Our congratulations to our endorsed candidates who were elected on Tuesday, November 4,2008: in Sebastian, Council member Richard Gilmore; and in Vero Beach, Council members Sabe Abell and Kevin Sawnick. Also, as the unopposed winner of his primary, Gary Wheeler has been returned for a new four year term as a County Commissioner. 

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 19, 2008

FLORIDA HOMETOWN DEMOCRACY (FHD) REACHES THRESHOLDS FOR CERTIFICATION TO STATE BALLOT IN 2010; CITIZEN GROUPS DEMAND STATE DIVISION OF ELECTIONS COMPLY IMMEDIATELY WITH STATE LAW

"Yesterday Florida Hometown Democracy (FHD) passed the thresholds necessary to be qualified for the 2010 state ballot. We congratulate Florida Hometown Democracy for achieving this amazing feat." said John Hedrick, who has been the Sierra Florida point person on FHD.

"FHD needed to achieve 611,009 verified signatures statewide and also achieve 8% of registered voters voting in the last presidential election in at least 13 of 25congressional districts in the state. Today at least 611,753 verified signatures are on file out of a total of 850,000+ submitted by FHD to the various Supervisors of Elections around the state over time, and the required 13 districts have qualified." said Joyce Tarnow, President of Floridians for a Sustainable Population.
Tarnow added her congratulations and said that "FHD will bring much needed sanity to growth that has been out of control in the recent past and will spring totally to life again once the economy recovers in the near future. With FHD in place, it will keep the developers from cratering the economy again through their reckless overbuilding."

"This has been an effort of more than 5 years in the making, and I want to thank all those who have helped us in so many ways to achieve this important goal. Before we can totally turn our attention to the future election campaign, we call upon the Division of Elections to abide by state law and immediately certify FHD for the 2010 ballot without further delay or the need for additional litigation," said Hedrick and Tarnow.

"Everyone should now understand that the people of Florida have achieved the right to have an "up or down vote" on FHD. No more attempts at delay or subterfuge can be tolerated. The reason there has been such fierce opposition to placing FHD on the ballot is, I'm sure, that development-industry polls indicate FHD will indeed achieve the 60% threshold necessary to become a constitutional amendment." said Tarnow.
"This has been a tremendous effort, of which Florida Sierra has been glad to have been the largest environmental organization backing it, with many of its 30,000 members being involved in some way or another and having invested approximately $200,000 between the state and its local groups to have this come to fruition. We trust that our efforts, and those of others in the future, will continue to grow as we turn our attention to the task of passing FHD in 2010." said Hedrick.

"The citizens of Florida can celebrate today's accomplishment for democracy: now that the FHD Amendment has become a ballot choice in 2010, the public can regain control of growth and development for the betterment of all Floridians," Hedrick concluded.

The FHD Amendment (titled on the ballot as "REFERENDA REQUIRED FOR ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLANS") will, if and when passed by the electorate, require that every city and county government that wants to propose a changes to their local, publicly approved Comprehensive Land Use Plan first submit any proposed Plan changes to the voters in that community as the final step. This way the voters will decide whether this change is beneficial for their community. The FHD Amendment will cause fewer comprehensive plan amendments to be proposed and will require land owners to live within the development rights they were already granted under the existing comprehensive plan. In this way the FHD Amendment preserves and protects property rights, as well as the quality of life, for all the community's landowners."
 

 

 

Listen to Honey Minuse's weekly appearances on Monday morning radio, WTTB 1490, The Bob Soos "Morning Magazine" at approximately 8:20 a.m. As Spokesperson of the IRNA she discuss issues that are current and effect the people of Indian River County, issues which impact all of us and which will ultimately be determined by a political vote in the county and the municipalities.