Author Archives: Jessica

by Jeremiah Tattersall and Alachua County Labor Coalition

The Alachua County Labor Coalition has been hard at work campaigning to raise workers wages across the County.

The living wage campaign, launched in August 2015, has the ambitious goal of getting the 10 largest employers in Alachua County to pay a living wage by 2020. In the past seven months we were able to help pressure the University of Florida and the Alachua County Commission to raise their starting wage to $12 an hour. These raises directly affected over 500 workers and will put over $1.5 million back into our local economy this year.

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Transcript edited by Pierce Butler.

This is the 33rd in a series of transcript excerpts from the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program collection at the University of Florida.

Judith Davis [D] was interviewed by Richelle Moore [M] in 2015.

D: I was born January 15, 1953 in Gainesville, Florida. My dad worked at the physical plant at the University. Mom was a baker for the school board. I was an only child. Even though they didn’t have a lot of money, I was always supported in anything I wanted that they could afford. I had a wonderful childhood.

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Helping mark 30 years of publishing the Iguana, the monthly ArtWalk at the CMC will feature a display of the 35-card deck which was produced in 1988 to commemorate the 1986 Iran-Contra hearings.

These hearings helped expose a “secret government” that had been created to fund the CIA led operations in Central America devoted to topple the elected government of Nicaragua.

The Sandinista government came to power in 1979 after overthrowing the U.S. backed dictator Anastasio Somoza, whose brother and father had ruled Nicaragua for decades, and enriched themselves immensely in the process. The Sandinistas created many popular reforms and in 1984 were officially elected to power, but their Socialist leanings were not tolerable to the U.S. Government under President Ronald Reagan. 

When Congress blocked money going to the Contras (the force the CIA created that was terrorizing the countryside), the CIA turned to drug smuggling and selling weapons to Iran to generate the funds to carry out their illegal war.

These operations came to light, and Congress convened hearings that further exposed the illegal and deadly operations.

These cards are 35 history lessons of a corrupt administration’s bloody efforts The blowback from these interventionist policies in Central America still impact the region. It was out of that ferment that the Gainesville Iguana began.

The March Artwalk at the CMC  (and all over downtown) is Friday March 25, and will run from 7-10 pm.

For more information, see http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/10/gary-webb-dark-alliance_n_5961748.html. D

In early February 2015 a committee was formed to look at Gainesville Police policies and practices. This was on the heels of the increased concern over police misconduct which came to light in Ferguson, MO. After a year of meeting monthly, the Committee presented its report to the City Commission.  Its recommendations were as follows; how seriously they are taken remains to be seen:

Background:

To support the work of the Mayor’s Community Response Council, the Committee was formed and open to all MCRA representatives to attend. Meeting monthly since the inception of the MCRC, with an average attendance of 4 – 8 members present, the Committee discussed current policies and practices, listened to presentations to gather information, requested and received supporting information from GPD Leadership and reviewed 3 key reports: President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, Department of Justice, and Campaign Zero Report.

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Pierce Pettis will be in concert at the Civic Media Center April 9 at 8pm. Pierce, adored by both critics and public alike, is one of this generation’s most masterful songwriters. His music is distinguished by his uncanny ability to capture universals in human experience by drawing on the humor and trials in daily life. Pettis’ music can simultaneously pull on our hearts and keep us laughing. In live performance his mastery of the craft is moderated with an endearing ADD infused spontaneity.

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Jim A Stevenson gave a rousing speech at the Save Paynes Prairie and our State Parks event on Jan. 23. He is a 50-year veteran of working with the multi award winning Florida State Parks system, which provides not only habitat for wildlife, but also a connection to Florida history. As a public commons that have provided respite and adventure to over 30 million people, they are over 80 percent self-supporting, with the 20 million Florida taxpayers only having to kick in about a dollar each.

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by Carol Thomas

The president’s fiscal year 2017 budget has more bad news than good news for senior citizens. While Social Security beneficiaries will see no changes in the way Social Security benefits are determined, proposals for Medicare are downright bad news.

What’s proposed are higher deductibles, means-testing and more cost-shifting to seniors and their families.

Medicare is the good and moral healthcare program for seniors that was designed to keep retirees and their families free from the added burden of healthcare costs as family members deal with the obligation of caring for their aging relatives. President Johnson signed Medicare into law in 1965 and former President Harry Truman was the first to receive a Medicare card.

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