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As I wrote in last month’s newsletter, I was headed off on a month-long vacation. I returned on August 19th. While eating my way through the southeast [I can now steer you to some really good food in a number of southern cities], I found some time to think about our League chapter while away from the day-to-day emails and phone calls. Not that the emails stopped you understand. For the most part, I simply didn’t answer them and, in a number of instances, didn’t even read them. That’s what vacations are supposed to be about.
But in reading through some of them I noted a trend that was bothersome, a trend that I’ve been thinking about for quite a while. There was a barrage of communication that, when taken as a whole, displayed a sort of myopic view of how the LWVSC should operate.
My view of the League begins with the mission---empowering voters and defending democracy. Simply stated and that is what drew me to the League. Once I was a part of the LWVSC, I looked at the committees and the amazing people working in them and eventually settled on Local Government, and later Observer Corps. And, although I worked in those committees regularly, I also did other things when calls came out for help. Why? Well, in my mind I joined the LWVSC, not the Observer Corps.
When I look at the LWVSC what I see is an organization with some areas of interest where members can apply their particular expertise, but continue to contribute to the overall LWVSC mission. But I am not at all sure that is the generally held belief.
A member once pointed out to me that in the League chapter in her home state [where she also maintains a membership] they operate somewhat differently from our chapter. There is less bureaucracy, less fragmentation into committees. When something of importance occurs, the call goes out to the membership for help, there is strong response, the job is accomplished and the individual members then melt back into the background.
During my short tenure I have asked the membership for participation in a number of projects. For the most part there has been silence except from the same small cadre of volunteers who participate in just about every LWVSC activity, as well as maintaining membership in multiple program committees. When there is a response from other than that small group, it appears to come not from interest in pursuing the general goals of the chapter, but rather from a desire to push a personal agenda.
Hark back to what I said earlier about how I learned about the League, liked what I heard and later found a home in a committee, but continued to work for the general LWVSC objectives. We are the League of Women Voters of the Space Coast, part of a state and national organization with broad objectives and a century of history regarding voting, civic education and good governance.
I know it’s easy to get wrapped up in a single issue, focus on it intensely and block out everything else. The point I’m trying to get across is that our structure may perhaps be causing an unintended silo effect and fostering a sort of tribalism. Part of my reason for asking some of our members to return to working on our strategic plan was to help focus our efforts on the overall mission and determine how each of us and each program committee can contribute to accomplishing the LWVSC’S essential goals as part of a national organization.
Some of you who know me are aware that I spent some time in the Air Force. For about a year and a half I foolishly volunteered to work in a metal room buried in the bowels of a building. There was a cypher lock on the door and I and the commandant were the only ones who knew the combination. The room was perched above the floor of the larger room in which it was located, was protected from outside electronic surveillance, had its own air system and was packed with equipment so that there was barely enough room for me to sit at my console. When I went in there to do my job I was about as isolated as you could get while in a city teeming with people. I was doing something very specialized. But as I sat there doing my thing, working in my little silo I knew that what I did was part of a larger mission. What I did was important, but only insofar as it contributed to that overall organizational goal. I may have been in a sort of silo, but it was one with very low walls and it was easy for me to peer over the side and relate to what was the real mission.
I respect all of the expertise, experience, enthusiasm and wisdom our members bring to our program committees. But your committee’s program of work is just a facet of what the League of Women Voters is about. So please, let’s clamber out of our silos and turn our eyes to the greater mission.
By the way, can you name the city where the silos in the picture that I took are located and who owns them? Not part of our mission, but an amusing exercise nonetheless.
(Look for the answer about the silos toward the end of this newsletter.)
| Voter Service Report
by 2nd Vice President, Diane Callier
We hear far less about elections this year because it is not a Presidential or mid-term election year. However, that doesn’t mean that voting in 2021 is any less important. As Thomas Jefferson stated “We do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate".
Our local elections can decide our taxes, where sidewalks are placed, what recreational facilities are available to us and our families, our law enforcement policies and protocols and a myriad of other decisions which have significant impacts on our daily lives and futures.
In this time of heightened concern (again!) about the Covid-19 virus we are lucky that it is so easy to register to vote and request Vote by Mail ballots online at www.votebrevard.gov .This is the website operated by the Brevard Supervisor of Elections. It is very user friendly and has a lot of good information.
If you are not registered to vote or if you need to update your voter registration information in order to vote in the Nov. 2, 2021 election, you must do so at least 29 days before the election date.
If you want to request a Vote by Mail ballot to vote in the Nov. 2 election you must request one at least 10 days before the election. Although I suggest you do so much earlier. If you requested a Vote by Mail ballot after November 6, 2018 and before July 1, 2021 your request for Vote by Mail ballots is good through the 2022 federal general election.
There are Municipal elections this year for positions in Cape Canaveral, Indialantic, Indian Harbour Beach, Malabar, Melbourne Beach, Melbourne Village, Palm Shores, and Rockledge; as well as elections in two Special Districts: Barefoot Bay Recreation District and Port Malabar Holiday Park. Of these elections there are competitive races in Cape Canaveral, Indian Harbour Beach, Malabar, Melbourne Beach, Melbourne Village, and the Barefoot Bay Recreation District. The qualified candidates for all races can be found at www.votebrevard.gov .
So spread the word to your friends, family, and community about the importance and easy voting options for these upcoming local elections.
| Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | | Parts of DEI
Diversity - the presence of differences in who we are as individuals within the wider group.
Equity - People get what they need to do the work at hand. It is not sameness...equality.
Let's think about a classroom with 3 students. One is blind, one has auditory processing issues, and one student has no learning constraints. In giving out books for the class, in an equitable situation, the student who is blind would get the text in braille, the student with the learning issue would get a written and auditory version of the text and the student with no learning constraints gets a text book. IN an equality situation, each student would receive the exact same text. Equity takes into account what the person needs to be successful.
Inclusion - that sense of belonging...of feeling at home...that is unlike anything else! | | | DEI TASK FORCE GROUPS
by Sue Ebersberger
Our League Board set up a Task Force to specifically focus on the issue of DEI… Diversity, Equity and Inclusion… and how we might work towards moving from taking the dream of DEI and making it a reality for how we operate as a League.
Here on the Space Coast, our dream for us as an organization is stated very broadly. As a League, our statement regarding DEI says:
There shall be no barriers to full participation in this organization on the basis of gender, gender identity, ethnicity, race, native or indigenous origin, age generation, sexual orientation, culture, religion, belief system, marital status, parental status, socioeconomic status, language, accent, ability status, mental health, educational level or background, geography, nationality, work style, work experience, job role function, thinking style, personality type, physical appearance, political perspective or affiliation and/or any other characteristic that can be identified as recognizing or illustrating diversity.
Whew! That’s a mouthful… but if we step back for a moment and think about what’s behind this statement we can boil it down to our Task Force’s vision--- “to enable LWVSC members to feel safe, respected, engaged, motivated and valued for who they are and for their contribution toward LWVSC and the community goals.” Now that’s a bit more manageable.
After several meetings and a lot of conversation, the Task Force appointed a group to design and carry out a series of Focus Groups. The purpose of the Focus Groups is to gather information from our members to hear their stories about their personal experiences of diversity, equity and inclusion here in the League as well as elsewhere. At the present time, we plan to have two or three focus groups. In selecting members to participate, we were looking for the voices of new LWVSC members and other members who are not active in committee work. They are intentionally very small so that we can build a sense of trust and give each participant enough time to share their stories as much as they want. The Task Force process will be filled out with some additional interviews and/or surveys for people who would like to provide us with additional accounts. We’ll then compile a report for the DEI Committee who will use it to make recommendations to the Board for things to consider and/or implement. If you’d like to add your story or ideas into the mix, contact Fran Baer, Audrey Grayson, or Sue Ebersberger.
The DEI Task Force is led by Kathy Ebersberger. Members are Fran Baer, Diane Callier, Diane Conaway, Audrey Grayson, Rob Grisar, and Sue Ebersberger.
|  | September Education Committee Report
by Chair, Hilah Mercer
The LWVFL released a Local Action Toolkit – Covid 19 Transmission Prevention (Required Mask in Schools) on Friday, August 6, 2021. The Toolkit was forwarded to all LWVSC members due to the urgency of the Brevard Public School (BPS) Board’s meeting scheduled for Tuesday, August 10, at which a vote on mask mandates was scheduled. The Toolkit included the LWVFL statement urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to allow local control of Covid-19 mitigation in public schools, a sample letter of concern to school board members, League approved talking points, a “Keeping Kids Safe” fact sheet containing in-depth scientific data, and supplemental medical information. Some members of the Education Committee, and perhaps other LWVSC members, wrote to our School Board members prior to the meeting on August 10 as individuals, not as representatives of LWVSC, urging the passage of a mask mandate for BPS students and employees. I attended the first two and half hours of the August 10th Board meeting. The Board had assembled a panel of medical experts. Each Board member was given an opportunity to question the panel members. Every member of the panel supported wearing masks at school, among other mitigation strategies. After almost 3 hours of public speaking, pro and con for a mask mandate, the Board voted 3 – 2 not to mandate masks in our public schools.
The LWVSC Education Committee met for our regularly scheduled meeting on August 18. Discussion was held regarding actions to take to support the LWVFL stance on masks in schools and local control. With consideration of the BPS mask mandate vote taken and failed, and with data that Covid 19 is spreading rapidly through our schools, our plan is to submit a letter, representing LWVSC, to our President, 1st Vice President, and most likely the LWVFL, which would then be sent, upon approval, to our School Board members. The purpose of the letter would be to acknowledge the two Board members, Jennifer Jenkins and Cheryl McDougall, who voted in favor of the mask mandate.
LWVSC’s Hot Topic, MLK and the Struggle for Black Voting Rights, was held on Saturday, August 21, 2021. Approximately 30 members and non-members attended. Jennifer Jolley, 2020 Florida Teacher of the Year, with the assistance of Trish Everett, a James Madison Fellow (FL’12) and 2021 Law-Related Education Teacher of the Year named by the American Lawyers’ Alliance, led our Hot Topic. Participants were not only emersed in decision making regarding Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s actions on March 9, 1965, we were able to experience case method teaching strategies which originated at Harvard Business School firsthand. The Case Method Institute is now working to train high school teachers nation wide in this methodology. The session was recorded and will be available soon. We hope to hold other Hot Topics in the future with Ms. Jolley.
A video recording of the Saturday, August 21, 2021 Hot Topic, MLK and the Struggle for Black Voting Rights is available on the LWVSC website under Getting to Know Us Tab Menu - Recording Library . These are in chronological order so MLK is last. |  | Social Justice Committee Report
by Chair, Kathy Ebersberger
The LWVSC Social Justice Committee is beginning to work with Delta Sigma Theta to present a hot topic on Human Trafficking in Brevard, hopefully in November. If you are interested in working on this hot topic, please contact Kathy Ebersberger at kathyebersberger@yahoo.com.
Finally, the initial survey results on the Mims fluoride issue were released by Commissioner Pritchett at the county commission meeting on August 3, 2021. She stated she had only received survey responses from 32% of the Mims community. She said that responses indicating a desire to return the fluoride to Mims outnumbered the responses indicating a desire to keep it out. She said that she had spoken to “some people” who said they thought they did not need to return a survey response if they wanted to keep the fluoride out.
Commissioner Pritchett stated that she calculated that only 22% percent of the Mims community wanted the fluoride returned, much less than the supermajority she had said would change her decision. Nonetheless, she extended the time for survey responses to be received for another 4 weeks. She also commented that the low response rate indicated to her that the Mims community did not care about the issue.
Although Commissioner Pritchett did not announce the actual survey results, if 32% of the Mims community responded and 22% of the Mims community wanted the fluoride returned, it is possible that the survey respondents were in favor of returning fluoride by a margin of about 2-1. This would constitute a supermajority of the respondents to the survey. It's possible that Commissioner Pritchett is massaging the rules to get the result she wants. Commissioner Pritchett will only listen to Mims residents on this issue.
Our best course of action at this point is for each of us, individually and not on behalf of the League, to write our county commissioner, expressing our concern at the cavalier rejection of the majority of the survey responses, which favored returning fluoride to Mims, and emphasizing the interest of all county residents in the removal of the only preventative dental care available to a vulnerable part of the Brevard community.
Some county commissioners indicated that they did not know they were voting to approve Commissioner Pritchett’s autocratic action, when she, without notice or public comment, removed the fluoride from the Mims water supply. Holding Commissioner Pritchett accountable for her dismissal of a clear majority of survey responses is the other commissioners’ chance to fulfill their fiduciary duty to the county residents as a whole on this issue, which has consequences for the county far beyond the city limits of Mims.
|  | Speaking Sustainably for September 2001
by Terry Mott, Co-Chair, Sustainability Committee
The Sustainability Committee’s Book Club is happy to announce that on Saturday, September 25, 2021 at 10 am-11am, Guest Speaker: Linda Seals, Regional Specialized Agent, University of Florida IFAS Extension, Fort Pierce, Florida, will lead a discussion of the book Sustainability Principles and Practice (3rd Edition) by Margaret Robertson.
As a Regional Specialized Agent, Ms. Seals provides support to University of Florida IFAS Extension faculty who develop, implement, and evaluate educational programs that lead to community vitality. Her primary focuses are: facilitating deliberative discussions that address complex community issues; diversity, equity, and inclusion training; sustainability and resilience; non-profit board or committee training; and leadership training.
The event is free, open to the public, and attendees do not have to have read the book to engage in the discussion. For additional information and to register for the event, please go to:www.lwv-spacecoast.org
| | International Relations Group
The International Relations Group invites you to our Zoom Meeting on Tuesday, September 14th at 1 p.m.
We study topics from Great Decisions published by the Foreign Policy Association.
Our topic will be The World Health Organization's Response to Covid 19 moderated by Diane Conaway.
If you have not joined one of meetings, please contact Chair Joyce Calese at calese37@gmail.com so you receive the link for the September 14th meeting. | | | September 2021 Zoom Meetings
Local Government Committee Meeting - Monday, September 6th 1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
LWVSC Board Meeting - Saturday, September 11th 2 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
International Relations Committee Meeting - Tuesday, September 14th - 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Education Committee Meeting - Wednesday, September 15th - 10:00 a.m. to Noon
Social Justice Committee Meeting - Monday, September 20th - 6 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Sustainability Committee Meeting - Saturday, September 25th 9:00 a.m. - 9:40 a.m.
Sustainability Committee Book Club Meeting - Saturday, September 25th 10:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. | Photos / Voter Service Training
|  | | President Rob Grisar & Secretary Diane Conaway |  | 1st Vice President, Susan Webb & Rob Grisar in the background
Joanne Terry, Diane Conaway & Hilah Mercer in front | | |
| Donna Morris led the Training | | Donna Morris, Beth Lambdin, Suzanne Taylor & Audrey Grayson | | | Answer about Silos from President, Rob Grisar's Article
The Silos are in Waco, Texas and are at Magnolia Marketplace owned by Chip and Joanne Gaines from HGTV fame with their show, Fixer Upper.
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