August 5, 2014

WE MEET AT THE RIVER CITY BREWING CO.
Lunch begins at noon - Meeting starts at 12:30 p.m.

 Welcome Jerry Holland, Supervisor of Elections

Duval County’s Supervisor of Elections, Jerry Holland, was elected into office in the 2005 Special Election. He is honored in having the opportunity to serve the citizens of Duval County for three consecutive terms, being re-elected in 2007 and 2011 without opposition. With many progressive ideas about educating the public on elections and facilitating the voting process, Holland looks forward to providing the citizens of Duval County with the transparency and integrity they have come to expect.

Duval County’s Supervisor of Elections Office is one of the first counties in Florida to return to a complete paper ballot trail for all voters, fulfilling a promise by Holland. In 2006, our office completed the Election Center to better serve each voter in Duval County. In 2007, our office installed the Relia-Vote absentee mailing equipment, a system to lower the cost and yet speed up the absentee voting process while also allowing each absentee ballot to be tracked through the postal system.

Throughout Holland’s three consecutive terms, his office has registered 43,185 students in Countywide Student Voter Registration Drives held each school year. Holland’s goal is to introduce students to the electoral process to strengthen the foundation of our Democracy and to continue educating future generations.

Jerry Holland continues to assess the distribution and locations of precincts throughout Duval County to more evenly allocate the number of registered voters per precinct. Within the three consecutive terms, he has established early voting sites throughout the city, made each of the 250 precincts ADA accessible and secured AutoMARK voting machines with capabilities to assist all voters. Each of these initiatives is in an effort to make voting more accessible to everyone.

Holland served as the 2002-2003 President of City Council during his first term on the Council. In 2003 and 2004, he also served as President of the Northeast Florida Regional Council representing the seven counties in northeast Florida. Holland sponsored legislation that addressed many important issues facing our city. He drafted the legislation that completely re-wrote our Animal Control laws. He proposed the legislation that provided an additional twenty-five thousand dollars of homestead exemption for low income seniors. Holland is often thanked for his legislation that approved the purchasing of thermal image cameras for all fire stations allowing rescue personnel to find citizens in burning buildings. He brought forth legislation providing for a Drive Education Safety Trust Fund when the program was in jeopardy of being dropped. To maintain the Veterans’ Memorial Wall Monument, Holland introduced legislation allowing the wall to exist in its current location and then design a park surrounding the wall after the razing of the old coliseum.

Holland earned his Master’s degree in Education and his Bachelor of Business Administration in Transportation and Logistics from the University of North Florida. He was selected as the University of North Florida 2008 Outstanding Alumnus for the College of Education and Human Resources. He also holds a Bachelor of Science in Data Processing from Jones College and is a graduate of Fletcher Senior High School.

In 2008, he received the Civil Rights Restoration Community Award given by the Jacksonville Alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha PSI Fraternity. In 2009, Holland received the Business Diplomat of the Year Award given by the International Visitors Corp of Jacksonville. Over the past three consecutive terms in office Holland has had the privilege of hosting foreign delegates from 32 countries. Each visiting delegate had the opportunity to contribute in a discussion of our electoral process and see how to protect voting rights, encourage voter registration and oversee voting to guarantee fair and accurate elections. In 2010, Holland graduated with an Elections/Registration Administrator (CERA) certificate through the Elections Center’s Professional Education Program. His goal is to preserve and accelerate public trust in the democratic process by providing elections with transparency and integrity.

In his spare time Holland raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by running marathons. He has successfully completed four marathons.

Holland and his wife, Beverly, have one son, Brian married to Kylie. They recently became the proud grandparents of their first grandchild. He and his wife have been members of the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville since 1978.

 Minutarian Minute Week 5

Our District’s Light Up Rotary Seminar is fired up and ready to do exactly what the name implies – Light Up Rotary! There are many avenues of service in Rotary and this seminar will touch on several of them. The major topics include Foundation, Membership, Public Image and New Generations.

We are also including our Rotaract leaders in several of the New Generation sessions. If your club sponsors a Rotaract Club please let the leaders in that Rotaract Club know they are invited to attend sessions designed specifically for Rotaract. In respect for the younger generations need to sleep on a Saturday morning, their sessions will start just before lunch!

For the rest of us, plan to arrive around 8:30am. We are fortunate to have Rotary International Director Robert Hall join us. He will be our keynote speaker at lunch. The seminar will conclude at 3:00pm.

So please join us on Saturday, August 16th, at the Thrasher-Horne Center on the Orange Park Campus of St. Johns River State College. You can register by going to the District Events column on the home page of our District’s website: www.rotary6970.org. There you will also find more detailed information about the seminar.

Other Upcoming Events:
•    On Saturday, October 11th, the Rotary Leadership Institute will hold its first sessions for the year at the Orange Park Campus of St. Johns River State College. More information is available on our District’s website.

Yours in service to Rotary,
  Percy
District Governor 2014-2015
Rotary International District 6970

Our newest Rotarian - Diane Pauly

Sponsor, Bob Massey (L), Pres Bill Jaycox and PP Mike Darragh welcome Diane to the club.

Meet Jill Moore

Jill is Vice President, Mortgage Originator for EverBank where she has worked for 15 years. Jill was born in Michigan and moved to Jacksonville in 1978. Most of her family has migrated this way as well. She has been married for 14 years to Donald Moore and she has a 23 year old son that is about to graduate from UNF and is currently working at Capital Grill.

Their family enjoys traveling and have been to Banff Canada, Hawaii, CA and NY. Typically they enjoy long weekends in Savannah or St. Augustine.

Jill loves to run, ride bikes, work out and spend time with her family.

Pictures from the July 29th Meeting

                                                                              

A $22k check from the proceeds of the Alhambra event was presented to Builder's Care 

 

July 29, 2014

WE MEET AT THE RIVER CITY BREWING CO.
Lunch begins at noon - Meeting starts at 12:30 p.m.

 

 Welcome Dale Carson
Criminal Defense Attorney

Crime and shootings have turned Jacksonville into a virtual war zone.  Today's speaker, who will provide insight into the city's current crime wave, has been involved in almost every aspect of the legal system.

Dale Carson, who grew up in Jacksonville, attended the police academy right out of college and served as a police officer in some of Miami's most dangerous areas.  He returned to Jacksonville where he was employed by Seaboard Coastline Railroad as a railroad special agent before being appointed to the FBI as a special agent where he was special agent in charge of the St. Thomas USVI office, as well as working in Atlanta and Jacksonville. As an agent, Dale trained with the Navy Seals in Quantico, VA, in preparation for hostage rescue and terrorist takeovers, cross-trained with the DEA, and was assigned to the FBI SWAT team in Atlanta. 

Dale retired from the FBI and was operating a private investigative agency here in Jacksonville when he decided to attend law school.  Dale became a member of the Florida Bar in 2001 and opened Dale Carson Law, where he and three associates practice mainly criminal defense and personal injury. 

He has become Northeast Florida’s crime expert with his past experience, his authorship of the book “Arrest-Proof Yourself”, and his appearances on nightly newscasts as Law and Safety Expert for the local CBS and Fox affiliates where he provides commentary on current legal events and issues. He spent hours on the air during the recent Dunn trial offering analysis of the case, the evidence, legal procedures and what the jury was facing.

Carson comes from a crime fighting family. His father was also an FBI agent and then Sheriff of Jacksonville. 

Minutarian Update, Week 4

To quote the late playwright, George Bernard Shaw: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has actually taken place.”
That said, in regard to the District 6970 Weekly Minute, I am planning to make every 4th issue a recap of the notices and events from the immediate three previous issues. In doing so I hope that we can avoid the single biggest problem in communication – the illusion that it’s actually taken place.

Recapping Week 1:  On July 1st we extended a warm welcome to our new Rotary International Director, Robert Hall from the Rotary Club of Dunwoody in Georgia, who represents Zones 33 and 34. He succeeded Rotary International Director Anne Matthews, the first woman to serve as the Vice President of Rotary International. As you may recall, our District 6970 is one of eight Rotary Districts in Florida. When our eight Florida districts are combined with the three districts in Georgia and the three districts in the Caribbean, collectively they make up Zone 34.

Recapping Week 2:  Are you ready for some football? Let’s hope so because it’s game on! Our partnership with the Jacksonville Jaguars is set and it’s time for all clubs to get busy selling tickets to raise money for their projects and to help support our Foundation. Webmaster Howard Kelley has done an amazing job of making this program simple and online. All you have to do is go to our District’s website www.rotary6970.org to get started. Huddle-up with your club’s Rotary-Jaguar team captain and start moving us toward the goal line.

Recapping Week 3:  What’s the best way to really Light Up Rotary? Start planning now for your club’s Rotary Days event – a signature initiative from Rotary International President Gary C.K. Huang. There is a brochure available to help you plan the perfect Rotary Day. It’s an opportunity to share our passion for service and fellowship with people, businesses and other associations in the community around us. Several clubs are already in gear for their Rotary Days events. Our District is planning a big “Rotary Week” event starting October 20 and culminating October 26 at EverBank Field for the Rotary Jaguar game day.

Upcoming Events:
On Saturday, August 2nd, it’s the annual Rotary Youth Exchange Welcome Home Dinner which takes place at Riverside Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville. All Rotarians are invited.
On Saturday, August 16th, it’s our District’s Light Up Rotary Seminar at the Thrasher-Horne Conference Center in Orange Park. Rotary International Director Robert Hall will be our keynote speaker at lunch that day.
On Saturday, October 11th, the Rotary Leadership Institute will hold its first sessions for the year at the Orange Park Campus of St. Johns River State College.

Details and sign-up for all events can be found on our District’s website, WWW.rotary6970.org, under the events section on the home page.

Yours in service to Rotary,

Percy

Board News

The following candidate has been approved by the Board for your consideration into membership:  Christy Jones, sponsor is PP Dick Morales and her classification is Law-Taxation.  Anyone having an objection, please notify the Board in writing withing ten (10) days.

Pictures of New Members Induction

We were pleased to welcome four new members this week:  James Shefelbine, Jill Moore, Ian Davies and Joe Durkin.  They will be "earning" their blue badge for the next few weeks as they meet and greet at the door!

One of our Newest Members - Ian Davies

  

Ian Davies founded Skiltrek Staffing & Solutions in 2004.  He oversees the operations of the firm with a presence in Washington, DC, Miami and Jacksonville.  Skiltrek has implemented IT Service Management systems for Fortune 500 companies and the Federal Government and more recently, has added a staffing arm specializing in IT, Engineering and Finance Resources. Prior to forming Skiltrek, Ian was a consultant in the IT Service Management and IT Asset Management arena for HP & Peregrine Systems, implementing systems for large companies such as GE, AT&T and the Dept of Treasury.

Ian first settled in Albany, NY in 2001 to seek new opportunities and more challenging work, but found North Florida to be a more ideal climate for an Australian.  Prior to moving to the US, Ian worked on the foreign exchange and bullion desks at Macquarie Bank for 4 years.

Ian is from a family of 7 and lives with his girlfriend, Paula, who is an anesthesia nurse (CRNA).  He moved to Jacksonville Beach in 2004 and loves fishing, watching rugby union, playing tennis and oh yeah, he DOESN'T drink Fosters!!!

Flag Exchange with Visiting Rotarian 
Capt Chris Henney from Gulf Breeze, Fl.