Progressive Club to hold monthly meeting
The Progressive Club of the Islands will hold its virtual monthly meeting on Aug. 19 at 4 p.m.
The guest speaker will be 15th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Dave Aronberg. He was elected state attorney in 2012 and then re-elected without opposition in 2016 and 2020.
Aronberg’s leadership has led to an increase in conviction rates for felonies and misdemeanors, a decrease in the number of juveniles directly filed into adult court, and an improved working relationship with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. After his creation of the Sober Homes Task Force, the crackdown in rogue sober homes and corrupted drug treatment led to a 40 percent decrease in opioid overdose deaths in Palm Beach County in 2018, compared to 2017.
A Harvard College and Law School graduate, Aronberg worked with then-Florida Insurance Commissioner Bill Nelson to investigate European insurance companies that refused to honor World War II-era policies sold to victims of the Holocaust.
In 2000, he was selected as one of 15 White House Fellows nationwide. In the non-partisan position, Aronberg served in two presidential administrations as a special assistant to the secretary of the Treasury Department for international money laundering, including the laundering of terrorist assets.
Elected to the Florida Senate in 2002 as its youngest member, he served until 2010, focusing on criminal justice and consumer protection issues and took on chairmanship of the Military Affairs and Domestic Security Committee. Aronberg also served as chair of the Everglades Restoration Committee, where he advocated for accelerating water storage projects and additional state and federal support for the “River of Grass.”
In 2010, he returned to the Florida Attorney General’s Office as a special prosecutor for prescription drug trafficking. In his role as the attorney general’s “drug czar,” Aronberg let an anti-pill mill initiative that helped clean up the pain clinic industry and reduced the number of people dying each day from oxycodone abuse. His work to save lives from overdoses continues today one of his top priorities.
It is an interactive meeting with time provided for questions. To attend the Zoom meeting, email pcisancap@gmail.com to receive the link or watch online at www.facebook.com/pcisancap.
Annual dues for the Progressive Club are $30 for an individual or $60 for a couple. To renew a membership or join, mail a check payable to PCI to: PCI, P.O. Box 898, Sanibel, FL 33957.
For more information, visit https://pcislands.org or contact 239-994-3175 or pcisancap@gmail.com.