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Business Groups Fire At Initiative

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By MIKE SALINERO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 17, 2007

TAMPA - Terrified that voters may get the power to kill development projects, Florida business interests are unleashing an array of political weaponry to defeat the Hometown Democracy initiative.

A mass mailing from one opposition group alleged that the Hometown movement is a shadowy conspiracy fomented by out-of-state special interests called 'electors,' another name for voters.

Another group sent an e-mail last week that inserted a phony message onto a doctored photo of the Mons Venus strip club marquee, making it appear the club was offering free admission to Hometown backers.

The chicanery is drawing comparisons to the Watergate era.

'It's the dirty trick business just like President Nixon used,' said Hometown supporter Robert Page of Islamorada.

Behind the tactics are two of Florida's most powerful pro-business groups, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida. The two groups have formed political committees that together have collected almost $840,000 in contributions from developers, real estate agents and road builders.

Hometown Democracy would allow voters to approve or reject changes to county comprehensive growth plans. Supporters say the amendment is the only way to stop unrestrained growth.

Critics call it a 'no-growth' amendment that would raise taxes and kill the state economy.

Business interests are employing a double-pronged strategy to keep Hometown Democracy off the November 2008 ballot. A chamber-backed political committee, Floridians for Smarter Growth, is circulating petitions for its own amendment that promises to control growth through popular referendums. The amendment imposes barriers, however, such as making residents who want to vote on a comp plan change go to the elections supervisor's office to sign a petition.

Proposed amendments to the state constitution must get petitions signed by 611,009 registered voters by Jan. 30 to get on the ballot. Michael Caputo, a longtime Republican operative who heads Floridians for Smarter Growth, would not say how many signatures the group has gathered.

'We're gathering signatures at the pace we need to make the ballot by January,' Caputo said.

Palm Beach lawyer Lesley Black- ner, who co-founded the Hometown Democracy movement, said her group has collected more than 500,000 signatures, but only 331,000 have been verified by the Florida Department of Elections so far.

Save Our Constitution, a committee backed by Associated Industries of Florida, is using a state law passed this year that allows people to revoke their signatures on initiative petitions up to 150 days after they signed.

The group is sending revocation forms to people who signed the Hometown Democracy petition and following up with phone calls. The forms are filled out with the signer's name and only require a signature at the bottom. They come with a preaddressed envelope that can be mailed back to the Save Our Constitution group.

Hometown Democracy is challenging the constitutionality of the revocation law. The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the challenge Oct. 26.

'Special Interests' Of 'Electors'

John Thrasher, co-chairman of Save Our Constitution and a former speaker of the Florida House, wrote a letter accompanying the revocation forms saying passage of Hometown Democracy would raise taxes and utility bills.

Thrasher's letter also said the Hometown amendment would place land-use decisions in the hands of 'special interests' called 'electors.' He failed to explain that an elector is the same thing as a voter.

Michael Aston, of Neptune Beach in Duval County, said he received Thrasher's letter plus two phone calls urging him to revoke his signature. He said he found both 'distasteful.'

'The phone call lent an air of urgency and importance that I had made a terrible mistake that was going to destroy Florida,' Aston said. 'It drives me crazy to have to base decisions on omissions and half-truths.'

Thrasher defended the letter, saying it drew attention to the pitfalls of putting all land-use decisions to a popular vote.

'Our letter was intended to stir things up,' he said. 'It did that and it was intended to get people to take a second look. I don't make any apologies for that.'

Thrasher declined to disclose how many voters have agreed to revoke their signatures.

Battling Amendments Cause Confusion

With two ballot petitions circulating the state, both promising better growth management, many voters are confused. Both sides accuse the other of bullying and lying to get signatures.

Bev Griffiths, chairwoman of the Sierra Club's Tampa Bay Group, said a man approached her in Tampa International Airport and asked if she wanted to sign a petition 'to save our parks and beaches.'

Griffiths, a Hometown Democracy supporter, told people nearby the petition was 'bogus.'

'I said, 'Don't anybody sign it. It's not about parks and beaches; it's a petition promoted by the Chamber of Commerce,'' she said.

Caputo, who is being paid $10,000 a month to head the Smarter Growth committee, said he has received 'constant complaints' about Hometown Democracy's petition collection methods.

In one case, he said, a man was told, incorrectly, that he was signing the Smarter Growth petition.

'We hope that Hometown Democracy would correct some of the misleading information,' he said.

At times, the campaigns seem like they are battling over a student council seat instead of an amendment that could fundamentally change how business is conducted in the nation's fourth-largest state. Mudslinging abounds.

Caputo calls Hometown Democracy's financial backers a 'creepy cabal' that includes Tampa strip club owner Joe Redner and Steve Rosen, a millionaire owner of a skin-care business and an animal rights activist.

On Wednesday, Caputo sent out an e-mail 'blast' featuring photos of Redner's Mons Venus. The message on the club's marquee reads, 'Free Entry for Hometown Democracy Signature.' Redner said his marquee has never displayed that message and that the e-mail must have been doctored.

'Are we going to be riding Joe Redner until election day? No, but he's part of that creepy cabal,' Caputo said.

Blackner describes her business opponents as 'liars,' and delights she's rattling the rich and powerful.

'It's the first time in my life I've ever seen the developers scared,' Blackner said. 'I just have to enjoy it while it lasts.'

Although it's not clear how many signatures Caputo's group has collected, Floridians for Smarter Growth is leading the money race. Figures posted this week with the state Division of Elections shows the group collected $706,925 during the most recent quarter. Most of the contributions ranged from $10,000 to $200,000 and came from developers, real estate agents, road builders and big landowners.

Thrasher's group has collected $133,100.

Hometown Democracy raised $174,787, but showed a wider base of support with 260 contributions compared with 26 contributions for Floridians for Smarter Growth. Of the 260 contributions, 228 were for $100 or less. Rosen gave the most, $102,000, followed by Sierra Club chapters across the state, which gave a combined $41,209. Redner, who has given $35,000 to Hometown Democracy in past quarters, gave nothing this time.

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com.

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