The Political Whore

From March on Politics:

he Florida Supreme Court has just approved the latest financial impact statement from Hometown Democracy petitioners, after rejecting their previous two submissions.

The high court has already approved the HD ballot question for the 2010 statewide ballot; the proposal would require voters to approve local land use plans. But without a valid financial impact statement, the question would have appeared with a notation indicating that no such information was available, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

The court rejected HD’s prior two impact statements on grounds that they were misleading and/or vague. The new one, according to a court opinion released today, is “clear, unambiguous, consists of no more than seventy-five words, and is limited to address the estimated increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to the state or local governments,” and therefore passes legal muster.

Photo credit: amerune at Flickr.com

OR

Photo credit: Daquella Manera at Flickr.com                   YOU DECIDE!

By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor and R-LAND activist

As if the past dirty deeds and developer-driven agendas of many of our Hillsborough County commissioners wasn’t proof enough (yes, we mean you Team Sprawl) now the Florida Legislature has shown you exactly why we need Florida Hometown Democracy (FHD). FHD is a citizen-driven initiative that would allow voters to make growth decisions instead of leaving it in the greased and dirty hands of politicians. To help make the case for FHD, there is this year’s legislative session.

Where to begin?

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By Kelly Cornelius
PoHo contributor & R-LAND activist

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.

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The movement that would put local land-use decisions directly into the hands of voters is fighting for its life again, this time against a developer-and-business-sponsored lookalike initiative that Florida Hometown Democracy says would “do nothing.” Organizers are asking for a rehearing at the Florida Supreme Court, a motion that is rarely granted.

This from the civic movement over the weekend:

Hometown Democracy to ask for rehearing on Florida Chamber of Commerce sponsored, “Vote on Nothing” petition.

In a close, 4-3 ruling, the Florida Supreme Court narrowly upheld the constitutional amendment proposed by “Floridians for Smarter Growth.”  That Chamber-backed petition was created to foil Florida Hometown Democracy, the people’s reform constitutional amendment that would allow local voters to approve or reject comprehensive growth plan amendments approved by their local elected officials.

In contrast, the Vote on Nothing proposal allows a referendum on a growth plan amendment only if 10% of the electorate travel to the office of the supervisor of elections to sign a petition within 60 days of the date of the first signature on the petition.  The Hometown Democracy sponsors predict that, because of those impossible logistical hurdles to clear, a referendum occurring under those circumstances would be highly unlikely, which, they assert, is the Chamber’s plan in the first place.

Florida Hometown Democracy will seek rehearing.

The full opinion is available at this link:

http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2008/sc08-318.pdf

How many times in a career do you get to write that word and tie Dick Nixon into an upcoming statewide referendum aimed at slowing down growth? Just once if you’re me. The full story is here.

Teasdale Worldwide reminds us of a Sept. 11 debate on the issue of the Florida Hometown Democracy referendum, which would place land-use decisions in the hands of voters, not elected officials. FHD is set for the 2008 ballot and has inspired a well-funded opposition from business groups and developers.

According to a news release:

Kenneth L. Weiss, J.D., public interest attorney; John Hedrick, chairman of the growth management/sprawl committee of the Florida Sierra Club; and aspiring politician, entrepreneur and land owner Joe Redner, will be the panelists debating in favor of Hometown Democracy.

“It’s time that the voters took back the power to choose how their communities are developed. People are frustrated and disgusted with their elected officials’ attitude of more development is always better. If the city and county commissions had been listening to their constituents about the epidemic of overdevelopment, FHD would not have been necessary,” said Weiss.

Panelists opposing Hometown Democracy include Linda Loomis Shelley, attorney and partner at the Fowler, White, Boggs and Banker law firm, Bob Henriquez, project coordinator for land development services at Atwell Hicks, and Adam Babington, director of coalitions and initiatives of the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

“The so-called ‘Hometown Democracy’ amendment, a statewide ‘Vote on Everything’ initiative, would imperil Florida’s prosperity and quality of life.  The proposed amendment – requiring that all local comprehensive land use plan changes meet voter approval – subverts a well-established, open, accessible and democratic planning process.  With the ‘Vote on Everything’ amendment, citizens, not the representatives they elected, are forced to regularly decide thousands of intricate land-use planning issues,” said Jennifer Krell Davis, J.D., Communications Director for the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

The debate is being produced by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. It will run from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., Sept. 11, at the Pepin Hospitality Centre,  4121 N. 50th St, Tampa. One downside: the cost to attend is $49 per person, so you gotta figure the audience will be solidly pro-business. Call 813-873-8225 to register or for more information.