Amendment 4 endorsed by Putnam Citizens Alliance

PCA Endorses Amendment 4

The "Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment"

Putnam Citizens Alliance endorses and urges you to vote FOR Amendment 4 on the November 2010 ballot. Amendment 4, sometimes called the "Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment," will give voters in all Florida cities and counties the right to have the final say on major changes to their communities' comprehensive land use plans. Rather than being stuck with the costs of whatever deals the land speculators and lobbyists and local politicians put together, the voters will have a chance to say "yes" or "no" to major developments that could result in increased taxes and decreased quality of life for everyone in the community.

Florida law now requires city and county governments to hold public hearings before changing their comprehensive land use plans. However, the system is flawed in that the current law allows the government officials to ignore what the public says at those hearings. And all too often they do just that, rejecting the expressed will of the citizens, preferring instead to listen to the pie-in-the-sky pitches of developers, speculators, and paid lobbyists.

Amendment 4 will close that loophole by giving the voters a real say, one that cannot be ignored. Amendment 4 provides that when a city or county government decides that a particular change to the local comprehensive land use plan would be a good thing for the community, then the proposed change will be put to a referendum to see if local voters agree. The voters — the people who know their own communities and their own priorities best — will get to decide if major changes to their community's growth plans are worth any potential costs of higher taxes or lower quality of life.

Give yourself the chance to have a say. Please be sure to vote FOR Amendment 4 in November!

For more information on Amendment 4, please visit Florida Hometown Democracy.