A Good Citizen, Indeed

Colleen Bennett is a driving force with League of Women Voters

By Cliff Newell

The Lake Oswego Review, Oct 2, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Colleen Bennett displays her favorite beverage – Voter’s Choice Tea. The program she started has been an excellent fundraiser for the League of Women Voters.

CLIFF NEWELL / Lake Oswego Review

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When it comes to being involved with the League of Women Voters, Colleen Bennett admits, “I’m engrained.”

For the past 30 years, 26 of them as a resident of Lake Oswego, Bennett has been working to register voters, educate voters and promote legislation that will benefit the great American public.

And in the big election year of 2008 Bennett’s volunteer spirit is turned up full force.

“You feel you can help and make a difference,” Bennett said. “People say, ‘Oh, I’m not political.’ Everything is political, even the gas you get at the pump. You are involved.

“A lot of people say they don’t get involved because they don’t know what’s going on. That’s where the league comes in.”

While the league never advocates for political parties or candidates, it does advocate for specific issues, and this year the LWV is focusing on three of them: National level — health care; state level — water issues; local level (Clackamas County) — libraries.

But the group only advocates for issues after the most careful preparation.

“We form committees and study these issues, and material is given to all of the members,” Bennett said. “What we come up with shapes our positions and we form a consensus. Then we can take action.”

The League of Women Voters is reminiscent of the old E.F. Hutton commercial: When they talk, people listen.

“The league has a very good reputation,” Bennett said. “When we speak with officials and politicians we’ve done our homework. We have researched thoroughly, both the pros and cons of an issue, and we come to an agreement. We have their respect.”

This painstaking study and integrity works well within the organization itself.

“Not all of our members agree on the positions we take,” Bennett said. “But they know how hard we work on them and how fair we have been. That is why they remain members of the league.”

In was in 1978 while living in Spokane that Bennett unexpectedly became a member of the LWV. She and her husband Joe had three sons, and she was very active in their school lives.

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