Sierra Club Florida

Letter to Members

Hello Florida Sierrans,

This winter you received a letter from Sierra Club President Robbie Cox regarding the suspension of the Florida Chapter. The Board of Directors took this action in March because it believed it was the best way to keep the problems within the Chapter from impeding the highly effective work of the Club's local groups and national programs in Florida. Then, the work to rebuild the Chapter was begun.

An interim political committee was formed to make political endorsements in Florida so that the process would continue in this important election year.

It was decided that a Steering Committee should be formed to coordinate the environmental work of the Sierra Club in Florida while working to rebuild and manage the statewide Sierra Club, rebuild trust among leaders, and transition to a well-functioning, effective member-elected Chapter leadership.

A search committee was created to find the best volunteers for the job, candidates were interviewed, and the Board of Directors chose seven Sierra Club Florida members to fulfill this function:

Linda Bremer, Jacksonville
Craig Diamond, Tallahassee
Alan Donn, Tampa
Betsy Grass, Miami
Tom Larson, Jacksonville Beach
Marian Ryan, Winter Haven
Rudy Scheffer, Safety Harbor

All the members of the Steering Committee are committed to building a stronger Sierra Club in Florida and are excited about moving forward. We had our first face-to-face meeting in June to begin to figure out how we are going to keep all the conservation work going in Florida while working on the tasks to rebuild the Chapter.

Sierra Club Florida activists, local Group Executive Committees, and you, the members, have continued to carry on with the Club’s important work - getting environmental standards passed in Manatee-Sarasota, educating the public at events like Pelican Island Wildlife Festival and the Green Earth Expo, and continuing the legal and administrative battles over rock mining and phosphate mining. You have gotten us through another Florida Legislative session with the successful extension of the Florida Forever land acquisition program, passage of the Oceans Outfalls bill and the Gambling Ships Wastewater Disposal bill among others. Thank you for your tireless efforts.

As we begin our organizational work, the Steering Committee will be reaching out to our local Sierra Club Groups to get their input and to communicate directly to them what we are doing. To this end, we will be visiting each of the eighteen Groups to get to know the leaders.

We will also be making extensive use of the Sierra Club Florida web site, florida.sierraclub.org, to communicate with members and leaders, posting meeting agendas and minutes, working documents, environmental alerts, and information on who to call.

We will engage an Advisory Team composed of local Group Leaders to provide us with input on our work and plans, and we will be looking to the Group Executive Committees to help us figure out how to choose that team.

Sierra Club Florida faces many challenges, but we are alive and strong because of our leaders and our members -- and we are taking the steps necessary to build for the future. We urge you to stay involved, or get involved with your local Group. Please keep up your Sierra Club grassroots work, and help us continue to be a successful force in the environmental community.

Sincerely,

Linda, Craig, Al, Betsy, Tom, Marian, and Rudy

Your Florida Steering Committee