The Liars: Scared to death of Florida Hometown Democracy ... by gimleteye

For Four! You'll be hearing a lot of it, between now and the 2010 elections because the ballot referendum to change the Florida Constitution providing direct vote by citizens for changes to local growth plans is a shape shifter. It is called Amendment Four. On the costs and consequences of badly planned growth, and the process by which democracy has been hijacked by growth-at-any-cost, this will be the first time that Floridians will have a full debate and chance to cast a ballot for change. I can't wait.

Every state-wide race including the race to be the next US Senator from Florida will be forced to take a position on the costs of growth: positions that politicians in Florida have avoided like the plague. Think about it: when was the last state-wide election in which Growth and its costs to our quality of life, to the environment, and to taxpayers was front and center? For this opportunity alone, Florida Hometown Democracy deserves kudos.

But for the lies of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries, Amendment 4 would have been on the 2008 ballot. Click 'read more' for what the Palm Beach Post editorial page has to say about the liars. Speaking of which, why has The Miami Herald editorial page been stone silent on Florida Hometown Democracy and the rabid, mad dog radicals who have pledged to throw "whatever it takes" to defeat Amendment 4. Our local paper is falling further behind in what will be the big political story of 2010.

EDITORIAL: High court goes with voters
Palm Beach Post Editorial

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of democracy last week by rejecting a state law designed to undercut petition drives for state constitutional amendments.

The law, passed in 2007 as part of the election "reform" bill that moved up Florida's presidential primary, was ballot-busting at its worst. The target was Florida Hometown Democracy, a citizens initiative to require public referendums on all changes to city and county growth plans. The Florida Chamber of Commerce established Floridians for Smarter Growth to pursue a rival constitutional amendment, one that would have none of the impact of the original.

Critics lied to persuade petition-signers to revoke their signatures.

Associated Industries of Florida organized Save Our Constitution, which lied to persuade petition-signers to revoke their signatures. For instance, the group backed by developers and special interests claimed that withdrawing a signature would "say 'no' to the big developers and special interests." The group's Web site still argues that Hometown Democracy would turn planning over to "electors," defined not as "registered voters" but as "the cronies of special interests and their slick lawyers."

It worked. Using the new law, which gave Floridians five months to revoke their signatures, Hometown Democracy's opponents got 13,000 revocations and helped keep the amendment off the 2008 ballot. Without the threat of revocations, Hometown Democracy's 700,000 signatures were more than enough to qualify for the November 2010 ballot. It will be listed as Amendment 4.

Associated Industries President and CEO Barney Bishop wants to make revocation part of the constitution. After the court ruled, he spoke of asking the Legislature to put the revocation question on next year's ballot. That would save Associated Industries the cost of a petition drive. It also would be a distraction from the many better ideas that would retain the public's right to petition government but reserve the constitution for amendments that deal with the structure of state government.

The Supreme Court backed a ruling by the 1st District Court of Appeal, which reminded the Legislature that the right to petition is a basic right. The revocation law violated that right by violating the integrity of the ballot. It's hard enough to gather 600,000-plus signatures without backtracking to replace valid signatures, a burden, the court said, "not prescribed by the constitution." In 2007, Gov. Crist vetoed an even tougher restriction that would have allowed 30 days to collect signatures but 120 days to revoke them.

This newspaper has criticized Hometown Democracy as the wrong solution, an unfair burden for developers who obtain legitimate growth plan changes. We've also noted that some developers have invited this overreaction by showing disdain for growth management. Florida Hometown Democracy deserves to be debated honestly, not kept from the ballot by duplicitous means.