DFA Linkup Notes – March 7, 2007

Written by: Brenda Bayne on Mar 14, 2007 8:20 PM EDT

Democracy for America Linkup Notes – March 7, 2007 

1.    Welcome to new members Will and Ada.  Will is from Vermont and Ada is from Boston.  Otherwise,we enjoyed a small and intimate group this month of about a dozen members.  Welcome also to school board member Eileen Roy and City Commissioner Jack Donovan, who were also here. 

2.    June 30th and July 1st there will be a DFA training in Tampa.  Anyone that missed our traininglast year may want to attend.  Check the DFAlink for more information.  We may be doing a one-day training  sometime this Fall, perhaps October or November, possibly with Steve Ybarra once again.  

3.    On May 12th, Debbie Boyd will be having a meeting regarding property tax reform at Live OakElementary from 6-8pm. 

4.    As I recently discovered the hard way by posting to it and having it bounce, the old listservGainesvilleFL4Democracy@yahoogroups.com is no more.  However, you can still post to DFAlink.  Just go to www.dfalink.com and login.  If you do not yet have an account, create one and join the Gainesville DFA Group.  Brenda tries to keep private emails (fromgvillegrassroots@bellsouthsave.net) limited to 2 a month. 

5.    The Coalition for Responsible Growth continues to oppose the development of SpringHills.  OnTuesday, May 1st, there will be a meeting at nearby Santa Fe Community College, Building EAuditorium, at 5pm.   Eileen Roy emphasized the school concurrency inequality issues that thisdevelopment would continue to create between the east and west sides of town.  

For moreinformation, visit www.savemillhopperroad.org. 

Right now, Mike Byerly (byerly@alachuacounty.us) is the only county commissioner opposing the SpringHills development.  Please write your other commissioners alerting them to your concerns:-     Paula Delaney (pdelaney@alachuacounty.us)-     Rodney Long (rjlong@alachuacounty.us)-     Cynthia Moore Chestnut (cmchestnut@alachuacounty.us)-     Lee Pinkoson (lpinkoson@alachuacounty.us) 

6.    Commissioner Donovan just came from a meeting of the Black-On-Black Crime Task Force and spokeabout how this issue is at the very core of societal failure.  School inequalities of resources would be greatly magnified if the expansion of SpringHills were allowed to continue.   

7.    Alachua County Democratic Party chair Jon Reiskind spoke of how 2007 will be the year wherethere will be great grassroots mobilization.  The ACDEC will be more committee-oriented.  Any registered Democrat can be a member of these committees and membership is highly encouraged. 

The committees are as follows:  Steering Committee, Certification Committee, Affirmative Action Committee, Budget & Finance Committee, Campaign Planning Committee (including Training Committee), Communications Committee [aka Public Relations Committee], Data Management Committee, Events & Service Committee, Fund Raising Committee, Legislative Committee [aka Issues Committee], Membership/Credentials Committee, Office Management Committee, Outreach & Education Committee [aka Education Committee], Policy and Bylaws Committee, Veterans Affairs Committee, Web Management Committee, and Young Democrats Committee. 

On March 24th, the ACDEC will be holding a grassroots training session.  More info will be available on that at the next Democratic Party meeting next Wednesday, March 14th, in 7pm in the Jack Durrance Auditorium in the County Administration Building downtown. 

8.    Last night’s election saw a measly 11% of registered voters.  Despite the disappointingturnout, the Democratic encumbents, Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan and Commissioner Craig Lowe, won by overwhelming margins. 

9.    Shelly Packer and OneCorps will be holding a canned food drive.  There will be a dropoffreceptacle at the ACDEC office if anyone has anyone to bring by.  All donations will be greatly appreciated.  As state treasurer and trainer of the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), Shelly mentioned PDA’s efforts to lobby each Florida county to adopt a paper ballot system.  This will also be on a state-by-state basis. 

10.   WGOT, the low power FM community radio station founded by the Civic Media Center, will be onthe air soon.  Our next meeting is tomorrow, March 18th, at 5:30pm at the CMC, 1021 W. University Avenue. 

11.   The City of Alachua will be having elections after all!  In an emergency meeting last night,the Alachua City Commission voted, after much public outcry, that challenging candidates had until 4pm today to correct their deficiencies in order to qualify for the March 7th election.     

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