Monday, October 4, 2010

October 2010

For the first day since April, we have turned off the air and have the windows open. I forgot how much noise there is out there: garbage trucks, birds, neighbors' barking dogs. My two cats are so confused by it all that they have kept me busy letting them out and in again. They go out to investigate the activity outdoors and then they hear me inside and have to come in the check out what I am doing. I've created feline schizophrenic episodes in their little cat brains.

The first meeting of the year went quite well with 74 in attendance. If you didn't make it, we met at Renaissance on 9th where the parking was great. The food service was a little difficult at first, but the staff worked hard to get more food out for us, and I think everyone was eventually served. I am sure that they are onto us now and things will go more smoothly in the future. Our charge of $10 is quite a break for us since they usually charge more for their lunches. The menu will vary from month to month so if you were not thrilled with quiche, perhaps the menu will please you more in October.
Connie Meyers, Eileen Hawblitzel, and Deborah Thomas kept the sign-in line and the dues line moving along. There are still some of you who have not paid your dues. Remember, dues are $45, $30 for the FREA and $15 for MCREA. Lifetime members still have to pay their local $15 dues. ( LIfetime memberships are no longer offered by FREA, so that leaves many of us out.) Again, let me implore you to honor your reservation that you made with your caller. And please, don't just show up without a reservation. At our next meeting we will have Carole Sicard back serving as our Treasurer and signing you in. I am sure that she will appreciate it if you do not make her job harder.
With our growth, we needed new telephone committee members. I but asked and Patty Edwards, Sarah Beard, and Mae Kirbach volunteered. Susan Roe and the other members of her calling committee thank you for relieving them of such long lists to call.
At our October meeting, which is on Wednesday this month, October 20, we will be asking for nominations from the floor for a nominating committee. I hope that you will consider this an important task since the pupose is to find members who will become the future leaders of MCREA. We have several positions to fill, and among them is President Elect. This person will have two years on the Board and as Program Chair in order to prepare to become President after Deborah Thomas's term. Although the position may sound as if it is difficult, it really isn't because of the Board which is made up of willing workers who help the President fulfill obligations.
The following is a list, at this time, of new members:
Linda Alcott
Sandra Anderson
Diana Buell
Susan Darovec
Gloria Davis
Nancy Erwin
Donna Falgiani
Sue Gore
Barbara Kitzman
Dianne Loyer
Joan Sackett
Ken Washio
We welcome them all to MCREA. We may have other new members at our October and November meetings because some lucky folks have been in cooler climes through the summer.

State Representative Keith Fitzgerald spoke at our September 20 District VII meeting at Lakewood Ranch. He said that many members of the State Legislature are "self-interested, ambitious, ideological fadists". "Massive lobbyists with huge resources" push their own legislation, and because it is so expensive to run for office, politicians are "beholden to special interests". Amendment #6 which would have impacted teachers' positions, tenure, and retirement in a negative way was a measure instigated by the Chamber of Commerce of Florida and Jeb Bush, according to Fitzerald. The bill was anti-union and blamed all the ills of the schools on the teachers. He said it was so "incredibly extreme" that pressure from constituents, especially teachers, fire fighters, police, and other state employees brought great pressure on Governor Crist to veto it, which he did.
The bad news is that the bill or one very like it will be brought up again in the next Legislative session. Fitzgerald suggested fighting it with letters and phone calls to legislators. An effective measure, he said, is to form a group and go to the legislator's local office for a face to face talk about our concerns when the legislation is again introduced. Fitzgerald really thinks that the underlying purpose of the attacks on unions and the expansion of the number of school vouchers is to do away with public education. I know many of us have thought this, but now our fears are substantiated.
We have work to do folks. Right now, the most important thing to do is to scrutinize the candidates for office. Are they talking increasing school vouchers, solving education problems by firing teachers, bemoaning the retirement fund of public employees, and getting rid of teacher tenure? If so, then get out to those polls and bring your friends and family with you after you have explained to them how important it is that they stop this movement in its tracks.

Ellen