By Janice Garry
Dear Alachua County,
It takes twelve bees, each visiting about 150 flowers to withdraw nectar, to make a single teaspoon of honey (a quick Google search with the consensus of numerous honeybee organizations). Each bee will fly up to five miles to harvest from a good nectar source. Your LWV of Alachua County has been busy as bees. And that’s saying something!
- We rerouted our general election forum to make room for a massive hurricane. A recording should be available soon. Our thoughts and hearts are with the many people who were and will continue to be affected by Hurrican Ian.
- We’re busy educating and registering voters.
- We’re following important local issues on the environment and education.
- And on October 16 (tomorrow), we’re having our first social event since COVID put us in hibernation! Join us at the Hippodrome for the 2:00 p.m. showing of “Running Mates”, a comedy and/or join us after the show at Maude’s Café.
Pardon me? You haven’t yet joined in the fun? Well, scroll on down to see what tantalizes you and join the dedicated teams of the league.
And next time you purchase a locally produced jar of honey at a farmer’s market or local grocery store, don’t question the price. A lot of bees and beekeepers worked hard for that honey!
In League,
Janice
[email protected]
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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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Contact Your County Commissioners
The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) recently heard an initial request for a large-scale development on 4000+ acres known as the Lee Property. Much of this property, which spans both sides of Parker Road west of Haile and east of the City of Newberry, is in a designated Strategic Ecosystem called the Hickory Sink. It is an important aquifer recharge area, has environmentally sensitive features, and is important habitat for many imperiled plants and animals.
LWVAC is asking the BoCC to reject this initial request, called a Special Area Study, until all efforts to secure funding for preserving the entire property are exhausted. If no effort is made to secure this funding, then LWVAC will oppose the project.
You can read a more detailed LWV of Alachua County position and get more background on the Alachua County website.
Another meeting about this development plan was originally scheduled on Oct 11th; however, the applicant has requested a delay in the process. We expect it to come back before the commission sometime in November or December.
In the meantime, please contact the commissioners to let them know what you think about this proposal. A sample letter is available.
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Canvassing Board Monitoring Opportunity - reply due 10/19
LWVFL is recruiting LWV of Alachua County volunteers/participants to be observers who will respond to election subversion threats, such as excessive protests to mail ballots, attempts to halt or slow down the counting or processing of ballots, or attempts to contest the certification of election results, by monitoring and documenting the tactics of groups who try to disrupt, interfere with, or suspend the certification processes and linking that to a receiving training please email LWVFL by October 19 with "Canvas Board Monitoring" in the subject line.
Role of the Observers:
- Observers will participate in mandatory training led by the Election Administration Project (EAP) and All Voting is Local.
- EAP and AVL will be in charge of providing the available schedules and tools for reporting.
- Observers will be trained not to engage in or respond to on-site issues; they will observe and report through the indicated channels.
- Observers will report to their assigned shifts and follow the guidelines provided in training.
Timeline
- Week of October 17 or October 24: Mandatory training (2 hrs)
- Week of October 31 to November 6: Canvassing Board Daily Meetings
- Monday, November 7: Canvassing Board Meeting
- Tuesday, November 8: Election Day and Evening Preliminary Results
- Wednesday, November 9 to Thursday, November 10: Cure Period
- Friday, November 11 to Friday, November 18: Continued tabulation / other.
- By 12:00pm on Sunday, November 20: County Certification
Volunteer/Participant/Observer Commitment. Specific schedules will vary based on each county, but the estimated hours of staff time are as follows:
- 2 hrs of mandatory training per staff member
- At least 8 hrs of daily coverage (on average) during the first week of early voting: October 31 to November 8 (72hrs)
- At least 8 hrs of daily coverage during the cure period: November 9 to November 11 (32hrs)
- At least 8 hrs of daily coverage during the certification window: November 14 to November 18 (40 hrs)
- At least 2 hrs of coverage on the certification deadline: November 20, 2022.
All Voting is Local in conjunction with other partner groups will ensure that observers assigned by the League to monitor canvassing boards will have:
- Training to understand the canvassing board as well as the certification processes, and ways in which groups or individuals may attempt to manipulate them.
- Instruction on what issues to report as well as how to report them. Some issues may just need to be recorded while some issues may require urgent action.
- Election experts will be on standby in virtual boiler rooms to assist with questions and to make calls to the election officials if needed.
- Lawyers with the Lawyers Committee will be ready to respond where needed.
Again, if you are interested in learning more about this program and receiving training please email LWVFL by October 19 with "Canvas Board Monitoring" in the subject line.
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The 2022 General Election is just 3 weeks away. Use these resources so you are vote ready and have a plan:
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Electric Vehicle Expo @ Gainesville's Downtown Festival & Art Show on 11/19 & 11/20
The LWV of Alachua County will have a community booth at the Downtown Festival where you can learn all about electric vehicles - what it takes to own, charge and maintain one. In addition, on November 19th from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., we will also have an electric vehicle demonstration event with an assortment of electric vehicles - from e-bikes to an e-bus - on display with EV owners, local car dealers, and municipal fleet managers on hand to show off their vehicles and answer questions alike.
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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 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
The Education Committee meets regularly via Zoom on the second Wednesday of the month from 12-1:30 p.m. Our next meeting is November 9th. We look forward to seeing you there!
During our September meeting, the education committee discussed problematic behavior and discipline issues throughout ACPS. This is not only a local and state issue but there are reports of increased problematic student behavior in schools across the nation as a result of the pandemic. After much discussion, the committee decided to hold a roundtable discussion and invite stakeholders throughout Alachua County. Suggested persons to invite were parents from Alachua County Council of PTA’s, teachers and support staff, ACPS district staff and other community members. The committee will be researching solutions that are being successful in other districts across Florida. The date of the roundtable is suggested for early December.
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Contact: Jeff Shapiro
We meet regularly at 5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month. Our next meeting is October 20th. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Contact: Jay Rosenbek or Roberta Gastmeyer
Next Meeting: TBD. Watch our website or follow our Facebook page for updates.
In addition to the GRU gas rebates, we continue to watch development plans around the request for a large-scale development of 4000+ acres on the Lee Property on the Strategic Ecosystem called the Hickory Sink. LWVAC is asking the BoCC to reject this initial request, called a Special Area Study, until all efforts to secure funding for preserving the entire property are exhausted. We hope you will consider sharing your thoughts on the impact this large development will have on our community and its special ecosystems by attending the meetings and/or writing a letter to the BoCC.There is more information available in the Help Wanted section above.
Please contact Roberta or Jay if you want more information or to join our meetings.
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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
- Our next meeting will be via Zoom on October 17th at 6:30 p.m.
- Election Day is just 3 weeks away. Make note of the important dates above and make sure you and your friends, family, and neighbors are ready.
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VOTE411.org is live with general election information including issues local to Alachua County. The local voter guide is also available.
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While the voter registration deadline for the general election has passed, there are still get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities and events. Contact us to get involved.
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The Candidate Forum, co-hosted with the UF Bob Graham Center, on October 9th was a great success. Recordings will be available soon.
Thank you to all who attended and to volunteers Winnie Perez, Kathy and Jerry Kidder, Judy Provost, Gwendolyn Saffo, and Candy Birch. A big shoutout to both Debra Shimon and Connie Nicklin, whose behind-the-scenes work was invaluable. We are grateful for the entire team of staff and students from our partners at the Bob Graham Center.
Pictured upper right: Candy, Winnie, Kathy, Jerry, Gwen, Elaine, and Gwendolyn enjoyed the reception after the forum.
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Thanks to volunteers Debbie Savage and Linda Musillo, who, along with Diana and Gwen registered voters at Sweetwater Square Apartments (pictured below). Our next tabling event will be at the Gay Pride Festival on October 22. Contact us if you want to get involved. | |
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There has been an increase in fraudsters spoofing phone numbers of reputable organizations and impersonating team members. With spoofing, a fraudster disguises their phone number as being from a trusted contact in an effort to obtain your personal information. Spoofing criminals attempt to gain your trust, making the communication seem legitimate.
Here's how you can protect yourself:
- Reputable companies will not contact you and ask you to provide confidential information, such as online banking credentials (username, password, or multi-factor authentication security code), full debit or credit card numbers, PINs, Mother's Maiden Name, or full Social Security numbers through an unsolicited phone call, email, text message, or direct mail.
- Be cautious of unknown phone numbers and text messages. If you believe a company or person is trying to contact you, call them directly with a phone number you know to be correct.
- Never click on unknown attachments or links.
- Be on the lookout for unusual grammar or misspellings.
- Sign up for alerts on accounts with that service to be notified in real-time about account activity.
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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 ([email protected]) to your Address Book or Contacts.
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