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MIAMI ACT TODAY! METROMOVER EXPANSION UNDER NIMBY ASSAULT After decades of inaction, a long-promised public transit expansion to Miami Beach is receiving blowback from a small group of well-funded residents spreading misinformation. Use the Transit Alliance action to support smart transit alternatives, build the train, and relieve our clogged roadways! Hold the Line Coalition 
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🚨🚨Bad Bill Alerts🚨🚨 HB 41- Land Development Initiatives and Referendum Process- Prohibits local initiatives or referendums on land development regulations. State law already prohibits such initiatives or referendums on comprehensive plan or map amendments, except those specifically authorized in a local charter provision enacted before June 2011. HB 41 would essentially expand this to any local push to change land development rules and make it retroactive, stripping control from local communities. HB 383- Public Construction- Mandates an application under review for 180 days or more shall bedeemed approved by the municipality unless both parties agree to extend the deadline; revises provisionsrelating to payments for purchases of construction services by local governmental entities and public entities; revises time periods within which certain proceedings must be commenced and concluded. Companion bill to SB 346. HB 439- Land Use and Development Regulations- Eliminates ability of local governments to reject a special magistrate’s recommendation; redefines “sprawl” as only “unplanned” development requiring the extension of public facilities by local government; eliminates “community goals and vision” from data which may be utilized when developing comprehensive plans or plan amendments; expands the definition of an “agricultural enclave” from a 1,000 residents to 1,000 residential units; and it prohibits denial of a development order for failure to meet level of service standards. HB 671- Residential Building Permits- would shorten the time local governments have to approve or deny building permits from 30 business days to 9 calendar days; would also shorten the time local governments have to request additional information from applicants and require local jurisdiction to reduce permit fees under certain circumstances. Companion bill to SB 682. TELL IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT (ICE) TO SHUT DOWN THE BAKER COUNTY DETENTION CENTER NOW. For years, immigrants at the Baker County Detention Center in Macclenny, Florida, have suffered appalling conditions and abuses. People have reported: being beaten so badly they suffer lasting ear damage and spending months in solitary confinement with no explanation; being pepper sprayed while already being pinned under a guard’s knee; racial slurs and harassment; sexual voyeurism, such as women being watched when they use the restroom; a lack of medical care leading to seizures and a diabetic coma; a lack of clean clothes, sanitary napkins, and bedding leading to infections and sleeping in blood-stained sheets. The situation at Baker is urgent. Since the beginning of this year, at least 59 complaints have been filed in the Florida Detention Database and 11 with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security pertaining to conditions at Baker. Since 2020, over 134 complaints have been filed about the facility. The most common complaints continue to be: denial of medical care; harassment, intimidation, and bullying; and unsanitary conditions. Barriers to accessing legal counsel is another ongoing problem at Baker - 86 people have cited this as an issue since 2017. In September, this problem hit a breaking point when the Baker County Sheriff’s Office illegally blocked attorneys from meeting in person with their clients and potential clients. After over a decade of complaints, ICE has failed to adequately intervene to stop abuses at Baker, which is run by Baker County Sheriff’s Office, and the conditions at the facility have persisted. In fact, the situation is worsening with Baker County Sheriff's Office demonstrating its willingness to continue violating immigrants’ rights through retaliation for peaceful protests by cutting off all access to water and denying access to in person legal visits. ICE has the power to permanently end its contract with the Baker County Sheriff’s Office, which has proven it cannot responsibly and humanely care for human beings but instead puts them in danger and causes them harm. Send an email to ICE officials to urge them to end their contract with the Baker County’s Sheriff’s Office and shut down this facility once and for all!  To Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Amazon creates an enormous amount of plastic waste with single-use packaging that we just don't need. Plastic waste is harming our communities and polluting our environment, and the problem is only getting worse. We, the undersigned, urge you to get rid of unnecessary plastic packaging to help end the waste crisis. Sincerely, Concerned Citizens   The 2023 Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day is March 14 - with a virtual and live component this year so we can make the biggest impact.
- Virtual Rally: 8:30 AM to 10 AM - Meet our Exhibitors: 9 AM to 2 PM - Meetings with Legislators: 10 AM to 4 PM More info at https://www.fddc.org/dd-awareness-day/ Register to attend the virtual rally here: https://ddday2023.org/#!/registration Download the Advocacy toolkit here: https://www.fddc.org/dd-awareness-day/#toolkit City of Miami commissioners voted unanimously to cap individual remarks during meetings’ public comment period by limiting the amount of time community members can donate to a fellow speaker.
Case Study and Dialogue IV: Indigenous Stewardship and the Conservation Movement
First Light co-founder Peter Forbes tells the story of the collaboration of conservation organizations and Wabanaki communities who seek to expand Indigenous stewardship of land in Maine and surrounding areas. Hear about concrete examples of landback and rematriation, and the importance of a conservation movement that includes and reflects Indigenous expertise and perspective  HB 175/SB 192 would establish a 2 mile buffer zone around Everglades National Park and establish heightened review of any proposals to develop in this area.
 Florida manatees are dying at a record pace. Nearly 2,000 manatees died in 2021 and 2022 combined — a two-year record.
Will you raise your voice for these gentle marine mammals? Unchecked water pollution is driving a starvation crisis for manatees. More than half of their deaths have occurred in the Indian River Lagoon, where pollution has been destroying the seagrass that serves as their primary food source. Manatees are also seriously threatened by collisions with boats, which can injure and kill them. These collisions are so common, sadly, that almost all adult Florida manatees bear boat-propeller scars, which biologists now use to tell them apart from each other. Last November the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to again grant maximum protection to manatees — reclassifying them from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act — so they can get the help they desperately need. This month is the agency’s deadline to respond. Tell the Fish and Wildlife Service: Manatees need the full protection of the Endangered Species Act before it’s too late. |
AuthorB. Buil is an endorsed Chaplain, DEI Educator, Somatic/Trauma Care Practitioner, Disability Rights Advocate, Environmental and Social Justice Activist Archives
September 2023
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