What is Hometown Democracy?

"Hometown Democracy" refers to both a special interest group and a Constitutional Amendment proposed for Florida's 2008 ballot by a political action committee called "Hometown Democracy, Inc."  

This amendment, if placed on the ballot, represents the single greatest threat to Florida property rights since the adoption of the State Growth Management Act and its comprehensive planning mandate.  

The amendment would require every property owner in the State of Florida who desires to change their future land use designation (a second layer of labelling, similar in concept to a zoning label which is mandated by the state's comprehensive plan) to win majority support for this request in a direct public vote or referendum.  

Thousands of future land use change requests are processed in Florida every year.  Creating this unnecessary hurdle will impact the property rights of every land owner and deny each the right to change their land use labels without the extraordinary burden of running a public "campaign."

This proposed amendment represents a direct assault on the foundation of freedom our Founding Father's created when they drafted the U.S. Consitution and Bill of Rights. America's Founders chose a system of representative democracy, with checks and balances, for the specific purpose of protecting individual rights and freedoms. They believed representative democracy was the best method of protecting the rights of individuals and minority groups from the tyranny of any majority group.

This amendment proposes the historical protection of representative government, enjoyed by property owners in every other state in the nation, should no longer apply to property owners and property rights in Florida.

This amendment proposes essentially that individual property rights be put to a political popularity contest. Many practical uses of property, such as gas stations, apartments, hospitals, and even churches, etc... might be unable to win majority support in a popular vote. 

The Potential Impact on Florida's Economy

In addition to impacting individual property rights, citizens should be aware the impact of this proposed amendment on Florida's economy would be monumental. 

Without the ability to change land use labels, land owners and businesses cannot grow affordably in Florida or change locations to meet changing market demand.  In today's highly competitive national and global business environment, the impact on freedoms and affordability of cost would mean jobs and businesses would take their investments to other less restrictive localities.  In addition to detering future investment, it should be noted that many existing businesses and property owners have made operating and investment decisions based on our Florida's potential growth.

Also imagine the impact which would occur if the bulk of new residential and commercial construction stopped. Not only would Florida's real estate, banking and construction industries face tremendous upheaval, but many other interdependent industries would be impacted as well. The ripple effect would be felt in every sector of Florida's economy.

If this amendment is passed, Florida's unemployment rate could be expected to double, triple, or even worse...

Status Report on the Amendment

Organizers of the amendment have already met two important requirements: 1) They have obtained the requisite number of signatures necessary to trigger a review of the official ballot language of the amendment by the Florida Supreme Court, and 2) The Florida Supreme Court has reviewed and approved the official ballot language.  Organizers face one remaining hurdle: 3) Collecting 611,009 validated petition cards with the signatures of individual registered voters. 

As of August 27, 2008, organizers have collected a total of 605,986 valid signatures.*  The action committee is employing a paid professional petition gathering service (from out of state) to assist their efforts. (* Note = there is currently litigation ongoing relative to a dispute regarding the number of petitions submitted vs. the number which have been validated and revoked.)

A summary of the Hometown Democracy amendment and current petition totals can be view on the State of Florida's Division of Elections website: http://election.dos.state.fl.us/initiatives/initdetail.asp?account=37681&seqnum=2

New State Laws on Petition Gathering

The Florida Legislature recently passed three petition gathering reforms which requires petition collectors to turn signatures in within 30 days, provides a process for citizens to revoke their signtures and protects private property owners by codifying existing case law that allows property owners to prohibit signature gathering on private property. These bills are currently awaiting signature by Governor Crist.

To view the text of these new laws (SB1920, SB900, CS/HB537) please visit http://www.flsenate.gov/ or http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/

The Hometown Scam

Some are calling the Hometown Democracy initiative a "scam" as the proponents are using the positive concept of "democracy" to deceive uneducated citizens into voting away their individual property rights.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce has an excellent website which discusses "The Hometown Scam" and the equally deceptive processes professional petition gatherers use to get signatures. http://www.flchamber.com/mx/hm.asp?id=leg_coalition_hometownscam

A Misquided Attempt to Stop Growth in Florida

It is evident the individuals responsible for initiating this amendment have no clue whatsoever how very important the freedom to change a land use label is, not just to Florida's economy, but to the individual property owners whose American dreams are tied directly to their ability to use their land in the manner of their choosing. 

Any rational person who has spent any amount of time sitting in future land use change request hearings at the local level would know just how many perfectly reasonable land use label requests come through this process every year. 

It is also quite clear the proponents of this mis-guided attempt to stop growth in Florida are complete hypocrites, unwilling to face the intellectual reality that they themselves are units of the very growth they are now seeking to stop.

Anyone who is seeking to stop growth in Florida or to "close the door behind them" is in reality seeking to deny other citizens the same exact property rights they have exercised - and financially benefited from.

(Note: The founder and spokesperson for the Hometown Democracy, Inc., is an affluent attorney who lives within a few blocks of the beach in Palm Beach County - in a house built on land which was at one time undeveloped property and whose property value would likely increase if this Amendment were passed. Also worth noting: the author of this column, Carol Saviak, has worked in local government and attended hundreds of land use public hearings where ordinary owners were seeking zoning and future land use label changes.)

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"No educated Florida citizen who believes in the American Dream and embraces the concept of freedom could possibly support the Hometown Democracy Amendment." 

                                                                              - Carol Saviak, CPR Executive Director