Last week’s program was presented by Rotarian David Delph. David’s guest speaker was Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, Craig Latimer. Craig Latimer was elected to his position in November 2012 and took office on January 8, 2013. In 2014, Supervisor Latimer received his official designation as a Certified Elections and Registration Administrator (CERA). Supervisor Latimer is the first Supervisor of Elections to earn the Governor's Sterling Award, the highest award for performance excellence in the State of Florida. Governor's Sterling Award recipients are selected based on a rigorous examination and expected to serve as role models, sharing best practices with others in the community. Public service has always been a part of Craig Latimer's job description. Before working for the Supervisor of Elections office, he served and protected the community for 35 years in law enforcement, retiring as a Major from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in 2008. Elections are like the ”Super Bowl” for the Election business. 800,000+ voters with over 300 polling sites (16 early voting sites) makes it a huge task. There are 42 full time employee’s in the Elections office with another 3,500 poll workers that all need training, background checks, etc for one month of employment! There are 3 ways to vote; vote by mail (20% use this method), early voting, and day of election voting. Sending out “sample ballots” before the elections save a lot of time on voting day. The Budget for elections is less than one third of 1%...the election is run very efficiently. The ability to vote is both a privilege and a responsibility. You must be registered at least 29 days before an election to vote in that election.
-You are eligible to register to vote in Florida if:
-you are a citizen of the United States of America
-you are a Florida resident, you are at least 18 years old (you may pre-register to vote at the age of 16, but you cannot vote until you are 18 years old), -you have not been adjudicated mentally incapacitated with respect to voting in Florida or any other state
-you have not been convicted of a felony, or have been convicted of a felony and had your civil rights restored.
Registering is easy…go to www.votehillsborough.org. Voter Fraud is taken very seriously and there are many safeguards in place to insure it doesn’t happen. Supervisor Latimer is confident that there is “zero” voter fraud in Hillsborough county. There is much more oversight by the department of Justice than ever before. Signature verification, barcoded envelopes tracking ballots, electronic scanning, etc. ensure accurate counts. As of 8/5/16 there are: 318,977 Democrats, 260,133 Republican, 231,514 other voters registered in Hillsborough county.
-provided by Mike Arndt
Club News
Rotarians- We need you your help!
If you have not previously scheduled to be out of town, it is time to step up and help our club make this new event a success. The event is scheduled from 10-2. Setup will start at 8 am and clean-up and breakdown of the event will be from 2 until completed. (The more Rotarians that help with the breakdown and clean up the quicker the process will be.)
Rotary Community Appreciation Event
The Noon Rotary Club will be presenting a “Community Appreciation Event” to celebrate our community and everyone who makes Plant City a great place to live and work. A special focus on our Law Enforcement personnel and First Responders will be the theme. It will be a free event for all with donations of “Back to School” supplies encouraged. The event will be August 13th from 10:00am to 2:00pm. All Rotarians are asked to volunteer. More information to follow as we get closer!
This is your newsletter. If there is news you would like to share with your club (new job? a birth? employment opportunity? club projects? anything you think other members or subscribers to our bulletin would find interesting or useful) then please e-mail it to your bulletin editor.
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Calling for website sponsors! It is our goal to have enough sponsorship from members of the club to make our website and these e-bulletins self-supporting. If you enjoy these electronic updates and appreciate our club having a presence on the website it's time to step up. For the low fee of $50, your business ad is not only included in each of these e-bulletins and on the website pages, these ads are active links that take you to your business's website. Don't have a business and still want to help, we can include an ad thanking you for your sponsorship. For more information emailBill Wicker.
From the August 2016 issue of The Rotarian
Quilts may be utilitarian objects, but Rod Buffington’s “quilt paintings” – watercolors on paper that are then covered with small bits of fabric – are geometrics where mathematics and whimsy intersect. Buffington, a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield, Ill., didn’t come up with this unusual method overnight. His voilà moment came as he beheld the mesmerizing quilts made by his grandmother, who lived to 104 and continued her craft until she was 98. To create his works, Buffington lays cotton fabric over paintings he has created, then hand-...
From the August 2016 issue of The Rotarian
Steven Goldsmith is a mediation and training leader with Mediators Beyond Borders International, an organization that develops local skills for peace building and conflict resolution around the world. Goldsmith was among 150 experts and leaders who gathered at a Rotary presidential conference in Ontario, Calif., to discuss issues related to resolving conflicts and reducing violence. More than 1,500 people attended the conference, the first of five hosted this year by 2015-16 Rotary President K.R. Ravindran and Foundation Trustee Chair Ray...
The General Manager of The Rotary Foundation/Chief Development Officer is responsible for the effective management and operations of The Rotary Foundation. Working closely with the executive management team and Rotary leadership, this position will oversee the fund development, polio eradication and partnership/sponsorship activities within the organization.
The position reports to the General Secretary and will ensure that strategies are aligned to achieve the goals of The Rotary Foundation, which include annual fund development goals in excess of US$300 million dollars. The leader will...
From the August 2016 issue of The Rotarian
It’s 3 a.m. on a Sunday, and Katheryne Rosa Barazorda Cuellar is up, preparing to work in her mother’s soup stall in the small Peruvian town of Anta, near the Inca capital of Cusco. Smart and seemingly indefatigable, she has a quick smile and infectious laugh.
Rosa is studying to be a chemical engineer, and she has unmistakable talent and drive. She needs them. Poverty, gender bias, and violence darken the lives of many young Peruvian women, including her.
Rosa is lucky, though. Her family supports her. And for the past four years, so has Visionaria...
More than 6,000 Rotary members in 154 countries reported on their experiences with the new grant model as part of an evaluation during the 2015-16 Rotary year. The results will help us improve the grant process and learn what impact the Foundation's global grants have on our areas of focus.
Among the key findings:
90 percent of respondents support the grant model; 86 percent see it as an improvement over the former model.
Grant activity and the average grant award continue to increase each year.
Rotary members want more resources to help them apply for grants and design sustainable projects...
