Alachua County, Gainesville and Student Government elected officials new year plans roundup - The Independent Florida Alligator

The challenges of moving past 2020, Gainesville, Alachua County and UF student government elected officials have what the city and student life look like this year with such a positive outlook on life.

The following are some issues that need attention in 2021: 

Handling large-scale COVID-19 vaccination in Alachua County is a New Year's resolution of the city and county committees. 

Racial equality, living wages and youth development will also be discussed intensely in 2021. The City Council is working to improve public transportation, housing and parks in Gainesville. 

So far, the committee has not formulated a specific plan for youth development policies. Commissioner David Arreola hopes to change this situation through a commission seminar held with local youth to help them create economic and social opportunities.

These workshops will target the employment and participation of young people, while creating opportunities for young people in Gainesville to become active in the community.

Arreola said that last year there were many agenda items related to opportunities and fairness that residents will continue to work on. The January 14 meeting will address the requirement to set a living wage for employers.

Another ongoing priority of the committee is to address the issue of racial equality. In July, the committee started

. Areola said the committee plans to continue to fulfill its commitments.

The elections for the general membership of the Gainesville City Council and District 1 seats will be held on March 16.

County Commissioner Anna Prizzia said that Alachua County’s priorities in the new year are affordable housing, rental properties and the homeless. The committee will discuss these topics at budget meetings.

The county emergency broadcast that needs to be upgraded is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. Prizzia said that deciding how to split the cost of these upgrades between cities and counties is controversial.

The City of Gainesville manages the broadcast, which is used by all Araqiwa counties. The county pays Gainesville monthly for the lease of emergency broadcasts. Prizzia said that who will bear the brunt of the upgrade fee is still under debate.

Committee approved

It has been developing since 2016 on January 7th. The plan promises to evaluate the forests in the county every five years and set new goals to improve its diversity, health, and benefit the community.

Prizzia said she is focused on developing a plan to encourage residents to replace aging trees that threaten their houses in storms with new trees.

The president of the Student Union, Trevor Pope, said he plans to maintain and prioritize the goals he originally promised

: Building for the future, users will be more inclusive and improve student experience.

He said: "Everything we have done so far has been working towards these three main areas." "Even when we pass this uncertain era and overcome many obstacles, we just want to make sure Students are booming."

The Pope said he was proud of SG’s past projects, such as

And free shipping on Bite Squad.

After the campus closed in March, SG passed rent reduction

Set aside $500,000 from its $4 million reserve fund to help students struggling to pay rent. Among the approximately 2,000 UF students who applied,

Was awarded $500. 

The Pope’s main spring project is

-An initiative to provide students with extracurricular experience in each field by transforming the information taught in the lecture hall into practical skills. use

He said the plan will fund travel and supplies to prepare them for work.

The Pope said that in order to prepare for service learning, laws must be enacted and passed. The project will prepare for the implementation of the next SG administration and will take effect in the 2021-2022 school year.

SG

Significant changes occurred in the fall, including shortening the time during which students must consult the public during Senate sessions and allowing only senators to write and sponsor legislation. 

However, he wrote in an email that Senate President Cooper Brown's main goal by 2021 is to provide senators with more opportunities to meet with their voters because of the emergence of COVID-19 Since then, many of them have never set foot in the Senate. .

"Classmates" will separate senators according to their years in UF and allow them to interact and cooperate with other senators in the same class, even though they belong to different parties. Brown wrote, hoping that this will lead to bipartisan legislation and projects.

The Senate meeting will remain virtual until March, but there will now be guests attending.

The first surprise guest will attend the Senate at 7pm on January 12.

One of the main topics of the fall Senate is about

-This work was rejected by the Provost in September, but the Inspire Party plans to promote it in the spring.

Minority leader Brianne Seaberg said that students who choose to take online courses from home for health reasons are still members of the UF community and should have the right to vote even if they did not vote directly from the campus.

Seaberg said: "We will really promote online voting so as not to deprive any student of the right to vote." 

Seeberg said that online voting has been a debate for many years, but it is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the safety of students and maximum participation in elections.

During the fall elections, SG provided

And absentee ballots serve as accommodation for students who cannot take the polls in person during the pandemic. However, some students

Timely election

Compared to one third

.  

Seaberg said that Inspire will require all senators' contact information to be provided to students on the SG website, thereby pushing SG senators to take on more responsibilities.

Seaberg said that its purpose is also to make menstrual products popular on campus, the services of the student health center are more popular, and the ultrafiltration transportation service is safer.

Seeberg said that Inspire will formulate laws on all of the above items at the beginning of this semester and hopes to approve and implement them as soon as possible.

In the Senate, the Alligator Party has a majority

Produced and approved in the fall

Non-SG affiliated students are prohibited from writing and sponsoring laws.

its

Fall’s focus is to provide more student tickets for family football matches and to review UFIDA buildings to achieve environmental sustainability. The party also aims to provide students with COVID-19 consumables and a technology that can test whether the drink contains date rape drugs.

The Gator Party platform also promises to provide legal advice and virtual consultations to international students.

Majority leader Blake Robinson and Alligator Party representative Gabriela Hernandez did not respond to alligator emails for four days. 

SG will hold elections of student body chairperson, vice president and treasurer on February 23, as well as 50 senators representing UF universities.