Originally Published August 25, 2007
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Tallahassee bureau chief
St. Petersburg Times
It's not easy to intimidate the business community in Florida, but big business seems truly terrified of the Florida Hometown Democracy ballot initiative that may be headed to voters in November 2008.
Simply put, Hometown Democracy is a proposed constitutional amendment that would require a vote on any land-use changes that conflict with a local government's plan for growth. If a developer wanted to put a Wal-Mart Supercenter in a spot designated for agriculture, it would be the voters - not local officials - who would have to okay it.
"Ballot-box zoning," critics call it.
The co-founders of Hometown Democracy, lawyers Ross Burnaman and Lesley Blackner, see a state dominated by the development industry. They want a statewide referendum on growth.
Backed by the Sierra Club and other slow-growth forces, Hometown Democracy is more than halfway to its required goal of [611,009] signatures.
Builders, developers and their allies know that the antidevelopment push will be unstoppable if it gets to the ballot, so their mission is to stop Hometown Democracy.
Here's how: by persuading people who have signed Hometown Democracy's petitions to change their minds.
Business lobbying helped persuade the Legislature to pass a bill this spring that, for the first time, allows voters to revoke signatures on initiative petitions. Several other states have similar laws.
Hometown Democracy this week filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the constitutionality of the revocation provision. But the law, signed by Gov. Charlie Crist on May 21, is already having an effect.
Associated Industries of Florida has birthed a political committee called Save Our Constitution, which will soon start handing out Florida's first state-approved petition revocation form.
Also, it has hired Randy Nielsen, a West Palm Beach political consultant, to run the revocation effort - proving, as some predicted, that petition revocation will become a cottage industry for consultants.
The strategy is obvious.
As AIF's chief executive, Barney Bishop, says, it's much cheaper to fight Hometown Democracy over signatures than at the ballot box.
What Bishop won't say is how many revocations he's trying to collect. (Hometown, unofficially, has 326,098 signatures so far).
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, equally against Hometown Democracy, has adopted a different strategy. The chamber, home builders and others have launched a ballot initiative, called Floridians for Smarter Growth, to convince voters that there's a smarter way.
Something else is at stake here as well: money, of course.
If Hometown Democracy gets on the ballot, business groups expect to have to spend tens of millions to fight it (estimates range as high as $65-million).
That means that money wouldn't be available to help pro-business candidates.
Bishop says AIF is not about to see Florida taken over by what he calls "no-growthers and some radical environmentalists."
Blackner delights in seeing a business community truly petrified by what she is doing.
"The developers run this state, and this goes to the heart of their power," she said. "We're seeing how they react when their power is threatened."
Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.
Comments on this article
by Ron 08/29/07 11:30 AM
Pro growth? Lets see the benefits, lack of water, crowded highways, over crowdwd schools, lack of greenspaces, overbuilding, bears in your back yard, sprawl - I'm convinced lets have more growth.
by HR 08/28/07 01:20 PM
It is so easy for the simple minded to blame the "developers" for ruining everything. Let's see...we all live in a house built by developers and presumably many of us work for some evil business interest. Talk about not getting the big picture..
by Judi 08/28/07 12:22 PM
If only this initiative had been in place before Walmart was given permission to crush the aquifer here!
by AK 08/27/07 06:46 PM
If you're not growing you're dying. No growth means stagnant personal income, stagnant tax base, and ever increasing costs. The government will have to get it's money from somewhere or go bankrupt. Where will the money will come from? Your pocket.
by Gary 08/27/07 11:32 AM
Wow, I'm a 4th gen native and agree that dev's have ruined the place, but "require a vote on any land-use changes that conflict with a local government's plan for growth" is pretty radical. Who said local gov plan is any good to start with?
by Chic 08/27/07 11:31 AM
The Elected officials have let the developers get too far ahead of the infrastructure in the whole state. It seems to me the whole state needs more roads and water before it is developed any further.
by Shannon 08/27/07 10:49 AM
Come on people. If the Hometown Democracy legislation is so great, why isn't the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association supporting it? There is a lot more to this than stopping those big bad developers.I recommend you do some homework.
by JT 08/27/07 10:27 AM
BTW, Mr. Bishop's comment caused me to open my wallet and contribute to Hometown Democracy. Judge by your enemies - Associated Industries of Florida and the Florida Chamber of Commerce-any group that is opposed by these 2 has to have Fla at heart
by JT 08/27/07 10:24 AM
Bishop says AIF is not about to see Florida taken over by what he calls "no-growthers and some radical environmentalists." a population of 17 million and no end in sight; serious water & air issues; where does Mr. Bishop plan on living?
by Linda 08/27/07 09:18 AM
I've already signed the petition. I've lived in Florida all my life and I've seen the damage development has done. Let the developers go to some other state and ruin it for a change.
by Frankie 08/25/07 11:37 PM
Hometown Democracy is the best piece of proposed legislation I've seen in Florida in a long time. We need to take back control over our communities. Big development and business interests need to be checked.
by John 08/25/07 10:25 PM
http://election.dos.state.fl.us/initiatives/fulltext/pdf/45057-5.pdf Add responsible taxes to responsible growth and scare big government and big business
by E.G. 08/25/07 10:16 PM
I sent in my petition signing the Hometown Democracy initiative. http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com/
by Paul 08/25/07 08:51 PM
Great!! Unfettered growth has transformed Florida into the Cesspool of the South. What exactly is a "smarter way"? ...and why haven't it's proponents been proactive over the last 30 years? ...it reeks of a smokescreen
by Porter 08/25/07 06:10 PM
Hooray for the common man. I say yes to Hometown Democracy. The way it should have been all along. Go voters Go.....
by Chris 08/25/07 05:58 PM
http://www.floridahometowndemocracy.com/ Sign the petition. I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but I'll be damn if I sit by and let developers rule florida. I wait for the day they ask me to revoke my signature!
by Tony 08/25/07 05:23 PM
There isn't much big business in Florida to begin with. With low wages & no unions, I find that strange. Florida is the one who should be terrified. The Yankee go home Bumper stickers & attitudes don't help this tourist reliant state much either.
by GREG 08/25/07 01:41 PM
SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA, SOMEONE HAS GOT TO STOP THE EVIL EMPIRE OOPS I MEAN WALMART FROM BUILDING ON EVERY STREET CORNER.
by JT 08/25/07 12:47 PM
YES YES YES for Hometown Democracy!!! Local politicians are a lot easier to corrupt than thousands of voters who know growth cost them in tax dollars and pays BIG $$$$ for developers.IF Chamber will spend $65m then you know the current system is bad
by Jack 08/25/07 10:05 AM
If this passes all the legislature has to do is repeal the portion of the growth management act that requires a city to have a land use map. The amendment does not address repealing a map, only adopting a new or amending an existing land use map.
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