Getting Ready for W

Bob Goldstein wields a wicked brush.

Here is what the Democrats of South Dade Club were up to at their April 17 meeting: making signs to show the president what we think of him. Worst President Ever! Indeed. The signs are for the demo to protest Bush when he speaks at the Kendall campus of Miami-Dade College on Saturday April 28.

That meeting wasn’t all arts-and-crafts. They elected officers to back President Shirley Alexiou, who’s in the second year of her two-year term. Bob Goldstein is vice president, Errol Saunders is treasurer, and board members are Sam Dorr, Frank Morra, Barbara Schwartz and Kristin Wipior.

The South Dade Dems are one of the most powerful clubs we have, and they contributed a generous amount of work in last fall’s election campaign, helping Michael Calderin to his strong challenge in Congressional District 25 and Ron Saunders to his victory in State House District 120, taking away a Republican seat. Yes!

Learn more about the DSDC at their website, www.dsdcfl.org.

Other recent club news:

Sunny Isles Beach Democratic club had a good crowd of 50 or so for its April meeting. County Clerk Harvey Ruvin was the featured speaker, touching on his work on the green side of politics. After years of working on a plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, he got the County Commission to create an advisory panel on climate change. And it’s about time to get effective: Ruvin said emissions have been going up despite the wish to cut them. In the Miami Herald he is quted saying that carbon dioxide has been rising at a rate of 36.5 percent a year in the county. Whew, time to go alternative. Ruvin said the county is buying hybrid vehicles to start the trend in the other direction.

Miami Beach Democratic Club meets with a MoveOn chapter, and is moving its meetings back to the first Monday of the month. Next is 7 p.m. May 7, at the VFW post in the Floridian, 650 West Ave. Miami Beach 33139.

In Surfside, the Adlai Stevenson Women’s Democratic Club recently had DEC Chairman Joe Garcia as the main speaker. Club President Evelyn Manset enjoyed his presentation so much that she felt like she was 16 again – she’s 88! Joe urged club members to volunteer to help register new citizens to vote. A ceremony is held every other month, usually at the Convention Center in Miami Beach, and 6,000 new citizens are all in one place at one time, thrilled at their new status and ready to sign up to vote. All it needs is more volunteers to hold the clipboards. Quite a few of the Surfside ladies said they’d be there the next time.

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