Second LCYD Forum Continues Success

State Senator and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Smith spoke last night to about thirty attendees at the Leon County Young Democrats second forum. Senator Smith spoke about the plight of public education in Florida, making healthcare more accessable for all Floridians, and his plans to fix those problems if elected. Folowing his talk, Senator Smith took time to answer several questions from the audience and pose for pictures.

The LCYD thank Sen. Smith for participating in our forum series and for giving a great talk. The success of the LCYD forums will continue late next month. Details will be announced on this web log.

[Picture: Sen. Smith holding one of the Union made LCYD T-shirts.]

Meet Your Candidates: Rod Smith

Make sure you join us this Wednesday at Jasmine's Cafe and Lounge while we meet with Senator Rod Smith. Our Forum starts at 7PM. Join us at 7 and have some of the best Sushi in Tallahassee, followed by stimulating conversation from one of our state's premiere Senators and political leaders.

Senator Smith will update us on session and on his campaign for Governor. I am looking forward to hearing the Senator discuss how he plans to outreach to Young Democrats and Rural Voters and then I hope to hear the same from Congressman Davis in the future.

I have already had one LCYD member tell me that he believes that he will be deciding on who he votes for in the primary off of the LCYD forums. I hope that you will attend be able to join us and develop a better insight in to this candidate.

A new type of "Political Science"

A recent article titled "How to Spot a Baby Conservative" discussed the results of research by a UC Berkeley professor into the origins of personality and a possible correlation between personality and political ideology. Below is an excerpt from the article linked in the title bar:

"Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative."

It's not the soundest science, but I think it's worth a read. Enjoy!

Show Your Respect

Legislative Aides are some of the hardest working and least appreciated people in politics. They ensure that our elected Representatives are able to better serve the people of Florida. Last year the Leon County Young Democrats chose to partner with the Florida Young Democrats and recognize these people and their hard work.

Tomorrow, at 7:00 PM, we are doing it again! Tomorrow we will host our second annual Legislative Aides Appreciation Reception. This was the Florida Young Democrats Event of the Year last year, and this year we are working hard to raise the bar.

I hope all LCYD members will be able to attend. If you are interested in helping out with the event please send an email to info.lcyd@gmail.com .

"Happy Sunshine Week - slam!"

The Florida Sec. of State Sue Cobb showed a lack of commitment to the spirit of "Sunshine Week,” a week for recognition of Florida's open-government law, before yesterday's meeting. This excerpt is taken from a Tallahassee Democrat Article available Online through the link in the title bar:

"Tallahassee Democrat Political Editor Bill Cotterell, Associated Press reporter Brent Kallestad and cameraman Dave Heller also were threatened with eviction from a hallway outside Cobb's closed conference room by Capitol Police for trying to attend the meeting with Cobb, Leon County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor, Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho"

Please click on the title to view the full article, where you may share your views on the article, and download video clips of Sec. Cobb, Com. Proctor and Sup. Sancho.

Light at the end of tunnel for Sancho

There's breaking news in the Leon County Voting Machines Issue. This excerpt is from a Tallahassee Democrat Online article (available through the link in the title bar):

"After a two-hour meeting with Leon County officials, Secretary of State Sue Cobb said today she is 'slightly more confident' that the county can work out problems with providing handicapped-accessible voting equipment.

Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho and County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor said they were pleased with the closed-door session."

Although this news is encouraging, this issue is not yet resolved. "Today's article about Sue Cobb's and Ion Sancho's meeting is encouraging, but in no way does it diminish the importance of attending tomorrow's events," said Rick Minor, Chair of the Leon County Democratic Executive Meeting. For details about tommorrow's activites visit the comments.

Light at the end of tunnel for Sancho

There's breaking news in the Leon County Voting Machines Issue. This excerpt is from a Tallahassee Democrat Online article (available through the link in the title bar):

"After a two-hour meeting with Leon County officials, Secretary of State Sue Cobb said today she is 'slightly more confident' that the county can work out problems with providing handicapped-accessible voting equipment.

Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho and County Commission Chairman Bill Proctor said they were pleased with the closed-door session."

Although this news is encouraging, this issue is not yet resolved. "Today's article about Sue Cobb's and Ion Sancho's meeting is encouraging, but in no way does it diminish the importance of attending tomorrow's events," said Rick Minor, Chair of the Leon County Democratic Executive Meeting. For details about tommorrow's activites visit the comments.

Legislative Aides Reception Date Confirmed!

I'm happy to announce the date for the Second Annual Legislative Aides Reception has been set. This year our award-winning event will take place on Wednesday, March 22nd at Paradigm Downtown. The doors open at 6:30 PM.

Although the Leon County Young Democrats we happy with the turn out last year, we have taken numerous feedback into account and hope to have an even more successful event this year. Hope to see you there!

Monitoring Environmental Bills for the 2006 Session

The Florida chapter of the Sierra Club has posted a very nice tool for tracking the bills that will affect sprawl, public lands, air & water quality, and other issues of interest to the Sierra Club and environmental community in Florida in 2006.


One bill is already making its way through committee, and there are more on the way -- lots more. This session looks to be one of the busiest in terms of conservation issues, so check out this new site for the Sierra Club's perspective on what we can do.

http://www.florida.sierraclub.org/tracker/