Emailing - League of Women Voters of Collier County

JANUARY LUNCHEON & GENERAL MEETING
January 8 @ 11:45-1:30
Tiburon Golf Club

Amendment 4:
the path forward for restoring voting rights

presented by

Neil Volz
Deputy Director
Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC)

MORE INFORMATION & REGISTRATION

Registration and payment must be made online
by January 4 @ 3:00 PM
Late registration/walk in price will be strictly enforced

Help build our League and educate the general public! Our most effective method of membership recruitment is the General Meeting! Invite a guest to our next General Meeting and support LWVCC!

HELP WANTED

Are you comfortable with Instagram? Interested in learning more about Social Media? We are looking for a volunteer for the Communications Team to help with our Instagram account and we will be working with outside resources to update and energize our campaign for the upcoming election season. Volunteers are also needed for the Energizing Young Voters initiative, a combined project with Communications and Voter Services to persuade voters 18-35 to vote this season. Contact Stacy Vermylen if you can help!

LWVCC SPEAKS OUT ON EDUCATION

The December 10 issue of the News-Press featured an opinion piece, "Reject current legislation, support open inquiry in education" by LWVCC President Diane Preston Moore and Education Committee Co-chairs Pat Plummer and Nancy Chism. It calls out to those opposed to book bans to contact their legislators to make their opposition known.

READ THE ARTICLE

MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS BEYOND THE EVERGLADES

At our December general meeting, Eve Samples gave a very good presentation about the Everglades legacy of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a real over-achiever who was ahead of her time (1890-1998). She advocated against racism, for women’s rights and environmental causes including the effort to save the Everglades. Her words are important for all the advocacy positions of the League:

“Don’t think it is enough to attend meetings and sit there like a lump…. It is better to address envelopes than to attend foolish meetings. It is better to study than act too quickly; but it is best to be ready to act intelligently when the appropriate opportunity arises… Speak up. Learn to talk clearly and forcefully in public. Speak simply and not too long at a time, without over-emotion, always from sound preparation and knowledge. Be a nuisance where it counts, but don’t be a bore at any time… Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action…. Be depressed, discouraged and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics — but never give up.” ― Marjory Stoneman Douglas

It is a shame that Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ name is primarily known as the high school in Parkland, Florida where 17 students and teachers were killed on February 14, 2018. Five years later, assault weapons are still the weapon of choice for mass shootings. Nothing of real significance has changed to reduce gun violence. Let’s use the name and words of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, as inspiration to intensify our efforts to educate and advocate for legislation that will save lives. Gun violence prevention is an important issue for the Social Policy Committee. Our newly formed subcommittee will be planning how best to educate and advocate for safety measures. Gun deaths, both homicides and suicides, in US children under age 18 have dramatically increased in the last two years. With an increasing number of firearms in homes combined with insufficient mental health resources, this is not surprising.

To learn more about the state of youth mental health services in our community, you are invited to attend a free community forum presented by Naples United Church of Christ on Wednesday, January 10, 2024 from 3 to 5 p.m.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Are you renewing your LWVCC membership in the next couple of months?

If you are, you will see that we have added a “page” to the renewal process, inquiring about your “interests”. (Note: we have also eliminated several pages!) We have captured “interests” for those of you who joined LWVCC after December 2020 (the implementation of Club Express). But we have never captured the “interests” of our “legacy” members (those who joined before December 2020). All our legacy members renew during this period.

The information we collect will help the Board of Directors and Committee Chairs ensure that we are meeting the needs and desires of our members. Let us know what your focus is as a League member. Please complete the “interests” page regardless of your membership on any committees.

This is a one-time initiative. The “interests” page will be eliminated from the renewal process March 1. It will remain as an inquiry for new members.You can update your interests at any time by logging in to the website, hovering over your name to click on your profile, and clicking on the "Interests" link in the lower right corner.

Feel free to contact Jan Eustis with questions. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

Note: You will receive a notification from Club Express
30 days before your membership is due to expire.

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

We all play a role in sustaining our democracy. Civic participation and education for citizens is crucial. Information used to educate must be accurate and so it needs to come from reliable sources. We need to be on guard for misinformation. We need to read the content thoroughly and check the sources. We need to pay attention to exaggerations or inflated claims. What can we do?

report misinformation to the Disinformation Tip Line
do a reverse image search (Google directions) to figure out if images have been manipulated.
verify our sources before we share them.
double check our sources and conduct a fact check by looking at multiple articles on a related issue.

Thank you for your help in sustaining our democracy by being careful with what you share and researching your sources. We will all benefit from using reliable sources when sharing information.

This information comes from LWVUS’ Power the South workshop. The LWVUS is very concerned about the effect of misinformation on our society. Stay tuned for more tips in a later LWVCC Update.

EVERGLADES COALITION CONFERENCE

January 25-27, 2024

Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa, Bonita Springs

The LWVFL/LWVCC is a sponsor and will have a table at this exciting Conference from January 25-27, 2024. It will be held locally for the first time in years. We encourage anyone from the League to attend. We have two scholarships worth $175 to cover the registration cost for any League member wishing to attend. Please let Pattie Forkan or Lynn Martin know if you want to take advantage of this offer; if you will attend the whole conference or just on certain days. “First come first served”.

The Everglades Coalition is an alliance of nearly 60 local, state, and national conservation and environmental organizations dedicated to full restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem. It is a wonderful opportunity to meet representatives from these groups as well as hear speakers ranging from government officials to tribal representatives and many experts on a range of issues. It is not only a wonderful learning experience but also fun. We have a table and are looking for volunteers to help at our table…especially to talk about plastics. If you volunteer, it won’t be for long stretches. When you register, you will have a choice of full conference or one day; Plus you can sign up for meals including two dinners on Friday and Saturday evenings. You can sign up someone to come just for dinner and not the whole conference.

CANDIDATE FORUM VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Pat Aiken-O'Neill and Paula Schwerin, coordinators for the February 1, 2024, City Council and Mayor Forum, are seeking volunteers both before the event and at the event. Please contact them for more information or to offer your help. It is going to be a very important event for our local government.

Before the event, we need 8-10 volunteers to draft and review questions for the candidates (meeting to occur in January ) and to assist with publicity. At the event, we will need 20 volunteers to set up, serve as greeters, represent LWVCC at table, and to collect and vet questions from the audience for moderator.

Contact Patricia Aiken-O'Neill or Paula Schwerin.

THE "CELEBRATE THE LEAGUE"
SILENT AUCTION COMMITTEE
NEEDS YOUR HELP

Do you have any of the following items that you would be willing to donate:

Tickets to any concerts, plays, musicals, operas, art lectures
Gift cards or certificates to local restaurants
Does your community have a golf or racket club? Would you be able to secure a round of golf for four, possibly to include lunch? Maybe a couple of private tennis or pickleball lessons?

The Silent Auction Committee will also be happy to accept donations of bottles of wine (Value $20 or more) for the Cork Pull. Guests will pay to select a numbered cork which will match a numbered bottle of wine. Bottles may be brought to the December and January general meetings.

If you have questions about what type of donations would be welcomed, please contact Teresa Stohs or Susan Sonnenschein.

It is not too late to sign the petitions!

UPCOMING EVENTS

January 8 @ 11:45-1:30	January Luncheon & General Meeting
January 16 @ 4:30-6:30	January Wine & Wisdom Endowment 101
January 23-25	LWVFL Lobby Days
January 25-27	Everglades Coalition Conference
February 1 @ 5:00-8:30	Naples City Candidate Forum
February 21 @ 4:00-5:00	Plastics 101
February 22, 2024	Celebrate the League Non-Partisan, No-Nonsense News

Visit the LWVCC Calendar for event details

ONLINE REIMBURSEMENT FORM IS NOW AVAILABLE

Board members, committee chairs, and others who need to submit reimbursement requests can now do so via our Submit Online Forms page.

UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Check our Event Calendar for meeting locations and more information.

Because LWVCC committee meetings are for members and their invited guests unless stated otherwise,

members should log in to the website to register

to get the Zoom links for committee meetings and other events.

Board Meeting

January 3 @ 9:30-12:00

Moorings Park Conference Room

Plastics Task Force Meeting

January 4 @3:30-4:30

Zoom

Education Committee Meeting

January 10 @ 12:00-1:30

North Naples Government Center Meeting Room

Environmental Affairs Committee Meeting

January 11@ 10:00-12:00

Collier Community Foundation

MISSED AN ISSUE OF THE VOTER?

NEED TO CATCH UP ON THE NEWS?

Check out our updated News & Newsletters page, which has all our latest news and links to current and back issues of The Voter and The LWVCC Update.

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.

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