Aiming for the Manatee County Commission

Organizer, Jaime Canfield

Approximately 30 people attended the Manatee Unitarian Universalist Potluck in Bradenton to learn more about Manasota Move to Amend's efforts to build a movement strong enough to amend the Constitution to end corporate personhood and allow the government to regulate campaign spending. Arlene Sweeting gave an overview of the history of Move to Amend in Sarasota and Manatee counties.  Then Jaime Canfield gave a detailed explanation of plans to present a resolution to the Manatee County Commissioners. Many Occupy Bradenton members were in attendance. The Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is one of 14 local groups that have endorsed Move to Amend.  As Jaime says, "Only by building a coalition of like minded groups do we have a chance of success."

Passion & Purpose at First-Ever MTA National Leadership Summit

Move to Amend Affiliates from across the nation converged on Washington DC for the National Leadership Summit.  Two dedicated volunteers from the Manasota affiliate attended.  Here is their report.

Kindra Muntz and Arlene Sweeting represented the Manasota affiliate at the first ever Move to Amend National Leadership Summit this past weekend in Washington, DC. The passion and purpose of the National Leadership Team was inspiring - as well as the work being done in affiliates across the country.  In Washington State, they collected 336,000 signatures to get Move to Amend on the ballot this Fall, and it looks like it will be on the ballot in California too!   Participants learned how to lobby more effectively, spent time visioning a more democratic future, and heard from allied groups about how to build relationships with people of color communities.  The workshops were engaging and participatory with many people getting to take on leadership roles.

Due to the death of Florida activist Ilene Singer, Broward County sent Moqtadir Naim to represent them. Kindra and Arlene teamed up with Moqtadir for Lobby Day and dropped in on his Congressmen - Alcee Hastings and Ted Deutch. They also met with staff from the offices of Rep. Tom Rooney, Rep. Vern Buchanan, and Sen. Bill Nelson to encourage them to sponsor HJR48 - the We the People Amendment.

Bringing Move-To-Amend to the Sarasota County Commission

50+ Move To Amend supporters attend County Commission meeting 

The power to place a non-binding resolution on Sarasota County ballots in November rests with the Sarasota County Commission. County resident, Kindra Muntz, put together possible wording for such a resolution.

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STRAW BALLOT QUESTION: 

Only Human Beings Are Endowed with Constitutional Rights

Should the rulings of Citizens United and related Supreme Court cases be effectively overturned by an amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America to clarify that only human beings, and not corporations, labor unions and other artificial entities, are endowed with constitutional rights, and that money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech? 

 Yes _____            No_____

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Kindra along with three other Sarasota County residents - James Keeney, Arlene Sweeting, and Rhana Bazzini - all spoke in support of such a ballot initiative during the Public Comment period.

Democracy Awakening in Sarasota

Thousands of people converged on Washington, D.C. this weekend, as part of Democracy Awakening - a movement to demand a democracy that works for all Americans. Elected officials must be accountable to the people, not just to Big Money from corporations and wealthy donors. On April 15, 2016, citizens of Manatee and Sarasota counties hosted a Democracy Awakening rally in solidarity.


Andy Mele, of the the Manatee-Sarasota Sierra Club, gave a rundown of the Supreme Court decisions that opened the floodgates for Big Money campaign contributions. Lou Murray, of Newtown Nation, gave concrete examples of voter suppression in African American communities in Manatee County. Valerie Buchand, of Newtown Nation, spoke to the power of the people. Susie Copeland, of the Manatee County NAACP, focused on getting folks to vote. Kindra Muntz, of the Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections, detailed many of the election reform bills stalled in Congress right now. Charles McKenzie, of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, spoke to the importance of voting. Arlene Sweeting, of the Peace Education and Action Center, spoke about the need for reform.

Other local groups to endorse the rally included the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice Social Justice Committee, the Nation Group, National Nurses Organizing Committee/National Nurses United-Florida, American Association of University Women-Manatee Chapter, In Granny D’s Footsteps, United Nations Organization, and Occupy Bradenton.

Democracy Spring

Thousands of protesters from around the U.S. are descending on Washington D.C. They will be rallying, marching, lobbying, and engaging in acts of civil disobedience to shine the spotlight on the failings of our democracy. Rhana Bazzini, along with over 3000 others, has agreed to risk arrest as part of a non-violent direct action. She took the train from Sarasota to be part of this Democracy Spring.



Rhana made it to Washington and attended the weekend training for those who were willing to risk arrest. Rhana reported that there were so many people in attendance, that they had to schedule a second training to accommodate the overflow volunteers. Yesterday, over 400 were arrested. More are preparing for arrest each day this week.

And yet, there was almost no corporate media coverage of these mass arrests. The Intercept reports that yesterday,

"CNN did not devote any coverage to the actions. MSNBC mentioned the protests for approximately 12 seconds, while Fox News mentioned the arrests and discussed the protests for about 17 seconds."

Next weekend, larger crowds will gather for Democracy Awakening. They will press Congress to pass reforms to ensure that everyone can cast a vote that counts and that the power of people’s voices is not measured by the size of their wallet. This historic mobilization intends to define the national debate. But will the corporate media cover it?

Panel Discussion: Corporatization of Higher Education

We had a thought-provoking panel discussion concerning the power plays going on in Florida higher education.  Following a reading of the play, "The XXX-Rated Genius: Corporatization of American Higher Education", the audience was treated to a lively Q&A session.

Jeff Grieneisen and Courtney Ruffner teach locally at the State College of Florida (SCF). In January, the State College of Florida’s Board of Trustees voted to eliminate multi-year contracts at SCF. Grieneisen and Ruffner filled the audience in on the status of forming a union to give SCF faculty a voice in the decision making process and why these contracts are so important. They also spoke about the make-up of the Board of Trustees and their almost complete lack of background in higher education.

Rhana Bazzini provided an historical perspective. When she was college-age in New York City, her peers were attending the City College of New York for free. That kind of governmental investment in education has been redirected, and now students are graduating with unprecedented debt.

Ralph Wilson, a co-founder of FSU’s chapter of UnKoch My Campus, explained how the Charles Koch Foundation uses their funding to require and monitor ideological compliance on campus. According to UnKoch My Campus, the Koch brothers and their network of front groups work to undermine environmental protection, worker’s rights, health care expansion, and quality public education, to name just a few.  They have donated to hundreds of colleges and universities in the name of philanthropy. But these donations are given with strings attached. Their donations influence college research, the professors hired, and the coursework being taught, in order to advance their ideologies and corporate profits. In this short, camera-phone video, Ralph explains how they play both sides of the tenure issue to their advantage.

Anna Maria Adds Its Name to the List

A couple of weeks ago, Ruth Rauch and Diane Canniff spoke to their Anna Maria City Commissioners. They requested a resolution in support of a Constitutional Amendment to combat the political spending and power of non-human "persons". Doug Copeland, Commission Chair, asked that the proposal be placed on the agenda for the very next meeting. Ruth was ready for that meeting and here's her report:

At the meeting, we had a good turn out of support. Commission Chair Copeland expressed agreement with the spirit of Move To Amend's request but wondered if action was appropriate at the local level. Commissioner Woodland expressed that he had some concerns about whether the 10th amendment to the Constitution had some bearing on this issue.

I was asked to respond to these concerns in my comments. I stated that although Memorial Bills in the Florida legislature had been proposed, there appeared to be little political will to take up the matter. I pointed out that donations to legislative political committees appear to dictate the priorities of the legislature. I also mentioned that two Supreme Court justices have spoken out in opposition to their own Court's Citizens United decision.

In the end, without further discussion, the Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the resolution. It will be adopted without any modification to the resolution we submitted without any further action required by the commission at its next meeting on March 24. I am so pleased we had a good outcome. I must say, activism can be very satisfying

Am I going to attend that meeting to make sure it gets done? You bet!

Public Comment Period, Anna Maria City Commission

Ruth Rauch speaking to Anna
Maria City Commission

Last fall, in an effort to find more candidates for public office who will help Move To Amend in their local jurisdictions, Manasota Move To Amend undertook a "Pledge To Amend" campaign. The three Bradenton Gulf Island cities - Anna Maria, Bradenton Beach, and Holmes Beach - were all having elections. We approached all the candidates to determine where they stood concerning reducing corporate power, getting money out of politics, and creating a democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people.

We found a lot of support in Anna Maria and Holmes Beach candidates, but no on-the-record pledges. The candidates in Bradenton Beach were otherwise occupied with a very close Mayoral race. That race between the current and former Bradenton Beach Mayor resulted in a tie that was decided by a card draw. True story.

Diane Canniff at the podium

City of Anna Maria resident, Ruth Rauch, was revved up to find others in the city who shared her views about the need to amend the U.S. Constitution.  She had made it her New Year's resolution to tackle the issue. Last night, Ruth spoke to the Anna Maria City Commission during the Public Comment period. After explaining the national importance of reducing corporate power and money in politics, she delved into local ramifications. She brought up the 2013 Manatee County referendum that proposed a sales tax increase to pay for health care programs in Manatee County. The opposition to this tax was largely funded by out-of-county dark money - funds that are spent by organizations that are not required to disclose their donors. Diane Canniff, also an Anna Maria resident, followed Ruth at the podium. She mentioned a large development company who is taking the City to Federal Court. The company is one of the plaintiffs claiming violation of their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.

After listening to these residents, a commissioner asked that the issue be placed on next month's meeting agenda. Sweet!

Some Early Arrivers for Anna Maria City Commission Public Comment Period

Martin Luther King Day Unity Walk

David Cobb at Sarasota MLK celebration

Manasota Move To Amend participated in Sarasota's Martin Luther King Unity Walk. Our local ABC station interviewed David Cobb, one of the founders of the national Move To Amend. It is shameful on this celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. that we have to begin with a statement that Black Lives Matter, said David Cobb. The news anchor portrayed Move to Amend as a nonprofit organization aiming to build a society where everyone experiences their human rights. See their coverage here.

If you haven't participated in Sarasota's annual Unity Walk, consider joining in next year. I met some folks that had recently started a new community service club. I learned what the Swedish word "lagom" means. I met a woman who grew up in Sarasota and shared memories of participating in local farmworker activism in the middle of the last century.  And along the route, we passed the opening day of the newest farmer's market in town.

Tom Neilson's Musical Satire

Last night, Sarasota was treated to a hefty dose of Tom Neilson's warm, funny, and satirical music. He played a benefit for the Sierra Club, but when he found out that Manasota Move To Amend was in the house, he sang the perfect song - Corporations Are Human.  If you haven't heard it, listen below.



Tom's current tour focuses on the power of folk music to effect social change, giving musical voice to both current and historical activism.  Thank you, Tom!