Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Voters will be better stewards of our state than elected officials

A lesson in how not to manage growth | Jan. 5, editorial

Florida politicians have had decades to perfect a system of wise growth management but have only given us lip service while making back-room deals with developers who have devastated our state's natural resources, environment and economy.

With the Legislature recently further weakening growth management regulations, it is time for the people of Florida to stand up and be counted. The passage of Amendment 4 will give us the chance to vote on development issues in our communities. It will give us a chance to counter some of the massive destruction that continues to assault our state from the deep-pocketed development industry and their political pawns.

Look for the foes of Florida Hometown Democracy to launch a massive disinformation campaign against the passage of Amendment 4. They want to keep any shred of decisionmaking out of the people's hands because they know we will be much better stewards of the land and water resources of our state than our easily corruptible politicians have been.

John Murphy, Largo