Tuesday, March 16, 2010

St. Petersburg Beach and Florida Hometown Democracy - Not in the Same Ball Park

Lesley Blackner
The opponents of Florida Hometown Democracy, primarily Floridians for Smarter Growth, The Florida Chamber of Commerce and developer groups, keep using what happened in St. Petersburg Beach for their main reason to vote NO on FHD. No matter who I confront or send information to, they don't want to listen. Their minds are made up---they derive their livelihood from development or developer dollars.

Overturning the views of politicians and the developer crowd is very difficult, but voters in Florida are smarter than to believe the opposition's lame arguments.

We have some in the City of Lake Worth who like to use this bogus claim. Even the CRA sent out an e-mail about St. Petersburg Beach and why FHD is similar, suggesting that all cities would be subject to the same fate. David Levy, Councilman from Palm Beach Gardens who recently got re-elected, used it in a debate here last month. Pay attention, David.

Alex Sink gives the same old ridiculous argument (the Mac McKinnon argument) to oppose Florida Hometown Democracy: "I believe that in our system of government we entrust our local leaders to make these difficult decisions, and if we are unhappy with their decisions we have the ability to elect someone new.” Yes, Alex, that argument no longer cuts mustard as proven by the terrible state of affairs in our State and country. Too much damage can be done in too short of time. Sorry, Alex, you don't get my vote.

Now here's the kicker Mr. Levy--Ken Weiss, the lawyer for those who are suing St. Petersburg Beach says, “It seems that some of the developers and the development community in the State have tried to make St. Pete Beach the hallmark of Florida Hometown Democracy. And the fact of the matter is, the litigation in St. Pete Beach has absolutely nothing to do with Florida Hometown Democracy.”

Read more about it HERE.

For all of you in Sanford, you can listen to Lesley Blackner tomorrow night. For more information, click HERE.

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