules of Engagement’ this year to give every official more time to ‘date’ more people.”

MYPO—the LWVA’s only fundraiser of the year—features a no-host wine and beverage bar, a silent auction, and a raffle. (Attendees must be present to win.) Local restaurants and LWVA members will provide light appetizers.

Tax-deductible $10 MYPO tickets may be purchased at the door, in advance from LWVA members, or by mailing a check to the LWVA at PO Box 1645, Alameda CA 94501. Tickets are also available online through Brown Paper Tickets. (Note: BPT charges a service fee of $1.34 per ticket.)

The proceeds from the MYPO ticket sales, auction, and raffle support the LWVA’s community education and voter service programs. The LWVA provides nonpartisan voter information and sponsors free community candidate forums, Pros and Cons panels on ballot measures, and public issues forums.

The accessible Community Center of Harbor Bay Isle on Bay Farm Island is next to Temple Israel, off Island Drive behind the CVS Pharmacy at the Harbor Bay Landing Shopping Center, where additional parking is available.

For more information about Meet Your Public Officials 2015, please visit the LWVA website (http://LWVAlameda.org/calendar.html). You may also contact MYPO Chair Deborah Wright (510-908-3939; MYPO@LWVAlameda.org). The League of Women Voters of Alameda is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit and nonpartisan public policy educational organization (Federal Tax ID # 94-2650856, State ID# D-0973573).

###