Victoria Gardens: Pay up

It isn't often an old cat like me agrees with the School Board AND the Volusia County Council.

This is one of those exceptions. Victoria Gardens needs to ante up and pay the school-impact fees. Why? There should be no protected classes or groups of people who can say, "Schools aren't my responsibility."

Schools are the responsibility of everyone. I don't care if there aren't gonna be any kiddies in the gated, senior-citizen enclave. Nor do I care if there weren't any kids in the Ormond Beach mobile-home park case.

The fact is, taxes helped pay for those seniors to get an education, and helped them become the fine, property-owning folks they are. Saying, "I've got mine, now, get yours," isn't the way it should work.

Schools are everybody's responsibility.

And, if you want to get into the technical arguments, Victoria Park doesn't have a good legal reason to avoid paying the fees. The developer agreed to pay school-impact fees on the development as a part of the master development plan for the area. Now, the developer wants to wiggle out of it.

Paugh!

Of course, if the county wants to exempt EVERYBODY from paying the fees, that's fine.

Farmton, bears etc.

Now that the loonies have given up burning other peoples' holy books, and with no terrorist attacks, we can get back to griping about more local things.

Like land use.

The Farmton hearing began today. My cat ears pricked up when I heard they were holding in a third-floor conference room. Too many people showed up, and they moved it to the Historic Courthouse.

Why not in the County Council Chambers, which has much better acoustics, a recording system and more comfortable/newer seating?

I guess they don't want to audio-broadcast or record this meeting. And who wants the public to attend anyway? bah. Anyway, we'll see how things go. Since they don't let cats in the courthouse, I'll find it difficult to attend. Please post your thoughts and information about what's going on.

Farmton leads us to bears and that famous mile-wide corridor for black bears. I don't known how many of 'em are like me, who can read and write. The bears would need a map to follow the corridor.

Here's the good news for developers and the Farmton Hunt Club:

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is considering a "hunt and kill" option regarding black bears, correspondent Michele Moen reports:

Dear friends,


Your money is not needed but your compassion is.


Please take 10 minutes of your time to read the attached brief info


The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is seriously considering the hunt and kill as an option for Florida's rare and threatened black bear.

And the majority comments they are receiving are from the hunters!


HELP!

1. READ the attached info. It is brief
2. PLEASE, visit the site and comment. Below is a short letter for your use in whole or in part as you please.
3. PASS this info on to others. You don't have to be from the State of Florida to comment.

Thanks so much for your kindness!
Michele

Send in your comments (you don't have to be from Florida to comment)



FLORIDA BLACK BEAR MANAGEMENT PLAN
CRITICAL DEADLINE October 1, 2010


SUGGESTED COMMENT LETTER TO THE
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission


The draft bear management report recommends that state wildlife managers "explore options regarding bear hunting as a tool to stabilize populations and maintain them within target levels."
The Florida black bear is a listed threatened species. Florida laws defines threatened as ". . . exists in such small populations as to become endangered if it is subjected to increased stress as a result of further modification of its environment."
In addition, under Florida law, the intentional killing or wounding of a listed species incurs a third degree felony.
Yet the FFWCC draft plan suggests that the Florida black bear, a threatened species that can be found no where else is the world, should possibly be hunted in order to manage populations? This is ludicrous.
Please remove any language considering the hunting of Florida's unique and threatened species.
Thank you
NAME

end.

The irony is lost on them

Sometimes it's hard to figure out if some of these preachers are just plain stupid, or if they just love publicity enough to endanger American lives at home and abroad.

I'm referring to the nuts in Gainesville, led by the Rev. Terry Jones at the Dove World Outreach Center. They want to burn Korans to commemorate Sept. 11. Sure, that will bring peace, just like Jack stealing food from my dish brings peace to our household.

Apparently, they don't have the intellect to notice the irony of a church called "the Dove World Outreach Center" doing this stuff. Yeah, the symbol of peace and love and hope, the dove.

Even Glenn Beck is condemning them, comparing their plan to "burning the flag or the Bible." You'd think that might wake them up. Never mind everybody else who's saying "don't do it," including Gen. David Petraeus and Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton, the Washington Post reports.

Hey, where's the stuff of your faith, people? Remember Jesus saying to love each other? If we act like a bunch of Al Quaeda types, aren't disobeying ? Aren't we becoming the enemy?

This afternoon, Jones promised to go through with the book-burning. Hmmm. Remember who else liked to burn books?

Wake up and smell the coffee, Rev. Jones and your 50 followers.

That reminds me, I better check my dish.

Elections, right-wingnut stuff

Around my house, we're pleased that Rob Sanders is going to be sitting on the bench in Volusia County. It was a close election — in the end, he won by only 52 votes.

That should serve as a wake-up call for a lot of people — primaries are important.

We're pleased about Andy Kelly keeping his seat on the Volusia County Council — even though some powers in his own Democratic Party weren't supporting him. We need people like Andy, though, who will vote against bad development.

In DeBary, expect a free-for-all this fall. The Koval-Long race promises to be the most interesting, but you never know.

Here's something really funny going around in an e-mail:

If you have not heard the Glenn Beck programs on Fox News you have
missed the most honest, factual documentation of the criminal
corruption of what is happening in Washington, and I would
encourage everyone to see as many of his programs as you possibly
can.

Honest? Factual? Glenn Beck?

HA-HA-HA-HA Snort, paw-swat!

Dang it, go vote!

My person reported that when she went to the polls this morning, there were only four people there to vote — including her.

Now, that's pretty disgusting. Snort, hiss! Don't you know we've got developers' tools to contend with? You wanna leave to the old polls who just follow the money? Look what's happening with Team Volusia. West Volusia politicos are rolling over. Think they smell the money?

An indifferent electorate means business as usual.

I read where even a chicken went to the polls. That makes voting sound pretty appetizing to me!

GO VOTE!


Note: sorry for the lag in posting. First, my person went out of town, leaving me home alone (never mind there was enough food, water and kitty litter to sustain an army of cats). Nobody was there to type for me, or pet me. Three hisses.

The home computer is still on the fritz, too. Makes things challenging.

Here's to the women, 90 years later

I'm just a cat, so I don't get to vote. I noted with interest though, that it's the 90th anniversary of the 19th amendment, the one that gave women the right to vote. Ratification was complete on Aug. 18, 1920.
In the November 1920 election, women voted for the first time. Warren G. Harding was running against James M. Cox.
The amendment ensures "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
It's kinda hard for the young kittens coming along to appreciate what their foremothers went through. In the course of human history, it wasn't that long ago that women had no rights — not to vote, not even to own their property.
A piece of paper stating women had the right to vote did not mean women were treated equally, of course. That was the first step on a long road that is now being realized.
We have a woman, Alex Sink, running for governor. Think of her what you will, but we've come far enough that she's not that "lady" candidate. The rhetoric is over her resume and what she will or won't do if elected — not over her status as female.
That's a major shift that's come in the past few years.
It all started with the suffrage movement of some brave women in the mid-late 1800s.
Here's to you, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan Anthony and those who came earlier or later. Here's to you, President Woodrow Wilson, for pushing the amendment. It came, after all, just after the war to secure democracy – World War I.
My typist, Patti, said, "And here's to you, Great-Aunt Carrie!"
Carrie was a suffragist and the first woman in her little town to wear trousers back then, when it was considered uppity.
Now, all you women, read up on the candidates and the issues, and go vote.

P.S. - Sorry for the hiatus in posting. My typist went out of town and left me home.

Guest editorial - Amendment 4

The anti-Amendment 4 forces are spreading their money and effort to defeat the amendment. So I guess I can run this guest commentary in favor of it.

After all, if developers hadn't been so greedy and local governments so ready to roll over for 'em, Amendment 4 would not be on the ballot.

Here's the guest piece:

Yankeetown Proves Amendment 4 Works for Citizens

BY ED CANDELA

If people could rely on elected officials to actually represent their constituents instead of special interests, there would be no need for Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment 4.

Our local version of Florida Hometown Democracy Amendment 4, in the Levy County community of Yankeetown, has been a success, and I want to caution readers not to buy the scare tactics now being used to try to trick people to vote against Amendment 4. You should definitely vote yes on Amendment 4 on the statewide ballot Nov. 2. You will be glad you did.

Here’s why: Several years ago, our quiet fishing community was targeted for massive development. Yankeetown officials conducted secret meetings with real estate speculators. One of the officials had a secret land sale contract with the developers. Their proposal was so massive it would have destroyed our beautiful Gulf Coast community’s character.

At the time, residents packed town council meetings trying to protect our way of life. But the council was listening to the real estate speculators —— not to us. In 2007, voters overwhelmingly passed a charter amendment and took back commonsense control. Today in Yankeetown, when politicians propose major land-use changes to the comprehensive land use plan, voters get the final say to approve or veto the plan. Yankeetown shows what Hometown Democracy Amendment 4 would help accomplish on a statewide scale if Floridians pass it Nov. 2.

Our process hasn’t been contentious – all proposed changes have been approved by voters since the charter amendment passed. One speculator did file lawsuits to try to intimidate us, but the courts threw them out.

It’s up to us to protect our communities, especially with a New York Times analysis finding Florida as the No. 1 state for public corruption. Officials from Levy and Dixie counties recently were convicted of taking bribes from a “developer” who really was an undercover FBI agent.

Yankeetown voters can now vote to protect our community – regardless of who is running our local government at the time.

Under Amendment 4, local city or county commissions will study, conduct public hearings, and vote on proposed changes to the local comprehensive land-use plan just like they do now. Here’s the new Amendment 4 step: Voters will veto or approve their decision on the next regularly scheduled election day. No special elections are required.

Before Yankeetown’s version of Amendment 4 passed, residents felt helpless. Now we’re empowered. Our community is too important to leave in the hands of politicians and lobbyists.

Who knows who will be in office in the future? It’s really all about trust. Whom do you trust more, you and your fellow Floridians or special-interest- loving politicians, lobbyists and real estate speculators?

I urge everyone to vote yes to Amendment 4 onNov. 2. You can learnmore at www.floridahometown democracy. com. You will be glad you took a stand. We sure are in Yankeetown!

Ed Candela is a former Yankeetown City Council member. Online video: tinyurl.com/ 27vv2nz