Tallahassee silence
To the editor:
I have a message I would like to share with Gov. DeSantis:
Good morning Governor DeSantis —
I was part of your historic landslide re-election and do appreciate many of the things you have done for Florida. However, there are two areas of your administration that are of great concern.
One is the usurpation of power from local levels to the state level. The other is a perceived failure to properly address environmental concerns, particularly water.
Let me start first with it is my understanding that government in our country is predicated as being from the bottom up. I have always thought that our government starts with the people and is/was for the people. Why does this present Florida administration seem to think otherwise?
An Administrative Judge in Martin County ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by a citizen who did not want to see more animal habitat trashed by developers. Then you and Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, sitting as the state Board of Administration, summarily overturned an experienced judge’s decision. Why? How is this in the best interest of the people? Or perhaps it has something to do with one of the developer’s partners donating $100,000.00 to the Florida Republican Party?
An amendment to the Orange County Charter was placed on the ballot to give citizens the ability to protect water. (Without this right it is/was impossible to bring a case to court to protect a citizen’s right to clean water.) This was driven by government and big business refusing to recognize/admit their past and continuing contribution to the contamination of man’s most valuable resource, water. The amendment passed with a whopping 89% approval by Orange County voters. Your administration then proceeded to pass legislation at the State level ensuring the public’s wish to protect water would never be allowed to come to fruition. Why did you sign legislation preventing this at the state level? How can this be in the best interest of the people; the people you have sworn to serve?
You signed legislation in 2021 preventing local governments from raising impact fees. Without sufficient impact fees, people are left with inadequate infrastructure, congested roads and a massive bill. Why? How does this help the people that are Florida residents? Or, could this have something to do with Brett Hage, who introduced the legislation, being paid in excess of $1,400,000 by The Villages over three years? (The Villages’ Commissioners decided that impact fees should be part of the construction cost and that is what provoked the legislation.)
Your administration passed legislation strengthening the Bert Harris Act. This makes it difficult to adhere to the plans the state mandated each county draw; plans that were drawn with expert input in order to protect the valuable resources of Florida. Or, was it done to provide a better shield for local governments to hide behind? Why? How is this in the best interest of the people?
Now you have HB359, which is totally onerous to the “little” guy, pending. Are you going to approve or veto this legislation?
On to the second area of concern, the environment. You just allocated $3,500,000,000 of OUR money to restore the Everglades. Please show me where in this legislation you directed any of this money towards stopping the root causes of the problem. All I see is multi-million-dollar Band-Aids being applied. Why? How is this in the best interest of the people?
You previously allocated $1,600,000,000 of OUR money for this same project. Included was the appointment of a study group to determine what was/is needed. Yet, when this group turned in its report, you saw fit to ignore 96% of it. (By the way, how many more study groups are needed? Someplace out there a lot of money is being made by “study groups.”) Why? How is this in the best interest of the people?
The first part of this lends the perception that Tallahassee is owned by developers and the second part that what little is left over is owned by agriculture. Someplace out there in the cold are the PEOPLE you swore to protect.
Awaiting your response
Norman Cannon
Fort Myers