It is our inability to exit the loop we are in that has me angry this morning. Just read Gimleteye above: It is the same frustration you will see in this post, dressed differently. We seem to be on the exact same page today.Just this week the County Commission unanimously gave an Aviation no-bid contract to the Carrie Meek Foundation giving them control of 121 acres around the Opa Locka Airport. Doesn’t anyone recall Meek’s involvement in the Poinciana Park/Stackhouse debacle a few months ago? Readers wring their hand and profess indignation in their comments. So do I in my posts. But the next week I am back writing about more scandals and waste within the county (sometimes with different players) and the same thing happens...week after week in our County Government. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. Nothing is coming of all my writing. You get a few yuks, a few bad picture of Natacha, but no answers. We need to do something differently. We need to be agressive. The Strong Mayor didn't work. The unreformable majority of the County Commission is permanently: Unreformable!
How can we get out of this circle of shit that keeps coming back to hit us in the face every week? We need major surgery and here is my suggestion.
Locally, we need to cut off the balls or the head of the beast. We have been battering it, but it just doesn’t go down. (Hit read more).
Some readers have suggested lately that we cut out the charter. Not bad. We need a very targeted petition drive. The only way to get around the County Commission is with a petition. The county has made it almost impossible to collect petition signatures (you have a limited amount of time, they have to be notarized and you need a shitload of them). They will throw stumbling blocks at us. But, if we get the money to help pay for this, we can get something very strong on the ballot. We must. The beast keeps getting bigger and more rabid and all we can do is wring our hands.
I am printing the Miami Herald Editorial from Sunday below (the Herald is in the loop with us as you can see by this editorial). This is a very good editorial read it, because it acknowledges nothing much can be done but it goes over the big picture of everything that is wrong and how it connects. They speak statewide for the most part, but local problems are in it.
I am not helping, the Miami Herald isn’t and the Government is making every problem worse.
Maybe you can help. Contact your friends, have everyone sit down at their computer and contact me by email or in comments, Let's develop a plan. What is the most targeted thing that you think we should do in a petition drive to lop off the head or balls of the beast? Also, where can we turn to for funds? We need a groundswell of support!
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Growth outpaces our capacity to meet demands
OUR OPINION: FLORIDA NEEDS UNCOMMON LEADERSHIP TO REINVENT ITSELF
Posted on Sun, Jul. 20, 2008
Old hands will be tempted to dismiss the latest Florida obituary in Time as media hyperbole. Our paradise has been declared ''lost'' so many times before that we've stopped paying attention. Think again.
The environmental, demographic, political and economic challenges of today add up to a fundamental struggle over the increasing demand for shrinking resources. Florida's future is in jeopardy. Thursday's Miami Herald front page contained in microcosm a view of the bleak prospects if we don't mend our ways.
• The lead story reports on the need for $9.4 billion over the next 30 years to support Miami-Dade Transit, above and beyond projected revenue from current sources of funding. The krazy-kar derby on reconfigured I-95 is part of the same problem -- too many people trying to get from one place to another on an overburdened, ill-financed transportation system.
• Further down, another story about a 45 percent to 70 percent rate-increase filing by State Farm Insurance reflects the continuing insurance crisis produced in part by the boom in development along our long, vulnerable coastline. The system has been patched up repeatedly by the Legislature since Hurricane Andrew in 1992, but for many Floridians the insurance bills on the house rival or exceed the mortgage payment, and they're still going up.
Unbridled development threatens more than our coastlines. Our drinking water is clean, but we will have to pay more for it and stop dumping dirty water into the ocean. The annual fight by the Miami-Dade County Commission over the Urban Development Boundary is, at bottom, about how to cope with the demographic pressure on a fragile Everglades ecosystem and the threat of environmental collapse. Solutions cost money, and a poorly conceived tax system doesn't yield enough revenue.
• That is connected to a third story on the same front page. Miami Fort Lauderdale tops the list of the nation's metropolitan regions with high-inflation rates. A related story notes that Florida is ''the top job-loss state in the country'' and forecasts a grim economic outlook due to shrinking wages and record home foreclosures.
It doesn't take a Ph.D. in economics to see that a low-wage state with a high cost of living (due in part to the insurance crisis and high property taxes) is woefully unprepared for these challenges. Nor does it give the next generation the tools it will need to come up with solutions.
Florida already is No. 50 among the states in spending per pupil in public schools. Still, the state has cut funding by $75 million to the Miami-Dade school district because of falling tax revenues. That leaves administrators and unions to fight over the scraps, and forces cuts at every level. Next year could be worse.
Florida's failure to manage growth lies at the heart of this problem. If times were good, the basic flaws in Florida's economic structure would remain hidden, but they would still pose a threat to the state's future. More and more newcomers enter Florida every year but state leaders don't seem up to the job of updating and overhauling physical and economic infrastructures that were never designed to cope with the needs of a population that has ballooned to 18 million people.
Sure, other states and regions have their own, seemingly intractable, problems. But that doesn't diminish the seriousness of ours. The question not only is what we will do about it, but who will lead us. The vision and imaginative leadership required to pull Florida out of this mess is as scarce as the nearly extinct Florida panther.
As Time puts it, a Legislature that prefers ''protracted arguments about evolution and other Terri Schiavo-style social issues as well as legislation proposing crackdowns on bikers who pop wheelies'' while slashing $5 billion from an already inadequate budget, will never be mistaken for a repository of political wisdom.
It isn't that the state and our own region don't have strong leaders in a variety of fields. The ranks of our public and private universities, business communities, arts, entertainment, philanthropy and civic activism offer a wealth of ability and potential as rich as any region in the country. However, only government can tackle problems that require the marshaling of public resources and the reordering of priorities that the times demand. Where are those leaders when our state needs them most?
23 comments:
A targeted petition drive is the answer. I am of the belief we might need two. As long as we are going for one, why not two?
Some suggestions:
4 At Large Commission Districts
Dissolve the County Charter
Citizen voting on Urban Development Boundary Movement
Term limits 8 years
No Corporate Donations and a $250 limit
I think fundraising will not be so hard, there is a lot of discontent.
Whatever happened with former Mayor Dermer's lawsuit against the new draconian petition drive requirements imposed by the BCC after the attempt to recall Vile Natacha? If the new measures are found by Judge Gold to be unconstitutional, it will solve many of our problems as it will reverse to the old less cumbersome system of citizens petitions.
As to funds, I'm sure Norman Braman will be more than willing to contribute to stop the abuses by the unreformable county commission. Once this petition drive picks up steam, there's no doubt that others will be more than willing and happy to economically contribute.
Gimlet Eye mentioned the Florida Hometown Democracy Petition. That is a step we can all take. Have you signed it? Have you brought it to your neighbors and relatives?
There is one question I have about putting more than one issue on a petition.
The county somehow put more than one issue on the park plan...ballot, I think it had 8 parts.
Can we have one petition for all the the charter change recommendations. Or do we need one for each? They were a package deal? Legal Eagles?
First I repeat what I said above. Then I repeat what I have said in the past. We are all talk and no action. In my case I am excused I think because of extreme old age. But when I was young I spent months going door to door talking to people and explaining why they must vote the way I saw it. I also went to who ever had money and made them listen and give us poorer folks who were doing the leg work the money to accomplish what was needed. I could go on, but the people who read this blog appear to all be intelligent people and understand exactly what must be done to free all of us.
Let me be candid at the risk of my pride.
I'm a young one, only 27 years old. I am itching for a change, but honestly I have no idea how to go about it. Education these days, even in a great private school like mine, just doesn't spend a second on local civic education. But I'm willing to learn which is why I read your blog and have lately been forcing myself to reply.
I can't provide ideas but I can provide action.
Thanks M.Arce...as we mull the right action to target the belly of the beast of the county...download that petition on the right side of this page under "news links:" Florida Hometown Democracy. Get a few signed and send them in. That is the best action you can take at this moment. I have gotten about 500 signed.... they have over 600,000 signed to get it on the State ballot.
Action is good. There is one volunteer above M.Arce. Now we need an action.
I believe the petition/petitions is a good one but I don't have a clue on content.
Don't get angry, get even!
I downloaded a bunch of FHD petitions and have spent the last 2 days collecting in front of a post office; best to stay on government property where you won't get sued like Publix did to the recall petitioners. Download some talking points from the FHD website and you're in business. Can't do it during the day? Hit the libraries on Saturdays. Know someone with a store? Put a binder full of petitions on the counter along with a simple explaination. Pick them up every day. Or ask if you can collect in front of their store. There are many simple things we can do to get involved. And, yes, you may be inconvenienced for a few hours. True, it's hot as hell. I am mailing a package of almost 50 petitions today- what a good feeling! I'll be back tomorrow.
Educate yourself about the FHD rational before you go out and seek signatures. I know Genius and others don't agree with my position (FHD is a remedy that is worse than the disease), but, that being said, everyone needs to base their opinons on the best facts available, and from both, or rather, all sides of the particular issue.
Now, as to a legal question, Genius, I think the 8 question split you are talking about was the GOB. That was spilt up into different items for voting purposes. As to the Charter Changes, there are limitations as to how they can place the questions on the ballot. For items to be placed as the same ballot question, they have to bear a substantial relationship to each other, and the title needs to sufficiently convey the charter change question. In this case, the three charter recommendations placed on the ballot by the BCC would each be brought to the electorate as a seperate question. That actually leads to less confusion, with proper voter education, or, more confusion with misleading campaign tactics.
thanks last commenter, I now see it is going to be difficult to come up with that poison pill petition that we need. On HTD...I pulled this out of my file, I thought it very well presented -- I admire this woman:
This was written by Janet Reno's sister on Hometown Democracy:
Hometown Democracy: People want right to say no
By Maggy Hurchalla, guest columnist ---STUART NEWS
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
It's easy to tell who the bad guys are in the Hometown Democracy debate. They lie so viciously and creatively that they make normal dirty politics seem friendly. They are committing huge piles of money to say and do whatever is necessary to stop Florida Hometown Democracy from getting on the ballot. They clearly believe that people will vote for it and it will slow growth.
And then there are the innocents — the frustrated, angry public that have watched the best planning laws in the country turn into bureaucratic pablum. They want the right to just say "no."
What's puzzling are the good guys caught in between. Tom Pelham, one of Florida's better state planning directors in the past, is fighting Hometown Democracy while warning the Legislature that growth management in Florida has failed. 1000 Friends of Florida is reluctantly and ever so politely not a friend of Hometown Democracy. The American Planning Association state chapter is afraid of it.
When your thoughtful friends question a decision, it's time to stop and think. I have thought long and hard over all the arguments against it. I think my hopeful friends in the middle are wrong.
Opponents go on and on about how difficult it will be to vote on each and every comprehensive plan amendment. They miss the point that local governments are handing out amendments like chewing gum. The problem is that we have too many amendments.
Everyone agrees that our local plan is our constitution. We should treat it like one. We should be conservative in making changes. We should let the people vote on those changes.
It's very clear from the opposition that there will be far fewer amendments proposed if the public gets the right to say "no."
As long as there are 8,000 plan amendments around the state every year, there will be chaos. We're watching it happen. Comp plan amendments should be rare. They should happen every two years at the general election. They should be something the public can understand. Our politicians have proved rather dramatically that they are not smarter than we are on planning issues.
Doubters of Hometown Democracy propose a list of bold legislative changes that would restore the public's role in planning without giving them the "draconian" power to say "no".
I think any of us who have watched the Legislature in recent years can say with complete confidence that there is not a snowball's chance in hell that any of those reforms will pass, unless Hometown Democracy makes it onto the ballot for next November.
Go to: www.floridahometowndemocracy.com or call the toll-free number for petitions: 866-779-5513. Download a petition and mail it in ASAP. E-mail your friends. Beg your neighbors. Time is running out.
And when we get it on the ballot, we will see whether the Legislature can meet the challenge to make growth management work for people instead of developers. If they can't, then we know for sure that we need Hometown Democracy.
Opponents keep saying that letting the people vote will turn over important planning decisions to the side that has the most money for advertising. I find that viewpoint incredibly offensive in terms of its attitude toward voters and democracy in general.
But if we get on the ballot, the November election will produce an unbiased answer to the accusation that voters can always be bought.
The campaign is clearly going to be David versus Goliath. The opponents of Florida Hometown Democracy have already shown that they will be the big bad mean Goliath with most of the money on their side.
So if the people of Florida vote overwhelmingly for the Hometown Democracy amendment, they will have proved that democracy and honesty can win over big money.
That's a happy thought.
Hurchalla, a former Martin County commissioner who lives in Port Salerno, co-authored Martin County's comprehensive plan and has been a longtime statewide advocate for conservation and land preservation.
The terrorists are in the cockpit of the county, deciding they will accept a 1500% raise but won't accept term limits. Making it harder to get petitions before the voters, F-them, let's roll!!!
Term limits are not the panacea that some believe them to be. Look at the State level. Because leadership positions are so important in Tallahassee, freshman Senators and Representatives need to hit the ground running, and often, leadership positions are decided even before the election is over. So, the focus isn't on good policy.
As with every other well intentioned idea, there are pitfalls. Ask those who are close to state government, and they will tell you.
Myself, I think there is a happy medium. I would not limit it to two terms, but, I think limiting each to three terms makes sense.
Why do they need the Carrie Meek Foundation? What is experience does this foundation have in land development. Why didn't the cournty do what the Foundation is suppose to be doing? Does everyone need a fistfull of our tax dollars?
unfortunately, we then have to give the current crop 12 years so most have been in for 8 years already. Which means we will see them in power for 20 years or more. TOOOO LOOOOG
We need to elect Whilly Bermudez & the rest of the new candidates!
Good bye, Joe Martinez.
If only Whilly could pull it off.
For all you big talkers about petitions to change county government; when the recall Seijas petioners where struggling to collect signatures and money, where were you? Talk is cheap.
It was a loser, everyone knew you wouldn't take her out that way. Although it did annoy the hell out of her.
If we can't get money for our drastic change, we won't do it. I am just putting out feelers and the private emails just keep coming in chock full of ideas.
We have to do petitions last anonymous because it is our only avenue to change.
Just so you know, I have a neighbor who is in her 70's and she walks everyday door to door, (heart condition and all), to collect signatures for us. She is working the store fronts as well as the community. She did get some quality time at one Publix :) however, she got the boot at a different one (for you publix fans).
This is the 3rd petition drive she has done on behalf of our community. She is a sweetheart.
She doesn't even have a computer and she can't read any of this! Yet her heart is there!
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