Dear Colleagues, 

Happy New Year. Our Seminole League’s work will kick off with my presentation to the Seminole Legislative Delegation advocating for Gun Safety on January 11,2023. The delegation consists of state Senator Jason Brodeur, and state Representatives David Smith, Rachel Plakon, Doug Bankson, and Susan Plasencia. 

This meeting is much like a town hall.  It is a chance for citizens to present their concerns directly to the locally-elected officials who represent them in Tallahassee.   

Seminole League’s board has voted to speak on gun safety in view of the Governor’s stated desire to advance what he calls “constitutional carry.” We believe that gun safety is an issue that demands our support and advocacy based on this potential threat to citizen safety. 

Please come and then follow up with a note to delegation members. Contact information is on the Supervisor of Elections website.  voteseminole.gov.   It’s very helpful to establish contact with your legislators prior to the session to help shape the bills and start forging a relationship. 

Deb Carswell, who has been our Legislative chair for many years, is stepping back this session and needs a co-chair. This role would be to assist her in making personal visits to legislators, alerting members to critical votes, and lobbying our legislative delegation on issues we support.  If you are interested, please contact Deb at [email protected]. 

Geraldine D. Wright, EdD

President, LWV Seminole

2023 LWVSC Planning Meeting 

There are many important issues on which the League could have an impact. With program planning, League members decide where we could be most effective and which issues most deserve our time and efforts. For the League, “program” means “those issues impacted by government and chosen by members for concerted study and action.”

Please join us on January 8 from 2 pm to 4pm at Perkins Restaurant, 701 E State Rd 434, Winter Springs, FL 32708, when we discuss our positions and create a proposal to be presented to the membership at our Annual Meeting.

Due to the location, we are limited to the number of people who can attend and participate in this very important process of our League year. For the past several years, we have only included the board and committee chairs in this process, but we are trying to expand our reach by including more of our members. Hopefully, you can join us.

There is no charge to attend the meeting. However, due to the limited number of people the room will hold, it is crucial that you RSVP.

Be sure to log into the LWVSC website and check the calendar for the registration page.

LWVSC Home Page

Seminole County Delegation Meeting January 11, 2023 

The meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, from 9:00 am to 11:30 am at the Seminole County Commission Chambers, 1101 E. 1st Street, Sanford, FL 32771. 

Geri Wright, President of the LWV of Seminole County will speak sharing our League’s legislative priorities with our Florida Delegates, specifically addressing gun safety.  

Please attend to demonstrate your support for our democracy and our values. 

Women's Reproductive Rights On the Line 

Women's Reproductive Rights are being compromised and eroded in the state of Florida and every citizen deserves to know the facts about the impact of the current and proposed legislation on women.  

Join us for this informative and factual discussion from the perspective of a physician dedicated to women's health, an advocate for women's equality, and an elected representative fighting for women's rights.

Details and Registration Here

Human Trafficking Information 

Human Trafficking has recently been highlighted in the Orlando Sentinel demonstrating the scope of the problem in Florida. The 15th Annual Human Trafficking Awareness program addresses this issue. 

The Professional Panels begin on Friday, January 27, 2023, starting at 9:00 am. The location is Valencia College, School of Public Safety, 8600 Valencia College Lane, Orlando, FL 32825. The event is being held in the main auditorium. To learn more go to stophumantrafficking.com  

January Hot Topic  

Join us for our first Hot Topic of the new year on January 26, 2023 at 12:00 pm featuring Grant Maloy, Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.  We have moved our venue to the Patio Grill, so please make note of the new restaurant and pricing.  

Be sure to come at 11:30 am to network with fellow League members and to confirm your lunch selection.  The program starts at 12:00 pm.

Details and Registration Here

Member Spotlight 

Member Spotlight Elizabeth Murphrey

Front Row Center 

Why did I join the League? Well, I sort of was pushed into it. In 1977, I was a new assistant professor of history at North Carolina A&T State University. I was 30 years old—and, by force of circumstance, I had never even voted. At the introduction for new faculty, one of my colleagues, who was a member of The League, came up to me and registered me to vote. A few weeks later, she invited me to a League meeting. The women—and some men—there were interesting, so I immediately joined. Then they asked me if I would run for the Board of Directors. I was elected to the board and stayed a board member until I left in 1981.  When I came to Seminole County, I joined the League in 2000 serving as a member of the new Mental Health Committee, which I still chair. Later I did the newsletter and for five years I was the secretary.

What would I like others to know about the League? Well, you can learn things—it's a place for the curious to gather. Others in the League might have different interests and opinions than you do, but it doesn’t hurt to learn from these other people. And in Seminole County, in particular, it’s a place to learn how local government works and to become familiar with the major players and issues in our local government.

About Me – I have a Bachelor's of History and International Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, a Master’s degree and a Ph.D. in Modern European History from Duke University. In addition, I have a Master's of Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I got all of the degrees quite a long time ago, but from a knowledge point of view, they’ve all served me well.  Since retiring over 10 years ago, I’ve done a lot of traveling, and I remain very active in our League.

League of Women Voters Partners with Local Governments to Recycle Campaign Signs

Election season is behind us, and the League of Women Voters along with Seminole County Government worked this year to keep campaign signs out of the landfill. On 11/21/22, Seminole County delivered close to 3,000 pounds of signs to a bundling facility with the ultimate destination of PureCycle in Orange County, who will recycle the signs to make polypropylene pellets. The collaboration with PureCycle by the Seminole, Orange and Volusia Leagues was arrived at in large part because of the process used by PureCycle. 

Most campaign signs fall into category 5 recycling, which also includes such items as prescription medicine bottles, yogurt cups, hummus tubs, single-use cutlery, some packaging for personal care products like deodorant, lotion, or shampoo, lids of single-use drink bottles and many other products. These products are not widely accepted in curbside recycling. 

PureCycle is working on substantially reducing plastic waste. Polypropylene (PP) plastic is used every day, and it mostly goes unrecycled, often ending up in oceans, landfills and our environment. Plastics with the No. 5 recycling symbol are transformed at PureCycle into a replenishable resource through their purification process.  PureCycle’s process results in a renewable resource that can be used multiple times.

PureCycle’s process helps close the loop on plastic waste while making recycled plastics more accessible at scale. 

Collaborating with Seminole County government made this project far more successful than it would otherwise have been, and we hope this initiative will continue to grow in coming election cycles.

LWVSC Name Badges 

Would you like to have a name badge for when you attend LWV events? Or would you like to have one with the new LWV logo on it? If you are a board member, you can request the badge with your position on it, such as Voter Registration Chair or Secretary. Otherwise, it will have your name along with the current LWV logo on it. The cost for a badge is $10.00. 

If you are interested, please let Lynn Fenster know by emailing her at [email protected] or telling her at an upcoming Hot Topics. 

LWV Seminole Home Page