Rachel Newman, Title IX, LWV meeting on April 9, 2025
If you don’t know what Title IX is, or if you think that it is dull and boring, you are quite wrong. Rachel Newman gave us an excellent presentation explaining what it is, how it effects women, and how it has been changed by the Biden and Trump administration.
Her presentation triggered a lively discussion on the trans athletes, women’s rights, and the challenges facing the law now.
To summarize, here are Rachel’s words:
“While Title IX’s history lies in athletics, in contemporary times, Title IX is being practically used as a route of justice and healing for student survivors of gender-based violence. This includes acts such as sexual and domestic violence, sexual harassment, and stalking.
Title IX procedure allows for student survivors to gain access to accommodations that are intended to restore their equal access to education, while simultaneously providing a forum by which respondents may face academic sanctions in light of their actions. This system, complete with due process, keeps educational communities safe and accountable.
Title IX’s practical expansions have created an environment in which more students hold access to protections than ever before. Title IX still faces its challenges, however, with attacks on its policy negatively impacting student survivors. Logistical challenges also continue to harm K-12 institutions, with many parents being unaware of the Title IX protections their children are privy to, as well as a lack of understanding of how many Title IX violations our K-12 students are facing.
As a community, it is our duty to ensure that our institutions are first and foremost compliant with the federal registers. And moving forward, it should be our continued effort to verify that districts are moving toward individual care for students rather than just compliance. We can do this by furthering our education on Title IX issues, sharing this information with our community, communicating our needs with our local educational institutions, and ensuring that the officials we vote for are champions of survivor-oriented Title IX policy.”
We are so happy that Rachel took the time to speak to us. She has also joined our League!
To see her presentation, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7urwNDIuP0&t=1910s
Dr BJ Ezell, here posing with her husband Thurman, has done her presentation about the History of the Black Vote several times in the past two months.
If you want to learn local history, I guarantee you will discover something you did not know in this video.
The video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYvh8jg9Zb8&t=3086s
We are grateful that Commissioner Rebecca Bays spoke at our March 26, 2025 7pm zoom meeting.
She talked about the difficult topic of the one cent proposed sales tax. I say difficult for a couple of reasons: first of all, there is much more to it than meets the eye, and secondly, because the concept is only in the very early stages.
Some things are true: it will cost more than in past years to make repairs and build new roads, the tax would definitely generate money for the county, approximately 27% of the money would come from tourists, and it would need a 50% + 1 vote to pass if it appears on the November ballot. If it passes, it would go into effect in January of 2027.
Since it is only in the early stages, it would be great if citizens go to the BOCC meetings, listen and ask questions, and make a deliberative vote.
The video of the meeting is available for you to see here on youtube:
Our March 12, 2025 meeting featured Sheriff David Vincent.
He spoke about his experiences and plans since becoming Sheriff in January.
He was elected Sheriff of Citrus County in 2024.
He spoke about what he has learned from his experiences and what he is learning from the community and his staff. He said his job is to leave the Sheriff’s Office in a better spot than when he found it, for his successor, whenever that happens. He had “zero” transition from the former Sheriff.
He has hit the ground running to reorganize the office. He created an executive team, and David DeCarlo, who is in charge of the Community Engagement and Transparency, also attended and took copious notes. Sheriff Vincent changed the organizational structure of the Sheriff Office. He works for transparency, is redoing the way the budget is formulated, is working toward forming open community relationships by attending community events and speaking to community members, and believes in community policing.
Referring to his notes from when he was running for office, he said traffic enforcement will result in less people being killed on our roadways. He has transferred the canine deputies to traffic. He does a weekly wrap-up of what the Sheriff Office has done, every week, and it is on Facebook. He is working on better access to data and uniform messaging.
He said that community members should expect a professional looking, professional acting deputy sheriff to help. He expects a high level of customer service, to be the “Publix” of law enforcement, where things work and employees act and dress professionally.
Since becoming Sheriff, he is proud of improving communication and relationships, restructuring, increased traffic stops 23% (because Deputies have been empowered to do their job), and recruiting Deputies. He is sponsoring applicants that are being recruited so that they can go to the Academy, because people cannot afford to quit their jobs to go for training for eight months without pay. The Office gets up to 3,500 calls for service in a week. He will request ten more deputy positions. Instead of two districts, a Central Ridge district is being formed to join the East and West districts to better serve the people.
Deputy Sheriffs will have body cameras and in-car video by June 30. He said it will eliminate false accusations against Deputies and provide the public with the information that they have been asking for.
Instead of hiring more people, he is working on efficiency. Deputies will have their reports written by AI and they will verify the information. It will take three minutes as opposed to a much longer time writing reports.
Volunteer numbers have decreased from 800 to 350, so volunteer recruiting will also be a priority.
Audience members asked about response time of Deputies, gun safety, and Andy Lahera’s progress (he has had infections and Sheriff Vincent ask for prayers for him). One member talked about homeless people in her neighborhood, and received an effective, positive response from the Sheriff Office. Another member asked about a bill to change the age for owning a gun from 21 to 18, and about open carry. He does not support either. He also answered a question about “illegal aliens” with criminal records.
The video of the talk is available on youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fTQm6Xjb_0
The audience was the largest we have ever had for a general meeting.
Photos below:
The audience at Glory Days Restaurent, Sheriff David Vincent speaking, 1st President Vicky Iozzia and the Sheriff, Nora Cloud conducting election of officers.
Our February 12, 2025 meeting at the Coastal Region Library
Dr. BJ Ezell, in ethnic-heritage attire, taught a lively yet serious lesson for Black History Month at the meeting of League of Women Voters of Citrus County on Feb. 12. She presented recent voting statistics for Blacks in Citrus County and reviewed the history of voting rights since 1868. She tested the audience on analogs of notorious Jim Crow-era exams used to disenfranchise voters. Attendees appreciated Thurman Ezell’s fine rendition of “Wade in the Water” to close the talk.
The audience was given a “test” similar to what was given to black people in the South to prevent them from voting. How many jelly beans are in the jar?
Pictures below:
Audience counting, Dr. BJ and Thurman Ezell, Thurman Ezell, and BJ and 1st vp Rosemary Nilles.
On Wednesday, February 5, we had a special zoom meeting. Deb Daniels. She explained how the Florida legislature works.
Her presentation was very well received. Here are a couple of the comments:
“Last week I had the pleasure of attending Citrus County LWV’s voter education webinar “FL Legislature Structure & Process” by Deb Daniels. Thank you for hosting such a fantastic presentation! My LWVFL Clean Energy Team Co-chair, Maxine Connor, invited me, and I’m so glad she did! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a perfect way to get ready for this year’s legislative session; very educational & empowering.
Today I found the webinar recording’s YouTube link on your LWV Citrus FaceBook page as you promised, thank you. I would like to share the recording with my LWV Polk County Voter Services committee. Please let me know if I can share the link with our voter services committee chair, and/or if we can include the link in our monthly LWV-Polk newsletter. Thank you again, Karen
Karen Freedman LWV-Polk Climate Action Chair & Voter Services volunteer LWV-FL Clean Energy Action Team Co-chair
NaturalSolar@lwvpolk.org 863.398.5329 (please text or leave voice mail, thank you!)”
and
“I’d like our Government Action Team to review it to share with our membership. It was a fantastic program. Clear, relevant, timely. Thanks,Merrie Lynn Parker, Chair Education Issues Action Team LWV Manatee County”
If you were unable to attend, or it you want to see it again, here is the link:
We are working on having more of these meetings, in the evenings, for those of you who cannot make our daytime meetings. If you have suggestions for speakers, email Vicky Iozzia vickyiozzia@gmail.com
Our January 8, 2025 General Meeting of the League of Women Voters of Citrus County featured Mary Darling and Teri DeStefano from the Seniors vs Crime Unit of the Attorney General’s Office and the Citrus County Sheriff Department.
It can be a very dangerous world for many people, where scammers know how to take advantage of and rob them. Senior citizens can be particularly vulnerable, but Seniors vs Crime is there to help people.
Has someone called you, threatened you, and told you to go to get gift cards to pay for something? Have you paid for work to be done on your property in advance and the work has not been done?
Have you received a phone call that said that one of your relatives is in jail and you have to send money to bail them out? Be suspicious. Be smart. If it sounds wrong, it is wrong.
In Citrus County, be particularly suspicious if you need to have your roof replaced. The Seniors vs Crime office has many complaints, particularly from one company, AAA Roofing.
Keep receipts. Keep paperwork. You cannot tell if you will need it, but you will be happy that you have it.
I am grateful that this government office is there to protect people.
At this meeting our own Maxine Connor, our natural resources chair, spoke about the proposed land swap.
You can watch the video of this important presentation on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWXIuMBjpJA&t=138s
Go to the LWVCC Monthly newsletter for more information.
Our Guest Speaker, Trina Murphy, Publisher of the Citrus County Chronicle, spoke at our December meeting. She had an excellent presentation, after which she took all of the questions that the audience asked.
She spoke about her career at the Chronicle, how newspapers have changed over the years, and what the present-day challenges are.
If you were unable to attend, you can view it with the following link:
Also see the LWVCC Monthly newsletter for photos.
November 14, was our meeting titled, “Next”. What a meeting it was! We sang, we danced, we played kazoos! Devora Stager and Peg Primeau then led the groups to brainstorm what we should be doing in the next year.
What followed was an informed, stimulating, and uplifting discussion. Below is the summary of what we want to consider planning for the next year. The Board is ready to roll up our sleeves and get to work with our members to continue to work to benefit our community.
I was excited and exhausted when we were done. Happy that 29 people came, and many of them want to get involved.
If you want to get involved, don’t stand on the sidelines. We need to work with each other to have any chance of achieving our goals.
See the LWVCC Monthly Newsletter for more details and for photos.
Our October 9, 2024 meeting featured Mo Baird, our Supervisor of Elections, who spoke about Presidential election security. Vicky Iozzia, our President, who spoke about the 6 amendments on the Florida ballot. The video of this meeting is available on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-wf75udTxo&t=1s See the LWVCC Monthly Newseltter for more information.
September 11, 2024 General Meeting
Our September 11 meeting at the Coastal Region Library at 10:00 am featured Vicky Iozzia taking about Misinformation and Disinformation. Candidates were invited for the Meet and Greet, with the following results: in the US House District 12 contest, Gus Bilirakis appeared in a recording. The two candidates for the Citrus County Mosquito Control Board Seat 2, John Cino and Stephanie Adams, appeared in person.
Vicky Iozzia, with her “Madam President” hat and “Vote” earrings, spoke about “Building Resilience to Mis/Disinformation.”
Stephanie Adams and John Cino, candidates for Mosquito Control, spoke.
For those people who read the newsletter, we will be offering the opportunity to answer a question about one of the articles to get a prize. This month’s winners are: Gabrielle Satchel and Karen Rittweger
You can view this meeting on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibg_ITTIRoQ
Our August 14, 2024 meeting featured Attorney Denise Dymond Lyn to speak about the judicial system. If you were foggy on the judges and courts, you were clear when she explained it to our audience.
She explained the types of courts (appellate, trial, county, circuit, and district), the different districts in Florida, the differences between trial and appellate courts, and the various courts’ jurisdiction.
By the time you read this the primary will be over, but here are the candidates who spoke. They each had a maximum time of three minutes to speak. After introductions each participant was at a table space to answer questions and speak to our attendees.
OUR JULY 10, 2024 MEETING
Rosemary Nilles broke down the complicated issue of Preemption vs. Home Rule.
We made a special presentation to Past President Nancy Tomaselli for her dedication and hard work for our League. She received a beautiful collage of photos with her and the Board, and a forever membership to the League.
Thank you, Nancy, for all you have done for us. We truly stand on the shoulders of our sisters.
Photos below: Rosemary presenting, Title or Her presentation, presenting our thanks to Nancy Tomaselli
LWC Citrus County meeting on Wednesday, June 12, 2024
This meeting featured “Test your Voter IQ” and Meet and Greets for the candidates for the Supervisor of Elections and Florida House of Representatives. Correct answers earned the person an American pin and a piece of chocolate.
Candidates gave presentations, and then they were available to talk to constituents. The video is available on youtube at https://youtu.be/KTEbYKAY_kU
The candidates in the photos above spoke at our meeting. They are: for Supervisor of Elections, Maureen Mo Baird, and Tiffany Long, for Florida Representative Todd Cloud, Judith Vowels, and JJ Grow.
OUR MAY 8, 2024 MEETING INCLUDED ROSEMARY NILLES AS SPEAKER, AND THE CANDIDATES FOR THE CITRUS COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD
The May 8, 2024 meeting of the League of Women Voters of Citrus County was another double header. Rosemary Nilles spoke about Partisan School Board s, Amendment 1 on the November ballot.
This was followed by 3-minute presentations by the candidates for the School Board: Sandy Counts, Dale Merrill, Laura Gatling-Wright (on video), Victoria Smith, and Ken Frink. All of the candidates complied with the time limit and gave the reasons why people should vote for them. At the end of the meeting the public had the opportunity to go to the candidates’ tables, speak with the candidates, and take their brochures.
The people who attend out Meet and Greets are happy to be able to be so close to the candidates and to speak to them. You can see the video of the meeting at https://youtu..be/HpP1-217Xyg
OUR APRIL 10, 2024 MEETING WITH TODD HOCKERT, SHERIFF CANDIDATES
What an exciting meeting this was! It started with Todd Hockert from the Citrus County Opioid Task Force, who gave us the numbers of drug deaths here in Citrus County.
All four Sheriff candidates responded to the invitation to speak. They spoke for a maximum of three minutes, and then the audience was invited to ask them questions at their table.
The response was invigorating! We had over 100 people attend, so many that we are outgrowing the room. Later in this newsletter you will see the dates of our next meetings. Please read it carefully because we will be moving after the May meeting.
If you want to see and hear the meeting, here is the link: https://youtu.be/ehWmYVAzGGI
Gerry Mulligan spoke at our March 13, 2024 meeting to a huge crowd at Café Aromas in Lecanto, Florida. Many people came just to hear him speak.
Gerry was the editor of the Citrus County Chronicle for 43 years! He shared his experiences and wisdom for us at the meeting. The video of his presentation will be available with the link in the April newsletter.
He has written a book, titled “Out the window, 43 years on the beat”. It is available on Amazon.
I am including some direct quotes from his presentation:
“Facts are being questioned everyplace. We are not longer debating issues with agreed upon facts.”
“The integrity of the press has been challenged and undermined.”
“Politicians are stronger if they are not questioned.”
“Anybody can put up a website.”
“Thomas Jefferson said that newspapers were one of the most important institutions we have.”
“When you can’t agree on what the basic facts are, we are really in trouble.”
Listen to the rest of his speech by following the link on the April 2024 newsletter.
We want to thank Gerry for taking the time to speak to our group.
You can see his presentation on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jypmYuPhIXU&t=484s
On February 13, 2024, Dr. Lavon Wright Bracy spoke to us about her personal experiences with integration. She was the first person of color to graduate from Gainesville High School. She also signed her books, “The Brave Little Cookie.”
Our January 9, 2024 meeting featured Dr. Jill Lewis-Spector. She spoke about Book Bans. She is the 1st Vice President of the League of Women Voters of Florida. She shared her expertise with the facts about book banning.
Our December 12, 2023 meeting , Guest Speaker Jim Gouvellis, Editor of the Citrus County Chronicle. “The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”
Our Tuesday, November 2023 meeting
Cregg Dalton, Citrus County Property Appraiser, explained the complicated process used to appraise properties. He made difficult topics easier, and answered any and all questions, inviting the audience to contact him whenever they have a question.
From our October 10, 2023 meeting
At our October 10 meeting Kimberleigh Dinkins spoke to us about those wonderful animals, manatees. She is an employee of the Save the Manatee organization. These gentle animals need our protection. I was inspired to adopt a manatee. If you would like to, here is the link: https://www.savethemanatee.org/how-to-adopt-a-manatee/meet-manatee-betsy
It is only $25
From our September 12, 2023 meeting.
Our September 12 meeting, at Cafe Aromas in Lecanto, featured our guest speaker, Ginger Mundy, Co-Chair of the League of Women Voters of Florida Reproductive Health and Justice Action Team. Her presentation was titled, “Reproductive Health is a Personal Matter.”
She reported on the current law, which makes abortion legal up to 15 weeks. SB 300 was signed into law in April of this year and would make it illegal to have an abortion after 6 weeks gestation. It is currently being argued in the the Florida Supreme Court.
Below are her suggestions on what those who disagree with SB300 can do:
JULY 9, 2022 LWVCC MEETING
GUEST SPEAKER: CITRUS COUNTY LIBRARIES DIRECTOR: ERIC HEAD
May 10, 2020 A Vision for Public Education in Florida, Guest Speaker Rosemary Nilles.
