Investigative reporter/podcaster Jason Garcia to be keynote speaker
On Saturday, Oct. 10, the Social Justice Alliance of the Florida Suncoast (SJAFS) will host a program titled Florida’s Resource Grab: How it Benefits the Wealthy and Powerful and Harms Everyone Else at the Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota, which stands at 3975 Fruitville Road in Sarasota.
The event will begin at 3 p.m., a news release says. Registration is free at www.sjafs.org, the release notes.
The forum will bring together investigative journalist Jason Garcia, “known for exposing political corruption in Florida,” alongside local leaders Cathy Antunes, Robin San Vicente, Carol Lerner and Barbara Smith-Bacon, “who will unpack how billionaire wealth and corporate interests impact everyday residents,” the release adds.
Panels will address the following topics, the release points out:
- Data centers, which “utilize huge amounts of natural resources while burdening the community with infrastructure costs and no evident benefits.”
- Mega-developers — “Large-scale development projects strain local infrastructure and natural resources.”
- School privatization — The diversion of public funds “from local schools into private systems.”
- Private immigrant detention centers — “The monetization of immigration enforcement at the expense of human rights and public oversight.
“The event will conclude with an actionable call to mobilize local communities and encourage residents to vote their interests to reclaim state and local resources,” the release adds.