Originally Published: 11 February 2009
Creative Loafing - News and Politics
Here we go again. Is there no end to the dirty tricks the growth machine in Florida is willing to go to in order to stop Florida Hometown Democracy? Nope. Hometown Democracy is a citizen petition amendment that should have been on the ballot in 2008 but due to nasty gutter politics from Palm Beach to Tallahassee it was never added. If passed the amendment would allow voters instead of politicians to vote on any land use changes outside of what our Comprehensive Plan currently provides for.
Maybe they should have renamed Florida Hometown Democracy to “You Can Say No to Sprawl” because the Sprawlpushers Florida Chamber of Commerce has its own competing amendment to block Hometown Democracy, and of course they named it “The Smarter Growth” amendment. This is sort of like Ralph Hughes naming his group Let’s Make The World a Better Place Because We Have Been Here, like Ronda Storms trying to push religion into public schools but naming her bill the Evolution Bill! Like drug dealers with Say No to Drugs stickers on their bumpers. Like……Senator Craig or preacher Ted Haggard wearing an I Hate Gays t-shirt. The Economic Stimulus Package. You get the picture.
So, in addition to naming their amendment something that might confuse the general public about which one to vote for they also have provisions in the amendment making it almost impossible for some people to participate. It calls for 10 percent of the population to actually go to the Supervisor of Elections Office in person an sign a petition in order to be able to vote on a land use change (can you just imagine this fiasco if Buddy Johnson was still in office?) This discriminates against military personnel and disabled. It could also discriminate against Supervisors of Elections with ……well…….questionable organizations or bad accounting skills!
The Chamber claims that there were 10,000 Comp Plan amendments in Florida last year and its amendment would save voters from dealing with this. Well, let me break that down for you……what we should ask is how much increased density did each of those amendments ask for and how many were approved? I have never seen a comp plan amendment asking for less density so I think we can safely assume that those 10,000 amendments were probably the birth of more sprawl. The next question (especially in Hillsborough) is if you don’t get to vote on them then our County Commission does and they have done such beautiful job so far, right? Take a spin through Brandon if you want to see their handiwork. Almost every Comp Plan amendment I have opposed has been privately initiated and usually by a developer. I recently found out that taxpayers are subsidizing the cost to process those amendments so it seems only fair we get to vote on them!
According to the Ocala Star-Banner, Charles Gauthier, director of community planning for the Florida Department of Community Affairs, recently told the Marion County Commission that approving so many Comp Plan Amendments “has not only led to haphazard development but also laid the foundation for the existing housing glut.” Good one! I wonder if we can get him to speak to four of our county commissioners? I wonder if they would understand him?
Bottom line if you hate sprawl then remember this on the 2010 ballot - Hometown Democracy GOOOOOD Smarter Growth Baaaaaad. The creators of Hometown are asking everyone supporting them to tell 5 friends…you have more than 5 friends right? Tell everyone you know to support Hometown Democracy. Consider it chemotherapy for the cancer that is sprawl. Together we can save what is left of Florida! Donate to their cause and promote their name because you know the Chamber-backed competing bill will have plenty of financial power to market their bad idea.
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