To the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Amendment 4 is a job killer that would cripple the state's building industry and make the current recession permanent.
To Florida Hometown Democracy, the political action committee behind Amendment 4, it was the building industry that contributed to the state's recession with years of overbuilding that resulted in hundreds of thousands of vacant homes and plummeting property values.
A proposed state constitutional amendment will cost taxpayers an unprecedented amount of money in election costs, usurp governments’ legislative powers and have a chilling effect on proposed developments across the state.
But don't make the solution worse than the problem.
But Amendment 4, popularly known as "Hometown Democracy," would be a change for the worse if it is approved by voters this fall.
On the surface it sounds like a good idea. Even the name inspires good feelings. We all have a warm spot in our hearts for our hometown, and democracy — how could that be bad?
The answer is it can be bad on several levels, not the least of which is that it will fail to do what its proponents promise.
Hometown Democracy: What Would Our Forefathers Do Now?
Date:
February 14, 2010
Hometown Democracy is Florida’s hot-button ballot issue of 2010. That has been evident in the traffic to this website. Our analytical article and opposing pro and con commentaries on Hometown Democracy draw far more readers than anything else we’ve posted. And the level of passion among those readers is evident in their comments – for and against.
That’s hardly surprising considering the impact Hometown Democracy could have on Florida’s economy, environment and quality of life.
In November, Florida voters will decide the fate of Amendment 4, a controversial plan to change our state Constitution. Leading business, labor, planning, health care and good-government groups have opposed Amendment 4 because it will lead to higher taxes and fewer jobs. While the backers of Amendment 4 say that their proposal is good for the environment, they have failed to win the full support of Florida's environmental community.
The reason is simple: Amendment 4 may encourage sprawl, which is harmful to our environment and costly for taxpayers. In the long run, it will make it much harder for local governments to set aside parklands, encourage energy-efficient building, promote smarter growth and preserve green spaces.
Featured
Editorial: Our Voice: Let's avoid California's problems
Source:
Daily Commercial
Date:
January 20, 2010
Much more significant, however, is the lesson all of America should have learned from the disastrous results of California's system of propositions -- which, in many cases, has required voter approval for individual state expenditures. So that, for example, approval could be given for the construction of a bridge, but not for the higher taxes needed to pay for it. As a result, California is effectively bankrupt.
In a Dec. 12 editorial ("The real Amendment 4"), The Palm Beach Post exposed the dangerous uncertainty surrounding Amendment 4, a proposed change to Florida's Constitution. In a letter to The Post, Lesley Blackner — one of the amendment's authors — tried to publicly rewrite the measure she failed to craft properly in the first place. The facts do not back her up.
When Florida voters go to the polls in 11 months, they'll vote for a new governor and U.S. senator. They'll also decide the fate of Amendment 4, which has the potential to clog future ballots and repeatedly drag voters to the polls to approve every future change to a county's comprehensive plan.
Now that Florida Hometown Democracy organizer Lesley Blackner has gotten her proposed amendment on the 2010 ballot, she has decided to dictate its terms to the public.
Helping to Stop Admendment 4
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