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YARD SIGNS are now available for

Joanne Terry, Congressional candidate

and for

Cynthia Gibbs, School Board Candidate


Monday-Friday 10-3pm at the

Democrats of Indian River office
2345 14th Ave, suite 7
Vero Beach 32960

__________________________________________________________________

CANDIDATE INFORMATION

charliecrist.com

valdemings.com

JoanneTerry.com

VOTE BLUE in 2022!

ASK OF THE WEEK

International Coastal Clean-Up Day with Congressional candidate Karen Greb

Saturday, September 17 from 9-11am

Karen will be at Wabasso Beach Park
(at the end of the causeway)

Register at
www.keepindianriverbeautiful.org ([link removed])

FREE T-shirt



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DEMOCRATS OF INDIAN RIVER


TONIGHT!
Democratic Club of Indian River

Meeting September 15^th at 6 p.m. at the Heritage Center, 2140 14^th Ave., in Downtown Vero Beach.

We will be organizing committees to support Cynthia Gibbs for School Board Phase 2 - Gibbs vs Rosario.
We will also be exploring NPA's (aka Independents) outreach strategies.


Democrats of Indian River Voter Protection Team


POLL WATCHERS are STILL NEEDED!
The Democrats of Indian River 2022 Voter Protection Team needs poll watchers for the November Midterm election. Poll watchers are needed for early voting Oct. 24 - Nov. 5 from 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and for the general election Nov. 8 from 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Training is conducted by the Florida Democratic Party. Various days and times are offered. If you are interested in helping ensure that every legitimate vote counts, please click on this link to sign up for the Zoom training:

** [link removed] ([link removed])

For more information contact Claudia Martino at ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

Democratic Women’s Club


The DWC Book Group will meet at the Indian River County Main Library in the first-floor meeting room on Friday, September 23rd from 2:30-4:30pm. The book "American Dirt" will be discussed. Any questions about the book group can be addressed to Maryann and Rita at ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR



Indian River School Board District 2
Editorial Board recommendation


TCPALM/Treasure Coast Newspapers

Jacqueline "Jackie" Rosario comes into the November election as the clear favorite.

An incumbent who earned 46.81% of the vote in the August primary, she was among 25 candidates statewide backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis who won or are headed to a runoff. Five lost, according to The Associated Press.

“(DeSantis) built a roster of school board candidates starting with a questionnaire in which he asked them to sign a certificate to pledge their support to him,”** ([link removed])
the AP reported** . ([link removed])

DeSantis’ effort was unusual. After all, Florida voters changed their constitution in 1998 to make school races nonpartisan. Even Charlie Crist, DeSantis' opponent in the November gubernatorial election, perhaps in as slipshod a fashion, endorsed seven candidates. Two won and three are headed to runoffs. One of those is Cynthia "Cindy" Gibbs, who, with 26.38% of the vote, finished a distant second to Rosario in the primary. LaDonna Corbin (17.47%) and Josh Post (9.35%) filled out the field.

Rosario also benefited from political fliers sent by out-of-state political action committee.

She and Gibbs both have education backgrounds.

Rosario started teaching in 1992 in New York City, earning two master’s degrees and becoming an assistant principal before spending three years as a teacher and administrator in St. Lucie County schools, starting in 2009. She joined Indian River County’s Storm Grove Middle School in 2012, serving less than a year before taking a medical leave. She then worked in private education, home-schooling her child, and joining the school board in 2018.

Gibbs started teaching in Pennsylvania in 2002. She earned a master’s degree before working in Indian River County’s Thompson, Beachland and Sebastian elementary schools 2005- 2018. She left for a higher-paying job working from home, she said. She has two children in county public schools.

Gibbs also was a Moonshot educator for The Learning Alliance of Indian River County** . ([link removed])
The nonprofit has helped the district improve third-grade reading scores, a predictor of future success.

At school board meetings the past two years, Rosario often has been the consistent, sometimes lone, board member supporting citizen complaints about non-academic issues, from questionable books to dealing with an LGBTQ+ resource guide. Even after Sheriff Eric Flowers, like law enforcement officers elsewhere in the state, determined school officials committed no crime by keeping what Rosario and others called pornographic books in school libraries, she continued to claim the board violated state law. Like one or two other past board members, Rosario has occasionally rambled in meetings. Sometimes, as when she questioned a past superintendent and various policies and procedures, she made mountains out of molehills.

While she has gained important experience on the board, she sometimes appears to enter meetings with her mind made up rather than listening to people, including fellow board members and staff, who might disagree. She often has been ineffective in persuading fellow board members.

We wonder about Rosario’s attention to detail. Earlier this year in a TCPalm questionnaire, she answered “NA” when asked about bankruptcy. She agreed to restate her answer after we asked why she** ([link removed])
told us four years ago she had filed for bankruptcy** . ([link removed])
Also, in 2018, she failed to report a mortgage on her state financial disclosure form.

Gibbs, who often speaks at board meetings, has articulately discussed the district’s challenges when it comes to student performance, including teacher retention. She appears to think on her own and work well with others, important skills to help the district become one of the top in the state.

After all, only 58% of third-graders (5% above the state average) in Indian River County read at grade level on state tests. That’s up from 53% in 2015, the seventh-best improvement among 67 districts statewide, but down from 60% before the pandemic. The 58% is tied for 12th best in the state.

Perhaps no district metric is as important. It is difficult to catch up after third grade. Many students who don’t will not have a chance at succeeding academically.

Because of her clarity and focus on excellence, we recommend Gibbs.

TCPalm’s candidate recommendations are decided collectively by its Editorial Board. Recommendations are based on nonpartisan criteria that prioritize the best candidates for our local community.


Letters to the Editor links:

TCPalm:
[link removed]


Hometown News:
[link removed]

Vero News.com:

[link removed]

or via email:

Vero Beach 32963, Vero News & Sebastian River:
[email protected]


FEDERAL

Rubio cosponsors Graham's Bill Banning Abortions After 15 Weeks Nationwide



Republican Sen. Marco Rubio is co-sponsoring a bill that would ban abortions nationwide after 15 weeks, an aide confirmed Wednesday, throwing support behind a measure that both aligns with his longstanding desire to restrict access to abortion and risks complicating his reelection bid less than two months before Election Day. The bill, unveiled this week by GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, would allow for exceptions after 15 weeks in cases of rape or incest or if the life of the mother is in danger. It is the first attempt to reduce abortion rights federally since the Supreme Court in June revoked the right to abortion in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The legislation, if passed, would likely have little effect on Florida, which already bans abortions after 15 weeks.
The bill is certain to face fierce resistance in the Democratic-controlled Senate. In a statement, an aide to Rubio’s Democratic opponent, Rep. Val Demings, blasted his decision to co-sponsor the bill.
“Marco Rubio has never been shy about his support for extremist abortion bans and criminalizing doctors, and cosponsoring this federal ban is just another step in his fight to take away women’s freedom,” said Christian Slater, a Demings spokesman. “As a 27-year law enforcement officer who investigated cases of rape and incest, Chief Demings is committed to protecting Florida’s women and girls. Floridians will hold Rubio accountable for his out of touch stance in November.” A spokeswoman for Rubio’s campaign fired back that Demings was the candidate with a radical position on abortion rights. “The radicals here are Democrats like Val Demings, who supports abortion up until the moment of birth — which only a few countries like North Korea and China allow — while expecting taxpayers to foot the bill,” said Elizabeth Gregory, a Rubio campaign spokeswoman.

Alex Roarty
Miami Herald




STATE





Report finds sharp increase in white power and anti-Semitic incidents


Florida saw a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents last year, according to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League, the New York-based organization that tracks anti-Semitic incidents and other extremist activity across the country.

The state saw a 50% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2021 compared to the year before, and Florida had the third most anti-Semitic incidents of any state in the country, behind only New York and California, according to the report. Nationally, 2021 saw a 34% increase in anti-Semitic incidents across the country.

The Anti-Defamation League found that Florida is home to an overlapping network of white supremacists and anti-Semitic groups responsible for organizing numerous rallies and distributing hateful propaganda. All told, the League’s Center on Extremism found more than 400 instances of white supremacist propaganda being distributed between January 2020 and August 2022. The report also notes that Florida is home to the most people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection, including members of the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers.

The report highlights national anti-Semitic groups, such as the Goyim Defense League, which has a Florida presence and has organized events in Florida, as well as groups such as the National Socialist Movement — an openly pro-Hitler group — that is led by a Florida man, Burt Colucci, of Kissimmee. The groups organized numerous rallies throughout the year, including demonstrations outside the conservative group Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Tampa in July 2022, a May 2022 protest outside Walt Disney World and a February demonstration outside the Daytona 400. The groups displayed signs with anti-Semitic slogans and Nazi imagery, such as swastikas, along with anti-LGBTQ and racist messages.

At a January 2022 rally in Orlando near the University of Central Florida campus, three demonstrators, including Colucci, were charged with assault after allegedly attacking a Jewish student and stealing the phone he was using to record them. The three men are scheduled to go to trial at the end of October. The Goyim Defense League, meanwhile, led a 15-day anti-Semitic tour in Central and South Florida in May 2021, in which the group demonstrated outside Jewish institutions and drove around a van covered in anti-Semitic slurs. Dominic Di Giorgio, a Port St. Lucie member of the group who helped it establish its online presence, drove five other Florida members on a similar “tour” of southeastern Texas later that year during which Di Giorgio was arrested and charged with using a device that allowed him to flip between two different license plates on his van.

The report notes that 11 Florida members of the Proud Boys were among those arrested in connection with the storming of the Capitol, though the group’s then-leader, Enrique Tarrio, of Miami, didn’t participate because he had been arrested two days earlier in connection with the burning of a Black Lives Matter banner stolen from a church in Washington. Tarrio nevertheless faces charges of seditious conspiracy for his alleged role in planning the assault on the Capitol. Tarrio, who has reportedly been a government informant in the past, indicated earlier this year to the Miami New Times that he was stepping down from leadership of the group and would start a new organization. Several members of the Proud Boys hold seats on the Miami-Dade Republican Executive Committee.

At least seven members of the Oath Keepers arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack are Florida residents. A leak of data from the group showed thousands of Florida residents had signed up for the organization, which specifically targets current and former members of the military and law enforcement for membership, though it isn’t clear how many of those people are active members and still live in Florida.

Ben Wieder
McClatchy Washington Bureau


LOCAL

Vero Beach eyes 15% water, sewer rate hike in January with more increases in '23, '24 and '25

VERO BEACH — Water and sewer rates here could jump about 15% to pay for an $82 million wastewater-reclamation facility. The increase would go into effect in January and be followed by another three rate hikes: 18% in October 2023; 18% in October 2024 and 2% in October 2025. By that point, according to a city study, combined water and wastewater rates would be about $83 a month for the average customer. The entire cost of the new sewer plant would come from the rate hikes, City Manager Monte Falls said.

The plan, which the City Council appears likely to approve Dec. 6, also would create a single base rate for all customers, including those outside the city limits such as residents of Indian River Shores and the southern part of the barrier island. The city is aiming to relocate its wastewater plant farther from the Indian River Lagoon, site of the current facility, partly due to environmental concerns over effects of phosphorous and nitrogen pollution in the water. The new facility would be at Vero Beach Regional Airport.

Thomas Weber
Treasure Coast Newspapers

COMMUNITY FUN DAY

Saturday September 17

10:00 a,m. - 2:00 p.m. Gifford Historical Museum & Cultural Center 2880 45th Street

BOUNCE HOUSE and GAMES, FREE FOOD:
Hot Fish, Burgers, Hot Dogs and more!

RAFFLE
Highwaymen Painting and art by Terry Hunter and Angela Corbett. Raffle Tickets are $10 each or 3/$25

Community Volunteers will have voter registration forms and information.

For more information about these events call
Jonnie Perry 772.985.7573
Valerie Brant-Wilson 321.794.8437




CALENDAR

Thursday, September 15, 2022

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

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

** 9:00 a.m. – Indian River County Commission, County Administration Offices – Council Chambers, 1801 27th Street, Building A, Vero Beach 32960-3388 ()


** For agenda and meeting information go to ()

[link removed]

5:10 p.m. - Vero Beach City Council, 1053 20th Place, Vero Beach, FL 32960 For agenda and meeting information go to [link removed]
You can watch here: ** [link removed] ([link removed])

Thursday, September 22, 2022

3:30 p.m. - Indian River Shores Town Council Meeting
5:00 p.m. - Budget Public Hearing
6001 N. State Rd A1A, Indian River Shores, FL 32963

Friday, September 23, 2022

2:30-4:30 p.m. - DWC Book Group in the first-floor meeting room at the Indian River County Main Library

For information contact Maryann and Rita at
** (mailto:[email protected])
[email protected]



TIDBITS

St. Petersburg Florida community garden tour.

[link removed]



Office Hours

Our regular office hours are Monday through Friday 10am to 3pm

Our address is 2345 14^th Ave. Suite 7
Vero Beach 32960

Our phone number is 772-226-5267.


STAY SAFE OUT THERE!


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