Wine and Cheese with the League!

We all — Leaguers and friends and guests and new friends, too — had a great time last week at our fundraising event, Wine and Cheese with the League. We also raised a good bit of money, though the final figures are not in yet. Thanks to our fantistic organizers — LaVonne Grayson, Marian Williams and Susan Squires (that’s them in the photo above) — and to eveyone who came out to make the event a success!

LWV Florida President Deirdre Macnab dropped by (she’s in one of the photos below), as did Supervisor of Elections (and candidate) Michael Ertel, local elected officials including John Horvath and several school board and state house hopefuls. I know I’ve probably missed somebody, so please mention people in the comments!

Here are more photos of the event.

And one more thing…. our League was in the New York Times! With a photo and everything! We took a pic of the article — of course! Tried to link to the NYT website, but you have to log in, so… you’re on your own for this one. If we can get the link later, we’ll post it.

LWV Florida Regional Field Trip/Adventure

 

From our intrepid adventurer, Jane Lane (that’s her in the straw hat in the photo) –

Our memorable day began at the Harry T. & Harriett V. Moore Memorial Park and Cultural Center in Mims. The curator Juanita Barton, who grew up in Mims, shared the history of the Moores and the critical part they played in the Civil Rights Movement. The Moores were both teachers. Moore served as Area Director of the NAACP and founded the Progressive Voters League. The Progressive League registered 100,000 voters before the Moores’ untimely deaths/assassinations on December 25, 1951. The League of Women Voters continues the Moores’ work of empowering citizens to register to vote and to make informed decisions at the polls.

We enjoyed a lunch of regional foods and heard a presentation by Lauralee Thompson, Dixie Crossroads manager and a long-time environmentalist. Laura shared her experiences of growing up on the Indian River Lagoon. In 1991, the lagoon was designated as an Estuary of National Significance. Laura reminded us that the river needs everyone’s help. The river that she enjoyed in childhood is now suffering fish kills as a result of storm water discharges and the overuse of fertilizers and pesticides. She did tell us that some environmental interventions are working. The once threatened oysters are coming back and are now available in area markets.

Charley Williams, LWV Florida Voters Service chair, brought us up to date on election information:

• June 4-8 – qualifying dates for candidates
• July 16 – registration deadline for August 14 Primary Election
• Aug. 14 – primary election: This will be the first Florida election following the Fair District redistricting lines. Turnout for Florida’s primary is traditionally low (18-22 percent). With low turnout, any vote carries more weight simply because others don’t show up at the polls.

The League is involved in two separate lawsuits working their way through the courts. We are hopeful that the courts will issue an injunction allowing the League to begin registering voters again without the 48-hour penalty provision. Due to onerous legislation, the League stopped registering voters in Florida in March 2011.

In a van driven by a volunteer biologist, we discovered manatees, white pelicans, Great Southern Butterflies, white herons, and alligators during a tour of Black Point Wildlife Drive, part of the Merriitt Island National Wildlife Refuge. We identified Spanish needle, coral beans, Caroline willow, slash pines, cat tails and southern red cedar.

Members from Volusia, Brevard, Seminole, and Orange County Leagues, as well as the Florida League’s Executive Director Jessica Lowe Minor, enjoyed this special day of history, voting rights, nature and food. All of us agreed that we can’t wait for the Florida League and Nancy Rudner to schedule another adventure.

Hot Topics: Legislative Winners and Losers

“Legislative Session 2012: Winners and Losers!” was the subject under discussion when the League of Women Voters of Seminole County met on Thursday, March 22 met on March 22 for a Hot Topics luncheon.

State President Deirdre McNabb outlined the highlights of the session. The two legal requirements for the legislative session were to create a balanced budget and to redraw the district lines in such a way that they met the new Constitutional requirements.

She reminded the audience that the House district lines met with the Florida Supreme Court’s approval, but the Senate lines did not and were still under discussion.

The budget was passed with some losers being the court system, with only $3 million budgeted for the whole state for cases of conflict with the Public Defender offices for death-sentence cases. If the budget exceeds that amount, which is quite probable, the rest of the funds will come from the court system directly.

Public education was both a loser and a winner, with an additional $1 million going to K-12 public education for operations, but still making the funding less than the 2008 budget. Another winner for schools was the defeat of the bill that would have let parents choose to give their students’ low performing school to a charter school organization.

On the loser side of the education budget, charter schools were given all the funds for capital investment with no requirement that the schools meet the stringent requirements for school buildings. Also, the voucher program for low-income students was expanded.

Some issues were not clearly resolved. The outcomes for the PIP insurance issue are still not known.

Lake Mary City Commissioner Jo Ann Lucarelli thanked League members for their support of the stalking bill, which passed without objection, reminding everyone that their involvement really made a difference.

The April Hot Topics luncheon will feature Pat Burkett speaking about the Environmental Center.

Also, many thanks to Tom Lane for these photos of the event!

Legislative Seminar Report

Since LWV Seminole didn’t send a delegate to the LWVF Legislative Seminar this year, copied below are excerpts from the report to her League by LWV Volusia President Pat Gadbaw.

Just when you thought Florida politics couldn’t get worse, it has.  Fighting behind the scenes for control in this session has been particularly rancorous. It doesn’t seem to be a good time to be an elected official of either party.

Among the general comments by various speakers:

Ben Wilcox, LWVF lobbyist, reported that Senate President Mike Haridopolis and the governor have instituted a system of punishments for Senators or Representatives who act independently of the party.  According to Representative Marti Coley (R-Marianna) in this atmosphere of threat, the legislators are following the leadership and party line like lemmings. 

Senator Mike Fasano (R-New Port Richey), an outspoken opponent of privatization, echoed these sentiments as did Steve Bousquet, Capitol Bureau Chief of the Tampa Bay Times (formerly the St. Petersburg Times.) According to Bousquet the governor sets the tone and in that respect Governor Charlie Chris is missed.

Schools:  According to Senator Nan Rich, Minority Leader from Miami-Dade, the legislators are taking $400 million from higher education reserves to help balance the budget. The K-12 budget provides considerably less dollars per child than in 2005. This is a disincentive for business to relocate to Florida.

Health Care:  Senator Rich acknowledged that health care is a net loser with major cuts in mental health and substance abuse on the Senate side but no cuts to these programs on the House side. These differences will have to be resolved in conference. State employees are not able to participate in the Kid Care program even if they qualify financially. Foster care support is also taking a hit. Because these kids move frequently, 70 percent have not graduated from high school when they are dropped from aid now at the age of 22.  The House wants to reduce that age limit for support to 21.

The Judiciary:  Former Senator Alex Villalobos expressed concern that the third branch of government, Justice, is overworked and underfunded.  The judicial branch accounts for only .7 percent of the budget but is actually taking another budget cut this year.  It is impossible to provide citizens appropriate access to the courts in this environment.

Campaign Finance Reform: Incoming Speaker of the House, Will Weatherford (R-Wesley Chapel) is in favor of raising individual contribution limits and reigning in “committee ads.”  Karen Woodall from the Florida Center for Fiscal and Economic Policy commented that after this election there may be enough outrage for a window of opportunity to reform campaign financing.

Environment:  Victoria Tschinkel, former Secretary of the Department of Environmental Regulation (1981-1987) and currently serving as Chair of the 1000 Friends of Florida, said that last year the Legislature destroyed Growth Management which had been in place since 1972. Most of the scientists and regulators have been laid off. There is no management if you don’t have regulators.

Voter Service Plans for the Election Season

State Voter Service Chair Charley Williams reports that LWVF plans to print one million copies of the state Voters Guide this election season.  League is contacting the smaller papers and weeklies to inquire about republishing or  inserting the Guide.  Most of the larger dailies do their own candidate questionnaires, which smaller papers don’t have the resources to do.
As of now, there will be eleven constitutional amendments on the ballot, including the TABOR amendment and another rolling back the privacy protections currently in the state constitution.  State hopes to have the pro/con material out early in the summer.
All Leagues are urged to promote voter turnout in the primary, still scheduled for August 14th.  Williams pointed out that each vote in the primary counts about three times the weight of a vote in the general election because of low voter turnout.  In many counties which are dominated by one party, victory in the primary amounts to victory in the general;  not to mention the non-partisan contests which are decided.  In Seminole County, school board races are non-partisan.

–Pat Southward

Hot Topics: Legislative session winners and losers

LWV Florida President Deirdre Macnab will be our speaker at our upcoming Hot Topics luncheon. Her topic: winners and losers in the recent legislative session.

The event begins at 11:30 on March 22 at Patio Grill, 2900 S. Orlando Ave., Sanford.

Hot Topics luncheons are held on the fourth Thursday of the month. They are open to the public and all interested persons are encouraged to attend.

Reservations are appreciated. To RSVP, e-mail LWVSeminole@gmail.com, call 407-339-9266 or visit our website at LWVSeminole.org. Checks and cash are accepted at the door. The cost is $17 ($15 for League members) and includes lunch, one non-alcoholic beverage, tax, tip and a small donation to the League.

Click here to RSVP online!

Update on services for Susan Eitelman Dean

Here’s some info on services for Leaguer Susan Eitelman Dean, who passed away from a stroke last week:

Viewing

Tuesday, March 6, 2012 6 – 9 PM, Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral Home – Conway Chapel 1413 South Semoran Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32807 . Reception following.

Memorial Service

Wednesday, March 7, 2012 6 PM First Baptist Church of Orlando 3000 South John Young Parkway  Orlando, FL 32805

Here’s a link.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the family, which can be done online here. Donations are appreciated for both immediate expenses and Andrew’s college fund.