The opposite of Good is not Evil.
It is Apathy.
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Citizen Turn Out Turned Down
Thursday evening at the McPherson Complex a capacity crowd of several hundred concerned Marion County citizens was told by Marion County Board of County Commissioners that the commission would not hear their concerns.
The meeting had an advertised agenda that listed specific items in the 2010 Comprehensive Plan Update. The majority of the people were there to discuss proposed changes that fall under the agenda items Future Land Use Element and the Future Land Use Map. Instead of following their agenda, the commissioners told the crowd that they were going to “continue” the meeting until 6pm Tuesday, August 3 and 6pm Wednesday 4 .
We believe the “continuation” was solely designed to prevent citizen input on extremely important issues that will affect our county for decades. Many of the people present were there to oppose the Irvine Regional Activity Center , the Mining Overlay, and a flawed Needs Assessment paid for by Marion County residents. Everyone present witnessed the apparent disrespect and disdain the Board holds for the very voters who put them in office. The only commissioner who openly opposed the continuation was former Chair Jim Payton.
The fact that a majority of the Board is willing to change a meeting’s agenda without prior notice to Marion County citizens shows whose input they value the most. The Board knew that the majority of citizens in attendance were in opposition to Land Use changes that were custom made by and for developers. The commissioners continued the meeting under the guise of needing more time to discuss the various items, but the truncated meeting that followed was not an efficient use of time. The commissioners also knew that the delay and creation of two additional meetings probably would discourage citizens from participation in their county government. It isn't easy for working people to attend Commission meetings; many people made sacrifices to get there Thursday night. The commission insulted them and made it even harder for them to be involved.
The MCBoCC went so far in their attempt to stymie public input that they wouldn’t vote on the continuation until the end of the meeting and most people had already left knowing their voices would not be heard. Chairperson Fitos was also very unclear as to what items would be heard on which days.
We at SORA (Save Our Rural Area) are very concerned about the Board’s intentions when the future of Marion County is at stake. We urge the citizens of Marion County to show up and let your voices be heard. Don’t allow a select group of developers and their lawyers determine what our future communities will look like. The meetings next Tuesday and Wednesday are your chance to impact development for the next 25 years in Marion County.
Save Our Rural Area is a grassroots
coalition of North Marion and Southern Alachua County
citizens committed to preserving what little remains of
Florida 's idyllic rural area and our unique heritage that is known
as Ocala horse country. Our motto is “Keep the country,
country.” We can be contacted at SaveOurRuralArea@yahoo.com.
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IF YOU AREN'T OUTRAGED, YOU REALLY AREN'T PAYING ATTENTION!
Headline from the Star Banner of May 19: "Commission Rejects Lime Rock Mine in
Marion County."
"Proponents and opponents of the proposed quarry held a fierce debate for four hours Tuesday."
The commission had previously rejected the mine. A hearing officer recommended a reversal. But at 10 p.m. Tuesday, four hours after the meeting started, the board voted unanimously to stand by its earlier ruling.
Review this "Old News" with a CLICK here
BUT NOW THIS!!!
Recall the little boy on the playground who couldn't have his own way? Stabbed the football with his pen knife so nobody could play? Or what Saddam did to the Kuwaiti oil fields when he knew he'd lost the Gulf War in '91?
Here is Bill Thompson's Star Banner article from July 27th:
The 2,000 acres is part of the county's
Farmland Preservation Area
A big chunk of Marion County's Farmland Preservation Area could double as its limerock mining preservation area - if a plan recently put before the County Commission comes to fruition.
Last week, a group of property owners in northwest Marion, including a northern California wine mogul, proposed designating 2,000 acres as a mining zone.
But that could grow. A second initiative could triple the amount of land within the Mineral Resources Overlay Zone, as the section would be known in the county's comprehensive plan.
He's sane and rational and honest, and he has very good ideas about how this country could be run better. Please give him a chance.
Campaign of
Douglas Shearer, DVM
For
County Commissioner
District 2
13670 SE Hwy 475, Summerfield, Fl 34491
I am running for County Commissioner with the main theme of keeping Marion County equine based. I want development to stay closer to town and fill in both commercial and residential growth. I want the Florida Horse Park to grow and the Greenway to be protected. The country should stay country and the equine nature of our community should be maintained and enhanced. The county government can be run more efficiently and openly. The economy should not be based primarily on residential home building, but on a more stable basis like manufacturing and health care. Please visit my website at www.shearer4marion.com to see my views on the issues.
To get elected it takes money for advertising and it takes people promoting you. First and foremost I ask any supporters to talk to at least 10 friends about my candidacy. Secondly I ask for monetary donation of any size up to $500 per person to be sent to the campaign of Douglas Shearer, 13670 SE Hwy 475, Summerfield, Fl 34491. Checks should be made out to the Campaign of Douglas Shearer.
Thanks
for any support and know I will try my best to make Marion County a
better place
to live. Please call my cell at 352-816-2353 or email at dcs@liveoakac.com
with any questions.
Sincerely
Douglas C Shearer, DVM
Political
Advertisement paid for and approved by Douglas Shearer, The Florida Whig
Party,
for County Commissioner District 2
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Can we rescue paradise?
Special to the Star-Banner
Published: Sunday, July 25, 2010
In the early 1960s, South Miami Beach was strewn with lumps of a gooey tar-like substance. Officials said it was oil from ships dumping bilge close to shore (now illegal) or natural seepage from the sea floor.
That was 50 years ago. Today, oil from supertankers and drill rigs can cause massive environmental and financial disasters lasting for decades.
Most Floridians live less than 50 miles from this state's 2,276 miles of coastline. But it's not just our coasts that have been abused. From the interior's laconic rural areas to its glitzy multi-cultural cities, development is expanding inward on every inch of land available.
But why has it taken this catastrophic oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to suddenly snap us to attention?
CLICK HERE
VIDEO: Carl Hiaasen gives his opinion on Amendment 4, says the Florida
Chamber is "squirming like worms on a frying pan."
By David Colburn
Special to the
Star-Banner
Published: Sunday, February 28, 2010
Florida became a metaphor for the boom-and-bust years, and no state experienced the highs and lows more acutely than Florida.
Investors, developers and real estate hucksters were confident that their speculation in Florida land and housing would bring them a quick fortune.
Signs of decline appeared early when the national press warned about widespread fraud and speculation in Florida.
As migration slowed to a halt and investors pulled back, construction ceased and banks began to foreclose on homes and businesses.
The financial system teetered toward bankruptcy, and 220 Florida banks collapsed.
The state, as well as many cities and counties, had thrown caution to the wind to capitalize on the growth during this period. They granted permits to developers without consideration of their financial risk or their impact on the environment.
And many cities and counties ended up deeply in debt by constructing roads and tourist facilities in the belief that if they built them the investors would come.
This reads eerily like the Great Recession of 2008-10, but these events unfolded between 1926 and 1929 as Florida's economy collapsed and the nation entered the Great Depression.
Three weeks after indefinitely continuing a moratorium on transportation impact fees, the County Commission on Tuesday unanimously agreed to set an expiration date: the end of 2010. These fees are collected to pay for infrastructure needed as a result of growth.
A "NO" argument: CLICK THIS
A "YES" argument: CLICK THIS
(It's not fair to only read the one you know you'll agree with.)
Meanwhile, consider ....
HOME PAGE
Since Shortly After
December 26, 1950"
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FARMLAND PRESERVATION ALERT
THANK YOU to the many citizens who showed up for the Marion County Board of County Commissioners meeting last Thursday! The auditorium was filled to capacity.
Unfortunately, the Commission decided not to listen and "continued" the meeting to next week.
We must show up again!!! Please be there Tuesday, August 3 @ 6pm, at 601 SE 25 Ave, Ocala.
The agenda will include 3 critically important items:
- Irvine Regional Activity Center - proposing dense urban development at the I75 Irvine exit in the heart of the Farmland Preservation Area, including 1000 homes (4 times bigger thanMcIntosh)
-
Mining Overlay Zone -an area of 2,500 to 7,000 acres for large-scale lime rock mining operations north of CR 318
- Needs Analysis - a badly flawed analysis justifying approval of leapfrog development and urban sprawl
The
Commission thinks we'll get discouraged and not bother to come again.
WE NEED
TO SHOW THEM THEY'RE WRONG!
It’s
expensive to "Keep the Country,
Country."
Donations always
appreciated and may be sent to:
SORA, PO Box 275, Micanopy, FL. 32667
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Meanwhile, we bet you thought a certain little rural north central Florida county's politicians had cornered the market on operating with blatant disregard to the voice of its citizenry! Wrong again!
From Warren Olney, moderator of KCRW's To the Point,
is the story of Bell, California, which shows that our Commissioners
still have a way to go to make the big leagues. As we all know,
it's a long season, though. Beware!
CLICK THIS to listen to an amazing five minute audio clip from Olney's July 23rd show. Then laugh or weep, but don't let it happen here to us.
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Comp plan ponders major changes
The
county may have 100,000 more homes within the next 25 years.
By Bill Thompson, Ocala Star Banner, Staff writer
Published: Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Marion County planners looked two
decades into the past to develop a vision of what the community will look like
25 years into the future.
The final outcome: a county that
maintains, if not adds to, its inventory of rural lands and enhances protection
of and appreciation for farming, especially of the equine variety.
Yet Marion, a generation hence,
could also include 100,000 more homes - almost 75 percent of the current
housing stock.
And some of that growth could appear sooner rather than later, since the county will ask state planners later this year to approve several projects that could add thousands of new homes in the near future.
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Oil Spill Update from Friends of Florida's Waters Latest Info as of July 19
State and Federal Response Efforts; Health and Safety Issues: Air Quality, Water Quality, Methane; Hurrricanes; Financial Impact
Get the straight story: CLICK HERE
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It's Incontrovertible!!
September 15, 2009
State Cabinet rejects 800-home Marion subdivision
Officials
predict the decision that handed a horse farmer a victory over a major
developer could have growth implications statewide
Staff writer, Ocala Star Banner
TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist and
the Cabinet on Tuesday handed a Marion County horse farmer a major win over a
prominent developer by unanimously supporting a recommendation to reject a
nearly 800-home subdivision in the northwest part of the county.
The decision was significant because
top planners with the Department of Community Affairs, or DCA, had publicly
admitted they erred in initially approving the project.
Tuesday's outcome also might hold
implications for future growth statewide, state officials predicted, as
communities across Florida struggle to strike a balance of development amid a
severe economic downturn and anti-sprawl activists' drive to give the public
more opportunity to determine when and how their areas grow.
Tuesday's vote vindicated the long and uphill struggle Ocala horse farmer Susan Woods and a neighbor, Karen Recio, waged to hold encroachment into their rural community at bay.
Background from the St. Pete Times: CLICK THIS
Background from the Ocala Star-Banner: CLICK THIS
_________________________________________________FARMS OF ENVIRONMENTAL DISTINCTION
IN MARION COUNTY
For all of you Marion County farm owners/dwellers
who are already living in an environmentally-friendly way, you will probably
qualify for the "Farms of Environmental Distinction" stamp of approval, which
gives you the right to display the absolutely free and very tasteful
metal sign that declares your accomplishment.CLICK FOR THE AUDUBON ADVOCATE
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Amendment 4 for Livability
Sarasota Herald Tribune
By LESLEY BLACKNER Guest Columnist
Saturday, March 13, 2010.
Amendment 4 isn't on the ballot until November, but our opposition is already in overdrive.
The proposed constitutional amendment sponsored by Florida Hometown Democracy, a nonpartisan group of Floridians who are sick of unplanned, speculative over-development that wrecks a community's quality of life, depresses home values and sticks taxpayers with the bill. Amendment 4 is simple: It will require voter approval of local comprehensive land-use plan changes.
Local commissioners will review and vote, as they do now, but voters will veto or approve their decision at the next regularly scheduled Election Day. It won't require special elections.
for our future
Published: Sunday, June 13, 2010
The staff of the Marion County Planning Department, a division of the Growth Management Department, has been working on an Evaluation and Appraisal Report (EAR) to update the current Marion County Comprehensive Plan. The Marion County Commission must approve this EAR before it is submitted to the Florida Department of Community Affairs for their approval.
Public meetings for experts, residents, landowners, developers and their representatives to express their opinions about the shape of the EAR are drawing to a close, and the Planning Department will now prepare a document that, in part, will recommend where new housing and businesses should be built in the future in Marion County.
The draft proposal the Planning Department has been working from, which appears on its website at www.marion<0x000A>countyfl.org/Planning/EARabout.aspx, greatly expands the "urban service area" around the city limits of Ocala and adds nine new "employment-activity centers" scattered around the county to the existing 11 centers already identified in the old plan. Both the "urban service area" and the "employment-activity centers" would allow new businesses and high-density housing to be built.
The Farmland Preservation Area in the northwest part of the county is further reduced in the draft plan, and the Shady area south of Ocala stretching down to the Florida Horse Park is urbanized.
I propose that the Marion County Planning Department, the Marion County Commission, the Ocala City Council, businesspeople, landowners, nongovernment organizations and everyone who lives in or cares about the future of Ocala/Marion County take a few minutes to consider the benefits of a different plan.
CLICK HERE
for Chief Financial Officer of Florida
As we begin to head into summer I just wanted to update you on our daughter, Loranne Ausley’s campaign for Chief Financial Officer of Florida. We were ecstatic to see the Mason-Dixon poll released May 12 which shows Loranne at 26% of the vote (almost within the margin of error of her likely opponent President of the Senate, Jeff Atwater with a high percentage undecided). This is phenomenal considering she has not done any advertising at this point!
Loranne is getting
tremendous
response as she meets people on her travels all over the state with her
positive
message. I hope you can check out her website from time to time at http://www.ausleyforcfo.com.
Loranne is a tireless worker and is bursting with energy. Even so—this is going to be a tough campaign, and we really need friends like you to help spread the word about her. We do hope we can count on you to be a part of the campaign, and we think you would be proud to do so.
Sincerely,
Sallie Ausley
(Past Organizer---Red
Hills
Horse Trials)
_________________________________________
"The Lost Generation"
CLICK FOR IT
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In response to Howard Tipton's suggestion that the Hometown Democracy amendment "would distort our ability to attract economic growth to Florida," existing comprehensive land-use plans allow development that would add tens of millions of people to the state population, its roads and its schools. Unfinished or unstarted projects sit idle in every urban area, even affecting our healthy industry of new retirement homes for people moving here from other states. Mr. Tipton condemns the Save Our Homes Amendment that protects those same fixed-income people from being taxed out of their new homes.
Amendment 4, which we will vote on in November, is necessary to address the many cases where developers bought restricted land, then successfully petitioned for comprehensive land- use changes that increased the value of that property exponentially. In Florida, such petitioners may legally contribute to the campaigns of the elected officials who have the power to, then, grant the requested comprehensive land-use changes.
Mr. Tipton disrespects the ability of voters to make land-use decisions that are not as complicated as he says. In 2006, nearly 10,000 Ormond Beach voters overruled the elected body by inserting a 75 foot building height limit in the city charter, where any change will require another vote of the people. CANDO, the political action committee that backed that height limit, had to raise $95,000 in legal fees just to file a legal challenge and get the qualified petition on the ballot. Another $40,000 was raised for a campaign that trusted the vote of the people.
None of that would have been necessary if Amendment-4-like protections had already been in place. The intent of four elected officials to raise the building height limit would have automatically been a question for the ballot.
Editor's note: Boyle is a former Ormond Beach city commissioner
and the chairman of Citizens and Neighbors devoted to Ormond (CANDO.)
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And if you have an extra 20 minutes,
here's a link to a WNYC RadioLab podcast
that will give you hope (or not)
Jad and Robert ponder the question:
"Can we learn patterns of abstract thinking
to save our planet and ourselves?"
(My own question: "Do developers and legislators HAVE dorsolateral prefrontal cortices?")
WORTH A LISTEN!
FLORIDA GROWTH
Florida's suburban sprawl
As the economic crash slows sprawl to a crawl, Miami's public TV station has produced a documentary on urban development in Florida that asks what seems a pertinent question: Do we keep the march of the subdivisions going, or is it time to try something else?
The hourlong program, Imagining a New Florida comes down heavily for the latter option.
READ THE ARTICLE HERE
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