Tightly packed: These are just some of the people who attended a grassroots rally last week in Lehigh who say they are going to spend the next few months getting thousands of people to register to vote in the next election. They also plan to spearhead already registered voters to get them to show up at the polls and vote. A small showing of Lehigh registered voters went to the polls in the last election. Photo by Mel Toadvine

A group of about 65 people attended what nearly appeared as a pep rally last week when the new Foundational Education of Voters Rights and Responsibilities group of people in Lehigh met at the Majestic Golf Club. The meeting was a rally of the troops-type get-together as the group, which is being called FEVRR explained plans to get as many people as possible in Lehigh Acres to register to vote and then get them out during the next election.

It’s an urgent goal for Lehigh, some of the people said.

It began as a small grassroots movement of people in Lehigh who see the community not getting its share of the pie even though it pays much of the taxes to county government.

From a few months ago, the group has grown as word has spread by word of mouth with very little publicity. It has been the brainchild of many people including local business leaders and members of the Chamber and its economic development board.

Jere Carrick said the group is non-partisan with no political agenda.

“Our mission is quite simple to get people registered,” Carrick said. He is part of the core group that helped the group to form. They meet at his Majestic Golf Club large dining room.

In a flyer handed out, FEVRR states that “The heat is on!”

“FEVRR’s organizational objective is to focus on a non-partisan voter registration in Lehigh Acres and the education of all registered voters in the community of their rights and responsibilities in the electoral process.”

The goal of FEVRR is to register between 5,000 to 8,000 voters in the next couple of months.

“And no matter what political party affiliation or platform you represent, by understanding our local issues and challenges, your vote will help shape Lehigh Acres’ future. Join us and make a difference,” the flyer states with a hand-drawn image of the state of Florida with Lehigh Acres as its central point. Many of the flyers are also printed in Spanish and will be printed in other languages to get the message out to a diversified group, Carrick said.

“Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann has come to some of our meetings and is behind our goal to get people registered to vote,” Carrick said.

Others like Tonda Soisson-Lawson of Lehigh Acres said the people of Lehigh need the powerbase so Lehigh can get it fair share.

“As long as we don’t vote, our views are not going to be represented,” she said.

The group was told that there are around 29,000 registered voters in Lehigh and at the last election around 17 or less percent of them voted in the presidential election.

“Everybody is welcome to attend our meetings and we intend to go out into the area organizations to spread the word,” Soisson-Lawson said.

The group of people plan to register people on the spot, whether it be at special meetings, club affairs, etc., but before that can take place, the organization must apply to the Division of Elections in Tallahassee to have people certified to be able to help others to register. There are rules and regulation as how it is done.

Melissa Dortch, chairman of the Core Group of Directors, said the group must apply to become a Political Action Committee (PAC) and eventually its 501 c(3) status.

“I’m excited about what we are doing,” Dortch said.

Mary Swords will seek registration for the group to become a PAC. She is the wife of Michael Swords, who was at the meeting and hopes to help people register. Their 13-year-old son, Gideon, was also at the rally and asked if he could speak.

The youngster said he was interested in his future in Lehigh Acres when he becomes an adult and the things that are done today by people voting will make Lehigh a better community in which to live when he is older.

Another young person, Wayne Steinard, who is vice chairman of the Core Group of Directors, told the group he wanted to see others like himself, young men and women who are in their teens, 20s and 30s become interested and vote for Lehigh’s future.

Jere Carrick told the group it is “the 11th hour nobody (in government) has to listen to us because we don’t vote. We want to change that.”

He said Lehigh was a melting pot community noting that many diversified peoples live in Lehigh, which can be its strength.

“Lehigh has the second largest population in the county next to Cape Coral and they decide the winners in voting because so many of them turn out at the polls,” Carrick said.

“Get yourself and five or 10 of your friends to register and vote, if they haven’t already registered. We can make a difference,” Carrick said.

Rex Jackson of Lehigh said “this is serious business in Lehigh. We’re not being recognized because so few of us vote.”

David Deetscreek, a member of the East County Water Control District, the only political person in the room who was elected to a local board, said it takes everybody to work together without partisan feelings, with the aim and goal of getting people registered to vote.

Several others in the group who attended up showed their excitement by standing up and making positive statements about such a voting registration drive. They came from diversified groups of people who live in Lehigh.

There is a Core Group of Directors and four officers, which include Melissa Dortch as chairman, Wayne Steinard, vice chairman; Louise Moore as secretary, and Muhammed Yasffi as treasurer.

Others in the Core Group include Jere Carrick, Edd Weiner, Ruth Anglickis, Michael Swords, David Deetscreek, Rex Jackson, Damon Shelor, Doug Patterson, George Szymanski, Fred Elliott, Phil Koenig, Bo Turbeville, Tammy Moore and Tonda Soisson-Lawson.

“When we become a PAC and when we get the approval from the Dept. of Elections in Tallahassee to become registered registrars, the drive will start,” said Mary Swords.

Someone in the group suggested a photograph be taken of those who arrived early before the meeting, not just of separate core members because the focus is not on personalities, but on the mission to make Lehigh a voters’ town. They posed closed together before the meeting began. Later more people came in late to take part in the discussion.

The group said it will send times and sites of meetings to The Citizen which will publish the information in its Special Note column that appears in the weekly paper and also online at Lehighacrescitizen.com.