Originally Published: 23 September 2007
The Orlando Sentinel
If you read the letter that former House Speaker John Thrasher is sending to Floridians all over the state, you're bound to get mad.
Thrasher, after all, tells us that special interests are out to hijack our state. And, if you're like me, you'd rather not get hijacked.
But we may not have much of a choice. Thrasher says that, in their quest to ruin the state, the special interests are using devious tricks and enlisting the help of so-called "electors."
"Guess who the 'electors' will be," Thrasher's letter continues. "The 'special interests' and their slick lawyers will rig the system to put our future in the hands of their cronies."
Ooh, those rotten special interests. I can't stand 'em -- them or their slick lawyers.
But it sounds like the real culprits in this thing are these no-good "electors."
Wanna fight one back? Wanna just sock one of 'em square in the schnoz?
Well, make a fist and then ram it into your own face.
Because "electors" are nothing more than Floridians who will get the right to vote.
Yes, the amendment that Thrasher's thrashing would simply give you the right to vote on major land and development projects.
It's called Hometown Democracy. And Thrasher -- whose letter never reveals that he's now a lobbyist for big business -- knows all this perfectly well. That's what scares his clients.
Historically, you see, building things has been pretty easy in this state. You count the number of politicians on a city council or county commission and then ply most of them with enough campaign donations or smooth-talking lobbyists to get what you desire.
Want to put a Wal-Mart right next to people who don't want it? No problem. Just get three of the five county commissioners on your side and voila! You can now cover 5 acres of land with parking lots, bright lights and all the tires and landscaping equipment you need.
What would be tougher, though, would be convincing an entire community to vote to approve such a thing -- hence Thrasher's concern.
Now, to be fair, there are some valid concerns about Hometown Democracy's effort to let voters to approve so many developments. It could slow growth more than some communities would like. We would have nasty, misleading campaigns (much like this one) about projects all over the state. And sometimes, the best-funded side would win, rather than the right one.
But those aren't the calm and reasonable points that "The Honorable John Thrasher" cites in his letter. Why? Because they're frankly not all that exciting or compelling.
So I asked Thrasher whether even he believed much of what he wrote in the letter -- especially this "elector" stuff.
"You have to read between the lines," came the response.
I see.
Besides, Thrasher argued, Hometown Democracy uses misleading techniques as well. He says the media hasn't covered that. So, if he went a little too far in his letter, he's OK with that. "We're trying to stir it up," he said. "We're fighting fire with fire."
And then we got to one of the stranger parts of our conversation. It happened when Thrasher again referred to the "special interests" pushing Hometown Democracy.
The Sierra Club is certainly backing the effort. But Hometown Democracy was created by a couple of environmental lawyers who think pay-for-play development has run roughshod over the state. In pushing this amendment, neither one will get rich. In fact, they're probably going to lose money promoting it.
Yet, Thrasher kept referring to these evil special interests.
So I asked him: "Mr. Speaker, exactly who are these special interests that you keep referring to?" (I don't have the exact transcript of this exchange, but I am pretty sure that I improperly ended that first question with a preposition.)
Environmentalists, came the response.
"You're counting environmentalists as the special interests? But none of them are going to profit off this amendment, are they?"
But Scott, that doesn't mean they're not special interests.
"OK, but you've got special interests funding your side. I mean, come on, Mr. Speaker. If we put your special interests up against the environmental special interests -- which side do you think Floridians would choose?"
I can't answer that, Scott.
Oh, yes, he could. The Honorable John Thrasher, after all, is a smart man. And that's precisely why he's trying to unfairly associate Hometown Democracy with something much less popular: his clients.
Secrecy, Schmecrecy
When a bunch of insurance and health-care lobbyists went behind closed doors to start hashing out an insurance deal last week at Gov. Charlie Crist's urging, many people went bonkers -- mainly because there were no lawmakers present. But really, what's the big deal? Think about it: At least Tallahassee's finally being honest about who runs the show. Plus, the legislators often just mess things up. So maybe, if we just remove the middlemen, we can at least shaft the taxpayers in a quicker and much more cost-effective manner.
We're No. 8!
So a new study ranked Metro Orlando as being the eighth-most-traffic-clogged urban area in the nation. Maybe we should look at this from a glass-half-full perspective. I mean, given our sad-sack schools, low wages and overpriced housing, it's kind of exciting to finally live in a Top 10 community.
The Honorable Scott Maxwell can be reached at smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6141.
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