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By Shruthi Reddy
student, YDSA GNV member

On February 21, the Young Democratic Socialists in Gainesville led a rally and demonstration to advocate for the payment of a living wage for all workers and contracted employees at the University of Florida. 

The university has chosen to not pay its workers decent wages, endangering these workers’ financial security. The worker groups receiving low wages include Other Personnel Services (OPS) workers and contracted employees such as Aramark food service workers. 

by Gregory Mullaley

For the past 10 months I’ve had the privilege of being associated with a group of people who’ve been visiting the ICE detainees in the Baker County Jail located an hour north of Gainesville. ICE, part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, has contracted with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office to hold people they’ve taken into custody, often for the simple crime of being in the United States without legal status.

Twice a month, on the 2nd and 4th Mondays, this group travels to Baker on their own time to visit with men and women who are locked away 24 hours a day. These detainees are never allowed to go outside, and the only sunshine they see is from a single large window located in the recreational room some 12 feet above the floor. These men and women are desperate to see anyone from outside the jail as they are not allowed an attorney, unless they or someone else pays for one. And since the jail is located in a remote area, it’s difficult for their families to travel several hours just for a short visit, so we are a welcome sight.

Broadly speaking, the ranked choice voting process (sometimes referred to as instant runoff voting) is applicable in races with three or more candidates. It unfolds as follows:

1. Voters rank the candidates for a given office by preference on their ballots.
2. If a candidate wins an outright majority of first-preference votes (i.e., 50 percent plus one), he or she will be declared the winner.
3. If, on the other hand, no candidates win an outright majority of first-preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated from the totals.
4. With all first-preference votes for the failed candidate eliminated, their second-preference choices indicated on those failed candidate ballots are then added to the totals.
5. A new tally is conducted to determine whether any candidate has won an outright majority with these added votes.
6. The process is repeated until a candidate wins a majority of votes cast.
7. This eliminates the need for a second, runoff election.

An added benefit to this process is that negative, hostile campaigning can make that candidate less well liked, and therefore less likely to be someone’s second or third choice.

By Jean Chalmers

There is a serious problem in the way we select people to represent us in government. Often candidates, with less than 50 percent approval, get to sit up there and make decisions that affect our daily life. Often we do not vote for whom we actually support because we know that they will not win. We are confused by “spoiler” candidates who just run to steal votes from another candidate. This may be why so many voters simply stay home from the polls.

When: Sunday, March 8, 2 to 6pm

Where: Gainesville Vineyard-The Peoples Church
1100 S.E. 17th Drive, Gainesville (Park in the driveway and behind the church)

Featured Speakers:

• Indigenous People Peace Chant-Georg Suzuki

• STOP White Supremacy Thinking & Actions-Dr. Zoharah Simmons

• STOP Male Supremacy Thinking & Actions-Jessica McLeod (NWL)

• No More Capitalism! No More Classism!-Jenn Powell

The Community Excellence Awards events on March 5 will honor the Civic Media Center as recipient of the 2019 Business Arts Award. The CMC is an alternative library, reading room and infoshop in Gainesville whose mission is to provide community access to information and points of view that are under-reported or distorted in mainstream media.

The annual Arts Awards, which are part of the evening’s Community Excellence Awards presentations, are given by the Gainesville Cultural Affairs Board and the City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department to recognize those individuals and businesses that have made significant contributions to the advancement of the arts in our community.

The evening will begin at Gainesville City Hall, 200 East University Avenue, at 5:30pm where the evening’s award winners will first be honored with a proclamation by the mayor. The event then moves to the Historic Thomas Center, 302 NE 6^th Ave., for the awards ceremony from 6–8pm. 

If you can, come out and show your support for the CMC. It has been 26 years of regular music, poetry, art that has gone hand-in-hand with all the other stuff the CMC does.

by John Moran

The Santa Fe River Bill of Rights campaign is shifting into a new phase as it continues the effort to place a Rights of Nature measure on the 2020 ballot.

The SAFEBOR petition initiative netted more than 4,000 signatures from Alachua County registered voters during the six-month window ending Feb. 21, but was short of the total needed for direct placement on the ballot. 

Plan B has ensued with SAFEBOR organizers appealing directly to both the once-a-decade Charter Review Commission and the Board of County Commissioners to allow voters in November to decide whether to amend the Alachua County Charter to include legally enforceable rights for the Santa Fe River to exist, flourish and naturally evolve.

by Joe Courter

The FUBAR that was the vote counting in the Iowa caucuses, caused by an untested app, the sole reason for which was to speed up the vote tabulation by a few hours, brought to my mind a bumper sticker which I’d noticed around downtown about a decade ago: “Technology is Making us Stupid.” What occurred to me was that it wasn’t so much we were being made stupid, but we were being led to do stupid things: things that while seeming to be an improvement in our lives actually carried negative consequences, especially when we grow to depend upon them.

People used to bring maps along when they traveled, plotted their routes and perhaps found other things to do and see along the way. Now their device tells them what to do, plots their route and, yes, it is quite effective. But go out of range, or have your device fail, well there you are … somewhere. Now our phone remembers most all of our phone numbers, but lose or forget your phone and well, again, there you are.

Class offered on The Gainesville 8, The Chicago 8, the takeover of Wounded Knee

In the second half of the 20th century, three trials captured national attention.

Following the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, “The Chicago 8,” including Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden and Bobby Seale, were charged with conspiracy to incite those riots. 

“The Gainesville 8,” seven of whom were Vietnam veterans and members of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, were charged with the same thing regarding the Republican Party Convention in Miami Beach in ‘72 before the convention. 

by Joe Courter

Those of you within Gainesville city limits will have one or two other races on your ballot March 17 beyond the presidential primary. 

These are in regard to the City Commission. Helen Warren is a current at large commissioner, and she is term limited out. Among the people running for her seat, Reina Saco stands out. She is an attorney with a history of advocacy on renters’ and immigrant rights. Hopefully enough people will vote for her to avoid a runoff, as there are four candidates in the race (see Jean Chalmer’s article on rank choice voting on page 6).

City folks in District 2 and 3 are encouraged to retain their current commissioners, Harvey Ward (2) and David Arreola (3). Both have good track records and are much more aware and active on issues like housing, transportation, human rights, and the environment than their opponents.

We support Saco, Ward, and Arreola. And of course Bernie Sanders for president (with Elizabeth Warren as a strong second place).

Jan. 14 – March 14:  Pictures of Resistance
Hours vary – Gainesville Fine Arts Association Gallery, The UF Center for European Studies and the Gainesville Fine Arts Association 

Feb. 25 – March 21:  She FRI 2/28, 6pm. Reception during Art Walk 
GFAA exhibit: artists respond to the many dimensions of WOMEN in 2020

Feb. 26 – March 22:  Marchie and Rosetta  
Dates and times vary – Hippodrome Theatre, A story of letting loose, finding your voice, and freeing your soul 

PARADE and RALLY on MARCH 21

Start gathering at 11 am on Saturday, March 21 at the Supervisor of Elections office, 515 N. Main St., Gainesville.

At NOON, March/Parade down Main Street to University Avenue to Bo Diddley Plaza where there will be a RALLY with music, food trucks, and REASONS TO VOTE — climate change, racial justice, DEMOCRACY, voting access/suppression, immigration, social justice, gentrification, gun reform, living wage, reproductive freedom, local control and more.

Join the Parade with your energy and SIGNS about ISSUES, but not candidates. March/parade with your friends and your organizations. We’ll make space for historical time periods, such as the ’60s and ’70s if you’d like to represent an organization from “back then.”

Show Gainesville the issues that matter to YOU.

CELEBRATE 100 YEARS OF WOMEN VOTING! 

NOTE: This event has been canceled. Byllye Avery is in her eighties and her doctor has advised her not to fly because of the Coronavirus threat. Although we are disappointed that she won’t be here, we totally support her decision to stay safe and healthy. 

As a part of Celebrate Women 2020, Byllye Avery is coming to Gainesville from March 12-15 to ignite the activism in all of us. She is passionate about bringing together black and white women in order to create new paradigms which include all of us. She believes that it is imperative that we unite now in order to preserve the rights that we have EARNED, to recognize our interdependency, and to work together to create a world where compassion, justice, and mutual respect reign. She challenges us with “What will YOU do?”

The March issue of the Iguana is now available, and you can access it here! If you want to get your hands on a hard copy, check out our distro locations here.