Happy Thursday, Democrats!
FEDERAL
Happy Valentine’s From the White House!
Contact the White House
Unlike the previous Administration, we have a Presidential leadership team interested in the well-being of the American people—all people. Do you have something you would like to share with President Biden, Vice President Harris or a Federal Agency? Maybe an idea, problem or concern? You can send an email to the White House through their website. It is quick and easy. Here is the link: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
STATE
Rebuilding the Florida Democratic Party – Live Chat with Manny Diaz TONIGHT!
Thursday February 18, 2021, 6:30 p.m.
Live chat and Q & A with Manny Diaz, the new Florida Democratic Party Chair. Sponsored by Democratic Women’s Club of Florida, Blue Wave Coalition, Rise Up Florida. Registration is limited. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkdeCsrzMoHtY7rqi4WH5gPKX9A_Tz9znq
Webinar - “The Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation”
Saturday February 20, 2021, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Why are Black and Brown Americans more likely to be poor? All People’s Day, Palm Beach County National Organization for Women (NOW,) and National Council of Jewish Women present an interactive course on the history, the effects, and approaches to changing, the racial wealth gap in the USA. Facilitator: Florence French Fagan, FL Director of Bread for the World. Limited to first 150 persons. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/racial-wealth-gap-learning-simulation-tickets-136461663509. You will receive an email back with the link.
Florida State Legislature – ACTION NEEDED
Bill: SB 264/HB233 - Corporate attack on Academic Freedom (Pro-Hate Speech and University Surveillance)
Last Week: Passed the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education on 2/9/2021 (6 to 3) and is now in Senate Appropriations
Summary: Using similar language as the 2017 American Legislative Exchange Council “Campus Free Speech” bills this legislation calls for annual assessments run by the Board of Governors that would monitor what the bill sponsors call “intellectual freedom” and “viewpoint diversity” so as to “prohibit the Board of Governors from shielding state university students from certain speech” and “expressive activities.” In lay language, this would allow for university-sponsored “hate speech” events, activities, and promotion; push for climate change denial and global capitalist agendas; and promote a corporate-backed State Policy Network and ALEC positions that push a corporate and white supremacist agenda and limit critical race, gender and/or economic theory and history. This bill also allows the recording of audio and video in classrooms, increasing classroom surveillance and chilling the academic capacity of other students and academic instructors to teach “leftist” or critical positions.
Link to More Information: CS/SB 264 (2021) - Higher Education | Florida House of Representatives (myfloridahouse.gov)
Action: Email the members of the Senate Appropriations committee and ask them to not place this dangerous bill on the agenda (thereby killing the bill). Note that our Senator, Debbie Mayfield is on this committee. Let them know you are from Indian River County. You can email them by copying and pasting the emails below:
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
Senate Bill 90
After a record 4.8 million Floridians voted by mail in November, the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee approved SB 90 along party lines to limit vote-by-mail applications to one election cycle and require everyone who signed up for mail ballots in 2020 to reapply to get them in 2022. Current law allows voters who ask for a mail-in ballot to have their request remain current for two general election cycles unless they opt out.
State Democrats have rightly called the bill a voter suppression tactic, intended to tamp down the record vote-by-mail support of Democrats in 2020, especially in the state’s largest metro areas. In 2020, there were 2.1 million Democrats who vote by mail, compared to 1.5 million Republicans and 1 million voters who were not affiliated with any party. In Indian River County, we increased our Democratic Vote by Mail ballots by 10,000 enrollments over 2018. These new provisions would severely backtrack the progress we’ve made.
The state organization representing the Supervisors of Elections in Florida’s 67 counties opposes the bill for the increased complications and costs that will be borne by the counties. Email Senator Mayfield today and tell her about your strong objection to this bill moving forward: [email protected]
LOCAL
Indian River County Mortgage and Rent Relief Program Continues
Indian River County has updated its COVID-19 Rent and Mortgage Payment Assistance Program that uses CARES Act funds to assist local households affected by the pandemic with rent and mortgage payments. Assistance can be up to $1,500 a month with a total limit of $4,500. Visit the county’s website for more information: https://www.ircgov.com/coronavirus.htm
Openings on County and City Commissions
Would you like to have more say in what happens on the local government level? Do you have experience or passion for a specific area? One of our goals this year is to have more Democrats serving on volunteer boards throughout the county. If you are interested, please check out the openings below and let us know if you need help in applying (and if you get on a board!):
City of Vero Beach
https://covb.org/464/Commission-and-Board-Openings
City of Sebastian
https://www.cityofsebastian.org/253/Boards-Committees
City of Fellsmere
https://www.cityoffellsmere.org/bc
Indian River County Commission
https://www.ircgov.com/Boards/Index.htm
DEMOCRATS OF INDIAN RIVER
The Democratic Executive Committee
The Democratic Executive Committee meets tonight, February 17th, at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom. If you would like a link to the meeting, please email Stacey at [email protected]
The Democratic Club of Indian River
The March 10 Democratic Club meeting will be dedicated to its first election for officers and board directors. The Nominating Committee is soliciting nominations from the Club membership. To serve, you must be a Club member in good standing.
This is the slate of candidates thus far:
| Office |
Candidate |
Length of term |
Term end |
| President |
Al Griffiths |
2 years |
March 2023 |
| Vice president |
Betty Morrow |
1 year |
March 2022 |
| Secretary |
|
|
|
| Treasurer |
Nancy Griffiths |
1 year |
March 2022 |
| Director |
Karen Adelman |
2 years |
March 2023 |
| Director |
Jadie Barringer |
1 year |
March 2022 |
| Director |
Valerie Daly |
2 years |
March 2023 |
| Director |
Fred Grumman |
2 years |
March 2023 |
| Director |
Glenda Swanson-Massa |
1 year |
March 2022 |
| Director |
Regina Williams |
1 year |
March 2022 |
At this time there are no candidates for secretary. If you are interested in that position or any of the others, please email [email protected]
Democratic Women’s Club of Indian River
The next meeting of the DWC Book Group will be Friday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. Six books will be discussed, three on President Biden and three on Vice President Harris. Each member will read one of the six selections and will give a brief presentation of their chosen book at the meeting. If you are not a Book Group member and are interested in learning more, contact Rita Milelli at [email protected].
GET INVOLVED
Candidate Training
Are you interested in running for office? Or working on a campaign? Kevin Winchell is a political engagement strategist who trains candidates and their teams. He is offering a discounted 2-day training on March 6th and 7th.
To learn more about the training you can go to the Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/campaign-management-training-for-candidates-and-campaign-teams-tickets-140587040623?aff=BWC
Cost is $35, but if you use Promo Code BWC25, you will get $10 off.
This training is well worth the time and highly recommended for anyone even “just thinking about” running for office or being part of a candidate team.
Precinct Captain
As we begin to prepare for 2022 elections, we need our local Democrats to help us build a strong DEC (Democratic Executive Committee). The way to do is through Precinct Captains.
DEC members are the Precinct Captains of the Democrats of Indian River County. Precinct Captains are elected officials who work to educate, energize, and organize the registered Democrats within their geographic area (precinct). A volunteer position of Precinct Captain requires dedication. One must be willing to commit to attending monthly DEC meetings, vote on issues relevant to our local Democratic Party, lead neighborhood volunteers in canvassing, phone banking and texting, and represent the Democratic Party at community meetings and activities. A Precinct Captain must be both personally motivated, have the ability to motivate others and possess an ability to work well with others. Training and support are provided on an on-going basis. Time commitment per month is approximately 5-10 hours. At this time, all our meetings are virtual and we are not actively engaging in person with Democrats in each precinct.
If you are interested in being a precinct captain, please email Stacey at [email protected]
Communications Committee—Social Media Director
Communicating our values and our activities to the public is critical if the Democratic Party is to be successful. Our Democratic Executive Committee is looking for a Social Media Director as part of our Communications Committee who has strong skills across a variety of platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) and has been successful in placing and targeting ads on Facebook. If you feel you possess the skills we need and have the time to dedicate to this position, please email Stacey at [email protected]
CALENDAR
Thursday, February 18, 2021:
6:00 p.m. – Democrats of Indian River, DEC Meeting
Meeting via Zoom. Contact Stacey at [email protected] for meeting link.
7:00 p.m. - Fellsmere City Council
For agenda and meeting information go to www.cityoffellsmere.org/citycouncil
Tuesday, February 23, 2021:
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Superintendent Workshop, School District of Indian River County
For agenda and meeting information go to
https://go.boarddocs.com/fl/ircs/Board.nsf/Public
6:00 – 8:30 p.m. – School Board Business Meeting, School District of Indian River County
For agenda and meeting information go to
https://go.boarddocs.com/fl/ircs/Board.nsf/Public
Wednesday, February 24, 2021:
6:00 p.m. - Sebastian City Council
For agenda and meeting information go to https://www.cityofsebastian.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=343&month=2&year=2021&day=17&calType=0
Thursday, February 25, 2021:
9:00 a.m. - Indian River Shores City Council
For agenda and meeting information go to https://www.irshores.com/government/town-meetings/
COVID VACCINATIONS
Indian River County Health Department Vaccinations
Indian River County and the State Health Department in Indian River County launched a new COVID-19 vaccine registration system through Everbridge. Florida residents who are 65 years and older or are frontline healthcare workers can now register for the waitlist. To sign up, eligible residents should complete the online registration form Here. Residents who need technical assistance with online registration or do not have Internet access can also register by calling our call center (772) 226-4000, which is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm.
Publix Vaccinations
Appointments for Publix vaccinations can only be made online. Once you are on the website, scroll down to the county you live in and if there are appointments available it will indicate that.
Here is a video that explains how to sign up for the vaccine at Publix:
Guide to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at Publix - YouTube
Hint – there have been reports that the page refreshes itself when making an appointment. Don’t refresh the page yourself or you will lose your spot. Here is the link to the sign up page:
https://www.publix.com/covid-vaccine/florida
Sharecare Statewide System
The state recently announced the launch of a statewide preregistration system to schedule COVID-19 vaccine appointments for individuals 65 and older and frontline health care workers. Individuals can pre-register for vaccine appointments and be notified when appointments are available in their area by visiting https://myvaccine.fl.gov/.
This website will allow individuals who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to be proactively contacted when vaccine appointments are available through your local health department. On the site, residents can select their county and submit their contact information. Once appointments are available, individuals will be contacted by phone call, text or email and will be assisted in scheduling an appointment.
Other Retail Options
That’s all, see you next week! Stay Safe and Well!
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