Women’s issues will flourish with Webber

From 1983-91, I managed the Office on Women for the City of Alexandria, Va. We provided direct services to sexual assault and domestic violence victims. At that time, the City Council was 50 percent women, the city manager was a woman and approximately 35 percent of the department heads were women.

Even with these numbers, we worked hand-in-hand with the Alexandria Commission on the Status of Women. This advisory board was responsible for advising the elected officials of cross-cutting issues that affected women, whether it was bus routes that were not accessible to day care centers, recruiting practices for the police, fire and parks departments that excluded women or incentives for developing women-owned businesses in the city.

Alan Webber has it exactly right (to propose a women’s advisory board) — for a community to be successful regarding women’s issues, multiple, simultaneous approaches are necessary. It is not an either-or situation. It wasn’t in the ’80s and it isn’t now.

PATRICIA THEODORE

Santa Fe