In Memory of Nancy Hernandez

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Nancy Hernandez

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of our beloved DEC member and former Secretary, Nancy Hernandez. She died Friday night at hospice house with her daughter Gabriella by her side. Nancy was a fixture in the Democrats of Indian River for many years and a devoted volunteer in the community. Her kindness, devotion, and friendship was always appreciated and valued. She will always be in our hearts.

Office Hours

Our regular office hours are Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Our address is 2345 14^th Ave., Suite 7, Downtown Vero Beach.

Newsletter Highlights

Mini fridge needed!
Canned food items are needed for United Against Poverty. See the Local section for more details.
Downtown Friday volunteers needed. See the Get Involved section.

Fridge (and donor) Needed!

Our office mini-fridge with a freezer went kaput. We are looking for a donor who would be willing to donate a new one to the office. The height can be no more than 33 inches, length no more than 20 inches, and a width of no more than 21 inches. If anyone is able to donate a new mini-fridge, please email [email protected]

GET INVOLVED

Downtown Friday Volunteers Needed

The Democrats will be back at Downtown Friday on February 25, 2022. We need your help to staff the booth. Those who volunteer will get to choose a FREE Democrats of Indian River item. We need 2 more volunteers for the 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The 7:00 p.m. volunteers will meet the take down crew at 9:00 p.m. to assist in the take down. If you would like to sign up to volunteer, please email [email protected]

Education Group

The next School Board Business meeting is on Monday, February 28^th at 6:00 p.m. at the School District of Indian River County, 6500 57th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32967

If you are able, please plan to show up and speak. There are a variety of things to speak about it – supporting our librarians and their decisions on books; supporting the superintendent and school board on policy decisions around book banning; their ability to make decisions that are in the best interest of all students, not just a select few; support of equity, diversity, and inclusion programs. We need to make a concerted effort to support our public education system and send the message that a small group of outspoken members of the community do not speak for all of us.

If you watched or read the news lately, you know our public education system is under attack. All over the country, “Moms for Liberty” and “Parental Rights” groups are jamming up school board meetings demanding books be removed, masks be removed, CRT stop being taught (it isn’t), and school districts bow down to their every whim. In opposition, groups are starting to form to counter these attacks on our public education system.

Locally, a group of parents and concerned community members have been speaking at our school board meetings and writing letters to provide an alternate voice of reason. We are beginning to organize and need more help. If you are interested in joining a team working to preserve our public education system, please email [email protected] for more information.

Texters Needed

We have purchased a new texting program to reach out to voters in Indian River County. We are looking for volunteers who can send texts. It’s very easy and can be done from your couch or dining room table. All you need is a computer, no phones needed! If you are interested, email Stacey at [email protected] and she can send you more information about how the program works.

DEMOCRATS OF INDIAN RIVER

Democratic Executive Committee

Do you want to be part of the team that votes DeSantis out? Do you want to meet your like-minded neighbors? Are you tired of sitting by while Republicans get elected over and over?

Consider signing up to be a precinct captain for your local area. Precinct captains create relationships with their neighbors, help lead up Get Out the Vote efforts, and work with a fun team.

If you live in the following Precincts, we could use your help:

1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 15, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 32, 34, 35, 36

Contact Stacey at: [email protected] if you want to participate.

Democratic Women’s Club

With our Florida Legislature currently in session, our Democratic Womens’ Clubs have boots on the ground in Tallahassee! Our State Democratic Womens’ Club & sister clubs throughout Florida are there on our behalf : attending sessions, meeting with legislators, studying the issues and lobbying. Our Legislative Committee, chaired by Valerie Brant-Wilson, is dedicated to holding our legislators feet to the fire as they advocate for the goals and values of the Democratic Party.

The next DWC Book Group meeting will be at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 25^th via Zoom. DWELLINGS by Linda Hogan will be discussed. If you are not a Book Group member and would like to attend please contact Rita Milelli at [email protected]

Democratic Club of Indian River

We often hear, "Where are the Democrats"? Please help me in identifying local events that should include the Democrats of Indian River. We are proud to stand up for democracy and we want Indian River County to know it! We need your help. Together, LET'S GET LOUD!

Wendy McDaniel
[email protected]
(850) 528-8145

The Democratic Club is in need of a candidate for treasurer. Our current treasurer, Yolonda Anderson, will now be running for a board director position instead. If you are interested or have questions or candidate suggestions, please contact Claudia Martino at [email protected] or 954-290-5661. The election will be held at the Club's March meeting.

The Democratic Club will hold its annual election at the March 10^th meeting. Below is the slate of candidates:

President Wendy McDaniel
Vice president Betty Morrow
Secretary Caryl Zook
Treasurer Yolonda Anderson

Director Kelly Miller
Director Jadie Barringer
Director Clay Wild

Following are biographies of the candidates who will be new to the board:

Caryl Zook

Caryl is a lifelong Democrat from a Republican family. She earned a bachelor’s in journalism and environmental studies from Indiana University. She worked as a legislative reporter for the Indianapolis News and in 2013 authored the book, “After Occupy - A Future Fiction” (available on Kindle!)

Caryl has also worked as an Organic Grower, Independent Organic Certification Inspector, and as a chef and caterer. With her background in upscale catering and private chef experience, she has currently combined her skills to consult on Farm to Table menu development.

She moved to South Florida in 2003 and in 2014 purchased an authentic cracker cottage in Indian River Farms in Vero. Caryl has two sons and two grandsons who all live in Florida.

Yolonda Anderson

A native of Vero Beach, Yolonda currently resides in Sebastian. She remembers when there were dirt roads everywhere and people rode their horses on 58th. She graduated from Indian River State College with an associates in criminal science and is also certified as a medical assistant. She works at Florida Cancer Specialists as a Patient Service Specialist. She previously worked at Indian River Medical Center now known as Cleveland Clinic Indian River Hospital in a variety of roles.

Yolonda is proud of her beautiful family and beautiful wife of six years. She has two daughters and two sons. Her daughters are currently attending IRSC, studying surgical tech and nursing. Her oldest son is a senior at Sebastian River High School and her youngest, in the 6th grade, is homeschooled through the Digital Academy of Florida. Both sons have autism (high function) which she says taught her so much being a parent of children with disabilities. In her words, “I now know how to fight with the school system when it comes to their IEP’s and 504 plans. It is one of my passions to fight for those who can’t fight for themselves. I am passionate about the disabled, human rights and so much more.”

Kelly Miller

You might know Kelly Miller from Liberals in Vero, a Facebook group she started 5 years ago. Liberals has 1,200 members and continues to grow. She has lived in Vero Beach for 20 years. Prior to that she and her husband lived in Orlando and Los Angeles where she worked in television and film production at such studios as DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Viacom and Universal. She has a bachelor's degree in Communications: Radio/Television.

Kelly’s children attended Beachland, Gifford Middle and Vero Beach High. When her two children were younger, she worked as a substitute teacher. Her children now attend the University of Florida and Florida State. Kelly is now a realtor and she and her husband Matt own Indian River Pools, a family owned and operated business since 1995.

Clay Wild

Clay, a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, was commissioned in the Coast Guard in 1986. After completing his active-duty service, he joined the Navy Reserve in 1992. He sailed for Military Sealift Command during Operation Desert Storm, later served in Iraq and Kuwait during Operation Iraqi Freedom and again in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. He graduated from the Naval War College and National Defense University while serving and ultimately retired in 2017 at the rank of Captain.

Nowadays Clay is a vice president of international business development for Flex Force Enterprises, an Oregon-based defense contractor. He travels extensively, working with international partners. He is also president of Sentinel Infrared Imaging, a consulting firm that helps small businesses enter defense markets.

Clay is married to the former Joycelyn San Juan of Hong Kong and has three daughters; Megan who works for St. Lucie County, Jade who works for Stitch Fix and Piper who is studying at Savannah College of Art and Design.

Please contact Claudia Martino [email protected] if you have any questions.

FEDERAL

Rick Scott Wants to Raise Your Taxes

Today Rick Scott, Chairman of the NRSC released a policy agenda full of toxic ideas he wants his fellow Republican Senators to campaign on and promise to implement. Buried in his economic plan is one particularly bad idea: a proposal to raise taxes on millions of Americans including working class Floridians and retirees who spent a lifetime in the workforce. Scott wants all Americans to pay taxes. First Republicans give massive tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and now they would raise taxes on the working class and poor, who comprise the majority of Americans not paying income taxes.

Roughly 50 percent of Americans on the bottom half of the income distribution do not pay federal income taxes because they do not earn enough to have income tax liability and because many receive tax credits. Millions of these Americans do pay federal and state government taxes in the form of payroll taxes, sales taxes and other levies.

Biden’s Building a Better America Guidebook

President Biden has released a guidebook to better explain his infrastructure bill. You can read it here.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/BUILDING-A-BETTER-AMERICA_FINAL.pdf

STATE

The Martin County Democrats have a great legislative tracker to follow bill in the Florida Legislature. You can access it here:

https://www.martincountydemocrats.org/2022-legislative-session

LOCAL

Canned Food Items Needed!

United Against Poverty is running very low on canned food items for their grocery program. If you are able to donate items, you can bring them to the office during our office hours, or you can donate them directly to United Against Poverty.

GYAC Open House

If you haven't had to opportunity to attend the Gifford Youth Achievement Center, here is your chance!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Each week we feature a letter that was written to the TC Palm in opposition to Democrats or our ideals. We then ask that you write a response back. It’s time we start speaking out as a collective and correcting the disinformation printed in newspapers. Staying silent is accepting, and we must fight for our democracy.

Here is the letter we ask you to respond to:

Lawsuit attacking Florida’s new elections law goes to trial

Many “voting activist groups” are suing the state of Florida to diminish the election law that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last May. They have problems with tightened security of the voting process that seemed OK last cycle, wondering why the governor wants to change the way 2020 was handled.

Politico and other politically oriented news sources call them “civil rights groups.” That’s a leap, yet we hear from the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, the Black Voters Matter Fund and other plaintiffs, that this law suppresses the votes of Blacks and other minorities.

Nationally, however there were more mail-in ballots than ever before, and in some states no one witnessed the signing or required signatures to match. The number of drop boxes exploded in several states, not all of them monitored. Election officials“ cured” incomplete mail-ins or “dropped-in” ballots rather than sending them back to the voter for correction. Liberal organizations suing the state want those loosey-goosey, pandemic days back. Why not? They won.

However, large portions of our population are skeptical that future voting will be just as pristine. Upon closer inspection, legislatures all over the country are tightening up their elections. To pretend that there was no election cheating is just never the truth, and with wide-open mail-ins, lax signature verification, mounds of private money going to boards of elections, issues abound. The new law addresses these flaws.

The new law does not discriminate, does not limit voting, and guarantees all American citizens the right to vote. This suit is just a thin attempt to bring back the COVID-19 election days. No more Wild West voting.

Norman Grant, Vero Beach

If you’d like to respond to Norman, you can submit your letter here:
https://static.tcpalm.com/forms/?wid=q1jkscld1v7h87e

CALENDAR

Monday, February 28, 2022

6:00 – 8:30 p.m. – School Board Business Meeting, School District of Indian River County, School District of Indian River County, 6500 57th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32967
For agenda and meeting information go to
https://go.boarddocs.com/fl/ircs/Board.nsf/Public

Tuesday, March 1, 2022

9:00 a.m. – Vero Beach City Council
For agenda and meeting information go to https://covb.org/AgendaCenter
You can watch here: https://www.covb.org/341/CTYVB-13---City-of-Vero-Beach-Official-T

9:00 a.m. - IRC County Commission
For agenda and meeting information go to
https://ircgov.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

9:00 a.m. – Orchid Town Council
For agenda and meeting information go to
https://www.townoforchid.com/towncouncil/page/town-council-regular-meeting-12
4:30 p.m. – Democratic Club of Indian River Board Meeting. Contact Wendy McDaniel via email at [email protected]

Thursday, March 3, 2022

7:00 p.m. - Fellsmere City Council
For agenda and meeting information go to www.cityoffellsmere.org/citycouncil

COVID TESTING, STATISTICS AND VACCINATIONS

Our current Risk Level in Indian River County is “Very High”. Please be careful out there and stay safe.

Testing

If you are looking for a testing site, which is becoming harder to find, you can see a list of locations here:

http://indianriver.floridahealth.gov/programs-and-services/COVID-19/irc-covid-testing-sites/index.html

Statistics

A great place to check statistics for Indian River County is on Covid Act Now. You can access it here:
https://covidactnow.org/us/florida-fl/county/indian_river_county/?s=21821108

Vaccinations

3rd shots are now available from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson.

You can search for vaccination locations and details by clicking here:

https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/vaccines/vaccine-locator/?utm_source=floridahealth.gov&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=covid-19&utm_term=information+covid-19+vaccine+&utm_content=011921-vaccine-locater.redirect.html_in_article_link

TIDBITS

Ever feel like getting out of here and going off the grid? Well, here is a couple who did, on a homemade island no less:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9WWzbzevTA

That's all Democrats!
Stay Safe out There!

Copyright © 2022 Democratic Executive Committee of Indian River County, All rights reserved.
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Democratic Executive Committee of Indian River County

2345 14th Ave.

Suite 7

Vero Beach, FL 32960

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