Amendment 4's Hidden Danger #1: It's Impossible to Create a "Lawyer-Proof" Ballot Summary that Describes a Comprehensive Plan in 75 Words or Less.
Florida Amendment 4 (also known as "Hometown Democracy") seeks to give Floridians a final referendum vote on all comprehensive plan changes. It may seem like a good idea to folks who are frustrated with sprawl and overdevelopment, but voting for it is like bringing a piece of furniture into your home that looks nice but is infested with bedbugs...it's full of hidden dangers that can make your home and town unliveable and are very difficult to exterminate once in place.
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Hometown Democracy Operatives Support Amendment 4 with False Claims on WMNF Radio
Date:
September 4, 2010
On September 2, 2010, Hometown Democracy founder Leslie Blackner and communications director Wayne Garcia appeared on Rob Lorei's Radioactivity Live Call-In Show on Tampa's WMNF (88.5 FM) to discuss Amendment 4.
No opponents of Amendment 4 were included in the discussion, which is very unfortunate, because during the course of the interview a number of completely false claims were made by the Hometown Democracy folks, and nobody was there to set the record straight for the benefit of Mr. Lorei's listeners.
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Vice Mayor Jim Parent Triumphs Over Ruttencutter Attacks in Amendment 4 / St. Pete Beach Exchange
Source:
St. Pete Beach & Hometown Democracy/Amendment 4
Date:
August 22, 2010
St. Pete Beach Vice Mayor Jim Parent's outspoken opposition to Amendment 4 recently drew hostile fire from not one, but two of the city's former vice mayors: Harry Metz and Ed Ruttencutter.
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Hometown Democracy Throws Truth Under the Bus in Televised Amendment 4 Debate
Date:
July 25, 2010
Supporters of Amendment 4 are dead wrong when they dismiss St. Pete Beach's costly, disastrous experiment with Hometown Democracy-style referendum rules as having "absolutely nothing" to do with Amendment 4. During a recent televised debate (See Part 1 Here, and Part 2 Here), Hometown Democracy leader Bett Willett smeared St. Pete Beach as a "red herring", claiming that city officials "bypassed state law" by putting comprehensive plan changes on the ballot without holding public hearings or sending the changes to state growth management officials. She even claimed that "If Amendment 4 had been in place, [St. Pete Beach] wouldn't have had any lawsuits at all."
The Florida AFL-CIO today announced its opposition to Amendment 4, becoming a part of the unprecedented coalition of more than 280 leading business, civic and labor groups that are working to defeat the measure in November. The Florida AFL-CIO decision reflects an emerging consensus among diverse organizations across the political spectrum that Amendment 4 is will hurt working families. A proposal to alter Florida's constitution, Amendment 4 would require taxpayer-funded referenda for any change to a local government comprehensive plan, burdening small businesses, local governments and non-profits with additional costs, delays and uncertainty.
If you don’t know, there is a debate going on. A debate whether or not we should be a Democracy or Republic. A debate we are calling the Florida Hometown Democracy Land Use, Amendment 4.
On November 2nd, you will be asked to vote yes or no on a plan to alter Florida’s Constitution called Amendment 4. Special interest lawyers, adult entertainment interests and population control groups have designed, funded and proposed this amendment to our Constitution. Take a moment to learn more about who’s backing Amendment 4 and why.
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St. Pete Beach Did Not Circumvent the Growth Management Act
Source:
St. Pete Beach & Hometown Democracy/Amendment 4
Date:
July 12, 2010
When Amendment 4 supporters dispute that St. Pete Beach is a good example of the flaws in Amendment 4, they often try to distinguish SPB by claiming that the city "circumvented the Growth Management Act".
As high unemployment continues to plague the Sunshine State, working families and small business owners have been disproportionately affected. In the midst of such perilous economic times, the last thing Florida needs is an amendment that would kill jobs, raise taxes, and promote endless litigation at taxpayer expense. However, that is exactly what Amendment 4, a proposed rewrite to the state constitution, would do. This “Vote on Everything” amendment would force taxpayers to fund expensive referenda for every technical change to their local comprehensive plan.
This November, voters will be faced with a number of tough decisions at the ballot box. Fortunately, one of the most important decisions should also be the easiest. Amendment 4, a "citizens will have to VOTE ON EVERYTHING related to land use changes, amendments, and even text corrections to existing regulations", would cause delays in the approval process that would kill jobs, raise taxes, increase costs and frequency of elections, and lead to endless litigation at taxpayer expense.
