The discussion should be as fiery as the opinions, when a group of activists come together to argue the pros and cons of Amendment 4 during a forum at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 8.
The DeLand Area Chamber of Commerce and the political science department of Stetson University are co-sponsoring the forum at Rinker Auditorium in Stetson's Lynn Business Center, at 345 N. Woodland Blvd. in DeLand.
The constitutional amendment will appear on the ballot this fall, after Hometown Democracy's successful campaign. Now it will be up to the voters to decide whether it will become law.
Amendment 4 has generated enormous heat between those who support it and those who hate it. With both sides and those in the middle represented at the forum, the debate promises to be hot.
Appearing on the panel for the forum will be:
• Mike Abels, former DeLand city manager and currently an instructor of public policy in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida.
• Bob Fitzsimmons, chief executive officer of Gallery of Homes in DeLand, with 25 years of experience in the construction industry. He has been active in the Volusia County Association for Responsible Development, the Volusia County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, and homebuilders associations in Florida and in West Volusia.
• Ryan Houck, backed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, executive director of Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Strong Economy, which opposes Amendment 4. Formerly, he headed Floridians for Smarter Growth, which was also opposed to Amendment 4. Houck has been involved with the “Vote No on 4” campaign since 2007.
• Michele Moen, a member of Volusia County’s Smart Growth Implementation Committee and also served as an elected member of the Volusia Soil and Water Conservation District 2006-09. She is currently active in the Edgewater Citizen’s Alliance for Responsible Growth and Hometown Democracy. She has been active in the Volusia Environmental Council of Volusia-Flagler.
• Henry Lee Morgenstern, a Seville attorney who has written, lectured and litigated extensively on comprehensive land-use planning. He has been a director of Friends of Florida and the Florida Wildlife Federation. Morgenstern also represented the Public Interest Committee of the Florida Bar in the area of environmental and land-use law.
John E. Evans will moderate the panel. He has been an editorialist for WESH-TV and a columnist for both The Daytona Beach News-Journal and the Orlando Sentinel. He is chairman of the CSS Group, a public affairs consultancy, and general manager of On-Call Medical Supplies.
There's already a war of words being waged through e-mails and Web sites.
Supporters of Amendment 4 believe it will give voters a seat at the table when land-use changes that allow large-scale developments that affect their quality of life, home values and taxes are made.
"Florida voters know that comprehensive land use plan changes, mundane as they may seem, are just too important to leave in the hands of pay-to-play career politicians and their speculator friends," as an e-mail from Hometown Democracy founder Lesley Blackner puts it.
Visit online at www.floridahometowndomocracy.com.
Houck of the "Vote No" campaign, stated, on the other hand, "Our online campaign focuses on how Amendment 4 will cost jobs and hurt the economy."
Plus, under Amendment 4, taxpayers will be forced to fund expensive referendum for every technical change to their local comprehensive land-use plan, he said, bogging down ballots and discouraging economic development.
Visit the "Vote No" Web site at www.florida2010.org.
Whether Amendment 4 will save taxpayers money or cost them, whether it will curb urban sprawl or encourage it, whether or not it will kill jobs, will be contested during the forum.
The panel will take questions from the audience after the debate.
To attend, enter the doors of Lynn Business Center on Michigan Avenue. The auditorium is on the left.
