Emailing - League of Women Voters Jacksonville First Coast

The Voter

September 2025

President’s Message

LWV of Florida 2025-2027 Strategic Goals

If you are anything like me, you are feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the information and news coming at us daily. Seems there will be no "new normal" and that things continue to evolve at every level of government. I get asked a lot about how I cope. What works for me is to keep moving forward. We don't have much time or energy to live in the past so I stay focused on what I can do to help create better outcomes for our community and state. This brings me to the 2025 - 2027 Strategic Goals that have been set by the League of Women Voters of Florida Board. While these goals may seem bold, they are definitely doable. But, it will require each League member playing a role, whether big or small in some aspect of League work.

Each LWVFL action committee is going to have the opportunity to develop action items and work that will contribute to our goals and each chapter will be asked to support these actions. I will be asking each of you to join a state or local action committee to support the achievement of our goals. Some basic things you can do now is:

1. Invite friends and colleagues in your circles of influence to attend League events.

2. Recruit others to join the League and our work.

3. Suggest organizations we might reach out to and offer our Speakers Bureau presentations.

4. Help us connect to local organizations or businesses where we can offer Voter Registration.

5. Help us connect to businesses we can request funding or donations that furthers our work.

6. Meet with your local elected representatives.

7. Attend and speak at local government meetings (school board, CPAC, city council, commissioner, committee meetings, etc.).

LWVFL is still developing the tracking method that will allow us to report our progress towards the accomplishment of the state's goals.

If you are wondering how the board came up with these specific numbers, this is based on research by Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth that has shown that movements which actively engage just 3.5% of the population rarely fail to bring about change. This finding comes from studying hundreds of campaigns across the last century.

I hope you will join us in this work to create a more perfect democracy for ALL.

Lanelle Phillmon

President, LWVJFC

News & Events

19th Amendment: Then and Now Luncheon

While not all members were able to join us for the luncheon, we are thankful for those who were and for the guests that attended. It was empowering and motivating to hear from Jessica Lowe-Minor, LWVFL President about the work that is being done and the work we will do to push back against mid-cycle redistricting. If you are not a member of the League of Women Voters, we hope you will become a member and join us in the work to create a more perfect democracy for ALL.

Welcome to the Board!

In early July, our Voter Registration Chair, Michelle Charon-Hollie offered her resignation to the board. Michelle had been on our board for 2 1/2 years and did a fantastic job coordinating and leading our voter registration drives and tabling at numerous community and League events during three very busy 2024 elections. We appreciate her dedication to training our Voter Registration Committee and for ensuring our fellow Floridians were registered to vote, updated their vote by mail ballot request, updated their signature and identification and had access to information that helped them cast an informed vote.

Julia Ross has taken leadership of the Voter Registration Committee Chair and has quickly immersed herself in voter registration events and getting to know our volunteers. If you are new to the League, voter registration is one of the best ways to meet other League members, learn about the League and get to know your community as we offer voter registration services throughout all four counties. We appreciate Julia's dedication to voter registration and hope you will join her committee and our work. You can reach her via email at lwvjaxfcvote@gmail.com.

We are also excited to have Michelle Von Euw join the Board. Michelle brings a fresh perspective to the board as well as her expertise in research and marketing and as a fairly new United States Citizen. We welcome her insights and look forward to working with her to create meaningful and impactful work for our members that engages and educates our community members.

Local Program Meeting September 4, 2025

We appreciate all the work our members have put into developing our 2025-2026 Local Program that will guide our work in the coming year. We will host a virtual meeting September 4, 2025 at 6:00 pm where we will present the Program and will take an up or down vote. If you are able to join us, please register using the link below. The zoom link will be provided to registrants one day prior to the meeting.

Registration: https://forms.gle/Ny53BbLBkQcspVK58

AAUW Public Policy Forum on Book Banning

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) empowers women and girls by championing their success in higher education and pushing for bold policy solutions to create lasting change. For more than 140 years, AAUW has led the fight for gender equity in higher education and beyond. With a strong record of advocacy and action, AAUW continues to break barriers and defend the rights of women in education and the workplace. AAUW of Florida hosts Public Policy Forums throughout the year by zoom. The first will be on September 9th at 6:00pm and will feature two local women making a big difference in our community - AAUW members Nancy Tray, St Johns County Organizer of Families for Strong Public Schools and Anne Tressler, Florida education advocate, will share the state of book bans in our Florida schools. They will examine the reasons behind these bans, the types of books most frequently targeted, and the impact of censorship on education and free speech, along with what we can do about book bans.

Here is the link to register - https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/nkDfkFFNSZCIq1awFSj33g#/registration.

Hybrid New Member Orientation

We are going to offer a hybrid New Member Orientation Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 10:30am at the University Park Library 3435 University Blvd N Jacksonville, FL 32277 and via Zoom. Attendees will need to register via the link below so we know how many attendees to expect in person and who to email the zoom link to on September 26th.

Orientation Registration: https://forms.gle/ewdi9SdB4a6UpcrL8

New Member Orientation is an opportunity to learn about the structure of the League, the work we do and how you can get involved with the local or state League. It's also an opportunity to meet local Board members and committee chairs. We hope you will join us.

Equal Ground on the Ground Tour (St. Johns County)

Our League partnered with several other non-partisan organizations at the 2025 Legislative Debrief held by Equal Ground in St. Johns County. This event was an opportunity for community members to learn about the 2025 Florida legislative session and its impact on St. Johns County. The debrief focused on the impact of the state's budget on St. Johns County as well as a broader look at other legislative initiatives that impacted or benefited our community. Thank you to Rhona DiCamillo and Monique Stelling for representing our League.

Save-the-Date - St. Johns County Town Hall on Attainable Workforce Housing

Our League is a co-sponsor of a Community Town Hall to be held at the Center for Spiritual Living in St. Augustine on October 22nd at 6:00pm. The Town Hall will be focused on the need for attainable workforce housing in St. Johns County. The panel will include representatives from Habitat for Humanity, St. Johns Housing Partnership and the St. Johns Chamber of Commerce. According to a recent publication by the St. Johns Chamber of Commerce, "Attainable Housing refers to housing that is affordable for middle-income workers who often earn too much to qualify for traditional affordable housing but still struggle to find market-rate homes." This is a critical issue in St. Johns County. Essential workers such as teachers, nurses, hospitality workers, first responders and manufacturing workers are unable to afford to live in the county where they work due to a severe lack of housing within an attainable price range. A registration link will be available in September to sign up for this Townhall. Plan to join other community members to learn more about this issue and to hear about proposed actions and recommendations to provide accessible housing for our essential workforce.

Reproductive Health and Justice News

LWVJFC is building a Reproductive Health Speaker Panel. We’re continuing to create a dynamic panel to discuss the current state of reproductive health in Florida. While we’ve reached out to a variety of specialists and women’s healthcare providers, we’ve confirmed just two so far and we’d love to expand the conversation.

If you know someone with expertise in reproductive health who would be willing to join us on October 23 at 6:30pm, please connect them with us. Your recommendations can help ensure our panel reflects a wide range of voices and insights.

Meanwhile, Floridians for Reproductive Freedom continues to provide vital information, training opportunities, and free “Repro Kits” to communities across Florida. These resources are designed to help people stay informed, prepared, and empowered. Visit Floridians for Reproductive Freedom’s website to learn more and discover ways you can offer meaningful support.

Voter Registration News

Random voting facts:

In a comparison of 50 countries the Pew Research Center found the US ranked 31st for turnout among the voting age population. That is for Presidential election years.
In 2020 Minnesota had the highest voter turnout; 74.8%. Texas had the lowest; 51.3%. Florida was right in the middle of the pack with 63.1%.
North Dakota doesn’t require voter registration.

We encourage all League members to take the training and test to become eligible to register voters. It is very rewarding registering voters and interacting with citizens who want to participate in civic engagement. Remember to check on our website for volunteering opportunities.

Education Committee

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.

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 a lawsuit filed by six major publishers, the Author's Guild and several notable authors against Florida public officials.

Membership Update

New Members - Welcome aboard!

Kelly Carman

Joy Dorst

Sheena Etienne

Denise Everett

Susan Fifield

Michelle Lane

Victoria McComb

Kay Thiemann

Sidne Valdivieso

Suzanne Werner

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:

Connie Pegram

Merry Westick

Jane Lockett

Virginia Picket

Janice Walters

Nancy Wiley

Mary Alice Phelan

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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