Alachua Voter Guide

There is a ballot initiative working its way through the pipeline. It has about half the signatures it needs so far, and it’s sponsor, Florida Hometown Democracy, is working hard to get it done. Here is their Youtube offering:

This story was originally brought to my attention by an article in the High Springs Herald. In it, mayors of Alachua and High Springs are asked about the wisdom of having a voter referendum on every comprehensive plan change, and they are against it. So, is it a bad idea? Or is it just a case of elected officials guarding their turf?I first started paying attention to growth issues in 2001, when I decided that I wanted to be a better citizen and learn about my local government. It was just then that our own Comprehensive Plan was under attack as being too restrictive on private property rights. The next year, two of the incumbent county commissioners who were responsible for that plan were turned out in their party’s primary.That year, the forces of growth and no-growth had fought to portray growth in diametrically opposed ways. And since it was a county wide vote, the breaks went toward the growth side. People who own land in the unincorporated area don’t like a lot of restrictions on their land, whether they are living on it, or if it’s an investment. The environmentalists who portrayed growth as a habitat holocaust lost the argument with the general public, but they have not gone away.

Anti-growth forces are now flexing their muscle through the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) factor. They succeeded in getting the brakes applied to the Spring Hill development by marshaling the fears along Millhopper Road that their tree canopied, single-lane road needed to be saved from the ravages of development. If this amendment is passed, all plan changes, “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.”

Now, you might ask, “Why does the plan have to be changed so often?” My theory is that the plan is usually crafted with the oversight of the environmentalists and their lawyers. The average person or business owner does not know what’s going on until the activity that he wants to engage in, and that the plan was created to prevent. At this point, the business owner requests a change in the plan, and if it seems reasonable, he or she can usually get it.

Sometimes plans have to be changed because there are loose ends from old plans that need to be tied up. I had a customer who could not get a permit to build a swimming pool because, according to an old plan, a road had been planned to go through her yard. She had to seek the help of a county commissioner to rectify this, since it was impossible for this road to be built anyway.

Regardless of which way this goes, it underscores the difference in how people approach growth. People who are for it vote for it with their car trips and their wallets. People who are against it, manipulate the rules to prevent it. The Florida Chamber of Commerce also used Youtube to get out this message: that out of state petition gatherers are hired to get signatures from unsuspecting citizens, even if it requires deception.

If this ballot initiative is passed, who will usually turnout for these local referendums? I suspect it will be the same 10% of local voters who usually think to vote in local elections. They will be those most motivated to use the political process. And that is not the average person