FEBRUARY 2023
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | Luncheon and General Meeting
February 6, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
Tiburon Golf Club
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A Vision for the Collier County Public Schools
in the New Year
Presented by
Kelly Lichter
Chair, Collier County School Board
Registration and Payment Must Be Made Online
by 3:00 p.m., February 2
More information and registration
| Message from the President
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LWVCC President
Diane Preston Moore
In Collier County, 2023 came in with a ROAR – and showcased our energized League! From early January until the final day of the month, the LWVCC had no shortage of events!
We started the year with a sobering but illuminating virtual Hot Topic on Human Rights, Mental Illness and the Death Penalty. The Social Policy Committee then connected us to back-to-back events on affordable housing: our General Meeting, where the CEO of Moorings Park and the Senior VP of Land Development for Barron Collier Companies educated us about the implications of the lack of workforce housing in Collier County and suggested ideas to increase the supply; and Greater Naples Leadership’s Workforce Housing Forum, for which LWVCC was sponsoring partner, which further developed the issue. More details are available below.
In mid-January, the Environmental Affairs Committee hosted an information session on the Right To Clean Water Amendment to the Florida Constitution, where attendees learned about the amendment itself and how signatures on a petition are needed to get the amendment on the ballot.
On Martin Luther King Day, the DEI committee rallied over 40 people to march (or ride in an open Jeep) with the LWVCC through downtown Naples in the MLK Day Parade.
January culminated with “Celebrate the League,” our super-successful fund/friend raiser at the Naples Sailing & Yacht Club, which was spearheaded by our Development & Outreach team.
The depth and range of issues featured in our January events – not to mention issues discussed in committee meetings – are what make our League so vibrant. As February begins, keep your eyes on our calendar for more enticing activities. LWVCC is co-sponsoring an enlightening experience, the Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation, to help us understand the connections between poverty, wealth, hunger and racial equity (more details below). And in February and March, Know Your County Government, now in its 40th year, needs volunteers to accompany 30 high school students on 3 days of field trips to various Collier County government agencies. Our “Celebrate the League” event may have officially ended, but our work continues. And through our work, we celebrate the League every day of the year!
| Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation
| The Racial Wealth Gap Learning Simulation will be held on Sunday, February 5, 2023, from 11:30-2:00 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples, 6340 Napa Woods Way. We will start with a light lunch at 11:30 a.m.
Florence French Fagan, from Bread for the World, will lead us in a simulation learning activity that will provide information about the economic impact of our federal policies. The activity will help us to understand the connections between poverty, wealth, hunger, and racial equity. It will also provide some history of Collier County.
For questions, contact Janet Hoffman, governance@lwvcolliercounty.org.
This event is co-sponsored by the NAACP Collier County Unit #5117-B, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples, and the League of Women Voters of Collier County.
 | LWVCC Goes All-In on
Florida Right to Clean Water
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On January 12, the Environmental Affairs Committee hosted speakers Joe Bonasia and Maya Van Rossum to brief League members on the Florida Right to Clean Water initiative that is supported by the League at the state level.
The immediate objective of this initiative is to secure 900,000 petition signatures by November to get a measure on the ballot that would add the right to clean water to the Florida Constitution Bill of Rights. While the Florida Constitution currently contains a policy statement regarding the environment, it is not enforceable and carries no weight in the eyes of the law, allowing state agencies to act with expediency to essentially grant permission to pollute.
If the Florida Constitution Bill of Rights is amended to include the right to clean water, courts will be obligated to compel state agencies to follow the constitution. The League is partnering with the Florida Rights of Nature Network, which is leading the Florida Right to Clean Water Campaign to get petitions signed. We are working to get as many petitions as possible signed and will be bringing petitions to events and meetings for members to sign.
What can you do? Share petitions with your social networks, your community, church, and other organizations. The petition is available at https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/petition. Signed petitions are being collected by Susan Housel. If you have questions about the campaign, contact Patti Forkan. Please make sure that signers are registered voters in Florida.
| Workforce Housing in Collier County
| (The following article is a synopsis of the report titled "Housing Crisis in Collier County" by Stacy Vermylen. To view the complete text, go to Housing Crisis in Collier County.)
Over 400 people attended a forum on Workforce Housing sponsored by Greater Naples Leadership on January 11, 2023, at United Church of Christ in Naples. Partners in the effort to increase awareness of the issue were the League of Women Voters of Collier County, Naples United Church of Christ, Collier Community Foundation and Naples Community Hospital (NCH). This is not the first time that the community had gathered to discuss the lack of affordable housing and the difficulty facing our local workforce, but this gathering intensified the concern about the issue.
The audience heard from many employers, including NCH, Wynn Companies, Arthrex, Moorings Park, and Collier County Public Schools. The message was consistent: the effect of rising prices for housing was a significant challenge and a deterrent to keeping personnel at most levels within their organizations.
Joe Trachtenberg, Chair of the Collier County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, closed out the forum with a passionate plea to the community to address this issue. He called for substantial and immediate action to solve the problem and asked everyone to talk to neighbors, friends, and elected officials.
| LWVCC will be evaluating the current practices for our General Meetings (GM). We are asking that you complete a short survey to share your thoughts with us.
The purposes of our GMs are to: 1. educate our members and the general public, and 2. engage members, recruit new members, and bring together members with different interests and commitments.
Currently, GMs are luncheons with a speaker, the first or second Monday of the month. A workgroup will review the results of this survey, look at options for GMs, and make recommendations to the Board of Directors as we plan for the 2023-2024 season. The current structure will stay in place for this season.
PLEASE COMPLETE THE SHORT SURVEY (17 QUESTIONS), and return your response by the end of the day February 11. It should take not more than 10 minutes. When you have completed the survey, you will be eligible to win a $50 gift certificate to the Aeilli Group Restaurants (Barbatella, Sea Salt, Dorona, Grappino) Thank you for taking the time to share your opinion! | 
Education Committee
Pat Plummer, Chair
Be sure to register for the February 6 General Meeting featuring Ms. Kelly Lichter, Chair of the Collier County School Board as our speaker. Registration closes February 2.
The Education Committee membership expands every month as Leaguers' concerns about local, state, and national education issues grows. At our monthly meetings (on the third Wednesday of the month at noon at the Community Foundation), the committee has focused on education issues including the state-proposed joint resolution to make School Board elections partisan, the Collier County superintendent search survey and public meetings, the selection of school board attorney and many other issues in a lively discussion. Members attend School Board meetings (in person or virtually), the LWVFL Education Action meetings, and follow national education issues. The committee expects to offer a Hot Topic meeting on one or more of these issues in the spring.
Our Know Your County Government program for high school students celebrates its 40th year with three sessions through February and March to introduce students to over 20 county agencies. See below for opportunities to chaperone and learn along with the students.
Please know that all LWVCC members are welcome to join us as we discuss and, when possible, take action on local and state education concerns.
Know Your County Government
Our 40th year! This exciting program is co-sponsored by the LWVCC Education Committee, Collier County Public Schools, and 4H (the County Extension). Thirty CCPS students will spend 3 days learning how government works in Collier County. They will visit several County offices, meet with administrators and Commissioners, and observe a court room and Commissioner's meeting.
If you would like to interact with civic-minded high school students, and see parts of County government you may not have seen before, you can volunteer to chaperone. Log in to the website, go to Take Action>Volunteer, and sign up! KYCG field trip days are: Wednesday, February 22, 8am to 4:30pm, Wednesday, March 8, 8am to 4:30pm, and Tuesday, March 28, 8am to 2pm. For questions, contact Jan Eustis.
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Environmental Affairs Committe
Lynn Martin and Patti Forkan, Co-Chairs
February was a busy month for the Committee. We hosted Joe Bonasia from the “Clean and Healthy Water for Florida” Constitutional Amendment campaign. He brought along a dynamo, Maya Von Rossum, who has been promoting these types of green constitutional amendments across the U.S. Our League, along with the State League, plus many local Leagues, will be collecting registered voters’ signatures on Petitions to put it on the 2024 Ballot. Over 900,000 signatures are required. We ask that all League members work to get their friends and family’s signatures. (See the related article in this Voter.)
Many of our members attended the Climate Summit, organized by the Growing Climate Solutions Coalition. The League is a member. Over 200 individuals were there to help develop future steps for the Coalition. Solar United Neighbors (SUN) attended and announced the launch of a new effort to bring rooftop solar to Collier and other SWFL Counties. This Coalition includes not only Environmental groups, but also local businesses, churches, medical organizations and others. Results will be announced in the near future.
Several EAC members took a field trip to Babcock Ranch. All had been working on the Eastern lands, Rivergrass situation for years. This field trip gave us an opportunity to see a “smart growth” community and learn from the ground up how it was achieved. We were given a behind the scenes special tour by Lisa Hall, Marketing Director. One of our members is preparing an article to discuss in depth how special this community has become.
The next EAC meeting will be on Thursday, February 9, starting at 9:30 a.m., at the Collier Community Foundation. Topic: Governor DeSantis proposed budget of $3.5 Billion dollars for the Everglades. What is in it, what will it accomplish? Join us!
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Juvenile Justice Committee
Libbie Bramson, Chair
OUR KIDS ARE OUR FUTURE
What is Juvenile Justice? It may not be the LWV’s top priority but Juvenile Justice is always among the top ten to fifteen priorities! It means many things to many people, while it is below some peoples’ radar. To LWVCC, it concerns our vulnerable youth - preventing juvenile delinquency, diverting kids from the “school to prison pipeline” and giving kids every opportunity to realize their full potential. Juvenile Justice interstices with Education, DEI, Social Policy and more. You can tell a lot about the values of a community by the resources and type of attention it provides to juvenile justice.
We welcome members who are interested in how to best support our kids in today’s environment. In addition to studying major issues, we have monthly meetings with relevant speakers and activities. Our January speaker was Clara Calderon, Principal Immokalee High Schools and recently named Innovative Principal of the Year by the Florida Council of Technological Leaders. On February 27, we are visiting Youth Haven and on March 13, Dr. Charles Bradley, Director of Positive Prevention, School District Lee County, will be the guest speaker at the General Meeting. He will discuss SDLC’s hybrid program based on restorative practices combined with Positive Behavior Intervention Supports. More details are available in Juvenile Justice Committee Report, February 2023).
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Membership Committee
Jan Eustis and Julie Wade, Co-Chairs
On January 13, the Membership Team hosted its first New Member Coffee since "pre-Covid." There were 30 guests- new members, Board members, committee chairs, and those who wanted to "re-engage." It was a productive, high energy get-together!
Please welcome 5 new LWVCC members:
Heather Hart
Linda Lerner
Florine Noel
Ilana Seligman
Elizabeth Smith
LWVCC is now 260 members strong!
Wine & Wisdom
Mark your calendars for Wine & Wisdom: March 21, 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Altavilla Pizza and Trattoria. Details to follow.
| Good News Leaguers! The rooftop Solar Co-op of Southwest Florida launched on 01/17/2023 after a postponement due to hurricane Ian. Our non-profit League partner Solar United Neighbors (SUN) is now offering free in-person public meetings and webinars. These presentations offer information on all the essential things one should know related to "going solar."
Whether your interest is the significant energy cost savings or the very significant reduction of your carbon emissions footprint to mitigate climate change, costs for "going solar" have never been so low. The Inflation Reduction Act offers 30% cost reduction on solar panel installation and 30% cost reduction battery back-up installation when connected to solar panels. These benefits apply to homeowners, small businesses, and for the first-time, non-profits. If you have any interest at all, now is the time to check it out. There is no cost to join the Co-op and SUN is vendor-neutral so there is zero sales pressure and no expectation you will sign into a solar contract within the Co-op. You can simply get educated and see how the Co-op can guide you to save time and energy.
A final word to my fellow League friends. Solar Co-ops overall require volunteer effort. We now need more help to achieve the best results. Maybe right now you are not ready or able to "go solar," like me. But we can help facilitate others who are interested by raising awareness of this Co-op. If you can offer any time, even a little, please contact me so I can explain the tasks that match your availability, Bromley914@comcast.net.
| League News From Across the Country
| National League News
For more information, visit LWV.org.
State League News
For more information, visit LWVFL.org.
| Please refer to the LWVCC Weekly Update for a complete list of upcoming events or visit the LWVCC website: lwvcolliercounty.org.
Members should log in to ensure they see members-only events and registration options. | Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in Government. We influence public policy through education and advocacy. Our goal is to empower citizens to take an active role in shaping better communities worldwide. The League of Women Voters of Collier County does not support or endorse any candidate or political party.
League of Women Voters of Collier County
P.O. Box 9883, Naples, FL 34101
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