UNMasking DeSantis

YOUR RESISTANCE NEWSLETTER

WEEK OF MAY 12, 2019

Indivisible St Johns and Women's March Hold Joint General Meeting

Gina Duncan Equality Florida Director gave an interesting presentation on Transgender Dynamics, which was followed by lively questions and discussion.

Whether you’ve been organizing for months, or you’re just getting started, Indivisible wants to hear from you

We’ve put together a quick SURVEY that will ask you about a couple of the issues we’re thinking about the most heading into this summer. And it’ll also give you a chance to flag anything we may have missed. 

Homestead, Fl children's prison Call to Action

What is Homestead Detention Center?  Homestead, Florida is the site of the largest child detention center in the country, the ONLY for-profit center, and the only shelter deemed “temporary”.  It was opened in June 2016 to house what HHS calls unaccompanied alien children (UAC).  From June 2016 to April 2017 it sheltered 8,500 children, then closed.  It was reactivated in March 2018 and currently houses more than 2,000 children.  HHS now plans to expand to house up to 3,200 children beginning in mid-April.  Children at Homestead are 13-17 yrs of age. About 75% are male and 25% female.  According to HHS children remain an average of 52 days (although there are reports of children staying much longer).  

What can we do?  While media coverage of the Homestead detention facility is growing, there is a need for greater awareness and action.  

Lobby Contact your representatives at state and local levels.  Write letters to local newspapers.  Share on Facebook. Follow the Witness Homestead Facebook page.  Write petitions to close Homestead. Support Senator Merkley’s Bill 397 “Shut Down Child Prison Camps Act”.

Donate The Witness Homestead group is requesting donations to help keep monitors on the ground.  There is a Go Fund Me account called “Witness Homestead Support”.  Donate here

Arming Florida school teachers

Governor DeSantiAns has now signed this bill into law. We now need to show up at the school board meetings. Stay up to date by RSVPing to this event

                                                        
Medicaid Expansion drive continues - We need to collect 1 million petitions across the State by the end of the year to get this issue on the ballot.  Anyone who has ideas about venues for collecting petitions and wants to help out can email andrea.degeorge@gmail.com. If you want to understand the benefits of expanding Medicaid, follow this link https://www.ncpssm.org/documents/medicaid-legislation/medicaid-expansion-benefits-states-and-beneficiaries/

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A great turnout for our May Social

Indivisible Groups Forming Mueller Report Book Clubs

Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr don’t want you to know what’s in the Mueller report. That’s why it is so important for concerned citizens to read it. Join the Mueller Book Club and commit to reading the entire report starting May 13th: Learn more here and email indivisible.st.johns@gmail. com to sign up.

2) Our first national webinar/call-in will be MONDAY May 13th at 8:30 PM EASTERN! Register here

You don't have to join these but they will be a great way to go through the report with experts!

COME TO OUR SECOND BIRTHDAY PARTY!! MONDAY, MAY 13 6:00-8:OOPM UNITY CHURCH FOR CREATIVE LIVING Please join us in celebrating our 2nd BIRTHDAY with a PARTY!!  We will gather in the garden area outside to enjoy appetizers, beer/wine, and a politically-themed cake!  We are inviting all of our current Democratic & NPA office holders in the county to attend as well.  Now is the time to get to know them and ask them questions!  We will also hold our popular 50-50 raffle again. Appetizer/snack contributions are appreciated.   Please sign up here

The next meeting of the Democratic Environmental Caucus of St. Johns County is on Tuesday, May 14th, 6:00, at the Dem office on 71 South Dixie Highway.

Guest speaker:  Nancy Sikes-Kline, St. Augustine City Commissioner.

Nancy has spent quite a bit of time recently lobbying for our coastal community in Tallahassee. She has been cited by the Florida League of Cities as a "Home Rule Hero," meaning that she has consistently lobbied against the FL state legislature's use of preemption. This abuse of state government's power prevents a local government enacting certain local ordinances, such as banning the sale of plastic straws, a.k.a., "banning the ban." 

Click here to learn more about fate of environmental bills in this legislative session.

Sunday, May 19th, 4:30 PM Tapas and Texting!  Help us send text messages to voters in St. Johns County-- it's easy and fun!  This is our first step to ensuring a strong DEM voter turnout in next year's three elections. As you know, encouraging voters to cast their ballots by mail is what led to our 21 percent increase in turnout last fall. But as many as 3,000 DEMs right here in St. Johns County cannot vote by mail in 2020 unless they renew their request for a mail-in ballot.  Join us at a party where we'll enjoy some great tapas while sending text messages to these specific individuals urging them to renew. We can't afford to lose any turnout advantage in 2020 if we are to prevent Florida's 29 electoral votes from going into the wrong column!  Sign up by clicking on this link: Tapas and Texting party A note about Vote-by-Mail (VBM):  Clearly, some Florida counties played games with VBM last year, rejecting some ballots because of signature matching issues or other reasons.  But make no mistake--in St. Johns County, our SOE has proven to be fair and objective regarding VBM. Last fall, 99.85% of all ballots cast by mail in our county were accepted and counted. And the tiny fraction of one percent (0.15%) that could not be accepted were mostly for reasons such as returning the ballot too late. So VBM is safe and highly effective in St. Johns County!

Next meeting is May 16

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             WE ALWAYS WELCOME NEW MEMBERS AND NEW IDEAS! 

Email us at indivisible.st.johns@gmail.com
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KNOW YOUR STATE LEGISLATORS

Senator Travis Hutson District 7 Republican

                                   

District Office                                                             Tallahassee Office

4875 Palm Coast Parkway, NW                                      314 Senate Building
Suite 5                                                                        404 South Monroe Street
Palm Coast, FL 32137                                                   Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
(386) 446-7610                                                           (850) 487-5007
Senate VOIP: 40700                                                     Senate VOIP: 5007
FAX (888) 263-3475

Legislative Assistants                                                Legislative Assistant

Danielle Curbow and Matthew Kauffmann                      John Kotyk

Florida House of Representatives    Cyndi Stevenson 17th District  Republican District Office Suite 902 309 Kingsley Lake Drive St Augustine, FL 32092-3048 Phone (904) 823-2300 District Secretary: Shorty Robbins

Capitol Office 402 South Monroe Street 303 House Office Building Tallahassee, FL   32399-1300 Phone: (850) 717-5017 Legislative Assistant Kaley Slattery : Kaley

 Florida House of Representatives Paul Renner 24th District  Republican

                                     

District Office                                             Capitol Office

Suite 1                                                              418 The Capitol
4877 Palm Coast Parkway Northwest                 402 South Monroe Street 
Palm Coast, FL 32137-3677                                Tallahassee, FL 32399-1300
Phone (386) 446-7644                                       Phone (850) 717-5024

                                                                                      Legislative Assistant

                                                                                      Samantha Story