 | | | | Listening Across the Community
This past week I listened to the "The State of the State Virtual Forum," hosted by The Collective Voices Partners. This was a phenomenal virtual event which hosted public servants from across the county and state as well as candidates for the upcoming unitary special election for city council at-large group 3. The link to this recorded event remains posted to our Facebook page and I encourage our members to listen to this forum.
And over the past several months, the Jacksonville Urban League hosted several virtual events providing excellent panel discussions of Disability and Voter Suppression, Neighborhood Bill of Rights, LGBTQ and Community, Racial Healing and Reconciliation, and Restoration of Voting Rights. Our very own League of Women Voters of Florida President, Cecil Scoon, served as a panelist on the latter panel. These events gave us the opportunity to hear from a variety of community leaders and members about how previous legislation has impacted them and future legislation that may help or harm.
While our local chapter does not have a formal relationship with Collective Voices Partners or Jacksonville Urban League, it is important that we stay abreast of issues and perspectives across our community. We often share community events taking place in the area, which give our members an opportunity to become better educated on topics that align with our local program but also topics that impact our daily lives. If you are aware of non-partisan events that we might share on our social media, please let us know.
|  | Our members are not one-dimensional and we do not exist in silos, so hearing about issues in our community and taking the opportunity to engage is to our advantage. It's important to understand the impact a bill or law can have on our entire community and not just ourselves. We encourage all members of our community to cast an informed vote in all elections.
— Lanelle Phillmon, LWVJFC President | | |
| | | First Wednesday Speaker Series with Sarah Clark
Wednesday, November 3, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Join us on the first Wednesday in November to learn about suicide prevention. Sarah Clark is the North Florida and Panhandle Area Director for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). She has been with AFSP for more than nine years and works on fundraising, volunteer/board development, educating the public about mental health and suicide prevention through AFSP programs, advocating for public policies in mental health and suicide prevention, and providing programs and resources to those affected by suicide. |  |
Sarah is trained in ASIST and safeTalk, which are both suicide intervention trainings. She graduated from Stetson University and has been in the non-profit sector for more than 20 years.
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SPECIAL ELECTION FOR JACKSONVILLE CITY COUNCIL
Duval County will be holding a Special Unitary Election for City Council at Large Group 3 and we are hoping YOU will help us get the word out. This election is unique in that in a unitary election, every candidate runs in the first election and if one candidate does not get 50 percent of the vote, the top two face off in a general election.
Below are important dates for this election.
Deadline to register:
First Election: November 8, 2021
General Election: January 24, 2022
Early voting:
First Election: November 27, 2021 – December 5, 2021
General Election: February 12, 2022 – February 20, 2022
Vote by Mail Send Dates for First Election:
October 28 – November 24, 2021
Election Dates:
First Election: December 7, 2021
General Election: February 22, 2022
Can’t recall all the dates? No problem. Go to Vote411.org to verify your voter registration status, read the candidate questionnaire responses and keep up with important election dates.
| Poll Workers, It's Time for Training!
One of our Local Program action items is to “Encourage League members and community members to become poll workers”. Being someone who believes in leadership by example, our President Lanelle recently attended Poll Worker training with the Duval Supervisor of Elections and will serve as a Poll Worker for the Unitary Election December 7, 2021.
If you can serve as a Poll Worker in your county, we encourage you to do so. You can get more information about becoming a Poll Worker in your county at the following sites:
|  | | Opal Lee, The Grandmother of Juneteenth, Visits Jacksonville
Our chapter recently had the opportunity to contribute to the visit of Opal Lee, retired teacher, counselor, and activist in the movement to make Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday. Mrs. Lee spent several days in Jacksonville speaking with students, activists and community members about the work that has been done towards recognizing Juneteenth and the work that continues still today towards equality, equity, voting rights, and racial justice.
|  | She also offered the public the opportunity to purchase her rereleased children’s book, Juneteenth: A Children’s Story which is aimed at children from grades K-5, teaching it’s young audience about the history and significance of Juneteenth in an easily digestible and educational way. It features teacher’s notes to help facilitate important conversations about our country’s history in the classroom or at home.
You can read more about Opal Lee and her ongoing efforts to educate the public in this article at Jacksonville.com.
It was an honor to meet Opal Lee and to hear of the great work she has done and continues to do in her community. We are grateful to the Pastor Reginald Gundy and First Coast Leadership Foundation for their work in bringing Mrs. Lee to Jacksonville and allowing the League to contribute to her visit. | | |
| | | Grand Opening of The Pillars Honors May Jennings
Our President, Lanelle recently had the privilege of attending the grand opening and art dedication of The Pillars Club in Downtown Jacksonville. Their art dedication included May Jennings, one of the co-founders of the Florida State League of Women Voters. Lanelle also had the opportunity to meet their members, club managers and members of the historical society who assisted in the selection of art for the dedication. Their mission is to honor past and current community heroes and their members include investors, volunteers, and civil workers.
The Pillars Club has put a call out to local artists to partner to create their own versions of the historical art adorning The Club walls. Interested artists can sign up on The Club’s website, thepillarsclubint.com/art, and one artist will have an exclusive feature each quarter. The artists will have a 3-month exhibition time each, exposing their works to the club members and visitors, plus press during the auctions of their work.
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Lobby Days Carpool and Room Share Opportunity
State leadership will soon announce the dates and agenda for our League Lobby Days. We realize that some of our members may desire to attend but may not be able to make the drive to Tallahassee or the hotel fees may be a bit steep. If you are interested in carpooling or room-sharing for Lobby Days, please send an email to lwvjaxfc@gmail.com to indicate your particular request so we can organize among attendees. Lobby Days is our opportunity to meet fellow League members and state leaders but also speak with elected representatives about issues that are important to our community and state.
| | | | Voter Registration Events
Our volunteers have been out registering and informing voters. On September 14 we were at Keiser University as part of their Constitution Day Celebration. October 2 we were at the Courthouse for the Our Body, Our Choice Rally. Before the sun rose on October 23 we were at the Vystar Emerald Trail 5K. Thank you to all of the volunteers!
If you would like to join us or have any questions about taking the Voter Registration Certification test and joining the Voter Registration Committee, please email Dianne Main at lwvjaxfcvote@gmail.com. |  |
Above: Gale Chisholm, Sandy Martin, and Rhona DiCamillo register voters at the October 2 Our Body, Our Choice Rally.
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Out of the Darkness Walk to Support Suicide Prevention
The Jacksonville Out of the Darkness Walk is a special event that provides community, connection, healing, and hope for survivors of suicide loss and those with lived experience.
Date: 11/13/2021
Location: Treaty Oak Park - 1207 Prudential Drive
Event Time: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Register HERE.
| | | | Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Statue on Display in Daytona Beach through December 12
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune is the founder of Bethune-Cookman University, a National civil rights pioneer, a champion of African American women’s rights and advisor to Presidents of the United States. She will be the first Black person to represent a state in the U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall. Dr. Bethune’s statue will replace that of a Confederate general. Her statue was created from a block of marble culled from the same quarry used for Michelangelo’s David by Nilda Comas, the first Hispanic woman sculptor to create a statue for Statuary Hall.
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The statue is currently on display in Daytona Beach. For information on how to see the statute, click HERE. For more information about this remarkable woman, click HERE. | | |
Replay Available for Last Month's First Wednesday Speaker Event
Last month was Pride month, and our First Wednesday Speaker was Manuel Velasquez-Paredes, the Director of Student Affairs for the relatively new LGBTQ center at UNF. The center is a much-needed resource not only for students and staff at UNF, but also the Northeast Florida community. You can watch the recorded Lunch and Learn on our YouTube channel.
| Committee Work
Members should have received an email inviting you to join one of our committees that will allow us to begin the work laid out in our Local Program. It is important that members take part in at least one committee to accomplish those things we established as priorities for our chapter but also in support of our community. If you have questions about any of the committees, you may contact the Committee Chair or Co-Chair for more information.
If you did not receive an email, please log in to lwvjaxfc.org and select Committees in the top menu to view them and sign up. | | Using LWVJaxFC/Club Express
Does Club Express require members to login?
In August all members received a Welcome email announcing our transition to Club Express as our League Management system. The move to this system requires members to log in to the LWVJFC Club Express system. Included in the Welcome email was your personal User Name and Temporary Password.
Be sure to login whenever you visit our website. You will need to be logged in to register for events or volunteer opportunities, to renew your membership, and to access data specifically for members.
Where do I go to login for the first time?
Logging In:
- Go to the League of Women Voters of Jacksonville First Coast website at lwvjaxfc.org.
- The Member Login button is located in the Top Right of the window.
- Enter the login information provided in your welcome email.
- If you do not have that information you can select the Forgot My Username / Password button.
- You will be prompted for an email address and your first name and Submit.
- You will receive an email with your username and a temporary password. Use this information to log in.
- Once you are logged in you will see your name displayed in the top right side of the window.
- Click the red drop-down arrow next to your name and select Profile.
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What should I do when I first login?
Review your Profile for accurate information:
- User Name / Password: Be sure to change your temporary password to one you can remember.
- Note: All members’ User Names at the time of the conversion to Club Express were changed to match their email address. However, this is not the default. If you prefer your user name to be something other than what has been set, you can change it here.
- Standard Member Directory: Click here to edit the information that will be displayed in the Members only Directory. Be sure to review. The default is to display all information.
- Basic Member Information: Click here to review your basic demographic information.
- Additional Member Data: Click here to answer additional questions deemed important to your League.
Take this Opportunity to Sign Up for a Committee.
- From the website Home Page, Select Committees.
- A description of Committees with their description will be displayed.
- Select the Committee(s) that interests you, click > arrow and select Sign Me Up.
Who do I call for help?
If you cannot find your Welcome email with your user information, or for any other issues, please contact:
- Karen Parish, Membership Director, LWVJFC
- Club Express at 1-866-HLP-CLUB (457-2582). Be sure to let them know you are with the League of Women Voters of Jacksonville First Coast.
| | | | | | Recap of Last Month
St Johns County Redistricting Meetings
https://www.stjohns.k12.fl.us/redistricting/
- November 1, 2021, 6:00 pm: School Board Auditorium & Virtual via Webex (Community Meeting), 40 Orange Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084
- November 2, 2021, 6:00 pm: Nease High School Media Center (Community Meeting), 10550 Ray Road, Ponte Vedra, FL 32081
- December 9, 2021, 9:00 am: Joint Board Meeting for Final Approval of Map, BCC Auditorium, 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine, FL 32084
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We can't do it without you! Please join in recognizing our new and returning members from last month.
New Members—Welcome aboard!
- Nancy and Jack Dickson
- Julie Sasseen
- Annette Sullivan
- Sonya Larson
Returning Members—Thank you so much for choosing to renew!
- Billie Hayward
- Shari Augins
- Marianna Kane
- Bernadette and David Miron
- Nora Manahan
- Jessica Bress
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Be sure to check out our new website, lwvjaxfc.org, with an easy way to join or renew online. Click on the blue "Join Today" button at the top of the Homepage. Members who wish to renew must log in.
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We wish to acknowledge and thank those who have made donations this month:
- Rebecca Lee-Duffell
- Brittany Shay
- Mary Alice Barrett Phelan
- Juanita Powell-Williams
- Marianna Kane
- Frances Jones
- Kiki Karpen
- Donna Padgug
- Ilene Levenson
Be sure to check out our new website, lwvjaxfc.org, with an easy way to make donations to LWVJFC online. Click on the red "Donate" button at the top of the Homepage. | | |
Volunteers Always Needed
Quite often, our League needs volunteers to help with small tasks that are not time consuming but vital to our leadership and membership.
If you are willing to help make phone calls, be trained to send text messages, or assist in other ways, please contact us and let us help you figure out how to invest your time in our League and our democracy.
Contact Lanelle at lwvjaxfc@gmail.com to discuss topics and abilities.
For more specific volunteer tasks, click HERE. | | | | Breaking News: Editor Needed
Join the LWVJFC Communications team! If you enjoy working with words or layout, we could use your help with one or more of these monthly tasks:
- Proofread and ensure accuracy of content.
- Assist with preparation of newsletter content.
- Assist with layout of newsletter.
- Create email blasts.
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| Local
Stay up-to-date on all local upcoming events on the LWV of Jacksonville / First Coast website and Facebook page.
Regional
The Regional Facebook Group, LWV Florida North Region Leagues, includes Alachua, Bay, Jacksonville/First Coast, Okaloosa & Walton, Pensacola Bay Area, and Tallahassee. | | | Contact Us
We look forward to hearing from you!
Phone: 904-355-8683
Email: LWVJAXFC@gmail.com
Facebook:
Like and Follow our Facebook page, League of Women Voters Jacksonville First Coast.
Postal Address:
Please use this address regardless of any forms or documents to the contrary.
League of Women Voters Jacksonville First Coast
PO Box 330353
Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 | | | | The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging informed and active participation in government. We influence public policy through education and advocacy. | | |
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