Not for 4!
Anti-growth extremists are a group of people who are sure to get a right-minded person’s blood boiling. They wish to pass Amendment 4 on the Florida state ballot next November. Amendment 4, also called the Hometown Democracy Amendment, “Establishes that before a local government may adopt a new comprehensive land use plan, or amend a comprehensive land use plan, the proposed plan or amendment shall be subject to vote of the electors of the local government by referendum, following preparation by the local planning agency, consideration by the governing body and notice. Provides definitions.”
Hometown Democracy sounds great, but If Amendment 4 passes it will undermine the current American political process, cluttering up the electoral process and confusing the average voter.
While most people think of the current American political structure as a democracy, it’s a representative republic. We elect representatives at all levels of government to vote on our behalf. Sure, from time to time we decide on matters ourselves such as amendments to ballots and other items required by law, but with the passing of Amendment 4 it will throw us to a complete democracy. Floridians will then be forced to vote on every change before their local municipality.
We currently elect county commissioners to make these decisions on our behalf. If we do not like what they have voted for, we vote them out, simple. If the Hometown Democracy Amendment becomes law, the great people of Florida will be forced to read over a massive and complex ballot instead of having their county commissioner’s deal with issues they were voted in to handle.
For example, in Carabelle, a small Franklin County town, would have seen 617 separate ballot questions on just one ballot alone. The average voter is already overburdened with the process of reading every Amendment to the Florida state ballot. Can you imagine reading over 617 separate issues? It would take up so many pages and so much time from the Supervisor of Elections office to print up each ballot packet at a great cost to the taxpayers.
Using my county (Manatee) as an example, at time of print there were 201,538 registered voters. By law, the Supervisor of Elections must have a ballot ready to go for every registered voter. That cost is overwhelming. I called the Manatee County Supervisor of Elections to inquire how much a ballot costs. The 2008 General Election ballot which was a mere 18 inch long piece of paper was $.25 per ballot. This does not include shipping. One can only infer if Amendment 4 passes and 617 separate ballot questions are on the ballot, the costs would be staggering. This amendment could possibly cripple growth in our state.
Looking at simple economics, if no building occurs and businesses can’t grow, then there will be no job growth. In these current economic times, having no job growth is simply not the way to get out of the mess we’re in. We need to be able to provide the opportunity for businesses to create jobs.
Amendment 4 is bad for business and bad for you. You want a simple voting process with a ballot that is not so cumbersome, right? We want and need to create jobs. We don’t need Amendment 4.
The post is those of the authors opinion and not necessarily those of the RPOF.
Jill Says:
As a registered Republican, I resent my party blatantly attacting a state constitutional amendment I support.
Vote yes for amendment 4.
JOYCE Says:
“I believe in the Initiative and Referendum which should be used not to destroy representative government but to correct it whenever it becomes misrepresentative.” ……………..Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States.
Ian Says:
You will loose lots of good Republicans if you continue the attacks against Amendment 4. If the elected representatives would have listened to the voters in the past we would not be here now. As a good Republican I am Totally for Florida Hometown Democracy.
“Give yourself a vote on Growth, The Hometown you save will be Your Own!”
Bryan Tupper (Author) Says:
I wrote this article mainly because some hardcore enviromentalists (stress the mental) want to stifle growth in the name of the enviroment. Amendment 4 is quite possibly the most anti-growth item I’ve ever seen put before us. I also thought we Republicans are supposed to be against government spending where we can help it. THIS is something that we can strike down as being an over burdened cost to our respective Supervisor of Elections offices.
Muckraker Says:
Example 1: Light rail- Voted down statewide
Example 2: Light rail : Passed with overwhelming margins by Republicans in both the House and Senate
Amendment 4 probably wouldn’t have been thought of if our elected leaders would listen to the voters. But Obama threw “Free” money and our supposedly conservative party accepted it with open arms, regardless of the fact that every rail system that is meant to move people on the PLANET EARTH requires massive government subsidies to break even and is a black hole for our tax dollars.
Understand your concern Mr. Tupper and may vote against the Hometown Democracy Amendment, But where the hell were you and this site when the grassroots Republicans were screaming against light rail?
Hell, this site has got to be one of the most pathetic excuses as a Republican tool to raise issue awareness and support and is a complete waste of RPOF Funds
I do more writing and posting than all your team combined and I do it part time and hold a full time job.
My Suggestion to the RPOF: Fire everyone connected to this site and
a) Replace it with a small dedicated cadre of Republican Activists who know how to Rip Democrats a new one or
b) Shut the thing down and save the money for elections.
Either way, I’d fire the lot currently allowed to blog on this site. And that would just be for starters…
ER White
http://www.bloggybayou.com
geniusofdespair Says:
I too am a Pub and will vote for Amendment 4. The elected don’t listen and with the campaign contributions from development interests (that steer them) you can’t get them out of office. You gotta do something…don’t you?
Tweets that mention Not for 4! | Drive the Discussion -- Topsy.com Says:
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Matt Mitchell and Michael De Gruccio, Nadia Naffe. Nadia Naffe said: @RedCounty Diaries rock! RT @MitchellGOP: Listen to @BryTupper folks. Amendment 4 must be killed with fire. http://bit.ly/5WpOIK #sayfie [...]
Костя Says:
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Хм …
FluBlue Says:
As a democrat, I am against Amendment 4 as well. I like the higher taxes, increased crime, and overcrowded schools which come from over-development. What a great Web site!