By Janice Garry
Dear Alachua County,
Voters of Alachua County unite! Mail-in and early voting for the primary election have begun! Early voting continues through August 20 at specific sites, which you can find on the Supervisor of Elections website. The primary election is on August 23.
The LWV mission is to empower voters and defend democracy. Empowerment starts with being informed. Our Voter Services team rolled up their sleeves to enter candidate and ballot information onto the LWV VOTE411 site, where you can enter your address and get specific information about your ballot, your choices, and the candidates. To hear candidate responses to questions compiled by you, via the LWV of Alachua County, you can watch all or part of the candidate forum we hosted with the Bob Graham Center for Public Service.
Make a plan on how you will vote and encourage your family, friends, and neighbors to vote. Word of mouth is the best way to inspire action. Recently, while in Asheville, NC, visiting my son, the man driving the ice cream truck told me he was not going to vote. I responded that not voting sends a message of not caring and allows loud voices to overshadow soft voices. By the time he counted my change, he had also promised to vote. So! Talk to the ice cream man, the hair stylist, and the cashier and encourage them to vote!
On another note, I’m pleased to announce that in the last month we have identified two league members who have been verified as lifetime members, i.e., having been a member for over 50 years! They are Deanye Overman and Jean Martin. It warms my heart to think of what these two members have contributed to our community and country. We give each of you our deep gratitude. If anybody else has achieved this feat but has not been recognized, please message us.
Lastly, we could really use the help of somebody who would like the fun job of Membership Chair. It takes two to four hours each month to invite new members to the orientation, held on Zoom, that features a video. Getting to meet the new members and learn about what motivated them to join is fun and connects good people. Step right up and contact me. Thank you!
In League,
Janice
janice.garry@gmail.com
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Florida Primary and Gainesville City Elections
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August 13-20 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Early Voting at selection locations.
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August 23 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM Election Day! Vote at your precinct location.
For up-to-date polling locations, visit the SOE website.
For candidate information, visit VOTE411.org.
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Annual Women's Equality Day Luncheon
by the Friends of Susan B. Anthony
August 27, 2022 @11:30AM to 1:30PM
The Friends of Susan B. Anthony invite you to their Annual Women's Equality Day Luncheon where they will celebrate the 174th anniversary of the women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848 and the 102nd anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (woman suffrage) in 1920.
The luncheon will feature an award presentation and a speaker.
2022 Recipient of Friends of Susan B. Anthony Award: Sheila Payne
Each year, a local woman is recognized who exemplifies the spirit of Susan B. Anthony. This year, Sheila Payne will be honored for her community work on behalf of labor and fair housing.
Speaker: Dr. Elaine Turner, Fifty Years of Title IX: And not Done Yet
Dr. Turner will discuss the momentous impact that Title IX has had on Women's education and sports. Dr. Turner is the Dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at the University of Florida.
For more information and to register, please visit their event page. No sales at the door.
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Membership Chair
LWV Alachua County is looking for a new Membership Chair. This position hosts the new member orientations monthly or as needed. Currently, they are hosted via Zoom but in-person meetings could be resumed in the future. There is a video to feature and time for Q&A afterward. You meet new members, learn about what motivated them to join and guide them to committees and/or LWV activities they may want to join. It takes approximately two to four hours each month. Please contact Janice if you're interested in volunteering. Thank you!
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Voter Education & Action Resources | |
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During this election season, we'd like to remind you that the LWV of Alachua County website is a great resource for 2022 election information and options for getting involved.
From our website, you can:
When you vote, something powerful happens to your voice! The LWV of Alachua County website with VOTE411 is your tool for accurate & unbiased election information on the issues that affect you and the people you care about. Check back often to get the most updated information on issues you care about most, and be sure to share it with your family, friends, and neighbors.
Thanks for your participation!
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The Latest From Your Committees | |
In this section, we bring you updates from your LWV Alachua County committees. Committees are the best way to get involved in LWV 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
After a summer break, the Education Committee resumes meetings on August 17 at 12 p.m. We hope to see you there!
If you missed the live Virtual Primary Candidate Forum, you can watch the recordings of the School Board candidates. In addition, all School Board candidates have responded to VOTE411, so be sure to review their responses. Four of five Alachua County School Board seats are open. The new board will be sworn in November 2022 and charged with hiring the Alachua County Public School superintendent. Make sure you vote informed!
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Contact: Jeff Shapiro
Our next meeting is on August 18 at 5:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there!
Contact Jeff Shapiro to join our meetings.
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Contact: Jay Rosenbek or Roberta Gastmeyer
The Natural Resources Committee is not meeting in August, but we are still actively working on our issues especially GRU’s natural gas rebates, which is gaining some traction.
As mentioned last month, we have been asking GRU to stop promoting fossil gas by providing rebates to customers who buy/convert to gas appliances. After being postponed for two months, the Utility Advisory Board (UAB) will hear a presentation from GRU staff regarding the rebates in early September. We have emailed the attached letter to express our opposition to the rebate program.
We are asking the UAB to make a formal recommendation to the Gainesville City Commission to eliminate the gas rebate program and instead create a program that would incentivize full electrification, especially for low-income households.
We need continued public pressure to ensure that these fossil gas rebates are eliminated once and for all. Please send a letter to the City Commission to voice your opposition to the current rebate program. There is more information as well as sample letters on our website.
Please contact Roberta or Jay if you want more information on how to get involved.
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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 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.
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Contact: Gwen Wagner and Diana Boxer
Next Meeting: August 15 @ 6:30 pm
Updates on recent activities:
- VOTE411 was launched. Check out VOTE411.org or this article for how to use this valuable resource.
- Returning Citizen Postcard Campaign – 8 committee members participated in LWVFL postcard campaign to address and mail encouragement and voter registration information to almost 300 former felons.
- We'd like to thank Gwendolyn Saffo and Diane Dimperio who have taken the initiative to visit several churches with a program of education, registration, and motivation for voters.
- Watch for updates on the following:
- Updates to VOTE411 to include any runoffs as well as general election candidates and ballot measures.
- A hybrid (in-person and virtual) fall candidate forum in conjunction with the Bob Graham Center. This forum will include local as well as Florida Senate and House of Representatives candidates and will take place on the evening of October 6th.
- A hardcopy Voter Guide for the general election.
Upcoming Voter Registration Events:
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9/7 – Heartwood Soundstage in conjunction with a “Let’s Talk Climate” event
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9/20 – National Voter Registration Day. Table and register voters at Santa Fe College Civics Fair
To volunteer for any of these events or activities, please contact Gwen or Diana.
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Cybersecurity: Phishing via Facebook Messenger | |
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One well-crafted phishing message sent via Facebook Messenger ensnared 10 million Facebook users and counting.
For months now, millions of Facebook users have been duped by the same phishing scam that cons users into handing over their account credentials. The scam is still active and continues to push victims to a fake Facebook login page where victims are enticed to submit their Facebook credentials. The data indicates that nearly 2.8 million people fell for the scam in 2021 and 8.5 million have so far this year.
The crux of the phishing campaign centers around a fake Facebook login page. It might not look immediately suspicious, as it copies Facebook’s user interface closely.
When a victim enters their credentials and clicks “Log In,” those credentials are sent to the attacker’s server. Then, “in a likely automated fashion,” the authors of the report explained, “the threat actor would login to that account, and send out the link to the user’s Friends via Facebook Messenger.”
Any Friends that click the link are brought to the fake login page. If they fall for it the credential-stealing message is forwarded to their Friends.
Read the full article here and never, ever, click on a Facebook Messenger post link asking you to log in to your account!
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LWVAC Leadership Team
President: Janice Garry
Vice-President: Deb Shimon
Secretary: Eileen Roy
Treasurer: Fran Towk
A full list of LWVAC Board Members and Committee Chairs can be found here.
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To avoid missing future LWVAC email, please add our email address to your Safe Senders List
or add the From address (lwv@lwv-alachua.org) to your Address Book or Contacts.
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