If you don’t ever want to see new homes built in Tampa then maybe voting for Amendment 4 is for you. But I think that the vast majority of us would agree that homebuilding and the jobs it creates are good for the community and for the economy. Amendment 4 or “Hometown Democracy” as it is called sounds good in theory but the reality is it would sink us into a deeper recession and far more misery than most of us are capable of. I would encourage all of you to visit the www.florida2010.org web site and review the economic study they have done on the impact that Amendment 4 would have on the Tampa Bay area. The Washington Economics Group concluded that if the amendment were to pass it would cost over 267,000 jobs and $35 billion dollars in economic output. They also concluded that  a typical ballot would expand to roughly 47 pages in future elections.

The amendment would require that the electorate of any given county vote on any changes to the comprehensive plan. Therefore if Land O Lakes wanted to build a community center they would have to have the approval of voters in Hudson and Zephyrhills. The vast majority of changes are initiated by local governments (schools, police stations, fire houses, community centers, libraries, etc). But local government is forbidden to campaign for changes making it difficult to effectively communicate the needs for such changes. However, opponents to the changes are not restricted in their ability to campaign against change.

And while the public sector may lay down for such opposition because their hands are tied, the private sector will not. Expect massive law suits if private business is not allowed to build or expand their business because of the amendment. St. Petersburg Beach passed a similar measure and has been embroiled in countles legal battles ever since.

Vote No on Amendment 4!