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ENCOURAGING AND FACILITATING

INFORMED VOTING AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION

FOR COLLIER COUNTY VOTERS

“This is the first time in a long time positions, and vote on six proposed amendments to the state
constitution.
that I feel informed about my votes.” Parker decided to research the candidates and issues and share

“You raised my awareness of the what she learned on a blog, hoping that others would find it
helpful in making their voting decisions. She vowed that her work
impacts the amendments would would be objective, that sources would be cited/linked, and that
when she was writing opinion, she would clearly identify it as such.
have.” “You have been an indispensable “Readership really skyrocketed leading up to the 2018 primaries,”

source of fact-based information for Parker said. Beginning in April, she researched and wrote about
the candidates for Congress, Governor, Cabinet, State Legislature,
County Commission, Clerk of Courts, State Attorney, County and
me this election season.” Circuit Judges and School Board. In October, she wrote about the
candidates for Mosquito Control, the judicial merit retentions, the
proposed sales tax and the twelve amendments.

Sandy Parker, who writes “People spread the word,” she said.
and publishes the Sparker’s
Soapbox blog to encourage Sparker’s Soapbox is now read by upwards of 2,000 email
and facilitate informed voting subscribers and 500 followers on Facebook.
in Collier County, cited these
comments among others she Even though the elections are over, Parker’s blogging will continue.
received recently as proof that “If we don’t monitor our representatives after we elect them, we
people want to know more won’t be informed enough to hold them accountable next time,”
before they vote. And it’s her she said. Her monthly “State and Local News in Review” posts will
help readers do just that.
mission to do all she can to
help.
Sign up for a free email subscription at
Parker launched Sparker’s tinyurl.com/sparkers-soapbox-LifeInNaples; contact Sandy Parker
Soapbox in 2010 after realizing at sandy@sparkers-soapbox.com.
that the outcome of that year’s
elections would not only set the direction for the country’s future Sandy Parker has lectured about Florida Government since 2011.
but would have a significant effect on state and local government She is a former corporate finance executive, graduate of the Greater
as well. Collier voters would help choose Florida’s next Governor Naples Leadership program, and past president of the League of
and Cabinet, three State Representatives and three School Board Women Voters of Collier County, where she currently chairs its
members, help decide whether four state Supreme Court justices Government Committee.
and five district appeals court judges deserved to retain their

42 Life in Naples | January 2019