The Voter

By Janice Garry

Dear Alachua County,

Want to add some cheer to the holiday season? Scroll down and read the impact our league has had on our community during the election season. You’ll see by the numbers that our community depends on us for information so they can become informed voters. From comments when I’m out and about, I can tell you that our league is held in the highest regard. Thank you for your part in this uplifting effort.

What, you say, you’d like more holiday cheer? Then join the Natural Resources and Janice team to protect the water you drink. Some 80% of Florida springs are polluted and have lessened water levels. It seems self-evident that both people and wildlife need water, but that precious resource is treated as a commodity rather than an essential element of life. A group, the Florida Right to Clean Water, has launched a campaign to put a constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot that would make it a fundamental right of Floridians to have clean water. Civic penalties could be engaged if state agencies harmed or threatened to harm Florida’s waters. The LWF of Florida has joined the campaign, and so has the Alachua County League. I have taken the position of Captain for Alachua County to obtain the needed 400 signed petitions per week from now until March 1. What can you do?

1. Read and sign the petition, which must be a hard copy.
2. Contact me to sign a petition and obtain blank petitions.
3. Have family and friends sign petitions.
4. Take petitions to your book club or local groups to obtain signatures, and
5. Attend events where petitions can be signed.
6. Return all hard copy signed petitions to me.

My holiday wish is for no less than ten people to contact me and offer to help. Ho! Ho! Ho! Be Santa Claus!  

Heartfelt wishes for you and those you love to enjoy a festive and joyful holiday season!

In League,

Janice

[email protected]

Hot Topic: Ten Things Everyone Should Know About the Supreme Court in January 2023

Join us for this exciting and timely, in-person Hot Topic where UF College of Law Professor Lyrissa Lidsky will discuss "Ten Things Everyone Should Know About the Supreme Court in January 2023" including recent decisions and predictions of future decisions. This event will occur in-person on Thursday, January 26th at 6:30 p.m. in the LifeSouth Community Blood Center at 1221 NW 13th St, Gainesville. Attendees should enter the parking lot on the north side of the building and proceed to the main entrance under the portico. Then take the elevator or stairs to the second floor. 

During the 2022 election season, your League has been working hard to empower voters. Our many volunteers have worked to ensure that local citizens had the opportunity to register to vote. We also provided non-partisan information about the election in multiple ways so everyone could vote with confidence. We want everyone to know the candidates and know the issues. Here are some of our accomplishments:

Candidate Forums: 3

Speaking Events: 10

Tabling and Outreach Events: 21

New Voters Registered: 30

First-ever VOTE411 Participation: 7,547 Alachua County sessions

Local Alachua County Voter Guides Distributed: 1,000

LWV Florida Legislative Priorities submitted to LWVFL

Gainesville Sun Guest Columns: 13

New Member Orientations: 6

In-person Socials: 2

Hot Topics: 1

Electric Vehicle Events: 2 (one virtual and one in-person with EV's onsite)

Emails Sent to Members: 45

Website Views: 300% increase from last year

Facebook Page Likes: 98% increase from last year

Current Membership: 501

Public Gratitude for League Information During the Election: dozens and still counting!

We have lost another strong supporter of LWV of Alachua County. If you know of a member who has passed, please let us know.

Janie Kalaf passed away on November 10, 2022. Janie and her husband, Walter, were organizing members of the LWV at Oak Hammock. They donated coffee and cookies at meetings. Both were strong supporters of the League. The family requests that in lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to The Benevolent Fund of Oak Hammock at the University of Florida, 5100 SW 25th Blvd., Gainesville, FL 32608.

In this section, we bring you updates from your LWV of Alachua County committees. Committees are the best way to get involved in LWV of Alachua County and your local community. Feel free to reach out to the Committee Chairs to express interest, join their meetings, and get involved.

Education

Contact: Karen McCann

The Education Committee meets via Zoom on the second Wednesday of the month from 12:00-1:30 p.m. Our next meeting is on January 11, 2023. Please contact Karen for the Zoom link if you wish to attend. We welcome anyone who wishes to join us.  

Our committee is currently discussing student behavioral issues that have dramatically increased in our schools, not just locally, but across the state and nation as a result of the pandemic. We are looking at the data, how schools are reacting to the problem, and investigating what can be done to improve student behavior.  

Local Issues

Contact: Jeff Shapiro

We meet regularly at 5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month. Our December meeting is canceled. We wish everyone a happy holiday season. Our January meeting will be on January 19th, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Natural Resources

Contact: Jay Rosenbek or Roberta Gastmeyer

Next Meeting: January 18th @ 5:30 p.m.

With the elections over and the holiday season beginning, many of the issues the Natural Resources committee has been focused on for the past year have taken a pause. We will not be holding a meeting this month, but we invite everyone to attend our January 18th Zoom meeting at 5:30 p.m. to hear County Commissioner Anna Prizzia talk with us about the 1% sales surtax referendum that voters approved and how the Wild Spaces Public Places portion of that tax will be used to support land conservation, parks and recreation, and our local agriculture.

We continue to watch for the GRU gas rebates and the Hickory Sink/Lee Property issues to be addressed in the Gainesville City Commission and Alachua County Board of County Commissioner meetings, respectively.

Please contact Roberta or Jay if you want more information or to join our meetings.

Social and Criminal Justice

Contact: Bennett Brummer

The focus of SCJC is on improving the adult and juvenile criminal justice system. We emphasize deflection and diversion from the criminal justice system through prevention and treatment consistent with accountability and justice. 

While the SCJC does not meet regularly, any LWV of Alachua County member who would like a committee orientation or would like to initiate a new committee project (and who is willing to do the work to carry that project forward) is also welcome to consult the chair to screen and plan for that project. 

Voter Services

Contact: Gwen Wagner and Diana Boxer

Even though the 2022 election is behind us, there is still much to do. At present, we are:

• Coordinating a March 2nd panel discussion on the Moore vs Harper case heard by the US Supreme Court last week.
• Educating voters about the need to renew their Vote by Mail for every election cycle.
• Registering voters even now so they will be eligible to sign the Right to Clean Water petition.

And we will begin planning for the 2024 election starting with our January meeting. 

Contact us to get involved.