Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/92622
Sarasota News Leader OPINION November 9, 2012 AMENDMENTS REFLECT THE ABNEGATION OF ELECTED OFFICIALS EDITORIAL The Florida Legisla- ture placed 11 consti- tutional amendments on the ballot. Legislators took advantage of loopholes that allowed them to make the lengthy "explanations" of those initiatives meandering and obfuscatory. And most represented a delegation of legisla- tive responsibilities to the citizens. The City of Sarasota placed seven charter amendments on the ballot. When one consid- ers that a so-called "housekeeping" amend- ment actually contained 17 different pro- posals, voters were being asked to make 23 alterations to the constitutional document of the city. And too many of those proposals were prompted by the reluctance of city com- missioners to do their jobs. The most charitable characterization of this situation would be "legislative shenanigans." Neither the Legislature nor the City Commis- sion wished to make tough decisions, so each foisted those decisions onto the voters, as if doing so were some great act of democracy in action. But there was a dark side to all of these initiatives. In the case of the Leg- islature, the sheep's clothing of giving citizens a voice dis- guised a sinister wolf: an ill-conceived pow- er grab by legislators bent on upending Flor- ida's constitutional government. Page 61 Amendment 5 sought to irreparably weaken an independent judiciary by giving the Legis- lature unprecedented oversight, thereby com- promising — if not eliminating outright — the constitutional system of checks and balances that had existed before. Amendment 6 sought to deprive Florida wom- en of a right conferred by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973, and further weaken for all Flo- ridians a cherished right of privacy that is en- shrined in our state constitution. Amendment 8 sought to end the centuries-old separation of church and state, while also set- ting in motion the destruction of our public school system, in favor of private, sectarian schools that would impair our children as they sought to compete in a global economy. Fortunately, Florida voters recognized these initiatives for what they were — assaults on the very fabric of our democratic way of life — and soundly rebuked the Legislature at the polls. Neither the Legislature nor the City Commission wished to make tough decisions, so each foisted those decisions onto the voters, as if doing so were some great act of democracy in action. Likewise, the City Commission in Saraso- ta sought to deceive voters into supporting certain initiatives that would not have led to more sound gov- ernment for the city, although some of the other initiatives were well-reasoned and, ul- timately, supported by the voters. The City Commis- sion embedded in the "housekeeping"