October 20, 2022 Newsletter

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BALLOT RECOMMENDATIONS

US Senate - Val Demings
US Congress – Joanne Terry
Governor – Charlie Crist
Attorney General – Aramis Ayala
Chief Financial Officer – Adam Hattersley
Commissioner of Agriculture – Noami Ester Blemur
State Representative District 34 – Karen Greb
Justice of the Supreme Court – Justice Jorge Labarga
School Board - Cynthia Gibbs

Supreme Court recommendations: Vote to retain:
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Canaday, Charles T. - NO
Couriel, John D. - NO
Grosshans, Jamie - NO
Labarga, Jorge - YES
Polston, Ricky - NO

Amendments: Recommendations:

No on 1
Yes on 2
Yes on 3
Yes on Bond to Acquire Lands to Protect Water Resources


ANNUAL BIG BIRD BLESSING

We are collecting donations at our office at 2345 14th Ave Vero Beach 32967 to help provide 1000 Holiday meals to those in need in Indian River County. Especially needed:

CANNED CHICKEN BROTH
EVAPORATED MILK
IDAHOAN MASHED POTATOES
STOVE TOP STUFFING
CANNED GREEN BEANS

Please visit [link removed] for more information, to volunteer, or to make CASH DONATIONS.

THANK YOU!



CALENDAR

Saturday, October 22, 2022

10 a.m. - SIGN WAVING RALLY to VOTE BLUE in Fellsmere at Hwy 512 and North Willow St


Monday, October 24, 2022

7:00pm
Gubernatorial Debate: Charlie Crist vs. Ron DeSantis
TV: WPEC

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

5:00 - 7:00 p.m. JoAnne Terry will be at the Kilted Mermaid at 1937 Old Dixie Hwy, Vero Beach, 32960 for a Meet and Greet with voters.

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

For agenda and meeting information go to [link removed] ([link removed])


Thursday, October 27, 2022

For agenda and meeting information go to [link removed]




"No one can do everything,
but everyone can do something."


VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES



PLEASE HELP GET OUT THE VOTE!

Weekly GOTV Rallies

This Saturday, October 22 at 10:00 a.m. we will gather to wave signs to encourage people to VOTE! in Fellsmere at the corner of Hwy 512 and North Willow St. Signs will be provided, and you are welcome to bring your own!

Next weekend the rally location will be:
October 29 - Vero Beach 10:00 a.m. at Rt. 60 and 58th Ave. at Target corner


Postcards to Voters

Volunteers have contacted tens of thousands of Indian River County voters via text and postcards, and we will continue to send text messages and postcards to thousands more potential voters in the coming weeks.
If you have an hour or two to help prepare postcards for the Cynthia Gibbs for School Board campaign, you can pick up postcards to be done at home or you can do them in the Democrats of Indian River office at 2345 14th Ave. Vero Beach 32960.

Canvassing of Fellsmere Precinct 2 will NOT begin on Saturday, October 22 as planned. We will notify volunteers when we are able to reschedule.

THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!

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Democratic Women’s Club

The DWC Book Group will meet at the Indian River County Brackett Library at 6155 College Lane on Friday, October 28 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. We will discuss Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penny's book "State of Terror." Any questions about the book group can be addressed to Maryann and Rita at ** (mailto:[email protected])
[email protected]


CANDIDATE DONATION SITES

** charliecrist.com ([link removed])

** valdemings.com ([link removed])

** JoanneTerry.com ([link removed])

www.KarenGreb.com

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

Please donate to the Democrats of Indian River

We will appreciate any contributions you can make to help fund our GET-OUT-THE-VOTE efforts as we come down to the final stretch. You can donate at DemocratsOfIndianRiver.org or you can mail or stop by our office at 2345 14th Ave.

Many thanks to all of you who have donated in this current election cycle. It is very much appreciated!

VOTE BLUE in 2022!

LETTER TO THE EDITOR


Gifford unfairly portrayed in Google search

Dr. Crystal Bujol, the founder and director of the Gifford Youth Orchestra, speaks during the first American Black History Program featuring the Gifford Youth Orchestra at the Gifford Community Center on Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, in Gifford. "If you don't know your history, who you are, or where you come from, then you don't have the tools to move forward," Crystal said of celebrating Black history. Dr. Crystal Bujoi, Founder and Director of the Gifford Youth Orchestra.


Joanie Wachter, who taught for 40 years at St. Edward’s School in Vero Beach, outlined an issue raised on Facebook by one of her former students. “We have a real problem with how Gifford is portrayed online,” Julianna Minotty had written, explaining that for about a year she and her friends had tried to get Google to remove the main picture shown in a search for “Gifford Florida.” Instead of portraying everyday life in Gifford, the so-called “Knowledge Panel” in the search showed a map of Gifford with the picture of a sheriff’s deputy with handcuffed burglary suspect.

Minotty grew up on Orchid Island before heading to colleges and careers in New York, Chicago and North Carolina, then returning home to raise a child and become a teacher.

“It’s just not an accurate representation, and it reinforces an erroneous view of what Gifford is like,” said Minotty, suggesting the picture makes the community look dangerous.

“It’s not the case; there are a lot of really good things going on in Gifford,” she said, citing such groups as the ** community’s youth achievement center ([link removed])
and ** orchestra ([link removed])
. “It’s a shame these aren’t (pictured) in the (search) results.”
Gifford leader Merchon Green also tried to get Google to change the image. “The search picture was disappointing to see,” Green wrote me in a text. “Gifford residents are constantly fighting negative stereotypes. … so to see it being perpetuated on Google was frustrating. “Most outside of Gifford focus on the crime and seem to overlook that there is a loving, tight-knit community in Gifford,” she continued. “There’s just as much crime in the Highlands, Oslo and Vero as there is in Gifford. Gifford just bears the brunt of the blame.”
Google’s Jennifer Kutz let me know the picture was removed “due to policy violation of the image being irrelevant to the subject. “When made aware of images in Knowledge Panels that violate our policies, we work to remove them,” she continued. “In this case we have removed the image due to it not being representative of the subject of the Knowledge Panel.”

** Tony Brown ([link removed])
, local NAACP president since 2009 said he’s most proud of folks who grew up in Gifford who stayed in town to give back to youths or who have had successful careers.

“I’m proud of a community that has been dragged through hell and is still proud of itself,” he said, noting that the vast majority of his neighbors in the second integrated Vero Beach High School class of 1971 left town for better-paying jobs because they were not available locally. Still, he said, many newer graduates have remained to give back to the community, through teaching, the medical profession and more. He talked about men and women organizing football leagues, track and soccer teams and even the nonprofit ** Crossover Mission ([link removed])
, a basketball program operating out of an old packinghouse on U.S. 1.

Unfortunately, the crime-focused image appeared again in the Knowledge Panel.

"Knowledge Panels are automatically generated based on content on the web, including news content, that is determined to be relevant to that topic. These images are largely determined by the keywords on a webpage," she replied. "Because the web is dynamic, content in features like Knowledge Panels that rely on web content can often change." Kutz explained.
The image was again removed.
I wish I could guarantee Gifford would be treated fairly when it came to its appearance in the Knowledge Panel. I can't. So if you're not happy with how Gifford's portrayed, keep contacting Google. I'll do the same. At least they've made some effort to rectify the situation.

Laurence Reisman


LOCAL


Habitat for Humanity to build single-family homes at Gifford Gardens site for $200,000 each


INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Habitat for Humanity will build 14 "affordable" single-family homes at the former Gifford Gardens site, with prices set at about $200,000 each.

The county for years has tried to attract a developer for the 3.3-acre property 4730 40th Ave. It formerly was home to a 55-unit apartment complex, but it fell into disrepair and was demolished in 2011.

The county ** purchased the land in 2020 ([link removed])
for $10,000 and has since offered to donate it to a developer willing to build affordable housing there.

Indian River Habitat for Humanity's proposed neighborhood got unanimous County Commission approval Tuesday.

"I'm really glad that Habitat stepped up to do this," said County Commission Chairman Peter O'Brien. "I look forward to it being a really successful project for them."
Each home will cost about $149,000 to build and will have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a one-car garage, according to Indian River Habitat for Humanity's proposal.

To ensure the homes are reserved for those most in need, county guidelines allow only families that make 80% of the area's average median income to purchase one.

That threshold is $51,150 annually for a two-person household or $63,900 for a four-person household, County Administrator Jason Brown said.

Prior to Habitat for Humanity's proposal, only one developer had applied to build homes there: East to West Development. But the County Commission ** unanimously rejected its proposal ([link removed])
in April because the projected sales price — $350,000 per each three-bedroom home — was too high.

The county's new request for proposals capped home prices at $275,000 each.

The county also offered several incentives to help attract a developer: It offered the land for free; it offered to pay impact fees as well as water and sewer installation; and it offered to provide $500,000 in federal COVID-relief money to subsidize construction.

That money would go toward engineering, design and development costs such as road construction, Brown said.

The project could take about three years to complete, according to the proposal. Planning and site preparation each would take six months to a year, and construction is expected to take a year to 18 months, the proposal said.


** Thomas Weber ([link removed])

Treasure Coast Newspapers
STATE


Crist / DeSantis Debate

FORT PIERCE — Local leaders here are preparing for what will be the biggest political event at the historic Sunrise Theatre since Hillary Clinton's campaign stop in 2016.

** The Sunrise ([link removed])
, a nearly-100-year-old venue with 1,200 seats, typically is home to local comedy shows, small musical festivals, ballet performances and other performing-arts showcases.

But next week, it will depart from its typical events as Florida's Republican incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis and Charlie Crist, a former governor, take the stage for their only scheduled debate.

The debate is 7 p.m. Oct. 24, but it's closed to the public. People can submit questions for DeSantis and Crist at ** FloridaDebate2022.com ([link removed])
.

WPEC-TV is hosting the debate, originally planed for Oct. 12 but postponed in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

Officials of WPEC-TV and its parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group, did not return calls and emails seeking information about how Fort Pierce was selected and why only the media and a limited number of public officials, and not the public, can attend.

Fort Pierce police, the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be providing security. Some streets in downtown Fort Pierce are expected to be closed that afternoon and during the debate, but Fort Pierce police did not provide details.

For Fort Pierce Mayor Linda Hudson, however, having the debate here is an opportunity to "put Fort Pierce on the map."

"Twenty years ago the downtown area was struggling and some people called it a ghost town," said Hudson, who will be attending the event with other local politicians. "But now our downtown is thriving. So I think our little coastal city with our waterfront and everything else will very much be on people's lips."

Echoing Hudson, state Rep. Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce, also expressed excitement about having "this gem of a city" broadcast across the state.

A potential benefit could be a boost in tourism, she added.

Trabulsy hopes DeSantis and Crist are asked what they would do to improve water quality throughout the state, especially throughout the Indian River Lagoon.

"We've done so much to invest money into our environment over the last few years, historically this past year as a matter of fact, so I would like to see how we're going to build upon that," she said.

** The Democratic Party of St. Lucie County ([link removed])
will host a debate watch party at 500 Orange Ave. in downtown.
And the ** Republican Party of St. Lucie County ([link removed])
will host one at 6 p.m. downtown at 2nd Street Bistro. DeSantis may make an appearance there after the debate, according to Chairman Kenny Nail.

The debate will be broadcast statewide on West Palm Beach-Treasure Coast: WPEC.

Olivia McKelvey

TCPalm

FEDERAL

Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.), a three-term congresswoman, could become the state’s first Black senator if she wins the race in November.

Rep. ** Val Demings ([link removed])
(D-Fla.) went on the attack Tuesday in her first debate against Republican Sen. ** Marco Rubio ([link removed])
, accusing him of being a serial liar, while Rubio criticized her for supporting President ** Joe Biden ([link removed])
’s economic agenda.

Rubio, a two-term senator, and Demings, a three-term congresswoman and former Orlando police chief, faced questions at the West Palm Beach debate on topics including inflation, abortion, voting rights, gun violence, immigration and foreign policy.

Florida has increasingly shifted rightward in recent election cycles, giving Rubio the advantage as ** Republicans now lead Democrats with voter registration ([link removed])
in the state. But Demings clearly saw the debate as an opportunity to take Rubio on forcefully as she tries to become the state’s first Black senator.

Rubio skirted a question on whether he would support a federal abortion ban with no exceptions and instead called Demings’ position extreme because she would not say what limits on abortion she would support.

“Every bill I have ever sponsored on abortion and every bill I’ve ever voted for has exceptions,” Rubio said.

“What we know is that the senator supports no exceptions,” Demings responded. “He can make his mouth say anything today. He is good at that, by the way. What day is it and what is Marco Rubio saying?”

Following the Supreme Court’s decision in June to ** overturn Roe v. Wade ([link removed])
, Rubio has expressed his personal opposition to abortion in all cases while saying he’d back abortion-restricting statutes that include exceptions. Demings supports abortion access at least until fetal viability, saying the government should not be the one to determine that.

On gun control, Demings accused Rubio of not doing enough to change laws to prevent shootings, including mass killings at the ** Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016 ([link removed])
and at ** Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018 ([link removed])
.

“How long will you watch people being gunned down in first grade, fourth grade, high school, college, church, synagogue, grocery store, movie theater, a mall and a nightclub and do nothing?” Demings said.

But Rubio defended his opposition to gun restrictions, saying some proposals would not have stopped many of the mass shootings and Americans have a Second Amendment right to protect themselves.

“Everything she is for would have done nothing to stop any of those shootings,” Rubio said. “Every one of these shooters would have passed the background check that she keeps insisting on. No one here is in favor of mass shootings and violence.”

To address inflation, Rubio said the U.S. needs to stop spending so much money, citing some pandemic relief funds, and to boost domestic oil production. He chastised the Biden administration for its decision to release more oil from the U.S. strategic reserve to help bring down prices at the pump.

“Oil reserves do not exist to win midterms,” Rubio said.

Demings said the pandemic relief money was necessary to help hurting families and businesses.

“Of course the senator who has never run anything at all but his mouth would know nothing about helping people and being there for people when they are in trouble,” Demings said.

Rubio also attacked Demings for not passing legislation in Washington, saying all she had done was get post offices named after people. Demings angrily rejected his characterization, noting the buildings were named after police officers who died in the line of duty.

“It’s embarrassing that you think that honoring a person who was a hero by naming a federal building after them is nothing,” she said.

Demings repeatedly accused Rubio of distorting her record and positions on issues.

“I am really disappointed in you, Marco Rubio, because I think there was a time when you did not lie in order to win,” she said.

Rubio maintained that Demings was simply there to support Biden’s and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s agenda, while calling himself the most effective senator.

“In the two terms I’ve been there, no U.S. senator has gotten more done than I have,” he said. “The only thing she does is vote 100% with Pelosi.”

Asked whether he would accept the results of the 2022 election, Rubio said, “Sure, because I’m going to win.”
Later, he clarified that “no matter what the outcome is, I’ll support it, because Florida has good laws. They’re not some crazy laws like they have in Pennsylvania and these other places.”

Adriana Gomez Licon - AP


VIDEO of the WEEK

Demings / Rubio Debate highlights

[link removed]


Office Hours

Monday through Friday 10am to 3pm

2345 14^th Ave. Suite 7
Vero Beach 32960

(772) 226-5267

[email protected]


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