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|  THE VOTER November 2015 |
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Tue, Nov 17
Education Committee Meeting
Santa Fe College Downtown
12 Noon
Thu, Nov 19
Citizenship Ceremony
Federal Building
11 a.m.
Thu, Nov 19
Natural Resources Committee Meeting
Jennifer Springfield's
Office
12 Noon
Tue, Dec 1
LWVAC at The Village
Presentation
Speaker: Sue Legg
"Who IS in charge of our schools?"
Community Room,
Lake House
2:00 p.m.
Sun, Dec 6
Holiday Social
Reiskind home
4 to 6 p.m.
Tue, Dec 8
Oak Hammock Unit Meeting
Speaker: Sen. Rob Bradley
Oak Room
7 p.m.
Thu, Dec 17
Citizenship Ceremony
Federal Building
11 a.m.
Thu, Jan 7
Money and Politics Consensus Meeting
CIED Bldg.
Imagination Room
530 West University Ave.
Santa Fe College
Downtown
6-7:30 p.m.
Wed, Jan 13
Criminal Justice Forum
UF Pugh Hall-Ocora
6 p.m.
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Tue, Nov 17
Panel: Consequences of Aquifer Pumping
UF Pugh Hall-Ocora
6 p.m.
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| Pres: Sue Legg VP: Janet Allen Secretary: Lorene Junkin Treasurer: Karen Seabury Elected Directors: Arlene Brummer Diane Dimperio Voter Service: Gail Sasnett-Stauffer Communication/VOTER: Colleen Porter Dues Treasurer:
Barbara Scott Oak Hammock Unit: June Girard The Village Unit: Colby Lowe Update contact information or obtain a current membership directory: Jerry Kidder |
Our local League website
Florida League website
http://thefloridavoter.org/
LWV US website
LWV Education Blog
http://lwveducation.com/
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President's Message
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A Time to Hear and Be Heard
In this era of sound bites, isn't it fun when you have a real conversation? I don't mean a debate, but one where you learn something valuable about someone's point of view. It happened to me recently in my book club when a member whose family left Cuba shared their views about the U.S. involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion. The discussion was about people's perspectives, and why they held the views they did.
The League is about educating people on issues of importance. We gather facts and study implications of policies. We create, reach consensus and advocate for positions. When we are truly effective, we build understanding among diverse groups. To do this, we not only need to be heard, we must listen well.
So, our League is trying an experiment. We call it: Community Conversations. We will begin with good League fare, a forum on criminal justice. Our purpose is to promote better understanding of the diverse impacts of Alachua County's criminal justice system through an open dialogue among community groups. Better awareness can reduce the unintended consequences of interactions between people and the legal system.
In League,
Sue Legg
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Holiday Social on Sunday December 6
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Please join us for our holiday social
on Sunday, December 6th from 4 to 6 p.m.
at the home of Jon and Julia Reiskind,
213 SW 41st Street, Gainesville
Please bring finger food to share.
Spouses, partners, guests, and
prospective members are welcome.
Everyone will receive an invitation in the mail, or you can click here for another copy.
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Alachua LWV Student Interns
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By Donna Waller
The League of Women Voters is offering internships to interested  students in the spring and fall semesters of each academic year. The purpose of the internship is to provide students with a meaningful learning experience about the League and its activities. The students should also come away with a heightened awareness of the importance of civic engagement, as well as some new skills for acting in the political arena.
In both fall and spring terms, League interns will be expected to attend the monthly meeting of the League board of directors, as well as a new member orientation. Interns are encouraged to become League members, with the local chapter providing scholarships for student dues. Interns will be expected to attend at least two other League functions as well. Requirements may differ slightly depending on whether or not the internship is for academic credit.
This internship will have a policy component as well, and interns will be asked to learn about policy advocacy at different levels of government. In the fall term, the internship will focus on local government and local issues, while in the spring the internship will focus on the League's state legislative priorities. In the fall, interns will be expected to attend several local government meetings. In the spring, interns will travel to Tallahassee for the League's Capitol Days.
We hope this internship will be an excellent learning experience for the students and ourselves. We hope that students will learn political skills which will serve them well through a life of activism. Our fondest wish is that after the internship is over, they become League members for the rest of their lives. Please fill out the attached application, and join us for a semester of political activity.
Application can be found here.
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Money and Politics Consensus
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By Donna Waller
Come one, come all to a consensus meeting on the issue of Money and Politics. It will be held on Thursday, January 7 at 6:00 p.m. at the CIED building of Santa Fe College's Downtown Center on West University Avenue.
This is the moment for local chapters to help shape national League policy, and we hope all of you will attend.
In June 2014, the LWVUS convention adopted a program to review and update the LWV positions on campaign finance reform in light of changes in the rules and protections against political corruption in the 40 years since the League adopted those positions. The Money and Politics Review Committee has published an excellent guide to this issue and the consensus process itself, and the questions we will be asked to address are published on this site as well.
Basically, we will be asked to do three things. The first is to examine the purposes and goals of campaign finance reform and to determine what activities constitute political corruption. The second is to examine in what areas campaign spending should or should not be limited, with particular emphasis on spending to influence mass media. The last task will be to reach consensus on what methods of campaign finance reform the League should support and how
those methods should be administered and enforced. You can find the guide at
http://forum.lwv.org/member-resources/article/study-guide-money-politics-consensus
Please think about the questions and come prepared.
This is a critical issue for the elections process. We are hoping so many of you will attend that we will have to go to a larger venue. Please contact Donna Waller
(phone: 352-371-0221,
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Criminal Justice Forum
and Community Conversations
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By Bennett Brummer
The Alachua County League of Women Voters and the University of Florida Bob Graham Center are sponsoring a criminal justice forum on "
Unintended Consequences: Impacts of the Criminal Justice System"
to be held on W
ednesday, January 13, 2016
and Community Conversations to be held about a week later. The forum will focus on unintended consequences of Alachua's criminal justice processes. The Forum and Conversations will provide an opportunity for open dialogue among diverse community groups, the panelists and the moderators.
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By Julia Reiskind and Jennifer Springfield
The October meeting of the Natural Resources Committee was canceled because the speaker from the Protect Paynes Prairie group along with a number of members were unable to attend.
 The next Committee meeting will be
Thursday, November 19 at noon for a brown bag lunch at Jennifer Springfield's office, 806B NW 16th Avenue. Lynne Holt will discuss her recent paper on the
unintended consequences of the Florida for Solar Choice proposed amendment.
It was decided to delay a speaking out column in the SUN on the proposed solar amendment(s) until it is known if there will actually be one on the ballot for the November 2016 election. In addition, we hope that all of you will attend the November 17th panel discussion on "Consequences of Aquifer Pumping" at 6 pm in the UF Pugh Hall Ocora.
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New LWVAC members often ask "When does the Leagu
e
m
eet?"
Since much of our activity takes place in
study and action committees, with an occasional Hot Topic or consensus meeting instead of a regular gathering, it may seem hard to connect with us. However, this year our Oak Hammock unit has planned such an outstanding series of monthly programs that we will have an excellent opportunity to learn more about our area and its leaders as well as to meet other members.
Oak Hammock leaders June Girard and Karen Miller and their leadership team have invited Senator Rob Bradley to speak on December 8 at 7 p.m. 2016 programs will feature Alachua County Tax Collector John Power, State Representative Keith Perry, Marie Samec of the Alachua County Coalition on Human Trafficking, and Bob Knight of the Florida Springs Institute as well as candidate forums. Watch for details in The Voter.
All Alachua County LWV members are welcome to attend. Email
theleague@info.us so gate admission can be arranged.
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Welcome to the new unit of the Alachua County League which is organizing at The Village Senior Living Community! Units are part of a League, usually organized in a geographical area so that members can conveniently meet. Oak Hammock at the University of Florida was our first current unit, formed three years ago.
The Leadership Team of LWVAC at The Village consists of Unit Director Colby Lowe, Associate Director Carol Fitterman, Membership Coordinator Becky Guinagh, Voter Service Coordinator Janet Jamieson, and Issues Review Chair Kathleen Shiverick.
They are now inviting and orienting new members as well as making plans to offer speakers on League issues, voter information including candidate forums, and voter registration for residents. Other members of LWVAC are also welcome at their programs. Just call Colby at
352-256-9284
352-256-9284 for information and reservations.
Their first program is
Tuesday, December 1 at 2 p.m. Sue Legg speaks on
"Who IS in charge of our Schools?" at the Community Room Lake House.
NOTE: members from outside who want to attend meetings are welcome but need to call Colby at 352-256-9284 so that their name can be given to gate security.
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The VOTER is the official newsletter of The League of Women Voters of Alachua County/Gainesville
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