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greater threat to the economic and environ- mental health of the county. The current county commissioners have been responding to their developer overlords by systematically dismantling the county's 2050 Plan. That plan provides several key protections for new development in the eastern part of the county, but the most important provi- sion is something called "fiscal neutrality." In a nutshell, it requires developers to pay for infrastructure costs that result from those new projects, such as roads, water and sewer capacity and schools. These costs are to be borne by those responsible for them, not by existing county taxpayers. Developers absolutely hate this provision — and its impact on the huge profits they hope to make on their new (and often unneeded) developments — and they have done every- thing in their power to have that fiscal neutrality provision rescinded. If they are successful, it could result in millions of dol- lars in infrastructure costs being forced onto other taxpayers … just so the developers can make more money. In the primary coming up in August, the Republican candidates for the two open districts have made their positions clear. In each district, one candidate has supported preserving the 2050 Plan as it is, especially fiscal neutrality. The other candidate in each district has accepted tens of thousands of dol- lars in campaign donations from developers, and has dutifully indicated a desire to gut the 2050 Plan, giving free rein to developers … and, one must presume, a whopping future tax bill to ordinary county taxpayers. By changing one's Democrat or NPA affilia- tion to Republican by July 28, one can vote in the Aug. 26 primary for the two candidates who have made it clear they do not want to change the 2050 Plan. Otherwise, the right- wing core of the Republican Party and the big bucks developers are showering on their cho- sen candidates will result in certain death for the 2050 Plan and the environmental integrity of the eastern part of the county. It is a simple matter to change one's party affiliation. Go to SarasotaVotes.com and download the Voter Registration Application. If your registration is otherwise up-to-date, check the box at the top for Record Update/ Change, complete all of the other information on the form, including checking "Republican" for party affiliation. Then sign and date the form, and return it to the Supervisor of Elections Office by July 28. And if it bothers you to be identified as a Republican, simply go through the same process after voting on Aug. 26 to change your affiliation back to Democrat or NPA. It is a shame that the Legislature resorted to chicanery to frustrate the will of the people, who passed the open primaries constitu- tional amendment almost two decades ago. However, at least this registration option remains open to voters to participate, to the greatest extent possible, in the electoral pro- cess here in Sarasota County. So change your party affiliation to Republican. Vote on Aug. 26 for the candidates who will be more beneficial for Sarasota County. And embrace RINO as a proud symbol of your determination to preserve democracy in your county. % OPINION Sarasota News Leader July 18, 2014 Page 87