LWVLA News:April is the League of Women Voter’s annual meeting month. After its April 18 Lunch with a Leader presentation, which begins at 11:40 a.m. at Mesa Public Library, the group will hold its annual meeting. People are welcome to stay for the meeting if they are a member or wish to join the League. Otherwise everyone is welcome to come to the community lunch event as usual.
This month’s leader is Sandra Fish of New Mexico in Depth who will discuss the latest Legislative session. Fish grew up on a farm in central Iowa and attended her first of two caucuses as a participant as a high school senior. She received undergraduate degrees in journalism and political science, and a master’s degree in political science with an emphasis in statistics from Iowa State University. Her first newspaper job was in Carroll, Iowa, where she started covering caucuses, including the 1984 Democratic caucuses in which every candidate except Jesse Jackson visited the county.
Fish moved to Tallahassee, Fla., in the mid 1980s, where she worked for two years as a public information specialist for the state insurance commissioner. She returned to journalism at the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville, where she covered business news and in her last couple of years, state government and politics. She then worked for the Orlando Sentinel for three and a half years, covering mostly K-12 education in Orange County.
In the mid ’90s, Fish moved to Boulder, Colo., where she worked for the Daily Camera as an editor and reporter for 11 years, while also teaching journalism as an adjunct at the University of Colorado. From 2005-2013, she was a fulltime instructor while also working for a variety of online news outlets, typically specializing in politics.
Since September 2014, Fish has worked as a data journalist specializing in money and politics for New Mexico In Depth. She’s covered how lobbyists spend money on lawmakers, examined super PAC spending in New Mexico elections and reported on the state’s arcane practice of allowing lawmakers to divvy up infrastructure funding for pet projects.
She lives with her husband in Boulder, while traveling to New Mexico at least one week a month.
To order a $10 meal from the Co+op, contact Karyl Ann Armbruster by April 15 at 505.231.8286 or kaskacayman@gmail.com to get the complete menu. Everyone is welcome to attend and buying a lunch is optional.
