Florida Hometown Democracy still fighting for, well, democracy
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008The citizen’s initiative to take growth decisions out of the hands of politicians and give the decisions to voters is fighting back get on the ballot this November. The group remains a few thousand verified signatures short of having enough to be on a ballot, a predicament it blames on ” a hostile Legislature, well-heeled corporate opposition, erratic counting procedures by supervisors of elections, questionable emergency rules from the secretary of state and inexplicably blasé (or non-existent) news coverage.”
What exactly is Florida Hometown Democracy? Basically, it is telling our elected officials that they suck and we no longer give them the right do make growth decisions for us. Sounds like the American way on the surface: Citizens — fed up with politicians who are permanently bent over for big developers with no regard to the environment or our quality of life — start a grassroots petition drive to get an initiative on the ballot. Get enough signatures and, bingo, citizens get to decide if they want to continue to trust the politicians or if they would rather have vote directly on land-use decisions.
FHD gathered the required number of signatures (and then some) and turned them in. Not so fast, said the building lobby (and the politicians that they buy up easier than rural land). The excuses made by the state for not putting it on the ballot were pathetic and seemed downright dirty. FHD did not give up and is now in court to decide whether it will make the ballot.
Opponents of the initiative say it will stop growth … NOT TRUE.
Growth is dictated by local governments’ Comprehensive Plans and will continue as those allow. What Hometown Democracy does is gives the power to decide on whether that plan is AMENDED to citizens. For example, that Comp Plan hearing I attended last week where 6 of our 7 Hillsborough County Commissioners voted to increase densities in rural areas — against the Comp Plan and against the advice of the Planning Commission thus creating more sprawl — I would have had an actual vote on that and so would you!
Only Commissioner Rose Ferlita voted against violating our Comp Plan. Team Sprawl (Jim Norman, Brian Blair, Al Higginbotham, Kevin White, Ken Hagan and — I am sad to report— Mark Sharpe) voted to violate it, making the perfect argument FOR Hometown Democracy. This isn’t about stopping growth; it is about stopping special interest, out-of-control growth. It is about telling our politicians that they clearly can’t be trusted so we will do it ourselves, thank you.
In my opinion, this is the best chance of saving what we have left of Florida for future generations to enjoy. I believe if the referendum is passed, our grandchildren will have Ms. Blackner, who started Hometown Democracy, to thank for saving Florida from certain demise (unless you live here for the concrete). She is a fearless competitor against a mountain of developers and their sea of politicians.
What can you do? Support Florida Hometown Democracy by signing the petition and spreading the word. Vote to approve it in November, providing the courts do the right thing and actually put it on the ballot.
