With over 12 months to go, organizers for the so-called ?Hometown Democracy? amendment are now only 46,000 petitions short of reaching the 2010 ballot. Despite three prior failures to reach the ballot, Florida Hometown Democracy finally seems close to stumbling over the finish line.
We have made them fight for every inch and now we?re ready for 2010. Since the creation of Floridians for Smarter Growth in 2007, business and community leaders have built an unprecedented network of opposition resources. To date, over 130 organizations have adopted a principled position against the ?Vote on Everything? amendment. This growing coalition encompasses voices from all sides of the political spectrum, including 1000 Friends of Florida, the Florida State Council of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, and the Florida School Boards Association.
Floridians for Smarter Growth has worked with local business and community groups to place leadership teams in 31 of Florida?s most populous counties. Since 2007, the campaign has also engaged Florida Hometown Democracy on every conceivable battlefield: grassroots, earned media, new media and traditional coalition-building.
These resources have been deployed to engage Hometown Democracy on critical fronts, such as St. Pete Beach. In 2006, this small Pinellas County town became the first community in Florida to give Hometown Democracy a test drive. Unfortunately, they?ve been stuck with a lemon ever since. After adopting the ?Vote on Everything? amendment, the people of St. Pete Beach have suffered through endless litigation and an ongoing economic nightmare. When the town followed the ?Hometown Democracy? manual and held a referendum on four citizen-sponsored land use plan changes, voters decisively approved the amendments in the hope that they would revive the town?s flagging economy.
Without even waiting for the referendum to be held, Hometown Democracy disciples in St. Pete Beach filed a lawsuit to overturn the election. In fact, local Hometown Democracy organizers have tried every trick in the book to disrupt, delay or outright invalidate recent elections?simply because they didn?t like the outcome. The message from Hometown Democracy is clear: ?You can have any opinion you want, as long as you agree with us.?
Floridians for Smarter Growth has worked with local leaders, journalists and Editorial Boards in the area to reveal the hypocrisy of a group that pretends to champion the will of the people while simultaneously seeking to overturn democratic elections. St. Pete Beach is only one of the battlefields on which we have engaged Hometown Democracy. With the amendment now closing in on the 2010 ballot, it is imperative that every business association, every healthcare group, every community organization and every concerned citizen get involved in the campaign against the so-called Hometown Democracy amendment. To get involved, please e-mail me directly at [email protected] or feel free to give me a call at (407) 608-5914.
Ryan Houck
Exec. Dir.
