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Letter to the editor

This 'new' dispute is as old as democracy

By HOWARD TROXLER, Times Staff Writer
Published August 9, 2007

The coming fight for the soul of Florida is the oldest political fight there is.

As we duke it out between now and November 2008, we will call it by its current label, "Hometown Democracy."

But it's really an argument that began 2,500 years ago on a hillside in Athens.

Can citizens govern themselves wisely? Or should somebody else make decisions for them?

Florida Hometown Democracy is a group that wants to give voters control of major growth decisions in our state. The group is petitioning to put a constitutional amendment on the 2008 ballot.

Countless times over the past 25 years, I have watched opponents show up at public hearings, angry, energized, saying the same things to fight a proposed development.

Their City Council or County Commission shrugs and says, "Where were you when we were drawing the maps? Our maps tell us that we cannot say no."

(See: Tarpon Springs, Wal-Mart, approval of.)

So here is the genius of Hometown Democracy: It says that voters get to draw the maps in the first place.

To be precise, the group's amendment would require local voter approval for any change in a community's "comprehensive plan."

Plato would hate it. Aristotle would fret. Socrates would ask irritating questions for 15 hours or until somebody made him drink hemlock.

Me, I kinda like it.

I like it because (1) I am flat-out sick of local government saying yes and (2) because the opponents are frothing with ridiculous overstatement.

"This will lead," warns a builder-funded group with the ironic name of Floridians for Smarter Growth, "to far less planning, increased urban sprawl, much more traffic, higher property taxes and anemic municipal services."

Holy cow! All that, just from letting voters control growth in their own community.

Floridians for Smarter Growth has a proposed counter-petition. It, too, claims to give citizens the "right" to control growth but sets up roadblocks to keep them out.

Oh, and this rival amendment also says that if both it and Hometown Democracy pass, then Hometown Democracy won't count. Sneaky!

So if somebody asks you to sign a petition to "control growth," make sure you know which one you're signing.

This isn't black and white. I know lots of smart people who think Hometown Democracy is a bad idea.

After all, in the end the Athenians turned into a fickle mob. They chose demagogues and fools as their leaders. They were whipped by Sparta, which was governed by kings and a kind of gussied-up County Commission.

So by all means, if you think that decisions about growth are best made by "professionals" and local elected officials, then you should oppose Hometown Democracy.

After all, they've done such a good job so far.

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The rival Web sites:

www.floridahometown democracy.com

www.flsmartergrowth.org

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I'm back from a few days off and back on TroxBlog, with fresh comments on everything from the arrest of the USF students in South Carolina to whether Charlie Justice should run for Congress, along with reader reaction.

Use the "Blogs" link from www.tampabay.com or type blogs.tampabay.com/troxler.

[Last modified August 8, 2007, 23:43:43]