A day late and billions of dollars short for Hillsborough on growth-management bill
May 15, 2009 at 6:18 am by Kelly Cornelius
photo by .res flickr.com
By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND activist
After months of hounding from activists and even early coverage in both papers including this editorial in the Trib dated Feb 21st, 2009 the Hillsborough County Commission finally weighs in on Senate Bill 360, a bad revamp of Florida’s growth-management safeguards. This is a bill that everyone (except developers and their politicians) thinks is a bad idea. The bill’s sponsor is Mike Bennett -R of Bradentucky Bradenton. So, after two months of Legislative Session where the bill sailed through committees and was voted on twice on the floor in the House and three times in the Senate and eventually passed on the last day of Session, our commission, at the urging of Commissioner Mark Sharpe decide to discuss it. You would have thought they were being asked to consider…..gasp…… domestic partnership benefits or something considering the discussion. Some of them acted surprised or feigned ignorance about the content of the bill citing that things change minute by minute in bills in Tallahassee and while that is true the bigger truth is that the main things in the bill that everyone was screaming about, transportation concurrency and no reviews for DRIs (big ass subdivisions) have been in the bill since the beginning as noted in this Feb 20th article by Mariella Smith.
Sharpe walked the item on to last Wednesday’s Commission agenda and led the discussion on the issue and I have to say he was nothing short of a rock star on this one kids. Yes, the concert was long over but still it was our last hope and the guy did a great job. His arguments against the bill were informed, well thought out and impossible to be against (at least openly) once the light was shined on the bill. If signed the bill will gut growth management laws leaving taxpayers to foot the bill for over-crowded roads and promote more developer welfare and sprawl. There were some delay tactics by Commissioner Jim the athletic supporter Norman and County Administrator Pat “anything you say Commissioner Norman” Bean seemed to have her own ideas about what should go in the letter (which didn’t sound anything like Sharpe’s motion to ask for a veto by the way). Finally the vote was unanimous to send a letter asking the people’s Guv to veto it. Thank You Commissioner Sharpe!
Prior to the Commissioners discussing the issue during public comment residents railed against the bill, the county commission’s effort (or lack thereof) and the cost of Hillsborough’s eight lobbyists. Judging by public comment it seemed that several residents suspected there were at least a few members of the County Commission who secretly supported SB 360. Guess who else was in attendance speaking in support of SB 360? Todd Scime, that same person who threatened a citizen at the last round of Comp Plan amendments during a public hearing. Also speaking in support of 360 was developer Don Phillips, who is known in activist circles as the New Ralph Hughes.
In addition, I obtained a copy of an email to Commissioners supporting the bill from none other than the Tampa Bay Builders Association (TBBA). It is widely thought that TBBA pulls the strings of many of the Gang of 4 (they endorsed Ken Hagan, Brian Blair, and Al Higginbotham if that tells you anything). Also according to this article they have endorsed Kevin I ain’t got no alibi White in the past.
Because of Norman’s stall tactics and County Administrator Pat Bean trying to put her own spin on this during the discussion, I wanted to make sure of two things:1. The letter was actually sent. and 2. The content of the letter was actually in opposition of the bill and specifically asked Crist to Veto it. I asked for a copy of the letter which was emailed to the Gov on 05/11/09 (recall the meeting to craft it was on 05/06/09 but hey, no rush if passed this could cost taxpayers a fortune Chairman Half-Truth Hagan (who signed the letter). While we were wating I hope Governor Crist wasn’t working overtime signing bills. The letter is exactly what some of us had feared, a watered-down version of what we thought was a motion for strong opposition. While they do ask for a veto they also give Governor Crist a HUGE out by asking for his opinion. The line that neuters their whole opposition and gives Crist an out (even after asking for a veto is this one)
We would respectfully request a written response with your analysis of the issues outlined above so we may better understand your interpretation of this bill. Nimby Translation: Dear Oh Suntanned One, Some activists shined the light on us regarding SB 360 so we now have to ask you to veto it (wink, wink, nod, nod). Just so you know the gig is up on that one by the way. Being a pseudo-conservative yourself you might have to support this bill to make your developer Republican donors happy. If you have any good reasons at all should you decide to support it then please send them down to us because we could use some of your bipartisan mojo to smooth this mess over. In the meantime, we are taking a faux stance against this bill.
I should also mention the commendable job Commissioner Kevin Beckner did with his motion to have the lobbyists update Commissioners during each meeting throughout the legislative session next year. Thank You Commissioner Beckner! Again the whining on this request from the other Commissioners was almost unbelievable as Commissioner Norman argued that things change quickly and the information would be old. County lobbyist Edith Stewart tried to use the excuse that SB 360 was only just voted on the last day of session 5/01/09 and that the information had changed several times. You know, citizens were alerted to this bill early on in session and we in turn alerted the county commission. We were able to stay updated on 360 throughout its ill-conceived existence and the things in the bill that will have a negative impact on Hillsborough were present throughout. If Ms. Stewart can’t handle her job then please just pay Denise Layne to do it who has successfully followed this and many other bills and has managed to keep everyone updated. I have still not recieved any information from my public records request regarding what (if any) bills our lobbyists have actually spoken about in committees or how much taxpayers pay them. Word on the street is Hillsborough County owns a condo up in Tally for these people. I haven’t received an answer back on that one yet either. Can we afford 8 lobbyists with no official documentation of any activities to show the taxpayers as well as a place to stable them?
What can you do? You can contact Commissioner Sharpe here and thank him. You can contact Governor Crist here and ask him not to sign SB 360 (unless you like congested roads and developer welfare). Is there hope to stop this bill? Well, at least one person in Tally has changed their vote on the issue so maybe there is hope to stop it.
May 15th, 2009 at 11:04 am
I look forward to every new post by Kelly Cornelius! She’s done her homework and connected the dots for us. No one covers county government quite like Kelly. We get the story behind the story.
Thank you Denise Layne and all others who lobbyied our County Commissioners to send a letter to our Governor asking him to veto SB 360. And special thanks to Commissioner Sharpe.