#ACYPLMacedonia in Florida -- Supervisor of Elections Pinellas County

I was honored to be the State Host of the delegation of Macedonian political leaders for the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) in December, organizing a 6-day visit in December. 

We had a most informative meeting with the Deputy Supervisor of Elections, Julie Marcus about running elections in the US. And then we had a tour of the facility, where we learned more about the voting machines, about sending out and processing absentee ballots, vote counting and results reporting -- but the piece de resistance came at the end of the tour, where a mock polling place was set up.

All of our delegates had the opportunity to vote.  The mock election tabulated our votes about the best vocal artist, best ice cream flavor, and best automobile manufacturer.  (And we received the ticker tape with the results of the "election.")

#ACYPLMacedonia in Florida-- Museum of Fine Arts, MFA St. Petersburg

I was honored to be the State Host of the delegation of Macedonian political leaders for the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) in December, organizing a 6-day visit in December. 

St. Petersburg is truly a "City of the Arts," so, we could not be in St. Petersburg for 6 days without seeing some of our art museums.  Before our meeting at the Supervisor of Elections Office, to learn more about how elections are run in Pinellas County, we had a brief tour at the Museum of Fine Arts.

We were welcomed by the Museum Director, Kristen Shepherd, who was an American Marshall Memorial Fellow and traveled to Skopje in 2010.

We had very limited time at the MFA, and our docent did a tremendous job singling an item out in each gallery to discuss. We could have listened to her all day. A brief -- but wonderfully rich -- visit.

For more about the MFA and its impressive collection, see http://mfastpete.org/

With Museum Director Kristen Shepherd, who traveled to Skopje as an American Marshall Fellow back in 2010

 

 

our first stop - a look at an ancient coin with the likeness of Alexander the Great

 
 
 

 

 

# ACYPLMacedonia Florida-- Meeting at USFSP University of South Florida St. Petersburg -- Chancellor Martin Tadlock

I was honored to be the State Host of the delegation of Macedonian political leaders for the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) in December, organizing a 6-day visit in December. 

Sunday, December 10th was the day of Commencement at USFSP. Although a busy time for key university administrators, we were pleased to be able to arrange a meeting with Chancellor Martin Tadlock and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Olfunke Fontenot.

We enjoyed a robust discussion about "Trends in Higher Education in the US" over lunch, and we also discussed possibilities for future cooperation.

After the meeting we went on a tour of USFSP's beautiful waterfront campus.

For more about USFSP, see https://www.usfsp.edu/home/

For more about ACYPL, see http://acypl.org/
 

With USFSP Chancellor Martin Tadlock and Vice Chancellor Olfunke Fontenot

We also popped in to my office - you can see behind my desk the portrait of Mother Teresa, a gift from my colleagues at University of Tetova as well as the certificate of appreciation from South East European University and a book about Byzantine frescoes in Macedonia from law professor Gordana Siljanovska Dakova of UKIM

 

as we gathered around the Sembler Fountain, I showed the delegates the brick in honor of Peggy A. Clark, the former ACYPL Board Member who got me involved with ACYPL. We miss her so much!

#ACYPLMacedonia in Florida -- meeting wtih the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area

I was honored to be the State Host of the delegation of Macedonian political leaders for the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) in December, organizing a 6-day visit in December. 

After our visit with the Chancellor at USFSP, we swung by the tail end of the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area holiday party -- and then we had the opportunity to meet privately with the President of the League, Dr. Julie Kessel, the Voter Services Chair Raechel Garafalo, and Board of Directors Secretary Lisa Vanover.

We enjoyed wide-ranging discussion of the League's work to enfranchise and empower voters and to strengthen democratic institutions and enhance civic engagement in Florida -- from campaign finance reform, redistricting, to open primaries.
 
For more about the work of the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area, LWVSPA, see https://lwvspa.org/

For more about ACYPL see http://acypl.org/