The attack on planning, environment: Ambler’s bill HB 723
March 20th, 2008 by Kelly Cornelius in Suburban sprawl, What you can doLegislation sponsored by Rep. Kevin Ambler has come under fire by many concerned citizens, specifically because of the inclusion of the City-County Planning Commission in the bill.
HB 723 is about a power shift of several local boards including the Environmental Protection Commission, the Tampa Sports Authority and The Planning Commission. The EPC board right now consists solely of the Board of County Commissioners. Yes, that same BOCC that tried to kill our wetlands last summer which is reason enough to decrease the BOCC’s power on the EPC.
I don’t have time to follow the Sports Authority so I can’t comment on that board. (But here’s an earlier PoHo piece on how that board spends your tax dollars.) The Planning Commission, however, currently has equal representation of city and county. Many concerned citizens, myself included, feel that our Planning Commission serves us well as is and do not want to see a shift in power giving the County the edge with more representation which is what this bill is proposing.
The three local municipal governments — the City of Tampa, Temple Terrace and Plant City — have voted against a change on the Planning Commission. On Nov. 13, 2007, our own BOCC voted unanimously to support this bill ONLY if the Planning Commission was removed from it. That is why it was strange when on Dec. 7, County Administrator Pat Bean told Hillsborough legislators that the BOCC would still support the bill if Mr. Ambler left the Planning Commission in it.
These transcripts and a letter written by Commissioner Sharpe who clearly opposes any changes to the Planning Commission can be seen on Mariella Smith’s blog post on this subject at Sticks of Fire. Mr. Ambler waived the rules at the delegation meeting and voted on this issue without a quorum. It seems like the political agendas of a few politicians have overridden the will of the people as well as local governments.
Why then did Rep. Ambler push this bill without a quorum? Why did Pat Bean say the BOCC would support the inclusion even though they voted against it? That is what many citizens are asking our delegation. We are also asking that they hold another meeting due to the unfinished business of this controversial bill. R-LAND and UCAN members have posted a letter for anyone sharing the same views to use and it goes right to our delegation and committee members. You can access it here.
Why is giving our BOCC the edge on any board a bad idea? Again I cite the EPC example. Why are citizens so concerned about the Planning Commission? Because the Planning Commission is the only objective agency we have free of political bias and hidden agendas. They promote smart growth and discourage sprawl. The knowledge of its staff is unparalleled, and they are charged with being the keepers of our comprehensive plan, the county’s blueprint for growth. They make recommendations to our Planning Commissioners (who are appointed by the city and the county) and they in turn vote on issues to make recommendations to the BOCC. The BOCC gets the final word on growth, and that fact alone says they ALREADY have the edge.
Here’s how to contact Ambler or any state representative to let them know how you feel about the proposed changes to these three boards.
Send to a friend:
March 21st, 2008 at 8:23 am
This is an example of a political agenda being carried out without any public support. There is not a single local govt entity, not a single civic group, and not a single citizen that I\\\’ve heard of that wants our planning commission changed. Many citizens spoke out against including the planning commission in Mr. Ambler\\\’s bill at the Legislative Delegation hearing that was held at county center. Tampa Mayor Iorio pleaded with the delegation. They wouldn\\\’t listen. Ambler\\\’s got an agenda and he\\\’s calling in favors from some his colleagues on the delegation because somehow, with no local support for changing our Planning Commission, this bill is still moving forward. UCAN is urging everyone to send a letter to the committee reviewing Bill#723 and tell them to remove the Planning Commission from this bill. We\\\’ve got an automated letter that will go to the appropriate representatives in Tallahassee on our website. Our legislators need to listen to the will of the people and stop trying to implement secret agendas!!!
March 21st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Citizens for Responsible Growth (c4rg.com) also has a call to action posted on the web at:
http://www.c4rg.com/Pdfs/2008-03-10LegislativeAlert.pdf
The C4RG paper includes e-mail addresses of the Chair, Vice Chair and Staff Director of the first committee scheduled to hear this bill, and suggests asking them not to place the bill on their agenda, or, if they do agenda it, to give us at least a week’s notice so Hillsborough citizens can arrange to attend. Some sensible bulleted talking points are listed.
Kelly, thanks for all you do around here to help raise awareness and organize effective action among the citizenry!
March 26th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Thanks for the link, Mariella. Normally, local bills like the one proposed by Rep. Ambler are noncontroversial and get little scrutiny in Tallahassee. A little heat from the public, even on non-Tampa Bay representatives, will make them question whether this is really a “non-controversial local bill” and could derail its fast passage
March 27th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
You gotta wonder, in a county that already has very little long-range planning occuring and now the developers want to get rid of The Planning Commission? Is there no end to the local Land Development Industry’s greed and arrogance?
March 28th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Thank you for this new communication device and we’re glad to help inform the public. Coalition 4 Responsible Growth tracks many growth-related bills during session. Our alerts and action items are on the front page of our website http://www.c4rg.com. If you wish to contact us email me at deelayne@tampabay.rr.com.
Dee
March 28th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
The Trib published Dee Layne’s commentary regarding this bill this week where she explains it isn’t just the bill we need to worry about. An amendment could pop up at any time saying virtually the same thing as the bill and we might not ever know it! Thanks Dee for tracking this and many other very dangerous bills in Tallahassee. The link to the commentary is
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/mar/26/na-builders-try-to-ambush-planning-agency/?news-opinion-commentary
Commissioner Sharpe has also just written another letter to our delegation urging them not to support HB 723 with the Planning Commission in it and or any amendment. I will try to post that as well.
March 30th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Here’s what I wrote reagrding Dee Layne’s commentary:
“People….we have got to stop electing stupid candidates for the Hillsbrough County Commission….regardless if one of the County Commissioners is a golfing buddy, drinking buddy, hunting buddy, friend of a friend, has mastered a sport, attends the same church, belongs to the same political party, or is the same skin color, our current batch are (largely) idiots.
Let’s use individual merit, previous experience and intelligence as the yardstick when the next BOCC election comes around…whether you’d want to have a beer with the chump should NOT be the criteria, for anything really.”