By Janice Garry
Dear Alachua County,
Our league is concluding our fiscal and administrative year this month with two asks of our members.
First, please plan on attending the May 23rd Annual Meeting by Zoom at 5:30 p.m. You have received the materials that, per our bylaws, are required for distribution and voting. In preparation for the meeting, please review the materials and decide on your vote. You may contact me with questions.
Second, over the summer please continue to check our website for updates. The Board will be taking a break in June and July and there will be no LWVAC Voter, but the website and the calendar will remain current with pertinent information. We will continue the petition drives for the Right to Clean Water and the Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion campaigns. We will also continue to oppose the GRU Takeover Bill. Although the GRU Takeover Bill was passed by the legislature and awaits likely signature by the governor, our opposition will persist. Stay tuned.
Have a good summer with friends, family, and the natural environment. Nourish and nurture yourself and those around you. Live with gratitude.
In League,
Janice
[email protected]
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Action Alert: Stop the GRU Takeover Bill | |
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A bill that would replace the Gainesville city commission as the governing entity for GRU and replace it with a five-person board appointed by the governor has been passed by the Florida legislature. Control over the future of Gainesville Regional Utilities now rests in the hands of Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In 2018, the LWV of Alachua County did a comprehensive Study and Action and agreed unanimously that Gainesville’s residents and resources are best served with the city commission as the GRU governing agency. They rejected a ballot referendum to change the governance. Unlike a referendum, the current proposed bill uses a process that excludes meaningful input from residents.
The last push for objecting to the process and the bill is to again barrage the governor with emails of objection. We do not want anybody to say that the bill went through the process without public pushback. This is important. There is a message template and additional details on our website.
Our thanks to each of you who is protecting our utility and our city.
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Join Us at the Annual Meeting, 5/23 @ 5:30 PM | |
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What: LWVAC 2023 Annual Meeting
When: May 23rd at 5:30 PM
Where: Zoom (register now)
Your invitation to the Annual Meeting went out in the April Voter. Please register for the meeting and be prepared to vote on the four questions proposed. Given the limitations of running a large Zoom meeting, we will NOT be able to discuss these matters during the meeting. If you have any questions or concerns about any of the documents, please contact President Janice Garry or any of the Board to make suggestions or ask for clarification prior to the meeting. If you are unable to attend the Annual Meeting, you may cast your votes on the questions being considered by sending your vote of yes or no on each question to President Janice Garry no later than 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 19th.We look forward to seeing you at the meeting on Tuesday, May 23, 2023, at 5:30 p.m.
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Postcards to Returning Citizens
Again this year the state League (LWVFL) is organizing postcard mailings to returning citizens, encouraging them to pursue restoration of their voting rights and informing them of ways LWVFL can help. The postcards are pre-printed with this information. Volunteers address the card, add a handwritten line of support, and return them to Kathy Kidder for mailing. All supplies are provided. The goal is 100,000, and the duration is open-ended at this point.
If you would like to participate, please contact Kathy Kidder at [email protected] or 352-214-9565 and state the number of postcards you will send. She will order that amount from LWVFL and arrange to get them to you. Please respond soon so that our order can be requested.
Postcarding is a good way to do a service for our fellow citizens and to keep active with LWV during this quieter time between elections. Some members may enjoy doing it as a postcard party with fellow Leaguers.
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Petitioning and Tabling
LWV of Alachua County is joining LWVFL in supporting the Florida Right to Clean Water campaign, which is a constitutional amendment to clarify our priorities and a civil action to enforce our right to clean and healthy waters, and the Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion campaign, which is a constitutional amendment to establish an explicit right to abortion and ensure that Floridians’ reproductive freedom is codified into law and no longer subject to the whims of extremist politicians and judges. The mission is to take both of these issues to Florida's voters; to educate them, to collect their petitions, and to ensure their voice is heard.
We are petitioning at local events and farmers markets around town. When we have enough volunteers we are also tabling at community events. Tabling includes voter registration (training required) and education activities.
At present, we are scheduled to table at the Alachua County Climate Fair on June 2nd from 5-8 pm in Micanopy. Please contact Voter Service or Natural Resources to volunteer for this event.
If you are interested in being added to the contact list for future events or if there is an event you think we should attend, please contact Janice.
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Demand Action CEDAW
The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) goes to shape a better future for all and to ensure equality for women. It will shape their future and our future, a better world for all. Justice for women is justice for all, our future, theirs, and our children's future. This treaty also speaks to protection for victims of trafficking and other crimes. Your action on it will be very helpful in applying some grease to the stuck wheels of a very important humanitarian issue. Learn more.
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The 2023 Civics Challenge
In April, LWV of Alachua County, together with Alachua County Public Schools, co-hosted the sixth annual Civics Challenge. The competition helps prepare seventh-grade students for their end-of-year exam while shining a spotlight on those students who excel in the study of our government. There are both in-person and virtual events and High Springs once again emerged as this year's overall champions.
As a member of the League, your money and volunteers make this day possible by providing t-shirts, trophies, transportation, and food for the competitors as well as supporting planning, logistics, and day-of activities. In addition, your funding has helped to pay for the online platform used to run the virtual competition. There is a proposal to expand the event to include high school students in the future. Read the full article to get the whole story of this important event.
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Re-Request Your Vote by Mail Ballot
Please be aware no voter’s Vote by Mail ballot status rolls over into the 2023 and 2024 Election Cycles. The law has changed, and everyone must re-enroll in Vote by Mail. You can learn more and re-request your Vote by Mail ballot on the Alachua County Supervisor of Elections website.
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The Latest From Your Committees | |
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. | |
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Contact: Karen McCann
May 10th was the last monthly scheduled meeting of the education committee since the chair stepped down this month. However, after much discussion about the state of public education and local education issues within our own community, the committee decided that it will periodically put forth a brief synopsis of the latest developments here in Alachua County. Examples of updates may include zoning, progress with the half-cent sales tax, student achievement, attendance, and a report on student behavior and discipline. The goal is for the first report to be completed by the end of May.
Since Karen is stepping down as Committee Chair at the end of May, we are actively seeking a new Chair. Please contact Janice or Karen if you may be interested in this important work.
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At present, the Local Issues Committee is paused while we look for a new direction and new leadership. There are a number of local topics on which we could become informed and be advocates for our community. Is there a particular topic in which you are interested? Contact Janice if you have ideas and would like to help. | |
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Contact: Jay Rosenbek and Roberta Gastmeyer
The NR committee has been working to establish a collaborative relationship with the City of Gainesville’s new Chief Climate Officer, Dr. Dan Zhu. In addition to our NR leader’s meeting with Dr. Zhu in March, we organized a broader community meeting with her on April 24th. Fifteen community leaders had a fruitful discussion about developing a climate action plan starting with a city website page dedicated to informing the public about this effort.
More good news - the City finally approved the Sand Bluff Solar Project. Many LWVAC members attended the final hearing on April 20th to express support for this project. Once completed in 2025, the 75-megawatt array will provide clean energy to GRU customers.
Jay, Janice, and Roberta have been invited to serve on GRU’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) stakeholder meetings as LWVAC representatives, allowing us to provide input on GRU’s iterative planning process for future electricity needs. Meetings started in April and will continue through January 2024.
Natural Resources committee meetings will be suspended for June and July but we will continue to monitor city, county, and state activities and work on our core issues. Our next meeting will be on August 23rd at 5:30 p.m. Please contact Roberta or Jay to get involved.
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On Saturday, April 29, 2023, the Oak Hammock Committee hosted a 10th Anniversary Celebration. About 65 people gathered to mark the milestone. Besides great food, some patriotic songs, and a challenging game of identifying important women in the history of women's rights, there was a video history of the 10 years, which is now available on our website. At the end, June Girard, who started it all, was presented with flowers and informed that $500 was contributed to the LWVFL Education Fund in her honor.
Oak Hammock will not likely meet again until September. Have a great summer!
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Contact: Bennett Brummer
The SCJC focuses on improving the criminal justice system. We emphasize deflection and diversion from the criminal justice system through prevention and treatment consistent with accountability and justice. The committee is promoting implementation of a central receiving network, including co-responder units and improved dispatch. We have previously dealt with expanding the right to vote for felons who have completed their sentences, reforming money bail procedures, reducing drivers’ license suspensions, and reducing the transfer of juveniles to adult felony court.
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Contact: Gwen Wagner and Diana Boxer
Our returning citizens postcard campaign is being spearheaded by Kathy Kidder, who has reported that we have already volunteered to send 2600 postcards. There are more details above. Anyone who would like to participate, please contact Kathy.
Voter Services has had robust discussions of HB 7067, SB 7050, imposing increased barriers to voter registration. The bill has passed both chambers of the legislature and is expected to be signed by the governor. We will have new procedures to follow as a 3rd party voter registration organization and will await news from LWVFL on how to proceed since we share our authorization to register voters with LWVFL. A possible workaround would be using ipads at voter registration locations. Potential voters
could utilize the ipads to register online with help from LWVAC.
There will be no VS meeting in June and July. Our next meeting will be on August 2nd at 6:30 p.m.
Contact us to get involved.
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LWV of Alachua County Leadership Team
President: Janice Garry
Vice-President: Deb Shimon
Secretary: Eileen Roy
Treasurer: Fran Towk
Past President: Lynn Frazier
A full list of LWV of Alachua County Board Members and Committee Chairs can be found here.
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To avoid missing future LWV of Alachua County email, please add our email address to your Safe Senders List or add the From address ([email protected]) to your Address Book or Contacts. | | | | |
