Florida
Expect debate over Amendment 4 to help heat up Florida’s already-hot summer. The amendment will be on the ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 2. If approved by a 60-percent majority statewide, the constitutional amendment will allow Floridians to veto changes to their community-growth master plans that have been approved by local officials.
The way officials throughout Florida, often at developers’ behest, trample local growth plans is maddening. So, it’s no wonder Hometown Democracy, a grass-roots movement, got enough public support for a 2010 ballot to alter that landscape. It would require public votes on any changes to local growth plans. Something’s needed to get officials to honor growth-management plans. And Hometown Democracy appears an earnest, provocative and intriguing way of making them do so.
Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi filed suit Monday seeking to undo controversial requirements imposed almost three years ago that make it harder to bring voter ballot initiatives in a move that — if successful — could pave the way for a recall effort of embattled Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez. The suit, filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, comes a day after a Miami Herald/CBS 4 poll found 58 percent of registered voters favor the recall of Alvarez.
A nationwide anti-abortion group launched an effort in Florida today to outlaw all abortions and certain types of birth control, including oral contraceptives and the morning-after pill. The religion-infused movement, called “Personhood Florida,” would define conception in Florida’s constitution at the “biological beginnings,” supporters said — when the sperm meets the egg. The group, Virginia-based American Life League, filed its amendment today but the exact ballot language is still going through the approval process, said Secretary of State Spokeswoman Jennifer Krell-Davis.
Forget that the governor’s office, a U.S. Senate seat and every other statewide office are open this election cycle. The 2010 campaign that could have the farthest-reaching implications for Florida is a redistricting ballot initiative that would change the way congressional and legislative districts are drawn.
Banning kegs on the beach in Treasure Island will most likely happen in the coming weeks. In the coming months, a total ban on alcohol could take place. That was the result during a special Treasure Island commission workshop on Aug. 5 to discuss the Sunset Beach situation.
The Florida Supreme Court says a revised financial impact statement on how much a proposed growth management amendment could cost taxpayers now complies with state law. That decision came in an advisory opinion Thursday to Attorney General Bill McCollum. “Local governments will incur additional costs due to the requirement to conduct referenda,” the court wrote, adding “the impact on state government expenditures will be insignificant.”
During his more than eight years on the Sarasota County Commission, Jon Thaxton has consistently warned of the impact of overdevelopment on the region’s quality of life. But Thaxton’s quest for less development is not so strong that he would advocate what could be one of the most restrictive growth management measures ever. A group calling itself Hometown Democracy won approval for a ballot measure in 2010 that would amend the constitution to prevent any changes to a county’s land use plan without a countywide vote.
Other new laws tighten the leash on local governments and law enforcement agencies. One prohibits “crash taxes” — fees for causing wrecks. City and county officials, facing declining property tax revenues, say they needed the extra cash for police, ambulance and other emergency response expenses. Local governments also can no longer spend public money to sway voters on ballot issues.
The state of Florida has decided not to appeal a case in which a state law aimed at restricting ballot initiatives was struck down.