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Calling all Democratic Club Members!

The annual election of club officers and board members is scheduled to be held at the Democratic Club meeting in March.
If you are interested in joining the Board of Directors, please contact Clay Wild at [email protected] or Claudia Martino at [email protected]. Some incumbents have indicated they will continue to serve on the Board if needed but will welcome and actively support all new officers.

CALENDAR

Thursday, February 9, 2023

6:30 p.m. - Zoom discussion on AP Courses being censored
bit.ly/LetsTalkAPCourse

Saturday, February 11, 2023

11:30 a.m. - DWC Luncheon at the Bent Pine Clubhouse.

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

6:00 p.m. - Democratic Executive Committee meeting at the Heritage Center

Thursday, February 16, 2023

6:00 p.m. - Democratic Club meeting and Potluck at the Irish Club.

Proud Democrats Merchandise

Handmade Glass Plates $12 (small) $15 (large)
Handmade Glass Pendants $12
T-Shirts $20
Tank Tops $15
Hat $12
Mug $10
Dog Bandana $5
Stainless Bottle $15

Available in the Democrats' office Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Democrats of Indian River

Democratic Women's Club

Saturday, February 11, 2023

11:30 a.m. - DWC Luncheon at the Bent Pine Clubhouse. The Speaker will be Ed Garland of the Sebastian Inlet District. Please RSVP with your meal choice: Lemon Pepper Chicken, Lightly Blackened Mahi, or Vegetarian Entree to [email protected] or contact Julie
Barone at (718) 916-0682.

Democrats Executive Committee

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

6:00 p.m. - DEC will meet at the Heritage Center for monthly meeting.

Democratic Club

Thursday, February 16, 2023

6:00 p.m. - Democratic Club meeting and Potluck at the Irish Club. (Please keep it simple, finger foods: sandwiches, chips and dips, cheese and crackers, pizza...) We will discuss March election of new Board of Directors and a precinct captain will speak about neighborhood outreach.

SAVE THE DATE

Friday, February 24, 2023

The DWC Book Group will meet 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Brackett Library on the IRSC Mueller campus and discuss “Braiding
Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of
Plants” by Author: Robin Wall Kimmerer

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NOTICE: Democrats of Indian River Office is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. You can always reach us at (772) 226-5267 and at [email protected]

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Paper version of our weekly newsletter is now available in the office and in Vero Beach public libraries.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Born again GOP deficit hawks must keep up the pressure

It is great to see the Republican Party making the deficit an important issue.

Where have these deficit hawks been? About 25% of ALL of the national debt was amassed between 2017 and 2020 during Donald Trump's presidency. Where were the Republican votes to stop spending when $7 trillion was added to the $20 trillion national debt under Trump? The debt rose from 104% of gross domestic product in 2017 to 129% of GDP in 2020. In two years, Joe Biden's administration has reduced the debt to 123% of GDP.

Republicans are late to the party. The Biden administration reduced the 2020 U.S. budget deficit of $3.13 trillion to $1.38 trillion in 2022. The 2023 budget passed with bipartisan support, 68-29, and will reduce the budget deficit to $1.2 trillion. That deficit is lower than during the George W. Bush administration's final years.

For the past 42 years, every Democratic president has reduced the budget deficit. Every Republican president since Ronald Reagan has increased the deficit. Bill Clinton's administration eliminated the deficit. Then the Bush administration left the deficit at more than $1 trillion.

The new deficit backbone among Republicans is good. Let's hope they keep that spine in 2024 budget negotiations with more ideas on where to cut spending other than cutting the IRS tax collection enforcement. Let's hope that the Republicans end their deficit spending permanently.

However, now the debt ceiling must be increased. We mustn't ruin the credit of the United States by defaulting on the Republicans' past borrowing.

Steven Schlitt, Vero Beach

DeSantis should use state funds to lure teachers, nurses

When I was reading the lead story of the Jan. 27 newspaper, a thought occurred to me.

While Gov. Ron DeSantis has already spent $6.2 million to recruit new law enforcement officers from across the country, he is seeking an additional $30 million. Later in the article, there is a suggestion by Sen. Tom Wright, R-New Smyrna Beach, that the program be expanded to include other first responders.

Why not expand the program to include teachers and nurses? Let’s attract talented educators and skilled medical personnel. It would be a sound investment in our kids and help those in need of care. What do you think, governor?

Jan Drygulski, Vero Beach

To submit your letters to the Editor, go to:

https://static.tcpalm.com/submit-forms

LOCAL

Black History Month: Celebrating Gifford, Florida

GIFFORD - Gifford is an unincorporated community in Indian River County, bordered to the south by Vero Beach and to the north by Winter Beach. U.S. Route 1 passes through the center of Gifford which, according to the United States Census Bureau, has a total area of 7.31 square miles.

Gifford is best known for the role it has played in the county’s Black history. Since its settlement in the mid-1880s, Gifford has been home to much of the county’s Black community. The 2020 U.S. Census determined that Gifford is about 75% Black, 12% White, and 9% Hispanic.

This is a shift from the demographic results determined by the 2000 census, which said that the racial makeup of Gifford was 57% Black, 39% White, and 7% Hispanic.

The remainder is listed as multi-racial, Native American, Asian, and “other race.”

According to the Indian River County Historical Society, the area was named the Woodley precinct in the 1900 census. By 1893, the early Black settlers were joined by Black laborers who came to work on Henry Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway. The residents named the community Brownsville after farmer William Brown who settled there in 1880s, but another town in Florida had that same name, so the community was renamed after Charlie Gifford, the railroad's stationmaster.

The town's first school was built in 1898, for White children only. In 1901, William Edward Geoffrey, a Black man from South Carolina who had come to work on the railroad, set up the community’s first school for Black children.

“There was a Black school in Gifford, built in 1901, on land donated by Mr. William Geoffrey,” Gifford Historical Museum and Cultural Center CEO Jonnie Mae Perry told Hometown News for a prior story. “There was no school for Black children, and they were not allowed to go to white schools. So he donated the land for a park and a school. From 1901-1937, Black children went to that school from first to sixth grade. If you wanted to go to higher grades, you had to go to Fort Pierce.”

“In 1937, the school became a high school, so it was grades 1-12 then. The first graduating class in 1938 was three people.”

The school became the heart of the community. It remained Gifford High School until integration, and the last graduating class was in 1969, before the location transitioned into the middle school.

“Growing up in the 1960s, Gifford was thriving, due to Black people,” Ms. Perry said. “A lot of Black people had their own businesses. My father had a service station called Brown’s Standard Oil. There were multiple gas stations, and we had a post office in Gifford.”

“Gifford was nothing like it is now. There were dry cleaners, stores, a law firm, a florist, and a pharmacy. There was a bus line, taxi service, grocery stores, and a drive-in theater right next to the old Gifford school location called the Arthur Henderson Drive-in Theater. It had been called the Harlem Drive-in Theater before Mr. Arthur Henderson acquired it. Mr. Henderson lived on the grounds and ran that theater.”

“There was another theater on Old Dixie. And there was Club Balli, with hotel apartments on top where people would stay when they came into town. The Jackson family that owned Club Balli had another one called the Green Leaf Bar. We had entertainers come to Gifford like Clarence Carter, and blues singers.”

Ironically, Ms. Perry says that an unintended consequence of integration may have been the loss of much of that local economy. People in Gifford started patronizing businesses outside of Gifford, and the money that had been spent locally to build Gifford began to leave the community.

“There are many opinions about that, and I can only speculate,” Ms. Perry said. “When the Gifford businesses started, the community made lemonade out of lemons. It was a drive for people to make their own way. It appears that, after integration and we were allowed to go more into Vero, and Vero became more inclusive, those Gifford businesses began to just fall away.”

The museum today has several focuses. One is to teach young people about that history of entrepreneurship not only in Gifford, but in the greater Black community.

“We have information on inventors. So many things that impact our lives on a daily basis were invented by Black people. The electric elevator with doors that open and close was invented by a Black man. Other examples are the traffic light, and the refrigerator box car truck that we use today to haul refrigerated items all over the country.”

“The iron and ironing board, the dryer, the dust pan, the microphone, all these things we use on a daily basis were invented by Black people. Maybe if people were more educated about these things we would be more inclusive with each other. We want Black kids to feel proud, especially with so much subtle systemic racism. We need to build self esteem.”

The museum is based in the Historic Macedonia Church.

“The little church was relocated to 45th Street in Gifford from Sebastian in 1994,” Ms. Perry said. “It was built in 1908 by Black laborers of the Florida East Coast Railroad that didn’t have anywhere to worship. So they would travel from all over to come to this little church in Sebastian.”

“The Indian River County Historical Society got in touch with the Progressive Civic League of Gifford and asked if they would take ownership of the church. So the church was moved, but it was falling apart. The entire community came together to support the renovations of that building after it was relocated to Gifford.”

“In 2015, one of the Progressive Civic League members, Mr. Godfrey Gibson, told me that they always wanted the little church to be a museum and Black history library. He said ‘do you think you want to run with that?’ I had no clue, but I took the challenge and said ‘sure’. So I enlisted others in the community, got a steering committee going, and we tried to figure it out, and get volunteers to help restore the church. It took over two years. In 2018, we opened the Gifford Historical Museum and Cultural Center.”

For more information, contact the Gifford Historical Museum and Cultural Center at (772) 985-7573, [email protected], or https://giffordhistoricalmuseumandculturalcenter.org.

The Gifford Historical Museum and Cultural Center is located at 2880 45th St., Gifford.

Mike Winikoff
Hometown News

STATE

Educators are navigating new state laws limiting access to books

Rebeccah Petrie's garage is filled with containers of books she packed up when she moved to a teachers union position after 17 years of teaching first, second and third graders.

"The hardest thing I had to do was to pack up my classroom library," said Petrie, the St. Lucie County Classroom Teachers Association vice president.

She understands how difficult it is for a teacher considering taking their books home while waiting further guidance from the state and school district over laws governing classroom libraries.

So far, no teacher in St. Lucie County — or any teacher on the Treasure Coast — has been asked to close up their classroom library, but new state laws have some teachers worried. The laws require all books in school media centers and classroom libraries be reviewed before making them available to students.

"There's some nervousness," Petrie said.

Some teachers in Indian River County, and throughout the state, have closed their class libraries just to be safe. One photo of a closed classroom library, taken by a Storm Grove Middle School mother during her child's open house, sparked controversy at the beginning of the year.
The teacher closed the library after the teachers union suggested it until the school district and union worked out guidance, said teachers union president Jennifer Freeland. That was sorted out within a few days, and the union told teachers they could reopen class libraries if they wanted, she said.

Yet some teachers opted to keep their libraries closed, Freeland said. Some brought their books home.

"There are teachers that are afraid, and there are teachers that are concerned," Freeland said. "Some teachers are acting conservatively."

Districts now are training school media specialists and administrators to review books available in media centers, and to create a central database to check which books already have been vetted. Teachers can use those books in classrooms without fear, officials said.

By the end of the school year, Treasure Coast parents also will have a way to challenge books they find inappropriate and to restrict their children's access to media-center material in accordance with state law. Some districts already have implemented these rules.

Indian River County schools is finalizing rules that conform to the new laws, such as establishing a book review committee that includes parents and setting up a system for complaints. The district allows media specialists and school administrators to work with teachers on their classroom libraries, explained Kyra Schafte, director of academic compliance and equity.

Teachers were made aware of the new laws at the beginning of the school year, and administrators met with them in their classrooms to discuss issues and questions about maintaining their libraries, Schafte said.

No teacher was asked to remove their classroom library, she said.

"If they wish to maintain it, that's up to them," Schafte said.

St. Lucie County schools had few problems, although teachers had questions initially, teachers union president David Freeland said.

A few years ago, the district purchased classroom libraries for teachers, Deputy Superintendent Helen Wild said. Each set of books complies with state law, and teachers can add to the collection if they want. But but those books must first be vetted by the school media specialist, she said.

"It's really important that students be surrounded by plenty of books around them to spark their interest in reading," Wild said, adding she was unaware of any teacher who has closed their classroom library this year.

Colleen Wixon
TCPalm.

FEDERAL

After Shouts of ‘Liar’ and Worse, Biden Takes on His Detractors in Real Time

President Biden was about midway through a speech of about 7,218 words on Tuesday when a Republican lawmaker tried to shut him down with a single one: “Liar!”

It was Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, whom the president had baited by accusing Republicans of wanting to threaten entitlement programs like Social Security.

Later in the speech, when Mr. Biden called for an end to the fentanyl crisis in the United States, another lawmaker yelled out, “It’s your fault!” — a reference to the amount of drugs that are smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border. Another lawmaker yelled out an expletive.

His second State of the Union address was punctuated by outbursts, jeers and peals of mocking laughter, but Mr. Biden turned the tables on his Republican opponents and argued in real time with the insurgents. It appeared to be the start of his re-election campaign.

When the Republicans shouted back that no, they were not threatening Social Security, Mr. Biden smiled, appearing to relish the scrimmage, and ad-libbed that he was pleased they all agreed.

“I’m glad to see — no, I tell you, I enjoy conversion,” Mr. Biden said. He is unlikely to win over a large number of Republicans to support legislation, but his reply to the contingent led by Ms. Greene was meant as an unsubtle reminder that he spent 36 years as a senator working to win Republican votes for his legislative efforts.
Mr. Biden appeared in control as he took his time “How are ya, man”-ning down the aisle of the House chamber.

Once the Republicans’ heckles and boos began, the president was most animated and he veered off the teleprompter and addressed them directly before a live television audience of millions.

In 2009, it was considered a travesty when Representative Joe Wilson, a South Carolina Republican, shouted “you lie” at President Barack Obama during a joint address to Congress. Back then, Mr. Wilson was formally rebuked by the whole House. Times have changed. Republican lawmakers shouted both “liar” and “bullshit” at parts of Mr. Biden’s speech, and no one appeared shocked. After the speech, Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee defended yelling out “it’s your fault” as Mr. Biden described the fentanyl crisis, telling reporters it was “a visceral response.”

Though Mr. McCarthy appeared willing to play peacemaker at moments when tensions threatened to boil over — the speaker shushed Republicans who yelled at Mr. Biden for calling to codify citizenship for Americans brought to the United States as children — his role over the next months will be to oppose virtually all of Mr. Biden’s agenda.

On Tuesday, Republicans spent much of their time signaling that they would help in that mission. Some lawmakers even prepared to mock Mr. Biden in advance: Ms. Greene carried a white helium balloon around the Capitol, mocking Mr. Biden’s response to a giant Chinese spy balloon that traversed the United States this past week before an American F-22 blew it up off the coast of South Carolina.

“Jobs are coming back,” Mr. Biden said. “Pride is coming back, because of choices we made in the last several years.”

When asked if Mr. Biden was prepared for the jeers from Republicans, a senior administration official said the news media had underestimated him — a common refrain from Mr. Biden’s advisers.

Jeff Nussbaum, a former Biden speechwriter, praised Mr. Biden for “doing a great job of seeking common ground and defining sacred ground.”

Much of the president’s speech was vintage Biden, full of well-worn phrasing he has used since the beginning of his first campaigns a half-century ago. The familiar seemed to help his comfort in taking on the Republicans.

“There are some good things about doing something for 50 years,” said Greg Schultz, Mr. Biden’s first 2020 campaign manager. “He’s got some riffs that are just not going to ever change.”

When the president returned to the White House late Tuesday night, the staff stood and applauded him.

Katie Rogers with Catie Edmondson and Karoun Demirjian
The New York Times

VIDEO of the WEEK

SNL cold open on Chinese spy balloon

https://youtu.be/gG3kUa8uM4c

Office Hours

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
10am to 3pm

2345 14^th Ave. Suite 7
Vero Beach 32960

(772) 226-5267

[email protected]

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