LWVOC Blow By Blow Blog

Happy Women's Equality Day - from Deirdre Macnab

Dear League Supporter,

 

 

The Chinese have a saying: "The journey of a thousand miles starts with one step."

 

The women's suffrage movement was a thousand-mile journey, reaching the finish line on August 26, 1920, when the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, was signed into law. After hundreds of petition drives, rallies, legislative and congressional lobbying and even prison time, persistence prevailed. The women's suffrage victory launched the League of Women Voters' 91-year mission to engage American citizens as informed and active participants in our democracy.

 

 

The Florida League, 72 years young, is nearing the end of another thousand-mile journey: our work to finally have standards in our state Constitution that ensure fair apportionment of districts. The very first study that the Florida League undertook found two major problems: one was an outdated Constitution; the other was a malfunctioning system of gerrymandered legislative districts. This issue was the first one our members took to the Florida Legislature, and we have worked on it throughout the 72 years since. The people prevailed when 63% of voters approved Fair Districts Amendments 5 and 6 this past November.

 

 

Today, as we mark this revolutionary milestone in our nation's democracy, it continues to astound me that women's suffrage passed by one vote. A 24-year-old Tennessee legislator, who changed his vote at the last moment after receiving a letter from his mother ("Don't forget to be a good boy, and vote for suffrage!"), made history. Women had won the vote.

 

 

Today is a day to recognize how far women have come on the anniversary of their 91 years of voting in America. It's also a time to reflect on the power of our voice as citizens. If you believe in something, the lesson is clear: never, never give up!

 

Happy Women's Equality Day!  

 

 

Useful Events Calendar

HOT TOPICS

Wednesday, Oct. 12
Carol Wick, CEO of Harbor House
on the rise in domestic abuse. Moderator
Lauren Rowe, host of “Flashpoint”
on WKMG-TV Channel 6.

Wednesday, Nov. 9
Philanthropist and financier Michael Poole
will lead discussion
on economic development and jobs

For your Calendar

Sept. 9
FLORIDA AT A CROSSROAD
Immigration Symposium,
LWVFL a sponsor
Barry University Law School
6441 East Colonial Drive
Orlando, Fl. 32807
No charge:
Registration 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sept. 12

LWVOC Board Meeting 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 14
Special edition WFTV-Channel 9
Central Florida Spotlight in
partnership with LWVOC.
Topic: The Legislature and
the Environment. LWVOC president
Ann Hellmuth was interviewed.


Sept. 18
GLOBAL PEACE STREET FESTIVAL
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Morse Blvd
Winter Park



Sept. 26
SUNSHINE LAW
First Amendment Foundation
8:30 a.m. Orlando Sentinel
Conference Room. $15 members
Register www.floridafaf.org

The 2012 Elections
Lou Frey Institute at UCF
Panel discussion to include Fair Districts
12:30 p.m. to 1.20 p.m.
Pegasus Hall, Students’ Union Building

Sept. 27
Immigration
LWVOC Immigration Chair
Sister Teresa McElwee
University Club,
Winter Park, 7 p.m.

SPECIAL BOARDS
Orange Redistrict Advisory Committee
Every Thursday through Sept. 28
6 p.m. BCC Chambers, downtown.

Charter Review Commission
Meeting every Thursday starting Sept. 8
BCC Chambers 4:30 p.m. Some meetings
will be in districts and start at 6:30 p.m.

Citizen Advisory Committee
Every 2nd and 4th Thursday 6:30 p.m.
Orange County Sheriff’s Office
2500 W. Colonial Drive
Orlando, Fl. 32804

OBSERVER CORPS: REDISTRICTING

By Andrea Kobrin
Co-chair Local Government Committee

Time has almost run out for members of the public to submit redistricting proposals for the six districts that make up the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.

 At the Aug. 24 Redistricting Advisory Committee meeting, chairman Derek Bruce, outlined a “roadmap” for the panel’s next five weeks. Proposals have to be submitted to the county commission by Oct. 1.

 Bruce said that 10 proposals had been submitted by RAC members and three by the general public. The deadline for submitting proposals is Wednesday, Aug. 31 but in order to avoid violating Government in the Sunshine Laws proposals will need to be submitted by Friday, Aug. 26.

 At its Sept. 7 meeting, Bruce said, the RAC will begin winnowing down the proposals in order to come up with its final recommendations to the county commission.

 The Wednesday meeting drew many of the same speakers who have made their cases for remaining in one district or another since the committee began meeting in early April. Six of the meetings were public hearings held in the various districts.
Based on the 2010 Census figures, the committee has to reduce population in districts 1 and 4 and increase the figures in districts 2, 3, 5 and 6.

Residents of Orlo Vista pleaded to be in District 1 and not District 6. Hispanic representatives pushed their case for an Hispanic minority/majority district, representatives of Hunters Creek asked to be left in District 1, which is about 60,000 above the population target, residents of Pine Hills called for leaving the area north of Silver Star Road in District 2 and not putting all of Pine Hills in District 6, Wedgefield and Christmas residents asked to be left in District 5.

League calls on Legislature to stop attacking, start drawing

Tallahassee, FL -- As the final round of public redistricting hearings approaches, the League of Women Voters of Florida continues to call on the Legislature to expedite the redistricting timeline and provide new, legislatively drawn maps for public comment in order to avoid chaos and confusion for voters during the 2012 elections.

During the "listening tour," the League has continually asked legislators to commit to preparing district maps earlier, debating them in the fall and passing them during the first week of the 2012 legislative session. The Florida Constitution requires that legislative maps are voted on in 2012, but it does not prohibit drafts of those maps from being debated and discussed beforehand.

On Aug. 10, the League, along with its coalition partners, sent a letter to legislative leadership urging the adoption of an accelerated timeline to prevent Florida from being the last state in the country to finalize district maps.

Incumbents responded by attacking the League for not drawing its own maps. By asking citizen groups like the League to draw district maps, the Legislature is effectively asking Floridians to do its job, which is stipulated by the Constitution and funded by taxpayer dollars.

In 2002, district maps drawn by the League were not considered by the Legislature, which ultimately drew the gerrymandered districts currently in place.

"The League learned that drawing district maps was a futile effort," LWVF President Deirdre Macnab said. "Although we spent a significant amount of time and effort drawing maps 10 years ago, they received little attention from the Legislature. It seems ironic that some legislators are demanding we produce maps now, when in reality producing maps is solely their responsibility."

 

LWVOC precinct clerks get ready for 2012

By Laurie Wack

Voters' Services Chair

Learned all about what to anticipate in the 2012 elections in Florida after attending a morning information session at Supervisor Of Elections office. Bill Cowles outlined the changes in voting procedures to an eager group of precinct clerks, anxious to learn what they might expect next year. Ballots as they stand now, besides containing candidate names, will be a minimum of three sheets, filling both sides with various amendments.

 Early voting will be trimmed down to seven days, jamming already slammed places like the small, overcrowded Alafaya  Public Library, east of 436. Redistricting will hamper precisely when voting dates will be set, as the redistricting maps can't be voted on by the legislators until after January 1.

 When clerks asked when to expect the three upcoming elections (Presidential Preference Primary, Primary and General Elections), someone jokingly answered "Just ask them if they are available for all 52 Tuesdays in 2012!" Orange County's 262 precincts will be trimmed closer to 200 during the election cycle which will likely cause tremendous confusion for many voters as they wander into decommissioned or changed precincts. Mr. Cowles pointed out that "...we are complaint Department #1 after redistricting..."

 

Redistricting schedule

Florida House of Representatives – House Redistricting Committee

Redistricting Update – August 24, 2011

 Information for the August 29 – September 1 Redistricting Meetings in Southwest Florida

For the upcoming August 29 – September 1 public input meetings on redistricting in Tampa, Largo, Sarasota, Naples, Lehigh Acres and Clewiston, below are links to parking and driving directions, Google Maps for each location, and the RSVP page for each location. You do not have to RSVP, but if you wish to speak it is recommended that you RSVP and that you arrive prior to the start time of the meeting.

 

• · Tampa on August 29: RSVP – Driving and Parking – Google Maps
• · Largo on August 30: RSVP – Driving and Parking – Google Maps
• · Sarasota on August 30: RSVP – Driving and Parking – Google Maps
• · Naples on August 31: RSVP – Driving and Parking – Google Maps
• · Lehigh Acres on August 31: RSVP – Driving and Parking – Google Maps
• · Clewiston on September 1: RSVP – Driving and Parking – Google Maps

 

Update on Redistricting Plan Submissions

We have crossed the 40 plans submitted mark! That means that Florida residents have submitted more than 40 partial or complete redistricting maps for the State House, State Senate or Congress. You can view, comment on and share the public submissions by visiting the “Public Submissions” button at http://www.floridaredistricting.org/. In addition, you can even save a map’s files to your computer and open them up in the House’s MyDistrictBuilder application at http://floridaredistricting.cloudapp.net/MyDistrictBuilder.aspx. So if you see a map that you like, but you think it could use some improvement, you can use MyDistrictBuilder to make changes and resubmit the proposal with your revisions.

 

August 25 Pinellas/Pasco Redistricting Meeting

In addition to the 26 public input meetings on redistricting, held jointly by the Florida House and Senate, State Representative Peter Nehr is hosting a meeting on August 25, 2011 at the Tarpon Springs City Commission Auditorium. The meeting panel will include several members of the Pinellas and Pasco county state legislative delegations.

 

• · Date: Thursday, August 25
• · Time: 4:00 to 7:30 PM
• · Where: Tarpon Springs City Commission Auditorium
• · Address: 324 East Pine Street, Tarpon Springs, Florida
• · For more details: http://www.pinellascounty.org/newsrel.htm#districts_08_19.

 

As always, if you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact us.

 

Sincerely,

 

Benjamin M. Fairbrother

House Redistricting Committee

Florida House of Representatives

400 House Office Building

O: (850) 921-8831

 

www.floridaredistricting.org

Create and Submit Redistricting Plans with MyDistrictBuilder

MyDistrictBuilder^TM @ Facebook

MyDistrictBuilder^TM @ Twitter

MyDistrictBuilder^TM @ YouTube

Blog & Resources @ WordPress

Questions or Comments, email: [email protected]

 

If you no longer wish to receive email updates about Florida redistricting and MyDistrictBuilder, just reply to [email protected] with a request to be removed from our email list.

 

FAIR DISTRICTS APPEAL

FROM JACKIE LEE

FAIR DISTRICTS NOW

For two months now, legislators have been traveling the state trying to appear like they are interested in how the people of Florida want them to draw new Congressional and legislative district lines.

The truth of the matter is that their actions indicate that they are more interested in figuring out how they are going to get out of having to comply with the FairDistricts amendments! For example, they are holding hearings to take public comment – but they are offering no maps for the public to comment upon!

They also have published a schedule that – if followed – will ensure that maps will be finalized so late that incumbents will have a huge strategic and financial advantage while challengers will not have the time to mount credible campaigns.

More disgracefully, they continue to spend our tax money to fight the new redistricting standards in court.

Will you help us continue the fight for full implementation of the FairDistricts amendments?

Hundreds of citizens have attended these hearings to let the legislators know they are upset with the process and suspicious of their motives. Through their actions thus far, it is obvious that the Tallahassee politicians do not want to give up the power to draw districts to benefit themselves.

Will you help us continue to educate Floridians about what is going on and ensure we have the resources to fight back?

During hearings, we have seen Legislators on their Blackberry’s or iPads. Others talk among themselves. And the leaders who do talk often try to rebut public complaints with “factual data” – which investigative reporters have frequently found to be untrue.

Please donate today so we can continue our quest to stop these selfish politicians from continuing to draw gerrymandered districts that benefit them at the expense of all of us.

Thanks so much!
Jackie Lee

No decision yet on closing Orange schools because of Irene

Central Florida public-school officials told the Orlando Sentinel they are watching Hurricane Irene's progress, but it is too early to say whether school would be called off Thursday or Friday. Residents are being told to monitor the storm and to consult their school district websites. To keep the public informed, Orange County's school district will update its emergency line at 407-317-3800 if there is anything to report.

 

No money budgeted for public broadcasting

Time to organize....The future of state-funded public broadcasting is in doubt after the Florida Board of Education approved a budget request that did not include money for public broadcasting. In May, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $4.8 million the Legislature had approved for public broadcast.

 

White House Hispanic Community Action Summit

The White House has set up a website with detail information and registration for the 1st White House Hispanic Community Action Summit in Central Florida. Meet with Senior Administration Officials to discuss topics on Education, Immigration, Small Business, Housing & Healthcare.
 
Location: Ana G. Mendez University  5601 S. Semoran Blvd.  Orlando, Florida 32822
 
Dates:  August 26 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM
           August 27 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
 
Please click on link below to review & register.

 https://sites.google.com/site/whitehousehispaniccommunity/