ISSUE GROUPS
Civics Education Committee Mission
Christene Campbell-Gabor, Chair
The LWVPBC Civics Education Committee will provide reliable information on elections and public policy issues to a diverse PBC population through innovative educational approaches and encourage the informed and active participation of citizens.
Priorities
Research – what was done previously, what is being done elsewhere, what is needed
Development – innovative education modules/presentations for students, adults, new citizens and communities who do not traditionally vote.
Liaison – work with LWV Chairs, PBC schools, Chambers of Commerce, Florida Bar Association, Young Voters and others to provide civics education in a variety of venues and formats.
Participation – encourage LWV volunteers to participate in all areas of civics education including; research, analysis, writing, presenting and teaching
Action to date – November 2016 to February 2017
The Civics Committee is working with PBC schools and other groups to educate voters on the importance and the impact of voting. We participated in National History Day in February and will participate in PBC Schools Government Bee in April.
We have made a number of connections in the community who are also interested in Civics Education. We will be investigating how we can work together to increase awareness and education.
- The School District of Palm Beach County – Lori Dool. Invited to participate in National History Day, Government Bee and to discuss mock elections.
- Florida Bar Association – Annette Boyd-Pitts, Executive Director. Interested in working together to get Civics into grade 5. Currently responsible for We The People, Textbooks and more.
- Masonic High Twelve Club Lake Worth, Bernhard Kainer. Sponsor of the Annual Government Bee contest
- Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners Office of Financial Management and Budget – Jeremy Baker. Working together on the Government Bee.
- Lynne University – Dr. Robert Watson. Interested in discussing how LWBPBC can assist in teaching civics at college level
- The Palm Beach Historical Society – Debbie Murray. Will meet to discuss what is currently being done in the civics area and to see if there are opportunities to work together to increase Civics Awareness in the community.
- Florida House Education Chairman – Michael Bileca. His goal is to streamline civics education so it runs from elementary school through college. The LWVPBC President and Civics Chair will meet with Mr. Bileca in the spring to discuss how we can help him to meet his goal.
- LWV State Education Chair – Sue Legg. Civics Chair LWBPBC will be included in monthly education calls. League currently gives civics classes for seniors. We will follow up to see what is being done and how and where we can provide similar education opportunities.
- LWVPBC Speaker’s Bureau – Four presentations are currently available.
- Intern – Faith Maniti. We are delighted to have an intern for the summer. Part of her tasks will include researching what is ‘out there already’ in regards to civics education so we can compile data and decide on next steps. She is already participating in monthly conference calls with the Young Voter Group on behalf of the LWV.
Volunteers with a large variety of expertise are eager to work together to ensure that we reach as many people as possible in as many formats as possible so that everyone becomes aware of the importance of voting and the impact that voting can make on the individual, the family, the community and the country.
Education
Kimberley Spire-Oh, Co-Chair
Elayne Goodman, Co-Chair
The goal of the Education Committee is to support a high-quality, free public school system that is adequately financed and provides educational opportunities to all students. It promotes accountability and transparency of charter schools and opposes all education vouchers (including the McKay Scholarship, the Gardiner Scholarship, the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and the Opportunity Scholarship). The committee advocates at the school board and state legislature and writes letters to the editor. A power point is being prepared to provide education information to the community.The Education Committee was instrumental in getting a referendum passed that increased the sales tax to help fund capital improvements for Palm Beach County schools. Members spoke before the Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation.
New committee members and coalition partners are welcome.
Environment
Lorraine Zimmerman, Chair
The Environmental Issues Group studies environmentally sensitive Natural Resources to guide and educate ourselves, the public and government officials. Current issues include:
· Supporting Renewable Energy:
◦ We are encouraging communities to join solar cooperatives for cost effective installations of solar.
◦ The Constitutional Amendment (the Tax Abatement proposal) now needs Legislative follow through to implement Amendment 4 regarding the use of solar.
· Encourage the passage of Bills that ban all forms of fracking in Florida.
· Protect our Water Resources:
◦ We support the full funding of the Florida Forever land acquisition program and proper implementation of the Water and Land Legacy Conservation Amendment 1 (2014) including the proper implementation of these funds and Legacy Florida 2016.
◦ Pass comprehensive water quality and quantity Bills which concentrate on cleaning up pollution in reservoirs south of Lake Okeechobee, restore natural flow-way paths of water to the Everglades and Florida Bay, and to safely preserve our air and water quality.
Gun Safety
Geoff Kashdan, Chair
The Gun Safety Committee is dedicated to educating the voters of Palm Beach County on the League's position on sensible gun legislation in the state of Florida. This education effort is realized through a combination of Power Point assisted talks and the presentation of special events. Talks have been given to local HOA organizations, independent living facilities, and service organizations. Currently, the LWV Gun Safety Committee has been working on an event entitled GUNS AND KIDS: PREVENTING TRAGEDIES. This event is scheduled for May 13th, 2017 at 2:00 at the Hagen Ranch Road Library in Delray Beach. The featured panelists will be Dr. Tom Gabor, author of Confronting Gun Violence in America; County Commissioner Dave Kerner; and PBC School Board member and Dr. Deborah Robinson. A fourth speaker may be provided by the PBC Sheriff"s office. This event was designed to be a follow-up to an event presented by the National Council of Jewish Women entitled Guns and Domestic Violence.
Healthcare
Nancy Gau, Chair
The Healthcare Committee had several new members (including 2 physicians!) join the committee this year.
Expanding affordable healthcare for all was no longer the primary focus in 2016. Close the Gap (CTG) campaign was continued. The group continued to work with LWVF and CHAIN, participated in conference calls, action alerts, and education.
Accomplishments
· May: N. Gau completed a Healthcare Glossary and submitted it to CHAIN and LWVF. It is now on the LWVF and LWVPBC websites,
· July: our group made official our expansion into mental health studies. (N. Gau attended PBC Action Alliance for Mental Health’s legislative workshop and completed the application for membership.)
· September: Barbara Phillippi attended the annual CHAIN symposium in Orlando.
· September: A video shoot was done with State Representative Mark Pafford. Discussion included updates on Medicaid expansion and Closing the Gap on healthcare for the working poor. The video is now on the LWVPBC website.
· October: A statement on healthcare expansion was submitted to Debra Chandler and was read at a PBC legislative hearing.
· October: N. Gau attended New Member orientation to educate and recruit for our issue group.
· December: Committee received another $300 grant from CHAIN.
· January: Committee received additional funds from LWVF/CHAIN. (Applied for and received reimbursement money for travel for B. Phillippi and D. Leavengood, from leftover CTG dollars.)
· January, 2017: Nancy Gau was appointed by LWVF as Regional Director for Miami and Palm Beach areas. See their final CTG report, citing our contributions and accomplishments.
· Feb.: Invited Rita Thrasher (Chair of PBC Action Alliance for Mental Health) to speak at March 15, 2017 Hot Topic.
· Submitted several articles to The Voter to educate the membership about healthcare.
· Scheduled an interview with State Representative Matt Willhite, to discuss LWV 2017 priorities, prior to upcoming sessions.
Goals
· Continue to advocate and educate membership and general public on healthcare issues.
Voting Rights Coalition
Nancy Cohen, Chair
The Voting Rights Coalition had a great year. Membership grew, with almost 250 people on the email list. We educated a lot of people during our three-part series on Why Courts Matter which drew record crowds to our Hot Topics lunches and brought in a lot of new LWV members. We collected signed petitions for restoration of voting rights for Floridians with former felony convictions.
Other highlights include the recent You Be the Judge workshop which tested our collective judgment and got us working together to resolve difficult problems.
We are currently focusing on two priorities:
Passage of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), an end run around the Electoral College. The League has had a position against the Electoral College since 1970 deeming it ineffective and undemocratic. It took a position on the NPVIC in 2010. In this turbulent political environment this is something we can do to preserve our democracy.
The campaign to restore voting rights for Floridians with prior felony convictions has a new state steering committee and pledges for the money necessary to run the campaign. It now has the 68,000 signed petitions necessary to ask the Florida Supreme Court to approve the wording of the petition. The hearing is scheduled for March 7. We continue to collect petitions and solicit Speaker Bureau bookings.
The number of valid petitions necessary to get on the ballot increased to 766,200 after the last presidential election.
We won grants for both the Why Courts Matter series and the Electoral College/NPVIC campaign.
We continue to study and advocate against voter suppression in all its forms.
ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEES:
Advocacy
Debra Chandler, Co Chair
Barbara Walker, Co Chair
In our continuing effort to champion League advocacy by promoting or opposing specific legislation and ballot measures, the Advocacy Committee has met either formally or informally with members or staff of the legislative delegation (both Federal & State) including US Senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio, US Representatives Brian Mast and Lois Frankel, State Senators Jeff Clemens, and Bobby Powell, Jr., State Representatives Joe Abruzzo, Rick Roth, Matt Willhite, David Silvers, Al Jacquet, Bill Hager, Lori Berman, and Emily Slosberg. We have introduced ourselves and discussed League priorities, explained our procedures for study and consensus, and offered to assist them with information we have gleaned through our work. Our outreach has been well received and several legislators have asked for our input on various League issues. We have been consulted on several ballot measures and bills that have been introduced during this 2017 session.
Because of its expansion, we have created the Observer Corps sub-committee. The O/C is co-chaired by Joyce Smookler and Carol Stender. Their efforts have resulted in significant Corps growth. They have recruited observers for all Palm Beach County Board of County Commission meetings, Palm Beach County School Board meetings, and municipal commission meetings in Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach, Lake Worth, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and Wellington. Observer Corps members attend meetings and report their observations to the Issue Groups affected. They also act as the face of the League and reinforce the League’s brand among political entities.
Our Legislative Preview, held in November of 2016, was quite successful. We had thirteen co-sponsors who provided financial assistance ($50 per group) for advertising. Despite very inclement weather, more than 150 citizens turned out to hear their representatives. A Legislative Wrap-up is being planned for the end of May and more than 15 groups and organizations have already expressed interest in participating at the cost of $100 per group. If it continues to grow, Legislative Events, charged with coordinating and producing the Legislative Preview and Legislative Wrap-up, will become a subcommittee of Advocacy in the near future.
The Advocacy Committee has been very successful during the past year. We have reached or exceeded our goals of impacting policy by educating legislators and the public on issues the League has studied and formed consensus. Additionally, we have raised public awareness about the League, League goals, and League priorities. We are on track to expand our number of co-sponsors for the Legislative Wrap-up to 15 groups or organizations. Finally, we have advised other Leagues in Florida on the processes and procedures we used in reestablishing the Advocacy Committee. We look forward to an even more successful year ahead.
Candidate Forums
Ken Thomas, Chair
The Candidate Forum Committee has been active in our community. During this period, we moderated two Climate Change Forums, one in North Palm Beach and one in Boca Raton. We moderated two Forums in Boynton Beach, one for Judges and one for County Commissioners. A Candidates Forum was held on March 1st in Highland Beach, which included two candidates for Mayor/Commissioner and five candidates for Commissioner. We moderated a Candidates Forum in Ocean Ridge on March 9th which included four candidates for two Town Commissioner seats.
The Forum Chairperson has also reached out to the Palm Beach County League of Cities with a flyer that raises awareness to the League’s Moderator Services. This strategy in the form of a flyer promoting the League’s Moderator Services will also be shared with town clerks as we work with them. The intent is for them to remember the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County for their future election needs and to the share with their fellow Clerks and Managers.
Communications
Caela Farren, Chair
Frequently changing, fresh, short, personal, visually appealing, and relevant: These are the criteria for our multiple media communications - NEWS, emails, website, Facebook and Twitter.
We are creating an integrated and engaging Communication System for internal and external communication. Our website is the hub. All other Social Media and Communications are working in tandem to expand the League’s reputation for education and advocacy in PBC.
Our publications are becoming easier to read on all devices - laptops, computers, cell phones, tablets, etc. We want to appeal to our broad constituency and attract new members, as well as engage organizations to collaborate with us.