This November, voters will be faced with a number of tough decisions at the ballot box.  Fortunately, one of the most important decisions should also be the easiest.  Amendment 4, a “Vote on Everything” proposal, would kill jobs, raise taxes, and lead to endless litigation at taxpayer expense.

Amendment 4 has been referred to as a ‘stimulus package for special interest lawyers’.  And for good reason; this proposal would add costly new layers of bureaucratic red-tape to an already complicated planning process.  It would be virtually impossible to condense thousands of pages of technical planning data into the 75 word ballot summaries that are required by law.  Inevitably, disagreements – and lawsuits – would ensue.  Amendment 4 encourages the special interests that lose at the ballot box to take their case to court, at taxpayer expense.

That is exactly what happened to the small town of St. Pete Beach, which implemented a local version of Amendment 4 in 2006. The measure has decimated their economy and created chaos at the polls. To date, the citizens of St. Pete Beach have seen nearly a dozen lawsuits that have cost local taxpayers more than three-quarters of a million dollars in legal fees. When St. Pete Beach voters approved four pro-economy changes to their comprehensive plan in 2008, Amendment 4 lawyers sued to overturn the results of the election. Nearly two years later, the people of St. Pete Beach are still defending their vote in court. Ward Friszolowski, the former Mayor of St. Pete Beach wrote “Our experiment in Amendment 4 has turned St. Pete Beach into a battleground for special interests.”  The same “copy and paste” lawsuits that plague St. Pete Beach would soon spread to every Florida town.

Moreover, under Amendment 4, residents most impacted by local planning decisions will lose influence in a process that inherently favors deep-pocketed special interests. This measure would turn the growth management debate into a political spectacle.   Neighborhoods would lose representation in the public planning process, as communities across town make decisions about schools, hospitals, jails, and landfills in your backyard.

Worse still, Amendment 4 will introduce new delays into the planning process. This measure is so extreme that it does not even contain exceptions for vital community projects like hospitals, schools, police stations or fire trucks.  Consequently, even important and uncontroversial community projects will likely experience paralyzing delays.

As Florida attempts to recover from this devastating recession, the last thing we need is Amendment 4, a proposal that would empower special interest lawyers to raid taxpayer’s pockets in order to finance special interest lawsuits.  This November, VOTE NO on Amendment 4!

While November will be a busy election season, no issue on the 2010 ballot will be more important than Amendment 4.  In this tough economy, the last thing Florida needs is an irresponsible amendment that will cost jobs, raise taxes and make it more expensive to live in our state.

But that’s exactly what Amendment 4 will do.

Please click on this link florida2010.org and take a moment to view this 2-minute video on St. Pete Beach, the first community in Florida to adopt a local version of Amendment 4. This impacts you directly.  Moreover, it will permanently damage Florida’s economy and unique quality of life.  As a result, The Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce will be asking voters to VOTE NO on 4.  Please take a moment to:

1. Share this video with at least 50 voters.  We are working together with dozens of other associations to get this message out.  Sharing this message with your professional contacts will make a big difference.
2. Post this video (or a link to it) on your website or your Face Book page.
3. Get more information at florida2010.org.  On this page, you’ll find a wealth of information on Amendment 4.
4. Use the “Tell a Friend” button or sign up to “Volunteer.” This site is updated regularly so check back often.

The Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to bringing you the latest information on Amendment 4—including new videos as they are produced.

Since beginning a 3-year experiment in Amendment 4-style rule, St. Pete Beach residents have seen endless lawsuits, higher taxes and widespread economic turmoil. In recent elections, the citizens of St. Pete Beach voted to scale back their local version of Amendment 4 so that only certain land use changes require a referendum.  With Florida voters set to soon decide the fate of Amendment 4 – a statewide Vote on Everything initiative – it is telling that St. Pete Beach voters chose to rein in their own local experiment by a decisive 60-40 margin.

More telling still are the words of Ward Friszolowski, former St. Pete Beach Mayor who retired in 2008.  “St. Pete Beach residents are tired of voting on everything, especially issues that don’t even relate to development,” said Friszolowski. “This amendment doesn’t work. It has resulted in chaotic, confusing and expensive elections driven by sound bites rather than sound planning.”

No other state in the union has adopted an amendment as heavy-handed and extreme as the one now being sold to Florida voters as Amendment 4.  Even the type of planning by sound bite that takes place in California would pale in comparison to what is being proposed in our state.  However, we can draw lessons from the story of St. Pete Beach, the first community in Florida to adopt a local version of Amendment 4.

The St. Pete Beach TIMELINE:

November, 2006: St. Pete Beach narrowly adopts a local version of Amendment 4, requiring a referendum for all changes to the local comprehensive plan. Amendment 4 supporters promise that they just want to give “the people a right to vote.”

June, 2008: St. Pete Beach voters approve a new comprehensive plan at the ballot box.

June, 2008: After losing the election, Amendment 4 supporters in St. Pete Beach file a string of legal challenges to invalidate the will of the people.

September, 2008: Numerous administrative challenges are subsequently filed by Amendment 4 co-author and co-founder Ross Burnaman.

June, 2009: The St. Petersburg Times reports that St. Pete Beach has exhausted its legal budget months before the end of the fiscal year.

September, 2009: Amidst rising legal bills, St. Pete Beach raises taxes.

October, 2009: Court-ordered mediation collapses when Amendment 4 supporters refuse to join the City and the business community in supporting a compromise.

St. Pete Beach is proof positive that Amendment 4 is not designed to give the people a say on growth. It is designed to give anti-growth lawyers another legal avenue to stop commonsense progress, even when voters approve it. In St. Pete Beach, the taxpayers’ legal bills continue to mount. Unfortunately, there is no end in sight.

Floridians for Smarter Growth leads opposition to Amendment 4. To date, more than 170 organizations throughout Florida have opposed Amendment 4. More join the fight every day.  For more information, please visit www.florida2010.org.

Led by Floridians for Smarter Growth, the business community is ready for battle

(ORLANDO, FL – June 22, 2009) The radical “Hometown Democracy” proposal failed to reach the ballot in 2004, 2006 and 2008. However, the Secretary of State today certified the anti-jobs amendment for the 2010 ballot. It will appear on the ballot as Amendment 4.

Amendment 4–a “Vote on Everything” initiative that would force taxpayers to fund elections for thousands of technical planning changes–is opposed by a broad coalition of over 135 environmental, business, labor, planning and community groups throughout the state. This growing coalition includes 1000 Friends of Florida, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida League of Cities, the Florida Council of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, and the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association.

“The ‘Vote on Everything’ amendment could mean a permanent recession for Florida’s economy,” said Mark Wilson, president of the Florida Chamber of Commerce and treasurer of Floridians for Smarter Growth. “This amendment will hopelessly complicate the planning process and indefinitely stall our state’s economic recovery.”

A local version of Amendment 4 has already been tested in the small Pinellas county town of St. Pete Beach, which adopted a “Vote on Everything” measure in 2006. Since then, local residents have suffered through a virtual economic collapse and endless lawsuits at taxpayer expense. In St. Pete Beach, “Vote on Everything” supporters have even filed numerous lawsuits to overturn the very election their amendment required.

“The story of St. Pete Beach is proof positive that this idea costs jobs and wastes taxpayer money,” said Ryan Houck, executive director of Floridians for Smarter Growth (FSG), the statewide campaign opposing Amendment 4. “Far from empowering voters, it has caused endless frustration at the ballot box and needless litigation at taxpayer expense.”

“Floridians for Smarter Growth has organized a very strong grassroots campaign organization,” said Wilson. “We have expanded our local leadership teams and grown our statewide coalition. Floridians for Smarter Growth is prepared to debate the ‘Vote on Everything’ amendment in every community in Florida.”

Floridians for Smarter Growth (FSG) was founded by Sunshine State business and community leaders to educate voters on the impacts of Amendment 4. Today, Floridians for Smarter Growth leads a grassroots team of nearly 1000 dedicated volunteers and 135 opposition groups.