Voters deserve more control over city tax initiatives
To the editor:
2015 is the Cape Coral City non-partisan elections. The last election smelled bad with fighting for the mayoral seat. There were arguments over the canvassing board and voter fraud. In addition, my review of each city council member’s campaign finance reports shows only one played by the non-partisan rules regarding campaign donations.
Non-partisan gives the impression of impartiality and most judges or school board members are governed under Florida Statutes regarding campaign finance and who can contribute to their election. Although elections may be officially nonpartisan, in some elections, the party affiliations of candidates are generally known, most commonly by the groups endorsing a particular candidate (e.g., a candidate endorsed by a labor union would be generally affiliated with the Democratic Party, while a candidate endorsed by a business coalition would be generally affiliated with the Republican Party). A review of the Cape Coral City Council campaign finance reports show a Democratic Party Club donation and unions to most of the city council and with highest total contributions to the current mayor at more than 33K.
We can all agree, non-partisan governments pretend to be impartial. So, how can you limit government? Have a checks and balance by the electorate? How about voters writing their own legislation to limit government with checks and balance system of accountability?
I suggest people read the Cape Coral city charter which is our local constitution written under Florida’s “Home Rule Doctrine.” This means local charter cities can enact laws as long as these laws are not expressly prohibited by the State Constitution or statutes. We have the freedom to control certain laws through citizen charter amendments, initiatives and referendums. However, the current city charter requires 10,276 voter signatures to place an amendment on the ballot. It takes 15,000 voter signatures to recall a candidate. Plus, you have to pay filling fees which could exceed $2,000, plus petitioners are subject to “slap suits” by their own government such as an injunction.
Do you think our city government would write a charter amendment that’s states “No tax or fee or increase in tax or fee, shall be passed or enacted unless passed at the ballot box with 50 or 60 percent voter approval” or “no candidate of city council can accept any campaign contribution from any political related club such as the Democratic or Republican Club or corporation or non-profit or any organization and that the only contributions shall be from an individual registered voter within the city of Cape Coral and not to exceed $50.” The answer is no. However, citizens could write these laws.
If the required ridiculous 10,276 required voter signatures to amend the city charter through citizen petition were reduced to around 1,700 or less, then the citizens could probably have a chance to vote on these questions and others. And, if this passed, the citizens can have freedom to limit their government by passing laws requiring taxes and expenditures to be voted on. The citizens now can have something to show up to vote for and are no longer powerless to the rule of government.
Jack Mattachione, MRC
Cape Coral