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TC Palm, December 2, 2007

Florida Hometown Democracy growth petition hangs in balance

BY HILLARY COPSEY

Florida Hometown Democracy, a grassroots organization pushing a petition to put growth decisions in voters' hands, has gone mostly unnoticed on the Treasure Coast, but that could change today, when movement founder and Palm Beach attorney Lesley Blackner speaks in Martin County.

The group and its opponents, including the Florida Chamber of Commerce-backed Floridians for Smarter Growth, which has a competing petition, have blanketed other areas with paid signature-gatherers. But on the Treasure Coast, hometown democracy talk has been mostly a low buzz among business leaders and growth activists.

"It just hasn't been forcefully brought to the attention of the community," said Bill Summers, president of Martin County Consensus, the slow-growth group hosting Blackner. "We want people, when they walk into the voting booth, to know what they're voting for, whether they're for or against it."

To get hometown democracy on the 2008 ballot, Blackner's group must collect 611,000 signatures by Feb. 1. They have 394,000, including about 10,000 from Treasure Coast residents, but opponents are urging anyone who signed a petition within the past 150 days to take back their signatures.

Signature revocation is allowed by state legislation passed in 2007 and upheld last week by a Tallahassee circuit court. Hometown democracy leaders are challenging the law, but, between signature take-backs and a looming deadline, Blackner said Treasure Coast activists must help with the petition drive.

"Some of these people...they've assumed, 'Lesley will do it,'" Blackner said. "If people want it on the ballot, they're going to have to go out and collect petitions. And don't expect someone else to do it. And do it now."

The Treasure Coast should be a prime battleground for hometown democracy because of its rapid growth and many activist groups, said both Blackner and Michael Caputo, spokesman for Floridians for Smarter Growth.

But Blackner said residents' lack of interest could be because so many moved from South Florida.

"Things seem so much better than where they came from," Blackner said. "You get somebody that's just moved from Miami, it's nirvana. It's bucolic. There's barely any growth."

Also, Caputo said, both groups need signatures, and that means going to the state's most populated areas.

"There's a higher concentration of voters in other areas. You go fishing where the fish are," Caputo said. "That's true for them (Florida Hometown Democracy), just as it is for us."

Caputo's group plans to organize the anti-hometown democracy movement on the Treasure Coast at a Dec. 11 organizational meeting in St. Lucie County. In addition to builders and chamber of commerce members, Caputo said Floridians for Smarter Growth is looking for a community leader to spearhead the local movement against hometown democracy.

"For the builders association and builders to come out adamantly opposed to it — we're probably not the best messenger," said Don Santos, spokesman for the Treasure Coast Builders Association. "People see it as being self-serving."

MEETING

What: Hometown Democracy co-author Lesley Blackner, hosted by the Martin County Consensus

When: 6 p.m. today

Where: Blake Library, 2351 S.E. Monterrey Road, Stuart.

COMPETING GROWTH PETITIONS

Florida Hometown Democracy: Aims to curb growth with a constitutional amendment requiring voter approval of all changes to a city or county's comprehensive plan. Supported by slow-growth activists and environmentalists.

Floridians for Smarter Growth: Allows residents to vote on some comprehensive plan amendments if at least 10 percent of the community calls for the special vote within a set amount of time. Supported by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders.

For more information, visit www.floridahometowndemocracy.com and http://flsmartergrowth.org/home.php