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Palm Beach Post, January 3, 2009

Hometown Democracy wrong answer to land use

On Sunday, Dec. 21, The Post published an outrageous letter from Lesley Blackner, president of Hometown Democracy Inc. In her letter, she talks about corruption and greed of our elected officials and "developer-dominated politics." She paints these accusations with a broad brush for all our democratically elected leaders. This is not only an insult to the elected officials and staff but also the citizens who elected them.

Furthermore, her attack on The Post's position against the "Hometown Democracy" amendment to the state constitution is absurd. The amendment - requiring that all comprehensive land-use plan changes meet voter approval - subverts a well-established, open, accessible and democratic planning process. Under the amendment it would not be unusual for local voters to have to decide, by referendums, on 200 to 300 comprehensive plan changes every year. Voters would be deluged with highly technical background material prepared by local government planning staff. The cost to local government of these additional elections would be astronomical. The result: The system would be far worse, not better.

The "Vote on Everything" amendment will undermine government, encourage sprawl, reduce green space and make effective growth management unachievable. The euphemistically labeled "Hometown Democracy" issue on the ballot in 2010 will again fail on the merits.

AL LEVINE

Boynton Beach