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Letters to the Editor
Readers - May 2007
Hometown Democracy
It's not just the business groups that hate Hometown Democracy ["Who's Lesley Blackner?" March, FloridaTrend.com]. I am a resident of Lake Worth, and we have been struggling with this issue for years. Voters recently defeated -- rightly -- the Super Majority Initiative forced upon us by Blackner and her followers.
As a city, we can't seem to decide what or whom we want to be when we grow up. We have a lifeguard for a mayor and so-called anarchists who run for office and monopolize city council meetings never seeming to offer any solutions, just disruptions. These are the same individuals who support Blackner.
They seem to want a city full of slumlords and renters, unimproved property, no code enforcement and no redevelopment and growth, smart or otherwise.
We purchased two properties in Lake Worth because we enjoy the diversity of the community. But we need to find the common thread that makes Lake Worth the wonderful city it is and grow upon that common interest. We don't need help widening the divide.
I'm equally fascinated and frustrated by Ms. Blackner's comment regarding her living in Palm Beach on a barrier island. Apparently "enough is enough" as long as it doesn't affect her lifestyle. I invite Ms. Blackner to mind her own business and stay on her exclusive island and leave hometown democracy to those who actually live there.
Vicki A. Wooldridge
Lake Worth
Lesley Blackner's analysis and understanding of matters is clearly lacking. She was wrong about Daytona Beach ("It's all bikers"), and she is wrong about Hometown Democracy being in the best interest of the citizens of Florida.
James L. Rose
Daytona Beach
I am glad Ms. Blackner has put her own money into collecting signatures. As the Hometown Democracy coffers run dry, I have no doubt she and Mr. Burnaman will find some liberal, anti-everything organization that, under the guise of "let the people decide," is willing to pay for the collection of necessary signatures to get this idiocy on the ballot in '08.
As a professional planner practicing in Florida for over 30 years, I can tell you this is not NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard); this is BANANA rationale (Build Absolutely Nothing Anytime Never Anywhere).
I doubt Ms. Blackner or Mr. Burnaman have even thought about how this horrific assault on our democratic structure will or can play out, much less whether or not the taxpayers can afford it. Will there be a referendum only a few times a year, glomming all plan amendments and development permits into one very lengthy ballot questionnaire? Or will we have to endure a Goreish debate over hanging chads and the lack of a paper ballot trail in the counting of votes accompanying each of several referenda?
How is local government to plan its future infrastructure not knowing where or when the voters will sanction any new development, if at all? Will all Future Land Use Maps have a disclaimer on each mapped land use category saying "subject to verification of the voters at some point in the future"?
Hometown Democracy? No thanks. I'll trust my elected representatives, and if they disappoint me, I'll vote them out next election.
Augie Fragala
Lakeland
Let's address the big question regarding Florida's net increase of 1,080 new residents a day:
Where are all these people going to live? There are only three choices:
- Build high-rises in the cities.
- Build more single-family homes out into animal habitats.
- Take the NIMBY approach: If they can't find a place to live, they can just go back where they came from.
A city is a lot more friendly to the environment than the equivalent rural space; and a high-rise is tons more friendly to the environment and resources than would be the equivalent single-family homes.
So you see, this isn't a fight about saving the environment. It's a selfish "preserving my suburban way of life" issue.
Isn't option No. 1 above the only ethical answer? Let's not answer with some bogus reference to "planning," etc. (a delay tactic). It was the people who were here for many years who didn't plan (especially for public transportation). Ms. Blackner should set an example -- tear down her nice house, give the land to the Audubon and move to Newark, N.J.
Leonard G. Franklin
Miami
CORRECTION
Orlando-based MSCW provides community planning, civil engineering, landscape architecture, environmental services, transportation planning and engineering, and economics services. Florida Trend has incorrectly identified the company in recent issues.
