Originally Published: 5 January 2009
The Treasure Coast Palm
Is the Florida Supreme Court anti-military? Does Florida’s growth machine give a damn?
A 4-3 ruling issued just before Christmas erected an impenetrable blockade for servicemen and women seeking to participate in their communities’ electoral process.
The court decision was a victory for Floridians for Smarter Growth, which is peddling a counter-initiative to subvert Florida Hometown Democracy. Mimicking FHD’s populism, the Smarter Growth proposition purports to offer an alternate remedy to sprawl-weary Floridians.
It’s actually a poison pill. The rival measure imposes a set of restrictive requirements that would effectively curb local growth referendums. Under the Smarter Growth rules, any citizens who want to challenge a local Comprehensive Plan change:
• Must personally visit the qualifying Supervisor of Elections Office or City Clerk’s Office to sign a “Growth Management Initiative Petition.”
• Must sign within a 60-day period.
These barriers may not be huge impediments to full-time residents, but they’re a killer for active-duty military personnel serving away from home — as well as the disabled and homebound. And the rules are insidiously bureaucratic. Which, of course, is Smarter Growth’s strategy. Prop up an appearance of grass-roots democracy, but embed the process with so many landmines that no referendums will ever occur.
The Supreme Court majority (including two recent appointments by Gov. Charlie Crist) averred it wasn’t ruling on the merits of the Smarter Growth gambit. But by leaving its weasel-worded ballot language intact and giving it a shot at the 2010 statewide ballot, the justices aided and abetted the foes of Florida Hometown Democracy — the real statewide growth-management initiative.
While the Florida Chamber of Commerce and development-industry allies shop their counterfeit version, Hometown Democracy remains the best option for anyone who truly wants to check the abuses of local politicians and bolster citizens’ rights. Indeed, FHD’s opponents are so nervously controlling that they inserted a dubious clause, which says if both measures are passed by Florida voters, only their version would become law.
Justice Barbara Pariente, in one dissent, declared that the chamber’s initiative “requires a series of onerous prerequisites before voter approval takes place.”
Justice Fred Lewis, going further, branded the ballot language “a false promise” and “patently misleading.”
Though Lewis didn’t mention the slap at military personnel, he said the proposal “flies under false colors¥...¥rendering the purported ‘right’ (to redress via referenda) almost completely illusory.”
“Under the amendment, individuals who seek a referendum may not set up a public kiosk at a local library, market or government building, as is the customary and traditional method of citizen involvement.” (He also could have mentioned that no mail-in option is available either.)
Lewis added: “For there to be a referendum in Broward County on a growth-management plan, more than 103,000 registered voters (10 percent) would need to travel to the Broward County elections office during a period of two months to sign a petition. Even if the offices were open seven days a week, an average of at least 1,717 signatures would need to be obtained per day for the required number.”
Lesley Blackner, president of Hometown Democracy, called the decision “a low point for the Florida Supreme Court. It’s unprecedented and shows complete indifference to our troops.”
Ryan Houck, spokesman for Floridians for Smarter Growth, continues to warn that Hometown Democracy would swamp the system with voter referendums on local Comprehensive Plan changes.
Houck bemoans “10,599 land-use changes each year for the past four years,” yet that number graphically illustrates the promiscuous rate at which developers drive and manipulate the political process. Far from addressing that problem, the Smarter Growth scheme threatens to wipe out existing referendum guarantees in local government charters while muzzling growth critics.
As both measures take aim at the 2010 ballot, voters will have a stark choice. No matter how warm and fuzzy Smarter Growth’s disingenuous ballot summary may sound, no matter how many millions of dollars of slick advertising the development industry buys, make no mistake: One proposition is about disenfranchising voters; the other empowers citizens, including those who fight to keep our country and our democracy safe.
ken.ward@scripps.com
DUELING PROPOSITIONS
Florida Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis accused Floridians for Smarter Growth of “hiding the ball” with a vague ballot summary. Here is the Smarter Growth’s 54-word version, followed by Lewis’ proposed amplification (which, though still under the state-mandated 75-word limit, failed to win court approval):
APPROVED VERSION
Florida Growth Management Initiative Giving Citizens the Right to Decide Local Growth Management Plan Changes.
Allows Floridians to call for voter approval of changes to local growth management plans through a citizen petition. Voter approval of growth management plan changes will be required if 10 percent of the voters in the city or county sign a petition calling for such a referendum. Defines terms and establishes petition requirements.
REVISED (REJECTED) VERSION
Florida Growth Management Initiative Creating Limited Opportunity to Vote on Local Growth Management Plan Changes.
Allows Floridians a limited opportunity to vote on changes to local growth management plans through a citizen petition. Voter approval of growth management plan changes will be required if 10 percent of the voters in the city or county sign within 60 days at the local election office a petition calling for such a referendum. Defines terms and establishes petition requirements. Preempts all other land-use proposals.
HOMETOWN DEMOCRACY
Referenda Required for Adoption and Amendment of Local Government Comprehensive Land Use Plans.
Establishes that before a local government may adopt a new comprehensive land use plan, or amend a comprehensive land use plan, the proposed plan or amendment shall be subject to vote of the electors of the local government by referendum, following preparation by the local planning agency, consideration by the governing body and notice. Provides definitions.
NEXT UP...
On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court will hear an appeal of the state’s petition revocation law, which permits signers to revoke their signatures. Agreeing with attorneys representing Hometown Democracy, the 1st District Court of Appeal ruled last year that the 2007 law was unconstitutional.
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