Florida Matters; 4; Civic Engagement

Major funding for Florida matters comes from the mosaic company a leading producer of fertilizer made from phosphate a natural resource found in Florida. America's farmers depend on Florida phosphate for their crop nutrition needs mosaic helping America grow. Hi I'm Irene Mayer. The presidential election of 2008 generated an unprecedented wave of civic engagement. Floridians got involved in the political process. We're passionate about political issues and it showed in voter turnout. But what has become of all that energy. We'll take a look. Coming up next on Florida matters. Welcome to Florida matters civic engagement can mean a lot of things from

solving problems in your community to participating in local and national elections to becoming the squeaky wheel and making your voice heard by public officials. What it boils down to is having some control over the world around you. Today we'll catch a glimpse of some of the ways Floridians are working hard to make a difference. First up Carson Cooper with a story about Florida's political new way. With each generation comes a different approach to life but expressions of today's youth extend far beyond trends and fashion. I think the youth is finding a way to get more engaged and I think a lot has to do with the multiple resources that are out there to get information. You're called the millennials or Generation Y. They're the largest generation since baby boomers and they're eager to get involved in the civic and political landscape while thinking this is one of the best times in our country for young people to be involved in politics at a time that people really realize that that one

person can make a difference. Many of my peers especially at the university level are very involved and engaged in the community. A lot of the organizations that I've been involved with both on campus and off campus. But if a boomer is defined involvement in activism with marches and petitions the millennials are making their mark through Web sites like Twitter where users share tweets or instant updates and politicians are taking notice. It's important for them to engage younger voters specifically on the web on social networking because this is the format that younger voters and younger constituents are more active in the 2008 election embraced and expanded use of new media and technology. Candidates had pages on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Journalists began twittering and average Joes became blog reporters. Candidates who are on Facebook and who understand Facebook and Twitter and text messaging in all these different social networking mediums are going to be more successful candidates.

Young people are volunteering and voting at higher rates more than 23 million voters between ages 18 and 35 filled the ballot box last November. It was the largest turnout for that age group since 1972. I think naturally what happened within our nation is that yeah we we we have some folks who kind of pick or grab the baton and say you know what I think it's tough for me to step up in and get involved or be more aware of what's going on around me and have a voice and be active. Hillsborough County Commissioner Kevin Beckner knows all about using technology to campaign on the local level. So many people now are communicating online. They are communicating electronically. And so we were looking to reach people in a new way. Commissioner Beckner used Facebook and video sharing sites like YouTube to get his message out to young people. I don't know if age is so much of it is a willing to a willingness to open up your mind to new ideas and to new technologies. And then before I got involved with the campaign I was not involved in things like Facebook of course you know I did email him and was on the web. But I think a

lot of it is just being able to open up your mind to new ideas and new concepts. Although technology is helping young people get involved there can be a downside. We're a generation that's very distracted. We have a lot of things that consume our time and energy and not to pick on it too much. But I know some of us in a lot more time on Facebook than engage in the community. It's just the reality of it. So while young adults may be changing the rules of civic engagement one tweet at a time. The traditional methods still remain tried and true. You would have just done electronically I don't think we would have been easy. Successful people want to be able to meet and talk with the candidate. There's no doubt the technology is not the end all be all. The internet is not the is not the end. The internet is the vehicle to drive people and to organize people online for civic engagement. For Florida matters. I'm CARSEN Cooper. Another way to get involved is to join a cause. Maybe one that says Not in my backyard

it's usually because of power lines or a cell phone tower but in this case it was a new landfill proposed for Pasco County. Carl Roth and John Floyd from the protectors of Florida's legacy opposed to that project. And. Welcome to both of you. Thank you very much. Your group is one that folks may not have heard of. Again it's called the protectors of Florida's legacy. It was organized specifically because of this landfill project. Is that right. That's correct. Basically a small group of us got together we met one another. First meeting we met at one of the members homes around the dinner table and started talking about what could we do about this. And you heard about the landfill project coming. And John in particular had it had a real particular reason for opposing the project. Tell us a little bit about that. Yes ma'am. It was right directly across the road from my business. It would have been a huge landfill essentially across the street and your businesses and

growing citrus plants that screenies. Yes ma'am. And what kind of an effect would have could that. Well the biggest concern was the bird issue. We were thinking that you know we may calls as a big issue because of state and federal government has caused us to go inside and grow and all the little citrus trees which is an industry that brings in the States somewhere in the neighborhood of 8 to 10 billion dollars a year and employs about 75000 people. So we were concerned that it may affect our business in general. And everyone knows when you see a landfill it attracts birds. Yes there's a lot of herbs and the concern was that it could they could pack into and break into the covering over the plant that is in our choir. That's correct. And then the end result could be that the trees wouldn't know whether they would be breached breached a structure in the state we come in and quarantine us at that point into you know further inspection to make sure things are OK. But if it continue to happen of course which it would if there was an issue you know

we would almost be impossible to continue to grow there. Well when you hear about a project like this coming into in your case to your front yard did you feel helpless to be able to stop. Well we we knew that it would be a big fight but we knew we had to do something. So we we started you know just what we could talk on with neighbors and friends and see what we could do once we realized you know it was a real reality that they were thinking about doing it. How necessary was it Carl to actually organize and not just be a few neighbors talking over the fence so to speak. Well at least from my background in the consulting arena we always have a plan. But our main task was really to educate people and get the word out because the surprising thing for us was people didn't really realize that this was coming. So you had to get the word out that the landfill was on the docket. That's right could become a reality. People had heard about a county wide or citywide in Zephyrhills was talking about is that right.

Right. Zephyr is right between Dade City and Zephyrhills right adjacent to the Green Swamp. And the community didn't hear about it either through the media or the newspapers there hadn't really been a lot of news that had come out so had to let them know. Well that was a big challenge we weren't really sure because none of us had really been through this before. And so we started going to civic organizations. We started scheduling time with the cities. We started working through the Dade City Chamber of Commerce Rotary Clubs just go anybody we could get in front of to say hey this is out there. Be aware. And you too can get involved. So. So once you've got the word out to groups what was the response like. What do people think. Well I did a deal where I stood in front of the courthouse for five consecutive days for like three hours into a petition to be signed in 95 percent of the people that went by me sign the petition that they did not want no

garbage dump in our community. That's what it essentially would have been. And did you have to have a petition with so many signatures to make this happen. We have about 3500 signatures right now on that petition. And we thought when we go in front of the county and say hey there's 35 other folks that thought this was not a good idea. 100 other people. Exactly. Exactly. And did that have any sway. Did it matter. Well we haven't got to the counting process yet. Hopefully the state decision is upheld to deny it. But that was all a long term preparation because we've been working for two years two years to get to this point. And I mean we've had aggressive email campaigns as far as trying to get the word out there. We have a Web site that we put up to try to get information out through that way. We've spoken multiple times to Pasco County Commission the cities here meaning city council meetings and the banners and you know just whatever we could come up with to

to get them or tell them what what happened after that. Well multiple things I guess. We were talking about this a little bit earlier. We were never really sure wouldn't somebody when we sat in a meeting with 20 of us sitting around the table somebody would come up with an idea somebody else would come up with an idea. And we never knew which one was going to really work. But if they made sense we gave it a try. And one of the things that worked really well for us. Dade City has it once a month on Saturday. They do a cruise and we're all cars come in. We got a booth there and had been given out information and talking to people getting petitions and it's maintained a presence in the community about what was going on and people come up to us now. What's the latest. What's the latest. So it was so it was really important to be able to get the community on board. Exactly not only aware of what was going on but to support the opposition if you will.

Exactly. And we really believe when the community was informed about what was going on. They all came to our side. So you had to keep the momentum going for a couple of years. And what has the end result been at least to this point. The DPP announced the Department of Environmental Protection Yes. So it's a state agency that reviews permit applications for landfills and they announced a letter of intent to deny it's not a full denial yet. But that isn't their intent. Based on the latest science and information that's been provided to them. Well how much of this political action that you all took play into their decision do you think. Well that's kind of a tough one because we've been working on it first. We we didn't really want to get involved with like the governor's office and the secretary of state local. That's right we try to stay local and work with the DP and then later on in 2007 and we said well

let's start outreaching to the governor a little bit. And then finally by the end of 2008 when the decision was coming down we had a big push e-mail faxes and everything because this decision was coming to a head. And what really worked is all the efforts that we've been working to get everybody involved through e-mails and whatnot. Environmental groups and everything they all just bombarded the governor's office the secretary's office everyone. And it was great but we never really thought it would come to that and making it a different way of life. Thank you both very much for being with us today. Helping us understand how we can make a difference to pay for more information about the protectors of Florida's legacy group. Just visit us online at WSF dot o r g. Slash Florida matters. There are many ways to take action when you want to effect change. Here to talk about their own

methods are Nikki Benoit of Florida voices for animals. And Don Brown sitting next to her. The NAACP Florida State Conference. Welcome to both of you. Let's begin by talking about just quickly the history of each group. Why was the this particular animal rights group formed in 1989. Miriam Parman her mother Elena Flanigan created this group to join forces with other compassionate residents in Tampa Bay to speak out for the animals that were otherwise ignored. And many daily activities and industries. Now NAACP has a long history. Give us just the thumbnail sketch done. Well in 1999 the organization was formed. There were approximately 60 individuals who came together whites blacks Jews to get the word out about all of the atrocities that were facing blacks at that time basically lynching. That was really why it was formed as the years passed. We took on other forms of

discriminatory practices that we currently have today and now throw us is still there we are you know one hundred a year. This is our centennial. And if things don't change we will be around another hundred. That sounds like it as far as civic engagement goes. People getting involved in community groups to further a cause. In the case of the animal rights group that you represent that is real specific. You are very specific about what your goal is and what your mission is. How do you connect with people to get them involved in that particular mission. Particularly we have a vast online network at meetup dot com. If you go to Tampa Bay animal Tampa animal rights and many people will find us. Many people realize the atrocities our animal friends face and will seek out other groups to find out how they can help end this. And a lot of people see the cruelty and don't know where to go with it. So we've created an umbrella of sorts to bring everyone concerned with wildlife conservation means with

companion animal issues with puppy mills and in shelters and animals raised for food. The most horrific form of animal cruelty they will seek us out but also will attend events will set up information tables and environment events and companion animal events or religious events to draw in and make it a conversation piece. We offer compassionate resources to make changes so that in and of itself will bridge the gap between those that have thought about the issues. You know I'm thinking animal cruelty is in the animal food industry and I don't know what to do about it. We give them resources to make that change. A lot of it demonstrations we are out at in front of store fronts if we learn that they have well in a sense it's really just education for passers by. For people that hoping to attend the restaurant or the store like a recent Petland demonstration that went on nationwide just before Christmas. We were a part of that helping Humane Society draw attention to the egregious treatment of animals raised in puppy factories. So a lot of passers by were like wow I agree with you. They parked their car and they would join us and

pick a sign up for the circus. Don do you hear about similar methods. How is the NAACP typically historically approached its causes. Basically what we do. We approach legislatures First we try to remedy things by way of the court. We want to get to government. We want to get the government involved because as it pertains to blacks most say the thing that has happened to us in this country has been legislated. So we have to overturn some of the laws that have unjustly dealt with us as a result of that. We try to do it through the legislative body other ways that we approach it. We get other organizations that have similar issues that see like minds will follow organization and we coalesce with them. And when you have numbers more people listen to your legislators looking at all of their constituency out there and they get a little concerned and they're more apt to take the necessary action to cure the issue.

And contacting people and getting them involved and getting them to participate and join the end of a lease. Is there a particular method that works. You basically go to the churches we send out mailers we contact other organizations and ask them to solicit memberships for us. So any means necessary to garner those memberships. That's what we do and wanted to be perfectly clear we are the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in all of us of color. So we represent everyone and everyone. All right. And we're almost out of time but quickly what are them the most extreme methods. How far will sort of voices for animals go to get the message out about preventing cruelty to animals. Well we really try to keep it more of a compassionate focus. We want to raise awareness for compassion with compassion. We don't like to point fingers or shame or demonize anybody. We're really tapping into the innate compassion that people typically have so we'll show video footage of behind the

scenes actual coverage of animal cruelty either in puppy mills or an animal where they raise animals for food and confined animal feeding operations. That's probably the most extreme in terms of shock value it is painful to see but it will trigger some type of action. And per capita we have the power to incite change worldwide with our daily changes and really active in making small changes and makes a big difference and NAACP has historically been a peaceful group. What's the furthest that NAACP go the most extreme that I would say that we would go direct action where we will actually demonstrate our side of the Capitol building or a business that is not doing what they should be doing and what we normally do is send out a call for people from all around the state all over the United States to converge. How does that work. It's very well it's worked. I think you get a lot of work to say that some of those demonstrations got tens of thousands of them and you know

organizations share similar aspirations and they will come and join. Well thank you both for coming on and sharing this community activism methods. I'm sure we've been learning a lot of folks today. Thank you. Thank you. To find out how you can become more civically engaged. Check out our Web site at WSF dot o r g. Slash. Florida matters. For some Floridians civic engagement is less about talking about the problem and more about doing something to solve it. That's just the case as Larry Ellison brings us this week's Florida story. If you don't think one person can make it then you've never met Stephanie. INSKEEP Since Stephanie went to work in her office writing grants and raising money. Allowed to playgrounds in Tampa have never been quite the same with more

playground projects on the drawing board you know I'm thinking CBS pharmacy has been a major supporter in the past and they've. They gave us two you know sizable grants for pay down and imagining possibilities. First inspired by her daughter Sarah who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in 2000. Stephanie Buzinski saw a problem need of a show. If you're in a wheelchair this is pretty impossible to get across because you have sidewalk railroad ties some sand and then the surface so it's just a good example of you know a barrier to play. So with the same zeal that served as a young Peace Corps volunteer making life better in Ecuador. This wife mother of two and private citizen set out on a mission closer to home. Stephanie's dream playground where kids of all abilities could play together.

At first she traveled the road alone but financial donors. Fellow citizens and the city eventually share her determination. That dream has become a reality. To do the impossible dream and make it happen that is the American dream isn't it. That is the American dream. Worry second 2008. Stephanie Buzinski joined Mayor Pam Oriol for the ribbon of freedom playground campus McFarland park. A dream seven years in the making. On a recent visit to the specially designed playground with her daughters Sarah and Claire Stefani couldn't be happier for all. I come here I just feel a lot of joy this way. You know it's the achievement in the dream and it's something that I thought about for a long time and worked really hard on and realized that a lot of people's help and I just.

It makes me feel like we did something right. I think Sarah just feels frames and feels part of. The community part of the parks and so welcome for her I think it's a freedom playground that's what it means for free. I was praying that I was going down the line. If you don't Stephanie's role in freedom playground. City Planner Tom Johnston says she saw a need. The city didn't see. Stephanie. It's 98 percent staff with her vision and her getting the designer on board. It really got the project going and made it happen. Stephanie also raised one house of the one million dollars needed to build what is now Tampa's most popular playground. I think my time in the Peace Corps has helped me a lot in a lot of ways in my life. I think just kind of not being afraid to approach people in a community and ask for support.

You know having an idea that you can make a difference but also realizing that you can make a difference a small difference is just as important as a big difference. For seven year old Arkie shipwright second project spearheaded by Buzinski freedom playground foundation. Has made. All the difference in the world. At. Imagining possibilities playground. Artesia is just another youngster at Grady elementary having fun. With. Play. Around. He's got. To play. That. For ever. Ms. A ran. With its rubber flooring wide ramps and special equipment. This playground is the first of its kind at a Hillsborough County School System. Assistant principal Christine bosal I was at Stephanie Hughes and she's a hero to all of us and especially to the children they just that you can see

how much they enjoy the playground it's fabulous. And you know. Sometimes it takes one person. To really make things happen. And. She was the one that instigated it. And then the teachers the faculty the staff the school district. All jumped on board and we made it all happen together. What I always wanted for Sarah and for other kids was I want other kids to get to know them as a kid not this is the kid in the wheelchair. This is the kid with autism it's just this is a child that likes to read like I do or this is a child that likes to play on the swings like Eidur. And just think all of that. All that stuff and abuse as he has accomplished started with a single. $5 donation. The $5 donation. Mary watching gave her friend years ago for nothing more than an idea called Freedom playground was the push Stephanie meet. I didn't have. Five.

And I gave it to her to take this five. And you go inside your dream. I'm tired of you sitting here talking about what you want to do. God said if you made one step here make two steps me. Get up. Get busy. And she did. You know she made a blessing not only for Sarah clear. She made a blessing a. Call. We're all children. Great story Larry. You know there's a funny story I read about that $5 donation from Mary Watson. Stephanie got the five dollars came home with it and realize oh my gosh I'm really going to have to do this now because somebody actually gave me some money. She put it in a drawer and licked it for a couple of times over a period of weeks and asked the question Do I really want to do this. Can I do this. It was her inspiration. It was and of course the answer was yes and yes. And we're a better community because of.

Absolutely. Thanks Larry. And thank you for letting us share just a few ways that Floridians are staying involved in our communities. For more log on to WSF dot o r g. Slash Florida matters. And remember you too can make a difference. I might remember. See you next time on Florida matters. Major funding for Florida matters comes from the mosaic company a leading producer of fertilizer made from phosphate a natural resource found in Florida. America's farmers depend on Florida phosphate for their crop nutrition needs mosaic

helping America grow.