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2023 Theme - National Women's History Alliance

MARCH is WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH
CALENDAR

Friday, March 10, 2023

8:00 a.m. - Coffee with the Mayor, John Cotugno at the Heritage Center

Monday, March 13, 2023

12:00 - 4:00 p.m. -SDIRC Superintendent's Workshop with District School Board Members
5:30 p.m. - Board Awards & Presentations
6:00 p.m. - School Board Business Meeting
J.A. Thompson Administrative Center is at 6500 57th Street, 32967

12:00 p.m. - END GUN VIOLENCE! Newtown Action Alliance toolkit links for the Monday March Lunch & Lobby (virtual) events HERE ([link removed]) and please register so we have record of your participation. Link to this toolkit: [link removed]

Link to the call list spreadsheet: [link removed]



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SAVE THE DATE:

Sunday, March 19, 2023

3:00 p.m. - Women's History Month celebration with Ami Brabson's Phenomenal Women, a one-woman show at the Emerson Center at 1590 27th Ave 32960. Proceeds support the American Association of University Women (AAUW Vero Beach) scholarship fund.
TICKETS: aauwverobeach.org
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Democrats of Indian River

Democratic Women's Club

Saturday March 11, 2023

The DWC Luncheon at 11:30am at the Bent Pine Clubhouse. Kristin Azari of Moms Demand Action will speak on
Gun Violence and Gun Control. Please RSVP to Julie Barone with your meal choice at
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or (718) 916-0682. Choose: Tuna Salad Stuffed Avocado, Plantain Crusted Chicken Breast or Vegetarian Plate.
Non members may attend as a guest.

SAVE THE DATES

Friday, March 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 “I, Eliza Hamilton” by author Susan Holloway Scott

Democratic Club

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Democratic Club monthly meeting at 6:00 p.m. at the Irish American Club. Annual Board election will be held, and we still need another officer to fill our slate of candidates. Contact Clay Wild at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or Claudia Martino at [email protected] ([link removed]) .

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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 all Indian River County public libraries.

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Satire: Artificial intelligence gets into woke ideology



The other day I asked my ChatterboxAI-2000 a question.
"Chatty, what is a WOKE ideology?"

"Well," Chatty said, "WOKE ideologies attempt to change the public’s entrenched orthodoxy about the definition of social justice and civil rights for marginalized groups."

"Can you name a few groups that have benefited from WOKE ideologies?"

"Let’s see … women, racial minorities and the LGBQ community," it said.

"And how long does it take for a WOKE ideologues to be recognized in the U.S. Constitution," I asked.

"Well," Chatty said, "for women about 130 years for the vote, and for abortion rights and body autonomy, the clock is ticking … backwards."

"Two questions," I said, "then I’ll let you go. What would America be like without WOKE ideologues?"

"That’s easy," Chatty said. "Iran, North Korea and Nebraska."

"And finally, where do WOKE ideologues go to die?"

"Florida," Chatty confirmed.

"Thanks Chatty … good talk."

Chris Christensen, Palm City

To submit your letters to the Editor, go to:

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

LOCAL




Local governments tackle the Treasure Coast affordable housing shortage


A recurring conversation around affordable housing on the Treasure Coast has yielded differing approaches from local county governments. Although public-private partnerships are in the works here, stakeholders say the resulting projects put a Band-Aid over a larger, systemic problem that requires ongoing collaboration between both sectors to solve. The formula involving development codes, political will and public education plays a role in producing a mix of units identified by various labels: affordable housing, essential housing, workforce housing and others. Pending projects in Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties reflect the willingness in each to pledge resources such as money and land to facilitate both rental and ownership opportunities. The differences in how each county addresses housing affordability are as different as the counties themselves.
In Indian River, officials have leveraged federal COVID-19 relief money for various affordable-housing projects and rehabilitation programs. The county donated 3.3 acres of county-owned land for ** 14 single-famil ([link removed])
y homes being built by Indian River Habitat for Humanity. The project, located at the former Gifford Gardens apartment complex, also received financial backing through prepaid impact fees and water and sewer costs, and $500,000 in COVID-relief money for engineering, design and other development costs from the county. The homes are intended to sell for about $200,000 to families that make a maximum of $63,900 annually. Two months after the County Commission approved the proposal in October, it pledged an additional $340,000 in federal COVID-19 relief money toward another housing project in Gifford. The proposed 79-unit development would serve low-income seniors with one- and two- bedroom rental units ranging from $495 to $1,080 a month.

Trevor Loomis, Indian River Habitat for Humanity CEO, stressed the need for “(affordable housing) development that’s happening on a large-scale." Rezoning land for multifamily use and providing subsidies for developers who provide these units are ways to tackle the issue long-term, he said. “I’m not entirely convinced that it moves the needle for the affordable-housing problem,” Loomis said of the Gifford Gardens project. “We’re talking about a shortage of affordable units in the thousands right now.”

Blue Sky Landing, a 164-unit affordable-housing project approved on county-owned land in Fort Pierce, is the largest in the works on the Treasure Coast. It’s slated to be complete by year's end, according to Blue Sky Communities President Shawn Wilson. There will be four studio apartments, 36 one-bedroom, 96 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom units for rent, said Jillian Rozema, Blue Sky Communities office manager. Apartments will be available for those with incomes ranging from $18,480 to $59,520. “In every case, it takes a local governing body that is committed, both politically and through a dedication of resources,” Wilson said. “The most important thing is to understand that what you’re going to do as a local government is you’re going to create an opportunity, you’re going to create a pipeline. Then you need to stick to it, and you need to pursue it. Over time, you will see results.”
Additionally, most of the money for these projects is a combination of state and federal funds, but “a developer cannot win those funds unless the local government is behind that,” he added.
Blue Sky Landing came to fruition after St. Lucie County acquired the 9 acres and asked interested developers to pitch an affordable-housing project. The county also loaned $700,000 to Blue Sky Communities when it applied for funding through the Florida Housing Finance Corp. to show that it had “skin in the game and were supportive of the project,” according to Jennifer Hance, housing manager for the county’s Community Services Department.

** Lina Ruiz ([link removed])
Treasure Coast Newspapers



STATE

DeSantis' Assault on Education and "Stop Woke Act"

Black History is American History

Right now — as the nation celebrates Black History Month, honors the contributions of the Black community, and reflects on past and current injustices — GOP leaders in the Florida Legislature are fast-tracking a bill that would censor honest conversations about racism, discrimination, and injustice in our schools and workplace.

This is a dangerous assault on American history and our first amendment rights to free speech — it’s a precedent we can’t allow to pass. It’s literally un-American, anti-freedom, and blatantly racist.

The so-called “Stop WOKE Act” is part of Governor Ron DeSantis’ censorship and surveillance agenda. He’s even called for putting cameras and microphones into classrooms to monitor teachers. DeSantis wants more surveillance in every part of our lives — empowering legislators to police classrooms, doctor’s offices, and the workplace.

This bill is dangerously close to a full vote in the Florida House and Senate. This bill will have a chilling effect in schools and workplaces, where honest dialogue about our country’s history will be shut down to avoid legal liability. It will also censor the truth about the origins of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and violence in an effort to protect those learning from the discomfort of that truth. We can’t end discrimination by ignoring its roots.

“Ignoring the reality of racism and sexism perpetuates and further empowers the racist...The only way to not repeat the past is to educate ourselves and learn the lessons we need to learn to fix the systems and practices that perpetuate racially unjust results. Racism exists... This bill is anti-freedom. This bill is white privilege personified and white fragility in legislative form.”

-Florida State Representative Dotie Joseph

Our elected officials in Tallahassee should be focused on addressing the real issues facing everyday Floridians, not stifling free speech as a way to pander to right-wing extremists.

The truth is, Governor DeSantis and his legislative allies are trying desperately to push themselves to the far right of Trump as they set DeSantis up for a presidential run in 2024. To them, these bills are just political games, but this legislation is no game at all, and the blatant racism on display is a danger to us all, and an assault on all of our rights.

Together, we will continue to speak out against bills that seek to silence the truth, prevent justice, and end the American way. Because no one is free until we are all free.

What's Next?

The "Stop WOKE Act" passed in the House Education Committee on Tuesday, February 8 - its final House committee. The bill's next stop in the other chamber is the Senate Rules Committee, which is its final stop on that side.

Take Action:

** Send a message to lawmakers right away telling them to OPPOSE the "Stop WOKE Act". ([link removed])

Equality Florida Action

FEDERAL


Interstate voter list org starts to crack as Florida, other GOP states quit


Some officials in the elections sphere expressed shock at the three states' abrupt decision to withdraw from the compact.
An organization that helps states maintain their voter lists is beginning to lose members, with three Republican-led states — most notably Florida — announcing that they were departing the organization last Monday.

The secretaries of state of Florida, West Virginia and Missouri all said that they were pulling out of the Electronic Registration Information Center, often known as ERIC.

“We have lost confidence in ERIC,” Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said Monday.

ERIC — a little-known but an important part of America’s election infrastructure — has been facing an onslaught of criticism, ranging from false claims that the organization is a left-leaning group that inflates the voter rolls for Democrats to more behind the scenes fights on its internal structure and practices.

The group is responsible for identifying out-of-date registrations on member states’ rolls, which typically includes voters who moved either within the state or to another member state, or voters who died out of the state they’re registered to vote in.

The three states’ withdrawal also surprised some member states, with Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson saying the overall criticisms of ERIC “are not rooted in anything legitimate.”

In 2012, seven states — roughly split at the time between Democratic and Republican chief election officials — formed ERIC to address some challenges arising from the lack of a federally-mandated national voter registration database.

Since 2012, membership to ERIC has ballooned — with more than 30 members at its height that spanned deep red states to blue bastions across the country.

But recently, two states — Alabama and Louisiana — ** exited the compact ([link removed])
over the last year, with Alabama’s new secretary of state alluding to conspiracy theories that percolated on far right websites about how the organization was secretly part of a liberal plot to take over voter rolls.

Florida, West Virginia and Missouri’s departure, however, publicly reveals the broader fight about the organization’s governance and bylaws. Some Republican secretaries of state have been pushing for changes to ERIC, which have been the source of tense discussions for months that the departing secretaries alluded to in their announcements.

Republicans secretaries have been pushing for an end to a requirement around eligible but unregistered voters — sometimes referred to as EBUs. In addition to list maintenance requirements around voters who have out-of-date registrations, ERIC’s bylaws require that state election officials contact those eligible but not registered people at least every two years to see if they would like to register. Some Republican officials want to scrap that requirement.

In his letter announcing his intention to withdraw from the organization, Missouri Secretary of State “Jay” Ashcroft called those mailings superfluous — saying they were going to people who “made the conscious decision to not be registered.”

Florida, notably, flouted the EBU mandates before the midterms and did not send the required mailers, several ERIC members with knowledge of the organization told POLITICO.

Some Republican secretaries have also been called for changing the composition of the organization’s board. The board is currently composed of one senior election official from every member state, along with non-voting ex-officio positions. One ex-officio position is vacant, and another is currently filled by David Becker, a former Department of Justice attorney who helped stand up the organization in 2012 and who is now the founder and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research.

Republicans have called for the elimination of ex-officio positions, which would effectively boot Becker from the board. Becker has been a vocal defender of the security of the 2020 and 2022 elections, notably rebutting many of Trump’s and his allies’ claims that the presidential election was stolen from Trump. More broadly, Becker has regularly called out people he believes were criticizing or critiquing election systems in bad faith. Although not mentioned by name in the Monday’s announcements, the three secretaries allude to Becker in their decisions to withdraw by citing a “partisan” actor.

On Monday, Trump falsely claimed ERIC “pumps the rolls” for Democrats. On his social media site Truth Social, he called for Republican governors to pull their states out while also calling for severe restrictions on when people can cast their ballots, saying there should only be “SAME DAY VOTING” with limited exceptions.

The decision by Florida to withdraw from the consortium comes just weeks after Byrd, an appointee of GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, said the partnership had helped the state to identify voters who have voted in more than one state. Byrd told members of a legislative panel that the information was used in the arrest of a woman last November who had allegedly voted in both Alaska and Florida.

“We do derive valid information from ERIC in order to do list maintenance,” Byrd told legislators.

DeSantis himself pushed for Florida to join the group in 2019 after former Gov. Rick Scott had blocked it. The likely presidential contender has made “election integrity” a talking point in his speeches and pushed to create a special unit to investigate election related crimes, including voter fraud. DeSantis even praised ERIC in passing ** during a press conference ([link removed])
last summer as an important tool in that toolbox.

Some officials in the elections sphere expressed shock on Monday at the three states’ abrupt decision to withdraw from the compact. In Florida, local election supervisors learned about the move just minutes before it was announced by the DeSantis administration.

“Surprised with the suddenness of the decision to withdraw, but the important question will be what out of state resources will now be available to us to continue to maintain a clean and accurate voter registration database,” Bill Cowles, the supervisor of elections in Orange County, Fla., said in an email.

Multiple secretaries of state told POLITICO that they were not given any heads up by their counterparts that their states were withdrawing from the compact, with some being sharply critical of the move.

“Their decision to bail on the most effective election integrity collaborative in our country is similarly seen as more of a strategic way to gain favor among extremists as opposed to any sincerely held concern,” Benson wrote in a text to POLITICO.

Some were particularly caught off-guard by the timing of the announcements. ERIC members met late last month to discuss some of the proposed changes — where they were either voted down or tabled, according to several members. But the group’s governing board is set to meet again on March 17, and multiple ERIC members flagged that meeting as a potential make-or-break moment before Monday’s surprise departures.

“I think it probably casts a shadow over March 17,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, said in an interview. “It seems to have knocked the legs out from under some of the proposed changes because the states that those changes were meant to accommodate are gone.” Simon added that he hoped states that have recently left would reconsider.

But those dropping out said they didn’t want to wait. “We gave them more than enough time,” Ashcroft, the Missouri secretary of state, said in an interview. “And at the February meeting, they made it clear that they weren’t interested in doing what needed to be done. So why wait?”

In the interview, Ashcroft alluded to the possibility that some of the states that left may be looking to set up an organization similar to ERIC.

“What I will say is that there have been conversations ongoing for a substantial period of time, about ‘how can we do a better job of cleaning our voter rolls and serving the people?’ Either by changing ERIC or by creating a new system, or if there is a way that states can do that solely in-house.”

It is unclear if any other states will follow Florida and the others out of the organization, at least before the March 17 meeting. But some states have threatened to do so.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, circulated a letter earlier on Monday before the withdrawals calling for changes to the organization. His letter references a “rushed and chaotic vote” taken at the February meeting, and calls for immediate action at the upcoming March meeting on proposals to eliminate the ex-officio positions and to allow members to use ERIC’s services “a la carte,” specifically calling for letting states skip EBU mailers.

“I want to emphatically state that Ohio remains in constant discussion with fellow member states about the future of ERIC, and I will not accept the status quo as an outcome of the next meeting,” LaRose wrote in his letter, which was shared with POLITICO. “Anything short of the reforms mentioned above will result in action up to and including our withdrawal from membership.”

** ZACH MONTELLARO ([link removed])
and ** GARY FINEOUT ([link removed])

Politico

Proud Democrats Merchandise

Artisan Glass Plates $12 (small) $15 (large)
Artisan Glass Pendants $12
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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.
VIDEO of the WEEK

Jon Stewart discusses gun regulation with a MAGAT.

[link removed]



Office Hours

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
10am to 3pm

2345 14^th Ave. Suite 7
Vero Beach 32960

(772) 226-5267

[email protected]


STAY SAFE OUT THERE!


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