Ripostes to pro-growth alarmists
By ANDREW BALEE

COMMUNITY VOICES , Daytona Beach News Journal
 
Living in Florida, a state that has more than quadrupled in population since I was born (no, I'm not the oldest man alive), has made me grow reluctantly accustomed to seeing things change: Wooded areas that I once played in have become gated communities; beaches you could drive along have severely restricted access; open ocean vistas have been blocked by walls of condominiums . . . And let's not forget the traffic congestion.
 
Therefore, it was with surprise and delight that I read about the Hometown Democracy petition for a constitutional change requiring voter approval of all Comprehensive Plan amendments by local governments. Having been fooled by many development schemes dressed in sheep's clothing, however, I waited for the catch. ("We will protect this, but develop the heck out of that" etc.) But, I don't see a catch. The fact that the major (and minor) development interests in the state are scrambling to discredit this idea speaks volumes in favor of it.
 
Long-term planning, zoning and comprehensive land use decisions weren't made arbitrarily. Local governments spent thousands of dollars on consultants and no small amount of time deciding their own vision of the future of their communities. No wonder that so many residents have watched in frustration as these plans were changed, on a daily basis, as developers trotted in teams of lawyers and advocates, often either dazzling or simply fooling our local leaders. ("This 12-story tower on the beach will really do a lot to enhance the area," said one straight-faced lawyer to a public hearing in Flagler Beach, as the locals hissed and booed.)
 
I don't point fingers at the local leadership: They are ill equipped to deal with the big bucks that big developers can spend to forward their projects. The threat of a multimillion dollar lawsuit, which would bankrupt their community, often serves to wither all resistance. That's why an amendment to the Florida Constitution is so badly needed: It gives the local commissioners a way out.
 
Don't be fooled by the arguments against it. Here are a few, with the obvious ripostes:
 
· Environmentalists are against it: But not many, I'll bet. The chief argument here is that agricultural landowners could (under existing rules) build one house on every five acres. So how would Hometown Democracy's amendment make that worse?
 
· "We would have to have an election every time we needed a hospital, or police station or school built: We're growing fast, but not that fast. When's the last time you heard somebody say "we need a bigger hospital and we need it tomorrow"?
Most of these public facilities are planned over pretty large periods of time, plenty of time to wait until the next regular election. That 600-unit development in what used to be woods, however, needs immediate attention? Give me a break.
 
· But the amendment would wrest control from our elected officials and give it to special electors: Yes, but those mysterious electors are actually only registered voters. It's not the Inquisition, it's plain old democracy. And believe me, it would take a lot of pressure off the local governments, freeing them up for designating scenic highways, installing pretty paving bricks all over and other necessary stuff.
 
· It would harm development in the state: More likely it would harm over-development. I mean, how stupid do they think we are, anyway? (Wait, don't answer that one.)
 
Balee lives in Flagler Beach

Who is behind the ANTI-HOMETOWN?

That someone else governing us would be the very developers that have overrun and abused the land here in Florida in the first place.  People that our Chambers of Commerce, our Commissioners and legistatures love to cuddle up with.   People like:

Floridians for Smarter Growth Inc., a political committee backed almost exclusively by home builders, who opened a campaign account in April and already has collected more than $800,000.

Tampa's Mark Wilson, executive director of the Chamber, tells us the Chamber plans to spend $65,000,000 (million) of OUR tax dollars, to defeat Florida Hometown Democracy. 

Michael Caputo, a Republican consultant who has managed GOP campaigns and petition drives in four countries and works for Floridians for Smarter Growth.  Caputo, is a veteran of the last big environment vs. industry fight: He helped the sugar industry defeat the 1996 ballot measure that would have taxed it for Everglades restoration efforts.

In just three months, the Florida Chamber, the national parent of the Florida Home Builders Association and the sugar behemoth U.S. Sugar already have raised close to $1-million to bankroll an anti-Hometown Democracy group called Floridians for Smarter Growth.

Corporate filings by Floridians for Smarter Growth indicate that two political lobbyists with the Tidewater Consulting firm of Tallahassee are affiliated with the group : Richard Coates, an attorney with ties to the Florida Republican Party, and Noreen Fenners.  

Clarence E. Anthony is listed as President of Floridians for Smarter Growth.  Anthony is a former mayor of South Bay, Florida, and past president of the Florida League of Cities.  He is a senior vice president and chief marketing officer for PBS&J, a national development consulting firm.

Further research reveals that a one page flyer approved by Floridians for Smarter Growth on the website of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association regarding the effort to defeat Florida Hometown Democracy is a verbatim duplication of the Chamber’s website material.

Nancy Watkins is the identified as the Chairman, Treasurer and Registered Agent for Floridians for Smarter Growth.   Watkins served as campaign treasurer for Katherine Harris' failed Senate campaign.
COUNTDOWN TO DEADLINE! 
Never before have the developers been so terrified of a simple reform that will finally begin to turn the tide and make growth decisions accessible to the electorate.  The desperate and vicious developer spin will get much worse as we get closer to getting on the ballot.  We are under attack from all quarters because the power structure is so threatened by the simple act of people voting! 
 
Will we get to the ballot?  That’s the big question.  We can with your help - if you will continue to make getting signatures on petitions a priority for these last few weeks of the year.   Donations are urgently needed – from $5.00 to $500.00 – every dime will be spent on petitions.  This opportunity missed would be tragic.  A reform like this will not come again. 
 
We have submitted over 500,000 petitions to the supervisors of elections for validation.  A percentage of those are rejected so we must collect more in order to net the required 611,000 total.
 

Please, please help put this on the ballot.  Send all petitions in weekly and then send more….and send donations!  This labor of love isn’t cheap.

Help put HOMETOWN DEMOCRACY on the 2008 ballot

Please download and SIGN THE PETITION !

http://www.FloridaHometownDemocracy.com
PO Box 636, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32170-0636.

 
Best,
Lesley

Leslie Blackner, of the Florida Hometown Democracy, told Voice of Freedom: "We have currently collected close to 450,000 petitions.  We must collect a total of 611,000   by the end of January to qualify for the 2008 ballot.  I estimate we need another 300,000 petitions to ensure we make the ballot.  Why that number?  Because the supervisors of elections are rejecting about 20% of the submitted petitions and further, we must meet state  numbers in at least 8 congressional districts.  That means the petitions have to come from all over the state, not just one region."

St. Pete Times
This 'new' dispute is as old as democracy
By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Staff Writer
The coming fight for the soul of Florida is the oldest political fight there is.

As we duke it out between now and November 2008, we will call it by its current label, "Hometown Democracy."

But it's really an argument that began 2,500 years ago on a hillside in Athens. Can citizens govern themselves wisely? Or should somebody else make decisions for them?

Florida Hometown Democracy is a group that wants to give voters control of major growth decisions in our state. The group is petitioning to put a constitutional amendment on the 2008 ballot.  (Floridians for Smarter Growth  want to take that control away from the people and put it in the hands of the Developers)

Countless times over the past 25 years, I have watched opponents show up at public hearings, angry, energized, saying the same things to fight a proposed development.

Their City Council or County Commission shrugs and says, "Where were you when we were drawing the maps? Our maps tell us that we cannot say no."

(See: Tarpon Springs, Wal-Mart, approval of.)

So here is the genius of Hometown Democracy: It says that voters get to draw the maps in the first place. To be precise, the group's amendment would require local voter approval for any change in a community's "comprehensive plan."

Plato would hate it. Aristotle would fret. Socrates would ask irritating questions for 15 hours or until somebody made him drink hemlock.

Me, I kinda like it. I like it because (1) I am flat-out sick of local government saying yes and (2) because the opponents are frothing with ridiculous overstatement. "This will lead," warns a builder-funded group with the ironic name of Floridians for Smarter Growth, "to far less planning, increased urban sprawl, much more traffic, higher property taxes and anemic municipal services."

Holy cow! All that, just from letting voters control growth in their own community.

Floridians for Smarter Growth has a proposed counter-petition. It, too, claims to give citizens the "right" to control growth but sets up roadblocks to keep them out.

Oh, and this rival amendment also says that if both it and Hometown Democracy pass, then Hometown Democracy won't count. Sneaky!

So if somebody asks you to sign a petition to "control growth," make sure you know which one you're signing.

Blackner tells us:  “The Chamber’s connection to Floridians for Smarter Growth demonstrates it’s hypocrisy.  It only wants to preserve the power of its client-developers to continue to ruin this state.  It will do anything to protect the status quo, including abandoning our constitutional ‘core principles’.  Developers are terrified of the Florida Hometown Democracy amendment because it goes to the heart of their power - their ability to control city and county commissions.

“The main objective of Florida Hometown Democracy is to take local growth decisions out of the hands of special interest groups driven by profit objectives and put it back into the hands of the citizens.  Such nefarious attempts to destroy our grassroots effort to put Florida voters back in charge of the destiny of their state reminds me of a story line from a Carl Hiaasen novel.” Blackner said…”Stay tuned.”

Palm Beach County scandals involving former County Commissioners Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell and former West Palm Beach City Commissioners Ray Liberti and Jim Exline.

That they are out of office because of votes tied to development illustrates why the changes are necessary, Blackner said.

"The public interest has been hijacked and redefined in Florida to mean keeping the development industry going," she said. "The whole question is, who does government serve?"

This isn't black and white. I know lots of smart people who think Hometown Democracy is a bad idea.

After all, in the end the Athenians turned into a fickle mob. They chose demagogues and fools as their leaders. They were whipped by Sparta, which was governed by kings and a kind of gussied-up County Commission.

So by all means, if you think that decisions about growth are best made by "professionals" and local elected officials, then you should oppose Hometown Democracy.

After all, they've done such a good job so far.

"I'm tired of being told voters aren't smart enough to know what they're voting for," said Betsy Roberts, chair of the Florida Chapter Sierra Club.
"If most people know both sides of the story, they'll make a good decision. Voters are intelligent people."
www.voiceoffreedom.com