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This week’s newsletter looks a little different. We are going to start by recognizing an issue that is hurting our community. We hope you will read, hear, and take to heart what we say.

A Message from Stacey, Operations Coordinator for the Democrats of Indian River

Living in a “Red” county is hard. I get numerous phone calls and emails from Democrats who are frustrated, angry, and despondent about the behavior of our local and state officials. I also hear many Democrats complain about the lack of candidates. “Why don’t we have any candidates?” is a very common question I receive. Well, we finally have one – Cindy Gibbs, School Board District 2 and I’m pulling teeth to get people to help and support her now that her petitions are done. We need to canvass for her. We need to write postcards for her. We need to raise money for her. I’ve put things in the newsletter and on Facebook. But the help is little, the support is minimal, and we now have a candidate who feels as if the sacrifices she is making and the extreme amount of work she is doing, is futile. What does that say about us? Just as importantly, what does that say about our principles? Here is the education principle that hangs on our office wall:

Our public education system is constantly being attacked – book bans, social emotional learning, civil rights of students, labeling teachers as groomers. We must stand up for our public education system by electing candidates who support it! How many of you are products of that system? I am. It is also the only education system that will take my son who has multiple disabilities. Without public education, he won’t have a school to go to. This is personal to many of us.

The apathy and lack of involvement in supporting candidates is what has led us to where we are. If we don’t make a strong show of support through fundraising, outreach, and assistance for our candidates, people will not run. We are dangerously close to that happening.

This newsletter goes out to 2,100 people. If just 1/5 of you donated your time writing postcards, making phone calls, hanging things on doors, donating money, that would be a tremendous show of support and could help Cindy win. Will you do that? Will you support our children and teachers? Will you support our education system? Or will you sit idly by and wonder what is happening to our education system, children, and community?

Please read the letter from Cindy below. Then step up. We have 10 weeks until the primary. We NEED you.

A Message from Cindy, School Board Candidate

Hi Friends,

I’m thrilled to report that I completed pre-qualification at the Supervisor of Elections on May 31st, and on June 17th will be officially placed on the ballot for School Board District 2.

Many of you signed a petition to get me on that ballot, and rallied your friends and neighbors to do so, too, and I am forever grateful for this.

Several of you have offered your home to me for a fundraising house party, or have written a check or contributed to my Actblue account or my PayPal. Again, I am grateful.

I can’t win this election on my own. The Republican candidates are very organized and very passionate about their causes. Jackie Rosario has $13,375 in her campaign account, and LaDonna Corbin has raised $15,607. I have $5,529. The time is now to support me, because it is supporting all of us.

I’m at every event I can get to all over our county. I post on Facebook every day. I have run ads in the VeroNews and I’m meeting parents at local playgrounds over the next several weeks.

In a county as red as Indian River, the only way we can win this race is to get the word out to all Democrats and all those who are not party affiliated and we need to do this together.

What can you do to help?

● Post a yard sign on your property–they will be in by the end of June and I will deliver to you.
● Help us to make phone calls to ask for votes and financial contributions–it’s scripted and we’ll give you the names and numbers to call. We’ll provide you with an app so you don’t have to call from your own phone number. Do you have a family member who might be more comfortable doing this? Sign them up!
● Write a letter to the editor of local newspapers that speaks of my skills and qualifications for the school board position.
● Walk with us in our local neighborhoods to leave my literature with potential voters.
● Host a house party where I will speak to your friends and neighbors and hope to gather financial support from them. It doesn’t have to be fancy and it takes less than 90 minutes.
● Share my Facebook posts on your page or share my website: gibbs4schools.com
● Anything else you can think of to get my name out there so people will vote for me in the August 23rd primary.

Please email me at [email protected] or call me at (772) 228-0252 to let me know how you’d like to support my campaign. If you call and get my voicemail, please leave a message with your name and number and I will call you back.

Thank you very much, Cindy

March for Our Lives!

The students from Parkland are organizing another March for Our Lives.

“We are done waiting. On June 11th, we are once again taking to the streets in DC and in sibling marches across the country to demand our political leaders take action to end gun violence. If you were with us in 2018, we need you with us right now.

You can learn more here: https://marchforourlives.com/march22/

The nearest March is in Melbourne at West Melbourne Community Park, 3000 Minton Rd, Melbourne, FL 32904 from 12:00 p.m. to 3 p.m. Here is more information on that: https://secure.everyaction.com/p/4X6lOpXbV0e3Ba9SGz3dvw2

DEMOCRATS OF INDIAN RIVER

Democratic Women’s Club

The last DWC luncheon for this season will be held this Saturday June 11 at Bent Pine. Please contact Julie Barone at [email protected] TODAY with your meal choice:
Turkey Chef Salad vs Grilled Mahi Mahi vs. Vegetarian Option.
Meredith Jones, a family law attorney from PSL will be speaking about the possible consequences of a Rowe vs. Wade Reversal.

DWC Book Group Discussion on 6/24. The book title for the June discussion is “Her Honor: My Life on the Bench…What Works, What’s Broken, and How to Change It”, by LaDoris Hazard Codell.

The group will meet in person at the Indian River County Main Library, in the large meeting room on the 1st floor; the meeting time is 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Snacks and drinks (closed containers, please) are allowed in the room; if you like, bring a light snack to share. Please bring your own choice of (non-alcoholic) drink.

If you are not a DWC Book Group member and would like to attend the meeting, please contact Maryann and Rita at [email protected]

Democratic Club of Indian River

The next club meeting will be Thursday, June 16th at the Heritage Center at 6 p.m. The guest speaker will be Florida Governor Candidate Charlie Crist.

Young Democrats of the Treasure Coast

On Tuesday, June 14, at 7:00pm, we will have our general membership meeting. All registered Democrats in Indian River County and the Treasure Coast area (Indian River, Martin, and St. Lucie counties) who are between the ages of 14 and 40 are welcome and highly encouraged to attend, as well as anyone older who is young at heart. We will have two guest speakers, including Forest Blanton, who is running for State House as a Democrat in District 84, which covers Fort Pierce and most of northern St. Lucie County, as well as Helen Lurry, who is running as a Democrat for St. Lucie County Commission, District 4. The meeting will be held at The Vine & Barley, located at 1680 SW St. Lucie West Blvd, Port St. Lucie, FL 34953. To be fair to our members so some aren’t always close, and some aren’t always far away, we rotate which county we meet in from month to month. Although the meeting this month is not specifically in Indian River County, please communicate this, as we are desperately trying to get more members.

On Thursday, June 16, at 6:00pm, we are inviting our members to join the Democratic Club of Indian River at the Heritage Center in downtown Vero Beach, located at 2140 14th Ave, Vero Beach, FL 32960 for the town hall with Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Charlie Crist.

Our July monthly membership meeting will be held in Vero Beach on Tuesday, July 12, at 7:00pm, at American Icon Brewery, located at 1133 19th Place (SR 60 Eastbound), Vero Beach, FL 32960.

Also, join us for Juneteenth Freedom Day, Saturday, June 18th, from 12-5pm at the Victor Hart, Sr. Complex in Gifford, 4715 43rd Ave, Vero Beach, FL 32967

STATE

Palm Beach Gubernatorial Forum

The Palm Beach County and The Broward County Democratic Hispanic Chapters of The Florida State Democratic Hispanic Caucus cordially invites you to attend the Palm Beach Gubernatorial Forum 2022 on June 15, 2022 at 7 PM.

RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/palm-beach-gubernatorial-forum-2022-tickets-345598593697

Florida Democratic Party Voter Protection Training

The FDP is excited to announce that we are preparing for trainings. We have rewritten our training slides, handouts, and methodology. We will start poll watcher trainings in June. The best way to get looped into those trainings is by signing up on our volunteer interest form here: https://floridadems.typeform.com/to/eB1DoQhN

Leadership Blue

The Florida Democratic Party is excited to share that our annual Leadership Blue Weekend has been scheduled for Friday, July 15 to Sunday, July 17 at the JW Marriott on Water Street in Tampa!

To see the latest updates and information on this year's Leadership Blue weekend, visit leadershipblue.com.

LOCAL

Juneteenth

Pride on the Block 2K22

Join Equality Florida at this year’s Pride on the Block 2K22 on Sunday, June 26th!

With the passage of anti-LGBTQ bills like the Don’t Say Gay Bill and Stop WOKE Act, it is more important now than ever that we come together and stand up against hate. Vero Beach Pride on the Block 2K22 is a critical opportunity for Equality Florida to connect with our LGBTQ community and to recruit the next wave of advocates and activists to resist anti-LQBTQ attacks on our friends and families.

Date: Sunday, June 26th
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Kilted Mermaid - 1937 Old Dixie Hwy, Vero Beach, FL 32960

Get more information and sign up here: https://www.mobilize.us/equalityflorida/event/457886/?emci=6f7fe789-47d1-ec11-b656-281878b8c32f&emdi=f48c6075-61db-ec11-b656-281878b8c32f&ceid=4659117

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

This week, Precinct Captain Sharon Kolor submitted the letter below to the TCPalm. Remember, if we stay quiet and don’t speak out, we become complacent. PLEASE write a letter to the editor and speak up. If you would like to write a letter to the editor, you can submit your letter here:
https://static.tcpalm.com/forms/?wid=q1jkscld1v7h87e

Sharon’s letter:

President Biden didn’t singlehandedly cause economic crisis in 18 months

It is remarkable to me that some voters blame whoever is president when landlords raise rents, or grocery stores, gas stations or manufacturers raise prices. When prices increase, that isn’t the president; that’s capitalism. Corporations raised their prices as soon as the minimum wage increased, thanks to so-called free enterprise. It is my opinion that capitalism determines the economy and government struggles to prevent crises (and minimize corruption).

The COVID-19 pandemic crippled businesses, jobs, schools, churches, and paralyzed supply/demand. Too many American citizens have become homeless and the real estate market is out of control.

But President Biden didn’t cause our economic crisis singlehandedly in less than two years. It was building while Donald Trump was in office, and Barack Obama and George W. Bush. And for how much are we voters responsible? For instance, how many voters have cried, “No new taxes” but accepted federal subsidy checks from the past two presidents? Those checks were funded by our tax system.

The economy is cyclical. It took 36 years and four presidents — from World War II to 1981 — for interest rates to rise to almost 20%, and another 40 years (and six presidents) to gradually decline to today’s rates.

Yet nightly news (left and right) would have us think that we are on the brink of economic disaster.

Recessions in the U.S. occur every five to 10 years. The Great Recession was in 2008. We are actually overdue. And still, the president is blamed and his agenda is trashed in the midterm elections. We give him two years to perform the impossible, then render him powerless by electing an oppositional Congress in the midterms. No wonder Washington gets so little done.

Sharon Kolor, Vero Beach

CALENDAR

Monday, June 13, 2022

12:00 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 p.m. – School Board Business Meeting, 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, June 14, 2022

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

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

5:00 p.m. - Democrats of Indian River, DEC Steering Committee Meeting via Zoom. Contact Stacey at [email protected] for meeting link.

Thursday, June 16, 2022

5:00 p.m. - DEC Monthly Meeting, Heritage Center, 2140 14th Ave., Downtown Vero Beach

6:00 p.m. – Democratic Club of Indian River Monthly Meeting. Heritage Center, 2140 14^th Ave., Downtown Vero Beach

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

TIDBITS

This cat thought it had found a good place to nap. Until they took off. Watch here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_8mdH20qTQ

Office Hours

Our regular office hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Our address is 2345 14^th Ave., Suite 7, Downtown Vero Beach.

That's all Democrats!
Stay Safe out There!

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Democratic Executive Committee of Indian River County

2345 14th Ave.

Suite 7

Vero Beach, FL 32960

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