Amendment 4 supporter answers Editor

Daytona Beach News Journal
letters@news-jrnl.com
Sent: 11/7/2010 5:35:05 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: "Folly"?

I find your November 5 editorial (“Voters realized folly of land-use amendment”) rather insulting. Nowhere do you make clear why Amendment 4 would have been “folly” except for the argument that voters are too ignorant to understand land-use issues.

One reason you give for opposing Amendment #4 is the area’s high unemployment rate, suggesting that if developers and builders have more free rein to build “in their preferred locations” that they will be able to “compete effectively for jobs” etc. You, of course, do not mention that the “preferred” location is often where land is the cheapest, farther away from already developed areas. While the land might be cheap for the developer, the tax payers usually wind up paying unnecessarily to extend utilities, schools and other services to that area. Often those “preferred” areas are vital for water recharge, wildlife corridors, or other such crucial uses, all of which are valuable to the citizenry as a whole. When the quality of life in an area is endangered, it’s surprising how well voters can become informed, especially when the issue will affect the future of their communities.

If Amendment 4 had passed, it would have required agreement from the residents who would be affected by major changes in the area’s comprehensive plan. You tout the figure $44 million dollars as a cost to citizens, claiming that figure would likely be the price tag for putting land-use changes up for “special elections” by a “popular vote.”

As I understand it, allowing such voters to chose would certainly not cost that much, as most issues could be placed on the ballot in regularly scheduled election cycles. Perhaps those millions of dollars would be spent by developers and others such money interests to try to influence the election? We saw such major outlays of cash this fall when these special interests pulled out all the stops to try to defeat Amendment 4. Did that money buy the News-Journal editors as well?

Carolyn West
Ormond Beach , FL 32174
(386) 672-9352