Future in doubt for League of Women Voters' Hillsborough chapter

TAMPA — Worried expressions spread through the room Thursday night when Tim Moran suggested that the League of Women Voters of Hillsborough County call it quits after 59 years.

"I think you can look back and say we're proud of what we've accomplished but it's finished," he reasoned at the emergency meeting called at the Life Link Healthcare Institute. "You don't have a league right now."

Whether they will remain in business will be put to a vote in June at the organization's annual meeting. Until then, the current elected board called a meeting to address discuss the future and their options.

Several echoed Moran's view.

"We have hugely successful events where we'll have maybe 70 people there, and not one league member outside the board," said Linda D'Aquila, the organization's current president.

The Hillsborough League has been a force to reckon with in the past, particularly in the 1970s as the women's rights movement took off. The League worked for clean elections, registered voters, sponsored debates, and launching political careers for several women.

But its influence has waned. Participation is down, some candidates ignore their invitation to debate, and they are not attracting younger members.

In 2005, the group formed a task force to consider how to boost membership and participation, but the problems persisted.

Of the league's 100 members, only about 30 attended Thursday's meeting. Eleven were board members, and five were past presidents.

Rich Brown, the president-elect, outlined three options: revitalize with fresh ideas and manpower, go on hiatus with only board meetings and no events or close the doors.

The prevailing sentiment seemed to favor revitalization.

Many urged reaching out to the millennial generation because, someone observed, the league is viewed as a ''little old ladies club."

Past president Dena Leavengood suggested making use of technology like Facebook and YouTube to inspire the younger generation to take part.

"I think this organization is just a vital today as it always was," she said.

But some were not convinced the millennials could be motivated to take on the tasks that keep the league running.

"What we need is a critical mass of people to show up at events and to do the work that needs to be done," said Liona Fox, a current board member.

State Rep. Faye Culp said she would like to see the league continue because of the wonderful breeding ground it has been for politicians, including herself.

Marilynn Wills, president of the statewide organization, came from Tallahassee to hear the concerns of the board. She concluded that it would be a shame to lose such a strong chapter.

Brown said that of all the ideas he heard, the best was bringing back the league's popular "How to get involved in government" workshop, but he isn't sure it will be enough to save it.

"It's not that [new members will be] discouraged," he said. "It's that they don't even know what's going on."

The date of the June meeting has not been set.

Robbyn Mitchell can be reached at (813) 226-3373 or rmitchell@sptimes.com.