The Gainesville Iguana

by Mary Savage

Social Security is on the ballot this election year, and opposing legislation that creates a fiscal commission, or Social Security commission, should be everyone’s top priority in the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress to be held after the Nov. 3 elections. “Lame duck” is political slang for an elected official at the end of their term. The danger of a lame duck session is that politicians can vote against the interests of the American people and get away with it. They’re out of office and won’t have to face voters or another election. In other words, they don’t care.

This interview excerpt is from a continuing series of transcripts from the collection of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida. 

Barbara Sampson Carter [C] was interviewed by Bruce Barton [B] on Nov. 18, 1973. Carter, a Lumbee Indian, talks about her frustrations with the poor treatment of Lumbee people in the county’s social services department, as well as the struggles to create an equitable education system for Native students. 

Transcript edited for length and clarity by Beth Grobman; a full transcript of this interview is available at tinyurl.com/iguana2595.

B: Barbara, Thank you for this interview. Could you give us a little resume? 

C: I’m 27. I was reared on a farm — which I didn’t like then, but I’m proud of it now. My mother taught school. I went to Pembroke High School, where I got married when I was sixteen. That took a lot of my teenage life away from me. I really had to accept responsibilities as a mother and a wife, when I should have been home, going to basketball games and all that kind of stuff teens do. 

by Donna Waller, President, League of Women Voters of Alachua County

This is what I think of as the beginning of the home stretch. Our general election forum at the Graham Center is over. The Vote411.org site has been updated. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 5. Early voting begins Oct. 19. Nov 3 is coming up fast.

Before Oct. 5, we should be appearing everywhere, encouraging people to register. Start at home. Talk to your friends and family. Encourage everyone to participate, regardless of ideology. Remind people that they can register or check their registration status through the Vote411 site. You cannot have a democracy without citizens.

After Oct. 5, it’s all about turnout. Turnout in the primary election was an embarrassing 27 percent in Alachua County. We have to work hard to make sure nothing like that happens this time. 

by Scott Darius, Florida Voices for Health

Contributor’s note from Jason Bellamy-Fults and the North Central Florida Central Labor Council: At this summer’s AFL-CIO convention, presenters from this campaign spoke to union members from across Florida.  In the coming months, we hope to work with the FL Voices for Health and others who are leading this campaign to get more union households involved.  Until everyone is covered!

As Gainesville residents we live in the shadow of some of the best hospitals in the world, and yet, a short drive from those doors, there are people struggling to access health care.

I work with Florida Voices for Health, and our job is to listen to Floridians who are living with the consequences of a broken system. Some of the hardest stories we hear come from people in what we call the coverage gap.

The Indigenous Peoples’ Task Force I(IPTF) was formed in 2020 by two women, Sylvia Guerrero-Paluzzi and Anna Borrero-Schwait, with a vision to change Columbus Day in Alachua County and eventually statewide, with Florida joining the other 15 states that no longer recognize Columbus Day and instead recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day. 

The mission is to acknowledge and honor all of the indigenous peoples of the Americas and the Caribbean as the first people, who have a rich cultural heritage. 

This cultural heritage is showcased by inviting indigenous people to share through dance, storytelling, and artistic expression. By doing so, communities that have been diminished, dismissed, or abolished for thousands of years are uplifted, and recognized as important contributors to the shared history of the Americas, pre-Columbus.

by Joe Courter

I had a profound moment at the C&G Farmers Market recently. A woman I know came up to me and, with sad eyes, said her partner had deported himself out of immigration fears. A bit stunned, I reflexively made a lame comment that referred to the recent abduction of a Gainesville family, like “well it is happening all over,” but my mind was reeling as I saw her walking away; that was so inadequate!

That same day I’d seen the press conference from Austin, Texas where a Door Dash driver had been shot by ICE and was now in custody — a bullet still lodged in his back. The two situations collided in my brain: it is all horrible — on every level — that this is happening. Loving couples and families are put into pain and stress because of this fascist policy driven in an authoritarian coup, being perpetrated on our nation. 

by Joe Courter

Time to vote, following is the list of folks, all Democrats who could be part of a hoped-for Blue Wave. We really need to make it happen, and having Angie Nixon win so convincingly in the primary is really a good sign. People are ready for change!

Consider plugging in to help get out the vote. Places that really could use help are some of the local grassroots races. 

Jason Fultz, Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, and Amy Trask are all progressive folks who would be challenging the direction of the Florida legislature. Even if you do not live in their districts, they could use help with campaign work, should you want to venture out of our Blue Bubble here in Gainesville. 

Hunter Miller is in a run-off against a DeSantis School Board appointee; help there can really make a difference, too.

The Supervisor of Elections office has a great website for campaign information at votealachua.gov, and the local Democratic Party can help, too, at alachuademparty.com.

Here’s the rundown (note some names below won’t be on your ballots, based on where you live).

Let’s do this.

– Angie Nixon: United States Senator

– Seth Harp: Representative in Congress: District 3

– Eric Younce: Representative in Congress: District 6

– David Jolly: Florida Governor

– Gwen Graham: Florida Lieutenant Governor

– Jose Javier Rodriguez: Florida Attorney General 

– Annette Taddeo: Florida Chief Financial Officer  

– Joey Mendoza Adkins: Florida Commissioner of Agriculture 

– Jason Bellamy-Fultz: State Senator: District 6

– Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson: State Representative: District 10

– Amy Trask: State Representative: District 22

– Ken Cornell: County Commissioner: District 4

– Hunter Miller: School Board run-off

There are judges races on the ballot in November. There are no efforts to reject any of them, plus DeSantis would appoint someone worse, probably. Your choice.

Big No on all the Constitutional amendments (especially #3).

In the City there is an amendment on the back of the ballot for you. On this we say vote yes.

by Amy Trask

Some years feel ordinary. This one hasn’t.  This year has felt like standing at the edge of a shifting landscape- watching familiar ground move, watching old assumptions crack, watching the distance between what our communities need and what our state delivers grow wider by the month. I’ve spent the past year listening to neighbors, parents, teachers, farmers, small‑town families who are drowning despite doing everything right. 

I’ve heard the same ache repeated in different words: people feel the weight of decisions made far from the places they call home. And in that ache, one truth keeps has become impossible to ignore: The local is no longer small. It is the front line. We are living in a moment where the local matters more than ever.