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The new Board of Directors was elected at our meeting at 7 p.m on March 7th at 7:00 pm at the Palm Beach Gardens Branch Library . Below is a list of new board members President – Sara Miller Vice President – Eric Jablin Treasurer – Sue Thornton Corresponding Secretary – Michael Gallagher Recording Secretary – Maggie Koons Director - Jeff Barat Director - Paul Blythe Director - Jessica Brason Director - Paula McClease The incoming board is honored to have the trust of the members and we will all work hard to move forward and create an organization that is prepared to take on the challenges of the election in 2024 and beyond. The next presidential election is only 19 months away, and it's crucial that we start working towards our goals. Let’ s start by naming the things that matter to all of us. What is at stake? What really matters? Public schools matter Climate change matters Freedom from gun violence matters Affordable housing matters Protection from soaring insurance prices matters Protecting social security and medicare matters The right to vote and democracy matters. Winning elections matter The North County Democratic Club has a huge challenge. We need to build an army of volunteers in advance of the next Presidential Election cycle. We need every person to join because no one is going to save us. It's time to stop asking ourselves why “they” didn’t reach out to voters, why “they” didn’t give us money, why “they” didn’t send us stronger candidates. There is no “they”. The real words are WE , US and TOGETHER President Obama taught us how to inspire others. Let his words inspire us now. “I believe that each of us - no matter what our age or background or walk of life - each of us has something to contribute to the life of this nation.” “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.” So, Why does a club matter? What is a club? The definition - an organization of people with a common purpose or interest, who meet regularly and take part in shared activities. The North County Democrats want to be more than that. We want to be the group that delivers results. We must be the group that makes positive change in our community. We must be the group where hardworking, passionate leaders teach others about the political process and how to prepare for the election. We must build a team of talent to help organize. Each of us has their own super power and if given the opportunity to use it, we can accomplish a lot We need to start having some fun and lifting the spirits of all volunteers We must gather resources that support winning elections How can you help? We need volunteers We need people to lead and plan club functions and activities We need event planners We need writers and researchers and social media and messaging specialists, web or graphic art designers. Financial wizards, fundraisers and data analysts. We need student interns and people reaching out to younger voters. Every effort, big or small, will make a significant impact on the outcome of the election. As members of this Club, you will not only be able to make a real difference on issues, but also help build a sense of community and shared purpose. You will get to work alongside other like-minded volunteers who share your values and beliefs, creating connections and friendships that can last a lifetime. These next 19 months are critical, and the work starts with each one of us. So, I urge you to take action and become an active member of the North County Democratic Club. Let's work together to build a brighter future for everyone!

By Paul Blythe Only 17 of Palm Beach County's 39 cities, towns and villages held elections Tuesday, primarily because more than a dozen municipalities' government races were automatically settled because of a lack of challengers. Of those with elections, four were in north Palm Beach County: Tequesta, Juno Beach, Lake Park and Palm Beach Shores. Because municipal elections are nonpartisan, it's hard to know how Democrats fared, but progressive causes appeared to take some hits in a few areas, with candidates supporting sugar cane burning winning in the Glades and bond issues for recreational or environmental land use losing in Tequesta, although another bond issue for parks won in Delray Beach. Here is our take on noteworthy trends, as well as the results of all Palm Beach County's municipal elections: NOTEWORTHY Big Sugar wins in Belle Glade Two Belle Glade candidates who aligned themselves with sugar companies in opposing efforts to stop sugarcane burning won their seats: Zayteck Marin in the Seat A race and incumbent Mayor Steve Wilson in the Seat B race. In her campaign, Marin used the sugar companies' argument that switching from sugarcane burning to using cleaner mechanical sugarcane harvesting would kill jobs, according to The Palm Beach Post. Wilson advocated for a new state law to protect sugar farming companies from lawsuits based on sugarcane burning pollution. Marin defeated Stanley Highsmith, a U.S. Army veteran. Wilson defeated Robert Mitchell, founder of the Muck City United nonprofit. Runoffs With no one taking more than 50 percent of the vote in Boynton Beach's District 2 race, the race is heading to a runoff and it includes an incumbent candidate friendly to Democratic positions. In Boynton Beach, City Commissioner Woodrow Hay and former City Commissioner Mack McCray, the top two votegetters, will face off in a runoff. McCray was leading with 42 percent of the vote to Hay's 36 percent. Two other candidates in the race will not continue further. CORRECTION UPDATE: An earlier version of this post said a runoff was also possible in Lake Park. That was incorrect. Although no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in Lake Park, the town's election policy since 2010 has been that the candidate with the most votes wins the election, regardless of whether the candidate has a majority, Town Clerk Vivian Mendez said Wednesday. That means Lake Worth Middle School science teacher Judith Thomas won with 49 percent of the vote, defeating real estate agent Patricia Leduc with 31 percent and U.S. Army veteran Rafael Moscoso with 20 percent. Hay, Thomas and Leduc are all Democratic friends. Bond issues for parks win in Delray, lose in Tequesta Voters in Delray Beach overwhelmingly approved a bond issue of as much as $20 million to pay for improvements to their city parks, while voters in Tequesta rejected by almost as strong a margin a referendum that would have allowed the village to issue bonds of as much as $10 million for recreational capital improvements or to buy environmentally sensitive, waterfront, or recreation lands, or lands for open spaces, archeological or historic preservation, or traffic mitigation. In Delray Beach, the city parks bond issue was supported by nearly 63 percent of those voting Tuesday. Delray voters also approved a $100 million bond issue for renovating and equipping the city's police and fire stations with the support of 61 percent of the voters. Meanwhile, more than 60 percent of Tequesta voters rejected their village's more open-ended question about whether the village should be able to issue bonds from time to time for recreational purposes or to purchase land for its residents' use. Tequesta also voted on six other referenda -- four that were election related, one on whether any future consideration of dissolving or outsourcing the police or fire departments had to be submitted to a referendum and one a "housekeeping" question to allow the village to clean up archaic and unclear language in its charter. Two lost: Question 1, which would have increased village councilmembers' terms of office from two years to three years; and Question 3, which would have allowed the village to eliminate runoff elections for resolving election ties and instead draw lots to choose winners in the case of ties. Tequesta's Question 1 narrowly lost, with 330 voting No to 324 voting yes. That is 50.46 percent to 49.54 percent, or a difference of 0.92 percent. But an automatic recount in Florida requires a difference of half a percent or less. Question 3, on the other hand, lost big, with two-thirds of those voting Tuesday saying No to resolving election ties by drawing lots. See the results of Tequesta's other referenda and all of Palm Beach County's municipal elections below: ELECTION KEY > Winner * Runoff (i) Incumbent NORTH COUNTY MUNICIPALITIES LAKE PARK TOWN COMMISSION Patricia Leduc 141 30.99% Rafael Moscoso 91 20.00% > Judith Thomas 223 49.01% JUNO BEACH TOWN COUNCIL > Marianne Hosta 633 55.92% Michael Moll 312 27.56% Aldo Rovere 187 16.52% QUESTION 1, CITIZEN INITIATIVE Shall the town charter be amended to provide that town voters shall elect the mayor directly for a 2-year term instead of the current method of having the town council appoint one councilmember to serve as mayor annually? (If approved, the election of the mayor would begin with the March 2024 municipal election.) > YES 828 76.31% NO 257 23.69% PALM BEACH SHORES TOWN COMMISSION (VOTE FOR 2) Janet Kortenhaus (i) 165 27.87% > Tracy Larcher (i) 256 43.24% > Mark Ward 171 28.89% VILLAGE OF TEQUESTA BOND QUESTION, FOR LAND ACQUISITION Shall Tequesta issue bonds in phases from time to time, not to exceed a total of $10 million, maturing within 20 years of their issuance dates, with interest not to exceed the maximum legal rate, payable from property taxes levied in amounts sufficient to pay debt service on such bonds, to finance acquisition of environmentally sensitive, waterfront, or recreation lands, or lands for open spaces, archeological or historic preservation, or traffic mitigation, and recreational capital improvements? YES 257 39.54% > NO 393 60.46% QUESTION 1, 3-YEAR TERMS & TERM LIMITS Shall the Tequesta charter be amended to increase councilmember terms from 2 years to 3 years, and to add new term limits of 3 consecutive terms, thereafter requiring a 1-term waiting period before running for office again? YES 324 49.54% > NO 330 50.46% QUESTION 2, 1-YEAR RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT FOR ELECTION Shall the Tequesta charter be amended to require any candidate for the office of councilmember to have resided in the village for at least one continuous year prior to being eligible to qualify to run for the office? > YES 629 96.18% NO 25 3.82% QUESTION 3, DRAWING LOTS TO RESOLVE COUNCIL ELECTION TIES Shall the Tequesta charter be amended to eliminate the requirement for runoff elections to resolve tie votes for candidates for councilmember office and to instead provide for the drawing of lots to resolves ties? YES 219 33.90% > NO 427 66.10% QUESTION 4, TEMPORARY APPOINTMENTS FOR COUNCIL VACANCIES Shall the Tequesta charter be amended to eliminate the requirement for a special election to fill a vacancy on the council caused by death, resignation, removal from office or failure to qualify; and to instead allow a temporary village council appointment until the next general election? > YES 333 51.23% NO 317 48.77% QUESTION 5, REQUIRING REFERENDUM TO DISSOLVE POLICE, FIRE AGENCIES Shall the Tequesta charter be amended to require voter approval through a referendum prior to any village council consideration of dissolving, abolishing or outsourcing the village police department or fire-rescue department? > YES 596 91.83% NO 53 8.17% QUESTION 6, CHARTER CLARIFICATION & ORGANIZATION Shall the Tequesta charter be amended to provide non-substantive text edits, internal consistency, general language clarification and organization in accordance with Ordinance 12-22, passed and adopted by the Village Council on July 14, 2022? > YES 467 74.24% NO 162 25.76% OTHER MUNICIPALITIES ATLANTIS CITY COUNCIL GROUP 4 > Michael LaCoursiere (i) 323 83.90% Paul Mozen 62 16.10% BELLE GLADE CITY COMMISION SEAT A Stanley D. Highsmith 587 41.69% > Zayteck Marin 821 58.31% SEAT B Robert C. Mitchell 325 23.23% > Steve B. Wilson (i) 1,074 76.77% BOCA RATON QUESTION 1, CHANGING TERM LENGTH Shall the term of office for the mayor and city council members be changed from its current 3-year length to 4 years? (If adopted, the terms beginning March 2023 would expire March 2027, and, for transition purposes, the terms expiring March 2024 would be extended by one year and would expire March 2025. The amendment would not change the current two-term limit.) YES 2,709 40.74% > NO 3,941 59.26% BOYNTON BEACH CITY COMMISSION DISTRICT 2 * Woodrow L. Hay (i) 299 36.24% Joe Josemond 151 18.30% * Mack McCray 347 42.06% Bernard Wright 28 3.39% DISTRICT 4 Danny Ferrell 88 9.21% > Aimee Kelley (i) 617 64.54% Tom Ramiccio 251 26.26% DELRAY BEACH CITY COMMISSION SEAT 2 Juli Casale (i) 3,268 47.27% > Rob Long 3,645 52.73% SEAT 4 > Angela D. Burn 3,508 51.57% Angie Gray 3,295 48.43% QUESTION 1, GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS FOR PUBLIC SAFETY Shall the city issue bonds to finance the renovation and equipping of the police headquarters and fire stations within the city in a principal amount not to exceed $100 million, bearing interest not exceeding the legal rate, maturing not more than 30 years from the date of issuance, payable from property taxes levied by the city on all taxable property in the city? > YES 4,048 60.96% NO 2,592 39.04% QUESTION 2, GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS FOR PUBLIC PARKS Shall the city issue bonds to finance improvements to Catherine Strong, Miller, and other city parks in a principal amount not to exceed $20 million, bearing interest not to exceed the legal rate, maturing not more than 30 years from the date of issuance, payable from property taxes levied by the city on all taxable property in the city? > YES 4,114 62.85% NO 2,432 37.15% HIGHLAND BEACH TOWN COMMISSION 3-YEAR TERM > Don Peters 452 53.43% John Shoemaker (i) 394 46.57% 1-YEAR UNEXPIRED TERM Maggie Chappelear 256 30.15% > Judith M. Goldberg 434 51.12% Peter Kosovsky 159 18.73% HYPOLUXO TOWN COUNCIL (VOTE FOR 3) > Bob Leupp (i) 156 25.41% John B. Sochacki 76 12.38% > Brad Doyle (i) 129 21.01% Jim Deery 103 16.78% > Linda Allen (i) 150 24.43% LAKE CLARKE SHORES TOWN COUNCIL GROUP 2 Paul R. Shalhoub (i) 372 41.33% > Jon Maples 528 58.67% LANTANA TOWN COUNCIL GROUP 3 Raymond Lastella 394 44.47% > Mark Zeitler (i) 492 55.53% GROUP 4 > Christopher Castle 472 53.64% John A. Raymer 408 46.36% QUESTION 1 Shall the Lantana town charter be amended to change the method of electing council members from majority vote to plurality vote, such that the candidate who receives the most votes, regardless of whether it is a majority, shall be deemed elected? > YES 508 59.55% NO 345 40.45% MANGONIA PARK TOWN COUNCIL SEAT 3 > Lisa Davis-Quince 57 61.29% Edward E. Smith (i) 36 38.71% OCEAN RIDGE TOWN COMMISSION (VOTE FOR 2) > Carolyn Cassidy 532 50.33% Susan H. Hurlburt (i) 248 23.46% > Martin Wiescholek (i) 277 26.21% PALM SPRINGS VILLAGE COUNCIL DISTRICT 4 > Joni S. Brinkman 288 68.41% Alberto Jordat Jr. 133 31.59% SOUTH BAY CITY COMMISSION SEAT 1 > Esther E. Berry (i) 230 52.15% John Brockman 211 47.85% SEAT 3 Barbara King 197 44.17% > Taranza McKelvin (i) 249 55.83% SEAT 5 > Albert "Church Boy" Polk IV 353 79.50% George Sandiford 91 20.50% Sources: Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections and The Palm Beach Post.

By Paul Blythe The first week of March is always crazy time in Florida -- as sure as the pollen season is to make your eyes water and set off involuntary outbursts of loud noise. Only it’s not the pollen season, it’s something worse: The start of the legislative season. And this 2023 season is not only crazier but more dangerous for democracy than any I’ve seen in 40 years of observing the Florida Legislature. Crazier, because Florida Republicans are set to push, and probably pass -- at least according to multiple media accounts -- the most conservative legislative agenda in the nation. More dangerous because Florida has never seen one-party control quite like the Republicans have now. Sure, Democrats controlled the governor’s mansion and one or both chambers of the Legislature for much of the 20th century, but they never marched in lockstep the way Republicans do now behind Gov. Ron DeSantis. And America has not seen a politician quite as skilled as DeSantis in the McCarthyesque practices of making accusations of subversion in an attention-grabbing manner, well, since U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy himself was perfecting the techniques of political repression and fear-baiting to persecute the left. Click here to read more about Florida Republican lawmakers’ affinity for DeSantis. What DeSantis demands, Florida’s MAGA Republican lawmakers deliver into law. Or, to phrase it more accurately, what DeSantis demonizes, Florida lawmakers outlaw. Because DeSantis and the Florida MAGA Republican agenda does nothing for the real needs of Florida’s citizens or the future of the state. It includes nothing to cut the cost of home insurance in Florida or, for that matter, the cost of electricity or even eggs. It does nothing to help alleviate the shortage of affordable housing or to improve the test scores of K-12 students. Nothing to clean our water or help preserve a livable climate. Instead, at DeSantis’ urging, Republican lawmakers have filed a slate of bills meant to tear down ideas and people that don’t fit DeSantis’ limited, xenophobic concept of America. In the annual 60-day legislative session that starts today, Tuesday, March 7, there are legislative proposals attacking drag shows, treatments for transgender children, diversity and equity programs at public universities, gender studies majors, professor tenure, teachers unions, in-state college tuition for undocumented residents known as Dreamers, investments that prioritize long-term environmental and social sustainability, and, of course, the free and independent news media and unfettered freedom of speech. One of the anti-media bills would make it easier for public figures and officials to sue the media for libel. The anti-freedom of speech bill would require bloggers who write about elected state officials, including the governor, to register with the state government. Both are clearly unconstitutional, but that's not stopping Republicans from passing them and making the true friends of liberty fight them in court. Other proposals are purely for DeSantis’ benefit, such as increasing his power to control the hiring of professors on every public college campus through his political appointees or even to put him in charge of picking the Florida High School Athletics Association board, which apparently has not been able to satisfy him of late on the issue of requiring female student athletes to provide schools with information about their menstrual histories. There also is talk of amending Florida’s “resign to run” law so DeSantis could launch a bid for president without stepping down as Florida governor. An exemption to Florida’s long-standing “resign to run” law was created in 2008 for state officials running for federal office, so that then-Gov. Charlie Crist could run for vice president if offered the position by Republican candidate John McCain. Then, in 2018, the law was amended to eliminate the federal office exemption. Some say there still might be a loophole under the current law for DeSantis to remain as governor while running as president, but most believe a bill to restore the federal office exemption would be the safest bet for his presidential aspirations. What all of these bills from Banana Republicans (as U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., recently called Republicans on the U.S. House floor) is that they will keep DeSantis at the forefront of the culture war that he has so far manipulated magnificently to raise his notoriety and now hopes to ride to the White House. Click here to read more about DeSantis’ and Republican’s legislative agenda for the 2023 session. Welcome to Bizzaro World, where Florida is a real-life version of a DC Comics’ world where everything is the opposite of a kind, decent, democratic society. Republicans are in such control of Florida’s state government that the editorial boards of some of Florida’s major newspapers don’t hold out much hope for slowing DeSantis down. “As another regular session is about to get underway, Florida’s future as a democracy depends on whether more of its (the Legislature’s) members can be touched by the better angels of our history. But the trend lines are not encouraging,” the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel wrote Feb. 28. A day earlier, the Miami Herald wrote, “DeSantis and the Republican Party aren’t hiding their agenda to transform school boards from local nonpartisan bodies into an arm of partisan politics. Opposition has all but been neutered as the Democratic Party has pretty much given up on Florida.” But we of the Florida Democratic Party haven’t given up. We can’t. Not with the state’s future as a democracy at stake. Now is the time for us Democrats to rise up and raise our voices, to make phone calls, and to write letters and emails, letting our state representatives, Democratic and Republican, know that we oppose the one-party thought control of Ron DeSantis and warning the rest of the nation that he is a danger to democracy who must be stopped by any legal means available. Click here to see both the Sun-Sentinel and Herald editorials.

An example of a book banned in Florida is The Bluest Eye , a Nobel Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison, pulled from Pinellas County schools without review after a parent complaint. School districts in Florida are taking wildly varying approaches to a 2022 law that ostensibly, and perhaps ironically, is meant to provide “curriculum transparency.” Ironic, because the law has created so much confusion -- some say intentionally -- as well as fear among teachers and school library staffs. The law, House Bill 1467, was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. It requires school districts to catalog every book on their shelves and put a formal review process in place for complaints. Much of the confusion stems from a state Department of Education Training guide on what materials are prohibited in schools because they are considered “harmful to minors.” Critics say the language of DOE’s guide is often confusing and vague, but much of the confusion also seems too stem from the eternal debate, even for the U.S. Supreme Court, about what exactly is pornography. 3 Requirements to Ban Books The DOE says prohibited materials for minors must meet three requirements. The first condition for being considered pornography harmful to a minor is easy enough to understand: any representation or description of nudity, sexual conduct or sexual excitement that predominantly appeals to prurient, shameful or morbid interests. The second condition is a little grayer but still seems possible for reasonable adults to agree upon: “be patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for minors.” But what complicates the decision on whether a material should be removed from a school library or classroom is the third requirement that “taken as a whole the material is without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.” And the real problem is that a material must meet all three conditions to be banned. So a committee could agree on the first two conditions, but if it found that a book had serious artistic or political value that outweighed some mention of nudity or sexual behavior, then technically it shouldn’t be prohibited under the state rules. Except that the DOE’s guide also says, “Err on the side of caution.” Add to that the DOE guide’s explicit reminder that any person who violates this law requiring the banning of books defined as “harmful to minors” can be charged with a third-degree felony, and it’s easy to understand why the law is causing such angst for teachers, school librarians and school districts, especially in districts where overzealous parents groups are interpreting the law to limit all students’ access to ideas with which these parents disagree. A Primer on the Law and Controversy The USA Today Network/Florida has published an excellent package on the issue that includes several parts, which we link to here: A news story – Between the lines: Banned books in Florida schools – that is a good primer on the law and the controversy it has caused in the last year. An editorial, Banning books has nothing to do with liberty | Editorial (yahoo.com) . A link to the Florida DOE’s Library Media and Instructional Materials Training guide , where the department issues its definitions and guidelines for applying the new law. A link to the law that requires schools to catalog all books on their shelves, HB 1467 . A rolling list of books sent for review across Florida school districts. A link to Florida Freedom to Read project , a non-profit that opposes censorship in public schools. A link to Florida's Parental Rights in Education law, HB 1557 , another 2022 law that critics have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law. A link to Florida DOE's English Language Arts standards , which includes lists of recommended books by grade level. Noteworthy, however, is that some books are included as "exemplary writing" in the DOE English Language Arts standards list, but have been pulled from the shelves by various school districts. Both "Letter from Birmingham Jail," by Martin Luther King Jr., and "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, are on the state list, but were removed from the shelves in Palm Beach County while they were sent to the state for review. They ultimately were reinstated.

An information table about efforts to amend a law that imposes life sentences on repeat offenders will no longer be allowed in the Florida Capitol because of a new Department of Management Services rule requiring all "demonstrations" to have a state agency as an official sponsor. Totalitarianism has begun in Tallahassee. According to an article in The Palm Beach Post, a group or anyone wanting "to demonstrate" in the Florida Capitol must first get permission from a state agency, but not just any agency. It has to be an agency that aligns with the demonstrator's mission. In other words, the state of Florida, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, is not allowing anyone to protest inside the Capitol against the state's policies. And this new rule requiring demonstrations to have a state agency as an official sponsor defines "demonstrations" broadly -- as an activity "bringing into public notice any issue or other matter." So even if you just want to set up a table with literature about your opposition to a bill or state law, you can't do it unless you first get permission from a state agency whose mission aligns with the law or bill you wish to demonstrate about. Effectively, that means only those who support the state government can demonstrate. In other words, YOU CANNOT PROTEST. If that doesn't violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, what does? The First Amendment prohibits any law "abridging the freedom of speech ... or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." This new Florida policy "abridges" -- curtails -- all three of those rights. Sure, the state is saying you can demonstrate if you get permission from a state agency whose mission aligns with your demonstration. But all of that long drawn-out convolution of sentence is classic gaslighting -- a lie. Because, apparently, no state agency is going to allow a group to demonstrate against its mission. The one in this story, which ran Saturday, March 4 in The Post, didn't allow a table with information proposing to amend a law affecting its mission. The Department of Management Services, the agency responsible for the new rule, told Politico in a statement that it is "plainly written and straightforward." That's another lie. The new rule is vague, confusing and downright backward. Here's a sample: “One material change to the Rule is that events must align with state agency missions and applications must come from an agency sponsor,” read the DMS letter explaining the new rule. “Once a sponsorship has been obtained, the state agency shall submit the required application to DMS on behalf of the requestor.” The truth is simple: The DeSantis/MAGA Republican government is not allowing non-aligning views to be heard. It is not allowing opposing views to be heard. It is not allowing protests. The reason it's not allowing protests is because it is totalitarian. And the reason it is lying in the policy is because it is totalitarian. As Rebecca Solnit points out in "Orwell's Roses," her book of essays about George Orwell and his writings, "Authoritarians see truth and fact and history as a rival system they must defeat." In Florida, they try to defeat it with lies and by not letting any view other than their own be heard. As Solnit says later in the essay "Snow and Ink": "Totalitarianism is impossible without lies." We've seen this already with their ban of College Board's Advanced Placement Black History curriculum in public schools and with their hostile takeover of the board and administration of New College in an attempt to turn this public liberal arts college into a conservative, Christian-based college. So, let's fight this Tallahassee tyranny by fighting their lies and their attempts to eradicate truth. Spread the truth by sharing this information on Facebook and other social media, and in letters and phone calls to your representatives and friends, and with calls and contributions to the ACLU. Our democracy depends upon it.

We support the Florida College Democrats and Dream Defenders in their "Stand for Freedom" walkout scheduled noon on Thursday, Feb. 23, at Florida college campuses. Like the students, we believe Gov. Ron DeSantis is using our tax dollars to compromise the state's higher education system's academic integrity in the service of his ideological vision. By manipulating Florida’s education system, DeSantis is indoctrinating the youth he’s claiming to protect. We protest DeSantis' policies targeting LGBTQ+ and people of color, and we urge his administration to restore diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in colleges and universities. Read about the walkout by clicking here . And please join us in signing the "Stand for Freedom" pledge .

Reps. Hakeem Jeffries and Sheila Cherfilus McCormick (center) pose with Democratic elected officials from Palm Beach and Broward counties at Black History Month event. Hakeem Jeffries, the number 1 Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives “just dropped by” the Ben, a luxury hotel in downtown West Palm Beach, on Monday night to tell about 500 Democrats gathered there: “Be encouraged.” Be encouraged, he said, even though we here in Florida are living through what he called a “backlash moment” where there are some “rough folks” who want to “erase Black history” and “turn back the clock.” He didn’t name names but everyone at the event knew who he was talking about. Be encouraged, he said, because “an amazing part of American exceptionalism on this American journey is there have always been just enough good folks to overcome the rough folks and allow America to advance.” Rep. McCormick invited Jeffries It was all part of the theme of his speech – because Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn, N.Y., the Minority Party Leader of the House, of course didn’t just drop by. He was invited to West Palm Beach by U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus McCormick to help her Congressional District 20 celebrate Black History Month. He and McCormick congratulated and posed for photos with her five “Forward Together” honorees: longtime Lauderhill Mayor Ken Thurston; Denise Albritton, CEO of Bus One, the first minority-owned charter bus company in South Florida; Charles “Chuck” Ridley, senior community organizer for the SEIU; the Rev. Dr. Tony Drayton, of Riviera Beach; and Dr. Debra Robinson, longtime Palm Beach County School Board member. So, we have Jeffries, historic in his own right as Congress’ first African-American Minority Party Leader, giving a speech about Black history during Black History Month in a red state where the governor on the first day of that month decided he would no longer allow the Advanced Placement Black History Course be taught in the state’s high schools. Let us also remind you that McCormick’s district is composed of parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, two of the bluest counties in Florida despite inroads that Republicans made in Palm Beach County in 2022. Jeffries’ presence in West Palm Beach was a sweet Black History Month moment, but it also was a hardball political statement. Black history is American history As Jeffries summarized, “Here we are, Black History Month 2023, and we know there are some folks who want to erase Black history. Let’s be clear. Black history is American history. African Americans are central to this journey here of the United States of America. The pain of the journey, the trials and tribulations of course, but also the successes of American exceptionalism. We should all be proud of the fact, we should share it with our young people, that it was an African American, a black man who invented the cotton gin…and it was an African American who invented a lot of the technology that all of you here use in your smart phones” -- with about half a dozen other technologies between the cotton gin and the smart phone that an African American invented or helped invent. The other half of Jeffries’ theme was that a reoccurring pattern in Black history, American history, is “whenever we have had moments of progress in the United States of America, they often are followed by moments of backlash…. Progress followed by backlash.” Among the examples he cited: Emancipation followed by the KKK and Jim Crow laws. The Civil Rights Act of 1965 followed by Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and Richard Nixon’s election in 1968, leading to Nixon’s war on drugs in 1971 that disproportionately targeted and imprisoned young black men. The election of Barack Obama as president in 2008 followed by the Tea Party, the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby County decision against the Voting Rights Act “ushering in a new era of voter suppression that all of us are living in right now,” and “the backlash was complete in 2016 with the election of … so-and-so, running in many way on a 5-year lie that Barack Obama was not born in the United States of America, and so-and-so rode that lie to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.” Throughout the night, Jeffries spoke colloquially and made light of himself, joking twice about going through the whole alphabet, in a reference to the speech he gave on the House floor on the night Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the House after 15 floor votes. One of those moments when Jeffries poked fun at himself Monday was after he described McCormick as a “voice for the voiceless, a defender for the disenfranchised, a powerful, profound, principled, purposeful public servant.” He also mixed humor with profundity when he described the last of his backlash moments, this one following the progress of Joe Biden’s 2020 election as president. Insurrection a backlash “We have lived in some backlash moments ourselves, you know on the floor of House of Representatives,” Jeffries said. “The insurrection, that was a backlash moment.... I’ll never forget that day.” He was the fifth ranking Democrat in the House then. “On that fateful day Jan. 6, 2021, seated right next to me were Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn (the second and third ranking Democrats, respectively). Seated at the rostrum was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.” The loudspeaker sounds: “The mob has reached the Capitol,” Jeffries recounts the loudspeaker voice. “They are on the second floor. Be prepared to hit the ground and secure the gas masks that are under your seats.” He pauses. “Now, I had been in Congress for four terms. And I had no idea there were gas masks.” Raucous laughter. He continues, “A backlash moment. I knew this was a serious moment we were in. I see the speaker almost aggressively removed from the chamber… and then the security team comes up and they remove Steny Hoyer. And the security team comes up and they say, ‘Mr. Clyburn, sir, you have to leave now.’ My good friend, Katherine Clark, the number 4 Democrat at the time, she was off campus. I’m sitting there, the number 5 Democrat... And I’m waiting for someone to come and get me. Whataya know? They never came.” More laughter “A backlash moment. Well, good thing I’m from Brooklyn…In the backlash moment, we have to be prepared to fight,” he says as the laughter shifts to resounding applause. “The most important thing that happened that night was not that we were run off the floor but that we came back to the Capitol.” Huge applause. Enough good folks, we hope, to overcome the rough ones.

If you have any doubts about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ authoritarian bent, consider his development of right-wing propaganda networks to promote himself while simultaneously using state government to try to destabilize independent news businesses. His courtship of Fox News and how it’s paid off for his political career has been obvious since he was a congressman. But the extent of his personal propaganda campaign has been documented only recently – largely by digital media in the last few months. Semafor , a digital news site founded in 2022 by Justin Smith, former CEO of Bloomberg Media, and Ben Smith, former editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News , reported in December about how “DeSantis is building his own media,” including two DeSantis-friendly news and opinion sites, The Florida Standard and Florida’s Voice . Florida Standard , created in 2022, is not transparent about who owns or finances it, according to Semafor and the Media Bias/Fact Check website. Florida’s Voice, founded in 2021, is backed by Alfie Oakies, an anti-vaxxer and Big Lie Trumpist who owns Seed to Table, a Southwest Florida farm and grocery business, Semafor reported. Click here to read Semafor story . Then in January, The Daily Beast , a New York City-based news and opinion website founded by former New Yorker editor Tina Brown, reported that DeSantis’ top lieutenants were building a “secret Twitter army of far-right influencers” to boost Tweets and other social media reports favorable for DeSantis and to “circumvent the mainstream press and appeal directly to GOP primary voters nationwide." Click here to read Daily Beast story. And this month, Seeking Rents , the Substack newsletter of Florida investigative reporter Jason Garcia, detailed various collaborations between DeSantis’ office and The Florida Standard on stories that appear to benefit both. The collaborations started with DeSantis granting the news site’s editor a sit-down interview at the Governor’s Mansion the day after the news site was formally launched, something that the governor has never done with any of the state’s major metropolitan newspapers. The collaborations also included an attack piece by Florida Standard on Andrew Warren, the Hillsborough County state attorney DeSantis suspended in August. A federal judge has since ruled DeSantis violated state law and Warren’s First Amendment rights, and Warren is asking the state Supreme Court to reinstate him. The Seeking Rents story says markings on documents Florida Standard used in reporting its Aug. 17 story, “Andrew Warren allegedly used taxpayer money for activist agenda,” show the documents were provided by the governor’s office, but the story never indicates their source. Seeking Rents also says other records from the governor’s office show the office promoted the Florida Standard story to at least five other news outlets but “never betrayed a hint that the Governor’s Office helped orchestrate the story.” Click here to read Seeking Rents story. Propaganda as Truth While DeSantis is clearly following former President Donald Trump’s lead in appealing to their conservative base by fostering an antagonistic relationship with independent news media – what DeSantis calls the “corporate media” – DeSantis appears to be taking the political strategy to a new level. Not only does he verbally attack the mainstream media and refuse to cooperate with them, but he is promoting changing laws to inhibit the press from being the people’s watchdog on government. Last year, DeSantis successfully pushed for a change in Florida law to allow local governments to post required public notices of government actions and hearings on their own websites instead of in newspapers meeting minimum circulation standards. That’s going to significantly hurt newspapers’ revenue streams, but it’s also going to reduce government transparency, Richard Karpel, executive director of the Public Notice Resource Center told the Courthouse News Service . And just this month, on the same day as President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, DeSantis held a headline-grabbing panel discussion to discuss whether laws should be changed to protect people from libel and defamation by the media. (Actually, though, it would be just public figures and public officials, such as DeSantis, who would find it easier to win lawsuits, since they are the only ones who have to meet the malice standard that DeSantis wants to drop in Florida.) He didn’t say whether any such legislation was proposed for the legislative session that begins March 7, other than to mention, “ We’ll be having more to say about a whole bunch of different issues over the next couple weeks.” The most striking thing about the manufactured event was the news-anchor-style desk where DeSantis sat, with its backdrop of the word, “Truth,” in bold black letters on a blue screen. Propaganda presented as Truth. Newspeak, the fictional language of George Orwell's novel 1984 , come to life in DeSantis' Florida of 2023.

The Municipal Elections in Palm Beach County are on March 14, 2023 The last date to register to vote by mail is on March 4, 2023. Voters wishing to vote by mail in this and all upcoming 2023-2024 elections are required to make a new Vote-by-Mail Request, This election does not have early voting. Visit votepalmbeach.gov or call 561-656-6200 to plan your vote. The North County Municipal Elections are in Juno Beach, Lake Park, Palm Beach Shores, and Tequesta. Want to help? Please volunteer to contact voters in Northern County and remind them to update vote by mail status and to VOTE? We cannot win without Democrats supporting Democrats. Please email northcountydemspb@gmail.com to sign up to volunteer now.

Photo by Danielle J. Brown/Florida Phoenix In a Feb. 1 Facebook post lamenting the anti-education actions of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis -- "He wants to end diversity programs, control what is taught like Black History, poll the political view of professors, students and presidents, fire presidents he disagrees with like New College" -- the late great Steve Uhlfelder ended what was one of his last posts with a challenge to all, "I am not going to sit on the sidelines and watch this happen. Neither should you. Where is the outrage!" We are so pleased to see the people of Florida starting to show that outrage on Wednesday, Feb. 15. An outrage that is so justified against a wannabe autocrat who is doing all he can to force Florida's students to think the way he thinks and to take away civil rights that Black students and people like Steve Uhlfelder, a former regent of the state university system, have been fighting to win and keep for 60 years. An outrage so necessary to stop a growing DeSantis absolutism in Florida government and academia. An outrage 1,000 protesters strong and led by the Rev. Al Sharpton and dozens of pastors from across Florida as they marched in Tallahassee to protest DeSantis’ decision to ban the Advanced Placement African American studies class in Florida. Black activists and political strategists said the march was a first step toward highlighting the particular danger they say DeSantis and his anti-woke movement pose to civil rights and the movement to tackle racism as a systemic issue, according to The Washington Post. DeSantis’s political strategy is even more rooted in racial division than Trump’s, they say. “I think a lot of people are recognizing that Donald Trump, yes, was a danger, but now they recognize that the way Ron DeSantis has been governing, and the way he was able to win two elections in Florida, it’s time to sound the alarm,” said Nina Smith, a Democratic strategist who is Black and was a senior adviser to Stacey Abrams’s unsuccessful campaign for governor in Georgia last year. Smith calls DeSantis “the evolution of Donald Trump.” But Sharpton, in one of his typical fiery speeches, delivered just outside the Florida Capitol, turned that description into derision -- "baby Trump," according to Florida Phoenix. “That is his new name, baby Trump,” Sharpton said. “We got together, Black, Latino, women, LGBTQ, and we beat big Trump. We will beat baby Trump.” And it's essentially the same plan for beating DeSantis in 2024 if he indeed decides to run for president. The Rev. William J. Barber II, a veteran civil rights leader, told The Post that instead of “meeting DeSantis on his terms,” he and other advocates want to challenge DeSantis beyond his record on race, by linking the concerns of Black Floridians to struggles facing a cross-section of Americans. In other words, no one sits on the sidelines. We need all of our shared outrage in this fight.

In a comprehensive article perfectly headlined, "Whiplash," Tallahassee Democrat reporter Kathryn Varn details how a Florida University System that just 2 1/2 years ago undertook an effort to prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion programs for faculty and students at the state's universities is now reeling from Gov. Ron DeSantis' Jan. 31 announcement that he plans to take the system in the opposite direction. That he plans to dismantle the programs whose goals were "to examine the inequities of our society, recognize the conditions that have created those inequities, and work to repair the racial divide and restore equal justice for all." For us, the heart of the longish article comes a little more than halfway through: "The situation has grown so extreme that the American Association of University Professors took the rare step to form a committee to examine the state of academic freedom in Florida, said association President Irene Mulvey. “'Anyone who cares about democracy should be really frightened,' Mulvey said, 'because DeSantis is demonizing educators and weaponizing education. Look to history: when the state is demonizing educators and education, we are heading toward autocracy'... "The fact that DeSantis is attacking DEI efforts so soon after calls for racial justice fits into a larger pattern in America, said Matthew Kincaid, the CEO of the DEI training firm Overcoming Racism, which no longer has clients in Florida. “'After every single moment of racial progress in this country, there is always a moment of significant racial backlash,' Kincaid said. "DeSantis’ characterization of DEI efforts as 'trend' is particularly insulting, Kincaid said, when 'people of color have been calling out for racial justice on campuses for generations.' "That includes in Florida, said Steve Uhlfelder, a former member of the Board of Governors from 2002 to 2004 and its previous iteration, the Board of Regents, from 1994 to 2000. "Attracting a diverse faculty and student body was a focus back then, he said. But even before it was a priority of state leaders, students of color took the fight into their own hands. "In 1971, when he was student body president at UF, a group of Black students protested outside the then-university president’s office to seek an appointment to talk about Black enrollment, which was abysmal at the time, Uhlfelder said. "The president called the police and had them arrested, leading several Black students to disenroll from the university. The protest and fallout, Uhlfelder said, spurred the creation of an office of minority affairs. "'It takes years to get where we’ve gotten,' Uhlfelder said. 'It takes days to destroy it.'" It's time again to protest those who would take away "equal justice for all" in Florida. Before Gov. DeSantis corrupts and destroys Florida's outstanding university system.

With the regular annual session of the Florida Legislature set to start in just a month, why in the world – you might be asking yourself – did Florida Republicans decide it was necessary to go to the trouble of a special session last week? It’s not like any of the five bills that the Legislature passed on Friday and sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature had a deadline before March 7, the start of the regular session. The closest thing lawmakers had to a pressing matter was the pending dissolution of Walt Disney World’s special taxing district , the Reedy Creek Improvement District, in June, as required by a law that DeSantis pushed and Republicans passed last year. The problem was that a simple dissolution of the district under the parameters of the 2022 law would leave taxpayers in Orange and Osceola counties on the hook for more than $700 million of Disney’s bond debt. So it’s understandable that Republican lawmakers and DeSantis – who wanted to punish Disney for opposing his “Don’t Say Gay” education legislation – felt they had to “fix” the 2022 law if they didn’t want to be remembered for screwing Central Florida taxpayers as well as being inept at passing legislation. They also were facing a lawsuit filed by Orange and Osceola county residents. Even so, with the 60-day regular session scheduled to end in early May, lawmakers could have taken care of the Reedy Creek issue in the regular session, although they admittedly would have been cutting it close. SLATE OF ISSUES Or, if they thought they really needed to address that one issue early, why not make it a one-issue special session. Typically, a special legislative session focuses on just one —maybe a few—subjects. But this time, lawmakers tackled a full slate of issues, including: Fixing the law passed last year creating DeSantis’ elections crime unit. Three courts rejected charges brought by the unit and statewide prosecutor because they ruled the statewide prosecutor didn’t have jurisdiction. The statewide prosecutor only has jurisdiction in cases where a crime is committed across more than one judicial circuit, but the people being charged with fraudulent voting had voted only in one location. Fixing the law that DeSantis famously and, it appears, illegally used when he flew a group of undocumented immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Florida’s 2022 law created a $12 million program, using federal COVID-recovery funds, to relocate migrants from within Florida, and DeSantis is facing several lawsuits accusing him violating the 2022 law and violating the immigrants’ civil rights. Fixing Florida’s 2020 Name, Image and Likeness law for collegiate athletes. The 2020 law barred state universities from helping athletes secure endorsement deals, but that has put Florida schools at a disadvantage in recruiting athletes when competing with schools in states that allow their universities to help students get deals. Fixing last year’s emergency relief bills to allocate more funding to help local governments recover from Hurricanes Ian and Nicole. Are you seeing a pattern here? Is it any wonder some called last week’s special session the “fix-it session ?” “This has been a clean-up session for the governor’s mistakes,” House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said. So it’s understandable that Republican lawmakers and DeSantis – who wanted to punish Disney for opposing his “Don’t Say Gay” education legislation – felt they had to “fix” the 2022 law if they didn’t want to be remembered for putting the screw to Central Florida taxpayers as well as being inept at passing legislation. They also were facing a lawsuit filed by Orange and Osceola county residents. residents.residents.esidents.sidents.idents.dents.ents.nts.ts.s..ey for defying him last year on the Don’t Say Gay lputting the screw tonts. WHAT LEGISLATURE DID Republican lawmakers’ cleanup work for DeSantis this session included changes to the: Disney improvement district: Instead of dissolving the district, House Bill 9B moves the power to appoint the district’s five board members from Disney to the governor. Thus, Disney retains the obligation to pay off its bond debt, and DeSantis, who has shown a propensity for payback, gets to pick the people who will decide building regulations and staff hires for the district that takes care of roads, water, fire protection and other infrastructure needs for Disney’s 25,000 acres. The bill also changes the district’s name to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District after a two-year waiting period. Election crimes investigations unit: Senate Bill 4B gives the statewide prosecutor the power to investigate and prosecute any crime involving an election in which a federal or state office or referendum is on the ballot and affects more than two judicial circuits. So it’s not a matter of whether an accused offender votes in two different circuits but whether the election that person votes in affects more than one circuit. This requirement would include any statewide race, many congressional races and some state legislative races. It is expected to clear the way for the statewide prosecutor to pursue other election fraud cases, which Democrat and African-American leaders say is largely for the purpose of voter intimidation. Forced migrant flights: SB 6B creates the Florida Unauthorized Alien Transport Program and sets aside $10 million for the governor to hire contractors to travel the nation to find undocumented immigrants and ship them from anywhere in the country to what Republicans deem sanctuary cities. DeSantis’ lawyers have told a judge in one of the lawsuits against the 2022 law that they would try to dismiss the lawsuit once SB 6B became law. But Southern Poverty Law Center attorneys say the legislative change won’t shield DeSantis in court. They say Florida’s migrant relocation program is unconstitutional, because the U.S. Constitution grants the exclusive power to regulate immigration policy to the federal government. Florida’s NIL law: HB 7B removes language that prevented schools from causing cash to be directed to athletes. The new law also adds entrepreneurship education to what financial literacy services schools can provide their athletes, and it adds liability protections for coaches against claims athletes make about damages to image worth. Hurricane relief: SB 2B appropriates $50 million to provide bridge loans for local governments damaged by Hurricanes Ian or Nicole until those communities can secure funding from other sources. It also transfers $650 million to the governor’s office for preparing for and responding to declared states of emergency. With this special session Republican lawmakers demonstrated that they perhaps have an aptitude for passing legislation, but it’s still debatable whether they know how to pass good legislation, i.e. legislation that is good for Florida residents. Special sessions, of course, usually cost the state unbudgeted money for the extra travel, room and board lawmakers require to get to and stay in Tallahassee during the special session. But Republicans say that wasn’t a problem this session because lawmakers were already there for a week of scheduled committee meetings in advance of the regular session. SPECIAL SESSION ITSELF A TOOL Republicans of the DeSantis era also don’t seem to be as reluctant to schedule special sessions as previous lawmakers have. This special session was the sixth since the start of 2021, compared to none from 2015 to 2020. Some speculate that special sessions have become more common in Florida because DeSantis sees them as a tool to highlight his high-priority legislation to gain more sustained media coverage, particularly from friendly conservative outlets , than what he might get during a 6-day regular session where multiple controversial issues might be considered at once. For instance, the issues covered in this special session would have had to compete in the news with a major expansion of school vouchers, a measure to eliminate concealed weapons permitting and possibly new abortion restrictions if they were held until the regular session that starts in March. Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book of Plantation said Democrats are frustrated by subservience of the Legislature to DeSantis, but the Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers. “We’re in a place where they can do whatever they want, so they do,” she said.