Charter change was Will of the People

Comment Up

The local newspaper took such delight in telling us that the Charter Amendment is in the hands of the Governor and the entire heights election might just have been a waste of time. This is the problem with newspapers today.  Because they are partisan, people have less and less faith in what they write or even in their opinion. The other thing, the politicos in this city are bathing in their own dribble believing that the will of the people should mean nada, excepting, of course, when it comes to them.

Some of the height advocates are drooling at the mouth. They have convinced William Waters and City Attorney Glen Torcivia that the Charter change that was won by 55.86% of the voters this past March under the worst of conditions by the opponents, might now be moot because of HB 537 which prohibits initiative or referendum processes for any development order, local comprehensive plan amendment, or map amendment. At least they are all hoping, and they are counting on the Governor  deciding it all when he signs into law HB 537. HOWEVER, the Charter Amendment is outside the scope of the first part of F.S. 163.3167.

That was NOT what our election was about. It was a CHARTER CHANGE and in order to change the Charter, it must be by vote of the electorate. The Charter is the bible or Constitution of the city, not the comprehensive plan or a map that can be changed by a political vote from the dais. The Charter already addressed heights. That is why Respectful Planning PAC was formed and took the issue to the voters. Their vote was decided on March 12, 2013 and it is supreme.

By law, it is the duty of the city to uphold the results of this election.

The facts of the matter are:

• It was NOT an initiative or referendum for any development order

• It was NOT an initiative or referendum for any local comprehensive plan

• It was NOT an initiative or referendum for any map amendment.

• It WAS an initiative or referendum to amend our Charter.

The statute goes on to say "However, any local government charter provision that was in effect as of June 1, 2011, for an initiative or referendum process in regard to development orders or in regard to local comprehensive plan amendments or map amendments may be retained and implemented."

Florida Statutes mandate referendum when 10% of the registered voters sign a petition for it. When the referendum is successful, the Charter must be changed according to the expressed will of the people.

So, now we have just another stall and delay on moving our Large Scale Comprehensive Plan Amendment forward.  How many years has it been now?  City Attorney Torcivia will take two months to figure out an angle to make his bosses happy and all the rest of the little consortium who hang around city hall day in and day out who just continue to nag them. The commissioners are livid that they lost this one to the people, people they represent by the way, who won the election to keep our downtown low-rise. This outcome and Charter change needs to be sent to Tallahassee. 

So you might just as well stop drooling or chomping at the bit for awhile. The people will have legal counsel if needed so that the will of the people is not subverted.  :)_  The saddest part of this is that the Commission learned nothing from this election--they still don't honor the people they serve and want to beat them down.