News / Articles

Cecile Scoon, LWVFL President, shared her vision for the State League and its 29 Local Leagues. She noted that significant minority groups in our state perceive themselves as “apart.” They neither feel welcome nor have civic engagement. It is critical that we acknowledge their experiences. We must reach out to partner with their community leaders - to bridge gaps and build past them. We must also strengthen relationships with each other, and the relationship between the State and Local Leagues. Working together on DEI and voter participation will help achieve Scoon’s vision. She then segued to voting rights and the role of redistricting. (Click title for more.)

The LWVFL has started working to ensure that the current redistricting process is transparent and that districts are drawn fairly. In conjunction with the recently formed Fair Districts Coalition, the League has mobilized Floridians to pay attention to this historically secretive process and demand legislators make map drawing open and accessible with adequate input from the public.

The LWVCC is committed to open government and civic engagement. An Observer Corp is a structured way for us to exercise our right to know about governmental plans and decisions.

Janet Hoffman, LWVCC Co-President, spoke against the proposed "Sanctuary City for the Unborn" ordinance at the Naples City Council meeting on September 15.

On July 13 the Board of Collier County Commissioners voted down the problematic ordinance for a sanctuary county for the Bill of Rights at a 7 ½ hour marathon meeting with over 120 speakers pro and con.

LWV FL president, Patricia Brigham, speaks on Fox 4 in opposition to Legislature's proposed bill to ban ballot drop boxes in Florida elections and other voter suppression initiatives. Collier SOE describes vital role played by drop box options in giving Collier County the highest voter turnout rate in Florida.

The Tech Team is offering “labs” for those of you who would like some individual assistance and guidance in using our website. Our purpose is to support those of you who need to “master the basics”. Perhaps it will be of help as many of you renew your memberships (to be initiated in November), or if you just want to learn how to use some of the basic functions, like the calendar.

The labs will be via Zoom, by appointment:
(Click on title for more information)

Update your bookmarks!
The Collier County Supervisor of Elections has changed the website address to: CollierVotes.gov

Candidates for the three open seats on the Naples City Council will meet in a public forum on January 13, 2022. See full News Article for details.

LWVCC December 14, 2020 General Meeting
December’s General Meeting attendees were graced with a thought provoking, practical and informative presentation by Elaine Herda, Debate Chair for Braver Angels. Through a video, power point and breakout sessions Ms. Herda effectively combined two 2.5-hour Braver Angels Workshops into a concise session which included specific listening and speaking skills, in order to promote civil discourse and ultimately to help unify our divided country. (Click on title to read more)

The LWVFL is working to ensure that the current redistricting process is transparent and that districts are drawn fairly. In conjunction with the recently formed Fair Districts Coalition, the League has mobilized Floridians to pay attention to this historically secretive process and demand legislators make map drawing open and accessible with adequate input from the public.

A number of myths and misconceptions have grown up around the National Popular Vote, who supports it, what effect it would have on small states and big cities, how it would affect the electoral college, to name just a few.

Dr. Dena Landry, Coordinator of Psychological Services for Collier Public Schools, spoke to the LWVCC on "Adverse Childhood Experiences and the Public Schools' Interventions". Revisit here presentation in the full News Article.

Drilling in Big Cypress was the focus of the Environmental Affairs Committee’s October meeting where a senior attorney for the National Resources Defense Council explain how a Texas-based oil company has multiple permits pending to drill in Collier County’s Big Cypress. You might not know that 75% of drilling in Florida is in the panhandle;, the remainder is in Everglades/Big Cypress-- where the amount of oil is minimal and quality very low. Patti Forkan and Judy Hushon penned a letter to the Big Cypress Swamp Advisory Committee asking them to deny a permit and in early November the oil drilling company’s request to drill in the watershed was denied. For more information read the full article in the Document section.

Despite the best efforts of the LWVCC and others to point out to county staff and commissioners several key problems with the two new villages proposed for Eastern Collier under the Rural Lands Stewardship Area framework, the commissioners voted 4 to 1 to approve Bellmar and Longwater.
In an article published by the Naples Daily News on June 8th, Patti Forkan expresses her views on this latest development by pointing out the “costs” that will accrue to taxpayers; wildlife and panthers, in particular; and advocates of smart growth.

Judy Hushon and Sally Woliver, along with FGCU’s Mike Savarese, got the Collier County’s Planning Commission’s attention during their December 2nd meeting on the anticipated effects of sea level. After seeing how areas near the Naples Airport, Marco Island and Naples Park are projected to be covered by water by 2030, the commissioners voiced the need to integrate tools like ACUNE in their planning efforts. Sally applauded them for this type of thinking and reiterated that one of the primary goals of ACUNE is to help policy makers and planners make intelligent decisions, based on hard science, on the best way to mitigate the inevitable rise in water levels in our county. To this end, Sally and Judy will be training commission staff on the use of ACUNE on December 6th and 7th. For more details on other community outreach and education efforts related to ACUNE and this powerful interactive tool, please consult the Project tab in the EAC section of the website

The Juvenile Justice Committee invited Carrie Boyd, Policy Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center to learn about a Florida statute that is having increased use. The Baker Act allows doctors, judges, mental health professionals, and law enforcement to commit a child or an adult involuntarily to a mental health center for up to 72 hours (Click on title to read more)

On Monday evening, November 8, 2021, the Naples United Church of Christ sponsored a program “,On Voter Access”. Jennifer Edwards, Supervisor of Elections (SOE) Collier County was the distinguished speaker. The program was offered both on site and via Zoom.

LWVCC were observers at the 2020 General Election Canvassing Board sessions.

Former Florida State Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, Howard Simon, presented a Zoom talk entitled: "Voter Rights and Voter Suppression," at the LWVCC October 12th, 2020 General Meeting.

The ACLU invites you to explore “Racism in Policing”, a four-lesson series taught by our experts and sent to your inbox every week.

Watch for the launch of the DEI Online Forum on May 25 on the DEI Forum page. This is the first forum of its kind by our League and is open to all our members! We will host a managed discussion forum which will run for one month. For our first topic, we’ll explore the art world of museums and galleries and how they are grappling with critical DEI issues in their decisions about the art they collect and exhibit.