Emailing - League of Women Voters Jacksonville First Coast

The Voter

August 2025

President’s Message

Things Are Hot In Florida And It's Not Just The Heat!

For those who have been watching local, state or national news you know that while some of the League's committees and work goes on summer hiatus, the issues that impact our communities have not taken a break. Whether it's the arrest, detainment or deportation of people without due process, the disappointing outcome of the gerrymandering lawsuit for Congressional District 5, or the recently released traffic stop of a college student that has landed Jacksonville on national news, the need to engage with the League and other grassroots organizations continues to grow.

I am asking each of our League members to make an office visit with your elected representatives during August - September. Reach out to your school board member, City Councilperson, Florida Senator and House Representative as well as your Congressperson and our U.S. Senators and ask to meet with them in person. If you cannot get an appointment with them in person, ask to meet with the staff, and if you cannot get an in person meeting with them, write a short letter expressing your concerns about the things you see taking place in your community, our state or nation and tell them what you would like to see done to make things better. Don't assume that they will not pay attention or that if you are not of the same political party as them that they will not listen. Too often we sign onto petitions or attend protests or sign waving events but do not connect directly with those in power who have the ability to introduce bills or cast votes. Never assume that they know where you stand or that they understand the issues from a perspective different from their own.

And while 2026 seems far away, it will be here quicker than you think. Start asking people that you feel would make good elected officials to run for office. Tell them the values and qualities you see in them and why you think they'd make a good representative for residents and the needs of the community. And if you think they should run for office and they decide to do it, get ready to roll up your sleeves and do what you can to help them get elected.

The 2026 Legislative Session begins January 13th and will run through March 13th which means subcommittee meetings begin in late September. Use this time NOW to connect with your Florida representatives.

Lanelle Phillmon

President, LWVJFC

News & Events

Welcome to the Board!

We appreciate those members who attended the Annual Business Meeting in June and participated in the passing of the budget and bylaws and the election of our board members. The board recently took time out to attend board orientation at the home of our Vice President, Rhona DiCamillo. At the meeting we developed our list of topics and guest speakers for our monthly luncheons which will begin again September 3rd at Seasons 52.

In late June, our Membership Chair, Karen Parish offered her resignation to the board. Karen has been on our board for 8 years and has done a wonderful job with our transition to Club Express and the new Transformation. She's represented the board on every New Member Orientation we've held, and she's represented our chapter at a number of local, state and national events. We appreciate her dedication and all the ways she supported our board and members! Our new Membership Chair, Paige Gottlieb has been working with Karen for quite a while as an assistant and had already been interacting with our new members and learning the technical aspects of our League's membership onboarding, payment and orientation. While Paige was not able to join us for board orientation, she is already quite busy in her new role and we are excited to work with her.

We hope everyone is enjoying your summer and look forward to working with you in the months to come.

Education Committee Update

The Education Committee actively monitors Duval County School Board activities by attending meetings in person and viewing online. We encourage all those interested in the many important decisions being made by the school board to view their webpage at https://www.duvalschools.org/page/school-board. On the webpage you can access meeting agendas and videos of past meetings and workshops where policy is discussed by the school board members and the Superintendent of Schools. The current School Board Policy Manual is also available to reference as changes to policy are considered.

At the July 15th workshop (see videos on website) three areas of policy change stand out as being particularly impactful:

Review of Equity Policy 1.22 in the Policy Manual - a policy that sets the tone for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Review of Challenged Materials Policy 4.30 in the Policy Manual - a policy that lays out how to challenge a book, the rules for a review committee including who can be on the committee, and the process for the board’s vote.
Review of Use of Facilities and Grounds Policy 9.30 in the Policy Manual - a policy about who can use district facilities without paying and which facilities are available to rent.

These policies will not be voted on at the August 5th meeting but the public comment period is your opportunity to express your opinion about these policies that will be voted on at the September meeting. To speak during the public comment period you must complete a blue card before 6:20 pm.

Duval County School Board Meeting

DATE: August 5th

TIME: 6pm

LOCATION: 1701 Prudential Drive

AGENDA: https://duvalcosb.portal.civicclerk.com/

Please contact our Education Committee Chair at lwv.jax.education@gmail.com if you want more information about these opportunities:

Join our Duval google group so you’ll receive summaries of the upcoming agenda for the Duval County Public School Board meetings.
Volunteer to lead an education subcommittee for Nassau, Clay, or St. Johns.
Volunteer for the LWV-Florida Education Action Team subcommittee focused on higher education.

Tours of Supervisors of Elections

We appreciate those members who were able to join us for tours of the Clay and Duval Supervisors of Elections offices. We are fortunate to have Mr. Chambliss and Mr. Holland as Supervisors of Elections and their excellent staff who take a professional interest in the education of voters. They provided us with personal tours of the election spaces, explained the function of the office and equipment and the level of security used to protect our vote. Additional tours will be announced in the coming months.

We hope that our members will consider becoming election workers for the 2026 elections to help ensure our free and fair elections continue in Northeast Florida.

Voter Registration Committee

"The vote is precious. It is almost sacred. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democracy." John Lewis

We have some upcoming voter registration events at USCIS, and starting in September we will be tabling at UNF Market Days once a month.

Please pass along any opportunities you come across to register voters.

Forbidden Florida Reads

Izzy Miletic is a junior Economics and Literature student at Florida State University. She is a board member of the League of Women Voters of Tallahassee, where she began publishing Forbidden Florida Reads. Forbidden Florida Reads is Izzy’s original monthly column that highlights a book banned in at least one Florida school district. Izzy is passionate about books and educational policy making. She hopes to attend law school and earn her Masters in Library and Information Science.

Read Izzy’s column about "Paradise Lost" by John Milton.

Membership Update

New Members - Welcome aboard!

Nancy Wilde

Nancy Murray-Settle

Lori Nasrallah

Mary Everett

Susan McCullough

Interested in being part of the League? JOIN TODAY!

Donors

Donations are always appreciated!

We wish to acknowledge and thank those who made donations this month:

Our website lwvjaxfc.org offers an easy way to make donations to LWVJFC, even if you prefer to pay by check. Click on the red "Donate" button at the top of the Homepage.

Stay Connected

Local

Stay up-to-date on all local upcoming events on the LWV of Jacksonville / First Coast:

• Website

• Facebook

• LinkedIn

Regional
The Regional Facebook Group, LWV Florida North Region Leagues, includes Alachua, Bay, Jacksonville/First Coast, Okaloosa & Walton, Pensacola Bay Area, and Tallahassee.

State
For statewide news and action items, visit the LWV of Florida.

National

The League of Women Voters of the United States

Contact Us!

Phone: 904-355-8683

Email: LWVJAXFC@gmail.com

Postal Address:
League of Women Voters of Jacksonville First Coast
PO Box 350210
Jacksonville, FL 32235-9998

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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