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An
Opinion By Jan Bergemann
President, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc.
Published
July 27, 2010
It's
time for us voters to have a “seat at the table” -- a chance to vote
for ourselves and for our neighborhoods. It
is time for us to decide how we want to live. It
is time for us to stop greedy developers and corrupt politicians that have
totally failed us and destroyed most of
Florida's natural beauty. It
is time for us to make the final decisions. In short:
AMENDMENT
4 IS LONG OVERDUE!
Voters
having the final say is not a substitute for the regular approval process
we have instituted here in Florida. It's an add-on -- creating the final
say!
Even
with Amendment 4, enacted local
city or county commissions will study, hold public hearings, and vote on
proposed changes to the comprehensive land-use plan just like they do now.
BUT
IN THE END ONLY WE VOTERS WILL DECIDE BY DEMOCRATIC VOTE IF WE APPROVE OF
THEIR DECISION!
Most
of us have attended city or county commission meetings, trying to persuade
the commissioners not to approve some plans that we felt would hurt our
neighborhood. We pleaded and
pleaded -- usually to no avail. And in case we wondered why the
commissioners didn't listen to our desperate pleas, we only had to check
the campaign reporting for the next election. You could see little city
commissioners boasting campaign war chests of more than $100,000.
Others
took the money more directly -- in doggie bags! According
to the New York Times,
Florida
now ranks as the Number One State in
America
for public corruption. From
1998 to 2007, 824
Florida
politicians were convicted of public corruption -- about seven a
month for ten years straight! Definitely
not a statistic
Florida's citizens can be proud of. Amendment
4 aims to seriously decrease this number of corrupt politicians.
Currently,
the system we have in place promotes irresponsible over-development
that has stuck taxpayers with the meltdown of their home values, crazy
traffic, empty strip malls, foreclosed condos, lost green space and rising
taxes. Studies show that existing residents have to pay for up to
40% of the cost of providing services to areas of new development.
We should get to vote before we
have to pay!!
These
decisions that
impact our neighborhoods and quality of life are just too important to
leave entirely in the hands of elected officials.
If we pass Amendment 4 in November, citizens will have a check and
balance on these destructive backroom dealings.
That's
why it is so important that we vote YES ON 4 in November.
Even if you are sick and tired of all the politicians listed on the ballot,
please vote -- even if your only check mark is behind YES ON 4.
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With
Amendment 4…
We
the People will have:
A
Way
to Protect Our Hometowns!
_______________________________________________________________
Here’s
the ballot title and summary you will see on the November 2010 ballot:
BALLOT
TITLE: Referenda Required For Adoption And Amendment of
Local
Government
Comprehensive
Land
Use Plans.
BALLOT
SUMMARY: Establishes that before a local government may adopt a new
comprehensive land use plan, or amend a comprehensive land use plan,
the proposed plan or amendment shall be subject to vote of the
electors of the local government by referendum, following
preparation by the local planning agency, consideration by the
governing body and notice. Provides definitions.
(Full
Text see below!)
On
Election Day, November 2, 2010
VOTE
YES On AMENDMENT 4
_______________________________________________________________
With
Amendment 4…
THE
HOMETOWN YOU SAVE
WILL
BE YOUR OWN.
_______________________________________________________________
PROBLEM
- Over-development
crashed our home values and raised our taxes. Recent studies show
existing taxpayers end up paying for almost half the cost of
services for new development.
SOLUTION –
Florida’s local master plans have growth built in to add 80
million more people to today’s population of 18 million. Under
Amendment 4, your local government will study and vote as usual on
requested changes to your local growth plan. But there’s one new
step: YOU. You will get to vote those plan changes up or down on the
next regularly scheduled election day.
WE SHOULD
GET TO VOTE BEFORE WE ARE FORCED TO PAY.
866-779-5513
[email protected]
VOTE YES! On
AMENDMENT 4 |
THE
FALSE PROPAGANDA AGAINST AMENDMENT 4:
As
you can imagine, all the folks who have money at stake -- especially
greedy developers and corrupt politicians -- have formed a coalition
against AMENDMENT 4 and dumped millions of dollars in an attempt to buy
the NO-votes of
Florida's voters with misleading propaganda, scare tactics and false
claims.
The
name of the organization created to fight our right to vote on changes to
our neighborhood speaks for itself: "Citizens for Lower Taxes and
a Stronger Economy." The
Three Stooges couldn't have come up with a more misleading name. Actually,
it's plainly pathetic! Never
forget: The people behind this organization are exactly the same folks who
destroyed much of Florida's natural beauty, made our taxes go up, and
killed our economic and real estate markets with
a total lack of growth management, with speculation, with house-flipping
and over-building.
Their
favorite statements in opposition:
-
Passing
Amendment 4
will cost
Florida
tens of thousands of jobs and hurt working families. We’re in the
deepest recession in our lifetime and it’s no time to pass an
amendment that leading business groups call a "jobs killer."
That's a really great
argument, considering it comes from the same people who created this
"deepest recession," killed the jobs, got hard-working
families into financial trouble and are responsible for the disaster
we are facing in Florida. It seems to be common policy to always blame
others -- like Amendment 4 -- that wasn't even enacted when the growth
management “house of cards” collapsed in
Florida
.
-
The
required votes would create very costly SPECIAL ELECTIONS paid for by
the taxpayers. WRONG: Nothing in Amendment 4 requires special elections;
votes on plan changes can be set at the same time as other regularly scheduled elections.
But, if a developer is in a hurry -- can't wait -- the developer can pay for it.
-
St.
Pete Beach has already passed a local version of Amendment
4; it’s been a disaster, costing local taxpayers nearly $1 million
in legal fees. This is a really desperate argument, considering the
fact that the St. Pete Beach ordinance that the No-Sayers are
referring to was actually created by developers who wanted to build
high-rises on the beachfront of the quaint community. Developers created a
“citizen’s group” called “Save Our Little Village” --
another misleading name. And when it all didn't work out the way they
had it planned -- they sued. But this shows how desperate these folks
are, because if Amendment 4 would have been in place, none of the
conflicts would have developed into costly lawsuits.
-
Florida's
voters don't understand the issues of
these amendments to the comprehensive land use plan and would be
totally overwhelmed. In
short: We citizens are too dumb, incapable of intelligently deciding
what kind of community we voters want to live in with our families.
Not only is that an insult to
Florida
's citizens, but it shows the same attitude we citizens face all the
time: “Shut
up -- we know what's good for you!”
Hopefully,
Florida's voters are smarter than the greedy developers and corrupt
politicians give them credit for and ....
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FULL
TEXT OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT:
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF
FLORIDA
THAT: Article II, Section 7. Natural resources and scenic beauty
of the Florida Constitution is amended to add the following
subsection:
Public
participation in local government comprehensive land use planning
benefits the conservation and protection of
Florida
's natural resources and scenic beauty, and the long-term quality
of life of Floridians. Therefore, before a local government may
adopt a new comprehensive land use plan, or amend a comprehensive
land use plan, such proposed plan or plan amendment shall be
subject to vote of the electors of the local government by
referendum, following preparation by the local planning agency,
consideration by the governing body as provided by general law,
and notice thereof in a local newspaper of general circulation.
Notice and referendum will be as provided by general law. This
amendment shall become effective immediately upon approval by the
electors of
Florida.
For
purposes of this subsection:
1.
"Local
government" means a county or municipality.
2.
"Local
government comprehensive land use plan" means a plan to guide
and control future land development in an area under the
jurisdiction of a local government.
3.
"Local
planning agency" means the agency of a local government that
is responsible for the preparation of a comprehensive land use
plan and plan amendments after public notice and hearings and for
making recommendations to the governing body of the local
government regarding the adoption or amendment of a comprehensive
land use plan.
4.
"Governing
body" means the board of county commissioners of a county,
the commission or council of a municipality, or the chief elected
governing body of a county or municipality, however designated.
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