My head is kind of bobbing around like one of those little bobbling dolls that people put on their car dashboards sometimes. I’m all in a dither (or is a dather) trying to figure out how to vote on the Hometown Democracy Amendment, which will be on Floridians’ ballots later this year. To wit:
The Amendment would establish “that before a local government may adopt a new comprehensive land use plan, or a mend a comprehensive land use plan, the proposed plan or amendment shall be subject to vote of hte electors of the local government by referendum, following preparing by the local planning agency, consideration by the governing body and notice.”
Maybe I’m missing something … but I can’t see how this could be a bad thing — isn’t that what democracy is all about? Would it really be so bad to allow voters to participate in land use planning? And, honestly, I can’t think that such a thing would muck things up any worse than officials do already? Do I really need to remind myself of the quarter-million plus $$$$ frittered away in 2008 on consultant fees for roundabouts that went thataway?
However, I don’t see how it would be a good thing either because … really … even if we voters vote on something around here, it’s not all that likely that our governing bodies will pay attention to the outcome of the vote, will they? (Baseball stadium issue, anyone?) And if they do pay attention, they’ll figure out how to use smoke and mirrors to circumvent public opinion anyway. Am I wrong?
I think I’d fall on the side of voting FOR this Amendment. I’d welcome any reader feedback on the pro or con side.
Read more about Pro-Amendment 4 thinking … read more about Anti-Amendment 4 thinking.